Sequel Progress Update Feb 15th, 2025

Finally! I have a climax for the sequel to Alpha's Ghost!

A major part of my process is location scouting, and I found the perfect place for the climax to happen and actually make realistic sense in the context of the plot. It really is fate, as I couldn't have asked for a better location than what I found.

But that's not all! This week:

• Thanks to identifying to location of the climax, I am also able to map out the physical journey from story start to end. This now allows me to place the obstacles in front of the protagonists so that I can have the constantly escalating tension that is core to stories in the STRAND universe.
• I got the titular character figured out finally! I've had the title since before I finished Alpha's Ghost, and I use the same technique I used to come up with "Alpha's Ghost" - I pick two cool sounding words, put them together, and make the first a possessive. I then build the story around those two words.
• I also finally figured out the character arcs for the main dynamic characters (characters with an arc).
• I (think) I've solved the ex-Machina problem that was plaguing the plot. It's going to be tricky, however, and I need to tell the audience that an ex-Machina is coming so that they don't notice it's an ex-Machina. It's the difference between a cringy eyeroll and standing up and cheering.
• My wife (my developmental editor) wants me to turn the knob up on the sexy in the sequel. I don't want the STRAND universe to turn into smut, but I can increase the smoldering a bit more than I did in Alpha's Ghost. During editing, it's only a question of if my wife wants more steam than smolder.
• I've got two antagonists figured out so far. Alpha's Ghost had four, so I feel like I could be cheating the audience if I stopped at only two. I could stretch and give one of the main characters a complex dual role, but that would be an anti-hero...but all STRAND agents are already anti-heroes.
• I am practicing new writing techniques in my short stories that I want to use in the sequel to see if I like it, primarily around off-screen action. I think it will be cool, but I need to practice to make sure I can write it in a way that's not confusing.

I'm still not ready to write, however, because:

• My "in media res" Chapter 1 isn't tight enough yet. I want it to be as short as chapter 1 in Alpha's Ghost, so that I can hook the audience quickly. This means mercilessly chopping down to just the bare elements the audience needs to commit to reading chapter 2.
• The original Chapter 2 action sequence is tactically unrealistic and would require Hollywood-level plot armor for the main characters to make it out alive. The problem right now is ingress, egress, and the ability to clear hallways. I'm to the point where I may have to start over to create an exciting yet tactically plausible opening.
• I haven't figured out secondary supporting characters yet, since I don't want to re-use supporting characters from Alpha's Ghost.
• I have not decided yet how much world-building I'm going to do in this book verses assuming people read "Alpha's Ghost." This is something else I'm working out in my short stories - can you have a good time without any context into the STRAND universe? So far so good - the short stories read well even completely out of context.
• I've crafted an antagonist so powerful I don't know how the team will defeat them yet. I don't need to know the specifics, but right now they can't be beaten - I need to give them a weakness while maintain their relative power-level compared to antagonists.
• The constant struggle with the sequel is to stop it from becoming too sad. I have the low point of the sequel, but not the happy-ending feel-book bounce-back. Right now it would be anti-climatic, which is not what I'm going for. I want the audience to end one of my books with a smile on their face, not tears in their eyes.
• Still building up my playlist of music that I'll listen to while I' write. Music drives all of my major set pieces, so the vibe of a song directly speaks to the cool of the scene. I listened to my Alpha's Ghost playlist at least 100 times while writing.

I'm thinking of this next novel as book 2 in the "Aegis" STRAND storyline. The name Aegis comes from what it sounds like when you say "AGS" out loud, which stands for "All Girl Squad" - the first time Jasmine, Naomi, and Gabriella are referred to as a trio in Alpha's Ghost (by Gabriella in Chapter 6). The fact that two of the definitions of the Greek word translate to "violent windstorm" and "shield of a deity" makes it pretty perfect. I have no idea if I'll every refer to the trio as "Aegis" in-world, however.

I'll continue to let this stuff bounce around in the back of my mind as I go through my day. I keep everything in my head, and the mental sticky notes are piling up and getting organized. I'd like to start writing by the summer, but I'm not going to rush it. Alpha's Ghost set a high bar and I want to at least meet it. I also don't want to fall into the trap of, "The Sequel must be better!" which I think puts too much pressure on the writing process. Instead, I want it to be as-good, but in a different way.

Alpha's Ghost took about 6 months for first draft followed by 3 months of editing, putting the next book release somewhere in 2026. If things follow the same pattern as Alpha's Ghost, there will be a lot of re-work in these early planning stages, so check back to see how the sequel evolves over time.