When the side story becomes the main story -

Sometimes, when you’ve been doing something for a while, even something you enjoy, you need a break. This became the case for me two months ago, when after working hard on the Our Cyber World series, I got the idea to write a short story about a wounded Army dog handler and her wounded German Shepherd.

Usually, when this happens I jot down a few ideas, maybe sketch out a blurb, and go back to my Work in Progress. Though writers can handle multiple projects, I find I need my focus. In this case, however, my focus — the sort that looks an awful lot like obsession — became that short story. One day and 12,000 words later, I knew I had more than a short story on my hands. Four days later when I stopped at 40,000 words, roughly a half novel’s length, I had the first episode in the series. By then, I had solid ideas for two additional stories, and a week and a half later I completed the second episode.

The side story became the main story. Not quite the main story, though right now it feels that way.

I’ve enjoyed this writing journey more than any other I’ve embarked on before. My protagonist for the Tracking Jane series, Jane McMurtry, talks with a voice I want to keep listening to and recording. And those dogs of hers, the things they do together, and the challenges they overcome have humbled me and caused me to examine how I deal with adversity. As I write, I’ve been happy to share in their pain and cry alongside them.

I’m happy to report that the third episode’s first draft is complete, and a fourth episode is about one fourth of the way written. More than that, a prequel I’m planning to make 100% free to all my readers is just around the corner. Here are the covers (some still in work).