Chet Zero Manuscript Completed

It’s hard to believe it has only been a week since I announced I was starting Chet zero. After the struggle I’ve had with writing for the first two weeks of this new year, I figured it was going to take some serious time to complete even a novella length story. In spite of my low expectations, I’m delighted to let you know that I’ve completed the manuscript for the Chet prequel.

I was writing along yesterday afternoon when I reached the end of a chapter and suddenly realized I’d finished telling the story. There were some other tidbits that I’d outlined, but given the way the story evolved they felt superfluous. Not willing to trust my judgment, especially when avoiding work is part of the consideration, I gave the story to my wife to read. She buried her head in the computer while I went off to do some manual labor to keep myself from pacing back and forth behind her chair while she read.

During one of the times I cautiously poked my head into the office, she sighed, smiled, and told me it was a good little story. With my sweetheart’s stamp of approval, the manuscript is officially off to cool its heels for a few weeks.

By way of explanation, I learned my production process from a much younger and more mentally agile author. He assured me a manuscript needs to set for a few weeks so I’ll be able to forget enough that I’m seeing it fresh when I do my initial editing pass. I just didn’t have the heart to tell my son that all it takes is one night and I’ve forgotten pretty much everything. Since I’m all about keeping up pretenses, I’ll dutifully wait for the next three weeks or so and then I’ll do my initial editing pass. If everything goes as well as I hope, I’ll release Chet zero in close proximity to the release of Chet III.

Until next time …

Could There be a Chet Zero

The first half of January has been brutal. I’ve been working on the manuscript for Conspiring Men. To say it has not been going well would be a massive understatement. So far, my total word count for the month is a dismal 2,482 words. Realizing that something has to give, and if I don’t make a change soon it could very well be my tenuous grip on my sanity, I’ve decided to pull off of my current story for a while.

My son, the author, has been urging me to go back and dig a little deeper into where Chet came from. My editor suggested my first novel could have been better if I’d provided some additional back story. In light of my current writing struggles, my frenetic mind has seized upon these urgings as a heaven sent excuse to avoid what has turned out to be an incredibly persistent case of writer’s block.

Now that I’ve come clean, I’d like to take this opportunity to announce that I’m undertaking a prequel to the Chet series. I envision a relatively short novella that will give us a glimpse into who Charles and Emily were when Chet first entered their lives. I can’t tell you any more than that because the story is currently nothing more than an ill defined mist, skulking around in the recesses of my mind. Not only that, I’m pretty certain you wouldn’t want me to spoil the story before it’s even written.

With a little luck, I’ll see you in a couple of weeks …