Merry Christmas

     I've found that trying to write between thanksgiving and new years is an exercise in futility.  I'm afraid there are just too many things to get done.  That's not to say it's a bad thing, I'll be the first to admit I love the family gathering, and all the work that Irma and I have to put in to get things ready are worth it.  So, Imperfect Hope has taken a back burner, writing wise.  I have, on the other hand, been mulling over some ideas that seem to have promise.  For example, Remy's tale (he's Cerryn's younger brother, who'll play a more important role in part two) will likely include quite a bit a action at sea as I parallel his, Cerryn's, and Randir's lives while their paths converge.  He's going to have an interesting life at sea while his big sister becomes a questor...

     Randir's tale has taken on some added complexity in my notes, I've cemented some thoughts on how I'm going to foreshadow his relational challenges with Cerryn later on in the tale, by the time he meets her, his fears (shared by most kel warriors of the k'tath) of Il'cha bond pairs ("soul-mates") and the tragedy that almost always dominates their lives make him a reluctant companion.  Cerryn's own experiences will drive her away from him for entirely different reasons based on her own misinterpretation of the life of a questor.  This despite the need for them to essentially create a synergistic team, something that the Valnar (guardian demi-gods) are trying to create by bringing them together in the first place.  Sounds like a soap opera?  Hopefully I'll find a not so blunt hammer to drive this storyline forward when I get to it in the writing stages.

     Anyway, all these thoughts have been bouncing around in my skull while hanging on a ladder 22 feet up in the air clipping christmas lights on the gutter.  In previous years, we've had a routine for setting up our lights, but this year we decided to begin phasing out the old incandescent bulbs and replace most of the outdoor lights with LED-style.  However, I realized early on that I'd have to change the pattern of string alignment, since the bulbs are closer together, strings shorter, etc.  On the other hand I can link more of them together without overloading a circuit.  With the old strings, I'd marked places on the cord where particular strings stretched across the peaks of our roof, so I could clamber across the roof with all the lights, stretch the lines out, and put them up in a short afternoon.  With the new strings, Not so easy...

     FIrst of all, I had to get new gutter clips for the different style bulbs.  Then, because I was linking the strings together differently, I had to experiment with different arrangements until I found an efficient one.  New wall clips were needed, and all this had to work with the older bulbs I was keeping (the christmas train on the side fence, draped lights along the limestone wall, and lighted wreathes beside the living room picture window).  Oh, and the sidewalk lights and crystal angels...(It sounds like a lot more than it is)  TO make a long story shorter, It took three days (2 half days after work, and one full saturday) to get to a working arrangement.  Next year it'll go more quickly.  I hope...  At least my balance is still fairly good.  If not the stamina from climbing up and down the ladder...

     It was worth it.  Our four year old grandson, Adan James practically glowed as brightly as the crystal angels when he saw it lit up last week for the first time.  Ditto his eight year old brother, Jose Antonio, and our granddaughter (also 4) Tatiana (when she saw it a couple of days later).  Oh, and Irma and I are happy with it as well (albeit with a few modifications next year to clean up the window treatments.

     Anyway, we're down to planning christmas eve dinner.  Irma will be doing the Enchilada's, Tamales, and such (the request from half of the "kids"), I'm dry aging the 8-rib rib roast (the request from the other half) even as we speak, and will hit it with the spice rub it wednesday night.  She'll put it in the oven thursday afternoon before I get home, then I'll finish with the gravy and the bearnaise sauce, roast potatoes and yorkshire pudding.  Christmas eve we'll have all of the kids and spouses, grandkids, some inlaws, and even our grand-puppy...  At last count, there'll be 22 of us for dinner. 

     After dinner, Irma and I will sit back and let the whole thing settle.  I'd have a scotch, but I have to be at work at 600 am christmas day, so I'll save that for the weekend...

     Anyway, If I don't write before then, Merry Christmas to all of you...

Clear skies...
Jim

December already?

     I gave in and wrote about stupid FAA tricks last week.  Had I only waited, I would have had much more to write about this week.  Ah well, I'll put last weeks antics in the composting bin and perhaps dig it up in a few weeks after it has finished moldering...

     Imperfect Hope has slowed somewhat, mostly due to shorter writing sessions of late as other things to deal with continue to crop up.  I did give in and do a bit of a rewrite on pieces of Randir's first scene, there were some poorly blocked out sections that just didn't mesh with what I'd written about K'tath culture.  However, in rewriting, I discovered some new questions that I mulled over this week, aspects of the k'tath culture that need detail.

     Basically, I was starting Randir's tale "in media res"  (the story has already started, and I pick up the action in mid-act) during his naming quest.  The naming quest is another aspect of the k'tath that I'd noted decades ago in Brandis' IFGS history, that Kel and Sen went on a quest early in their youth to discover their "true name".  Other than this aspect of k'tath culture existing, I'd never gone beyond "this happened, and so now...".  However, Imperfect Hope offers me a chance to show this detail much more colorfully.

     One idea that emerged from the primordial soup I call "my imagination" was that all K'tath had a childhood name that stayed with them while they were young.  When the time comes for their name quest, their krathen family performs a tiny bit of krathen magic that effectively takes the name from the younglings memory (not completely, but enough that during his journey, he'll have more and more difficulty remembering his child-name until he discovers his adult name, at which point child name is forgotten completely.  I've combined that with the coming of age aspect of the youngling learning whether he will become Krath, Kel, or Sen during the same quest, it is tied in (some as yet undecided way) to the selection/bestowment of the adult name.  In Randir's case, I'm still writing the naming quest scene, so exactly how it comes about is uncertain, I've several ideas competing for the lead right now.  At some point, one will seem to be the best fit, and it will come together.

     This is an aspect of writing that comes up with me rather often.  THough I've the plot line well outlined, event following event etc, I'll be writing, and some small aspect of the scene will take on more and more life as my imagination grabs it and runs with it.  Sometimes it'll be good, sometimes it'll flop badly, and I'll end up dumping several paragraphs during the first draft because it just doesn't fit.  A fair amount of it ends up staying just to see if I can come up with ideas that will make it fit better later. 

     In Randir's opening scene, however, I've pieced together lots of lore from the IFGS D'oril and added much more content.  I'm expounding on the concept that the guardians (Elorna and the others) have moralistic rules that prevent them from interfering directly in the affairs of their chosen people, that the dark guardians (Seta and the others) have the same rules, but are more able/willing to bend them, which tends to give them temporary advantages in the god wars that they wage/play in.  The balance expects that "the bad guys" will cheat, and that "the good guys" have to work extra hard to overcome.  That, in essence, is one of the themes of Imperfect Hope. 

     I think the concept that "the bad guys cheat, and good has to work extra hard as a result" is a hidden theme in many fantasy works.  Sometimes it's hidden under the guise of "evil takes the easier path, but in the end...", sometimes the badguys find a loophole in some natural law.  In my case, I've set up a higher authority that the guardians and dark guardians answer to, this mirrors to some degree basic human civilization.  Criminals ("evil") will bend or break the rules to get what they want, sometimes because they don't care, sometime because they assume they won't be caught, and sometimes just because they want to evoke a little chaos in the world.  Am I equating my dark guardians with criminals?  Not really.  Just pointing out some behavioral similarities.  I think.  I'll have to take half my brain out and have a dialogue with it.....

     Anyway, more to come, I'm sure. 

Clear skies,
Jim

Absent, but busy

    Mea Culpa.  I've been absent for a couple of weeks regarding posting, mostly due to a backlog of chaos.  Irma and I are hoping it's under control again.  We'll see, chaos has a way of following itself up with more chaos.

     The FAA's been busy acting stupid, but hey, why should this month be any different than the last oh, say, 21 years?  Denver Center's staffing continues to drop, and even though traffic is down over last year, we're getting tired.  Having said that, I will also observe that some (okay, many) of the errors that have resulted are as much the result of dumb controller decisions as they are of fatigue.  For those who've not heard me talk about this before, I should explain.  At 'center level', an error occurs when two aircraft within the same altitude stratum (+ or - 1000ft of each other) pass within 5 horizontal miles of each other.  Doesn't sound like much of a problem, except it's the standard we're held to.  An operational error is considered a big deal, one error triggers a review of your skills, more can lead to retraining or practicing your phrase "you want fries with that?". 

     Some errors are just plain dumb luck, the result of a series of small mistakes that end up in an irreversible situation.  Some are just plain Dumb Moves, the result of someone not paying attention or trying to take a chance.  (ever see Pushing Tin?  That movie was (besides just a plain bad example of controllers in general) filled with supposed controllers constantly taking stupid chances.  I tried to watch it, never managed to get more than 10 minutes before I had to turn it off or risk permanent brain trauma).  Anyway, hollywood image aside, Controllers don't last a full career if they continue to take stupid chances.

     However, our illustrious management seems to think every error is the result of someone doing something deliberate.  When the facility has a string of errors (such as this fall, where we've had 6 or so in as many weeks, compared to the usual 1 every month or two), they (upper level managers) feel that "they" have to do something.  The results, imposed on all of the controllers, is always draconian, always pointless, and always punitive.  Thus, fatigued controllers are piled on with mid level managers who are asked to wear their headsets (equipment that they only rarely use) and patrol up and down the aisle, ready to...  "Take that drink off the console, it might spill."  or "Is that aircraft on frequency?  How about now?  now?  How about now???"  or "Um, what's that flashing, you doing something?"  Does upper level management think their mid levels will instantly recognize an error developing, plug in and save the day?  

