After several weeks of high summer temperatures, the weather turned a bit cooler this past week. I’m very appreciative of the drop in temperatures as I prefer autumn and winter over summer. But the change has also put me in a mood to work on other projects, some old and others new. During the past few months, my focus has been on the work required to launch the first novel in my fantasy series which is geared towards a young adult/new adult audience. I have always been a fan of fantasy stories, particularly high fantasy adventures which introduce readers to new worlds and cultures and lore. But I have also been equally a fan of supernatural and horror-based stories and folklore, and I have several projects which lean more towards these darker themes which I want to spend time on this fall.

Many authors will stick to one primary genre and focus on targeting a single audience as well. This allows them to aim all of their writing and marketing efforts in the same direction. It makes life easier. But I have always had a broad range of interests and sticking to just one type of storytelling leaves me prone to boredom and writers’ block. I have found over the years that when a new idea starts to distract me from focusing on one project, it helps me to get that idea out of my head and onto paper. Once I get it out of my system, I can focus again on my current project.

In taking the time to write down all of these ideas, I end up with a wide variety of bits and pieces which I can use in future projects if I so desire. I know some of them will never see the light of day again, especially if they come from exploring a tangent taken from someone else’s work. But sometimes I end up with characters or plot ideas which I want to develop. Some of these ideas I may eventually be able to work into my fantasy series, but others, being more horror-inspired, fall too far outside of the tone of this first novel.

Plenty of authors have multiple series which they write. Some even have different tones, sub-genres, and target audiences to go with those different series. But most of them didn’t diversify their writing until after they had established a series and audience to go with it. I don’t have that yet, and so, even though I want to work on another project unrelated to this first novel, it is not advisable at this time. However, I do have plenty of ideas to pull from in order to find a balance between keeping my next project in line with this first novel and also branching out into slightly darker themes for the second.

Hezzie

P.S.: Check my website for updates on when my novel, Desert Ghosts, will be released, the first in The Syakvian Archives series.