Welcome to 2023, Rune Skelley! What do you plan to do with your time?

Thanks for having us, Rune. It’s great to be here. To the surprise of, probably, no one, we plan to continue writing As Yet Untitled Ghost Novel #1. Last winter when we started it we expected to finish the first draft within the year, but since that didn’t happen it needs to be our top priority.

How long will it take?

That’s anyone’s guess, but we are 99% sure we’ll reach the end this year. It would be nice to say 100%, but it’s smart to leave a little wiggle room.

And, assuming you do finish Book 1, what then? Will you write Book 2?

Potentially, but it’s unlikely. We’ll probably need to recharge our composition batteries. Writing a novel takes a lot out of you, even when you have a coauthor. It helps a lot to look away and do something else.

Something related, perhaps, to the rest of the series?

Perhaps. We were talking about this recently. One of the main advantages to plotting the entire four book series at once is that it allows us to make adjustments to the big picture as we go. When Book 1 is done, we’ll go through the outlines for the remaining books and see if there are any adjustments we need to make. That can mean adding or subtracting things from the future books, or it can mean going back into #1 and making tweaks to introduce or highlight things that will pay off later. It’s a lot to keep track of, but we really feel that it enhances the story world.

Are your other series completely done?

The Science Novels are as done as any writing project ever is, but we do have a Music Novel that needs to be edited. Feedback from our critique group is awaiting our attention, so that will be what we turn to if we need a bigger break before writing Ghosty Book 2.

What about the new story world you occasionally tease about?

We haven’t talked about that much recently, but it’s simmering away on the back burner.

Any exciting trips this year?

Yes! We have a very cool trip planned for later in the year, right after Kent retires from his day job.

Wait, what?

We saved the biggest announcement for last. After too many years chained to his desk at Corporate-DayJob Incorporated, Kent will be retiring in 2023, so he can be chained to his desk at SkelleyCo Amalgamated Fiction Enterprises, LLC! We’re very excited to see what that does for our productivity. 2023 will be a year of big changes around the Writing Cave!