At least, not for a moment. I printed everything I wrote in this series in the last couple months and I’m reading it, making notes, getting ready for that next draft. When I started, I found a few little things. I’m more than halfway through book 1 now, and I’m getting the reminder I needed to bring that forward in the other books. I have figured out I love the word ‘still’, among other things, and my notes are including things that didn’t happen as well as things that still need to happen. (Yeah, there it is again.)

I’m glad I tailored this first book the way I did, and took away a bit of the complexity. Sadly I love big complex story lines. I love the struggle of getting the pieces together in an outline and then on the draft pages. I do not love how long it takes me to get a finished project. What I tell myself is that if I keep working on it, I’ll find the process – and I know it is getting better.

In the first book, the mechanic (Uehe) keeps upgrading the ship and causing delays. Lorelei (captain) asks. “Uehe, how much time do you need by for the life support? Best and worst case?”

Uehe smoothed his fur. “Best case, end of the day. Worst case never.”

“Never?” Lorelei sat down on the bench behind her.

While she takes this pretty well, the mechanic gets everyone off the ship until he fixes it. It gives them time to see this planet (or at least the city they landed in) before they’re back to their breakneck pace. There’s nothing quite like a deadline that you’re not sure you can make but you need to or everything gets much worse.