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

The Medusa Coin Commentary – Building Subplots 1

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The commentary on The Medusa Coin continues! SPOILERS AHEAD!

Building Subplots

Over the course of 11 months from 2012 to 2013 I put together a very, very, VERY rough draft of The Medusa Coin. It was my first attempt at writing a novel in five years and it showed.

Also during that time, my cubicle neighbor was reading Signs of Portents in its comic book script form. He loved it. The second he finished he asked where the sequel was and when he could read it. I told him it was coming. Then he asked what was in it.

When I finished describing the narrative his FIRST question was: What about who killed Beth?

His second question – What’s the deal with the Greystone?

I had no answers. I told him he would have to wait and see. He then wondered if either was mentioned in the sequel…

NOPE.

The flaw in my grand design was quickly discovered. I set out to fix the narrative as quickly as possible.

(Four years later…)

Answering questions?

When writing a series sometimes it isn’t about answering every question but making sure each gets some forward progression with each installment. That is what I realized as I went about rewriting and reworking The Medusa Coin.

Not having any mention of Beth’s fall in the original draft was a weakness. One I couldn’t let stand.

Beth’s fall…

I didn’t have an answer but I knew the direction I wanted to go. This moment was seminal for Loren’s character – it drives him and to ignore it felt out of place to say the least.

I also didn’t want it to take over the narrative.

Enter the dreams…

By having the dreams run in the background of each novel and show their evolution over time it becomes a touchstone for the reader. This plot still exists and the reader realizes it without losing the momentum of the story they are currently enjoying.

Stringing the reader along is never the goal and it does become a fine line. One I worry about with each Greystone novel published.

But have no fear, true believer, the answer is coming next September.

building subplots

The secret of the Greystone

The original outline and subsequent drafts made no mention of the Greystone’s mystery (or that of the Bypass for that matter…) I realized pretty early on the loss of Mentor would open a gap in Soriya’s knowledge. Her teacher is gone and she is alone with this awesome responsibility.

Eventually the questions would arise. By opening the novel with the stone losing control it brought this lack of knowledge to the forefront and created a nice mystery for Soriya to pursue in the background of The Medusa Coin.

The revelation of more Greystones being out in the world came much later and I am so happy to have stumbled upon that thread. It has opened so many opportunities for future tales and you won’t believe the impact it has on the series to come.

Pulling away from the main narrative…

Subplots are necessary when crafting a series. There has to be an end goal for the protagonist. There has to be a question to be answered or a mystery to be solved. They keep the reader coming back for more. They keep the series interesting.

But they can also pull the reader away from the main story. Finding the right balance is tricky and one of the points I struggle with when crafting the books. I think it is why I ignored them the first time around. Was that the right answer?

No. Subplots increase the tension and carry the story over multiple novels. They excite the reader and drive characters forward rather than leave them stuck in place.

Next time

The second part of building subplots and the title reveal for Book Five of the Greystone series!

Thanks for reading.

The Medusa Coin Commentary – Starting Points

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We’re in commentary mode for The Medusa Coin so SPOILERS AHEAD!

Humble Beginnings…

Last time I spoke about the long road to publication for The Medusa Coin. Between 2010 and 2016 I tinkered and toyed with the novel more times than I can count. I had no true outline, no real threat and no clue how to proceed.

Not exactly the best place to start from in terms of the creative process.

It took revisiting Signs of Portents in early 2016 to really nail down where I wanted to go. Once I had the series in place, the idea of a building narrative through a number of novels and short stories, I had the freedom to chart a course forward.

Starting Points

starting pointsI had the bones of an outline, the skeleton of a story that carried through over the years. The Medusa Coin was always going to be about immortality, but more importantly about control of one’s life (a life without death). But from there I was a mess of a writer.

At one point hell hounds were involved. There was a fear virus running rampant in Portents. Ruiz died. And other insanity.

None of it fit! At all! I was throwing everything at the wall and nothing stuck because it couldn’t. Having a citywide threat didn’t make sense for this novel. The hell hounds made logical sense at one point and then there was no way to get rid of them in the third act, totally diverting from the threat of Henry Erikson. Ruiz couldn’t die because he had more story to tell.

So where was I supposed to go? What was my starting point for what became The Medusa Coin?

Soriya and Loren. Always.

Plot based threats are great and I knew Henry Erikson with the Charon would be perfectly placed within Portents. But what about character based arcs?

For me, that was the key to unlocking the potential of the narrative and it is with the two prologues I was able to tap into the actual story behind the book.

Prologues

Having the Greystone as an uncontrollable source of power played off the precision of the Medusa coin. One known and one unknown – both incredibly dangerous to the user and its intended target.

