The world turns and Stroudy is writing another novel.

As I type, Vigilance, the third book in the Fractal series is just over halfway drafted. This is a book I had planned for, but one that has also changed significantly in scope. 

Originally, when I started writing Fearless, the first book in the series, and was thinking about the scale and scope of the story I wanted to tell, I was imagining a continuing adventure. I have always wanted to write a space opera of such size that readers would find they could join the adventure wherever they liked.

Fearless has some of the qualities of that vision, but not all of them. When I was writing the novel, I didn't have a publisher or an agent (I still don't have an agent) and was trying to do something new for me that fulfilled certain narrative priorities that I wanted to fit into a story. The character of Ellisa Shann being one of those priorities, which I've spoken about before. Disability representation is a massive part of that novel and everything that has come after it. 

Another element that was important to me at that point was to tell a very tight and constrained story. Fearless was inspired by Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan and The Expanse television series. For me, some of the best elements in those narratives occur in the way in which space is imagined as a confined environment. Human beings living and working in restricted environment, fighting against the threats of vacuum and physics (being thrown off structure). These were elements I have seen used effectively in a variety of science fiction stories and they both led to the immediacy of the moment and the locations. 

Resilient is 'Die Hard on a Space Station'. The book builds out the story of Fearless, widening the narrative so we get a sense of the circumstances going on around the original story. Now, we learn about Phobos Station and the political context of the Mars Colony. 

There are elements in Resilient that were always intended to be there and elements that I discovered along the way. I'm a 'pantser' these days when it comes to writing. I do minimal planning and just try to immerse myself in the head of the character as they experience and shape the story. 

The second book enabled me to consider the wider context of my fiction and to explore more of the culture and society of this imagined 22nd century. These all feed into the tension and conflict that 'erupts' around Mars. Shann and her crew's return does not go smoothly!

After this, my original plan was to begin with Vigilance. I've never considered the Fractal Series to be a trilogy, but given where Resilient ends, Shann's story in this situation does need an ending. My thought initially was to then move forward to another story set in the same 'world'. 

However, in 2022, Nick Wells at Flame Tree Press approached me about writing new episodes in the series as shorter fiction, with a 20-25k word count. 

With the release of these six books and the release of an album of music to accompany the series, suddenly the starting point and story for Vigilance becomes a whole lot more complicated! 

The six standalone stories all feature a completely different set of characters. These characters develop the plot and story in a variety of different locations and times. Each of the stories is connected to the main narrative of the first two novels and provides an opportunity to add new elements to Vigilance. As I'm writing, I'm conscious that some of these characters need to be introduced, even if they've been previously introduced in the shorter episodes. This is where the first person element of the writing helps. Different characters see people in different ways and hopefully, readers who are following the series can get that little 'Aha!' moment when they see little elements link up.

In many ways, this kind of linking has been something I've been doing throughout the writing period with the six episodes. Fearless and Resilient both have some collated articles and journalism attached to some of the chapters. These can become starting points for new narratives. I have reduced the use of this in the shorter works, so as to maximise the character story time.

However, in Vigilance, this element becomes a great way to continue some of the additional characters.from the episodes. Expect connections and continuations all over the place as I build up the layers of the story.  

What has also helped is that my working life has changed too. My research has become much more focused on the intersection between futures and science fiction. My work with DSTL, RBOC, Whitespace and the Ministry of Defence has become much more prominent in the last couple of years and this has become a really great source to inform my fiction.

The deadline for Vigilance is getting close and it will be tight. However, the story is flowing now and hopefully we'll make it!