Well, as you know, I’ve been writing book 2 in the series at Camp NaNoWriMo throughout April.

I suppose if I was a ‘proper’ writer I’d be writing stories all the time, without the impetus of a wordcount target to reach.  But I find it suits my lifestyle better to devote a set period of time to a book, since I immerse myself in it, and end up waking with the next phase of the story in my head, and I don’t lose track of what I’ve done (provided I make notes , especially of planets, people and things invented) as I go.

But then, from what JK Rowling said about the last Harry books, she had to sit down and lock herself away to finish them.  So maybe it’s just part of the process, especially when one is promoting the books as well.  A time for everything in its season.

So, what about Book 2?

Firstly, I’ve finished it!  I was aiming at 90k words, and stopped 85.4k.  It’s slightly light, but I may need to write in some more action when I edit.

I wish I could think of a decent title.  Working titles have included 1 Watching Wood Warp, which was a description I heard of something extremely boring, which is a fairly accurate description of Pete and the Swede’s lives through the wormhole.  But as with my second thought 2 Autumn Harbour, it is meaningless to anyone passing a list of book titles and certainly does not act as an attention grabber. 3 Dragonfly Planet is strongly related to Autumn Harbour, but they don’t spend long at that planet, although the dragonfly plays a major role.  4 is Three Georges, but again, nobody knows it relates to scifi, and could easily be mistaken for a travel book on China.  5, which I got the day I finished, is Perihelix Adventure, which is a phrase Pete uses when he is musing on life in the final paragraphs.  It obviously links to book 1, but is a bit of a cop out, I think.  You know, Dune, Dune Messiah… Foundation, Second Foundation.  It also gives me a constraint for book 3 (and I have no idea what book 3 will do at present, nor whether the Perihelix will be needed).

At present, I think I’d happily use Dragonfly Planet if I had to give it a working title, but maybe calling it Book 2 will be the best.  However, I do think the cover will have a dragonfly motif on it.

You can’t pick a title without knowing what the book is about.  I have updated the book page with a slightly longer description, but I am a long way from writing a blurb.  I now need to let the book simmer for a bit so I go back to it with fresh eyes.  For one thing I don’t think it is exciting enough as it stands.  But I may surprise myself, because, of course, I knew what was going to happen as I wrote it (although there were some surprises as characters did their own thing, as usual).

What I’ll do later in the year is to go through it for my first edit, pick out any phrases I think might make a good title, and if I’m ready but still undecided, I’ll give you a good synopsis and a choice of titles.

And if you haven’t got your Viridian System Sampler yet – it’s now free!  And since I’ve done a backstory for Aramintha in April, I may update the samples included, but remove the coupon for the Perihelix.  If you buy from Smashwords you can get later editions free, I’m not sure whether that applies to Nook, Kobo and Apple stores or not.

Safe spacing!

PS Watch out for snippets from the book that I post in the next few months!