So, I decided to write about vampires this week. One of my big projects, I hope to publish it sometime next year, is a vampire novella, Post-Mortem, and I thought I’d just talk about it a little here too. On the my books page, you can read three entries, two for Post-Mortem itself and the third for a story I need a better title for, Fortnight (the videogame was an annoying surprise to me). Fortnight preexisted both Post-Mortem and the popular videogame, but I was never able to finish writing it. Post-Mortem came to me like Athena, bursting from my brains fully formed; I quickly realized it was set in the same world as Fortnight. I usually don’t get stories whole like that, but though the story came easy, the writing proved to be one of my most difficult projects.
I started it one winter when I was snowed in, and like the streets outside, I just froze. I could see the scene clearly in my head, and every sentence I wrote fell short of that imposing image. Sitting next to the fire, I fought and fought, until hours later, I had one page done.
The entirety of this novella is haunted, for me, by the perfect story I couldn’t perfectly write. I meant for it to be the title story of the anthology I published this year. One novella with a collection of short stories to pad out the run time. However, those short stories got longer and longer until they comprised a book in their own right. Yet, they are tied, if not by narrative, by theme and meaning.
Now, as I prepare Post-Mortem for publication, I’m haunted again, not by the perfect idea, but by the uncertain future. There was a lot that was cut from the anthology, little vignettes of vampirism that were going to fill in a little of Post-Mortem’s world. I’ve outlined, mostly, a sequel that takes place concurrently with Post-Mortem, and have a fairly firm idea of a third part which would incorporate those vignettes into their own vampire anthology. So, a trilogy, loosely set in my mind, but can I write it? Can I figure out a satisfying plot for the sequel? Can I incorporate enough material for a vampire anthology while also giving both stories a meaningful ending? If I do write the trilogy, should I also go back and finish Fortnight? If I do, what should I title it?
Tale Told 