Tag: friendship

Tillamook, part 24

The rest of the Haven’s backstory followed by a declaration three of them were off before dawn the next day on Nichole’s flying saucer. The last Part, #25, might be on the long side…

A fan on Gab once asked how do I balance or control “high-powered” characters such as Nichole 5. My reply was to write up some kind of foil – a person or group – who can oppose them. With nothing like that here, Model Five just proposed to take Gil and Mac’s first child.

I’ll admit, compared to the last time I saw Mackenzie d’Arcy in the last chapter of “Foes and Rivals,” she’s matured quite a bit.

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Tillamook, part 23

I call this “hiding exposition in plain sight.” Sometimes we all have to get the backstory out there. I prefer to have people walking & talking or maybe around a table with drinks. Then there’s this: a montage.

There will be a bit more tomorrow. Then we’re off to the final scene. Trying to wrap it all up by part #25.

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Tillamook, part 21

Thanks be to God: now I know why Nichole 5 is there. And that means I see the ending. This is a little exposition for those who are familiar with my other works, but as Gil points out, in a low-tech world, local news travels no faster than a man on horseback and international news not at all, unless you are a part of the ruling class.

I think I can write a little more after this post. I also have done the preliminary formatting and uploading of “A Texas Naval Affair,” only to find a surprising flaw with the spine of the cover. I’ve copied that to my designer and she should have it resolved later today. I just might make that Easter deadline!

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“Foes and Rivals” A look back

I’m still trying to think my way out of the box I’ve written myself into here with “Tillamook.” To tide things over, here’s a tactical glimpse of the backstory of how Gil Haven and Mackenzie d’Arcy ended up where they they are. From the last chapter of “Foes and Rivals.”

…

“Come on,” Nichole announced, turning west.  “We need to be out of the city and through the tunnels before complete darkness.”

Without further word, her friends followed.  Out of campus and along Montgomery Street, Gil only spoke when, just at the highway that plunged under the West Hills, Nichole abruptly turned left onto a residential street winding sharply up.

“There’s something I want to see.  You two can wait here if you don’t want to climb with me.”

Gil heard Mac’s little sigh and held out his hand to help her.  She took it.

Just above the tunnel’s mouth, Nichole stopped and looked north and east.  Besides the continuing small-arms fire, she heard the occasional crump of mortars.  Many buildings along the city’s northern edge were on fire.

“I am so sorry…” Gil just caught from her.

Leaping from rock to rock and bracing herself against trees when she had to, Nichole made the descent down the hillside to the road and tunnel look easier than it was.  Both Gil and Mac had several slips and scrapes before standing next to her.  There was still electric power, but only one light every hundred feet or so in the tunnel was on.

“S… spooky!” Mackenzie shuddered, still next to Gil after her last near-fall.

“You will be fine, dear friend!” Nichole could tell her eyes were back to normal, as there was no moisture on her face to match the raging sorrow in her processors.  “After all, you have him, now!  No!  Do not speak!”

She took two steps and touched their chests.  With her right hand she fingered the memory crystal in Gil’s pocket.

“I love you.  I might even be a soul.  But, I am not human.  You must find a mate of your own kind.”

She pressed a little more into Mackenzie, who could properly cry.

“Please take care of each other!”

“Ni…” Gil began.

“…chole!” Mac sputtered.

Her shadow vanished into the blackness as Nichole ran away west.

“A Texas Naval Affair,” final cover

Barring one of you sharp-eyed readers finding something my drunk eyes through bifocals did not, this shall be the cover for my next novel (at 47,200 words, I’d call it a novella, but that’s me).

Yes, I am fully aware the back blurb is long. Per something I discussed in someone else’s podcast (which shows how lazy I am to not ferret out the link) is that a writer has about 0.25 seconds to catch and hold a potential reader’s attention as they scroll down on their phone. That is what the front is for. The back is me pulling up on the line once the hook is in their mouth. Given that this is a romance, girls and women will be expecting to know more about the cute couple on the front (not kidding: I’ve had two women say that to me already). If this were another military story, I’d write, “the character does cool stuff and shit blows up” and there’s my male reader base.

[Still working on “Tillamook” with Gil, Nichole, and Teresa. I bet Mackenzie is a little less than pleased that her husband’s former lover, who has not aged a day in twenty years, just showed up as she’s entering menopause.]

Tillamook, part 19

One thing about Machines is, whether android or AI, they think faster than humans do. There have been many occasions in my writing when the “normies,” including me, are trying to understand just what someone like Nichole or even a gentle soul like Ai is getting at. So here, having appeared from nowhere, Clarke immediately upends the plans of Teresa.

Teresa is a little harder than I remember her from “Foes and Rivals,” and she was pretty damn hard there. That sudden term of affection, below, was another surprise.

The next few sections will be tricky for me: while Teresa just now knows what Nichole is, I don’t want to cover all that exposition, as I AM SURE everyone has already read her two books and even some of her appearances in my short story collection, so her backstory, nature, and now serving in the Japanese Space Navy is familiar to all you, right? RIGHT?

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Podcast 13: “The Fourth Law,” an introduction

My original intent of these podcasts was to just talk about my novels. That, obviously, went off the rails for the last dozen podcasts. So, at long last, I turn my attention to pulling a few – well, four – excerpts from my first novel, and discussing it.

Perhaps the most important take-away from this is fanatic loyalty. To God, your family, your friends. In that order.

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Listen on Spreaker.

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Effing RMS

Here’s the last of the prototype chapters.  I am much older about peaks (Nichole’s sharp voice, here and there), valleys (Mackenzie’s, everywhere), and RMS (the relationship between those levels).  In learning such, I’ve also gotten the volume waaay up from where it was before.  Tanjed near burst my eardrums in the headphones…

With this complete, and taking in any constructive criticism y’all might have, I’m going to try making notes and writing some very raw ideas I have about Faustina and her third novel, “Goddess’ Crusade.”  It is setting the bar a little high, but I want all three of her books and the complete audiobook of “Friend & Ally” out no later than Christmas.  We shall see.

Losing my voice

I went downstairs yesterday to record chapter one and immediately realized that I have to not only get voices assigned to characters but also make notes so that those voices remain consistent.  That meant that I didn’t actually begin to record until today.  On something of a roll, I did the raws for the first three chapters.  To elicit more constructive criticism, I have tried to edit Chapter One into something I don’t mind posting.

The side-effect of all this is that, as I’m not and have never been a talker, I’ve said more in two hours than I would in a week, and my throat feels it; I might be mute tomorrow.

Anyway, here’s chapter one of “Friend and Ally,” recorded by me, with a listening time of just over seventeen minutes.  Cheers!