As you may know, I’ve got my big rock ‘n’ roll noir, World Enough, cued up to come out Nov. 1 in the states (it pubs earlier in the UK). And my next Blackie & Care feline mystery, Cross My Path, is in edits and scheduled for June 2018 (both with Severn House, if you want to check in for updates – or you can always do that here). But I’m not the type to not be writing, so I’ve been trying to get back to work.
The plan was to draft a new cat cozy this summer, something lighter than both World Enough and Cross My Path. And then, in the fall, start another darker mystery, something to build on World Enough, perhaps. And I have ideas for both (titles too, but not telling yet…). Only one day I start work on one, and the next I get an idea for the other. I always tell myself I should at least jot down these ideas when they come. But can I write two books at once? Can I make myself focus? I know, it’s a nice problem to have.
Maybe you don't need to focus on only one of the projects in this early phase. Why don't you just keep jotting down all your ideas for both books for the time being. I could imagine that at one point one of the books will take prominence, and this is probably the one you should write first. Well, does that make any sense???
I am jotting as suggested – the problem is that for the actual writing, I need to focus. But you're right about one muscling out the other. I now I have about 15 pages of one idea and have put that aside as I bash out another – already up to 25 pages and going strong! I'm hoping that once this one is drafted, those 15 pages will be enough to get me back into the other idea.