In 1998, I read a very interesting story titled "Bimbos of the Death Sun". It was a murder mystery set in a science fiction convention with a writer trying to solve a murder in the middle of the usual wackiness and goings on in the con. I thought about it some and realized how much fun a murder mystery would be in a con if a few other details were added.
* Suppose Furries were present, making it a mixed con.
* Suppose none of the fans believe that the murder actually happened.
* Suppose a cop tries to go undercover as a fan.
* Suppose the hotel is also being used by some radical religous group at the same time.
This then was the beginnings of a long (too long) attempt to write a real, marketable novel. It started in 1998. After some time on it I stopped since I realized that my skills were not yet up to the task.
In 2001, I picked it up once more, getting 8 chapters done. Once again I decided that I wasn't quite ready for Prime Time and put it aside since it wasn't coming together the way I wanted it to.
In 2003, I rewrote the entire thing, all 8 chapters, and worked on 2 more. This brought the story to 10 chapters. Actually it's 9 1/2 chapters because the chapter 10 you'll see here is a backup copy, the only piece left of the chapter that was destroyed by a corrupted flash drive.
So come to 2004. The original notes are long lost. The character sheets and details of the plot are gone. I remember the basic skeleton of the idea but no longer recall specifics about things. Characters I've given cameos to have either gafiated from things or are otherwise not involved either with me or with other friends anymore. And what little time I have to write is filled with other more precious projects or tasks.
In short, I'm sick of writing this thing. It started out as a great idea and I did work diligently on it for a time. But life got more hectic and my free time less common. So finally I had to face the truth and admit to myself that I was never going to get this story finished, no matter how much I loathe leaving tasks undone.
This does not mean, however, that I cannot show what I've done so far. It's not a bad story, not at all. In fact, it has some of the funniest moments I've ever thought up for any work of fiction. And a few of the most horrifying I've come up with as well.
I'm not abandoning the story because it is a bad story. I'm just admitting to myself that after 6 years and a complete rewrite, that I don't have the time or the interest to complete it. It started out as fun, then it became something I did because I was supposed to do it. It became a matter of discipline. But then, no amount of discipline, scheduling or creative use of technology was getting me anywhere. In the last 2 years just thinking about working on the story was enough to make me cringe because it meant spending 45 minutes just figuring out where I'd stopped and what was going on.
So here it is, what there is of it. My first attempt at a novel. And my first failure at it as well. Hopefully by getting it out of my stable of "things to do" I can focus more attention to other stories and other tasks without feeling bad about leaving this hanging for so long.
I hope you enjoy the story.