Sophomore Slump and Substack
It’s been over a YEAR since I posted anything. There are many reasons for the hiatus. The highlights of what I want to share with you are as follows:
1. I’m moving (virtually at least)! I’m transitioning my author “home” from be-stirred.com, distribution lists, scattered social media posts to Substack. The move will be gradual. Subscribing is both voluntary and free, but only subscribers to my Substack page will see my new content.
2. The sophomore slump is real. Yes, I’m still at work on Midgard’s sequel. The title of the new book is…drum roll…Vanguard. I’m over halfway through writing it, but I hit a snag that requires serious rewriting.
3. What do you mean by a “snag?” Imagine building a complicated Lego set and realizing at step two-hundred and something that you missed a few pieces back in steps three and four. Do you leave it and continue on to the finish, or do you make sure the foundation holds so the whole damn thing doesn’t topple?
For me, two pieces of feedback made that choice clear:
a. Two months ago: “Think about the chess game between (four key characters, including Sam). It’s multilevel – what are they playing for? Whose moves are they trying to anticipate/get ahead of?” My editor brought this issue up, and, in the course of diagramming out that chess game, I realized something important: my key characters lack the depth on the page that they have in my head…which reminded me of another comment from shortly after Midgard was published:
b. Two years ago: “I don’t understand what makes Sam (protagonist) so special.” This bit of candid feedback—provided by an avid reader and bookstore owner—has stuck with me like superglue does to skin.
Essentially, both comments showed me that while my characters live vividly in my head, they lacked depth on the page. As I revised, I saw missing cause-and-effect threads, some of which trace back to Midgard. I was faced with a dilemma: Do I leave Midgard as is and continue on with Vanguard? Or do I start over from the beginning and rewrite the whole story?
4. The Decision. I’ve been in a similar situation before. In 2009, I had to decide whether to scrap two years of research and writing on a dissertation topic that was not going to work or quit my Ph.D. program. As many of you know (or surmised from my bio!), I decided to start over with a new (albeit related) topic, new data, and a new research plan. It was painful, but the right thing to do.
After that experience, my instinct was to rewrite Midgard, even if I never published the new version. However, after much internal debate, I’ve decided instead to press on with Vanguard, with some caveats:
Main characters’ backstories have shifted for added depth—close, but not perfectly consistent with Midgard.
A new key character emerges who didn’t get a proper setup in the first book.
The sequel’s timeline is tighter, which creates some timeline and backstory inconsistencies with Midgard.
5. Other projects. When Vanguard stalls, I turn to side pieces that keep me writing instead of quitting. I plan to share some of those scribblings on Substack.
If you’d like to follow along, read, or comment, please subscribe (for free) to my Substack. I’d love to see you there.