     It only took me a few minutes to compose myself after reading that last line over.  I suppose more explanation is in order.  In my nearly 22 years of being an air traffic controller, I've never had an operational error.  I suspect half of my coworkers are in the same boat.  There's a core of perhaps 20 percent of the controllers I work with who've had multiple errors, probably accounting for 70% of the facilities errors.  In todays FAA, however, management doesn't look at those who have multiple errors (unless certain conditions are met) and correct their actions.  Instead, they blanket all of us with stupid restrictions and rules that do nothing but increase our stress levels.  It reminds me of junior high, when someone in the back shot a rubber band at the teacher, and as a result, all of the class had to sit silently, doing nothing, until the end of class. 

     So pardon the cynicism.  I'll reemphasize, We've a safe air traffic system.  We're doing our best, with aging equipment and goofy bureaucratic rules and regulations, and guess what?  They system works.  Despite the bureaucracy.  I only hope nationalized health care doesn't follow the path of typical gov't agencies...

     On a writing note, Imperfect Hope continues to grind away slowly.  I finished Cerryn's first two scenes (as a 9 year old), and set in on Randir's first scene (where he obtains his adult name).  I've a lot of depth waiting to be added, and it seems to be the right track.  I'll write more about it later this week, once I get the taste of FAA out of my mouth.

TTFN,
Jim

How background becomes sub-plot...

    Wren Lorus was, despite her name, anything but birdlike.  She was short, probably no taller than Cerryn's middle brother Julius, who stood just over 5 feet tall.  Wren's hair was black, curly, and trimmed just above the nape of her neck, a style that was not common for women of the confederacy.  Cerryn knew that there were a fair number of female questors, but she'd never met one, and had imagined that they probably looked like the Vendarian Guardian statues she'd seen at the temple, long haired and armor clad rather than short and bulky.  Her face was square and hard, her patchwork skin was darker, more scarred and tougher looking than seemed possible. Though the questor was muscular, it was apparent that she had what Cerryn's mother would call "an embarrasment of blessings", a feature that seemed particularly out of place on the squat warrior.  Cerryn's attention was drawn to the livid scar that ran from slightly behind the ear down to the base of her chin.  It was ragged and raw, barely healed, and looked more torn than sliced.  She shuddered as she tried not to imagine what had caused it. 

     In developing Cerryn's past and fleshing out Imperfect Hope, I'm introducing a lot of detail to the questors of the Eagles Forge Monastery.  Wren Loren is an aide to the questor general who has come to Whiteport looking for the questor-candidate shown to him in his visions from Valnar.  Two children, typically aged 9-11, are chosen each year (Cerryn is 8) and are brought to the monastery to begin their training.  Wren, as a senior female questor, will act as a mentor toward Cerryn during her early training at Eagles Forge.  Confederacy (and pre-confederacy kingdoms) traditions hold that only rarely will a child shown to the questor-general turn down the honor, and that the parent's opinions are not heard.  Part of the conflict I'm tossing out early is that Cerryn's father, the Baron of Bruils (and confederacy council-member) would keep his daughter out of the monastery (he's politically/matrimonially motivated).  Cerryn's mother, though she'd much rather keep her daughter out of the questor's life, recognizes that pitfall of trying to create an exception for her own daughter. 

     I'm laying the groundwork for events some 15 years down the road that will lead to the political embarrassment of the baron that will provide the framework for Min's manipulation of the council later on.  The Baron, though nominally a good leader of his realm, has a blindness toward the effects of favoritism, and later on will attempt to influence the path of Remy's career.  The resulting scandal will force the baron to resign from the confederacy council, and bring his (rather more easily manipulated) brother into the council where Min will take advantage of him.

     A lot of this background/subplotting I'd only just skimmed over in the original Imperfect Hope outline, I'd mentioned a scandal, but had done nothing to detail the players/events that led up to it.  I'd only just started fleshing it out as I started deepening the characters around Cerryn's early age.  By tying Cerryn's, Remy's and Baron Nallory's tales together, I'm hoping the story will feel more "real".  I've other background items that are coming forward into the story, presenting opportunities to draw the reader into the tale more deeply, such as why Randir fears the Il'cha bonding so much, and why the walls he puts up between himself and Cerryn cause her to react in the manners I'd put forth already in the first draft.  Having shown her reactions to her brothers similar actions years past, her actions should now make sense without paragraphs of explanation.

If I show the causes clearly enough.
If the causes are memorable enough to be remembered.
If I...  Stop with the IF's already.  Write, Jim, and worry about the details later.

Anyway, lots to work on.  I'd wanted to comment more on the previous weeks posting, and may still later this week (musings on who's reading and why), but for now...

CLear skies,
Jim

Oh, what to write about? (No balloon tales, please)

Unlike many other blogs out there, I won't comment on the obvious.  (I hear a chorus of cheers out there...)

On the other hand, I want to step away from writing commentary for a day or two.  (yes, I'm making progress for those who are worried.)  I scratched my head for quite a while, thinking about what I should write about.  Past topics came to mind, including musings on personality again (but I immediately started linking it to writing, so I dropped it), Adventures in Handymanland (but nothing has broken lately, and all maintenance chores of late have been uneventful things like raking leaves), or the FAA (but I don't want to write about stupid today, so...)  So, forgive me if I meander while I seek a focus.

I've been wondering who has actually been visiting my blog.  I know a couple of you have commented to me, some privately thru email (thanks, Matt), others directly on comments (Art and yarnspinner on wordpress, Lou, Jeff, AML, and others at blogspot).  I know from my statcounter that there are several other regular visitors, but I've never been able to lure them in to comment, or even identify themselves.  I wonder if they are folks I know who want to remain anonymous, or if they are strangers who, for whatever bizarre reason have kept up with these random musings of a slightly mad air traffic controller who imagines himself a writer.  I suppose it's even possible that my mystery visitors are folks who I knew in the past, whom I've lost touch with, and are perhaps curious if "old what's his name" ever did anything with his life.

Statcounter logs visits to my blog and identifies from what part of the country (or world) they have come from through IP identifications.  I'm not convinced it is terribly accurate, for example, when I visit my blog from work, it identifies me as coming from Oklahoma City, OK (which make a bit of sense to me, since a lot of the FAA's computer services are routed through OKC.)  Others seem to jump all around, there's a verizon sourced visitor who's logged as being in Washington State some of the time, California other times.  There are a couple of visitors from the UK (or maybe one who uses two different ISP's).  Someone in Iowa, another in Florida, and...

Then there are the odd visits.  I've had visits from Japan and China, Saudi Arabia (wonder if that's a US serviceman) and a couple of times, visits from Columbia. 

It makes for an interesting puzzle, I've been able to guess who some of the visitors are by linking a posting time for a comment to an ISP listing, except some of your ISP's change IP's regularly.  For example Lou's comments, though they all identify from Denver, have no common IP to label.  Anchorage, on the other hand, is a stable IP, and knowing that, I can tell when my brother visits, even if he doesn't always comment.  If folks don't comment, however, I've no way of identifying them, other than guessing.  My visitor from Iowa for example, I've no idea, there's never been a comment linked to that visit time.  Interestingly, Iowa's ISP name is constant, but for a time this year, according to statcounter, they came from New York.  Unless that's someone else entirely (though I suspect it is the same person, because of the regularity of the visits).  Are we confused yet? 

Is this important?  Not really, except in a curiosity sense.  Some regular visitors I know found me because I emailed most of them and announced my start up.  Others arrived (on wordpress) because of tag-searches (when I label a posting, others who look for posts at wordpress with that label may be directed to my blog).  However, other visit reasons are a complete mystery.

So, I'm going to ask the question for the regular readers who didn't find Doriltales through my direct email contact:  How did you find D'oriltales?, what were you looking for?, and why do you keep returning?  Post a comment, anonymously if you wish, and satisfy the curiosity of this developing writer.  I promise not to use your answers for any illegal or immoral (or even ill-advised) activities.  ;-)

Beyond my own curiosity, I wonder what you want to know about.  My profile is a bit vague, I'm not even sure if anyone's looked at it since I first put it up some two years past.  Thus, part two of my questions, is there anything that you want to ask?  I'll answer most questions, so long as it doesn't involve credit card numbers or the secret rituals of an air traffic controller.  ;-)  Let me know...

Clear skies,
Jim

Progress continued

     Over the weekend, I set in on Cerryn's tale, reenvisioning Imperfect Hope's start by starting the story 20ish years prior to the events at Mud Bay that set the story in motion.  Cerryn, one of the two main protagonists in Imperfect Hope, is an 8 year old baron's daughter, about to be "discovered" by the Questor General of the Eagles Forge Monestary.  She starts the tale looking for her brother, 6 year old Remy, the youngest child of the Nallory clan, leaders of one of the provinces of the Western Marches.  With this beginning, I feel that I'll be able to develop her character more naturally by the time she meets Randir, as well as lay the structure for the sub-plots that are an important part of Imperfect Hope.

     Remy is a new viewpoint character, one who will have a more important role in the events following the end of IH part 1.  I'm introducing him now, however, in order to put into play some of the confederacy politics that I hinted at in IH.  Remy, as youngest son of the Baron, is expected to follow the traditional path of a baron's non-inheriting sons, and serve the Baronry as a military commander.  However, this youngster, it turns out, is drawn to the see, and at a crux point in his story (prior to Mud Bay and concurrent to a political time bomb that Nestor sets off that discredits Cerryn's family.)  Remy, by going to sea with one of the trade houses, turns his back on family politics, but his role in IH part two will have impact on the Empire's plot. 

     Meanwhile, I'm going to develop Randir in a similar method to Remy and Cerryn.  Developing the character of a k'tath over time will make the character more personal, and will give me a chance to exhibit the major differences in Humanish and K'tath cultures.  I'll be able to introduce the concept of Il'cha mates, which will go a long way toward explaining his attitudes toward the developing relationship with Cerryn late in Imperfect Hope.  Cerryn's attitudes will also be developed in her own story. 

