I have finally decided what will follow the Amargosa Trilogy. Readers have spoken. You all seem to want a trilogy about Suicide.
For those of you who haven’t read the series, Suicide is a retired Navy pilot. She moved to Amargosa to live in seclusion in a shack up in the hills. JT Austin and Lizzy Parker are sent to find her by the warlord Kray. Suicide has other plans. In her first scene, she kills JT and Lizzy’s captors then casually asks what they want.
Her real name is Cui Yun, but hardly anyone knows that. They only know of a legendary Navy pilot and mercenary who took risks no one else would take. Hence the name “Suicide.”
Focusing on Suicide allows me to address a problem the other books have had. The Compact Universe has such a broad scope that the Amargosa novels suffer POV creep. What’s that? That’s when you have so many POV characters that the reader gets whiplash. So if Suicide is the primary focus, with the odd side trip to another character’s POV, it makes the novel more focused. Let’s be honest. I like my casts of thousands, but really, only a handful of writers can manage that. Stephen King is a master. James SA Corey and Neal Asher do quite well, but they also keep it to four or five. I’ve given up on George RR Martin. While I’ve gotten better at handling a large number of POVs, feedback suggests I maybe real it back a little.
Of course, I still have to finish Storming Amargosa, which gets another trip across the keyboard. And I have to release the three remaining new Compact Universe novellas: The Amortals, The Exile, and Flight Blade. And then there’s…
This is why I don’t pants my work anymore.
Spyglass/Universal/Touchstone