Reading, Writing, Pondering: Big Life Themes, Literature, Contemporary/Historical Issues |
June 1-new month, almost the longest day of the year , very soon-June 20. I am racking my brains considering what to make my Writing goals for June; I will be participating in the June Novel Workshop on Sequels. Probably because of this I will be finishing either Book Three of The Testament Logging Corporation Chronicles, of which I wrote 20 chapters March 22-31. I might even get energetic and ambitious, and continue Book Three of The Mediumistic Mary Series which I began in early December and worked on into February, which has 6 chapters. I thought y'all might be interested in some of my thoughts on Sequels and the terms for novel series, as we begin the Sequels workshop: I have three “series-in-Progress” (and no completes). For NaNoWriMo 2007, I wrote a novel to which I wrote a sequel (in immediate chronological order) for NaNoWriMo 2009; then I started the third (again, staying in immediate chronology) early in December 2009. On Dec. 9, I had a new inspiration and started a novel I entitled The Phantom Logging Operation, a haunted historical-horror. By March 1 I began its sequel (The Haunted GreenHouse, a haunted historical-horror-dark fantasy, which included a lot of sorcery-white and black; ceremonial magick, and New Age metaphysics). I finished TPLO} on March 11, and THG on March 22. Now, these two are a direct progression, and are stand-alones, although some of the same characters and settings carry over. Yet, like the third book, they are both part of The Testament Logging Corporation Chronicles. The third book I began on March 23, and wrote 20 chapters by March 31-but paused to write a stage play for April Script Frenzy. The third book, Child Puppets of The Testament Logging Corporation, is pretty much completely a stand-alone, though again some of the characters recur. I call this series “Chronicles” in the medieval sense: a collection of tales (like Chaucer's), in which some charactes and settings recur. Here, the “main” protagonist is the evil, otherworldly, Testament Corporation. The third series-in-Progress is The Civil War Series, which began with a Stage Play in April, and is now at five books planned: two chapters written in Book One, and ten chapters of Book Five. If I manage to complete all five, there will be a logical-chronological-progression, from 1854 to 1870. I gave my definition of “Chronicle” above. As for “Saga” in a book title, I immediately expect it to be fantasy of the pretentious category which will metaphorically put me to sleep; so I tend to pass that on by LOL. “Adventures”? Well, that strikes me personally as being Indiana Jones-type stuff; so again, I'd probably pass it on by. (Or similar to the “Choose-Your-Own-Adventure” type middle school books. Fun to a point.) Obviously my personal preference is “Chronicles” from www.dictionary.com: “chronicle c.1300, from O.Fr. chronique, from L. chronica, from Gk. khronika (biblia) "(books of) annals," neut. pl. of khronikos "of time." The verb is from c.1440. “ |