Very little got written this week, what with Christmas travel adventures and then being sick the last few days.
I did however have some pretty cool ideas for the thriller book #3. They’ll deal with some concerns I had re- not being as completely episodic as Jack Reacher.
I don’t know about you, but I find the lack of continuity in Jack Reacher novels annoying. I want previous books to have some impact going forward. I’d love it if Jack was capable of learning and growing. It’s hard and kind of depressing to imagine him in his 50s and 60s still just roaming the land, helping maidens fair. Even if he’s happy with such a lifestyle, I’m not happy for him.
It’s like he’s in a state of stasis. Waiting for something to break the gridlock.
Well, I want my guy to advance – even as individual novels are highly self-contained. I’m thinking more like Marvel movies. Each movie deals with its own big bad and issues, while at the same time, in hints and credit post-rolls, a bigger story is built. I aim to build that bigger story.
In coming up with the idea for book 3, I first of all came up with the bigger story. It couldn’t work though – wouldn’t do it justice. Many other things had to happen first. So now I’ve got the overarch, I need to build up to it. I was worried that would feel like just delaying, but I don’t think it will be. As I tell each self-contained story, hints will drop tying them to the grander story.
And when the grander story ends? Well, that is another question. There are a lot of possibilities. I put Amo in my Last Mayor zombie series through 9 books of tortures. I had/have another 9 books in mind for him, all continuing his character further. I may never write those books, but they may serve as prep work for these thrillers.
No words or agent info this week. The world stands still on the cusp of 2019. My writing year in review is tomorrow.