I took a big step today and figured out the basic structure of The Heritage of Michael Martiniere, which at this point is going to be a novella and the last work of any length in The Martiniere Legacy. One of the challenges I’m facing with this book is that I’m doing something new for me–writing in a non-linear fashion, i.e., writing in scenes/chapters that aren’t necessarily in order, then rearranging them later. Part of it is simply due to the nature of the book and the lengthy period it covers in Michael’s life (something like 40 years). I really don’t want to create this work as a straight-line story, simply because to do it justice might mean another trilogy in this world and I don’t think there’s a series-length arc within it. Plus it was one thing to live in Ruby and Gabe’s world. Michael’s is a lot tougher because of various issues around his origins and the long-term impact on his choices.
But the other piece is that these scenes are coming to mind as self-contained snippets. Some are multi-scene, but may get divided up. Additionally, the three major pieces come in and out of focus in Michael’s life, and…I don’t know. My gut just tells me that this is not particularly a linear story but a set of themes that roughly correspond to a linear arc, albeit not entirely. Rather than deal excessively with flashbacks and memory flashes, I think I’m going to deal with the themes in specific and connected vignettes. Think of it as spotlights on particular relationships and events in Michael’s life, sometimes seen with different perspectives as time passes.
I’m vaguebooking a bit because while Heritage is not explicitly part of the core Legacy trilogy, it picks up one character from Realization and goes from there.
Essentially, the themes are Identity (a particular issue for Michael), Advocate (how Michael applies the resolution from the Identity section), and Fulfillment (the resolution of the events put into play in Advocate). And yeah, they could be another trilogy. But there would need to be a lot more worldbuilding etc built in, and I just don’t think the base premises support that…while they would support about 10,000-15,000 words per section.
We shall see. I’m playing with process right now, as a break from the intensity of writing three books one right after the other.
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The Martiniere Legacy: Book One, Inheritance; Book Two, Ascendant; and Book Three, Realization will be released in Fall 2020, along with side stories and sketches. More specific information can be found in my newsletter which comes out toward the end of each month. Sign up for my newsletter at https://tinyletter.com/JoyceReynolds-Ward for release dates.
