Working in Science-Fiction and Fantasy can be difficult. My brain typically operates in two modes: Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Unfortunately, there’s no switch I can flip to go back and forth between the two modes. Part of the difficulty I had with revising Iron Fist of the Oroqs was my brain was stuck in Sci-Fi mode, and has been since November.

I think part of it has to do with the type of media I’m consuming at the time. At some point last summer, we interrupted our watching of Star Trek: The Next Generation with Doctor Who and the it flipped the sci-fi switch on my brain. Star Trek doesn’t because I’ve already seen all of The Next Generation and I was going into Doctor Who as a newbie. Then I started Playing Star Wars: The Old Republic and Mass Effect 1 and 2 in preparation for Mass Effect 3. Just switching genres of media consumption wasn’t really possible because I’d look at what was available and sort of shrug and go “Meh.”

It made it very difficult to do revisions on a fantasy novel.

Now that I’m done with those revisions and need to move forward with the revisions to Zack Jackson and the Cult of Athos, I find myself getting a little sci-fied out and am starting to favor fantasy again.

Somehow, it seems my brain’s preference and what I need to work on have gotten out of sync. The easy solution would be to just start writing fantasy again, but I don’t want to shelve Zack Jackson until my brain switches phases again; I already have cover art and have “announced” a release date of sometime in May or Early June.

Ultimately, my big problem is having two projects underway simultaneously in two genres which, while related, are different. I think, henceforth, I shall only work in one genre at a time. Also, it would probably be easier in the future to NOT have two books in the same stage at the same time.