As I stated in a blog post in the early fall , I took the months of September–December inclusive off from major projects. I do this to give myself some breathing room creatively and work on projects I don’t have a contract for. I also like to do writing exercises, try new things, and generally relax and let myself be creative without deadlines or expectations.
Sometimes the projects I work on during times like this turn out really well. Sometimes they flop hardcore. Often it’s something in between. Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians came from a session like this, and it has been very successful. Some other stories written during times like these have never seen the light of day. Others (most notably Scribbler , which has been renamed The Rithmatist ) need to sit for a while and let me stew on them before I decide to revise them and get them into publishable shape.
The first thing that developed from this session was an urban fantasy about a necromancer who runs a pizza joint. It was listed on my sidebar as “Untitled Urban Fantasy Project” or something like that. This book was fun to write, and it was interesting to explore something in an our-world setting. The beginning was great, but it ran out of steam halfway through, and I never ended up finishing it. I might do something with it someday, but for now I’ve set it aside. The title for this one ended up being Death by Pizza . Maybe I’ll post some chapters for you.
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