I just finished a second run through of my newest sci fi novel, Children of Clay. It is now up to 60,000 words. For the sake of reference, about the length of my previous novel, Table of the Lord. 50,000 is standard length for a novel.

I've mentioned this before, but this one is about time travel and Mars colonization. I am quite happy I was able to handle the time travel bit. I hate time travel because it is all "so done." It is almost impossible to think of new situations or new story ideas for time travel. I think in this story, though, the time travel bit works out well. For me, the secret is the story itself and less the sci fi. In other words, build the sci fi around the story.

Of course, there is the whole deliberation about who to publish with. I could go back to Publish America, who did a decent job with Table of the Lord (I really liked the cover), or I could find a similar publisher, either small press or non-full service. However, this time around, I am hoping for a full service publisher, but that's more of a pain. Most of them require agents and to begin the agent search, I'll need to spend money and time.

Most authors dream of their work in film. I certainly think Table of the Lord would make an interesting motion picture. However, Children of Clay will not. It is very introspective and the action is intra-personal. At best, it would be one of those weird movies that few have patience for. This work definitely works better as a written work.

I am now officially drained for ideas. I honestly do not know if I have even one more sci-fi story in me. I just can't conceive of anything new. Maybe that's not such a bad thing.