I can feel it coming in the air tonight...

Sing it, Phil Collins!

Past six months of the "dry well" feeling, I think I'm getting ready to get back to it and write Forever-Eventide, the second novel of The Forever Saga.

Some part of me is very hesitant. After all, the first book isn't even published yet! Shouldn't I work on that? Of course...however, I know that publishers will value greater the writer that is more than a one-trick pony. It shows that an author is serious about their craft and can be productive as a writer, and lucrative to a publishing house.

There are some certainly some loose threads to tie up. I'd really like to plan out the rest of the series, plot-wise, before delving in to the process. With that said, I remember the danger of trying to get it all right on the first try; you're never happy with the first try as a writer. At least, you shouldn't be - we're way too creative to allow just one attempt at writing life-changing stories.

Forever-Eventide will be darker than Flash. It's a turning point for the heroes - a harsh reality sets upon them, where their safe, comfortable lives are melted away to reveal a danger and a responsibility they must accept. The antagonist of the entire saga returns to finish what he started in the first book, and only a precious few know enough to stop him. It's a great call to arms for would-be heroes, and with introductions from the first book out of the way, everything will shift to high gear.

Since I started this entry with a music reference, it's only fitting that I end it the same way. Do you ever hear a song that you absolutely love, but also have absolutely no idea what it means? For me, "Spaceman" by The Killers is that song. Frankly, I thought it was stupid the first time I heard it. Yet like every other Killers song and album, it grows on me because there is deeper meaning behind the catchy synth melodies and Brandon Flowers' abstract lyrics.

The popular opinion seems to be that "Spaceman" is about a drug overdose, but I think even that isn't deep enough for the song's true meaning. After some digging, it seems to REALLY be about how all our media influences, our leaders, our news stations, many of our experts, will tell us to believe one thing, when really, the greatest truths and knowledge of this life are actually borne from our ability to be unique, imaginative, and groundbreaking. Who says we have to accept what we're told? Why should we sacrifice the originality that the human race possesses, in favor of keeping a status quo, or fitting in with everyone else?

There are "storm makers" in life that get us hung up on bad things like the economy, presidential popularity, war, and the like, and then turn around to say it's not so bad. There are "dream makers" that give us an idea of what the ideal life SHOULD be like, and that's often not what we really want, yet we chase it anyways. I think the titular Spaceman is actually telling us to look at our world as a whole and say that such conformity is "all in our mind." We are only as shackled as we allow ourselves to be.

And I think some shackles came off for me today. I can't wait for life to lay out these books for me. I can't listen to logic and reason, both of them telling me that I must dot every i and cross every t. Creativity happens when we let it flow, not when we try to fit in into a regimen.

With that said, beam me up, Spaceman! Some dreams are too big for a world of bland values.

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