Author: Jon Chaisson

Author, blogger, music collector, cat wrangler. May contain trace amounts of sugar and caffeine. Books available at Smashwords!

#atozchallenge: G is for Christine Gorecki

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Q: What’s Christine’s origin?

A: Christine is one of my favorite characters I’ve ever come up with, and she wasn’t even planned as a main character.  She originally started as a passing reference between Caren and Poe up on the Crest in a scene in A Division of Souls, but she soon took on a life of her own when I needed her later in a scene at the Moulding Warehouse.  From there she took on a life of her own and ended up part of the main cast.  Her name is two Tuckerizations: her first name is one of my cousins and her last name is that Lamb song I posted under Caren’s entry the other day.
I like to describe Christine as one of those characters that doesn’t quite fit into the story’s universe — or as my wife says of such characters, “She’s in a completely different movie.”  Someone who’s unlike everyone else, just that little bit peculiar.  And yet she’s an integral part of the story’s universe, for many and varied reasons.  She serves as the ‘alternate viewpoint’, as it were, to what’s going on.  Someone who’s far enough away from the situation and can provide a needed clarity.

Q: What is her history in the Mendaihu Universe?

A: She was a longtime agent of the Alien Relations Unit, joining a year or so before Caren and Poe.  She’s extremely dedicated in whatever work she does, sometimes to her detriment; it’s because of this (well, and a few other things that aren’t revealed until a bit later in the trilogy) that she’s taken an extended leave of absence from the ARU.  In the meantime she’s been freelancing as a private investigator as well as a certified soulhealer.  She’s still close friends with her former ARU teammates, and they fully understand that she had to take some personal time off and distance herself from everyone for a while.

Q: Is she Mendaihu as well?

A: [REDACTED]

Q: Oookay then.  What about a description?  I don’t see a picture here.  Is she not based on anyone famous?

A: She’s a mix of various people.  She has long curly blond hair that she often keeps loosely tied back.  She’s incredibly fit (she exercises regularly and goes on occasional runs, a holdover from her ARU days).  She’s about the same height as Caren, maybe a slight bit taller.

Q: She has a close relationship with Alec Poe.  What’s the background on that?

A: There isn’t much to explain, really.  They’re just longtime friends that have grown very fond of each other.  There’s nothing romantic or sexual there, nor is it familial…it’s just another example of two spirits who happen to connect and interweave with each other easily and naturally.  They learned this quite early on while they were starting out at the ARU and would often work on cases together because of it.  This is why she was the first person Poe thought of when they were trying to calm the Rain of Light in A Division of Souls.

Q: Anything else?

A: She owns the building that she works and lives in; she has a storefront office on the ground floor, three floors of apartments that she rents out (she lives in the front apartment on the top floor), and has a spiritwork shed set up on the roof.  She’s somewhat introverted when it comes to nonwork socializing; she’d rather be the one sitting back and listening to everyone else than be the center of attention.  She really loves (and misses) hanging out with her former ARU teammates, and is planning some get-togethers after the current Season of Embodiment is over.  She never seems to be able to sit still for more than a few minutes.  She used to smoke ‘socially’ — she’d only light up if anyone else (like Poe for instance) was doing the same.  Otherwise she doesn’t smoke as a habit.  [Yes, she’s well aware of how smoking kind of defeats the purpose of her exercising, but embraces that personality conflict as just a part of who she is.]  She has a lovely singing voice, but never sings in front of anyone.  She’s a bit of a foodie, but loves Meraladian cuisine in particular.
She doesn’t have a theme song, but her character tends to lean towards moody atmospheric instrumentals along the lines of Boards of Canada or Sigur Rós.

#atozchallenge: F is for Flora and Fauna

Jon Chaisson2 Comments
New-England-in-Autumn-Road-Trip-Holiday-SS
Photo courtesy of The American Road Trip Company — yes, rural New England really does look like this!

When it came time to describe Trisanda, first in The Phoenix Effect and then in the Bridgetown Trilogy, I already knew what it would look like:  New England in the autumn.  Specifically, the area of central and western Massachusetts, where I’d grown up and lived for so many years.  Far from most of the big cities, where going somewhere requires a thirty-mile drive which you don’t mind at all, because that means you get to see the foliage and listen to some tunes.  There are a hell of a lot more trees and animals than there are people in some of these towns.

I worked for my town’s Public Works back in the summers of 1989 and 1990, which meant spending the entire day pushing a lawn mower up and down and around the gravestones of the dozen or so cemeteries around the town (our town was incorporated in 1762, so there are quite a few generations buried there), or working on the sides of quiet back roads, cleaning overgrowth and collecting litter.  Each day I’d be neck deep in nature, watching the seasons and the colors change.  Years later, when I’d have to drive those thirty-plus miles to my day job, I’d drive the back roads on purpose just so I could enjoy the views.

