Where Things Are Going

Well, folks, I've come to a fork in the road.  And I'm turning soon.  Actually, that's more of a catchphrase than anything else, and an excuse to post that picture you see.  I already know where things are going. :)

I still have a lot of revising to do.  And that's pretty much a "Duh" for any writer; good books are not written, they're REwritten, right?

However, as I was rereading and formatting The Book of Shaldu this week, I began thinking about book two in the Prophecies Series.  That's the more-or-less official name of the series, by the way.

I really have no idea what is going to happen in that book.  It's a mystery.  I only have a couple of vague ideas and a prophecy.  But events are happening fast, and I'll fill you in.

Yesterday afternoon, I spoke to a friend briefly about Book Two.  That got my imagination juices running, and I realized (not for the first time) that I have no idea what I'm going to do in Book Two.  And since The Book of Shaldu was beginning to shape up, I thought it might be time to begin thinking about it.

That's what I do instead of outlining, see.  I ponder it.  I think about my characters.  I think about the plot.  And I say, "What could go wrong?"  (Which, by the way, is a fantastic question.  Find out what could go wrong, and then do it.)

Well, I didn't sleep very well last night.  That's what these things do to you.  In fact, in "sleeping on it", I might have awoken poor Inspiration again.  He always tunes into thoughts, not actions.  And since my mind was a boiling pot of imagination last night...

Long story short, he threw a bar of soap at me in the shower this morning.  And I realized that the back-story for one of my characters was a LOT more complex than I thought.

The character in question was Elene Silversword, the mother of my main character.   She was a strong character with a sharp wit and a sharp tongue, and she loved the High Lord.  For the longest time I couldn't understand why she was such a strong character.

But anyway, after Inspiration threw the soap at me, he told me all about Elene Silversword.  It was kinda creepy, actually, finding out all I didn't know about my own character.  Apparently she had fled to Kr'ark and married a guy named Jactwo Silversword.  'Course, I had to find out why she fled.  I'm her writer.

I found out a lot about this character called Elene.  For one, Elene isn't her real name.  Major shock there.  And for two, her story has betrayal and death and conspiracy wound up in it.

If you expect me to tell you what exactly her story IS, I won't.  It's my secret.  I promised Inspiration I wouldn't tell.

However, let it be known that her back-story will have a large impact on the course of the Prophecies series. This got me thinking for the rest of the day.  And, besides this, I figured out what this new prophecy means.

Now, if you're wondering what in the world all this has to do with where things are going, let me tell you; because of this rather painful smack from Inspiration, I now have a tentative plot for Book Two simmering in my mind pot.  I have a lot of foreshadowing to rewrite into TBOS, but it's beginning to come together.

To tie it all up, I have a feeling that Book Two is very close to getting to the point where I can begin writing.

And, of course, revising my other novels.  *sigh*  It gets tiring after a while...

Two more quick notes: first, the prophecy's name is also the name of a novel.  I actually "doodled" the prophecy, believe it or not.  I drew a tree, an orb, and a stylized moon, and then wrote a poem above the tree in runes.  This became the prophecy.

So, you want to know the name of the book?

Tentatively, Book Two of the Prophecies is called, "The Prophecy of Terrainian".

The name "Terrainian" is also tentative.  I may need a name-change.  Do you think I should change the name?  If so, what name would you recommend? (It's easily done; I haven't written anything about book two down anywhere but here.)

That's all for now.  Let me know what you think. :)