Well, this outline is detailed. I wrote it scene-by-scene, so everything in the book is about her. I did start sketching Book 2, which will actually alternate between Suicide and JT as JT will have to make a life decision that will…
AFFECT THE FATE OF BILLIONS!!! MWAHAHAHAHA!
Ahem! Anywho…
That one actually has very little Suicide-based scenes in it. Actually, it’s a completely different character, so that one will be the focus of Suicide’s… Mission? Quest? She’s sort of becoming James Holden if James Holden were played by Michelle Yeoh or Grace Park (who’s probably closer to Suicide’s age than Michelle. I love ya, Michelle, but by the time anyone decides to film this, Grace will be old enough to play Georgiou.) So is it a mission or a quest? Maybe I should throw in a government official on Earth with a smoker’s voice and a foul mouth to direct things.
Nah! It’s been done.
But I want Books 2 & 3 sketched out before I start on this, probably in January. (I have a Nick Kepler novel to rewrite, and probably some sort stories to put out.) The publisher I’m targeting with this has a tendency to want rapid releases, so having outlines in place while this goes into beta will make my job easier. And if they say no, well, I have a trilogy in the can ready to shop.
“But wait a minute. You haven’t finished Amargosa yet.”
Yeah. I know. More on that on Wednesday.
In the meantime, I already see some flashback scenes I’ll need to move. Book 1 was supposed to intersperse scenes from Suicide’s origins (including meeting Kray and Admiral Austin from previous books). Her life on perpetual hell-hole Aphrodite wasn’t supposed to show up until Book 2, with Book 3 flashing back to her time on Amargosa and meeting JT for the first time. I came up short on that. I need to add scenes, such as Suicide performing her first Section 11, a type of summary execution ironically named for the clause in the Compact’s Bill of Rights that forbids capital punishment except in certain cases. She needs to have a scene where she decides the Navy is no longer worth it. And Aphrodite needs to remain a mystery. (Though I have the seed of a short that takes place there. Hint: It makes Haiti look like Aruba.)