RodTheWriter.com
My next writing project(s)
As I get close to finishing a novel, I start thinking about what my next writing project will be. I sometimes have story lines in my head left over after finishing a book that I set aside to start a different book with the plan to return to those story ideas later. For example, I just finished writing The Rune Masters of Odin, a historical fiction novel set in the Viking Age which is a prequel to what I am calling the Rune Master Saga Series. I actually wrote the first and second rune master books in 2011 and 2015. The recently published prequel is one of three leftover story lines for the characters in my rune Master series that I had been thinking about. In that series, the young rune master (Glyndr) accompanies her Norwegian brother (Torvald) who is one of the many adventurous traders in 9th century Norway who explored Iceland and Greenland in the book which I simply titled The Rune Master Saga that I published in 2011. The two characters turned south to adventures in Newfoundland and Labrador in book two published in 2015 (see the "My Books" tab at top of page). The Norse traders did not stop there, of course, seeking other trade locations in North America, and I still want to write about the trader adventures of Glyndr and Torvald in those locations. The prequel I just wrote, however, was another story I've always wanted to add to the Rune Master books that tells the story of the training and adventures of Caryn, the village rune master who helped raise Glyndr and became her rune master mentor. All of the rune master books are historical fiction books about the Viking age that I wrote for a teen audience and parents. Both teen and adult readers like the Glyndr and Caryn characters, as I do. Parents and I are especially drawn to Caryn's general mentoring role as a substitute mother in Glyndr's life while teaching her the spells and divination skills of rune master.
My interest in learning new things and my enjoyment in writing can lead me in many directions. I like to read science fiction and considered writing a science fiction book before I decided to write a third book of stories about Professor Blackman, an English professor at a northern Minnesota college, and the adventures he has with a favorite student and the student's sister in Two Versions of Truth. After finishing my second Professor Blackman book, Twice Met, I struggled with the decision whether to write a third Professor Blackman book or a science fiction book I had already been thinking of and was outlined in my head.
I resolved the decision by not deciding. In the fall of 2016, I began writing a third Professor Blackman book and a science fiction book at the same time. I was guessing one might take over my interest at some point in time and when I finished that one, I'd have a good start on the other book. That strategy worked. At the end of the year, Professor Blackman won out, and my third Professor Blackman book, Second Visit, was added for Amazon sales in 2017.
With the title of Two Identities, characters, a plot in my head, and four or five chapters already written for the science fiction novel I started, the decision on my next writing project was easy. It did take me some time to get comfortable with the demands of science fiction writing, however, and I had to do a fair amount of research for that book. It was the summer of 2019 before I could publish that book using the series title: Reach for the Stars. The sequel and second book in the series, Second Contact, was a little easier to write now that I had the main characters and a little better feel for writing science fiction. That book came out in early fall of 2020. And the 3rd book in the series, Second Assignment, was published in December of 2021. In 2022 I started a new series with the title: Beyond the Reach for the Stars. The first book in that series was Second Federation, still featuring the Earth androids but 1,900 years after the end of Second Assignment. And I finished Second Beginning, the second and last book in the Beyond the Reach for the Stars Series in December of 2023.
***Next up*** For all those fans of the rune master books I published, I'm doing one more, perhaps also answering the question of whethere the Vikings landed in the U.S. 400 years before Columbus.
By the way, you may have already discovered in this website that you can read the first 4,000 words of each of my novels. Check out a synopsis of each book and a link to the first pages by clicking on the "My Books" tab at the top of each website page.
My next writing project(s)
As I get close to finishing a novel, I start thinking about what my next writing project will be. I sometimes have story lines in my head left over after finishing a book that I set aside to start a different book with the plan to return to those story ideas later. For example, I just finished writing The Rune Masters of Odin, a historical fiction novel set in the Viking Age which is a prequel to what I am calling the Rune Master Saga Series. I actually wrote the first and second rune master books in 2011 and 2015. The recently published prequel is one of three leftover story lines for the characters in my rune Master series that I had been thinking about. In that series, the young rune master (Glyndr) accompanies her Norwegian brother (Torvald) who is one of the many adventurous traders in 9th century Norway who explored Iceland and Greenland in the book which I simply titled The Rune Master Saga that I published in 2011. The two characters turned south to adventures in Newfoundland and Labrador in book two published in 2015 (see the "My Books" tab at top of page). The Norse traders did not stop there, of course, seeking other trade locations in North America, and I still want to write about the trader adventures of Glyndr and Torvald in those locations. The prequel I just wrote, however, was another story I've always wanted to add to the Rune Master books that tells the story of the training and adventures of Caryn, the village rune master who helped raise Glyndr and became her rune master mentor. All of the rune master books are historical fiction books about the Viking age that I wrote for a teen audience and parents. Both teen and adult readers like the Glyndr and Caryn characters, as I do. Parents and I are especially drawn to Caryn's general mentoring role as a substitute mother in Glyndr's life while teaching her the spells and divination skills of rune master.
My interest in learning new things and my enjoyment in writing can lead me in many directions. I like to read science fiction and considered writing a science fiction book before I decided to write a third book of stories about Professor Blackman, an English professor at a northern Minnesota college, and the adventures he has with a favorite student and the student's sister in Two Versions of Truth. After finishing my second Professor Blackman book, Twice Met, I struggled with the decision whether to write a third Professor Blackman book or a science fiction book I had already been thinking of and was outlined in my head.
I resolved the decision by not deciding. In the fall of 2016, I began writing a third Professor Blackman book and a science fiction book at the same time. I was guessing one might take over my interest at some point in time and when I finished that one, I'd have a good start on the other book. That strategy worked. At the end of the year, Professor Blackman won out, and my third Professor Blackman book, Second Visit, was added for Amazon sales in 2017.
With the title of Two Identities, characters, a plot in my head, and four or five chapters already written for the science fiction novel I started, the decision on my next writing project was easy. It did take me some time to get comfortable with the demands of science fiction writing, however, and I had to do a fair amount of research for that book. It was the summer of 2019 before I could publish that book using the series title: Reach for the Stars. The sequel and second book in the series, Second Contact, was a little easier to write now that I had the main characters and a little better feel for writing science fiction. That book came out in early fall of 2020. And the 3rd book in the series, Second Assignment, was published in December of 2021. In 2022 I started a new series with the title: Beyond the Reach for the Stars. The first book in that series was Second Federation, still featuring the Earth androids but 1,900 years after the end of Second Assignment. And I finished Second Beginning, the second and last book in the Beyond the Reach for the Stars Series in December of 2023.
***Next up*** For all those fans of the rune master books I published, I'm doing one more, perhaps also answering the question of whethere the Vikings landed in the U.S. 400 years before Columbus.
By the way, you may have already discovered in this website that you can read the first 4,000 words of each of my novels. Check out a synopsis of each book and a link to the first pages by clicking on the "My Books" tab at the top of each website page.