This is the conclusion of Part 1. Fussy has just laid it out to Eloise in sort of a “this is your duty” approach, which they knew would be the best route to take, rather than, “that other woman wants you out of the way.”
We meet Saras, not quite eight years old. Demi-human. She is the main character for Part 2, which I’m working on but once again stuck. I’ll figure something out, I’m sure.
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Continue reading ““The Fallen” 1/5″I’m beginning to think Robert is a horndog. And Nadia is shaping up to be tougher than I imagined.
Miss Silque is yet another mysterious person. I know what she is – besides being a fantastic maid and housekeeper – but it would be difficult to write a story about someone who never speaks.
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Continue reading ““The Fallen” 1/4″A short flight from Russia to the imperium allowing for a little exposition of Robert’s background.
I’ve already started Part 2, but have to take most of today doing RealLife stuff, unfortunately. I should wrap up Part 1 by Friday.
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Continue reading ““The Fallen” 1/3″After showing the interpersonal politics between Robert and Nadia, I quickly wanted to show that this is not just a marriage forced on them by their respective rulers. They met, talked, had a (small) chance to say “no.” Any marriage is work; constant day-after-day work. I’ve been at it for over thirty years. No time off for good behavior.
Even a crown prince must defer to their sovereign, so Robert makes a call. At this point in her life (Fussy is fifty now), I think she is a jerk just for jerk’s sake. St Petersburg to Huntsville in a few hours? I wonder how he’ll pull that off…
“I I I” isn’t even out yet and I’m already writing spoilers.
Mild content warning for what’s below.
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Continue reading ““The Fallen” 1/2″This should have been broken into four parts, but the first part of the epilogue was a block, so this one is, too. Enjoy. There are a few places where I couldn’t be bothered to scroll back 200 pages for names, so I used placeholders. That’s what editing is for.
I started this manuscript just over a year ago, with Konev and his scout team at point of the Russian occupation of central Canada. Thus, it is fitting that it end with him, too. But what and end: being debriefed about what happened at the CSIS prison I expected. Writing my way further in, I realized that because of what Reina had learned from rooting around Bob’s mind – and then about the future of Mars – she would want to know everything Konev knew.
And they Ivan speaks up to claim him. I didn’t see and write that until about an hour ago. They always surprise me. It’s a gift, really: “The Adventures of Sergei & Ivan” would make a great novella; it would make a great graphic novel. That boy is made of mischief and I look forward to what trouble they get in (first idea: they travel to Mars and steal that ancient device).
Now comes the hard, sober, part: editing. A multistep process: a complete read thru, shuffling material around, chapter breaks, Grammarly. Then and only then I pass it off to my copyeditor. It’s about 65,000 words, or about 245 pages in a 6″ x 9″ book. A book with no name, still. At least I can reach out to my cover designer in a day or two with the basics of what I’ll want to see. The front will be Konev and Bob, with Eloise between them, all in uniform. What else? Reactionless ships, something evocative of Canada (a can of Molson’s?), Mars. And Cartaphilus.
I’d say I need a break, but we all know I’d be lying. I’ll be writing again within weeks once I get this to my copyeditor. Thanks, everyone, for putting up with this raw MS. Please buy and review the final version once it comes out in a month or two.
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Continue reading “Book 17. Epilogue. 2/2”Part one of two of the story’s end. This wraps up Bob’s side of things. I’m edging out of “hard SF” here, but that’s okay. Their world is Changed and we know a helluva lot less about ours than we think we do.
Off to Imaginarium in an hour. Four to six hour drive, depending on weather and traffic. Nothing on the schedule tonight, so I’ll see what I can do for Konev’s wrap up. Obviously, Reina will be there. She’s always there.
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Continue reading “Book 17. Epilogue. 1/2”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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Continue reading “Book 17. Part Four. 9 End”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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Continue reading “Book 17. Part Four. 7”These next few will be shorter as I’ll only be posting the immediate change of POV. In this case to Bob.
The C4 is an addition I thought of later: not all doors in a prison will be connected to an electrical system, certainly not one connected to the Net. More direct action will be needed.
Had to watch some old “Bob and Doug” on Youtube to get the accent right.
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Continue reading “Book 17. Part Four. 5”The balloon goes up in the next installment. I was hoping to all of this finished by Imaginarium next week but it does not look like it.
I’m still feeling my way through the rescue event. It’s dark and confusing what they are showing me. I’ll get it sorted, eventually.
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Continue reading “Book 17. Part Four. 3”
machciv 