     As I mentioned, I tossed my early effort to write Cindas opening frame story, at least until I can have finished first draft of the early part of the tale and have a better understanding of what I am framing.  So, with the tossing out of 850 words, I still managed a net gain of nearly 3000 words over the weekend, and I spent quite a bit of my writing time polishing up some storyline concepts, so it wasn't all writing.  It may not seem like much, but my attitude is positive, and my outlook is hopeful (if imperfect).  Now to deflect those electrons...  (so I don't get negative...  ;-)   )

     Unrelated to writing, I'm fighting an urge to comment on the stupidity of recent FAA moves...  For now, I'll just say that, even though I agree that we need to drag our atc system into the 21'st century with some much needed upgrades, the way they're going about it is incredibly dense.  But I guess I expect that, after 22 years in the FAA, my cynicism is well founded.  The bureaucracy of the federal Gov't just doesn't lend itself to well-thought out improvements.  Instead, we're getting a radar/computer suite shoved down our throats, the interface of which was designed by software designers who have little to no real experience on what is important to an air traffic controller.  As a result, if/when ERAM is implemented, I will be able to demonstrate 5 different ways to print out NOTAMS (notices to airmen)(something I've never had a need to do in 20+ years), but nearly every command I use to call up important information that I typically need in seconds, (and that I can now do with a button push, 3 numbers on a keypad, and a mouse click) will require anywhere from 2-4 menu/scroll downs/mouse clicks on different parts of a 30 inch computer screen, and sometimes a half dozen + keystrokes on the keyboard.  ARGGGH!

     Anyway...  Don't worry, the controllers will make it work.  We'll just end up sitting in a corner at night after our shifts, rocking back and forth and babbling... Oh, I already do that.....  ;-)

TTFN
Jim

False starts, new starts.

     Last weekend, I put in some good time writing on saturday by starting in on what I'd envisioned would be the new starting point for Imperfect Hope.  I continued the experiment that concluded my first draft of IH by beginning with Cinda's first person, folksy viewpoint providing a revised frame story for the entire IH series.  However, by the time I'd finished writing that night, I began to have second thoughts about the experiment.

     Cinda's viewpoint, as a frame story for IH v-1, seemed to work.  Her voice brought an immediate sense of some of what was going on, and as the closing scene for IH, part one, felt like a good, emotional cliff hanger.  However, as the beginning frame for events taking place 20 years earlier, it lacks impact.  Perhaps this is because I wrote the frame story for v-1 after I'd finished the first draft, and this time I was starting with the frame.  Perhaps it just isn't the start I needed.  Regardless, I was very unsatisfied, and sunday afternoon I deleted the scene and toyed with other ideas.

     After tossing around a mental football, I decided I'd write the first draft of Cerryn, Randir, and Remy's tales (they lead in to the old start of IH by showing the main characters as they develop) without building the frame first, and then go back and see if first person Cinda can then frame the story successfully.  While I tossed around ideas, I put together a more detailed time line for each of the main characters, and revisited my outline/scenes.  IH v-2 is back on the front burner.

     One change I'm making to my working habits this time around is that I'm giving my Inner Critic a more active role.  The pre-story I'm working on is essentially another first draft that I'm tacking on to IH v-1, but I'm going to let myself revise this time around.  I'll also work on first rewrite of IH v-1 on occasion, though I'm going to go slowly, rather than a rewrite, I'm going to tweak some revisions in as I make changes to the storyline in part one.  I'm still planning to do a complete rewrite, but that will begin as I finish up part one and have a complete story to do.

     Another plan, as I start getting some rewritten scenes finished, I'll be looking for some readers to give me some initial comments.  Rather than post my story online (which messes with some aspects of selling first publication rights should I succeed in getting a saleable product), I'll email segments to individuals who are interested.  I've gotten a couple of offers for help over the last year, but I'll make an official volunteer solicitation announcement later this fall when I'm ready.  In the meantime, I'll toss out excerpts once in a while...

     As I mentioned, vacation left my head more clear than it has been in months.  It's amazing how much mental clutter I pick up from the day to day routine of being an air traffic controller.  I hope Irma and I get a chance to take some weekend mini-vacations in the coming months to keep my head unmuddled.  Maybe we'll go visit the Stanley Hotel and see if the ghosts want to come out and play again...  ;-)

     Anyway, ATC duties call, so time to step away from the keyboard...

TTFN
Jim

We're Back...

Kauai continues to be a magical place to visit. Irma and I thoroughly enjoyed our 2 1/2 weeks, and the feeling of de-stressing was almost tangible, by day two I felt "almost human", instead of "government employee". We kept our schedule light, in fact, we didn't really have a schedule, except for reservations to a luau, and dinner reservations at the Plantation Gardens. We generally decided what to do on any given day over coffee on the lanai.

Our condo had a good view of the ocean from the lanai, we could gauge the surf before we wandered down to the beach. The first five days surf was pretty heavy, on monday the 7th, we had 7-10 foot breakers off shore, and good 5-7 foot surf on the sand. I don't board surf (though there were plenty of newbies getting lessons nearby), but I spent a good part of the morning getting tossed about (okay, hammered), while showing Irma how (not) to take a wave ;-) , and generally acting like a kid. By mid swim, I felt I was up to speed in swimming in the surf (as opposed to getting flattened by the breakers). Irma wisely kept her distance, which isn't to say she didn't enjoy the surf, she just did it with a firm grip on my hand (or whatever part of me she could grab, whenever a wave managed to knock one or both of us down) just outside of the zone where the surf was breaking. The rest of our visit, surf was a more typical 2-4 foot waves, and Irma was more comfortable with swimming in the deeper water. By the end of our trip, we both were 'old hands' again. Next time, I'll introduce her to snorkeling... ;-)
This is the surf on a calmer day about 50 yards from our lanai...


The food was great, we went for a couple of hikes (including one into the Kokee swamp area, which was an experience I'll describe later) and another along a very rugged cliff and beach trail southeast of Poipu. When it came time to return, we were both disappointed to leave, but... Work and family awaited us. We did visit our favorite lighthouse, though, So here we are...



As I'd promised myself, I did no writing, nor did I plot or plan on Imperfect Hope. I did occasionally make mental notes of things to do or include. The Kokee swamp, for example, was a hiking experience difficult to imagine. There were pockets of what I can only describe as "dead air" where the aroma of the swamp was thick and earthy and felt like a warm, soggy blanket dropped on your head, other areas had pockets of air that was considerably hotter than surrounding areas and felt like walking into a sauna, and the rare stretch where a breeze actually penetrated to the forest floor. The trail we followed starts climbing up the ridge surrounding the volcanic caldera, so long extinct that it is filled with real tropical rain forest, then drops down into the depths of the swamp. We didn't go all the way in, in large part due to our desire stay out of the knee deep mud said to exist on parts of the trail. I'll admit, the "dead air zones" were rather daunting in feel, like stepping into a primordial land. I guess I'm just too used to the dry and wide open colorado trails...

I'll travelogue a bit more at a later date. For now, it's back to the FAA. I think my biggest mental challenge upon returning to work was putting on... SHOES. (Imagine Gollum writhing in pain, screaming "It burns... Get it off, it burns...") I wasn't far from reacting in that manner...

As I mentioned, I didn't work on Imperfect Hope, except to consider mental notes. When I got back late last week, I jotted down a bit of what I'd remembered, added that to the background content and thoughts I've compiled over the last 6 weeks of relative writing inactivity, and pawed through it over the weekend. I've a good idea on how I"ll be approaching the rewrite now, and, barring a surprise or three, I"ll start this week. Now to check inventory... Coffee? (Kauai estate reserve, check!) Notes? (check, if wrinkled and disordered) Goldfish? (Check, big dragon sized bowl) Scotch? (Check, but I'd better stock up...) Wish me good writing...

Clear skies,
Jim

Vacation time

Our long anticipated vacation begins this saturday, Irma and I are disappearing for 2 1/2 weeks. We're going back to Kauai, long our favorite place to decompress, specifically the Outrigger Kiahuna Plantation in Poipu Beach. I came to realize this week how fatigued I am from the last few months of work madness. We both need this break.

I am not planning to write while I"m on vacation. I might post a note or two on the blog, but I won't promise anything. If you'd read my observations two years ago when we last visited Kauai, you'd notice that we didn't schedule anything. Our day consisted of getting up and having coffee and breakfast on the lanai of our condo, listening to the zebra doves and other tropical birds chirping away. Between the scent of the flowers, and the fresh coffee, it sets a relaxing pace. We'll probably do some hiking, we might go on a day sail, and we'll consider a luau at the kilohana plantation. There's the Kauai Coffee Company, largest coffee plantation in the US, and several botanical gardens in the area that have short hiking trails through their gardens, from manicured to wild.

Kauai island has fewer than 80,000 residents on the whole island. If you're looking for nightlife, or crowded beaches, or exciting touristy things to to, you'll be disappointed. We're not looking for the excitement of an all inclusive resort. And we won't be disappointed, this is our 4th trip to Poipu.

I've a couple of links to share. The first leads to the kauai sheraton, the hotel adjacent to the Kiahuna Plantation. Their web cam overlooks the kiahuna plantation's beaches, we'll be there off and on throughout the trip. I'll wave, just in case anyone's watching. The other links are to the Kauai Coffee Company, easily the best coffee I've had (probably because we can buy it so fresh, it's still steaming from the roasters), and a few of the places we may visit, including the lighthouse that has contributed to my story idea, Lighthouse.

http://www.seehawaiilive.com/skr-cam.cfm is the live webcam that overlooks the beach
http://www.kauaicoffee.com/ where we'll buy our coffee.
http://www.hawaiiweb.com/Kauai/html/sites/Kilauea_lighthouse.html The lighthouse that inspired a big part of my story concept, Lighthouse.

