An exciting update (mostly exciting to me!) for a project I foresee myself writing in this year.
I’ve been worried about getting the writing bug. Like literally fretting that I might want to write another book! Like many other writers, I get the frequent story ideas that flit in randomly and make me shimmy excitedly in my seat. But I am usually careful in deciding what I put down on paper. Unlike teenage Lucia, I no longer start projects and then leave them unfinished—that is like, sacrilegious in my mind now. So I let a lot of these ideas that I know don’t hold water pass in their time.
But other than these, I’ve been literally afraid of getting that idea—like AILEY OSE—that comes and sweeps me up in its wave. That no matter how much I try to ignore, I just have to write. Why? Because right now, I have two fantasy series, each complete with at least 3 books in the series, and then AILEY OSE, that I plan to publish. And as a writer, I am excited for all these stories to be read NOW. Yet I have to try to work out a schedule for which ones would be published first and which would have to wait a little longer. And “a little longer” in publishing can mean 2-3 years, when you eventually get a deal.
So I haven’t been eager to be assaulted by must-write ideas.
Still, it’s a new year, and it’s kind of inevitable that I’ll get the urge to create something at some point. Especially once I finish revising A Desert of Bleeding Sand 3. (I have tried to slow the revision process as much as possible, but alas the end is in sight.)
Angles To Explore Still
I’ve been feeling for a while that ADOBS had potential for a book 4. I was so so careful and gradual with my MCs arcs (which I deserve a round of applause for because formerly, things tended to move, ah, fast in my books) that even at book 3, I still feel like they have a ton of potential left. Like they’ve reached only halfway of their full arcs, and I still have parts of their lives left to explore.
And this is saying much because these MCs go through… a lot in the current trilogy. There are literally times when I find myself mumbling apologies to them haha. So the fact that I feel I can still torture them some more in additional books just shows how special these characters are.
I also feel like the world has a lot of places left to explore. Even the main city is one I find I want to spend more time in. Over the years of writing, I found I get tired of settings pretty quickly. I love to world build, I love to discover new places in the setting (be it fantasy or otherwise), and keep introducing new places. I literally destroyed an entire {spoilers} structure that I spent three books building in ADOBS because by book three, I was tired of that place and wanted to describe someplace new. So the fact that I’m looking forward to spending more time exploring the main city, again shows how special this setting is.
Why I’m Glad It’s In The ADOBS World
I’m very relieved that this fresh idea is coming in ADOBS’ world for a book four. Because I don’t have to worry as I would if it’s an entirely new idea. If it was, I’d start thinking of perhaps pushing APOF back even further in the publishing schedule so that the new exciting idea would see the world soon.
Because that’s the unfortunate thing about trying to get published. You love your books, but the newest ideas always feel shiniest and the one you want people to see soonest. So you find yourself suddenly wanting to see them published over the older ones, and again with the next new book, and on and on.
I’m very conscious of this, so I’m happy that ADOBS 4 would inevitably sit on the queue to come after the other ADOBS books!
The Plot Ideas
While I’ve sensed for a while that the series wasn’t wrapped up even after book 3, I didn’t have a plot in mind for any more stories. But now, after a certain movie obsession, I have a strong, overall idea of what the big conflict can be.
I’m thinking that after the save-the-world arc of the first three, a fourth book can see something more grounded like a battle for power with cunning and displacing between certain factions like Game of Thrones. Book one saw something like this, but my MCs hardly had control over that aspect of the story. This time, I’d love to set them up as big piece-movers themselves. I also have other smaller elements I’ve noticed I enjoy in stories and am considering chipping in.
The other option is to break off the final parts of ADOBS 3 and make it into a new 4th book. Why?! The more I revise book 3, the longer it gets. It’s so close to 200k words now. Shocking, I know! And trust me, I’m not just rambling, but with all the set up I’ve done with books 1 and 2, there are many many knots to tie up while still addressing new conflicts. I haven’t even written out the final scenes but just have their outline, and I foresee those will push the MS to 200k. So I was thinking of halting the story where makes the most sense in the final quarter, and taking the rest away to make a new book 4. And then I can explore that big ending to the series even better, play around with more political schemes in nods to my GOT-style idea above, explore some of the places/races I merely mentioned earlier and some side characters I want to give bigger plotlines but haven’t because of word count! The only issue here is that this version won’t be detachable from the trilogy as the first idea can be. It’s going to be a full quartet, not a spinoff of a trilogy. And I’ve told my agent that ADOBS is a trilogy. In this publishing climate, it’s also going to be harder to get a quartet deal.
Right now, I’m just typing all these ideas into my notes as they come and sleeping on them. I know it’ll form a bigger and more cohesive story eventually. A clear path to follow. Or it might not. While I’m very open to writing a book 4 in the ADOBS-verse, I’m not putting pressure on myself that it must happen. I’m simply letting this excitement carry me along. And if it persists until I find myself plopping down with my laptop and compulsively typing out words, then I know for sure book 4 is going to happen, and with this idea. If not, that is fine too!
No rush. No pressure. Just story love 🙂
Lucia's Fiction 
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