Some days I hate my subconscious

After a too-long hiatus (during which, in all fairness, I wrote two short stories, revised some poetry, did the first pass on a freelance proofreading job, helped a friend write her wedding vows, and drove about 800 miles round trip), I'm back to the book I'm tentatively calling Your Lion Eyes. Like most of my titles, that's a placeholder. You see, my original conception was a lighthearted novella about shapeshifters--about how one lonely shapeshifter recognizes others of his kind and finds a home.

But then I started brainstorming. Suddenly, I had a complex magical system, a conflicted hero who's been passing as human, an angry, politicized hero, a human witch heroine who finds herself in love with two men--and convinced that this will spoil her magic--and a Nebulous Government Conspiracy. (My sanity is thankful that my subconscious has since figured it out so it's a bit less nebulous.) If you're thinking this sounds dark, convoluted, and probably far longer than a novella, you're absolutely correct. As in, I'm at 27,000 words and maybe a quarter done. (The beginning has a lot I know I'll to cut or move around, but I still think this may be a 100K monstrosity.)

Oh, and have I made it clear it's a menage a trois with two bi heroes? This does make for a lot of sexual tension, and some fun-to-write sex scenes. But sometimes I wish the part of my brain that said "cute and fluffy" had stayed in charge.