I won't promise I'm going to post over the next two and a half weeks. I'm going into full rehab mode, hoping to return fresh and ready to grind it out again at the FAA, and perhaps my attitude toward IH will be freshened as well.

Clear skies, all,
Jim

More background

     I've spent the last week answering some of the questions I raised for myself in reading Imperfect Hope v1.0.  Several pages went into detailing the history of the confederacy a bit more, putting a more specific timeline in place and naming/defining the different regions.  The east and west marches have taken on very different flavors, important for other tales in the D'oril world, as well as having a mild effect on the politics of the Empires plot.  I put some thought into the reasons for the various regions coming together over the last 120 years, covering the influence the triad enclaves (the three main religions of the confederacy) that they've wielded in influencing the course of the region, as well as the power that the trade consortiums wield in their own way.  The barons, dukes, and other regional rulers owe much of their continued success to the wealth that the merchants bring, as well as the knowledge that the enclaves provide, and as such, have been guided by them over the decades.

     This doesn't have a direct impact on Imperfect Hope, but it shapes the characters, especially Cerryn, who's father is one of the barons of the western marches.  It also has helped me define the role of the questors, the adventuring hand of the enclaves.

     That info is important for my writing the new first five chapters.  Cerryn's early life at her fathers keep, and her subsequent education at the Eagles Forge Monestary, will lead her to investigating the chaos forest (temporary name for a place ruined by excessive wintergem harvesting), and ultimately introduce her to Randir.

     Randir's tale begins with his own journey as a kel healer, and the internal politics of the K'tath as they wrestle with their desire for separatism versus the need to engage help from the south in keeping their own wintergem forests secure.  When a small clique within the sen, guided by Elorna, decides to recreate the companions of Elorna from Brandis' time (despite the perceived problems they brought back from the empire lands), Randir is sent south to an enclave university to educate himself, as well as the scholars of the enclave about the k'tath and the wintergems.  Eventually, Randir and Cerryn will meet, and begin their journey towards the beginning of Imperfect Hope V1.

     Once again, it may seem confusing, but I've a strong sense of where to begin the tale now, and how to proceed.  I've a bit more groundwork to lay, including a rough outline of the new start, and... Soon, I hope.

     In the meantime, I'm playing with some opening ideas, either Cinda in my frame story concept, or foreshadowing the empires plot with...  Something dark and dire.  Perhaps when I finish this scotch...

TTFN,
Jim

The Big Picture, or, boy did I underestimate how much background I need.

     Imperfect Hope, v2 is still in the planning stage.  This last week, I spent quite a bit of time taking notes on the story as it is, from revising the opening chapter storylines, to asking myself questions about what/why/where/who/how with regards the overall world picture.  As a result, I've been focusing on history of the world (part 1???).  There are a lot of questions to be answered.

     First of all, I'm going to have to come up with a catchy name  ;-).  D'oril is really the only named area I've got, and it's a relatively small area, albeit one with huge storytelling impact.  The confederacy, lands south of D'oril, occupy nearly half of the continent, with barbaric wilds to the south of that.  However, Confederacy is, right now, more of a descriptive of the government form than a land name.  I have to name the continent, name the confederacy, and name the baronries, trade consortiums, and enclaves that compose the confederacy.  The south, as yet unimportant in my story, just took on a level of importance as I've referenced it in the confederacy timeline that details the relative youth of the confederacy, so I've got to define it with more than "here there be barbarians". 

     Compare that to the continent of the massive Empire of Tallux.  It (the empire) has a name (from the founding emperor), though the continent, regions, and so on are completely undefined.  In Imperfect Hope, I've a scene that takes place in "Imperial City", but otherwise I've never detailed any aspects of the land.  Until this week, anyway.  It too has been given a timeline, and some basic regions have been crudely sketched out to give weight to events referenced in IH.  However, much more is needed if I'm going to really flesh out the antagonists, I need to have a good sense of the political environment back home if the characters are going to be believable.

     I've gotten a very rough sense of history for both continents down, the Empire back about 650 years, the lands of the confederacy back only 200 years.  Oh, and the k'tath legends of D'oril that in my oral storytelling from Brandis go back "thousands of years".  Blending the time scales gives a date for Sha'te Valley as having occurred 68 years prior to the beginning of Imperfect Hope.

     Reading the first draft set me up to ask a lot of questions, seeing things that need explanation (either in the story, or in the background so I can remain consistent).  The gaps in the first draft are significant, but seeing them has helped me start refining the story to make it viable.  The ruling council of the Confederacy, previously undefined, has to take a shape in order to make it clearer to me how and why the empire spy has manipulated certain members to achieve empire goals.  In turn, the empire goals have to be better understood in the context of the history of Tallux, as is the reason they're attempting the subterfuges at Mud Bay.  I set the time gap since Sha'te, and as a result, I've been able to explain the changes in K'tath culture since then, which clarifies Randir's presence in the story.  And understanding Cerryn's fathers position in the confederacy allows me to zero in on Cerryn's early attitudes and mores, which makes her actions in Imperfect Hope understandable. 

     It is a lot of work.  Some of it I'll flesh out while I work on the rewrite, but a couple of things feel like they need to be addressed first.  I'm making a list of my questions, and I'll sort them into "flesh out now" and "work on later".  Hopefully the "now" won't be too big...

     In the mean time, wish me luck and good scotch...

TTFN,   Jim.

    

Adding Content

     I've made a decision.  Imperfect Hope, first draft, needs more content.  Specifically, I've added to the outline what turns out to be four chapters to be added to the front of the existing first draft.  I'm planning to rewrite Cinda's opening monologue to reflect the new beginning, and then weave together Cerryn's tale of growing up in the Eagle's Forge, the Vendarian training temple (think Shaolin monks from the old tv series in a vague way), then gradually drop in three other storylines, one involving Randir and his journey to becoming a companion of Elorna, another involving Cerryn's older brother, and the third involving Del, a retired adventurer turned brewmaster.  Cinda's opening monologue will mention Del, one of the old ones she remembers, effectively tying his story line to the long term tale.  He'll also eventually link up with Cerryn's brother, but in the opening chapters, He'll start out linked with her, and then his story will diverge as hers starts to converge with Randir.  It all sounds so confusing, the way I'm describing it, but in my own imaginations, it seems to make sense.  Of course, IH v1.0 seemed to make sense, and it needs a major reworking.  But, hey, that's what rewriting, as opposed to revising, is for.

     I am puzzling on exactly how to start Cerryn's tale.  Some time ago, I wrote an exercise introducing Cerryn to a visiting monk from the Eagles Forge, that might make for a good start.  If I do work from that initial point, I could then drop her brother in (an older brother, something of a black sheep, who Cerryn looks up to (and later, her idealized memory of her brother will undoubtably affect her questor training in some manner)).  From there, I might skip years to touch upon her questor training before introducing her to Randir (an introduction I'd already mentioned in IH v1.0 as musings from Randir's point of view.) 

      The as yet unnamed brother's tale will revolve around his own path of growth to where He'll take a center stage in IH part two in resisting the Empires efforts in Moon Harbor.  The black sheep aspect of his tale may involve his interest in the confederacy navy, something his traditionally oriented father would strongly disapprove of.  That would put him in the right place during the empires initial moves off the coast.  I'm still mulling over it, though, so this storyline may change drastically.

     Randir's tale would begin at a later point than Cerryn's tale, and give me the opportunity to show the k'tath culture, and his own path toward Companion of Elorna.  This line is as yet the most nebulous, but it's also the one I've probably got the most background material from which to draw.  More will come, I'm sure.

     As I mentioned, Del's tale will be referenced by Cinda, in a completely revised opening first person/present tense monologue that will encompass foreshadowing and the like.  From there, I'll refer to Del's story toward the end of the beginning four chapters, setting the stage for his link up in the primary story with Cerryn's brother.  His role will expand in book two.

     All this gets me to ask myself, how many major and minor characters can I safely run in this story.  I've read some books (Harry Turtledove, for example) who will weave 7 or 8 major characters viewpoints together, but honestly, sometimes I get lost.  In looking at IH V1.0, I was running 3 major viewpoints, and 4 minor viewpoints, however two of the major viewpoints spend much of the time together (Randir and Cerryn).  In version two now, I'm looking at 4 major viewpoints and 5 minor views, which pare down to 3 and 4 through much of the bulk of the tale.  In addition, 1 of the minor viewpoints is a 1 scene cameo, and another of the minors is the Cinda "Frame" story.  I don't think this is excessive, but...  I'll see how it looks when I put it together.

     So.  Time to get back to writing.  I'll see if I can grind out a new start to Cerryn's tale over the next couple of days.  Wish me luck...

TTFN,
JIm

Inner Critic, Meet Imperfect Hope

     I've taken two weeks off from writing, except for the occasional idea storm and background notetaking.  I finally started my first reading of Imperfect Hope over the weekend.  As I'd planned, my first read through will be sans-notes, I just want to get an overall feel of the story.  Later, I'll have notepad at side as I pick through the individual scenes.

     Inner Critic has taken to the reading with a harsh eye.  I have to admit, I started out dismayed by my writing, but I have to keep reminding myself, this is only the first draft, it's far from complete.  Lots of description will get added later, as will cleaning up of dialogue, developing consistency in voice and mannerisms and adding enough background.  My first reading is going to concentrate on the overall storyline, is it viable, what is weak, what needs further development, what just fails completely.  After I read it through, I'll sit down and have a conversation with the author...

