Writing the sequel to "The Dreamer Gambit," I am now rapidly approaching the point where certain decisions have to be made regarding my characters' lives. There are good people and bad people and every shade in between in the story. There will be a denouement, a climax, and I must decide who will survive and who will not.
Sometimes, good people don't make it; if only the bad guys were killed, it would seem kind of fairytale-ish. There are two characters in particular whose fate I am wrestling with, one of them because I've grown to like him, and the other because killing might be too much justice, deserved but over the top and therefore unrealistic. (Can too much realism be a bad thing? Would a deserved fate provide a catharctic satisfaction?)
An important question to consider also is if I feel there is yet another interesting episode in the lives of these people I have invented. Is this the birth of a series? I don't know yet. At the end of "Dreamer," I felt strongly that Jack's story deserved deeper exploration, and that became the basis for the sequel. I left enough bits of "unfinished business" in the first book, mainly inserted during the repetitive editing phase, to sow the seeds for another book without leaving the original story hanging in any way. The case must be resolved, but the set-up of a private detective almost begs for more cases to solve.
Stay tuned...
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