Evolution of a Novel

I was working hard on Lights and Shadows last night when a deliberate burst of distractive energy caused me to think about Parallax. This isn’t an uncommon occurrence due to the fact that The Trilogy and Lights and Shadows inhabit the same story universe.

What pulled me over to Parallax wasn’t the final draft, but instead one of the earliest drafts that I wrote many years ago. Same characters, different situations, and in one draft the city of Walla Walla, Washington was obliterated during the AI Rebellion. For obvious reasons, I had to remove that entire sequence from later drafts. Why? Because if I destroyed everything in print that I thought had a silly name, I’d run out of settings. 😉

Anyway, going back to that early Parallax draft reminded me of something that has weighed heavily on my mind in recent years. Why was I publishing? Money? Fame? The short list at Spago’s? Okay, the last part was a bit much, but hey it could happen. 😉

I’ve come to the conclusion that I am probably more in love with writing and publishing my books than actually making money with them. I never claimed to be a salesman; I’m just a guy who makes things up on a blank page and presents them to the world at large.

Somebody grab me a checklist so I can check off how many publishing no-nos I am breaking here…hehe. Apologies for allowing time to pass between articles, but you know how it is. Know that I love you. 🙂