I signed a new book contract.

The week before writing this blog I signed a book contract.

It was for an eBook titled Winter Masquerade. At one stage I wanted to expand this book but after reading it for editing, I liked its pace. I didn’t want to bloat the story.

Someone asked me during the week which of my novels is my favourite. I said Winter Masquerade because, not only am I proud of it, it has also been shaped by another work in progress which is still not finished. That other work was started at least a year before the new eBook.

Like Winter Masquerade, The Midnight Man is a fantasy.

It’s about a middle aged guy who finds the man of his dreams literally in his dreams. I have been obsessing over this novel as if it’s my first. Parts of it have been written and edited over and over, while other chapters are fresher. They need more rewrites.

But in both stories, the main character is in an unhappy relationship. They are different ages. Ferris in Winter Masquerade is in his thirties. Stan in The Midnight Man is almost fifty. Their unhappiness stems from different reasons. But both need to rethink their love interest.

I’ve realised my stories are some type of therapy.

After they are published, I never read them again. And I think The Midnight Man has taken me a long time is because I want it to be about middle age. And while stories like Drama Queens and Adult Themes and Drama Queens and Devilish Schemes also explore the gay middle age experience, I don’t want The Midnight Man to be a carbon copy.

Some of the characters from the Nate and Cameron stories play an important part in Stan’s self-realisations. As does the Carnival of Lost Souls, a place in the Afterlife that has featured in other books. Stan’s journey is about finding himself through surreal dream-time adventures. Ferris’ journey is about letting go of denial in a fantasy wonderland.

The similarities are there.

When I get back to The Midnight Man, I’ll make sure it’s different to my next major release. Some of its scenes shaped the new contracted work.  I experimented with concepts in the novel which solved story issues in the novella.

But before I return I have to complete the first draft of my soapie set in the nineties. And I have a talk I’m presenting at a library which I’m currently stressing about.

But this is my new Writing Life.

I’m spending a long time on other things between writing sessions, including marketing. I have a good collection of stories out there. I’ll let the new ones find their feet.