huh.

I want to write colonial fantasy. I'm not really sure what I mean by this notion -- except that I don't want to write urban or historical fantasy -- except that for some reason the idea fascinates me. (And if you people keep telling me that this is basically what I wrote in the Warsverse, well...you may be right.)

Also Western-esque fantasy -- you know, cowboys, ranches, gold miners, the whole craze for the west. Except not historical. Whole new world. And I don't think I necessarily want it to be magic fantasy -- not your classic sword and sorcery -- but I'm not sure I want it to be just humans, either.

So -- maybe the Narnia gig (nonhumans, talking animals, etc.) in this new world. Although I'm not entirely sure if I mean American style colonialism (er, in America, I mean) or more along the lines of India or Africa. (Look, when I say colonialism, it's best just to assume I mean the British Empire unless I say differently. And, okay, I'm in New Orleans, there's reason to assume that, I suppose.) And I kind of want a New Orleans style city -- that whole mess of different cultures blending and mixing and the sheer bloody history of it all.

I also still want to do the fantasy special forces story, but I'm not sure if I can reconcile it with taking place in this world, because it's more along the lines of high fantasy. (I have been playing with the idea of it taking place in a colony that was abandoned; it's gradually grown out of the survivors and the natives. But I'm not sure it fits in with the rest of the world very well; I think it may be a different world entirely.)

*prods idea carefully* It's not a plot bunny. It's a world-building bunny. No characters, either. (And, uh, it's me, so I'm in debates over whether they have guns or not.)

I want to write an original this year. I haven't even thought about original fic since May and I finished up my senior project novel (military sci-fi, I swear that one day I will go back to it because it is epic like whoa but it is also way steeped in the politics and issues of the time. Which is, uh, also known as now, but there are parts of it that are just bitter. But it has potential), but I do want to write, and in my happy dreams I am one of those authors who gets published and gets good reviews and may even make money. Also, clearly, this whole mess showed me that if I want to read something, I damn well have to write it myself.

And on that note: Bernard Cornwell, yay/nay? I have never read Cornwell, but looking at his books on Amazon they seem to be along my general lines, and I do not immediately hate the writing style. Gregory Maguire, yay/nay? Never read him, either, but I have heard good things, and I didn't immediately hate the writing. And Charles de Lint, yay/nay? Never read him, had him recced to me once or twice. China Mieville, yay/nay? Again with the reccing -- once by my AP English teacher -- and I actually own Perdido Street Station, I just have not read it. Also, it is not here; it's at home.

In other news: I think I'm going to have to chart out the next couple chapters of Dust, just to see how everything lines up time-wise, because I have at least three chapters that are all supposed to be taking place at once (Peter, Susan, Tirian) and also the last three chapters were more or less concurrent (Jill, Eustace, Edmund), so I want to make sure nothing impossible is happening.

It'll get even more exciting when I have to chart out the (major) battles; after my betas get back to me with Water, I'm probably going to be changing the end battle even more than I already have, although perhaps not, we shall see. And there are several big battles in Dust, of course, although I really need to get someone to Archenland so that the plot could START MOVING ALONG, PLEASE. I'm going to pass 80K this chapter and we've still got a fair ways to go. Possibly I subscribed to the "all fantasy epics come in trilogies!" newsletter very early on. (Or I can blame Stirling and Martin. That's the other option, and...probably more likely.)