Well – I was working on Truth Will Out – my next horror novel when I ran into a part that I needed to think about, which means my progress ground to a halt.
Now, I’m working on the next Valentina Novel called Valentina’s Repast. It can be described with the elevator pitch of: “It’s ‘How Stella Got Her Groove Back’ meets ‘Hannibal’ with a side of ‘Written in the Stars’.”
Sounds like a mess but trust me…it’s going to be good.
One of the keys that self-published authors seem to all agree upon is that series sell. I have enough ideas about Valentina right now to make a four-book series, and maybe even forestall the inevitable for another two books if it proved to be successful. I gave up on wanted to be an x genre author. I just want to be a successful one, so I can still dabble in horror and fantasy (if I finish any of those projects…) as well as romance and try to find where my niche is. I have time after all, and I want to try to do this right, rather than scramble to try to make up for lost time.
Besides, I like writing for Valentina. I just hope I don’t make it too hokey with bringing up her unique hunger as a separate part of her identity. I don’t know how sound that is, given that all my research into cannibals (Hello, FBI!) hasn’t really explored that aspect. Most of the stuff is the lurid ‘here’s how they they killed’. Only one thing I’ve seen really goes into the psychology of a cannibal, and even then, it was a shallow dip. I’m not saying what she did was bad research, I just would like to have more information without becoming Sunday dinner.
But if I was turned into Sunday dinner – I’d be friggin’ delicious.
I do have a goal, and with this goal, I have a prize. If – and only if – I finish four books in Valentina’s series:
- Valentina’s Feast – already done and waiting on the editor.
- Valentina’s Repast
- Valentina’s Service
- Valentina’s Dessert
- Valentina’s Check
I will get myself a nice fountain pen, carrying case, a bottle of ink and another fountain pen. While I am writing, I am also going to be saving up some money because all of this is going to be expensive! But I think this will motivate me more than saying ‘the real friends were the ones we made along the way’.
However – if anyone here wants to buy these for me right now, I will not stop you. I will give you an address to mail them to me, and my gratitude.
Anyways, this new project is coming along, but the real test of going to be months down the road when it threatens to be a slog. Hopefully, that won’t happen. Cannibalism does hold a fascination for me (Hello again, FBI!) and that’s what really kept me through Valentina’s Feast. Maybe lightning will strike twice with this book.
Because I really want that pen.
Seething Apathy 