I had an off day. Well, what passes as an off day for me. My new job had me all over the place. There would be days with little sleep. There would be days when I would mentally have to remind myself of what day of the week it was. Especially when I was behind on shows. So just knowing that I had an off day to do what I wanted to do…outside of my birthday…had become rare.
And speaking of my birthday, it had come and went. And what a gift that I gave to myself. This past year…I took an overdue vacation. The last one had been…FIVE years ago. I was shocked at that.
One of my worries though before I came back to good old San Diego? How would I be now that I was relaxed? Would I be able to focus on writing again? Would work get in the way of that as it had over the last few years?
But here I was doing a thing.
That thing? Actually ENJOYING my off day.
Catching a bus to get some buffalo chipotle fries. Doing a quick cameo during another bus hop. Getting to my final destination…THE BEACH. And just sitting and journaling. Sitting and being.
Because at this moment in time…I had 3 different writing avenues.
I had returned to my Darkenverse. After working on my WiP for so long, I had looped back around to my OTHER work in progress: DARKENED SOUL: THE BREAKING OF CIRCLES. I finished a draft for it years ago. And it was going to have a long extensive research period.
Scratch that, it has been a long extensive research period. And now? It was time to go back.
It was also time to get back to my Book page. Part of the thing that I wanted at my Book page ( www.facebook.com/darkenverse) was short stories. I had them before, but Facebook updated, taking away their NOTES section that held them.
I was slowly rebuilding them. And by rebuilding my short stories, I was reposting them. Whether it was by finding the original link or just a repost, it was popping up again at my Book page. Right now, I was reposting the short stories having to do with Nicholas, the supporting Nosferatu character in my books DARKCHILDE, DARKENED TABULA, etc. One of the story threads that I put out there was that he has a history with Georgia, the elder witch that appeared in DARKCHILDE. I started writing short stories exploring their history. The first story “First Meeting” could be found in parts at my Book page. And I planned to post the second story (called “Second Meeting”) soon. After that, I might start reposting the short stories I did for the Forryn, the shifter villains that I introduced in DARKCHILDE as well.
I wondered if that was the right thing to do. Yeah, the best way to get my writing out there was for it to have exposure. And by exposure, I meant CONSISTENT exposure.
One morning, I woke up to check my social media. And I saw something that I had forgotten about. It was that I put DARKENED SOUL: PIECES OF A DARKENED PUZZLE on sale. Since Nicholas and Georgia were important parts of that short story collection, I took that as a sign.
AVENUE 2: THEY DO LIKE A QUIRKY GAY, RIGHT?
Wow. I could not believe that it’s been two years.
Two years my birthday in June was when I first self-published HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES. It was my first true gay novel. It was also my first published novel with a black protagonist.
It had good traction actually. And that honestly surprised me. Usually when I published a book, people would buy the e-book. Or they would at least read the sample, the KENP (Kindle Edition Normalized Page) number growing for each page read. HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES was different in that people were buying the actual book. And it was continuous over that first year. They really connected to my main character Shaun and his African American posse in the dating world of New York City. That made me feel grateful and happy. One person who bought my book asked me when the next one in that vein would be. He was especially interested in the character of Eugene, Shaun’s diva friend who was fabulous.
My answer? I didn’t know.
While I like the reception that HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES has gotten…more than I’ve gotten for my Nosferatu series of six books and counting…it never occurred to me that I might do another gay novel. And if I did another gay novel, would it be another black protagonist? Would it be in New York City? Would it be funny like this?
I felt if I was to do another one, it should be in a similar style. Quirky gay fiction. I should also have a point. HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES said a lot about black friendships, dating, and interracial relationships. Would there be anything else for me to say?
One day, I was working at my job. Just listening to music as I sorting things. And just like that…another novel hit me, title and all. Go figure.
It currently grew in my head. A new black gay protagonist. Another quirky hook. And very much had something to say about relationships.
The creative process was an interesting one.
AVENUE 3: A Little Different
If you have been following me on my Author Page (www.facebook.com/writerguygothic) or even my page on the Twitter (www.x.com/writerguygothic) I have been posting and discussing my current W.I.P. frequently.
For those who don’t know, WIP=Work in Progress. I started it a months ago.
It wasn’t about vampires. It wasn’t about a hilarious gay person…though there is one in the book. It was about a girl entering the restaurant industry and all the good and bad that could be found there. Of course, there’s a love triangle involving a bad boy.
It had come about because of my years of working in the service industry. It was also a good way to work through my feelings about it…the good and the bad. Something happened to me a few years back so it allowed me to work through those unresolved feelings. It was a different kind of fiction, but fiction all the same.
Like HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES…was there potential to write another story within that style? Yes. A few of my stories that I never published came to mind. One in particular about a set of damaged teenagers that come together. Over the years, I have posted some parts from it…and it really seems to resonate. There’s something that can be said about stories that take you into the depths of what it means to live, suffer, and…triumph?
Though would it resonate now?
But…I could say the same for other genre stories I had around. There are so many stories within the Darkenverse that I still want to write. Not to mention the last book in the series. I also had other stories I wanted to work on. Sci-fi and horror and fantasy mixed into things. So many avenues to work on.
OPTIONS, OR…TO PICK A LANE?
I had always read that an author should start in one genre. From there, the author could build a fanbase. And then from there, they could eventually branch off into any genre that they would like. Of course, that was back then.
Something that I’ve been learning since I’ve started to ground myself when I sit in the park has been this…that was then. NOW, there were so many avenues for writers. And a lot of them really seem to be into some form of cross-genres…which used to be what set my writing apart.
I really didn’t need to pick a lane. I did, however, need one thing. Consistency.
So…may the road I travel light my way…
#birthday #sanfrancisco #trips #introspection #writing #avenues #shortstories #horror #fantasy #nyc #newyorkcity #tales #africanamericans #gay #options #writinglife #writingcommunity
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