So, I wrote a novella.

You may recall that I once said I never throw anything away when it comes to writing. Well, this is where I out myself as a big fat liar, because I’ve started and deleted three attempts at writing this post already.

I would say I don’t know why I’ve let so much time pass between posts, but between August and now, I guess I haven’t had much to say. I also haven’t accomplished much that would warrant a post, and I figure, if you don’t have anything to say, don’t say anything.

That’s not to say I haven’t been working. I’ve sent out stories, worked on revisions, taught my creative writing class (one month to go), and somewhere along the way, I also turned 50.

So, although I haven’t accomplished much, I have at least done a few things.

And while I haven’t finished revising the novel I’ve been working on for mumble-mumble years, I did manage to finish drafting a 23,000-word science fiction novella. No, I don’t know quite how that happened either. Even stranger is the fact that it was inspired by a scenario from Dynasty, the nighttime soap opera that was extremely popular in the ‘80s:

animated gif of two elegantly dressed women fighting and falling into a garden's reflecting pool

It was not exactly what you’d call a subtle drama. Anyway, the novella is tentaively titled Exit Scenario. Also—and probably for the best—the final version bears no resemblance to the source of inspiration.

As with most things I write, it started with a what-if question: What if, in order to marry the man you loved, you had to travel halfway across the galaxy just to get a divorce from the man you were already married to? That’s the situation our narrator, Bill, finds himself in. Naturally, things get complicated from there.

And, like most things I write, this one ends with the potential for future stories in the same setting with the same characters. Because I guess I also like leaving myself options.

Now, I have to send it to my publisher. I have no idea what they’ll think of it, but there’s only one way to find out. Cross your fingers.