I can’t stop thinking about writing. I can’t stop coming up with ideas. I currently work full time, am a husband and homeowner, and have a finite amount of time available to me on a daily basis and afforded to me for life. It’s a dilemma but perhaps an enjoyable one.

When we did our recent podcast interview with Jim Butcher, a writer who has a vast number of works within his various series. I was taken by his comment about books AND series having a beginning, a middle, and an end. For the individual books, that made sense. But to end a series takes a lot of guts.

So, I considered how long I would want to keep my Wichita Chronicles series going with Jewish private detective Harold Bergman going through his moral and spiritual development. Where does his story end? Or does it? Three books published, a fourth in the pipeline, a fifth being outlined…There’s a lot of thought that goes into this.

The Ark City Confidential Chronicles ended because the inspiration for it, my wife’s uncle, passed away shortly before the release of the fourth book. That was an abrupt and yet natural end. After that one and this most recent series, I’ve got a good feeling for historical crime fiction and have developed two distinctly different series main characters. Why not consider a third? Perhaps a slightly later time period, 50’s or 60’s, and a character that is unlike the others. Something IS in the works.

Oh, and I finally outlined a standalone piece of literary historical fiction focusing on an artist whose life spans the entirety of the 20th century. I’d had a similar idea years ago but it just came together thematically recently, perhaps due to being more attune to my own writing instincts. And, yes, I started an outline.

There are also two W.I.P. from a while ago: A Transgressive novel and an Experimental metafiction. I started by taking a contemporary crime fiction piece from 13 years ago and reworking it as an historical piece based in the 1930’s. I also was working on a pure pulp piece in the style of the 50’s pulp writers. Got a bit done on the first draft, but might need to recapture the flavor.

There is new stuff, old stuff, new stuff based on old stuff, a few worthwhile poems from 30 years ago…and a brain that just won’t stop. And, of course, there’s the Tikiman and the Viking Podcast. We’re having a great time, and it really fascinating talking with other creatives and experiencing their passion.

What good would it be to have all the time in the world and nothing to work on? I will never complain about the ideas. They are like the blood flowing through your veins that keep you alive. The ideas of a creative individual are what keeps us going, not only motivates us or drives us, but gives the very breath to our existence.

I have mentioned before the quote by Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman: If I don’t create, I don’t exist. I adhere to the concept and believe it to be true of human beings in general. We do have the capacity for intuition and imagination. What history has shown us is that we are capable of coming up with marvelous notions, ideas, stratagems, and inventions. I would not wish to be someone who is simply a consumer without putting to use the gifts I have at my disposal.

I do not wish to cease to exist.