After turning in the MS for Turnbull House earlier this month, I thought I might take a break. “Break,” meaning deeply decluttering the house, browsing through the files of outlines I have for projects that came to me while I was working on stuff with actual deadlines (the most fertile time for new ideas is that time when one really should be getting down to business, don’t you find?), and maybe doing some activities that are *gasp* *wheeze* not work related (I’m a Virgo. Work is recreation. Sue me.)
Nope.
I’ll let you in on a little secret. When I write a book, it doesn’t magically come out fully formed. A lot of times, it’s been secretly writing itself in fits and starts for years. So it is with Ira’s third and final book, tentatively titled Fool’s Gold.
The idea came to me about three years ago. We were on vacation in Northern California in a little house with beach on one side and forest on the other. And though much of what Lazarus whispered to me about his own conflicted story ended up in Turnbull House (release date February! Egad!), the fact that a good part of the story takes place in the Old West remained the defining feature of the third book.
Fool’s Gold has a lot of elements of a western: moustache-twirling villains, a gold claim, railroad tracks. It also concludes the story of Ira and Goddard. I won’t tell you how it ends, but I do think people will be satisfied, whether they were rooting for Cain and Ira to find their way back to each other or not.
It all started a day or two after turning in Turnbull House. I just thought I’d have a little peek at the proposal form. Then, maybe fill in a thumbnail sketch of the plot. What could the harm be? And then, before I knew it, the proposal was finished and I was halfway through the sample chapters. Gulp.
It’s a nice problem to have. I will also miss these guys very, very much when the book is complete. But perhaps a book of short stories is in the offing? Something to noodle at while I really should be getting down to business? What do you think?
Jess Faraday 