Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

Of all the specific themes we have for the Glimmer of Gold blog, I find Miscellaneous Monday the most difficult to create. Tuesday Tunes are easy, because my love of music is not limited to a few specific genres. I appreciate the power and majesty of Handel’s Messiah, pretty much all of Beethoven’s symphonies, Clair de Lune, and many others. I enjoy a few operas and ballets, Swan Lake especially. Fifties and sixties country is a particular favorite, but

I confess that I treasure classic rock from the mid to late sixties.

What’s up Wednesday, Trivia Thursday and Funny Friday are relatively easy, especially the Thursday and Friday posts because typing and search parameter into the address bar brings a flood of information to pick from. All I have to do for a Wednesday post is update you readers on future plans and progress (more often lack of, in my case) for novels.

Monday, on the other hand, can be a bit of a struggle. Although I have written and published more than a dozen books, I don’t regard myself as a particularly creative person. “Wait,” you must be thinking, “how can you write if you’re not creative?”

Creativity is a fickle companion. My novels start with one or two ideas that occur to me, ofttimes in the strangest places. Once I have that basic starting point, I spend a few days cogitating (this week’s word!) and fleshing out the bare bones of the story. I look at this as more of a mechanical process than a creative one because I’m familiar enough with the Regency era, as well as my characters, that I usually know what works and what doesn’t. Of course, there are situations and attitudes or conversations I think of that research convinces me don’t belong in a P&P variation but overall, outlining is nothing more than assembling the pieces into a workable whole.

With that complete, all I have left to do is to flesh out the details which, because of the way I plot, is not as difficult as it sounds. People have told me, among them my brother, Jann, that my plots are mini novels in themselves. I leave very few details out of the outline, but with my memory going downhill, I don’t dare count on my ability to remember ideas that occur before I start writing the novel.

The process works for me, although it can be somewhat time-consuming. In my opinion, that is not a display of creativity. Now, if I decided to branch off into another genre, like spy thrillers or fantasy, that would require major creative talent. That’s not to say I haven’t considered writing in another genre. The man problem, as Jann explained on his last post, in gaining an audience in an area where few people have read your previous work.

To overcome that, I’ve toyed with the idea of a series that puts Darcy and Elizabeth’s children in London to solve mysteries. Granted, ODC would not occupy a large part of the stories, with the obvious exception of the first one or two that establish the premise and introduce their offspring.

I took a first step in that direction at the end of my last novel, “If Not For The Entail”, where I introduced their by now grown children and put three of them in London, to Darcy’s frustration. I dropped a hint regarding his anger at their activities and left the narration at that point, so if and when I come up with a decent story idea, the groundwork is in place. Will I pursue this? I don’t know. The idea is attractive, but will people take a chance on a story that doesn’t follow the standard Pride and Prejudice path? Therein lies the rub.

It’s something I need to think long and hard about before diving in with both feet. I’d hate to hit my head on the bottom of what I assumed was a deep enough pool, of you’ll forgive the weak analogy.

If and when I decide, I’ll announce it in an A Glimmer of Gold blog, but for now, I have to go. My border collie insists I take her for a walk followed by a rousing episode of tossing the frisbee for her. So far she’s been patient, but I can see that is coming to an end.

Above Images: Yellow Submarine: Image by Elena from Pixabay; Woman Shrugging: Image by Robin Higgins from Pixabay; Gears: Image by Hugo Hercer from Pixabay; Dog waiting: Image by 825545 from Pixabay