On The West Wing, one of my favorite TV shows, there’s a simple line they use to signal that the president or his staff is ready to move on to the next issue or problem. One of them says, “What’s next?”

Well, “What’s next?” is what I’ve been wondering myself for the past couple of weeks.

With my re-write done, and querying in progress, I’m ready to start a new project. I have four solid ideas, and gathering more the longer I wait. I went on vacation last week and took the opportunity not to write much, but to think about what I wanted to write next. Instead of making a decision, I ended up with an entirely new idea for a novel. (Blame a beautiful sunrise in Maine and a satisfied stomach full of lobster rolls.) So now I have even more projects to choose from. I’m not hurting for ideas, but I can’t act on everything that pops into my head; I have to be discriminate. Which brings me back to, “What’s next?”

My four ideas are:

1. A new historical novel set during a three-day blizzard in New York City, 1888, written from multiple perspectives, and including a lot of hero and survival stories.

Pro: It fits in perfectly with my fiction mission statement of writing historical fiction from multiple perspectives that rings true with current events. Con: I’m not ready to write it yet; I still have more research to do.

2. A contemporary novel about a girl who thinks she has the perfect life until someone comes along to show her how un-perfect perfect can be. This is the book that came to me while watching the sunrise; its name is “The Sunrise-Watchers Club.”

Pro: The idea came to me complete, within one weekend; I’ve already outlined the entire novel. (Car trips are good for that.) I could start the first draft tomorrow. Con: It’s not historical, so it doesn’t fit into the type of fiction that I want to be best-known for.

3. A memoir about a year of figuring myself out, along the lines of The Happiness Project, but with more depth. This project would also include a new website/blog, so that I could share my ideas and start to promote the memoir before I finish it. (Memoir needs to have an existing “platform,” or people already engaged with your work, before it can be published.) It would begin in September, because I’d like to start with the fall season instead of in the dead of winter, and September always feels like a great fresh-start time to me.

Pro: I love this idea and have always wanted to write a memoir. Con: My instinct is telling me that this isn’t the right year for it, and I need to wait until my family and I are ready.

4. A group of short stories. I only write about one short story a year and it would be good to get more of them published. I could take the next few months and write a few more while I’m still querying for Waist.

Pro: This is a very practical idea that will help me generate ideas and get published. It’s also less pressure than a novel, so it’ll be easier to handle my writing workload at the start of the school year. Con: I don’t feel excited about doing this. I only write one short story a year because that’s about as many ideas as I get for short stories.

So, readers, I throw it over to you: what should I do? Which idea should I pursue? What project would you like to see me write about on this blog?

“What’s next?”

Also, I have an anniversary approaching! 4 years of blogging, as of August 29th. Stay tuned for a special anniversary post! If you don’t want to miss it, be sure to subscribe to the blog (just put your email into the sidebar box).