I started a UFO story in October last year but it morphed off into something completely different and I ended up with a vague skeletal idea that refused to lie down and go away despite everything I threw at it. So in the end I did the only thing I could think of and I sat down to take the skeleton and see if I could flesh it out. And finally, (I hope!) I have managed to wrestle the bones into some form of recognisable shape. I already have 18K written in one form or another, but most of those will have to go (which is always difficult- I hate deleting stuff!).
The best part has been doing the research though. I love research, delving into books and scouring the internet for arcane facts, filling notebooks with details and going off at a tangent when something more interesting raises its head. It does tend to be expensive though - I have bought seven fairly pricey books just for this one story - a mix of reference and fiction - and there are more on the way, despite the fact that I have a 9 foot run of tall bookshelves in my 'office' and a further 12 foot run in the living room, both of which are full with everything from Blackstone's Police Manual to 1000 Years of Annoying the French as well as all the Discworld, Lord Peter Wimsey and Simon Serrailler novels on shelves that have to be double stacked to find space for them all. I have also been working on 'Halley' - the Thunderbirds story set in Antarctica. (I had the research in hand after writing Midnight and the idea of having International Rescue fly there was rather appealing -especially as I have 17 books and four dvds about Antarctica!) However, it will probably be the last Thunderbirds story I write. The fandom is too diverse now, too many Tracy sisters and daughters and marriages and Self-insert Mary Sues. It's time to leave it to the people who want to write and read nothing but AU and OC-centric TB fanfic. And I loathe the lack of basic SPaG skills in so many of those stories. Yes, typos happen, and yes, errors creep in and I am as guilty of that as any other writer, but there is no excuse for not knowing how to use a full stop at the end of a sentence or for posting a story without the slightest attempt to proof-read. So I will finish Halley - though I have little enthusiasm for it now - and then there is one last Thunderbirds story to post that was written a couple of years ago. Then it will be time to move on. (And no, I wasn't meaning UFO. I still have at least ten stories waiting to be posted, and at least another five to complete, not including the one mentioned above.) So. Another UFO story in the pipeline, set in England and starring Straker - of course - and Alec Freeman. Extract: In the end he drove on, taking quieter lanes through small villages and the odd hamlets with church spires and hump-backed bridges, small copses, tall hedges. Fields of golden wheat and bright yellow rapeseed, grass turning brown in the dry air, tractors busy with hay-making. The quintessential English countryside, a little parched at the edges and beginning to curl up in the heat. © Ltcdr. May 30th 2015 The tube was busier than he anticipated, even making allowances for the rush hour. Straker ended up standing near the doors, surrounded by commuters reading their Kindles and the tinny sound of iPods. He grasped the handrail rather than make any attempt at tube-surfing – not that there was much chance of anyone stumbling in such a crowd – and grateful that at least he had not brought his briefcase. They were at Hammersmith before the crush abated and there were seats to spare. He brushed his fingers over the envelope tucked away inside his jacket as if to check that it was still there; the neat rectangle sealed and with only the recipient’s name contained just one sheet of paper. And that was handwritten as well. A terse message, polite but definite. And final.
I hope to get this finished by the end of March – all being well. After a difficult week – another middle of the night trip to A and E and the resuscitation department (it gets somewhat boring after the sixth time) – I managed to get the final chapter of Shepherd up. And now I am re-writing an earlier story I found yesterday. Hopefully I will get it finished by the end of February, all being well.
I’ve had one hell of a lot of fun with John Shepherd and Rebecca Steel, not forgetting Alec and Sara, Dale, Mason and the other characters who entered my life and refused to be ignored until I had written their stories. I doubt very much if I will write anything so complex or lengthy again, but as the story was initially only meant to be 14,000 words long, it’s worked out rather well! There is another (short) story about Straker and Rebecca, but that will have to wait for a month or so, while I work on other projects, including re-organising my office to include a bigger desk! As always, thank you to UFO fans and readers of this site. If you have been following 'Shepherd' you may well have realised what is about to happen in the story. Graphic violence, but not gratuitous. The whole story has been building up to this moment and the aftermath and there is still a fair way to go.
Chapter 6 now posted Due to circumstances beyond my control, the next chapter will be in a fortnight's time.
I spent this morning tidying up my workspace and re-organising it prior to starting a few new projects. Finally managed to get some art work and a rare publicity photo of Bishop up on one wall. Now I just need to get a pinboard ready. I tend to make rough notes on ‘post-its’ and then stick them on the wall, which is already spattered with maps, pictures, notes, drawings etc stuck in random places.
I have also downloaded several ‘research’ books for my next UFO story. ;) Great fun. November will be taken up with NaNo, so I want to get as much done as possible beforehand. Shepherd will continue to be posted, chapter by chapter on Friday where possible. Apologies for the tardy posting of Shepherd Chapter 4. I had an action packed few days, involving paramedics and an ambulance in the middle of the night ( while I was staying in a hotel miles from anywhere!). I was hoping to be transported to hospital by helicopter but I was disappointed <g>. It would have been good fodder for a story. However I did get a couple of plot bunnies out of the whole incident.
Chapter 2 of Shepherd Part 5: Laired now posted, and I am giving myself two weeks to complete my current project, which should be enough time to get the first, rough draft complete. Then its time to get a couple of UFO stories 'done and dusted' as we say in these parts. I really need to complete the final two Rachel Chronicles. ;) Hopefully there will be a Yuletide UFO story, as well as a Hallowe'en one, and as it is Straker's birthday in a few days ( 21st Sept) I might post a short story in celebration.
Sept. 3rd. Site updated. Two new stories added:
Small Pleasures 2 (Adult) and The Long Way Home. (Flash fiction) Moonlight and Vodka is also now complete, though some illustrations are still to be added. |
LEOLEO - not my birth sign! Archives
December 2015
Categories
All
|