Back at the Keys

Update 48 2-8 May 2022

And I’m back at the keys.

The second book of the invasion is underway, and once again I’m already having second thoughts about everything. My prologue isn’t actually a prologue so much as it is a book end of each of the books that is its own mystery.

Secondly, I started the first chapter with the characters from the previous novel, instead of starting the book with the main characters of this novel… so, that might be “wrong.”

But is it “wrong?”

I’m of two minds on the answer to that.

On the one hand, the book should be “stand-alone” enough that it starts with its own characters and then the other storyline should weave in. (If you’re wondering what the hell I’m talking about, I’ve gone over this in numerous previous posts. To be short, each novel has its own story, and also has a secondary set of characters that are moving through each book handing the bigger problem.)

But, by starting with the Over-Arching characters I am segueing directly from the previous novel. Literally rewriting the last handful of pages from the final chapter of the previous book.

So, which is better? Starting with a strong segue from previous book into this new one with familiar characters? OR starting the book in a new place with its own problems and then later linking in the previous book?

I don’t have good answer for that and would love to hear from any of my fellow writers, or readers who would like to chime in with their opinions. Part of the problem with the latter—starting with the new characters—is that I decided to change out the new characters for characters from my Prequel (thesis) novel.

Little Changes, Big Ripples

See, several of the characters in these books are all based off of characters in various RPGs I ran or played in over the years. The thing is, several of these characters were played by friends of mine. Meaning, they were also created by said players. In the most case I have made “versions” that are very similar and bear the same name, but are newish characters.

For example, Grant and Kem from the last novel were played by two of my closest friends, people I consider my brothers. The names were the same. In Kem’s case the fighting style, some of the attitude, and the “ranger/fighter/thief” vibe were all the same. But his personality and physical traits were different. Grant had the same name and the same secret powers, but his origin, background, looks, and everything else were crafted for this book.

The problem I had with my original outline for Invasion 2 (Daeria & the Necropolis)—working title—was that I took the names, and partial personalities for two very important NPCs from one of my friends. Meaning, these were characters wholly crafted by another friend of mine, used in his games, and reused often. They were personal and special to him.

Staring at those names in my notes felt more like theft and less like homage. Ergo, I had to recast the story. My brain didn’t want to work last month, until I realized I didn’t need to make new characters when I had several sitting around doing nothing.

Two secondary characters from my Thesis novel are now taking center stage for a while. At least until they find two more of my old D&D characters to take the rest of the story forward.

Words

I know I’m doing this blog out of the traditional order. Usually, I start with word count and metrics and then talk about story. But hey, it’s been over a month. Here we go.

I had to work an extra day this week, so only had two sessions rather than three. But the book is off and running. I’m sure you’ve already figured out that I’ve managed to knock out the rough of the prologue and first chapter.

I aim for 6000 words in a week, or 2000 words in a single session.

I managed two sessions and 5827 total words to get the book moving forward.

I’m sure this week and the nest will be much slower going as I establish new characters, a new country, city, and culture. I have a LOT of ground to cover.

I’m happy to be back at the keys. Though I have a bunch of side work and other issues to work through this month.

Toku, Games, and Hobby

Still working my way through a bunch of JRPGs, one at a time.

Also working my way through 80’s toku. I finished my run through of Goggle V this week and started Dynaman. Dynaman is already a better show and it also had a two-bladed sword. I mentioned in one of my previous posts how Flashman had an enemy that connected his blades into one sword, more than a decade before Darth Maul existed. Well, Dynaman was three years before Flashman. So, 1982 is the first instance—as far as is known by me—of a character taking two weapons and connecting them together to make a double weapon.

(Though I have a feeling it was probably done in an anime in the 70’s before this, but my 70’s anime is rather limited to about three series). Also, Dynaman has a villain that is very much Hypnotoad beating Futurama to that joke by more than a decade.

Barely got to game during the month of April. Between birthdays, people getting sick, Easter, and other such, I barely got to game. But everything is smoothing out to 2 games a week again. I have also started getting into watching/listening D&D games online. I was only doing Call of Cthulhu for a while but I will admit that I started to watch Critical Role and the various games on the DnD YouTube channel. I highly recommend the Black Dice Society, Masters of the Multiverse, and Crit Role. All very good.

Outro

Well… I realize I’m starting to procrastinate from starting my writing session. So, I will call it here. Thank you all for reading and I look forward to next few months as we knock this book out.