Tag: canada

Potential Allies of all Colours

DayJob continues to be a freaking trial this week but I’m seeing lots to write down. Woke up at 0400 this morning, in fact, with an image behind my eyes which will tie this book, “Regent,” to both “Crosses & Doublecrosses” from six years ago as well as the in-process manuscript of “New Russia” I walked away from in the late spring. Future histories, like those past, are webs, not linear.

Below, I think the woman who brought food is legit and knows Ypres or his family. Donegal? He might want to recall that “I was only doing my job” didn’t fly in 1946-48 (not that the Nuremberg Trials had any legitimacy; they didn’t need it. They had guns).

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Flatscreen Colours

One, I was right when I suspected Jimmy’s uncle won’t be much of an ally to him. Two, I think Jimmy is being just a little to much of a dick here, given his circumstances, but, then again, he doesn’t have much to lose.

Had to pause yesterday to do some research about the layout of Montreal. That plus a busy week at DayJob might limit my writing output. I hope not; this is getting good.

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Arrested Colour

Bit of a whiplash installment: “you’re back to work! now you’re arrested!” At least Jimmy gets some solid advice from his friend, Loup Ypres.

That guy interests me. He already mentioned his family coming to Quebec from Algeria. That was, what, around 1962? I recall that the Separatist Movement got a reboot from those French who had lived in Algiers for generations and were suddenly unwelcome refugees in their own country. Is Ypres just passing on family lore or has he been behind bars?

With trans-Rocky Mountain Canada controlled by the Russian Empire, if Aurie could pull off something in Quebec and the Maritime Provinces, Rump Canada would collapse almost immediately. I wonder if she has looked that far ahead? If she did, she has to shelve that for her stint as regent.

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Colourful Friends

Some older, wiser heads come over, both to check on their friend and find out what happened. In all that, the conversation quickly takes a dark turn.

I’m still a few thousand words ahead. We know from the last scene with Aurie that at some point Jimmy is transferred to Halifax. I am a bit torn as to what happens after that. Having him, essentially, sit back and wait for Hartmann to rescue him, after she already did once from the pirates, would be demeaning to his self-image as a man. Burns assembles rockets, so we know he’s not dumb. And works in commercial fishing, lobsters and crabs, which is hard, dangerous work, so he’s not physically weak. How to be heroic and noble without being shot by the secret police? Thinking about that…

I wonder if Ypres and Jansen ever get together?

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Shift of Colour

As promised, the camera is now back on Jimmy Burns. This picks up exactly where we last saw him: right after Aurie drops him off in his tiny backyard right after taking him to the edge of space. Given this will be a hundred pages on in the book, once finished, a short summary of events, masquerading as a police report, will get readers up to speed.

After that, we get to listen in to him as he tries to understand what happened to his life over the last 48 hours. Things will pick up fast after this as what is one thing in a tiny hamlet like Canso is a huge political crisis in Ottawa.

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Colour Her Surprised

Right on the heels of hearing the wife of a Crown Prince is not allowed to travel, Aurie gets another shock to learn Jimmy Burns is no longer just under house arrest but the authorities are transferring him to the provincial capital. Without her older friend there for her, she might have started two wars in five minutes.

As an encore, Colour then goes on to suggest a way out of this mess, with her nephew on the Northern Federation’s Governing Council playing a part.

Starting, or I suppose, resuming, in the next installment we are back to Jimmy’s perspective. I must have had a lot to cover as I already lay down about 3300 words. This is morphing into my largest book ever.

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Colourful Language

Okay, worked my way around the address. Not exactly “head-hopping” but I admit to fudging it a little. Remember: being a fiction write means you tell stories; you are a liar. Sometime you have to lie to yourself and your readers.

After being shamed by Colour, is looks as if Aurie is going all in and now willing to provoke a war with Canada. They outnumber the imperium by at least 3:1 if not more. Then again, the imperium is the only nation in history to use a fusion weapon in anger. It might be easier for them to pretend Jimmy Burns never existed and have him pushed across the border into Maine.

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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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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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A Colour of Mourning?

Back after my short pause, and it just may be that a plot has shown up! We’ve seen Aurie play politics with the Northern Federation and also try to blend into the local scene in eastern Nova Scotia (although that ended poorly for a undercover jaunt). Now, with the death of one of the leaders of the world’s Great Powers, I think things are going to get very complicated for the entire Hartmann imperial family.

I’m still Guestblogging over at Founding Questions, with part 4, publishing on Amazon & Smashwords, hopefully coming out in a day or two.

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