book2Since I’ve finished a number of projects earlier than I had expected, I’ve started going through my backlog. Originally, I had planned The Shadows At Their Feet as a collection of novellas and short stories all taking place in a singular world. There is the story of the Artist, which is done, then there was to be Alejandro’s story and the Old Man’s story.

Instead, when I sat down to write the next part of the tale, I found myself writing about Adeline, the waitress. The first go at her story was a mess of ideas, and I gave up on in after about forty pages in. Thankfully, the second go was a keeper. I couldn’t say how many versions of a story I might start writing before actually completing it–one story I’m still trying to get down has gone through at least a half-dozen iterations, and still hasn’t found a footing despite the last attempt being over a hundred pages long.

So, I am now editing Adeline’s story. It is currently a little shorter than the Artist’s, but in editing, it could balloon. Or it could shrink. I’m not going to say too much about her story, other than it is another modern fairy tale of sorts, similar to first part. But it is more focused on character, this time, and is far less metaphysical. Adeline’s story is more real. I don’t know why, but by giving her a name, it made her less abstruse, more real than the Artist had seemed.

This is also the first time that I’ve written a main character as a woman, and so I am very self-conscious about how I handled her. I hope I’ve made her believable and not resorted to tropes or stereotypes when depicting her desires, struggles, and motivations.

Finally, her story doesn’t answer too many questions left open in the first part. It is less a continuation of the Artists’s story, and more a fresh story taking place in the same world. I am still not certain if I will share a definitive epilogue to what happened to the Artist at any point. I feel that stories are as much a part of the reader as the author, but if there is a third or fourth story in this series, they may alleviate some of the mystery. Or maybe add more.

So, expect the second part of The Shadows At Their Feet sometime in the next few weeks to months. Until then, I’ve marked down the first story to $0.99 for the eBook on Amazon because they wouldn’t let me give it away for free. I’ll eventually have three versions for sale: Part One, Part Two, and a combined One & Two. So, there’s that.

The Shadows At Their Feet: Part 2 (update)

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