Come 1997, I already knew that Trisanda was going to embrace that natural setting, the miles of trees and grassy fields, old farms and whatnot.  I wanted a somewhat pristine planet; one that evolved organically and with little outside influence (returning to the theme of emotional/intellectual influence there).

There are towns and cities on Trisanda, of course…the trilogy just doesn’t focus on them.  It focuses more on the outpost towns, in particular one named Bann Dassah (pronunciation: bahn DAH-sah), where one particular character, Eprysia Kaalen (aka Ampryss) lives out her life as a Watcher of Earth/Gharra.  We’ll see more of Bann Dassah in The Persistence of Memories and especially in The Balance of Light.

When I wrote the scene where Natianos Lehanna and Janoss Miradesi visit Trisanda — the first scene on Trisanda that didn’t involve the Landing Field or the Gathering Table — I wanted to show a world that would be familiar yet somehow alien.  The forest would be similar to the above photo; a mix of pines, ashes, maples, birches, and so on to give it color.  [I gave names to only a few, however…the pine-like kriosi (kree-OH-see) and the fir-like skrihad (skree-HAHD)…but you get the picture.]

And what does one see in the woods of New England, sometimes to our frustration?  Wild animals like deer, wildcats and dogs.  Similar creatures would most likely hang out in the wilds of Trisanda as well as part of the ecology.  So in comes the wolflike gundaevi (goon-DAY-vee) and the feline jenha (JENN-hah) as background elements to the above scene.  There are others that are heard or their shadows seen, but I don’t go into detail.

 

So is that all there is to worldbuilding?  Heh, if only!  It really does depend on the situation.  Since 90% of the trilogy takes place in Bridgetown, I came up with all kinds of details: communities, neighborhoods, maps, population, and so on.  The 10% that takes place on Trisanda is mostly in the woods or in three or four specific places, so I didn’t need to go into too much detail, and focused more on minor details to fill out description.  I’m sure if/when Trisanda pops up in future Mendaihu Universe stories, I’ll be more elaborate,  depending on the plot.

#atozchallenge: E is for Edwin-Akandia Sensory Device

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I’ll admit, this one was totally inspired by Neon Genesis Evangelion, AKIRA and Ghost in the Shell.

While I was building up the background of the Alien Relations Unit, I was struck by the idea: is there a system or program that is able to take spirit readings, so to speak, on the same level of humans and Meraladians with the same psionic abilities?  Sure, nearly all of the ARU agents have some kind of ability they’re able to use in their job.  There are even special agents that are hired for their specific strengths; some have an exceptionally strong clairsentience (soulsensing by touch), clairaudience (strong use of innerspeak), maybe even claircognizance (reality seers).  Caren Johnson, for instance, reads at a high level of clairsentience, and has used it multiple times in A Division of Souls.

But what about those agents in the ARU and the B-Town Police Department and elsewhere?  How else would an agent like Nick Slater, who has little to no psionic ability at all, be a functioning part of this system?

That’s where the joint human/Meraladian techware company Edwin-Akandia comes in.  Working with the Provincial Governor’s Council, the Crimson-Null Foundation and Bridgetown itself, the company created a device that is able to read and process the energy waves of all sentient beings.  [Think of it along the lines of scientists that are able to read and measure the energies that are kicked out from the Sun and even distant stars.  Same theory, just enhanced and narrowed down to human level.]  The EASD scans the subject and then compares the readings to a vast database and provides a list of possible actions that subject may take, and reports their current location.

Its center of operations is in the Mirades Tower, and the system itself is in a geoscyhronous orbital satellite (Tigua Bay Station) above Bridgetown.  The operations are set up so that it cannot be controlled by a single unit; for example, the Alien Relations Unit has the clearance to use it only within its jurisdiction.  Any changes to the EASD system must go through the Provincial Governor’s Council as well as the Crimson-Null Foundation.

It’s not 100% perfect, but it’s quite reliable.  Some feel that Bridgetown’s community agencies rely on it far more than necessary.  There are also those who feel the use of the EASD is an invasion of privacy, though it has never successfully been proven.  There is no actual personal information in EASD’s database, and it is heavily regulated by the PGC and the CNF.

 

[Note: for those playing along, ‘Edwin’ is indeed a Tuckerization.  It’s named after Colin Edwin, bass player for Porcupine Tree, whose Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun, Stars Die: the Delerium Years and In Absentia albums were on endless repeat during my writing sessions.]

#atozchallenge: D is for Denni Johnson

Jon Chaisson3 Comments

Denni Johnson - Jena MaloneQ: Denni’s got quite the role in this trilogy as the One of All Sacred.  What’s her origin?

A: She was a relatively new character alongside Caren and Poe, but she didn’t really have much of a role until about a quarter of the way into The Phoenix Effect.  A proto-Denni popped up in True Faith in a similar role but with vastly different motives and personality.  Both versions were pre-teens.  When writing the trilogy it made more sense for her to be a teenager and a little closer in age to Caren.

