I'm still on editing Letha Hobbs: The Fiddler's Dance, a much shorter Twister book after the huge mammoth volume that was Anna Sinclair: The Evil Dad. Now that I've revealed the nature of the new story arc that's going to run through the next half-dozen or so Twister books, I'm excited and also terrified that using such an intriguing concept is either going to go well or fail spectacularly. The Stelline arc of the last few books kind of nearly got away from me at times, as I felt the whole concept of a reality war, where countless alternate versions of reality were enslaved/liberated or destroyed in the conflict nearly became an incomprehensible mess. That's why I kind of pushed Anna Sinclair forward as the face of the enemy, so there was a simple foe to fight and hopefully defeat. It didn't help that I decided not to write the original sequel story to Hannah & Judy: Twisted Tales, which would have seen several of the Twisters go into a higher dimension to fight a version of that war there, which would have led to a resurgence of the Stelline, before their eventual defeat. Instead I kind of pushed the arc into the background and wrote about other story ideas that involved Judy, along with her adoptive family and I left the Stelline arc all but ignored, until finally I wrote the definitive end to things with the Stelline betraying Anna and Anna siding with the Twisters, and coming to some sort of stalemate with them, before she eventually joined their ranks, because it would be less hassle to have her helping them than fighting them. This is why I like the new Twister arc more, the nature of the dangers are clearer, though there will be some complications to come, just to add intrigue. The thing I also like about Letha Hobbs: The Fiddler's Dance is that it's mostly about Letha and her new role as an investigative agent, rather than a warrior like Hannah, a political activist like Judy or a well-meaning adventurer like Anna. There's a few early scenes with Anna and Jane Kaizana that were pretty much written for the gags, but everything else is a more serious story which sees Letha exploring mysterious deaths, and adopting some rather severe methods to do so. I also like that I wrote it as one complete novella, rather than the hybrid style I usually use of writing each chapter as a short story in its own right, with a large cast of characters, styles and POV's.
Editing has always been the part of the process I've struggled the most with, which is why I always take my time and give it the respect it needs. I rushed the editing on Judy's first solo book and regretted that a lot, even going so far to issue a completely re-edited version to replace the original, with a couple of new stories in it to help justify things artistically, though editorially it was very much the best decision I could have made. So that's why I use that memory to make myself go over every word, every sentence and every plot point in the story structure to make sure I can do the best job possible.
Of course when I'm editing my anxiety often rises up, and I begin to feel like I'm wasting my time, that there's no point writing books that maybe no-one will ever read. But I have to keep writing, otherwise I'll never get better. It doesn't matter if no-one reads them, I know they're the best that I can do, and they do entertain me. Sometimes I just need to have a good cry to get all that out and then get on with things again. I have a lot of stories still to write and indulging in self-doubt isn't going to get the typing done any quicker. If I do want anything as a writer then it is for others to love my characters as much as I do, I know I'm probably not going to be famous or make any money out of it, a little of both while nice isn't why I sit myself down each night and try to encapsulate fantastic ideas and concepts into the medium of words, I write because I can't not write. If I didn't write my books then I wouldn't ever be able to all of the me that I want to be.