I've been away for a while, and it's for two reasons, primarily.
1. I've been furiously outlining the novel.
Yes, outlining! Postit flags! Scribbles! Rearrangements! Reworkings of plot! It's super exciting.
2. I've been furiously studying for midterms.
This one is not as fun. But unfortunately necessary in order to not fail at life.
So while outlining, I've discovered a couple of things. The most significant is that I have a whole bunch of characters who are in the first quarter of the book and the last quarter of the book and completely disappear in the middle.
Also, while there's a lot that has to happen in Kel's journey, there still is not enough to carry the entire center of the book on its own. There are two many slower-paced plot points, lots of internal conflict. and it would be good to have something a bit more actiony to contrast it. Also, I think if I show the effects of separation on the sisters from both sides it will make the [spoiler alert] eventual reunion more impactful. The readers will care about Bria just as much as they care about Kel...hopefully. Especially because eventually there will be a second book and Bria will have a much bigger part.
[I'm going to interrupt this blog post to make a note to myself because I just realized something - if I continue as planned I will have the girls apart for two books...I should probably then keep them together during the third book, maybe even a good chunk of the second. Ooh, and then I can show how all that time apart, especially for Bria, has changed them and they can fight and grow apart and have to repair their relationship...oh this is excellent]
Showing more of the Hound means we lose the shock of the "twist", but he's an interesting, complex character and I think the trade off is worth it.
Also Bria is quite insistent that she wants a bigger role. She's a very vivacious little girl and refuses to disappear for half a book. I might add that originally she was supposed to have an even smaller role than she does not. She's gone from very much a peripheral character to a viewpoint character!
