I still have two novels to write before I can go into the wilderness and wander around. Once these two books are complete, the Escape from the Abyss series will be done, and I’ll be free. Well, free to choose my next direction. I have tons of ideas, but that’s a hazard since it puts a lot of pressure on me to choose something and get serious about it. The first and most difficult part of starting a new book or series is the task of creating new characters. Writing the next book of a series is easy and gets easier as each book is completed because there are so many characters that are already developed. But then, a new book gives me an opportunity to create and experiment with new characters.

Sometimes I just slam down some dialog that I have bouncing around in my head. Something I might use in a story, like this example that I’ll use in a futuristic detective setting (Jack is a long-time old-school detective):

“Ah, I guess I’m breakin’ in the new kid,” I said. “What are you, 13?”
“Nah,” said Isaac. “I’ll be 13 next month.”
“Oh, that’s good.” The kid’s a smart-ass, just like me.
“So, what happened to your last partner?”
“Don’t ask,” I said.
“That’s what Maggie said,” said Isaac.
Oh, I see, the kid had a one-on-one with the boss, Maggie.
“Yeah? Well, I’m the best. That’s why I’m still alive.”
“That… is not what Maggie said.” Isaac gave a sheepish grin.
“Well, kid. Don’t believe everything you hear.”

I envision this scene occurring at the beginning of the book (obviously). Either his last partner got killed in an earlier scene, or it’s assumed that he had a partner who was recently killed (or reassigned). In the book I have in mind, there are androids with a variety of capabilities. Some are more human than people. I’ll be avoiding the Blade Runner theme by steering the story off in a different direction. Of course, with any story, there are so many directions I can go. I could have a mass-murdering maniac that is killing women with the same colored hair. He’s convinced that they are all just androids, and maybe one of them did him wrong in the past, and he’s seeking revenge. I could have a secret plot where one model of androids is killing off a competitor’s model to gain a competitive advantage. Maybe a hacker is reprogramming some of the androids to commit his serial killings. A girl is the serial killer in the story. She’s angry at a certain model of female robots that took away her lover.

Oh, there are so many possible plots for that theme…

So, now that I have a couple of characters and a possible plot, I have to put something together. Fortunately, I have until later this year to just let those ideas bounce around in my crazy brain until I can come up with an idea that I think is the most outrageous one.

Hopeless (Book 6 of the Abyss)

I’m still ahead of my schedule on writing this book. I marked out six days for Memorial Day weekend, when I’ll be on vacation. I also have the July 4th holiday through the weekend marked out, just in case. That puts the book’s publication date around the middle of July. Then it’s on to book 7.