     However, I've noted one major flaw during my first reading already.  If this is a ten chapter book, it feels as if you've begun reading it in chapter four.  Essentially, I've dropped the reader into the middle of the story.  The maturation of the characters is too far along for my original story concept, and I make assumptions that the reader will understand things I've referenced that really should be shown or explained well before this point in the tale.

     This isn't the disaster I first felt it was, because as I looked at how I've started things, I realized that there are a couple of ways I can add the missing content.  I'm going to belay deciding exactly how to restart the beginning of IH until I've finished my first reading.  Once I know where I'm going to restart, I should be able to churn it out fairly seamlessly, since I know where the story needs to go. 

     I've also been considering my observation from a couple of weeks ago that I needed some more content, sub-plot wise.  I'm mulling over one possibility, that involves the older brother of Cerryn, serving as an officer in the confederacy in Half Moon Harbor.  Since I'm almost certainly going to begin Imperfect Hope with Cerryn's early years, I can introduce her older brother and show how his influence has influenced her own development over the years.  I can then put him in the story logically, and tie in that storyline with the whole empire plot line.  As a side note, Del asked about the cantankerous old mage/brewer concept.  Though I don't want to turn any IFGS-era characters into a comical stereotype, I do have an idea building around a pseudo-Delanore mage from the old days who is forced out of happy retirement (from adventuring) by the heavy hand of the "Damned Impies"  (old-timey nickname for the imperials of Sha'te fame).  Having him reluctantly join up with Cerryn's brother in resisting the Impies in Half Moon Harbor seems like a good idea right now...  (Famous last words...  "Here, hold my beer, I want to try something, seems like a good idea...")

     Finally, a work-related note:  This has been a really ugly summer for bad weather, aviation wise.  This week in particular has really chewed us up.  Anyone out there know how to placate the thunderstorm gods???

TTFN,  Jim

Don't even think about it, and Where are they now?

     I promised myself I wouldn't think about Imperfect Hope for at least a week.  Like the old joke goes, "whatever you do, don't think about bananas..."  (Try it.  Tell yourself "don't think about bananas", and see what you think about) ;-)

     That leaves me with a bit of a vacuum to fill, writing wise.  In truth, I've stayed away from all writing since last sunday, though I've allowed myself to pick up a pencil and jot down some ideas (I suppose technically writing, but...)  Things like maps of the Mud Bay area and such, and "whatever happened to..."  regarding the IFGS version of characters.  That led me down a different road, "whatever happened to..."  with the subject being real people from the past that I've lost touch with.

     Sadly, that's a long list, pretty much anyone from high school or college.  I ran through a list in my head of significant people from my past that I still hear from or run across or, at the very least, know what happened to them, and there were almost none from about 1986 or earlier. 

     Granted, I went through some significant alterations in my path about that time.  I'd entered college with a pie-in-the-sky image of my career choice.  My naive view of a geologist was someone who traveled the wilds of the world, trekking through the most beautiful mountains and jungles of far away places, finding exotic minerals and turning the results over to the engineers to figure out how to extract it.  Many of the people I knew were in the sciences, with career ideas that ranged from medicine to engineering to finance.  My image of a geologist's life began to change when I spent a summer and fall working on an oil rig, where I met a real geologist, whose exciting career consisted of sitting in a ratty trailer 12 hours a day and collecting mud samples from the drill outwash every hour to record what kind of rock the rig was drilling through at that time.  It was amended further the summer I worked in Nevada following maps to collect sand in the desert, and the summer I took field geology.  I enjoyed the field work, hiking and such, but the reality was beginning to sink in.  Geology rarely takes place in pretty places, and a bachelors degree in geologyphysics wasn't going to cut it, anyway.  By 1981, I wasn't sure what I was chasing.

     I was still attending classes, and working essentially full time at a Village Inn, but...  The view was changing.  By the end of 1982, I'd dropped out of college, briefly chased a different dream to Idaho, and returned to Colorado to work in restaurants again.  Some more college classes revolving around a second career idea (computers) followed, which led to a new job path, starting out working at a tech company putting together electronic instruments for the medical field. (bio scanners and precision scales).  All that changed when I took the Air traffic control test in 1986, not because I was looking for a career, but because my girlfriend at the time was unemployed, and her dad (a pilot) suggested she take the test.  I came along for moral support, and stayed for the career...

     So I went from geology to aviation.  From imagining what a particular 5000 square mile area of rock looked like 500 million years ago, to predicting what a 5000 sq mile piece of airspace will look like 500 seconds in the future.  From watching things that move at 8 millimeters a year to things that move at 8 miles a minute.

     I wonder if the people I knew in 1981 would recognize my name.  I have a feeling that they would not, yet I still believe that I would recognize them in a heart beat.  I've wondered about their paths in life, if they've been as filled with as many twists as mine, or if their plotted paths came about as they'd envisioned.  There's a load of fun in imagining that, someone popping in after 30 years and saying, "Hey, what's up..."  There's also that fear of them saying...  "Uh, who are you again???"

     It'll make an interesting story. 

TTFN
Jim

Two... One... Whew!

     It's Done!  Well, first draft, anyway.

     Wow.  Productive weekend, I ground through the last two scenes, and added another to the first chapter to tie first scene in with the last one.  As a result, I consider first draft, Imperfect Hope, Done!  As I'd promised myself, I printed it out (125 pages of single-spaced, which corresponds to about 250 pages of typical paperback.)  There's lots of problems with it, but it is after all, a first draft.  Anyway, I printed it out, and shoved it in the desk drawer for a few days while I contemplate my next moves.

     Certain things leapt out at me that are in need of work during rewrite one:  For one, I feel like I need to add another sub plot.  Since my original storyline got shortened, the resulting plot is rather thin in places, too direct.  Adding content from the empire viewpoint, which I"d been doing these last two weeks leading up toward closing the final chapter has helped, but something is missing.  I''ve two main ideas, one is an expanded role for Major Vellars, militia commander at Mud Bay, I've presented him as a rarity in the confederacy militia, a competant soldier who has managed to turn the typical city militia into an actual useful force.  He'll eventually be drawn into the politics of the council in part two, perhaps I can start playing up that sub plot in part one by building a storyline around him.  My other idea involves an as yet unidentified character, mage by trade, who'll play a significant role in Half Moon Harbor in part two, where the empire's plan comes together.  He might be an associate of Randir and Cerryn, He might be a scholar thrust into a leadership role, or he may be a curmudgeonly old mage (well into his high nineties in age) who'd rather just stay at home and make beer, but those damned Impies will ruin everything.  I'm going to play around with ideas for a while...

     I surprised myself when I finished the final scene.  Originally, I'd intended to place Randir in the hands of the K'tath for healing, and have Cerryn head back to track down the empire spy.  However, I couldn't make a suspenseful ending out of that, once the badly wounded K'tath is in the hands of the kel, with krath healing on the way, what could possibly go wrong?  I toyed around with ideas, rewrote the last part of the third to last scene (where Cerryn and Randir arrive at the Inn of the Stumbling Friar), and turned on the chaos machine...

     In a wild experiment, I went to present tense, first person narrative, from the viewpoint of an old acquaintance of the IFGS doril folk, Cinda the serving girl at the Inn of the Stumbling Friar.  But (I hear Art say) this takes place a long time after Sha'te, umm, what?  Cinda is now 91, and has run the Inn for nearly 70 years, at first as Merricks (the original proprietor) only server, then as his wife, then as clan matron.  She's raised several children, one of whom now runs the Inn, and grandchildren and great grandchildren.  Somehow, she survived the rugged life on the frontier, from back when the IOSF stood all by itself on the northernmost track of the Great Northern Trade Road (back then it was a mud and rut filled track) until now, when a village has grown up around the IOSF.

     It seemed to work, but lacked something.  I recognized that what I'd done was create half of a frame, a writing technique where the author 'frames' the main story with a different viewpoint.  So I went back to chapter one, and wrote a new beginning, First Person Present tense Cinda again.  It seems quirky at first, but...  Something about it feels right.  I'll see how I feel about it a bit later, when I start rewrite.

Anyway, here's a snippet from the end of the first draft, Cinda's viewpoint.  Synopsis, Cerryn has brought Randir to the IOSF, hoping to find K'tath healing for him, but there seems to be no hope.  She now knows the assassin who tried to kill her is the same person who sent a doomstalker after Randir, and has some sort of tie to the Empire of Tallux, and fears if she delays, she'll miss out on finding him.

    Randir's hands are cold, the fever is passed for now, but I know it will return.  Outside, I hear the slap of leather and clank of buckles and such as Bernt and Cerryn saddle the grey, and load the pack horse with the some of the rest of her gear that she and Randir had stored here two months past.  I wonder for a moment if she'll come in to check on Randir before she goes, but I realize she's closed off her heart, and cannot bear to see what she leaves behind.  She won't say goodbye.  The horses will be ready soon and she'll be gone, back to Mud Bay to find her vengeance, the vengeance that she believes will heal her.  I hold both of the k'taths hands in mine and have a knowing...

     A knowing is essentially a vision of the future, and in this case sets the scene for book two.  I'll keep that to myself for now...

