Lou Paduano | Urban Fantasy Novels | Sci-Fi Crime Series

Writing Update – November 30, 2017

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It’s been quite a few weeks since the last writing update. Apologies on that front. I hope you’ve been enjoying the commentary behind The Medusa Coin in the meantime. Lots of cool tidbits still to come.

NaNoWriMo

Today is the last day of the craziest month of the year. The challenge of writing 50,000 words in a cohesive project can be daunting but I enjoy the challenge it brings every year.

So how did I do?

I fell just shy of 65,000 words for my latest novel, The Lost Outpost. My original outline called for it to be much shorter but as I started I realized how much story was being left off the page, how much was actually necessary to flesh out some fantastic character beats.

The Lost Outpost is my first foray into the space opera/space military genre. Needless to say it was rough at the beginning. I spoke with my uncle about this recently, explaining to him that as I was drafting I was learning about the world. Not the best approach but one I think will strengthen future edits.

He didn’t quite understand. If I came up with the story how could I learn about it as I was writing it? The Lost Outpost is a singular moment for the characters involved. One tiny piece of their history that I knew back and forth across the board. A plot based event. But who were the characters before this event? Where did they come from? How did they come together? Every nuance, every tick, every colorful remark had to be explored and understood and with each one I discovered that much more about my own story.

Reading

Coilhunter by Dean Wilson – I love sci-fi westerns or “steampunk” novels. Why, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because of how inventive they have to be on a world-building scale. Coilhunter was fantastic with this. Enough information was offered to glimpse the larger scale events going on behind the scenes but it never overshadowed the narrative being told. Fast-paced and a great cast of characters, Dean Wilson did an amazing job setting the tone for this series – so much so that I immediately ordered the sequel, Rustkiller. Mission accomplished, sir!

Strip Jack by Ian Rankin – The Inspector Rebus series is fast-becoming one of my favorites. Rankin is a master at the genre with a sleek mystery immediately clouded by dozens of little events occurring in the background of the narrative. Each and every one is important, though not for the same reason but Rankin weaves them in and out of Rebus’ life so incredibly well they are never overwhelming to the reader. A fantastic mystery novel that kept me guessing until the end. Can’t wait to start the next one, The Black Book.

Thanks for reading.

The Medusa Coin Commentary – The Courtyard

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SPOILERS AHEAD as the commentary of The Medusa Coin continues!!

Scenes that don’t work…

Sometimes it happens. You outline a movement that makes complete sense when you start and when you get there it feels off.

Something is out of place. A character is doing or saying something that doesn’t sound right for the moment. Or you don’t have a reason for them to be there in the first place.

That scene came in the form of The Courtyard for The Medusa Coin.

The Courtyard scene…

the courtyardThe Courtyard was a setting established in the first novel. A place of commerce and commiseration by the strange denizens of Portents and a link to dozens of worlds – a damn cool place and I wanted to revisit it.

I wanted to show it empty.

It was meant to prove a point, that Loren and Soriya were on their own. It was meant to be this powerful beat for them that they have no choice but to face this threat together.

Only Soriya already knew it would be empty. Kok’Kol said as much in the previous chapter. So rather than move forward, rather than take Loren somewhere to find answers she took him to this empty haven.

WRONG.

Oh, and in the original draft, Loren DROVE to the Courtyard. Does Loren drive? NEVER. Oy, this scene…

Filling the moment

Removing the Courtyard scene meant having a beat put in place to move Soriya and Loren from the rooftop of the Central Precinct to the Library of the Luminaries. It needed to push the mystery forward as well as exemplify Soriya’s fear over the situation.

Enter the Cobbler’s Den.

I know. Another immortal. But this one made sense. The myth of the Wandering Jew is about a man who was present at the crucifixion and did nothing that day. He was cursed to live forever to atone for that inaction.

I liked the story. I really liked how it played off Henry Erikson’s own desire to live forever and the cost of such an act. The jokes about Loren’s footwear were just a bonus in my humble opinion.

While it would have been nice to SEE the Courtyard empty, mentioning it was sufficient for the moment. By changing their pitstop on the way to the library a new opportunity and a unique player entered the world of Portents.

And no huge continuity error of Loren DRIVING to the Courtyard. What the hell was I thinking?!

Next time

A break from the commentary. Lots of Founder’s Day info coming your way!!!

Thanks for reading.

The Medusa Coin Commentary – The Blood Sample Sequence

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The commentary on The Medusa Coin continues – SPOILERS AHEAD EVERYONE!

The Blood Sample Sequence

When drafting I try to keep things simple. One movement to the next to the next and so on and so on… Most of the time, this keeps the pace pushing ever forward to the climax of the piece.

Other times it completely destroys a sequence.

