To Finish a Series

It’s always great when you realize your mistake 2/3s of the way through writing the series.

For a while, I could not figure out why reception for my second book had been so much more muted than my first book. Certainly, it’s not as novel (hehe) the second time you publish something. Perhaps I should have spaced it out more than six months. Did I not do enough promotions?

This was all the more vexing because I had figured there would be more interest in a book set in modern times (albeit a satire of those times) versus my original historical fiction thriller. More relevant to everyone and more appealing to those who don’t like history. And hell, I still believe The Opening Salvo provides much more comedy than A Bloody Business.

So what gives?

Part of the issue lay in the fact that I had started taking protagonist Dick Winchester, originally written as a caricature, far too seriously. I had given him a serious and gut-wrenching backstory that added layers to the character. A backstory set in a certain war with an outcome that’s far from certain at this point.

That was all well and good, but those dark elements ran up against the lighter humor of the book. Suddenly, Dick Winchester was a bit too close to actual reality, and I was reminded of a quote from The Colbert Report:

Why is it a bad thing to lose touch with reality? Have you seen reality lately? It’s terrible.

And that, I realized, was likely a good reason why readers weren’t leaping at the opportunity to read something that reminded them of all their troubles when all they wanted to do was find some distraction and escapism. Even if the reality of Dick Winchester is hyperbole, it’s rooted in modern times that many are struggling to cope with.

Certainly, not everyone is put off by facing reality. There are masochists out there consuming the news each day. Me among them.

Still, that’s not what most expect when offered fiction. That’s not what most come to fiction for.

But it was this realization that also offered salvation. For I, myself, was struggling to keep motivated to continue the series, and I realized that paralleling a reality that also worried me likely had something to do with it.

My editor wished me luck balancing the dark backstory of Dick Winchester’s origins amid the rubble of the War in Ukraine and the comedic tones of the book.

In the beginning, Dick Winchester had been easy to write. A joy to write, even. Fun, almost effortless, and a welcome reprieve from an overly demanding job and my many health issues.

Now, with a job that allows me to breathe and far less health issues, Dick Winchester is now an unexpected source of stress.

“So,” I said to myself, “let’s go back to the fun times.”

A delicate line to tread? It sure is. So, delicate tonal balance…

…meet sledgehammer.

Just as Dick Winchester is quick to turn to his oldest and truest friend, his Smith & Wesson .38 revolver, I stopped mulling over how to make it all work and turned to a new friend.

The Delete key.

After all, reality is already troubling enough without letting geopolitics poison my series. And those who read Book 1 might be whiplashed by the tone shift, anyhow.

To be fair, Book 2 is a bit of a shift, anyhow. Book 1 is experimental, with one chapter masquerading as a screenplay, another masquerading as a TV commercial, and a three-part miniseries told out of order.

Still, where Book 1 gets its gonzo bona fides from form, Book 2 gets its gonzo bona fides from plot points, from a “super intense paintball match” (with live rounds) in the middle of the Pentagon to Dick Winchester vs. the Deepest State, aided by chief QAnon competitor K-Incog.

If that sounds ridiculous, then I have succeeded in my mission 😁

So transformative was this revelation that it has influenced how I plan to end this series. Without spoilers, Dick has tried to beat his app-based food delivery foes more or less on their own terms. Now, down and out, Dick realizes he has been approaching the situation all wrong. He’s been trying to outcompete the other delivery services. When the true solution is to destroy the institution of food delivery and the digital environment that allowed them to reach such dominance.

And how does he do that? By helping the people wake up to how their lives have become controlled and sheltered by digital spaces and algorithms that remove humans and connection at every turn.

How fitting that all the allies and accomplices Dick has made along the way will come together to bring this vision to reality.

Will it be the greatest series ever to exist? No, but that was never the goal. The goal was to write a series and have fun. To build out the backlog and offer those who enjoyed the comedy of A Bloody Business another character to sink their teeth into.

If nothing else, I promised a trilogy, and I will deliver a trilogy.

The timeline from here on out:

The next three months, I’m going to wrap up producing Book 2 The Counterattack with a publish date of March 28th. During that time, I’m aiming to have at least a third of Book 3 The Final Shot drafted. With 4,000 out of the 40,000-word goal, we’re already moving that way.

That leaves a three-month stretch to finish drafting with a goal to have the manuscript over to my editor by July. Then final proofreading to wrap up by September, which then leaves three months for formatting, cover design, and audiobook production.

Like all of my greatest characters, Dick Winchester was born of a Vocal challenge. They wanted an anonymous package delivered by drone.

My mind went to mailbomb.

It can’t be a mailbomb, I chided myself. It won’t place if it’s a mailbomb.

…I made it a mailbomb.

Combine that premise with my ire at corporate America for stealing my weekend, a food delivery service I had tried for the first time because my boss had sent me a gift card for them to thank me for taking on work he hadn’t finished before his trip, and my nascent desire to write a character that parodied the stereotypical noir private eye.

From that swirling vortex came Dick Winchester, and he hasn’t left me since.

And while Dick did not win that challenge or any since, I can thank Vocal for helping build out many of the chapters of Book 1 and Book 2 with their challenge prompts. Including another entry for the Whispering Wood challenge that I’ll admit felt doomed from the start, but it sure was fun to write sentient trees into the Pentagon “paintball match.”

Another sneak peak into Book 2.

I know of several books that got their start on Vocal, but I have yet to find another trilogy that got its start on Vocal, so certainly one of the more unique Vocal-inspired projects out there.

You know it’s coming.

(How could I not?)

That’s right, it’s time for the plug.

If any of this discussion has piqued your interest, you can check out Dick Winchester Book 1 The Opening Salvo here:

Get in now and have plenty of time to get caught up before its sibling The Counterattack joins the world March 28th 😉

Or maybe you like to sample before buying. I’ve got you covered. You can check out the opening chapter of the series (+ its audio version 👀) here:

It is the most jokes I’ve written into a thousand words. By far. Beautiful way to kick off the adventure.