It’s been a while since I have been writing regularly, but things are looking if not up, at least relatively level, so I’m slowly getting back on track.
Lots of dead weight to drop, gotta find new horizons, thatsort of stuff…

Right now, apart from working on two non-fiction projects, I’m looking for possible markets, and preparing to contribute to the second season of the collective Italian web-novel 2 Minutes to Midnight.
It’s fun, and it’s a great exercise, working on a round robin.

AND, I’m jotting down notes for a one shot modern horror tale, and for what could turn out as a series.

I was revising my hypothetical series stuff, before I started writing this post.
A series.
Adventuring, swashbuckling, some yog-sothoteries.
In other words, sword & sorcery.
Two main characters, moving from Alexandria (Aegypt) towards the heart of Central Asia, in the 4th century.
HIstory used as a generic backdrop, not as a central issue – so I’ll be playing fast and loose if the need be.
I’d like to set the earlier stories in the Mediterranean area.

The setting is solid, I have the historical and geographical documentation handy, I have the two main characters sketched and well defined, with backstories and all.

The idea of two characters appeals to me because it allows for some flexibility – they can work as a team, on equal basis, or I can imagine stories in which one of thetwo takes center stage, the other acting as a sidekick.
As it is my habit, I’m writing about a mixed team – a man and a woman, that is.
Probably comes from growing up with Steed & Peel from The Avengers, but I like the dynamics of a coupple.
Different personalities, different outlook.

She’s a noble-born brat, spoiled, sophisticated, self centered, vindictive, dabbling in the black arts, randy as a stray cat.
He’s a soldier, a veteran, a proletarian, a pragmatist, a little rough around the edges.

Nothing exceedingly new, as a concept.
But fun – hopefully.

Also, there’s the fact that, based on biochemical dynamics (no, really), a man and a woman work better as a team in a fight than two men or two women.
And I’d love to explore that dynamic, too!

But the hardest part, at the moment, is figuring out

a . why the characters are on the road in the first place

Solving this bit requires a story.
I do not need to actually write it or publish it (tho’ it would be great!) but I need to set it down somehow.

b . why they hang out with each other

And no, “they are in love” is not an option.
Because it’d be too easy, and because it does not fit with the characters, and would burden the stories with a layer I’m not interested in.
They hang out together because of respect, possibly because of necessity.
I’d like to tie together their need for each other and the reason why they are out there adventuring (instead of being doing what they are supposed to be doing based on their background).
Solving a and b in a single stroke, in other words.
It will need work.

Right now, I’m in the jotting notes in a notebook phase.
And sketching.
And looking for pictorial references.

But it’s good to have stories to write again.