Note: Excerpt at end of post.
Though I don’t have a release date I am well on my way with Blue Skye In the Rain, follow-up to Port In a Storm.
Thanks to work done prior to the pandemic.
Working on material for the Port Gallatan series has been fun. It’s also been challenging in that keeping the original vision through the twists and turns of the last 5 years has been a bit daunting. In no specific order, here are a few of the challenges
Working Title. Just prior to moving to the current location I mentioned to a casual if somewhat regular acquaintance that I was working on a novel with the working title Blue Skye. I gave him a brief synopsis and he replied with a smile and a promise to periodically check in to see how things were coming along on the story.
That was 3 years ago!
Shortly after moving I started the story, then set it aside.
This is typical when I’m finishing one book but want to keep up momentum for the next project.
Off Course. We’d barely finished unpacking when we were staring down the chaos of a pandemic lockdown and while this turned into one of the more prolific periods of my writing career, it steered me far away from the vision I had for the series.
Switched Gears. Toward the end of 2021 I turned my focus to a number of nonfiction projects.
Eventually, it was time to swing back around to the story. And yet…
Which One?
When I plan a series I generally have a good idea how many novels will be in its borders. Unfortunately, with the Port Gallatan work, I had three different novels that could have followed Port In a Storm. What I didn’t realize initially is that not all of them were suited to the vision I had for the series.
I was so ready to get back to fiction writing I overlooked that little detail.
I was well down the path of Hollow Shelter when it hit me.
This isn’t going to work!
Dropping the book I took time to regroup.
Figure out where I went off the path.
The process took longer than I anticipated and was filled with a great deal of angst as I tried to figure out where I went wrong and what the best path forward might be.
And which book I should work on next!
Thinking it might be helpful to step away for awhile, I considered doing the next Dragon Core book.
Eventually decided against it.
I considered reworking Hollow Shelter – even started to – then realized that wasn’t the best one for next in the series.
Finally, I determined Blue Skye was the best one, not the least reason of which is that it beautifully sets up for the next 2 in the series.
It’s also based on a comedic theme, something I think everyone can use these days.
Trouble was, Blue Skye was only a place holder title, what those in the industry call a working title. Sure enough, I spent several days struggling to come up with an alternate. Unfortunately, there was a plot device that went with Blue Skye and I knew if I switched out the title I would lose that.
That plot device is a big part of the story.
Aaron and I were out driving recently and I began talking through the challenge of the working title. Without even thinking, I added “In the rain.” When I mentioned it being a follow on to Port In a Storm, I smiled. I had my tie-in!
Details like that are very important to me!
Inertia from being away from fiction had set in.
Little details like working titles don’t get the novel written.
I spent yesterday building out the setup for the story, managing to get in some write time.
Stuff like organizing files and directories, building a playlist that suits the story.
After a good night’s sleep I am back at it.
Release date will be announced in the coming months.
The following is an excerpt from the upcoming book.
PROLOGUE
Construction Site, Montana
Spring, 2021
“Blue Skye In the Rain? What kind of a name is that for a business?”
Knowing it would irritate his father, twenty-eight-year-old Ryan Skye took a moment before replying to lean over so he could use his t-shirt to wipe his sweaty forehead. Oh, and count to ten. Twice.
Standing slowly he noted a number of the crew – those not used to the periodic and somewhat regular squabbles between father and son – had stopped what they were doing to watch. Lips in a half-smile half-smirk, he looked into the eyes of the man who taught him everything he knew about running a business through good times and bad, who taught him to be independent, whose wife his mother encouraged him to follow his dreams. Shrugging, he replied, “Guess you’ll just have to come out and see for yourself.”
Ignoring the snickers of nearby crew- and his father’s look of disgust – he hefted a bag of mix and made for the cement truck.
CJAPTER ONE
Port Gallatan
Summer, 2021
The tiny town of Port Gallatan – a town some say is at the edge of nowhere – has had an identity crisis of one sort or another since being founded by eccentric French Noble Jamet Gallatan. In search of privacy he made sure the small hamlet on the water earned a reputation for being unfriendly to strangers, including those just passing through. But like the human desire to direct destiny, progress cannot be controlled and soon, others in search of freedom to pursue dreams joined the reclusive Frenchman.
Those who settled in the small village, who knew Jamet, respected his right to seclusion, opined he should have known that in settling on a port he would be part of the progress he claimed to eschew. And so it was that the small town, like the fledgling country it was a part of, grew.
For a period following the US industrial revolution, there was belief the town – thanks to the new railroad being built in the West – would grow. Thrive even. Speculators from near and far flocked to the tiny port village to lay claim to a piece of history and for a time Port Gallatan burst at the seams. But it was not to be. The railway bypassed the little village by the water, sealing its fate as a small town caught between progress and stagnation.
Elizabeth Maxim 
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