Okay, this one is about my own books. I know I rarely talk about my own projects here, but today I decided to make an exception. Right now I am working on the second book in the Citlalli universe and as I try to keep things coherent I am developing a far more intimate understanding of the advantages and the challenges posed by working within the context of what is basically a known universe. The biggest advantage is that, with a couple of exceptions, I don’t really have to worry about getting to know the characters anymore. That was one that gave me some trouble in the first one, as it took us a while to get comfortable with each other, but at the same time now I live in constant fear of contradicting myself, or of realizing that something I mentioned in book one has effectively caused me to paint myself into a corner in one of the sequels. I mean, when I write a stand-alone story I can always go back and make whatever changes I deem necessary to make sure that the whole thing works out in the end, but with a series the first book is already out there –firmly set on bytes and paper– and while I think book two is coming along nicely… well, there are still books three and four for me to consider.

Of course, I knew going in that this was going to be a massive project, and I knew that there were going to be a few elements in there that were bound to be more than a little tricky… and to make matters worse writing is one of those things that never really turn out the way you planned them, as characters are in the habit of doing their own thing. For instance, when I set out to write the whole thing I had a clearly defined outline, but by the time I finished book one I had already made some changes. Fair enough, that was to be expected. Then I wrote the first draft of book two and that went over better than I had originally expected it to… but of course it also introduced further changes. It is now that I am beginning to think about what am I supposed to do with book three, however, that I have become almost painfully aware of just how far from my original outline I have really gotten. Oh, that doesn’t mean it it hopeless, in fact  I am pretty sure I know what I’m going to do in that one already, but at the same time I feel like I am flying without a net here and that can be kind of scary.

Well, the good news is that I am still having fun, I am still excited about where this series is going, and I am most definitely enjoying the adrenaline rush… now I just have to hope that at the end of the day the small details will be kind enough to fall into place.