Update and what to write next?

What to write next? That is the question.

 

I am in the fortunate position of not having to write to keep my head above water. I write because I want to write. I can choose my hours, and how long I spend tapping away. Others, I know, do not have this luxury.

Some authors seem to be able to produce lots of words in a week and lots of titles in a year. I’m relatively new to being an author. I have one novel published, Sporting Chance which took me years to write, a novella, Rainbow Connection, which sadly hasn’t been as popular, but has received some nice reviews, and a short story, Stay which is due for general release next month. The follow up to Sporting Chance, called Comfort Zone, has been contracted and will be out next year. Comfort Zone has Aron’s story. The title came from a friend, as did the idea for the issue Aron has to deal with when he goes out of his comfort zone for love.

I’ve just written another short story. It’s had lots of names, but I settled on Not Every Time. This story was written in five days, and came from an idea about what happens if you save a life. Raz saves Jack from certain death, but Raz has a secret. I’m hoping my publisher will like it.

A friend recently asked me where my ideas come from. I have three or four stories with starts written, and I need to decide what to do next. I’ve also three stories completed, two of which need editing. Ideas come from all over the place, stories in newspapers, things from my past, conversations overheard or read online, television shows, photographs—all sorts of places. So far, I’ve written contemporary romance stories, but I have an idea for a time-travelling story set partly in sixteenth century Scotland at the time of the murder of Lord Darnley. The idea came from a photograph of a bare-chested man in a kilt combined with teaching Mary, Queen of Scots using this image.

 An idea grew from there. Maybe one day I’ll have the courage to step out of my comfort zone and write it.

So, do I choose to write the fourth in my Home series set in Scotland with the closeted church minister, Sam Carmichael and the grieving widower, Tosh Mackintosh, or a standalone story set in Norfolk about cat loving librarian, Will Owen and carpenter and am dram fan, Jonah Jackson. I seem to have written about a few cats recently, and this one is likely to have more smiles than the first. While I decide, I’ve Home Goal in front of me to edit with Zac and Seth’s story. There’s a cat in that one too – a ginger Tom called Ron, who weasels his way into Seth’s affections. I'm sure you can see what I did there.

How do you choose what to read and/or write next?

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And to celebrate Stay being available for early download, and it being my birthday next week, I'm going to have a giveaway so you can win an EPub or PDF version of STAY when I get my copies. Please comment below if you’d like to win a copy, and I’ll use random.org to pick a winner a week from today.

Stay can be bought here