Uncharted Territory
When I started daydreaming of being a writer, I came up with a series of ideas that I would hopefully turn into books. One of those ideas was about a spy/assassin-type character who would be my homage to Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. Initially, the book was going to be titled “The Silencer.” Regarding the main character, I wanted to do something different than the typical suave James Bond type. I wanted the character to be eccentric, but I also wanted him to be authentic and struggle with the moral dilemmas that came with that sort of life. That character eventually became Xavier Greene, and the book title morphed into “Tears of the Dragon.” At the time, I planned on it being a standalone release. However, all the advice I saw at the time said to make a series, so I did. Now, I’m five books into it and don’t plan on stopping.
When you write a series like this, a certain familiarity comes with writing a new entry. Five books in, I know how the books will be laid out. An initial event will set the action in motion; Xavier Greene will get pulled into it, and away we go. The supporting characters will either get their own narratives or eventually get pulled into the main story with Xavier. Once you’re five books in, you know how characters act, talk, and respond to different situations. It’s as comfortable to write as it is for regular readers to read.
However, as I’ve started my latest work in progress, I’ve found myself in unfamiliar territory. This new novel will be my sixth release on Amazon and my ninth overall. But it will also be the first book I’ve released for sale that isn’t a part of my Xavier Greene series. Previously, I had done two horror short stories/novellas before I released Tears of the Dragon, but they were never released for sale. What I didn’t anticipate was how weird it would feel to be writing something I wasn’t familiar with. The new book is a slightly different genre and has completely new characters. While I’ve found this exciting, it is also slightly terrifying. It’s a completely clean slate, an open world for me to build however I see fit. There’s a certain exhilaration in going into a completely fresh project. I hope that will help me build momentum and write this one quickly. After this one, I plan on writing a manuscript for the next Xavier Greene and finishing a manuscript that has been a pet project for a while. That’s a lot of writing, but with some luck, I should be able to pull it off in time to have two releases in 2025, with a possible third one, depending on how things go.
In any case, I’m pretty psyched about the whole process and wanted to share it with you all. Now, I need to get back to writing. This novel isn’t going to write itself. I’ll keep you guys posted.
– Ryan