     So what's the next step?  I'm going to spend a couple of days just mulling things over, for one.  I'll draw up a couple of maps that cover the action areas of Imperfect Hope, that will give me a more solid reference when I do rewrite and tidy up the timeline of character movements and such.  I'm going to pull together a bunch of lore and make some decisions about defining in more detail how magic works, the politics of the confederacy and the empire, and put some ideas down about details to start adding in to the culture.  Then, I'll read the whole thing through once, mull things over again, then reread it, this time with a notebook and pencil to note changes and such.  I'll probably have figured out what I'm adding by way of sub plot, and I'll revise the outline of book two to make sure the whole storyline still makes sense.  Then I'll begin rewrite...

     By the way, I'm specifying rewrite, as opposed to revision, because I recognize that a lot of what I've written so far will change quite drastically.  WIth paper copy on one side, and the notebook with changes at hand, I'll open a new file in my writing program, and rewrite, allowing creativity to change whole scenes when necessary.  Yep, all 85k+ words retyped, and more content added.  Only after that's done will I move to revision, where I'll start changing paragraphs, sentences, and words.  Guess the works not even half done.  Oh well.

Anyway...  First Draft is Done!.  Now where'd I put that 25 year old Macallen Scotch, I'm going to need it.

TTFN,
Jim

Three: The crucial conflict.

     One scene of the final three has been completed over the weekend.  It's a crux encounter, where our heroes have a fatal (near fatal?) encounter with a doomstalker.  Yep, those nasty beasties have been drawn out of the IFGS D'oril and given a new life, and a shiny new set of leathery wings.  The empire spy, afraid of being connected to the empires no-longer-clandestine activities in the northwest confederacy, summons one of the half-demonic blood-hounds to eliminate the one person who can link him to the raiders, namely Randir of the k'tath. 

     In the IFGS D'oril, doomstalkers were used in a minigame to harry the pc's into hurrying a quest, they were monsters that would come back time after time to tirelessly pursue their prey, each time stronger than the last, unless (and in the minigame, until) the PC's gained some Elorna-blessed water and learned the ritual of closure to finally stop the doomstalker.  They hunted in a pack of three, and by the end of the game, took some major effort on the part of the PC's to finish them off.

     In literary D'oril, aka Imperfect Hope, part one, Min summons a single doomstalker by asking a boon of the shadowlord (a different sort of shadowlord than the Lor shadowlord that Ray has tormented us with for so long).  They were used at Sha'te, according to IH lore, and though Randir had never faced one before, he knew of it's only weakness, susceptibility to a certain sort of Elornan magic.  He and Cerryn manage to finish off the stalker, but...  What is the cost.

     That will be the wind down scene I'm working on next.  Cerryn had learned from Randir of the connection between Min, the raiders who struck at Mud Bay (names of towns will probably change), and with the doomstalker's arrival, she makes the final connection to the Empire of Tallux.  She's torn between making sure Randir gets to D'oril for the krath healing he needs to remove the shadow curse, and hunting down the assassin she blames for his death (as yet premature, but it looks probable.  You know how those writers like to keep you in suspense).  With the arrival of the kel group led by J'lan, who takes Randir's near-dead body back to D'oril, she makes her decision, and her goodbyes, not realizing that the shadow curse resides within her own soul. 

     The final scene will set the stage for book 2, with admiral Tash setting the scene for the empire's next move, Randir's fate hanging in the balance, and Cerryn beginning her journey back to find the empire spy and, besides obtain her personal revenge, stop the Empire of Tallux from whatever their plan may be.  This scene is, for now, the least well concepted scene right now, it's still rather formative.  I'm planning on outlining book two after I finish first draft, but before I start in on rewrite, so I'll let first draft of this final scene take it's rough form on the fly.  Chances are it will change later, but that's the whole point of rewrite.

     I'd begun to doubt my decision to split the story, for one, I was considering my new end concept a bit of a cop out.  But recent books I've read actually have followed this format (for example, the Seeker series by...  don't help me, I'll think of his name...  (dang, I'll figure it out later)) with some very good success.  In several of these books either Richard or Katlyn's fates have been left unclear at books end, to be used as lead in during the followup book.  As to book length, I suspect I'll have two very reasonable 250 page books by the time I'm done.  Wish me luck...

     Hope everyone had a great fourth of July, we certainly did.

Clear skies,
Jim

progress and history: Caution, IFGS D'oril spoiler (of sorts)

     I've added a scene to chapter one, and another scene to chapter four, setting up the revised plotline for Imperfect Hope.  I feel that both scenes are a bit weak, mostly because I was jumping back and trying to fit the new pieces in place.  I know it will come together during rewrite, though.  In chapter 7, I've inserted a new scene that will complete the foreshadowing and turn the next three scenes into a more suspenseful ending, and just started work on the next scene.  This scene will set the tone for the climax, so I'm approaching it with a bit of caution.  Regardless, I feel I'm on track to finish Imperfect Hope by mid July.

     One of the additions I'm tacking on is to increase the shadow emperors (as Prable the second is known outside the empire of Tallux) power and influence, and setting up the means by which he and the previous emperors have controlled their vast conquests.  It ties in with the wintergems, corrupted by shadow, which is a natural resource that they (the empire) have almost depleted within their own lands.  Thus the means for them to maintain power of the lands they already hold depends on them expanding their empire over more lands that hopefully have their own supply of wintergems, (or the as yet undefined alternative that I've decided exists in a vastly different form waiting to be discovered).  Up until know, I'd treated the emperor as a distant figure that didn't actually take part in the tale, but with the new direction, I've introduced him to add dread and a higher-order threat to the protagonists.  This actually ties in with my intentions re: the aftermath of Sha'te Valley.

     You seen, I'd written some notes some time back about sha'te's aftermath, and indicated that the failure of the empires army in D'oril lead to a revolution/coup attempt as the shattered armies under Yam'to's lieutenants made their way back to Tallux.  Feeling badly used by the emperor, Beauty, as leader of the Demonguard, managed to find a loophole in his conditioning/curse that allowed his human half to override the restrictions placed on his demon half to disobey the emperor.  During the long retreat, He and the few survivors of the demonguard shielded the van of Yam'to's army from the pursuing K'tath and allies, and more than once, was left to fend for himself in order to allow some favorite of the emperor to escape.  Once they made it back to safety, He took it upon himself to depose the emperor, the ensuing generation of conflict ended with a new dynasty being founded, Prable the first.  Prable succeeded in part because he called upon the shadowlord for support, not just Seta.  (I suppose Shadowlord vs Seta is sort of sunni vs shiite)

     Prable the first would redefine the empire's strategy,while keeping the ultimate goal of obtaining freer access to D'orils wintergem supply, he would consolidate his hold on the rest of the empire.especially the eastern seaboard which suffered from few useable ports, too many pirates and raiders, and poor infrastructure (roads and such) that linked with the heart of the empire.  He would strengthen his navy as part of his efforts, regaining control of the eastern coastal regions, and begin a campaign across the ocean, in line with his intent to avoid the frozen overland approach to D'oril.  He took the long view, without actually putting any specific plan in motion towards D'oril, he set the stage for his son, trained in strategy as well as shadow theology.

     Anyway, with this background on the empires shadowlord connection, I've set the stage for a confrontation in Imperfect Hope, where the protagonists face their nemesis again, and learn much more about the empire's long term strategy, all in the shadow of the Inn of the Stumbling Friar. Yes, it still exists, 75 years after Sha'te Valley.  I wonder who the owner is these days...  ;-)

TTFN,
Jim

Decision time

    I've made more progress on Imperfect Hope this week than most weeks over the last few months, even with my indecision over the path I'm to take.  Basically, I'm looking at a natural break point in the story line that would allow me to split the novel into two, and possibly allow me to add the prequel to round out a trilogy.  It's not unheard of for a writer to hash out the middle of a story first, nor is it unusual for the story to take on much more than originally intended.  I've been looking ahead at the outline, and wondering if there is another possible breakpoint a couple of chapters ahead, and it doesn't look so.  On the other hand, the balance between this part and the finish would be a bit off, about 2/5ths in part 1, 3/5ths in part two.  I'm wondering how successful I'd be at cutting part two, but I've recently added some strong content ideas to part 1 that gives me hope.  Perhaps there's a lot more where that came from when I work on rewrite number one.

     So...  Decision time.  Imperfect hope stalled out very badly over the last few months, but I'm back on track, putting weekly word counts back up.  If I keep up this pace, I should be able to finish the next chapter in 2 or 3 weeks if I add content and make an ending for book 1.  What then...

     Listening to myself think (outside the random chaotic thoughts of "Hey, look at the squirrel" and such), I've made my decision.  Imperfect Hope, part 1, first draft, is nearing completion.  I"ve got two scenes I'm going to add in Chapters one and four to foreshadow my coming cliffhanger, and I'll rework the final three scenes in chapter 7 to make it much more suspenseful.  I'm not going to set myself a time limit, since I'm not sure how much actual change I"ll have to do to make it a viable finish for IH-1, but...  With any luck, August will begin the rewrite.

     Oh...  Did I mention how I intend to work on revisions.  Well, when I finish first draft later in July, I'm planning to print the whole thing out, double spacing, and then...  Bind it together and stuff it in a thinking drawer for two or three weeks.  While it's put away, I'm going to have fun, draw maps and make history for D'oril, revise and refine my overall time line, and generally step away from Imperfect Hope to refresh my thoughts.  Then...

     I'll reread the whole thing, start to finish.  No editorializing, no revising, just read.  Then, make notes to myself.  Then, out comes the pen for line by line commentary and I read it again.  Find discrepancies in character behavior or appearance, history, settings, so on.  Identify weak dialogue, description, or mood.  Don't correct, just comment, then put it aside, perhaps for a few days. When I'm ready, I'll start writing again, with a fresh file on the computer.  No preordained sentences or structure, just use the first draft print out at my side as a guideline.

