The next several months will bring author commentaries on all six stories contained within the Tales from Portents collection. My hope is to offer insight into the decisions made in putting the project together and the challenges therein. It’s also fun to point out the little Easter eggs throughout. (I love that crap.) So, SPOILER WARNING is in effect for the duration.
My problem with short story collections…
I’ve always had a hangup when it comes to collections or anthologies. There seems to be a disconnect from the main series or even from the stories collected. And I get it, I do. Every story should stand on its own. There has to be enough meat in it or there is no point in telling the tale.
But I always wanted more from the collections I’ve read. A level of connective tissue that made even the shortest of stories feel bigger in scope.
That became one of my main goals with Tales from Portents.
Connecting factors.
Like the threads left throughout Signs of Portents there had to be points of connection between the short stories in Tales in order to make the work feel like a larger whole.
I took every opportunity to make sure they flowed and were natural connections instead of forced or contrived. Connecting the stories in Tales just for the sake of doing it wasn’t something I was too keen on, so I took care not to force anything on the reader.
Robert Standish.
The biggest thread sewn between tales in the collection centers on Robert Standish. He is mentioned a few times in Signs of Portents as the reason behind Loren’s fall from grace. His “big mistake” that he refers to throughout the narrative.
That made him my go-to guy for this collection.
His fingerprints are in three of the six tales, each one building the relationship between Standish and Loren so that when it explodes it is completely justified.
Following the thread.
It starts with Gremlins and the characters introduction. This piece set the tone for their relationship and everything that came after it. I wanted Standish to play counter to Loren’s feelings in the police department. Someone not highly skilled at the job but ambitious.
Ambitious to the point of criminal in some regards.
His views are vile, his motives unclean when viewed through the looking glass that is Loren. Standish, to Loren, is everything he stands against.
Which made his appearance in View from Above that much sweeter. Forcing them to be partners, showing Loren at his lowest with Standish smiling and joking by his side, was impossible to pass up.
And it wasn’t even in the original outline! The opportunity came to have Vlad arrested and it wasn’t meant to be anything more than that but adding the dynamic between Loren and Standish was too good to pass up. I think it really helped capture the moment in time on display for the story and acted as a perfect midpoint in the story of these two polar opposites.
Leading to Resurrectionists.
Standish and the events that led to Loren’s departure for Chicago were the basis of this story when plotting. Having the earlier moments, showing their troubled relationship from start to bloody finish allowed for maximum impact on delivery.
It also left the dangling thread of Rufus Mathers and his hatred for Loren on the table. Something that will be playing throughout the first cycle of the series.
Consequences.
Being able to build on events and then show the fallout speaks to the wider scope I was hoping to achieve with this collection. Having Standish not only show up for the brutal beatdown that occurs in Resurrectionists but also weave him through a number of tales and situations allows readers to connect on a deeper level (not that Standish will ever be accused of being deep) and understand the motivations of Loren’s actions in the end.
And the fallout that continues to occur because of them.
Next time –
A very special announcement later this week and then next week a look at Eyes in the Storm.
Thanks for reading.
I had a rule when plotting this story. No murders allowed. As I started coming up with the slate of tales from this collection this was one of the main challenges I faced. Signs was essentially a giant murder mystery. The Great Divide, while eventually riffing on the drug angle of the crime started with a death. The same with Eyes in the Storm and The Consultant, both of which are coming up in a few weeks.
When I received the edited version of Signs of Portents from my editor, 
Soriya doesn’t play well with others. And when she does they typically come from a place of authority. Mentor. Loren. Ruiz.
May and June are editing months it looks like but I’ve already started pooling my notes for the fifth and final book in this part of the Greystone series. Lots of plots coming together. Mysteries revealed. Characters going bye bye. I’m going to be a wreck when I sit down to draft this puppy.