Daniel Aegan

It’s that magical day of the week: WIP Wednesday. For those of you not into acronyms, it’s Work-in-Progress Wednesday! This is the day I remember once every two months or so where I get to humble-brag about my current work and future projects.

Let’s get started.

I’ve been bouncing from two books since I finished the third draft of Kai the Swordsman. The two books of my focus are Operation: Maximum Chaos and Excalibur Nights.

These two books couldn’t be more different. O:MC features an angsty high school senior (class of 2132) who dreams of what all girls should dream: Overthrowing her robotic government overlords. EN, on the other hand, features a surly electrician who winds up shunted into a fictional fantasy world, trying to win the hand of a princess in order to win the heart of her real-world doppelganger.

Confused yet?

I find doing two books at once is a good balance for me. I wrote around 25k of O:MC and had to take a break. I wrote 25k of EN in retaliation, switched back to O:MC, wrote 5k more, and jumped back to EN this morning.

And that’s how my mind works. The 5k I wrote this last week or so in O:MC finished up the first of three planned parts. Before it was done, I was struck with some ideas for EN, and I had to jump back for at least a few more chapters. I may stick with it longer. I don’t know.

This system doesn’t work for everyone. I don’t enjoy bragging, but I’m great at two things when it comes to writing: My speed and my wealth of ideas. When I talk to other writers, these come up, and I’m almost always hearing about how in awe they are. I never even knew I had that skill in me until people voiced their amazement.

I need to take a moment to praise a friend of mine who probably won’t read this. I was riffing about O:MC and the government run by robots. He came up with some ideas and twists that absolutely floored me. They won’t be implemented until late into the second part, but (for me), it cements the antagonists and puts them on a whole new level of villainy. So, thank you, Manny.

But getting back on subject…

So, I’m on Excalibur Nights, the tale of Ralph Anders in his fictional nightmare. The story is really hitting a new stride, and it has a long way to go till I reach the crescendo. At least Operation: Maximum Chaos is at a point where I have to start a new part when I get back to it. It gives me the opportunity to let it go for a bit. I’ll come back into it fresh, and I’ll get Valeria’s adventure up and running once again.

Oh, and I’ve been querying a few books too, but I don’t think that counts as a WIP update. I’m still hoping to snag an agent or publisher willing to take a calculated risk on something that cracks the mold and strays from the norm. They’re out there, and I’ll find them. Eventually.

That’s it for now. Wanna chat about writing or whatever? Hit me up on Twitter: @Daniel_Aegan. The underscore represents the void inside us all.

-Daniel Aegan
1/30/19