Matthew S. Rotundo's Pixeltown

Am now officially into dream time on Petra Rising, which basically consists of me scribbling random notes until I feel ready to begin drafting.  But there’s a little wrinkle to the process this time around:  as I’m working on a sequel, I’m going back through the previous volume in the series, Petra Released, and reacquainting myself with it.  This is a little weird, taking notes on my own novel, but undeniably helpful.  My experience writing Petra Released taught me that I’ll forget a lot of important stuff.

Like, for example, a key supporting character.  I’m sitting there rereading my book, and this guy pops up, and my first reaction was, “Who the hell is that?”  Only after he announced his name did I remember him, and then only vaguely.

So, yeah.  I’m relearning a bunch of stuff I once knew.  Occupational hazard with sequels, I guess.  How George R.R. Martin does it, I will never know.

Write Club update:  Tier one bounce from Fireside.  Response time, 42 days.

Back into dream time . . .

OK, I’ve decided.  The next novel project has been selected.  It will be (drumroll please) . . .

The Sequel!

Yes, folks, after much deliberation and consideration of sage advice, I’ve decided to write the next book in the Petra series.

I think.

I mean, I’m pretty sure that’s the way I’m going.  I poked a bit at another story idea last week, and much to my surprise, I found some signs of life.  Which is encouraging, but I still think I’m proceeding with the sequel.  Tentative title:  Petra Rising.

So for the next several months, I get to work on something completely unmarketable, unless the first book sells.  Hey, at least that takes some of the pressure off.

That’s me—ever the optimist.

Write Club update:

Tier one bounce from Our World of Horror.  Response time, 136 days.

Onward.

OK.  I’m getting a bit annoyed with the lack of a decision on the next novel project.  As are you, I’m sure.  So I’m this close to doing something I promised myself I’d never do again:  I might embark on a sequel.

I’ve done this once before, with Petra Released.  Though I was pleased with the result, I later realized with some chagrin that I had just spent a year working on a novel I couldn’t market unless the original sold.  That struck me as a, shall we say, suboptimal use of my time and energy.  After that, I made a deal with myself—no more sequels until a publisher or editor expressed an interest in the original.

Makes perfect sense, right?  But here’s the thing:  I don’t have anything else firing my imagination at the moment.  (In fact, this was the reason I wrote Petra Released in the first place.)  Maybe the reason that no other stories are popping into my head is that I still have these sequels to do, and they’re taking up the necessary brainspace.  Given a choice between writing something unmarketable and writing nothing at all . . . that’s kind of a no-brainer, isn’t it?

I haven’t committed to the sequel just yet.  I have one more idea I think I’d like to explore a little bit more before I make my choice.

Right, then.  Come next week at this time, The Decision will be announced.  Which, I suppose, is almost but not quite as exciting as that other Decision from a few years ago.

Write Club updates:

Just over two months to a personalized no from an agent on a novel query.

And 31 days to a tier 1 bounce from Uncanny.

‘Til next time, kids . . .