Category: Aurelia

Colour’s Crazy Friend

A slightly larger installment as I wanted to wrap of the visit and get these two on their way. There are politics on the horizon and Aurie has to “get in character,” so to speak. She knows how to do that as a general and I think is still not entirely sure what to do as regent. Obviously, “not break anything before my aunt gets back” is probably her Item #1.

That might be tricky for someone who loves their berserker-streak. Her grandparents act as if it’s a mental illness. Maybe it is.

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Colour Preference

The talk about MacRae, one of the secondary antagonists from “World Without End,” is background to when-and-if Colour ever tries to pin Aurie down on the imperium’s racial policies. Things might start to move too fast in few thousand words for that to come about.

Just because she’s 52 and sterile does not mean Colour has no physical desires (my wife just yelled “don’t write about me!”). The two men in Nova Scotia and now Aurie’s grandfather are more than enough to get her juices flowing again. Aurie, of course, cannot help but tease. Jansen should smack her.

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Empty Colours

We confirm something I’ve long suspected about Henge. I mentioned in my writing exercise, Cadets (pts 1-4), but until published in meatspace I don’t really consider some idea I play with to be canonical. As this MS also isn’t published, Henge’s condition is not technically set but I’m proceeding as if it is. I do wonder: if she could ever find another functioning fusion reactor or engine, and put herself into the equipotential flux point, could she reassemble her body? Pull nanomaterials from some other point of herself to fashion eggs? She’d certainly need help from the Thinking Machines to do that.

And, shedding? A regenerative effect? That was completely new to me, as well.

I like how Aurie is so unassuming: a bar of soap to wash a Regent’s hair? No fancy shampoos and conditioners for her!

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Colour of Angels

Finally had two days off in a row and was able to get much done. Enough to keep posting updates for the next few days.

I vaguely remembered the effect that Henge’s newly manifested body had on the people in and around Knoxville, now a generation ago. I thought to examine that a little closer, this miracle of diamond dust and star fire.

Not sure how to handle the next few scenes; I know I’ll be moving hard and fast into internal imperial politics. But I also want to see Colour meet Aurie’s grandparents at their snug home on the road to Oak Ridge. I think, with Aurie’s grandma being Min Chinese, I might be able to add some clarity to the imperium’s racial policies. I know any discussion of race makes modern Americans freak out.

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Air Colour

Productive couple of days, thankfully. And I know where the material will be going for several more installments. Lots of clever things ahead. I may even have a clue as to what happened to Allen Rupert at the end of “A Texas Naval Affair.”

All the way back to “Worlds Without End,” I’d forgotten how much Gary detests his sister’s politics and how it enmeshed his family.

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Shenandoah Colours

Gotta love “handwavium:” so, six hundred miles later… Does anyone really want to hear about their saddle sores? I cover that (so to speak) in “Goddess Crusade” when Faustina has her problems. Fussy being Fussy, she uses it to get her much-older boyfriend into bed

We meet Aurie’s father. From “Worlds Without End” on, he detests politics and just wants to be with his fiancee, later wife, Henge. But there is that old adage: “you may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you.”

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Colour’s Plea

Something a recapitulation of the last few installments but once this is book, I want those scenes clear in the reader’s minds as I’m going to gloss nearly their entire 600-mile ride and go immediately into imperium politics, internal, external, familial. There will suddenly be a lot of names thrown at the screen. In the book you will be able to flip to the front to the family tree and go, “oh, that’s who this is.” Not really bothering with that here.

Colour’s letter is in blockquotes but formatting WordPress is not worth the bother.

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Maternal Colour

Paperwork, paperwork. Even my little E4 in the US Army says paperwork is what runs the world. Even if you are more human than human.

This popped into my head on the drive home from DayJob yesterday. The extended Hartmann family is well known for their loyalty but this is something much more personal for Aurie. I’d say she is more open to Colour than for all the things she and Jimmy did. Eros is easy; agape is hard work.

See everyone next week!

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Cross Colour

I’ve had some readers express surprise how, to use my word, fatalistic, the demis and machines seem to be. Perhaps “accepting” is a les pejorative word? I hold it is a factor of how much faster they think than humans do. They can make up then change their minds while we’re still forming our thoughts. So, Aurie goes from “go home!” to “come along” in a blink. It can look like poor writing but is in fact me trying to convey non-human thinking.

The general will have a mound of paperwork to prepare her army before the morning and her meeting with her legates. Then there’s the ride: 600 miles in five days (it should be longer but I’ve seen that part). Even for a good rider, that is very aggressive; pony express aggressive. May have to take a day to look into the logistics of this.

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Colour Me Surpised

Even though presented through dialog, this is still something of a cheap way of data-dumping onto the reader what’s probably ahead for what will be part three of the novel. All we know is the meeting in Tokyo and Aurie’s summon south. Her army? Colour? Jimmy? (remember him?) Long Island pirates? There are many things in flux here.

I suspect the next couple of installments will be General Hartmann dealing with them quickly. I know she’ll want her friend to go home and tell the Governing Council all she’s seen, to sway them more to the imperium’s side. One of the four legates will have be acting general but I still bet the army pulls way back to not look threatening in this new political situation. Much to think about.

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