Jeremy C Kester

Honestly I’ve been struggling. It’s a part of being a panster (mostly) when it comes to my writing. In other words, I write by the seat of my pants, seldom taking the time to plan out my story. That’s not to say that I don’t know what the destination is, it is just saying that I have no frickin clue on how I am going to get there when I start writing. Besides the obvious pratfalls of writing that way (i.e. getting stuck in the mud), there are occasions where something comes out of a writing burst that is just plain awesome. Surprise twists. New characters. Hidden details. Fun fun fun fun fun.

To say that I love them is an understatement. Frankly, Safiya, the axe wielding Syrian girl who ends up being part of the main trio of characters in The Dangerous Life of Agnes Pyle was born of one of these sudden accidents. Words just flowed from my fingertips to create who ended up being my absolute favorite character to write. (Unfortunately I put her through absolute torture, but it also shows her resolve.)

Xaviera, the put-upon android from Gravity is another character born out of this. And then the end of Gravity book 2 was another.

When I think of all these happenings I couldn’t imagine having been wise or creative enough to dream these things up ahead of time. They are some of the pure joys I get from writing, these little discoveries.

Of course it doesn’t always work out like that. I’ve been having a lot of trouble getting part 2 of the 5 parts I am writing Of Earth and Ice. I know how I want to end the book. I know most of the background stuff going on. It’s the events occurring to each character that I have been having trouble with. And what’s happening to the colony in the story leading up to the events that will propel them to the end of the book in part 5. It’s been taking me FOREVER, writing in small little pockets of 20, 50, or maybe 100 words at best, waiting for the right words to pop into place. They finally did.

And now the story took an unexpected turn that will help build the deeper conflicts Evie will have to face along with her new disabilities. It’s exciting stuff! Can’t wait to finish part 2 and move onto part 3!