Saturday, February 27, 2016

The creative juices are flowing again


After several months' hiatus due to health issues, followed by the disruption of moving from one state to another, I'm back at work writing for my living.  I'm pleased to report that things are beginning to pick up speed once more.  I've just finished the first draft of a 10,000 word short story, which will go off to the editor of an anthology next week.  It still needs polishing, of course, and 'tweaking' to fit in with the other contributions, but that will be done as and when required.  Initial feedback from Old NFO and Lawdog has been positive.

Maxwell Volume 5 is coming along as well.




I'm about 30% through it, and have the high points of the remainder of the plot worked out in my mind.  Now that the short story is done (it was a rush priority project) I can settle down and work on the book.  My fantasy novel is about 50% complete, but will be on the back burner for a few weeks while I get the next Maxwell book out of the way;  then I'll pick it up again, as I simultaneously get to work on the third and last volume of the Laredo Trilogy.

I'm also working on a space detective novel, set in the Maxwell universe.  It may be stand-alone, or the start of a trilogy similar to the Laredo one.  It's about 30% complete so far.  I have ideas for several such books and short series spinning off from the adventures of Steve Maxwell.  The variations keep me alert and interested, instead of having to churn out the 'same old, same old' every book;  and I hope that you, my readers, enjoy the variety too.

By the end of this year I hope to have published at least three more books and a short story, with at least one (if not two) books awaiting publication.  One or two may be with other publishers, rather than me bringing them out myself.  We'll see whether they're suitable or not.  At any rate, I'll be working hard this year to get back in the writing groove and rebuild my reader base after being forced to neglect it for the past few months.  Kidney stones are bad enough, but the very strong pain medication they necessitate is even worse for killing one's creative spark!  I'm glad those problems seem to be behind me, at least for now.

Peter

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! I'm glad you're finally able to get back to writing. :)

Unknown said...

Awesome, looking forward to it.

Bill S said...

Looking forward to the new books. Can you post a larger pic of the cover? I like to populate my screensaver with covers of books I've read (current year). Amazon doesn't post many large cover pics anymore.

Topher_Henry said...

I have really enjoyed the Maxwell universe and I look forward to more adventures from it. The Laredo trilogy was brilliant, in my mind, because it took this universe that I had only seen through the 'triumphing hero' trope and totally flipped it on it's head!! I'm very much looking forward to more works from that universe. I would love to see some of it adapted to the big (or little) screen, but I have a feeling your vision of the future might be too 'politically incorrect' for TV (possibly because it's too accurate? :-p).

Mark J said...

Awesome news, can't wait for book 5 to come out!

paulk4268 said...

Peter,
Please check you Amazon forum. Your fans miss you and really want to hear from you.
Thanks,
Margaret