James M. Vargo Books

the Paths of Lichencombe             Strange it seems, like this seemingly endless winter, all things must come to an end. As I sit here tonight still 'typing for two' (see last post), I realize both my third edition of the Alliance Series and my Short Story, Shag Rocks , are headed to their respective crescendos. Odd to have two endings plowing ahead at once.     My advice for writers in such an odd situation is this --  compartmentalization ( another older post, as I recall ). Being able to switch gears is important, and focusing on the job at hand. If you write in spurts, like I often do, switching between two stories can be invigorating. But in doing this comes a possible distraction to detail. What I mean to say is, some details may be lost, forgotten, or misplaced; so a healthy edit-check, and soon after, is highly recommended.      Hope I made sense this late March midnight. (March Madness ...

A second window on the world... Still at it. Chapter twenty is nearing its end, with two chapters left to go (hopefully). Why not up the ante? Looking at a map of the world the other day made my curiosity wandered to far off places. One location in particular drew my attention. Then a story came to mind. So yes, I'm writing for two now. I can't say it's cutting into Prince of the Furies time, since the next venture will be less demanding. I won't give details, but it will be a short story, and probably free. And it's not a Fantasy! That has made things interesting indeed. I'm a couple thousand words in -- not a big deal -- and a few thousand more should do it. I know, most writers start with short stories before the long ones (epics in my case), but I was never geared that way. I just don't think of fantasy in short terms. So now ideas have come to mind; there's a second story sitting on the back-burner too, and it's even more domestic t...