Embarking On A New Adventure

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been a busy little bee writing my new novel, Pirate Ferret, this summer!  It's all finished now, and I thought this would be a fun time to introduce you to my new fuzzy character, Tentacles!

 

 

Tentacles knows he's the best thief ever to sail the seven seas, and his job is to steal treasure for his captain, Vincent Goldbeard.  Like any ferret, he has a weakness for shiny things, snatching up everything he finds.  His favorite treasure is buttons, and he's always searching for just one more to add to his stash.  Unfortunately for his greedy paws, that may just get him into trouble...

 

Writing Pirate Ferret has been an interesting experience.  Honestly, at first I was reluctant to start a new project.  After all the time and effort I've put into The Beast of Bannock, starting a second project seemed both daunting and wrong--like I was cheating on my old characters.  How could I spend time writing something new when I wasn't ready to give up on my baby?

 

With lots of encouragement from my writing friends and family--and assurances I wasn't cheating on Bannock--I decided to just give Pirate Ferret a try.  Ferrets have this way of demanding your attention, and Tentacles wouldn't leave my thoughts alone until I got his story on paper.  And you know what?  Now that his story is done, I can't imagine life without him.

 

I'm not an actual parent, but I'd guess this is what it feels like to have two children.  I don't love one over the other, because they're so different and endearing in their own ways.  What I learned writing Bannock helped me craft Pirate Ferret, and in return, writing Pirate Ferret  has given me some new insight for revising Bannock.  The two books aren't competing; they're benefiting each other.  Plus, it just feels good to have two novels in my writing arsenal--like all my hopes and dreams aren't resting solely on Ellis' poor shoulders (er, withers) anymore.

If you're a one-project writer, I encourage you to pay attention to the other ideas floating around in your head.  There are so many reasons why you might choose to ignore them (and trust me--I completely understand them all), but you may just surprise yourself with how much fun another project can be.

Happy Writing!   :)