Talking to one of her own kind, Saras almost comes across as normal. Almost. Recall that her father is human but carried the gene for demi-human. Two generations on, Saras is something of a mystery to me.
And she meets someone who makes her inexperience patent.
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Continue reading ““The Fallen” 2/2″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″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”The penultimate scene from Part Four. We’re back to Bob and his team tomorrow. I’m about finished with the Epilogue, but that may have to wait until after the conference. Or, if I’ve a moment, I may post it from there.
It’s taken a year, but I am pleased as to where everything seems to be going. I wonder what my next project will be? I’m thinking of taking it easy and writing a few short stories for the rest of summer.
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Continue reading “Book 17. Part Four. 8”I admit up front, this part was fun to write. A smile on my face for every word. These normally stoic Russian soldiers and suddenly one chimps out.
I think I have completed Part Four, which shall be out over the next few days before I’m off to Imaginarium.
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Continue reading “Book 17. Part Four. 6”Taking the advice of a fellow writer, I am just going to bull ahead with this and worry about head-hopping and formatting later. I had fretted myself into a standstill and that’s worse than writing dreck.
So, this is very, very raw. Raw-er than usual. One of the things I do not like as how I shoehorned the demon’s cart into this installment. I know he crops up in about three or four installments, but I needed the foreshadowing. I’ll fix it later.
With Imaginarium coming up in less than a week, I’ll be busy packing, buying food and booze, completing my very rough outline for the panel I’m hosting (I noted several assistant panelists have been added; I hope one hour is enough time), so I’ve doubts about completing the MS. But, you never know… this Part is going to be moving very fast.
And, yes: I just made up “the Three R’s.” I’m proud of that.
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Continue reading “Book 17. Part Four. 4”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”Easy to get sidetracked whenever Reina drops in. Trying not to. Since Bob revealed something personal about her, she did the same, giving Konev his answer.
I’ve seen the “action sequence” coming up but am having trouble writing it without making things confusing or coming across like an idiot. I’m sure it’ll work out.
Reina has a family? Yep. Her daughter on a research trip? Yep.
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Continue reading “Book 17. Part Four. 2”Getting back into the swing of things for this final section. As the events take place over only two days, I think it will be shorter; perhaps about 10,000 words. There may be an epilogue but I have not gotten that far.
Going back to Part One, Sergeant Major Sergei Konev of the Imperial Russia Army is back as our main character, but another shows up almost immediately. Like an invasive weed, Reina has to make an appearance, too.
More Monday. Try to have a good weekend, y’all.
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Continue reading “Book 17. Part Four. 1”
machciv 