Wednesday Wanderings

So this past weekend, I finally finished the first draft of Surgeburnt, my post-apocalyptic science fantasy novel.  The setting was out of my wheelhouse, a stretch for my skills, and the plot required some delicate handling, because it involved two threads:  one, the present storyline, and the second, an out-of-order retelling of the events and people who got my narrator to that point.  They both came to a climax at the same moment.  However, the main plotline had threads that needed additional resolution, so I wrote a final action sequence to cap off the novel.

Because I hadn't planned on the continuation - and because of the chaos in my non-fantasy life - the end of the novel felt like wandering to a halt, rather than a resolute jaunt across the finish line.  But it is done, and I'm satisfied with the conclusion ... and oh my stars, there's a lot of editing to be done.  The book is enormous, coming in over the 150k mark ... which is at least shorter than the first draft of Scylla and Charybdis, and I'd like to think I have more tricks in my bag now.

So for now, Surgeburnt goes onto the shelf, for an editing eye after I polish off (or give up on) Undertaking Chances, my quirky little for-fun zombie project that turned out to have more potential than I expected.

To end, here's two songs I associate with Surgeburnt narrator, Maren - the first song I chose for, and the most recent:

Control - Halsey

Baby Outlaw - Elle King