Up to a couple of years ago I’d always write one story at a time, finish it, and move onto the next one.

So why the change?

When I started co-writing, with sending a manuscript to my partner in crime, and waiting for its return so I could write my next bit, I didn’t want to waste potential writing time twiddling my thumbs. While I could have focused on promo, writing blog posts, and/or reviewing, I also wanted to keep my writing momentum up, especially as it can take a while for a manuscript to return. Often real life rears its ugly head, or my co-writer’s turn can be a decent stretch that doesn’t write in a day or so.

So did I handle two sets of characters demanding attention, especially when the books I’m working on are very different?

At present I’m working on Forgotten in Fire, book 2 of my Dragons of Astria series, as well as co-writing The Harp and the Sea with my friend and fellow author Lou Sylvre. These books are very different. One is high fantasy, while the other is an historical with a touch of magic. Lou and I are on the final stretch of ours, while my dragon guys are nearly 60K in. The latter is going to be a longish book, as it’s only about 60 – 70% in.

One thing I decided very early on was that wherever I was writing wise with my dragons when our Scots lads turned up in my inbox, I was going to finish the chapter I was on, even if it meant making the other manuscript wait a few days. Changing lanes without indicating is never a good idea, and the same applies to a story. Even if the chapter ends on a nasty cliffhanger—and this current chapter is definitely going to that—it makes it easier for me to switch gears, as I have a temporary closure with a chapter end.

That doesn’t mean, of course, that my dragons are going to be happy about me ditching them for anything up to a few days to a week, but they will have to deal. After all, it’s not as though they don’t know they’re getting their happy ending. This is part of them having to work for it.

Come the end of the month, they’ll have an even longer wait. I’m aiming to write something for Queer Sci Fi’s annual flash fic contest, and also pitch something at this year’s RWNZ conference so need to get the first 100 pages of that written before August. Sorry guys.

I’d love to know how other writers handle working on multiple stories at once.

And on a related topic, I’m a reader who usually has more than one book on the go too—an ebook at home I’m reviewing, hardcopy for breaks at work, and an audio in the car. How many others do that, and how do you keep the different books you’re reading separate in your mind? I find they have to be very different stories. I tried reading two urban fantasies at once last year. It did my head in, so I had to finish one before going back to the other as they were too close in genre to keep them totally separate.