     Why this way?  Because I know how I rewrite.  I can take a paragraph on the computer, revise it on the spot, and...  I'll improve the paragraph, but not affect the strategic sense of the novel because I'm focused on one paragraph.  That kind of revision is important, but that will be during the final couple of workovers.  Right now, I need to look at the big, Novel-Wide picture.  In addition, I'm putting in the break period to allow myself to be purely creative with background material that will help me when I rewrite.  I know there are novel wide flaws in the first draft, things that I need to fix across a couple of chapters and/or many scenes, and trying to fix it paragraph by paragraph will just reintroduce a whole new set of discrepancies.  My notes should hold me to my overall vision.

     I'm excited about finishing the first draft.  It's a milestone that seemed out of reach only a few months ago.  I'm excited about the rewrite.  Now to swallow that lump of fear that's gathered at the base of my throat...

TTFN,
Jim

What? A light at the end of this tunnel?

     Progress on Imperfect Hope continues, over the last week, I finished another scene, and ground through about half of the next.  Meanwhile, I went back and looked at the big picture, from storyline to outline to see how things are going.  I've realized two things, that I'm nearing the half way point of my original storyline, and that I'm also nearing a natural break point.  If I were to split Imperfect Hope into a duology, or add the "origins" prequel to make it a trilogy as I've been considering, the next three scenes would close out the middle of the three books (or the first of two).  As a result, I'm eyeing the next three scenes with the possibility of considering it "the end" of my first draft of my first novel.

     Okay, that's bigger than I thought, I could finish my first draft in a couple of weeks!  Originally, my story estimate was about 90k words, right now, to finish my original outline it will take about 150k words, even without adding the prequel.  If I end up with the chapter I"m working on, I'll be back to about 85-95k words, depending on how wordy I get with the next couple of scenes.  As I said, this chapter seems to make a natural break point, though I'd have to add some foreshadowing to draw the tale to a satisfying ending and draw interest in the next book. 

     I am not sure if closing out is the correct thing to do yet, I've a couple of concerns about the viability of the storyline as standalone if I end with essentially a cliffhanger.  The initial plot is unfinished, the heroes have not resolved any of their initial problems, though they have uncovered a major plot by the empire.  They barely survived, and recovery for them is still in the air (at least as far as the current chapter is concerned), let alone stopping the empires spy.  If I end with this next chapter, I am fairly certain I could make the ending make sense, and with the proper foreshadowing, build strong momentum for part 2 (3?).  I probably would have to add a scene or two to close out empire activities (from their point of view), perhaps set the beginnings of the next stage of their plot in motion before closing out with our heroes splitting up in D'oril.  I'm intrigued by the possibility.

     However.  Am I being too stereotypical?  Perhaps, some good duologies and trilogies end with foreshadowing, unfinished business, and cliffhangers.  I suspect that many more bad ones try to do the same thing and fail miserably.  Am I "giving up" too easily, tired by the long drag through chapter 7, and dreading the next 8 chapters as too much to chew?  Is my inner critic (hah, he's not capitalized, that must mean something...) subtly trying to take over.  I'm going to mull these, and other questions, over the next few days while I finish chapter.scene 8.2.  I have made my own comparison to my d'oril minigame efforts leading up to Sha'te.  In the IFGS games, I allowed for minor PC victories in each minigame, but left the PC's with many more questions and worries each time, building toward Sha'te, where the conclusion (as far as the PC's were concerned) settled affairs in the north for a time.

     In the meantime, I'm going to finish chapter 8, scene 2 as is, then hopefully be able to look at 8.3 and see what kind of changes I'd need to make if I go for the finish early.  I suspect it will require some considerable changes in format, but nothing plot changing.  8.4 would have to be a change of viewpoint, back to the empire's minions to close out their actions for IH-1, set up the plot for IH-2 and such.  8.5 would then close out IH-1, back in D"oril, where I'd have to add some content, possibly in the form of a vision from Elorna, or prophecy news from the Sen, or perhaps just a reasoned realization from our heroes as to what's happening.  Another possibility would be to add another scene, taking place at southport, which is the next major action point of the empires plan.  At any rate, dark clouds on the horizon promise black times for the confederacy, but are our heroes ready to take their place on the stage of fate?  Or are they just plain tired...

     Stay tuned while I argue with myself while walking around the FAA air traffic control center, there may be yelling involved.  Hope the neighbors don't call the Longmont PD to resolve a domestic dispute...   ;-)    

Progress in writing

     As  I look back at the last few months, one thing has leapt out at me regarding my writing.  I've been stuck on the same chapter of Imperfect Hope.  In fact, I've been stuck on one scene in particular.  Well, for what it's worth, I managed to close it out and start in on the next chapter.  Interestingly, the words seemed to leap out of me when I started in on the new stuff. 

     That tells me a few things.  One, I suspect the scene I was working on most grindingly will most likely get changed drastically when I go from draft to first rewrite.  If I couldn't find the enthusiasm to finish it, chances are a reader will bog down as well.  I opened up a window for inner critic to peek at it, and got some observations.  The scene lacks drama and passion.  It actually plays like a bad soap opera for much of it, the segments where Cerryn and Randir, recovering from the causeway fight, lay around the militia post meeting well wishers and...  Ewwww.  No wonder it bored me.  I'm going to leave it in for now while I forge ahead, but I suspect I'll have a much more interesting take on it when I go back for rewrite.  Something with a bit more urgency.

     ANyway, Cerryn finally decided to take action, and chose to drag Randir's sorry butt back to D'oril so the healers there can figure out what's wrong with him.  Little do they know that Min, that dastardly empire spy, has set into motion a plan to eliminate anyone who might be able to identify him, namely Randir, who is slipping in and out of a shadow coma because of Min's efforts to break the stalemate at the causeway.  Randir, meanwhile, keeps forgetting to tell Cerryn that one of the visitors they had while he was semi conscious was the assassin who nearly killed her.  Does this confuse you yet?  Actually, it's setting into motion the core of the next few chapters, when Cerryn vows revenge on the assassin and goes after him alone, not realizing the peril she's in (and that Randir tried to warn her of).  Ahh, the joy of a plot outline.....

     A side note, with the writing logjam broken, I've thrown some ideas down on paper about Sha'te Valley, the short story.  I don't want to break the momentum on IH yet, but when I need a break, I think I'll rough out a short story idea.  It'll help me consolidate my thoughts on time lines in D'oril, anyway...

     Our backyard owl's been visiting at night intermittantly.  One of these nights when I hear him, I may just pull out the binoc's and see if I can spot him.  Until then,

Clear skies,
Jim

Owls and coffee

     Good morning...  A great horned owl has taken up residence (I hope permanently) in one of the cottonwood trees that line our backyard.  I first heard him or her last weekend when his booming challenge echoed through our open window at 430 am.  Honestly, it was a great way to wake up.  Since then, we've not been awakened that early again, but I have heard him most mornings around 600am as Irma and I are sipping our coffee and getting ready for the day.

      I hear the gasp of "600 am?" out there.  I actually only have to be up before 6 am for work two days a week, but the rotating schedule that the FAA asks us to follow really messes up my sleep patterns.  Working 2 or 3 night shifts and 3 or 4 day shifts a week, I find that I'm groggy the mornings after a night shift no matter what time I get up.  So I rise around 600 (or 520 for those days when I have to be in for the early shift) and just muddle through the grogginess with as near a bottomless cup of coffee as I can find.  Sometimes I even make myself useful...

     Our great horned owl neighbor does bring to mind one of the early bits of lore I'd tossed about in the D'oril series, that of Elorna's connection to owls.  In some ways, it was a direct theft from greek mythos, Athena and Owls, but I'd always kept most of the greek mythos connection well hidden.  Sha'te was one opportunity for me to showcase the differences, I introduced the Shianna.

     Shianna are very loosely based on animist amerind mythologies where every animal had a "leader", almost (or directly) a god.  Coyote, for example, or Father Bear, of the various tribal mythos, come to mind.  In the D'oril world, the shianna were animistic spirits that represented all animals of that species, from chipmunks to owls to elk.  For the most part, their connection to the k'tath was incidental, even as their connection to the humanish folk to the south almost non-existent.  Once in a while, though, they'd get involved, usually at the request (or suggestion) of Elorna herself. 

     In Sha'te, the 4 shianna I introduced  were attempting to help the leader of the k'tath, the Sen'anth, escape the shadow scouts that had been placed on her trail by Phorix in retaliation for the use of the seeker by the PC's in Heartbow and Seeker.   The PC's, with the concurrence of the k'tath, had used the seeker to try and assassinate the "unbeatable general" Yamto before he could lead the empire's army against the K'tath.  Though he lived, he didn't participate in Sha'te, and in response, the new general of the empire's expeditionary force sent a large contingent of shadow scouts to hunt down any of several leaders of the k'tath.  In a sense, this act doomed the empire to failure at Sha'te, for it deprived the army of it's eyes as it approached the battlefield.  (History buffs will recognize the similarity to JEB Stuarts ill-advised antics prior to Gettysburg, where, in an effort to regain favorable press, he undertook a wild ride "around the union army", which garnered the press, but deprived General Lee of valuable intel on the actions of General Meade in the days leading up to Gettysburg.  Yes, this similarity was deliberate)

     At any rate, the Shianna had a brief introduction at sha'te as a minor force.  They bore a faint relation to the ranger skill, Aspect of the Beast, and in the game, lent some otherworldly skills to the 4 heroes they were helping.  I vaguely recall one of the shianna was Wheer, the owl, I think another was deer, but for the life of me, I cannot remember the others.  (help, anyone?)  Each lent it's power to one of the PC's for the crux encounter, and added a bit more to the final encounter of day two, but beyond that, I didn't develop them much at sha'te.

