Being eclectic can have its drawbacks.  I write like I read which means I tend to be writing more than one book at a time.  In addition to having begun work on a new contemporary fantasy book, which is still untitled, I have also begun a nonfiction book on spiritual care at the end of life (Death's Companion) and am working on a book discussing our preparations and first year of single-parent family world travel.



The new fantasy book is a very different story for me.  I tend to be more interested by epic fantasy, but this story is taking some interesting turns and is becoming a mix of contemporary and historical fantasy.  When I write nonfiction, I tend to write in the first person (I saw, I felt . . . ) because I really enjoy getting inside my main character's head.  I also tend to let my characters take shape on their own and develop by themselves.  I always enjoy when a character surprises me, and it's even more fun when they are so far from my usual personality.  Those are the ones that are even more enjoyable to write.

This story is also more dark than anything I've written before.  It reminds me of some of the short stories I wrote during my high school years MANY years ago.  But it is darker than even those stories.  I don't think our protagonist is probably one that will receive a lot of sympathy from readers.  He is unrepentant and fairly single-minded in purpose.  I can personally relate to the latter but definitely not the former.  So far the beta readers are really enjoying it which is a good sign.