For Loren? I went back to Signs and realized Loren was returning to the city – this place that took his life from him. That is something he keeps trying to reclaim so what is his first step? His interaction at the bar was meant to be a callback to his own weaknesses – his addictive personality that causes him to chew gum so often and dream of smoking – but the scene also represented how lost he truly was.

And alone.

Loneliness defines these characters for me and having that personal stake in the novel – having them spin their wheels collectively yet completely separate at the same time really stepped up the conflict in my eyes. It raised the stakes. It set the tone.

And it gave me my starting points.

Evolutions

Much of the first act of the novel came from that first outline in 2010. Up until the moment Soriya reveals Death is in Portents was meant to be the first issue of the comic series version of the tale.

Except the prologues and the opening chapter. They were added last year when I set about building the entire narrative from the ground up.

I had read some questioning remarks of the two prologues with Signs. Personally, I think they set the tone for the series and plan to continue them into book 5 (although I’m taking a  slightly different  approach with that one).

If Soriya and Loren aren’t central to the story there is no reason to write it and call it Greystone in my opinion and the prologues cement that feeling.

Next time:

Building subplots. A two part exploration at the growing subplots of the series.

Thanks for reading.

The Medusa Coin – The Long Road to Publication

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The Medusa Coin‘s long publication history had plenty of ups and downs over the last decade that I thought were worth sharing. This is a fun story and it makes me look completely unhinged but I like to tell it anyway. The Medusa Coin was never a sure thing for me. When I set out to write Signs of Portents back in 2007 – and if you recall from a previous commentary this was when Signs was meant to be the first and greatest comic book mini-series of all time – there was no sequel planned.

There was no Greystone series.

I wrapped up the first draft of Signs in 2008. I couldn’t let the idea go. I knew there was more to explore and I sure as hell never solved any of the background elements like Beth’s fall, the origin of the Greystone, none of it. So I put some notes together on a second mini-series.

It was called the Seven Sons of Death.

I made it as far as the first issue and some of it survived all the way to the final draft. The rooftop meeting was the climax of the issue with Death’s reveal as the cliffhanger for the next issue. The intro of Samantha Myers was there as well so my family can get off my case for naming the dubious detective after my youngest daughter.

But I never went further. I had ideas on where the story was headed but nothing came together for me and I put it away.

In 2012 I was itching to write. Comics were in the past. Collaboration has never been a strong suit for me. Though I enjoy the back and forth when it works, there were too many times I ended up carrying the load solo and it wore on me. So, genius that I be sometimes, decided to write a novel instead.

Rather than reword Signs into a novel first, since the story was pretty well set, I wanted to try my hand at an original piece. Something new, something fresh.

The Medusa Coin was born.

publication history

I hit a wall immediately. Working full time made it difficult to write. More my own inability to step up and get words on the page, something I have thankfully learned over time.

But I gave it a try nonetheless.

For 11 months I wrote for an hour after work, sitting in my lovely cubicle with no overhead lighting (it gave people migraines or something…) typing away at what would become The Medusa Coin. Why the title change? Seven Sons of Death (I shortened it to Seven Sons at one point) never really sang to me. It fit for a time but I was very happy to stumble upon the Medusa connection and really amp it up in the drafting process.)

At this time I wasn’t huge on outlining. I would sketch out a chapter with some overall notes, maybe a line of dialogue or three, and then jump right in. The result was less than pretty.

I finished it though.

And then? Nothing.

The wheel turns…

Shockingly, I had no plan after this. That was me all over back then. I had a draft, a rough rough draft, but didn’t have the wherewithal to strengthen it on my own and knew no one else would be able to help either.

So it languished. Right beside Signs. Right beside quite a few other projects I hope to revisit someday.

Then I quit my job. And I wrote Signs. Then rewrote Signs. I learned the story behind the Greystone and the connections that brought me to the opening scene in The Medusa Coin.

And I had my story back.

I wrote the first draft of the current (and FINAL) iteration of this book during last year’s NaNoWriMo challenge. 23 days and 85,000 words later the book arrived as if it had always been there.

Why couldn’t it have been that easy back in 2010?

Lots more publication history and background to come on the novel. Have any specific questions you’d like answered about the creation of this book? Shoot me an email at lou@loupaduano.com and I’d be happy to put them in the blog!

The Medusa Coin Author Commentary Intro

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When I started this blog one of my main goals was to provide an inside look at the process behind the scenes. I did it with Signs of Portents and Tales from Portents. Now it is time to start the author commentary for The Medusa Coin.

Why divulge the secrets behind the book?

Seriously. Why let you know what a complete and utter buffoon I am when it comes to putting together a book? Why pull back the curtain on the inane arguments I have with myself on a daily basis to make the overall narrative as strong as can be?

Because it’s what I love to read about.

