Tag: friendship

“The Fallen” 3/9

“What’s behind curtain number one?” Now we know. This is, obviously, me ripping off Tolkien; I’ve long said that all writers “borrow” from one another, but “ripping off” sounds better.

This wraps up the Alvarez’s visit to Ekaterinburg. I’ll gloss their trip to the dams and move things along to their stop in what is de facto imperium territory. It will be a much more relaxed visit as everyone is on the same side. Once that is completed, I’ll close Part Three. Part Four still only exists as notes as I still don’t know what I’m doing with Alicia.

Below, Count Lavrov really steps in it, doesn’t he?

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“The Fallen” 3/7

Well, hello Another Dangerous Person. There is no way, none, that the PM of the Russian Empire is unaware of the unfolding diplomatic situation on Mars. Not about to let things get muddled, Reina obviously wants some skin, literally, in the game. So welcome Ivan, ladies and gentlemen.

Another slightly longer segment, but after spending the last two hours typing, I realized I’m 4000 words ahead of what I’m posting, and the Alvarez’s still aren’t yet to imperium territory for those talks. I might know where that’s going, but more importantly, I need to decide if this will be a novella (~35k words) or another novel (min 50k). Until I answer that, I cannot start Part Four.

When Sergei meets Ivan in the epilogue of Ice Inundation Intelligence, his private thought was, “how can such a nice kid be her son?”

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Ice Inundation Intelligence

Pleased to announce the release of both the paperback and Kindle versions of my latest book. Number seventeen of the future history that is Machine Civilization.

As with many of my other books, I am hoping to have it ported to Smashwords in a week or two, depending on how many times I bang my head against a brick wall for their kludgy interface,

***

Canada is dying. In a new ice age, one by one, their cities are falling. They occupied the empty US Midwest but Quebec wants out and the Russian Army is coming into their central provinces from the west. Leading a scout unit to divine the Russians’ intentions, Lt. Eloise Patel is captured and tortured, then rescued by the love of her life, Centurion Bob Hardt. The politics point to a three-way war.

Mars is being reborn. Terraformed by the Polar Alliance, the northern hemisphere is an ocean. But the Second Inundation has many worried. There to keep an eye on things, Empress Faustina and one of her sons stumble across an ancient alien artifact – and vanish.

While the politicians bluster and threat, Hardt, Patel, and Sgt. Sergei Konev of the Russian Army try to keep a peace on the ground and between one another and their three nations.

***

“The Fallen” 2/7

Dinner. I’m good with dinners. Surprised that Les ran his mouth there a little bit; as I mentioned yesterday, having those two alone for weeks and months might be changing how they act around others.

I’m thinking of wrapping up Part 2 by Friday, and then taking another multi-year step. We’ll have to see.

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“The Fallen” 2/6

Well! Two reveals. One, we get back to what Fussy and Ed found in “Ice Inundation Intelligence,” and two, that Les and Min do, in fact, love one another. I’m guessing they would use the more precise term of agape. I do not even know if Min’s Model 12 body is kitted out for sexual intercourse. Guess we’ll have to find out. In a non-prurient way, of course.

Since they brought up the Device, I wonder how, if at all, it plays into the image of that feral girl by a stream? Many, many futures here and I am increasingly confused. Writing, in a sense, is like Schrodinger’s Cat: by typing the words, you collapse the wave equation from all the myriad ways, to one.

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Book 17. Part Four. 9 End

The last part of Part Four. And, yes, it’s a little weird. These are raws and I’ll clean it up in one of my editing passes before I give it to my copyeditor; otherwise, he’d likely delete it and email “what the f*ck was that!?”

It’s a matter of Chekov’s Gun: you mention the rifle over the mantlepiece in Act One, it damn well better go off later. Konev and his team came across Joseph, so here he is again.

I’m half done with the Epilogue. That half is about Bob, El, others, and yes, “Joseph” gets an explanation. The second half, hopefully later today – BTW, it’s 0500 right now – will be about Konev. Then, for all contented porpoises, I’ll be finished and able to begin my three editing passes.

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Book 17. Part Four. 7

Back to Bob’s rescue mission. It starts well…

I’m already into the epilogue and may finish the raw MS before Imaginarium after all. I could copy it to a flash drive and hand it to my copyeditor, I suppose.

Would a highly trained soldier really steal a look at a girl in the middle of a rescue mission? Sorry, ladies, men are pigs.

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Book 17. Part Three. 24

One step away from Part Three’s completion. As hard as Eloise thinks she has it right now, potentially walking into her own death, she cannot imagine what Aurie might be thinking: “I’ve the power to remake the world and I’m gambling a temporary peace on this girl until Robbie comes back. I can lay waste to Canada… but I won’t. Yet.”

After the next and final installment of P3, I’ll be – hopefully – posting my adventures at LibertyCon from Thursday thru Sunday.

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Book 17. Part Three. 23

I had no idea Aurie could do this until a few days ago. The “how” took another day until I recalled just how very different her mother, Henge, is. So there you are.

Looks as if Part Three shall end on entry #25. That will come out right before I’m off to LibertyCon. I hope to be much older there. I’ll take Rory, my laptop, just in case I suddenly need to tap something out while at the con.

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B17. Part Three. 22

“But I know I cannot get sloshed in this company.” [Narrator’s Voice: but we know she does]

Moving ahead to the opening scene of part four in my notes. I was going to have Bob be the central character, but that gives me Konev, Eloise, Bob. I think that is confusing to a reader and also sloppy writing in that it leaves Konev’s story sort of hanging. So, as of typing this, it’s going to be the Russian sergeant with Bob playing a strong supporting role. I am absolutely determined to get “Joseph,” that demon, back on stage, as well as either resolve, or, me being me, making the situation with the Spetsnaz troopers worse.

The epilogue might be one of their team taking indirect action against Reina (direct action is effectively impossible as she’s not “anywhere”), such as taking some of the Russian Imperial Family hostage and demanding her resignation. That’s for the future, so I’ll think about it.

Alex Hood is, as they say here, one of Faustina’s boss monsters, from Goddess’ Crusade. She kills the empress – again; she gets better – but nearly dies herself. Faustina does all in her power to keep another demi-human alive.

Aurie’s grant of permission for El and Bob to have a relationship surprised me. I think her human husband, and now being pregnant, is mellowing her out rather quickly.

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