     In writing, the shianna are out there, but as yet, I"ve not put them into the storyline.  I'm sure they'll show up someday, some how, somewhere.  It'll probably be an owl, waking our heroes up at 4:00 am.  Knowing the typical heroes of D'oril, he won't stop grumbling until the next winter.....   ;-)

TTFN,
Jim

Sha'te, Part 2. Delving into day one...

Ah hah, the readership came alive with my posting about Sha'te Valley.  The comments have encouraged me to delve deeper into Sha'te, as well as the whole IFGS game writing schtick.  For readers who aren't IFGS familiar, bear with me, I'm writing about live action role playing.  (A lot more info can be found at www.ifgs.org) Now to lure Ray in...

     Keep in mind that all this occurred many years ago, and that my recollections of the writing and sanctioning process are probably suspect.  I've also changed my view of the storyline of D'oril over the years, most significantly in the last couple of years as I've been writing, and preparing to write in retirement.  I'm sure those who participated, both as players (Del and others), or as game staff (Art, I know you're out there, mostly lurking in the wordpress mirror site) will have different recollections, I hope you'll share them. 

     I think I ended up with more than 100 pages of game copy, by the time I was done writing.  I had another 50 or so pages of notes and ideas that I'd kept to myself as background, plus all the materiel in the many minigames that preceded Sha'te.  The original concept of Sha'te was much more grand that ended up being produced, but IFGS reality being what it is, the desperate battles of a few heroes against an army just can't occur.  The biggest innovation was the 4 passes concept, where each team would stand alone against detachments of an approaching army.  But even there, I had grander ideas that never made it to game copy.

     I'd wanted to find a game site where four "passes" would exist that the teams could block.  Ideally, they would be far enough apart that it would take a few minute for pc's to move from one to the other, but hours for the approaching NPC army to do the same (The advantage of interior lines, a military tactic).  I wanted the teams to know of each others presence, and I'd envisioned them arranging to send messengers back and forth with an HQ set up central to all four passes where the LM's would huddle over a map, considering the scouting reports coming in from the K'tath kel warriors, and shift reinforcements back and forth to meet the varying threats.  There are many real-world gaming problems with this idea, though.  For one, I'd have needed many more NPC's that I felt I could gather.  Secondly, the game site I used didn't really offer a place that would work. 

     Sha'te had a theme for each day.  Day one's theme had to do with desperate last stands.  On the strategic scale, never seen but referenced throughout the day by NPC to PC lore, had to do with the massive battle within Sha'te Valley itself, as the Kel of the K'tath stood up against the armies of the empire in an effort to keep the enemy from penetrating through the valley into the south, where open spaces would return the advantage to the empire with their superior numbers (Envision the spartans against the persians at Thermapole.  On an operational scale, the players were to demonstrate the same theme with their 4 heroic "8 against many" stands within the 4 valleys while protecting the k'tath rear areas (Think 20th Maine regiment on little round top at Gettysburg protecting the flank of the union army).  And on the tactical, the 4 "heroes" made their own "1 against dozens" stands trying to delay the pursuit of the k'tath sen'anth by Phorix's shadow-scouts as she tried to get to the kel command center.  WIth this theme repeated three times at different tactical levels, a desperate last stand that, at the end of the day, left the final issue in doubt, I felt I had a storyline and concept that would really resonate with all players.

     During game writing, I knew that the massive battle within sha'te itself could only be referenced by lore, and I wanted to have in-character reports delivered to the pc's to add to the flavor, but I just didn't have the NPC's or time to carry through with this.  On the operational level, my desire to see a PC command center where the pc's would coordinate the defense of the 4 valleys fell apart because the SC felt that the resulting situation, with messengers flying back and forth from the valleys, would lead to chaos.  I'd envisioned a scene where one valley after another would report a major assault massing in front of them, request help, and each of the other valleys would send 1 or 2 of their team members to help.  The diminished teams would face a smaller assault while their roving reinforcements were away.  It was the SC's view that such cooperation between teams would be impossible, some teams would send virtually their entire fighting complement as reinforcements, while others might ignore the problem entirely.  Balancing the fights at the remaining valleys would be impossible, since the SC didn't want to have the NPC coordinator adjust the balance on the fly.  In addition, the requirement for NPC's under this scenerio would have been severly high, I think I'd determined that I would have needed more than 50+ fighting NPC's to properly challenge the teams in this manner.  Instead, I formed what NPC's I had into several smaller groups that would rotate through the valleys, hitting the teams sequentially.  Each team was completely independant of each other.

     The end result was that each team got battered, showed some success and some failure.  In my original design, I wanted success to be "all of the passes held, although it was a very near thing, only the timely arrival of PC reinforcements kept the empire from getting it's troops into the k'tath rear area."  If one or more teams had allowed a breakthrough, I had to have an in-game reason why it didn't turn the tide of the overall battle, and my idea during initial development was that the K'tath would have reserves in place, allowing them to shore up the hole, but taking away from PC resources on day two.  I wasn't able to come up with a viable way to alter the second day of a major game in such a drastic way to the SC's satisfaction then, though I'd like to think, given time and a freer hand from the SC, I could have.  As a result, I had to write second day game copy as if a breakthrough had occurred, regardless of PC success on day one.  But, because I'd had to go to the 4 independent passes concept, it was a pretty good bet that one of the teams would collapse under the assault, so as far as game copy was concerned, everything went according to plan.

     How much more exciting would the game have been if I could have kept to my original design.  PC's would talk about how the arrival of Evro and Delanore at the last minute turned the tide against the roman legion, or how their absence at the other front nearly cost everything, but Napadoc pulled a fast one and...  And, how would I have changed day two if a breakthrough had occurred.  More things to write about.....

Anyway, more to come on this subject,
Clear skies,
Jim

    

Sha'te Valley, an after action report.

      The IFGS world of D'oril began as background material for a character history.  I've touched a lot about it in the past, how it grew from there to a simple world, to a neighbor of the Land of the Seven Tribes, (and eventually splitting off so I can write without dealing with other authors.)  I guess I'm keeping the ties to the IFGS alive, in part because there are times I want to (read wish I had the time to) pick up where I left off.  As far as the IFGS version of D'oril goes, however, the world stopped at the end of Sha'te Valley,  Except I kept some things going in Brandis' character history.

     Melding Brandis' history with Sha'te and the aftermath doesn't really take much effort, since almost all of Brandis' adventures within the IFGS took place outside of D"oril.  I created the reasons he couldn't return, and fed tidbits of D'oril lore to other PC's when I played him.  I've never really had a problem with time and the IFGS, though, for I took a page from the master, Ray Michel, and allow that "Time passes differently within the worlds of the IFGS".  SO, Brandis can stand at Shatterman Pass, go through his torment following that as his soul darkened from the non-stop war and shadow threat, return home just long enough to obtain kath healing, and head back into the southern world.  Nothing happened after Sha'te.

     Except in my head.  I had jotted down game ideas, one that would have taken place months after Sha'te, another that would have picked up almost immediately afterwards.  Both got through the outline and detailed storyline phases, but I never got the the encounter definition phase, mostly because the FAA (and real life) began to consume my life.  I've kept those notes and storylines in some folders, ready to be resurrected.

     Sha'te, in itself, is an entirely different animal.  The story for that developed over the first couple of years of writing minigames, I wanted to write a game outside of the closed world of D"oril that the general populace could participate in, yet retain the flavor of the closed world that I (and the players) enjoyed.  In the minigames, I was ablt to tailor encounters, and plots, to specific characters, and pull the characters emotions this way and that.  This was to be an issue that would plague Sha'te, to this day, I'm not sure how successful I was at presenting the story I'd written for Sha'te, as I saw it. 

     One reason for my uncertainty is that, quite honestly, there were more than a few players who didn't enjoy Sha'te.  I've felt that one of the main reasons for their dislike was because they'd not been immersed in the lore and storyline for 2 summers prior to the game, like the 12 or so players (who became the loremasters and their seconds in SHa'te)  had been through the Heartbow and Seeker miniseries.  Another reason has to do with logistics, I'd envisioned encounters that just didn't translate to the limited resources of IFGS games (although the Lor games approached what I'd hoped to do).  Finally, The storyline itself was forced into the IFGS format in order to make it a playable game, and suffered greatly in the translation. 

     The end result was a series of compromises that, although necessary for the game to be sanctioned and in order for it to be playable, weakened the storyline, and hence the impact that I'd envisioned for the game.  One aspect of Sha'te that I'd not touched upon outside of a close few friends, was that SHa'te was written with an emotional plot.  I wanted the characters to feel emotions that changed from Up and excited at game start, to worried, stressed, and perhaps fearful through day one, to emotionally spent and exhausted at game down on day one.  Day two began with uplifting news that would boost the morale, allowing the characters to fight through to win the day.  An emotional roller coaster.  Except that only a few characters got into the depth of feeling that I'd intended.   I'd been able to manipulate pc emotions in the minigames, but...  It doesn't work on a grand scale.

     To this day, Sha'te remains poorly understood, at least by my standards.  What the players accomplished in their minds, and what was accomplished as far as the K'tath were concerned remain separated by a grand canyon.  The epic scale of the Empire of Tallux's efforts were altered by a couple of dozen adventurers, not so much by the military defeat they suffered at the hands of the Kel warriors and the adventurers, but by ripples of cause and effect that have yet to be fully revealed.  My writings today take Sha'te into account, and at least in my current project, shape much of what happens. 

     I'll write more about Sha'te with my next post, perhaps a retelling of what happened, and hints at the changes that are still happening...

Clear skies,
Jim