Snowy!

We drove home through a snowstorm, but made it back just fine. Bill's interview went well - they have a couple of other people to talk to - and we'll know for sure about the job by the end of this week. There are lots and lots of lovely houses that'd be perfect for us, so when we're ready to buy it should all go very smoothly. Bill and I talked a great deal about 'what to do if' so our plans are pretty well set, either way. Now we just have to wait until Friday to start on them.

Work on SPORE is progressing, not as quickly as I'd like, but it is moving forward. I've stopped working on the personal thing for a while, choosing instead to focus on fiction. This is a good thing, a very good thing, at least for me. Not so much for fans of the Dubric books. A dedicated reader emailed me recently asking about the status of Stain of Corruption. I've been thinking about it quite a lot, but the book itself is stalled right now. There's a whole lot of *stuff* that needs to get laid out in the very beginning, as well as starting the mystery to use as a vehicle to tell the story that I'm trying to tell - for all of the Dubric books, that story isn't the mystery, the mystery just gives the story legs to run, if that makes sense. I'm having trouble finding the beginning, the right place and way to start the ball rolling. I have a very tough time with beginnings, always have, but once I nail it the book, the mystery, and the story will all churn together like a violent, angst ridden machine. But I haven't found that yet, the moment that ties all the parts together and gives them a kick in their combined pants.

Stain of Corruption needs to begin in an incredibly narrow time and place. Where it ends up isn't as vitally specific - the story will dictate that as it progresses, it might take a few days, might take months - but, again, it's the beginning that poses the problem. There are a lot of pieces that need to be present - and many of those need to be moving - in that particular time and place. Getting them all there and in the proper high-tension relationship with each other, as well as with the mystery and the underlying story, is proving to be very difficult. All of my books are front heavy, at least I think so, with a massive amount of *stuff* in the first three chapters. 

Analyze my existing books some time, if you're interested in cramming a lot into beginnings. Essentially every important character, plot line, concept and conflict is introduced or at least mentioned within the first three chapters, give or take, in every book. I've heard some writers introduce all the major parts in the first third of the book, or even the first 150 pages. Not me, it's all right there, in the very beginning. Plus there's the necessary backstory crammed in there too. I don't do prologues per se, and I don't like infodumps. I've also set each of the books up to be self contained, so if someone were to read Valley of the Soul first they wouldn't be lost and could still enjoy the story without reading Ghosts in the Snow or Threads of Malice.

I know a lot of readers get upset at picking up a series in the middle, especially if the earlier books are tough to find, so my methodology helps alleviate that problem. Hopefully. To simplify illustrating the concept, I compare my structuring of the separate books to Agatha Christie Mysteries. You can pick up any Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot book and enjoy it as it stands all by itself. I've tried to make my Dubric books the same, yet different. Instead of them happening outside of time, time matters. If something happens to a character or the world in one Dubric book, that incidence impacts upon subsequent books. Miss Marple never ages, but Dubric and his team do. Any injury or issue Hercule Poirot suffers disappears when the book ends, but Dubric and his world carry on the scars.

So there's all of that, the complicated backstory that's impacting on Stain of Corruption - especially matters concerning Jess and Lars. Just because Lars learned part of his parental history in Valley of the Soul doesn't mean that that issue is resolved. Of course not, it's a tambobook so Lars's parentage still needs to bite someone in the ass, hard, and I have to tie that thread into the beginning. Jess and her planned journey toward University, as well as her new-found issues with magic, also are vital to the main story of Stain of Corruption. Those three things I just mentioned complicate matters between Lars and Jess (and everyone connected to them) and I need to get those threads started. Magic, politics, babies yet to be born, lies Dubric has told, Otlee's problems, Dien's injuries, the ferrotypes, spies in the castle, Gilby, ancient artifacts... and those are just part of the backstory issues; that's not even mentioning all of the things Stain of Corruption will introduce and focus on, or other lingering problems like Pyrinn, the Romlins, and the war.

So, there's a lot to cram in. I know what needs to happen in the story itself, where this book needs to go, and who needs to pay to get it there. I just need to get all of the catalysts in there quickly, and with enough interesting happenings and punch to move the whole piece forward. That's where my problem is, but I'll find the solution.

Stain of Corruption will be a very powerful, very brutal, gut wrenching book. I just have to find its beginning.