THE ADVENTURE: Entry 1, Day 2

So, what have I done so far to fix all the glitches and contradictions and just plain, "Why did I write THAT?" instances in my Commonwealth Universe books?

The goal is to go through 1 book each week.
So far it's been kind of fun, because I haven't read some of these books in years. Like, 15 or more.

I started with my first Commonwealth books published: The SUNSINGER series.
Young Adult, maybe even qualifying as Middle Grade.
When I told my publisher what I was doing, she very logically said, "Don't you think you should start at the BEGINNING, the chronological order of events in the series?"

Hmmm, she's partially right. But the thing is, the moist recently published Commonwealth books are the furthest back in Commonwealth history. I KNOW what they say, but I can't really remember what I said in the SUNSINGER books. And that's where the contradictions have grown. I didn't make notes when I wrote them because at the time I didn't PLAN to have a Commonwealth Universe, just 10 books about an orphan boy who gets to grow up on a small starship and become a hero.

Here's a big, important lesson, folks: TAKE NOTES
Be organized. Make lists of people and terminology and places and historical events you made up. You might just need to remember and use them someday.

I didn't. So that's why I'm reading through all my books and making big changes.

So far I've read, and fixed, and made notes on:
SUNSINGER
SPACER'S CREED
DEAD WORLD
THE LADY AND THE ORDER

I'm establishing standards for terms. For instance, in one sub-set of books, months were lunes and weeks were quarters, in another sub-set they were lunars and quars, in another I left them months and weeks. See the problem? Consistency is vital for survival!

The little fixes need to start with SUNSINGER, the references to historical events that are different from what actually happens in the books about those events. It's kind of fun. Kind of a headache. But I think we'll all be happier when I'm done. (Not gonna confess to some really big, stupid mistakes I need to fix. If nobody has asked me about them yet, I'm not going to tell you what they were!)

If YOU have read a Commonwealth Universe book, and you had some questions about a person or event or terminology or detail of history, please write to me and ask. Who knows? You could help me fix a glitch, or might even give me an idea for a new story.

Just post in the comment section, and I'll get it!
Thanks!

Introducing: THE ADVENTURE

Welcome to THE ADVENTURE

Hopefully ... this will be a weekly feature, talking about what's going on with writers, writer friends, communities, events, whatever. The focus is on BOOKS!

Thursday and Friday each week, I'll invite a writer to talk about a new book, a work-in-progress, something that has challenged them, maybe offer you a chance to get a book or another goody related to their newest title. Sky's the limit -- and we're just getting started, so we'll figure it out as we go along and learn what works, what is a smashing success, and what falls faster than a lead balloon ....

And if I can't get someone to contribute in any particular week ... sorry, gang, you're stuck with ME!

(cue: evil laughter ..........)

So today ... just to get things going ....

I'm on a HUGE adventure.
Readers (and someone my publisher assures me is my biggest fan) have commented on a few ... umm ... glitches. Inconsistencies. Contradictions. Face it: MISTAKES.

Yeah, readers have found mistakes in some of my Commonwealth Universe books. A statement about places or people or "historical events" in one book is contradicted or just doesn't quite mesh up with a statement about the event or people or whatever in another book. Or, as has happened when I finally sit down to write an entire BOOK about an event mentioned in two or three sentences, in a book I wrote maybe 10 years before ... well, they don't quite fit. Maybe you can blame Human memory (mine, and the characters relating the event) and we all know how people rewrite personal history to make themselves look better, or make someone else look bad.

SO HERE'S WHAT I'M DOING:

I'm going through every single published Commonwealth Universe book and novella -- over 25 -- and I'm taking notes, I'm creating a "guidebook" and establishing standards and making sure that the history of a planet or the rise of technology or a family tree or other bits and pieces are written down and organized, and I'm making changes in the books as I go through each one.

Reading the existing books will help me "get up to speed" to start writing Commonwealth Universe books again. Because face it, those of you who have actually read any of them ... there are some big holes in the timeline. Over 25 books published now, with over 50 planned by the time I'm done. Yeah, lots of holes to fill in.

More on the big project tomorrow!