Writing Sequels for April Camp NaNoWriMo

As I move towards April's edition of Camp NaNoWriMo the plans regarding what writing project I should work on begin to swirl around in my head.  Whereas in previous years the answer has been clear this time around I have several projects to choose from.  Below I will outline the three key ideas and a brief description of how likely I am to work on them.

1) The Rules Book 3: This book's rough draft is almost finished and it would be nice to complete my first series.  Despite this fact I would need to refresh myself by re-reading the book and am just not feeling it this NaNoWriMo.  I think there will be typing and editing of what I have before I finish it.

2) Land and Sea 2, Sinister Depths:  Sequel to my first Belle and Ariel fanfiction this story follows the two heroines five years after their marriage.  Children have been disappearing from the area where they're tutoring.  Uncovering why leads to the women discovering a variety of Europe's mythical creatures, both benign and sinister.  I've got a good portion of Chapter 1 completed so it's possible that more of this will get written this April.

3) Call of the Black Panther 2: Filled with rage after the events at the end of the first book Irene wanders the wilderness, her sole purpose the preservation of the lives growing within her.  I'm currently quite pumped to write this second installment.  Although not much is set in stone yet there's a great deal of possibility and I look forward to seeing where this narrative could take me.  It is the one I am most likely to work on.

Here is the link to my Camp NaNoWriMo page: http://campnanowrimo.org/campers/starfire-falcon/novels/cotbp2

Image of a bobcat and two kits.  

Source (Google search): http://fineartamerica.com/art/photographs/bobcat/all

The Rules' Reality

Is a stable society achievable without oversight?  Perhaps it depends on what you consider a 'stable society'. 

The Rules trilogy is my attempt at a deeper look at humanity - whether we can be charged with our own future or whether we must be controlled to avoid catastrophe born of selfish, narrow-sighted desire.   The incredibly complex nature of this debate is why I ultimately decided to focus my attention on 'Black Panther' since I'd like to publish at least one book before I'm thirty.  Around my correspondence with the wonderful Boxjelly1 for that novel I am editing Book 2 of the Rules trilogy, trying to connect threads of narratives into a cohesive vision.  The first big challenge was place names.  Since this is the first real 'epic fantasty' I've ever attempted I have run into the challenge of visualising a world while keeping its coordinates, place names, and cultures straight.  It's been an interesting, not always fun task.

Besides the world's physical complexity there's the spiritual aspect which is its heart, but I'm still not 100% certain I completely grasp it.  This aspect consists of an ingrained system of rewards and punishments for behaviour which is at once separate from and linked to the world's energy.  I'm hoping this passage is too abstract to be much of a spoiler.  It's abstractness is what makes it fascinating yet enormously challenging to capture in narrative.  As a story told from a first person perspective the audience must learn with and be plagued by the limitations of their insight into this world.  I had no idea when I began this piece that it would be as complex as it is trying to be.  The feeling I have as I work with it is akin to what I felt when contemplating a series where individuals explore sections of the human brain: incredibly intrigued yet sensing I am out of my depth.

As I make progress editing I am gradually becoming more confident.  It's still a ways from being ready for publication but I know that I will be proud once it is finally finished.  After all, it's my first trilogy and, even if I'm not wholly successful in attaining my vision for it, the series will still be a great achievement.

An image whose significance for this trilogy comes in Book 3.
Image courtesy of ur1crazedupfruitloop