At long bloody last

Just wrote the last few words for issue #12 of BBTSSG, as you might want to call it. FI-NA-LLY.

I tell you, this issue has been an absolute bitch to finish. Even though from the looks of things it 'just' took me a month or so to write, it felt waaaay longer to me. The whole thing seemed to move along in fits and starts, and I mean literally - some nights I'd sit for two hours and write two paragraphs. First I didn't feel like the issue had enough, well, eroticism in it. Then, after I figured that out, I realised I had to go back and rewrite something in issue #11 that changed quite a few things in issue #12. Gaaawwwwwdddd! With all that crap in my head it's a miracle I can come up with new ideas.

Oy. So where does this leave me?

Well first of all, my early plans to keep at least a 'clear arc' between whatever I'm currently writing, and whatever I'm currently releasing, are shot to hell.

That's because right now, there's no bloody way I can dive into issue #13 and beyond - which starts the next big arc, codenamed 'Crossover'. (The way I was previously planning, I'd finish 'Crossover' before I'd even release the arc I just finished, which covers issues #9-12.) I can't do that though. For one thing, I have no idea where 'Crossover' is going, precisely. It's like I can see the target but I need to hit the bullseye. I need to re-plot the whole thing, figure out what the high points are, and hopefully get a handle on how many issues it might end up being. (Because one thing I am going to keep doing is completing arcs before I release them. If - God forbid - I give up on the series entirely, I don't want to do it in the middle of a half-released arc. I'm not that cruel....)

More importantly, right now, I'm just plain tired of writing this series. Issue #12 took a lot out of me - this arc as a whole, in fact. I still love the characters, love where they're going, but it's starting to feel a little same-y. The plot of 'Crossover' should freshen things up a bit, but I need a break, to let me recharge the batteries, get enthused for it again... so that it feels fresh when I write it.

So what about that break. Well, I have a couple of other things on the go. I have an old, half-completed story (called 'Love Hotel') which I dusted off recently and might well try and complete; it's maybe a third, perhaps half-finished, and after some intensive plotting sessions with a fellow author recently I know what I need to do to finish it off. It's a 'straight' (ie, no superheroes!), one-off story too... and pretty damn hardcore. So it'd be a real change of pace for me right now.

Second, I do have that Susan Storm mini-series idea... but I'd need to knuckle down and plot that a bit more carefully. I also now know, having finished issue #12, that I'd probably have to write issue #13 before I can get to it. That's because...

... issue #12 ended up being looooong. For the record, it's the biggest issue to date; over 12,000 words in total. Partially that's because I added all that 'extra sauce' to it (Yeah, 'slight twist', my ass), and partially it's because there was a lot of plot to get in. And there was actually even more to fit into it in the original synopsis. So that stuff, which is an essential bridge to the Susan Storm mini, will now have to go in issue #13. Which as I write this, I'm starting to think might have to be a standalone issue. Followed by the mini. Oh God, I'm rambling like a maniac.

Alright, one more thing and out. The nice coda to all this is my word count. Issue #12 takes me to over 100,000 words written for the series so far; that's the size of a decent novel. Pretty cool.

Now click an ad and get outta here. Issue #9 will be out before the week's over. Promise.