So I have to confess something: I’m having a little trouble figuring out how to begin the next—and final—book in the Introductions to the Darklands series. Or more aptly, I’m having trouble figuring out how to END the book.
You see, I never start a project until I know where I want it to go. We’ve all been there: you start reading a book and somewhere around page 759 it becomes apparent that the author began this long, boring monster with no idea how they were going to end it. The final result is a book that starts out exciting, meanders, drifts, meanders some more, and ultimately just sort of…peters out. We all hate it when an author does that to their readers. It feels like a broken promise. This is why as an author I need to know how the last chapters are going to shake out before I write page 1.
This is a slightly different thing from writer’s block. To call it writer’s block, one must be attempting to actually write something. I call this predicament “outliner’s block”. I admit that I’m struggling with the outline for Introductions Book 4, the working title for the current project. I’m struggling to outline Book 4 with an ending that I’m excited to write and that I feel you would be excited to read.
I’m proud of how all my previous projects have ended; I don’t feel that any of them leave the reader disappointed. I intend to carry this tradition on to Book 4 and to every book, novella, or short story I ever write.
I have a tremendous wealth of material for Book 4, including a number of subplots—begun in previous books—which I need to start bringing together and fleshing out. Additionally, Book 4 needs to set the stage for my next (as yet untitled) book series. Just like each of the other three books in the Introductions to the Darklands series, Book 4 will also introduce a new primary protagonist.
The protagonist for Book 4 will be Gonaways Police Inspector Braden McIver. Those of you who’ve read Conflagration have already briefly met Inspector McIver, as he makes a brief appearance in the latter chapters of that book. If you’ve grown attached to any main character from a previous story, don’t worry; all of the protagonists are coming back. In fact, it’s my plan to bring back Sallie Starlinger, Danny Jake, Marcio Ruiz, Lyssa Ruiz, and Erin O’Connell all for parts in Braden’s story. As Braden investigates a strange crime, he will cross paths with my other books’ protagonists as well as a variety of other characters from those other books and, of course, several new characters.
The crime that Braden is investigating in Book 4 will take him from the dregs of society to halls of power. We will go from street hustlers and desperate refugees to powerful politicians, wealthy industrialists and crime bosses. We will meet several factions, each with their own agendas and intrigues as Braden navigates the complex spiderweb of Gonaways society in pursuit of justice.
As you can see, I have a great deal of material to draw from in writing Book 4. Also, I have a rough outline for the next series of books I’m going to start after I finish the Introductions series, so I have a good idea in what direction I need Book 4 to go. The only thing I’m lacking is an ENDING! I could just phone it in and write you a bland, generic ending, just to get the project moving. But you know me better than that. You know that’s not how I operate.
I would never insult my readers with a boring ending. Reading a book is an act of faith, a promise made by the author to the reader. The reader invests hours or even days on the faith that the author is taking them somewhere interesting. I make this promise to you, my readers: I will never publish a book that doesn’t take you somewhere interesting. I’d rather not publish at all than to be the type of author who would publish 759 pages of crap.
It’s now been just over a year since the publication of Conflagration, my most recent book, and I felt that you, my faithful reader, deserved the respect of an update. I haven’t abandoned the project. Introductions Book 4 (WT) will definitely see the light of day. In fact, I already have it mostly outlined. The only thing I need is an ending worthy of the Darklands. Once I know where I want the story to end up, I can begin the fun part of writing any book: the actual writing process.
In the meantime, I’m thinking about doing a couple more stories in my Transmissions from the Void series of short stories. So far, the only story I’ve published in that series is “Paying Dues: A Sallie Starlinger Story”, though I’ve got several ideas for different stories featuring my other chief characters. Perhaps writing a short story featuring Braden McIver will get the creative rhythm going in the right direction…? Maybe a Danny Jake short story? Danny’s always fun to write. Perhaps I can tell the story of the Ruin of Estrella, since that is the inciting event for almost everything happening in the Darklands now.
No matter what I decide to write next, you can rest assured it’ll have a good ending, because you need an ending before you can write your beginning.
Thank you, friend reader, for your continued interest in my work. I promise you the adventure will continue!
Pax, Sarah
PS: It is worth mentioning that I’ve enrolled in my local community college so that I can take a few writing classes. Although the classes will sap a lot of my time and energy for writing in the near future, hopefully they will help me hone my skills and allow me to produce an even higher quality standard of work for you in the future.