Nichole finds Joe. Most importantly, that allows me to resume dialog between characters, rather than merely giving exposition as to what Nichole is up to. I hate that; my stories live and die based upon interaction.
So. Nichole finds Joe. Tells everyone “rocks are falling! y’all gonna die!” is not much of a transition, but there it is. At least they’re talking again, minus Joe’s accidental head-butt into N5’s plug. Yeah: talk your way out of that one, kid.
Things are going to get rather unpleasant from here on out, That’s what’s it like to destroy a world.
A good time write; move things outside. Weather clear. Forecast: genocide.
Sometimes my writing style confuses even me. I like to flick around in time… my flashbacks will come to present time and then have an entirely different flashback. This is not something from the classical SF I’ve read, nor is it particularly a thing in the types of anime we watch (which is mostly ‘cute girls doing cute things’). As a result, with the exception of about 400 words, everything I’ve posted about Nichole’s Book 2 is a flashback from where she is standing looking out to the northeast at the migration of the Nation before their assault on the cannibals.
For about two sentences you see “real time” below the fold, then, God help me, I do it again and flash back to how they got there. This is her third trip upriver, so I’ve no reason to dwell on details – and I don’t – and just toss a few mile markers down.
AFTER THIS! After this, I think I will be entirely in ‘present time,’ with the possible exception of a verbal montage to get the Nation across the Washington Cascades. While I’d not seen Nichole’s interaction with Rye until my fingers tapped the keys, this is an interesting development… one that I’ve no idea where it will lead.
After talking with my wife and teen daughters, there’s nothing particularly afoot this weekend for us. God willing, that means I can lay down 4k-6k words and get within striking distance of a conclusion to Book 2. Anyone have any ideas for a name? I got nothin’ right now: no-one knows what Foederati means; Enemies at the Gates is clichéd and taken… I’d like it to be a perversion, if you will, of the first title, “Friend and Ally.”
An explanation of the surprise Nichole walked into in the last post. I’d tried to fit Joe into this as well, getting everyone together before things go to hell, but it didn’t work: I had to keep the 3.5-way conversation as tight as possible, so his part came right back out.
We’re north of 43k words! I knew Nichole would have a meeting with Mayor Johnson before she was seconded to the Nation. Seeing here that his daughter – and possible successor, Teresa is present, I think the Army general, Tessmer, will be there, as well. Four-way dynamics are easiest to write, and in my advanced years, I am all about easy!
An editor would probably tell me to lose this entire post below the fold. Yet another reason I self-publish.
What will have to be radically reassigned it the last bit of my last post, the part that is first-person Gil. There’s no way Nichole can ‘remember’ something from someone else; she’d run off at that point. Still, I was drunk and saw it, so I wrote it down. I’ll slip it in somewhere.
Which is something else I’m trying very hard to do: keeping this first-person Nichole. While my books have (few) good reviews on Amazon, there is particular criticism of how much I flick from character to character. I realize it is – hopefully becoming was – a bad habit of mine: as you all know, I ‘see’ these scene and write them down. Many are from the perspective of other characters. As in a film or animation, it would all be simple and obvious. As a book? My fault entirely. So, I’m really trying to rein that tendency in and getting into the heads of other characters as few and far between as I can.
It is tough. Especially once I’m into Part Three, when not just Nichole, but a host of other pivotal players in that Act. Rhun, Tessmer, Bakke, the Mayor, Teresa, Nike… how can I get this bloodbath done by Halloween?
A little over 5000 words this weekend. I feel less useless. There’s a bit more to the story than what’s below, but the whiskey was starting to win over the caffeine, so it will keep. Things have to come to a quick head here in part two so that I can ‘flash-forward’ to where it opened with the entire folk of the horsemen on the move into the Centralia Valley. That leaves me part three: I gloss their victory over the cannibals, followed quickly by escalating demands from the horsemen and the City. Then: Adrianople.
That’s later. For now, Nichole misses her friends and writes them letters.
I’ve left plenty of lampshades hanging, time to turn on the lights. Should be no surprises for anyone following along; I don’t like surprising readers… I’d much rather have them get to the end of chapter (or entire book), put it down, and mutter, “never thought of it that way!”
Also: when Teresa stood and said, “mess me up!” I broke out laughing. I’ve no idea where that came from! Hilarious!
At 19,074 words, the raw manuscript of Part 1/3 of Nichole5’s second book is complete. While trying to keep it light-hearted and romantic, I had no choice but to lay some groundwork for what’s coming: Nichole & John Brunelli personally reconning what’s going on across the Columbia River, to the far northeast of the City. Teresa both a passive informant as well as secretly excited at the possibility of succeeding her father in power*. And finally the simple girl, Mackenzie: who just wants to make beautiful art, about to become a double-agent.
Nearly 20k words, and not one battle! I must be thinking back to my roots as an author! Wonder what that bodes for Part 2/3? Will it open in the middle of combat, or will things continue to progress slow by slow? The world wonders. And for Nike and Zom’s? I’m not remotely close to looking past that curtain.
*I recalled the scene from Robert Graves “I, Claudius,” where, some days after being picked to be Emperor by the Praetorian Guard, Claudius meets with a select few of the Senate leadership:
A senator: “You are not fit for this job!”
Claudius: “I agree. I am old; some say I am without my wits. But I am alive while dozens of my family went to the grave with theirs fully intact! You say I have no experience… do you have more? I’ve been in the Imperial Household since my birth, watching how it works. Do you know more?”
Expect Teresa (via Nichole) to have a similar speech in Part 3/3… if she’s still alive. Also, I hope in this installment I’ve captured Nichole’s recognition of the moral grey zone she’s stepped out into, by asking what she does of her friend. I realized, just now, that she’s created a box of safety around her boyfriend. Good Lord, but that’s going to backfire.
Work sucked less; dog still not well. After work had to walk to my car in the rain. I’m writing books set in Portland, so I regarded it as theater training. Still maneuvering my way to the conclusion of Part 1 while at the same time laying the groundwork for Part 2
I want to show that Gil and Nichole love one another, but at the same time I want to show that they both know there’s something very odd about their relationship. In other words, it’s a pretty typical guy-gal thing.
machciv 