Will Be Back Soon

It's been FAR FAR too long since I've posted here. Part of that is my fault and part of that is good ole life, coming up behind and...

Yeah, it's been a crazy week or so.

I've been recording nearly every day. I haven't been able to take a good full day off for some time, and have had to stay up late and wake up early just to be able to have time to do laundry, spend a bit of time with my family, etc., before jumping right back into either recording, editing my audio, or communicating and trying to arrange further commissions.

The good news, however, is that I finally managed to get some time to write today, and MAN did it feel good. I haven't had the pleasure of a pen in my hand hitting paper in a good while, and I finally was able to jot down some notes and finish developing the rudimentary beginnings of the overall plot of my latest project, as well as the basic character sheets for the titular main characters.

This newest project will be the pulpiest I've written yet (the other stuff I've done can only barely be classified as such, more falling into the "surreal horror" and "psychological horror" categories), featuring a good dose of action, light romance, and a good guy saving the lady from the bad guy.

Now, I don't have the rough draft of the first chapter completed yet, as I am still working out the kinks in the story and the minor logistics before beginning to write (yes, I am that kind of writer...I stopped writing seat-of-the-pants back in the old creepypasta days and have been outlining/planning before I write ever since), but I do have a good idea of what I want to happen. I have the major plot points, what each character is going to do, and how the story is going to end. I just need to figure out how to get to each plot point and what they will do once they get there.

As proof that this isn't just smoke and mirrors and proof that I am serious about getting this done, here's the sum collection of my work thus far, including a scrapped first draft of the first chapter, various timelines, snowflake-method character charts, etc:

All of this is only about 1/4 of what I plan to do before I start. I want this to be one of the best things I've written yet, and am sparing no effort and wasting no time in trying to ensure that everything is thought out and carefully accounted for before writing. I loathe plot-holes and stiff character moments, and since this is going to have some romance elements (mostly just to build character and relationships), I cannot afford to have stiff-as-a-board characters or one-dimensional tropes. I cannot afford to have a typical perfect white-knight hero saving a typical damsel-in-distress. I need people to like these characters, and remember them long after the book is finished. I want people to long for more, rather than asking for less.

My ideas so far:

Main character's name is Wink Hardly. He's a farmer boy whose father left him and his mother to care for the farm while he ran off to fulfill his dream of being an inventor. It is currently unknown whether he's actually dead. His mother dies of pneumonia after a harsh winter blows through the region, and he is left to care for the farm on his own. He constantly worries about what he's going to do, as it is hard for him to care for the entire farm himself; he's only 16, and not very strong, so he has to rely on inventions and gadgets made of scrap metal to get anything done. He wants to be an inventor, but at the same time feels tied to the farm out of an obligation to prove he's a better man than his good-for-nothing father who left them.

Secondary character/love interest's name is Poppy Algernon, the daughter of Dr. Algernon, a famous inventor. She is tied down to her home due to a strict regimen put into place by her very strict father, to the point that she is forced into her room and locked tight with a security door. She wants to leave, but at the same time feels guilty for wanting to leave her strange and possibly mentally-ill father alone in that big, decrepit house. Headstrong and very cheerful, but isn't very good at picking up social cues after being forced away from others her whole life.

Any more than that will spoil a lot of the story, but I plan to make this a tightly-paced, exciting read with likeable characters.

Let me know what you think of it so far in the comments below, and I hope to see you soon. I will be spending a couple of hours every day on this, so hopefully by the end of this week I will be entirely ready to start posting chapters.

This is part of the Swords of St Valentine event started by the PulpRev guys, so the entire story WILL be finished by the end of February. I may not achieve pulp speed just yet, but I know for certain the entirety of it will be done by then.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for being patient as I sort everything out.