Hey folks,
I think, for the most part, the original question has been answered, but just to confirm...
The last time the editors decided to synch up all of the major storylines was the Destiny trilogy. (The lack of Voyager books during that time had nothing at all to do with the merits or success of Golden's first four re-launch books.)The development and release of Destiny caused the delay in the continuing Voyager books post Spirit Walk. Marco and I had already been talking for more than a year when I was told to put everything on hold until Destiny was at a point in terms of outline approval that I could review it and build from there.
As Destiny was begin written, all of the writers who would be carrying the various stories forward post-Destiny worked very closely together, reading each other's manuscripts, fielding questions about characters and arcs and doing everything we could to make the continuity around Destiny as tight as humanly possible.
So yeah...Destiny and its immediate aftermath were all intended to bring everyone into the same time-frame.
After that, everyone was more or less freed to move at the pace their individual stories or other crossover stories developed. I am assuming that, like me, everyone is telling the stories they want to tell when and how they want to tell them.
I can't tell you exactly why the Voyager stories are progressing the way they are except to say that:
1. We said back in Full Circle that this would be a three year mission and I've been conscious as I've been working that three years can go pretty fast in book-time. I'm not intentionally dragging my feet, but with every story I think about how far along in our intended mission we are and how much farther I want to push us at any given time.
2. Perhaps more than the other series, Voyager has required a lot of set-up. Once Full Circle moved us from the end of Spirit Walk through Destiny...which was around three years, I think...my instinct was to slow down. Full Circle had to cover the ground that it did. I could easily have told that story in two or three full books, but that's not how the editors wanted to do it. But once we had a direction and our new cast of characters, the work of building those characters and relationships took precedence in my mind over pushing the story forward at any arbitrary pace. I've written five novels since Full Circle and am writing the sixth as we speak. There has been a great deal of change just in those five books. Only now am I feeling like things are settling down in such a way that moving things along at a slightly brisker pace might be a good idea.
3. Every time I sit down to start a new story, I always look first at where we last ended and ask myself...what happened next? In every case, so far, the answer to that question needed to happen pretty much right away. Full Circle/Unworthy were designed to bring us through our first few days/weeks back in the Delta Quadrant. Children of the Storm overlapped with Unworthy in the Quirinal/Planck/Demeter sections. Eternal Tide picked up shortly after Children. And there were so many immediate fallout issues left after Eternal Tide that there was no way I could skip time. The latest trilogy...Protectors, Acts of Contrition, and Atonement was designed to bring us to the end of the first year of the fleet's mission, so together they cover six to seven months (I think.) For me, that's really picking up the pace in one big story.
I had no idea as I was writing these how far I was really falling behind the other series. The only drawback to this choice has been that because we are so far behind, Voyager isn't really available to participate in some of the newer crossover stuff like The Fall. It's sort of a bummer. But I can live with it for now.
I am contracted now to write the next book after Atonement, which would theoretically begin Year 2 of the fleet's mission. At this point, I can't begin to tell you how much time we're going to cover there or how things will work out. I'm too busy finishing Atonement.
Just know that we are all aware of the time discrepancy now and no one is particularly worried about it. It's out there as something potentially to be considered, but by far the greater concern is always...what needs to happen next for our characters and what is the most exciting way we can tell that story.
For now, it's been to keep the time short and the stories close together. That can always change, but there would have to be a really good reason for it to do so. Because Voyager is in the DQ doing their own thing, and can return to the AQ at any time, I have the unique ability now to connect what I'm doing with what I already know has transpired. It's a rather interesting advantage for me as a writer, and one I would be sacrificing should we push ahead too quickly. I'm not saying I wouldn't do it, but the story I want to tell next would have to require it.
I think the biggest concern is that I would end up in a position where I would be forced to jump ahead and leave readers with a ton of open questions about stuff they might feel they had missed in the interim. But I promise you, as long as I am telling these stories, that would never be my instinct or choice.
Hope that helps.
Best,
Kirsten Beyer
