Short Stories Are Not My Forte
I’ve been recharging my hindbrain’s battery by working on a couple of short stories the last couple of months. I wrote a draft of the first one about a year ago, but put it aside because I was still in the middle of Avender in America. I knew the story was going to be tough, too, as it as a tone and mood very different from anything else I’ve done. But, after a month’s work and a fairly polished draft, it still isn’t what I’d hoped, so I’ve shelved it for the time being.
The second story was more of a problem - this is the third time I’ve tackled it. Nolo and Ferris fighting pirates in the Pearl Islands - it started out as a chapter in Reiffen’s Choice, but then was cut because it had nothing to do with the novel. Another version tried to sneak its way into AinA, but I axed that as well. So I know the story cold - banged it out in couple of days. But then I encountered a problem. There’s no ending. The best scene is in the middle, and after that eevrything’s an anticlimax. Not sure how to fix it but, after two months, I think it’s time to move on to the next novel.
Nothing to do with the Stoneways this time. It’s SF.
