Time now for a bit of an update on where things stand in the Chris Jansmann writing universe.
As Winter fades into Spring, my thoughts have begun to focus on my next novel; the major writing will occur in March and April, concurrent with the next NaNoWriMo camp. Sean Colbeth is up next in the rotation, though which particular story I have in mind for him is not quite set. This often happens to me — I have multiple kernels of a plot to choose from, and since they all seem amazing, I have a difficult time selecting one until the actual starting line heaves into view.
One of those options happens to be the alternate ending to Bewitched, a thread that I wound up clipping out entirely and then ignored through two more stories (Vengeance and Solitude). In fairness, I did use a portion of that thread at the end of Vengeance, but I don’t want to spoil which part that might have been; still, the story that alternate ending was supposed to lead into is kind of a cool one. Sean has also grown quite a bit through those next two stories, allowing me to take an unusual angle on the plot that hadn’t been available two stories earlier. If I go in that direction, I have to refine things a bit more — and, fortunately, I have a few weeks left to do that.
The other story I have planned for Sean takes him on a bit of an adventure to another state (not California, I hasten to add); again, without spoiling too much of my future plans, it will be a full crossover with Vasily and, quite possibly, tie up some intriguing loose ends that have been dangling since Blindsided. I don’t think the timing is quite right for that story — at least, not in the strange chronology in my head for the Windeport Universe. A few more pieces have to land… just… so… before I can spring that tale on people.
My last effort was for Vasily; Masks won’t be out until sometime next year, mostly because I’ve got a book in the release queue ahead of it that needs to get out there first. I might rejigger the schedule slightly to speed things up — maybe — but no promises, for trying to turn around three novels each year seems to be my limit. I’m happy with how Masks turned out, though; aside from an interesting mystery, I found I was able to move the Vasily/Alex storyline along quite nicely. I won’t lie — I truly enjoy writing that couple; they slightly edge out the Sean/Suzanne romance, though not by much more than a whisker.
Sadly, I’ve abandoned — for now — the urban fantasy mystery I’d been working on since December. The further I get into the story, the less I am liking how it’s developing; I love the characters and the universe I created around them, but tacking on a murder mystery is proving to be one humdinger of a problem. I thought I could power through my misgivings, but as the manuscript approached fifty thousand words, I’m simply unhappy with the tale as it stands today. I might circle back again, but my instincts are telling me that would be a bad idea. On the other hand, these characters are still very much alive in my writer’s brain, so there is a better-than-average chance they wind up in a more standard police-procedural type tale. I don’t want to lose the work I’ve put into the story, and it wouldn’t take much to clip out the fantasy angle and replace it with a more dramatic through-line. There’s plenty of angst between the two leads, so I think that might make for a better story. I’ll have to get back to you on that, though…
It’s shaping up to be a busy spring, either way. I’ll keep the blog up-to-date with my progress, so be sure to subscribe to get the latest scoop.