This was the case with the Blood Sample Sequence in The Medusa Coin.

I had a simple outline:

  1. Myers yells at Liam Schultz to run the samples to tie the victims together.
  2. Liam curses his role but does what he can. When he steps out of the refrigerated unit he is knocked out by Soriya.
  3. Myers returns to give Liam her number. Sees Soriya fleeing and races off to catch her.

Pretty straightforward, right?

That was actually the weakness of the sequence. Things moved so quickly that when you walked away from the events of these three chapters you ended up with more questions than answers.

Expanding a moment

This is something I tend not to do. Writers are told to come in late and leave early. Show the reader what they need and get the hell out of the way.

Well, I needed to show the readers more.

Why?

Soriya punches out an innocent for the samples. Not exactly on point with her character but I had no chapter to explain her motivations. So I switched the Liam chapter to a Soriya chapter to give more insight into her actions.

Myers calls Loren before remembering she never left her number with Liam. I took a moment to show the other end of the conversation. It opened up more room for Loren’s own subplot and helped break the ice on these two strangers trying to connect in the middle of this crisis.

Myers can’t just leave Liam unconscious on the floor of his lab. She can’t. So I needed him awake. I needed him to get back to work and do what was required. This created a need for his own chapter later right before he meets his end.

So from three beats to five. Should have been good enough, right?

blood sample sequence

Nope. Try again.

Soriya had no logical next step. She simply shows up at the university and it is explained later how she came to that conclusion. I didn’t like that leap.

Instead, I built in an aftermath chapter for her to regret her choice to go it alone. In that moment of solitude she realizes she has somewhere to turn in the form of Mentor’s old friend, Professor Erikson. Justification in place, we were ready to rock and roll on the sequence!

DETAILS

Explaining the need for the samples was another headache during the editing process. I understood the need to corroborate evidence for the case but was it truly necessary for where the story was heading? This became a central argument that constantly threw the sequence into question.

Was there enough there? Did I need to explain it further?

Liam and Myers’ discussion changed dramatically, growing more complex as Myers laid the stakes down for the young man. There was a ton more humor in the first draft but it needed trimming to fit in exposition to make the scene work.

It’s a crucial sequence that propels the story forward for both Myers and Soriya. Without it, Soriya doesn’t end up at the university with the real killer and Myers doesn’t find out the story of the seven sons and find her way to the Bennett home.

That was why I had to take extra care to make it work and have it all make sense!

Hope I did…

Next week after a well-deserved turkey break!

A deleted scene involving the Courtyard!

Thanks for reading.

The Medusa Coin – The Face of Evil

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SPOILERS AHEAD as the author commentary of The Medusa Coin continues!

The Face of Evil

I spend way too much time thinking about the antagonist for each story being told. It probably says something about me that when it comes to plotting and motivation the villain of the piece gets more play than anyone else.

I blame Signs of Portents.

Some readers mentioned – rightfully, so – that Nathaniel Evans fell flat in terms of depth. He was evil personified, that was his role, but he could have had a little more going on behind the scenes, for sure. Knowing that criticism, hearing those thoughts from readers, opened my eyes to the issue going forward.

Henry Erikson was born out of that discussion.

Evolutions

face of evilI fell on Henry’s motivation pretty early on. Control. That was the key for him. To the extreme. Not just in life but in what followed – and for him what must be avoided.

With that in place, piecing together the saga of the seven sons – his victims – made narrative sense.

But what about his actions? Was he justified in this course? Of course not, but was there some gray area to play with there?

That was where the church scene came from and where the grocery story scene became a necessity. Henry questions his actions in these moments – he has legitimate concerns over the Charon’s wanton murdering.

But his need for control wins out.

In the first draft, neither scene existed. In fact, during the early plotting of this novel Henry murders a man right out of the gate to explain how he learned about his six siblings.

Definitely the wrong move there!

The eventual turn…

Henry, in fact, never murders anyone himself. There is a question whether or not he kills his aide after pummeling Pratchett at the university. You could read his comments with murderous intent but there is also the possibility the boy ran off in terror and that was Henry’s intention all along.

But when it comes to Jeremy Bennett, this final obstacle in his path, he goes out of his way to make sure it happens. He brings a gun to the party, knowing he will have to pull the trigger.

Desperation in his struggle for survival has pushed him over the edge. I liked that slow burn toward this moment.

Justifying the moment.

He does. Right there at the second of his victory Henry feels he has to justify it to Jeremy. He can contribute more to society than his brothers ever could. Henry Erikson means more to the world than his brothers.

He believes it, he has forced himself to believe it over the course of his questioning, that it has become his truth in this act.

That sold me on him as the face of evil for this novel. His plummet from knowing the Charon’s actions are wrong to finding a way to tell someone that he is more important than his last living sibling.

