Null Space

After thinking about Emergence Ascended for way too long, and now that I am finished, I found there is a dead space in my head. I sat down to put together some notes and instinctively opened my ‘work in progress’ that is no longer in progress, at least the creative part of it. I had a strange feeling of separation. It’s not as dramatic as postpartum depression (not that I am trivializing a mental health condition), but the correlation is that there was a sense of “Oh, okay, what do I do now?”  Of course, it was brief; I have 2 more novels in line, so there is plenty to do PLENTY.

It was a weird feeling, not a sad one, but it was definitely something to acknowledge. When you are close to a project and then it’s over, there is an almost whimsical feeling of longing for the ‘good ol days’. At that same moment, there was also a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction.   I did complete it, and I am really happy with the ending. A strange bag of mixed feelings.

When I completed Emergence Collective, I was too elated to feel any loss. However, I did have ideas to put on paper (Like the ghost story I am starting). I pushed the ghost story aside to write the sequel, so maybe I didn’t suffer because the next project was in the same world as the one my brain was still stuck in. I wonder if other writers feel similar things after they finish? To me, this isn’t a negative thing; it’s an introspective look at myself, a new emotion that I do not have much experience in. Maybe I can put it in a story. (Everything is fodder for inspiration.)

Moving on… I’m still thinking about the title(and working title) for ‘The Ghost Story’ (that is going to get old.) But Yellow Man, or the man in yellow. Ohh, maybe something catchy like Slicker Man or just ‘Slicker.” Something Stephen Kingish. He always had cool one-name titles: Cujo, Carrie, Christine… That seems to work. Anyway. I started my research (before I finished Emergence Ascended) because I can’t stop myself from working on  three things at once) on yellow man, the guy in a yellow rain slicker? Ugh. I started researching the next book.

I had an interesting conversation with a Paranormal investigator from a group in the UK. And I think I have my finger on the pulse of how those things operate. I have a plan for some of the early background stuff in my world-building. I have the setting in my head, and the characters are starting to flesh out. I am not sure how spoilery I should get here; after all, this blog is as much for me (maybe more) as it is for you. Since you are reading this, you are in the Hand-prints of Darkness Insiders club. So maybe you get the privilege of witnessing not only the behind-the-scenes process but also some of the secrets rattling in my head. Maybe it will be fun to expose the inner workings of my brain, for better or worse. However, if I did lay bare my secrets to the story, it would make writing about the process easier.

Maybe if you heard it, it won’t sound confusing, but to me, a little dyslexic, attention deficit muddled brain, I am trying the best way to approach it.