I have been writing a lengthy account of one main character in a series of events, with side characters accompanying that one for some length of time. Several characters on the side were very interesting to me with potential I wanted to find in them, and I have been writing about their experiences, mainly when having parted from that initial main character. The subsequent stories are not as long as the first is turning out to be, but I think they are all potential novels to be published, the initial one still probably going first.
I am only twenty or so pages into Red Mars Moon by Kim Stanley Robinson. A hard sci fi tale of adventure on a Chinese lunar colony. Pretty sure I'll recommend it when done. Edit, see above.
Correction. This one is Red Moon. I've read Red, Green, and Blue Mars. This is a different "universe." I have used Desmond as a Starbucks name.