Two Manuscripts Done, Now What?

So as I sit at my dining room table, kids fed, dishes done and everyone's happy, I wonder what's next. Not in my family's life, I know what's going to happen tonight, tomorrow and the next day. I am wondering what's going to happen with my character's life, all of my characters' lives. Will they sit and be patient while I push to find time to help them? Will they wait while I rework their dialogues and inner thoughts? Do they have the time to hang around while I find someone to edit their experiences? I hope so.

When I sat down to write Prototype over a year ago and a half ago, I had no idea where it was going to go. Characters came from crevices of my mind that I didn't know existed. I never had a life altering dream or an outline that plotted their lives. I just planted my bum in the chair at the communal computer and started hammering it out. Lauren and Roger were born to me just as Marshall and Alejandro were. They filled ideas that needed voices. They were the motivators that carried the story in my head- forward.


As I came close to finishing the first part of Lauren's story, my mind birthed a new character, one that had no place saved for her in Prototype. As a matter of fact, She belonged in a story that was completely opposite of Lauren's. I don't know if I created this new character because it was hard to see my first novel come to an end. Or I needed to create something completely different than Prototype because it was such an intense story. But about a month before I finished Prototype I started writing Wilson Mooney and that is when she started telling me her story.


Now roughly six months later I have two very strong women in my head battling to have their time with me. One that's being neglected and one that seems to be taking up all my attention. One that is wrapped in deceit, sex, murder and betrayal, while the other is drenched in forbidden first love, secrets and a narcissistic roommate.


The hardest thing is, who do I choose? Who of the two do I ask to wait even longer? I guess it boils down to who is the one that will dazzle the right people. Which one of these strong protagonists will woo the representation for me? I guess I'll just have to see...