Yeah, I’m that guy. I’m the one they make audio commentaries for when they release a film, the one that runs through the documentaries on the bonus features disc before even watching the movie. I’m a process junkie. There are constant debates in this basement torture room I call an office about the best way to tell a story and I like being able to share those moments with you.

Maybe it will help you with your own writing – if that’s your thing. Maybe it will clue you in on something you missed during your first reading of the novel or it will inspire you to want to read it again to catch all the little moments you may have glossed over, while speeding to the finish.

author commentary

Let the author commentary begin!

For the next two months – off and on – I will take you all the way back to 2010 at the start of this wacky project. You’ll find out how I wrote The Medusa Coin FIRST and then went back to Signs of Portents and how the book is soooo much better than that first draft.

You’ll read about my fears of using Death and the mystery behind his role as well as the fact that Ruiz almost met his end in this story.

Lots of in-depth looks at the major players with all sorts of stories to share from my side of the screen. I promise there will be SPOILERS so read your copy this weekend and come back here Monday for the first look behind the scenes of The Medusa Coin.

I’ll see you then.

Spontaneous Dance Party Sale!

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Lots going on lately down in the basement. One week from the big NaNoWriMo kickoff. Founder’s Day is six weeks out. The fifth book in the Greystone series is slowly being reworked and rebuilt stronger and better than ever. Oh, and I’ve been house hunting to escape from said basement. Know what we need with all this going on?

A Spontaneous Dance Party Sale!

Spontaneous dance party, you ask? I give my eldest daughter credit for this one. Every night before bed she races into her room and asks to have a spontaneous dance party before saying goodnight. And every night she unveils a new dance for us. It’s an adorably, wonderful way to end the day.

So. HERE WE GO.

Today and tomorrow only all three Greystone books are $0.99 each!!

Signs of Portents

amazon-icon   nook-icon-150x150    ibooks icon    Kobo_Icon-150x150     

Tales from Portents 

           

The Medusa Coin 

Amazon  Nook   Kobo   iBooksSmashwords

And for $1.50 –

The Greystone Saga Volume One – in case you missed it the first time around!

         

Follow me (but not literally – that’s just creepy)

I’m really hoping to beef up my social networks, my e-mail list, everything so consider following me on your favorite site and spreading the word to your brethren. It helps get word out about the books.

If you follow me on Bookbub you’ll learn about upcoming releases and discounts down the line as well.

            

The Medusa Coin commentary is coming next –

Get your books ready to dive in and explore how the book came to be and how insane I truly am when it comes to putting together a novel. It’s going to be a treat, I promise.

Maybe not as much a treat as a spontaneous dance party sale, but still pretty cool.

Dance it up!

Writing Update – October 19, 2017

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I’ve been hiding from the world of late. My social media presence was never staggering but has been extremely limited the last few weeks. Why? I’ve been writing! Best excuse ever, right?

NaNoWriMo and The Lost Outpost

If you’ve been following my blog the last week you may have noticed some attention placed on NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month. I wasn’t sure I was going to participate this year, I have plenty to keep me busy as it is – but inspiration struck and now I can’t wait.

I put the finishing touches on a new script-level draft this week. The book is called The Lost Outpost and is my first foray into the sci-fi/space opera genre. New worlds, alien cultures, war and strife. Lots of interesting elements to play with and new characters to learn. It’s been quite the experience putting this together after living in Portents for so long but I’m excited to see where it goes come November 1st!

Founder’s Day

The pre-order should be up next week for the FREE novella sequel to Resurrectionists. Reading through it again, I forgot the fun that came with Loren and Myers’ growing partnership. Yeah, there’s murder and betrayal – lots of darkness abound – but the back and forth between these two characters made the whole project worthwhile.

I’ll be sure to share some links as soon as I have them!

Meanwhile, if you or someone you know hasn’t downloaded a copy of Resurrectionists be sure to snag it before Founder’s Day arrives on December 5th. Definitely want to read that first chapter before diving into the latest Greystone tale.

Reading

I am one-third of the way through my Fall Reading List for those keeping score at home. I think I have time for one more read before the insane drafting begins next month. We’ll see how it goes.

A Fistful of Rain by Greg Rucka – Loved it. Absolutely loved it. Mim Bracca is the kind of character you can’t help but hate and root for at the same time. I could not stop picturing Krysten Ritter from Jessica Jones as the main character, couldn’t stop hearing her voice even. It fit so well.

A fast read with plenty of character moments. Can’t recommend it enough.

Advance Team

I’m opening the Advance Team up again for new readers. If you’re interesting in receiving a free copy of the next Greystone book in exchange for an honest review come release time shoot me an email at lou@loupaduano.com.

Can’t wait to hear from you!

Thanks for reading

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