Henry’s journey made The Medusa Coin a treat to write. If I could have stayed with him more during the narrative I would have, but that wasn’t meant to be.

His closing line is still one of my favorites from the series – “You call this living?”

He has set a high standard for the threats to come.

Next time

One of the toughest sequences ever constructed – the blood samples!!

Thanks for reading.

The Medusa Coin Commentary – The Luminaries

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The in-depth look at The Medusa Coin continues! SPOILERS AHEAD!

Rise of the Luminaries

The Luminaries was a concept that caught my attention early on in the development process for The Medusa Coin. I knew Soriya needed to lead Loren somewhere for answers. This is Portents we’re talking about so the place had to have some secrecy surrounding it, something hidden beneath the surface to dazzle Loren as Soriya likes to do.

So the library came first.

But who were the Luminaries? This is where things were tricky. In the original draft, the Luminaries were immortals.

An offshoot of humanity that somehow managed to rid themselves of the threat of dying – by natural means, of course. I have a scene tucked away in the recesses of my mind of two factions within the Luminaries meeting at the Treaty of Versailles and discussing the huge mistake it made starting World War I.

That scene actually would have been the prologue to a spin-off novel about the rest of the enigmatic group.

I am so glad I was able to keep the bit about the war in the book but the immortal angle? In a book where the main conceit is a coin that can grant immortality to its user?

Didn’t work. Couldn’t work.

Too many immortal beings out there already. Two personas of Death, Henry Erikson and a whole group of people able to live forever?

Something had to change.

luminaries

From immortals to a society of secret librarians…

I love Loren’s crack about the super secret librarians. It fits so well with the tone of the scene and sets up the purpose behind the group. Losing the immortal vibe helped keep them grounded. With myths and monsters running rampant in the city there was a need for a more human element and a hint that not everyone is in the dark about what is actually going on in Portents.

Having them be at odds with Mentor came later and that exchange was reworked from every possible angle to give some hints as to what is coming for the series. It is extremely vague and had to be – which I play as Mentor keeping secrets from Soriya when really it’s all about keeping you, dear reader, in the dark for a bit longer…

What I will say is this:

The Luminaries play a big role in the events of Greystone and their story is far from over.

And the potential spin-off?

I want to write it still. I do. Not having the immortal angle makes it a little more difficult in terms of finding the right story but I have an inkling of what I want to do with the group.

Secret hunters just sounds too cool to ignore forever, you know?

Setting the book in the same world as Greystone has its own challenges as well but I think it would be cool to see what happens beyond Portents.

Writing this blog has definitely introduced new ideas of where to go with the concept…

Next time

The face of evil – Henry Erikson!!!

Thanks for reading.

The Medusa Coin Commentary – Building Subplots 2

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The commentary continues for The Medusa Coin and a sneak peek ahead at book five of Greystone so… SPOILERS AHEAD!

The growing shadows…

Very few ask about the overarching plot of Greystone. Maybe they are living in the moment, enjoying the books as they come and not questioning what comes next.

Or maybe they haven’t seen what’s been hiding in the text since the beginning.

Well, maybe not the beginning.

For me, when I wrote Signs of Portents the first twenty-five times there was no series. It was a standalone comic book mini-series with a beginning, middle and end. As it evolved and I started to see further development opportunities I realized there could be something in the background.

A built in subplot that could grow and change and shape the series over time. Something vague and easily missed but alluded to so much more when you looked deeper at the events in Portents.

I wrote it in a single line of Signs at first. Just a blip that even I had no clue as to its true meaning but it was there for me to explore when I was ready.

A Circle of Shadows.

Mentor has it pinned to his map in the Bypass chamber. Just a note without any other scribbling or justification for Soriya or Loren to glean at the time.

From there the moment grew. The Medusa Coin is flush with references to the circle growing until the end.

But there is something else there as well. Mentor sees it when he visits the Bypass on his hunt for Nathaniel Evans. You get a glimpse of the shadow at the start of Henry Erikson’s journey when they offer him the coin to save his life. Someone has been working in the background, bringing these threats to life in Portents.

And now both threats are converging on Soriya and Loren next September.

A Circle of Shadows, book five of the series, brings everything together. All the threats, all the mysteries come to a head here in the climactic finale to the Greystone series’ first major arc.

Every story plays a part. Every hint at the larger story is touched upon. Secrets are revealed the city faces its darkest hour.

And one has to fall…

I can’t wait for you to read this book. I think it is the best one yet and really hope you feel the same come September.

You’ll be hearing more about the book quite often next year but for now, go back and read the first books of the series. The clues are there for what is coming. And more are coming your way in February with Pathways in the Dark.

It’s going to be a fun ride.

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