I started working on Star Kings a long time ago. I wanted to write a series of stories set in the far future, stories that I would like as much as those which I had written for Freefoot. I did a lot of preparation — character names, personalities, descriptions. Plot-points, obstacles and conflicts, adventures and challenges, and so on. It went nowhere. I still have the folder and file cards.

 I finally realized, years later, that what had worked for Freefoot, was that the stories were about peaceful times in a safe world, with ordinary Elfquest people, living normal lives, with only occasional unexpected events, which gave the reasons for the stories. My work on Star Kings had not been like that. It was only dangers, adventures, conflicts, and enemies. 

So, informed by what I had done in my Elfquest stories, I started working on Star Kings again, on December 8, 2017. I did sketches and rough drafts of the first five parts, and they worked. The people were ordinary in their own way, in a far future, living in a giant city between the stars. They were miners, extracting bizarre molecules from cold stars and creating exotic materials. They were traders, going to other worlds and trading those materials for what they wanted, and for other things to trade with other worlds. Most of them lived like ordinary people in their city, with services, shops, schools, and so on. 

It was going to be a huge project, from the birth of my hero to the birth of his first child. I decided to put it aside for a while, so that I could work on some other ideas. I wrote and published A Thing Forgotten, and The Gift and the Price. I got back to Star Kings on August 20, 2021, sketched the next four parts, and wrote drafts of the whole thing, part by part, until I had something that was not quite ready for publication, on September 9, 2022.

I still had to polish it by reading it aloud, but I had been working on it for thirteen months, and I was tired. I had to just stop for a while and take a break. My normal breaks between projects were usually from half a day to a weekend, but I needed something much longer than that, so that I could have a clear mind and a fresh view when I got to the polishing. 

Second to storytelling, what I enjoy most is graphic art. I have a variety of graphics applications, which I haven’t used much because of that storytelling, and there were some things I wanted to create visually, instead of verbally, so that was what I did. I really enjoyed doing it. It uses a different kind of imagination — no words. I learned more about how to use the software. I created a fantasy map with Sketchbook, and I’m working on a flickership from Star Kings using Graphic (a generic name), and used Graphic for a street map of a tiny town. I really like making street maps, and maps of strange lands. I like making house plans, which I can sometimes use in my stories.. And designing castles, and dungeons, and starships…. I want to do something with 3D graphics, but that will have to wait. 

I returned to Star Kings on October 10, 2022, and started reading aloud for text. Next I’ll read aloud for story, and then for performance. Then comes the formatting, getting the cover art (Darcy will do that), and I may finish before Christmas this year. I am refreshed, and doing well, and as I read Star Kings aloud, I get chills. It’s becoming what I want it to be.

And that is why I took the long break, to really stop, for a month, not half a day. It’s done me a lot of good.