I finally finished the first draft of the third Big Pulp story, Who Was That Lady I Saw You With? (the title will probably change) at lunch. It needs a lot of revision—more than the first two did—but I’m still pleased to have a finished draft I can build on.
All three stories, I notice, feature the lead at a turning point which will bring them into the lives they have in Brain From Outer Space. I keep wondering if that’s a weakness, but I don’t think so. Voice of the Lobster is grimmer than the other two, and I think I can make #3 stand out as well, once I get to revising it (I think it’s going to be a lot lighter in tone by the end, almost humorous in spots).
It’s also interesting how much this is going to affect the novel. I knew Gwen Montgomery worked for the OSS during World War II, but I didn’t work out the details (involving her ethically dubious father) until I started on the short stories. Nor is Steve becoming Gwen’s partner happening the way I’d vaguely imagined it.
One question I haven’t figured out is how much backstory I should include when I resume work on Brain, eventually. Obviously I can’t assume everyone’s read the shorts, but I don’t want to recap stories in detail if a lot of people come to the book from the shorts (the opening chapter of Brain includes what will become a short story in its own right, so that’ll have to be changed).
Of course, this assumes the novel will someday be published, so if the worst problem I have with this series stems from that—well, I can live with it.
