A Writer's Week #98: Deliverers 4 Update

Well it's been a long Writer's Week. As I reported last Friday, I had to stop writing book 4 in the Deliverers series almost before I began. The problem was the plot, there just did not seem to be a lot of it--or at least enough of it to make a full book. So, I set out this week to figure out the next step.

That process wound up taking the entire week. First, I turned it over to my subconscious during the weekend and let things percolate in my head. Then, I spent a couple of days trying to work out a new plot idea based on an idea that I had discarded when writing book 2. That did not work out, but it did reinforce the fact that my original plot premise was the best course, it just needed to be tackled from a different angle.

Reassured that I was on the right track, I spent the next day puzzling over just how to make it different. You see, Eric and the other Deliverers are sent back in time by the Gatekeeper to the American Revolution. The big bad guy (Mendolent) whose existence is revealed in book 3, is trying to change history. I really liked that idea, but I had pictured a scenario like Lexington and Concord, where colonists are defending a town, the British march in, they have a skirmish and the British return whence they came, harried all the way by the colonists who fire at them from behind stone walls.

Not terribly innovative or exciting. Books like April Morning, My Brother Sam is Dead and Johnny Tremain all do something like this. That was my problem. Then I had a mini breakthrough. I had to change my way of thinking. Instead of fitting my plot into the constraints of a historical novel, I had to turn that genre on its ear and write a book that was a fantasy novel set in the time of the revolution. If I followed that train of thought, then Mendolent should change history by helping the British do things that they did not do. He had to help them win by getting them to avoid the mistakes they made.

At that point, I knew I would be able to write the book. I started to pile up ideas based on this new viewpoint, and they camee pretty easily. Now all that remains (I hope) is to update the plot outline and I'll be able to resume writing. So, while I don't think I'll start writing next week, I think I should be ready the week after. I'll keep you up to date.

The art for the cover of the third book, The Golden Dragon of Ang, is almost set. It looks like we're still on track to have everything put together by the end of February, so the book will be available soon after that. Over the next month, I'll be featuring one or two sample chapters and some character interviews on the blog. As the art is finished, I'll be revealing bits and pieces as well. It will all lead up to the cover reveal next month. So there's some neat stuff happening shortly. I'm looking forward to sharing it all with you!