En Media Res

It has been awhile since I blogged here. I think the obstacle stems, I think, from the ennui of having finished my first draft. My intent was to wait 2 weeks and charge forward with all the changes needed. And exactly 2 weeks from the date the celebratory Irish hot cocoa, I began. I then heard that 2 weeks is not long enough. So I've been working on the chapter summaries for the next book in the series—working title: Smoked Silk. It feels good. What do other writers feel about this juncture of their books? Do you wait more than 2 weeks? What seems to be your ideal interlude from the end of the first draft to the re-write?

I recognized that not enough time had passed when I struggled with the first line. I knew if I could just get that first line, the rest would write itself. HA! “Mary Fletcher wanted only to make it home safely.” I'm rethinking that. “Mary Fletcher clutched the steering wheel as her car fishtailed toward the VW-size boulder in the middle of Highway 2.” A lot more exciting? But does it set up the story arc throughout the entire book? I'll have to see how this works. I also know that I want to make Mary less passive. Originally, I intended her to be the observer with Sam Terwillager as the main protagonist. I think I need to balance the 2 of them.

I am also drawing on the history of Six Rivers County. In fact, the death of Randy Galvan launched the evolution of antagony of Smoked and at least one more of its sequels. Maggie, Randy's widow is with child. She has been reunited with her parents who try to ease her burden. She is marked by her late husband's bad reputation, and she brings up her son in the light of that sentiment from the community. Also, many of the natural and man-made features of SR Co come from Stanislaus and Ellen Rittenhauer. Rittenhauer River, a tributary of the Klamath River, being one. The original building at Six Rivers University is Rittenhauer Hall, which looks over Ellen's Cove in El Gordo Bay. All these details are there, behind the scenes, giving life to the imaginary world that Mary and Sam inhabit.

It's story telling, with its own time schedule. I guess I'll know when the story has perculated long enough.