Q: Why the One of All Sacred, anyway?  Where did that idea come from?

A: In a way that came from a subplot in TF.  I was fascinated by the idea of Chosen One plotlines at the time, especially ones with mundane origins that ascend to deity level, either by a ritual or by outside forces.  It was still a subplot in TPE, but by the time of the trilogy reboot it became a major plot point — so much so that her awakening is Chapter 1 of A Division of Souls.  She’s one of the major drivers of the plot of the trilogy.  [More about the One of All Sacred on 4/18 when we hit ‘O’ on the A to Z Challenge!]

Q: Like her sister, she’s got a Mendaihu name as well.  An extended version of it is given in A Division of Souls.  What’s the story behind that?

A: She gives her Mendaihu name as Denysia Shalei si Emmadha si Dhumélis.  In Anjshé, the ‘si’ is a conjunction — in this sense she’s merely giving multiple clan names that her Trisandi soul is tied to.  [Pronunciation: shah-LEY, ey-MADH-ah, and dhoo-MEY-lees.  The ‘dh’ is a ‘d’ sound with a very slight lisp.]  All three clans are highly regarded on Trisanda as strong in both spirit and in deed.  She purposely gave all three names at the Moulding Warehouse to prove a single point: she wasn’t going to take her role as the One of All Sacred lightly, not if she claimed to be from such an honored lineage.
And yes, this is a lineage for her entire family.  Caren almost never claims all three names as she rarely sees need for it.

Q: That’s Jena Malone in that picture.  Is she the basis for Denni?

A: Yes, she is.  I wrote TPE around the same time the movie Contact, where she played the young Ellie Arroway.  Spunky, smart and self-reliant, yet still relies on the connection of others.  The trilogy version has her somewhat older (maybe her role in Donnie Darko, which was out about the same time I started ADoS).

Q: For a fifteen-year-old girl, she certainly has a hell of a lot of responsibility, doesn’t she?

A: Well, sure, why not?  She shares much the same daily responsibilities as her older sister Caren, especially since they’re living on their own.  Her parents made sure she was self-reliant, as both they and Caren were ARU agents, and they didn’t want her to completely depend on the help of others.  But they also taught her that there’s no fault in asking for it, either.  Whenever she’s performing her duties as the One of All Sacred, she always has that in the back of her mind, and that’s why she nearly always encourages community but also reminds her followers to think for themselves instead of following her blindly.
That’s not to say that she immediately becomes a Magical Girl and her real life is conveniently forgotten whenever she’s doing her magic as the One.  Now that she’s known as the One by pretty much everyone on Earth, she of course feels a bit self-conscious, not to mention feeling a bit weird about still needing to attend school.  She wants to do her best as the One, but she also wants to continue being teenaged Denni.  I actually touch on this theme in The Persistence of Memories as well as The Balance of Light.
In short: she’s willing to take all the responsibility that comes with being a deity, but she refuses to let it go to her head.

Q: What is her relationship with Amna Ehramanis?

A: She’s her best bud, they’ve known each other since they were five.  Like all lifelong friends, they’ve gone through all kinds of ups and downs, scrapes and japes, and they’re still BFFs.  Denni always plays the straight character to Amna’s wackiness.  As to why Amna becomes her devoted Protector once she’s fully awakened, well…there are a few reasons for that, which are revealed in TPoM and TBoL.  😉

Q: Anything else?

A: Like Caren, she’s a music fiend and constantly streams stuff from her sister’s collection.  She’s a voracious reader.  She’s a decent student and gets excellent marks, but she’ll admit she doesn’t see the point in trying to be top student.  She loves hanging out with Caren’s fellow agents at the ARU, and thinks of them as an extended family.  In particular she looks upon Alec Poe as a big brother.  She’s had a few school crushes here and there, but nothing serious, and she’s okay with that.  There’s a fifteen-year difference between Caren and Denni, which might lead some to think she was an unplanned pregnancy, but she’s actually not.  Aram and Celine deliberately chose to have another child after the previous Season of Embodiment.  (As to whether they knew her fate at that time is not known.)

And yes, she too has a theme song, Lamb’s “Small”. This is what she thinks about when she’s up in her nonspace.

#atozchallenge: C is for Caren Johnson

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Caren Johnson - Kristen ClokeQ:  What is Caren’s origin?

A:  Caren is actually the first new character I created for the trilogy back in 1997 when I started The Phoenix Effect.  I came up with her (as well as Alec Poe) on that first day of writing.  I’ll admit there was a slight inspiration from The X-Files which I was a fan of at the time, as I was looking for two investigators who were put into a situation they weren’t exactly comfortable with.

Q: She’s got a Mendaihu name as well.  Why is that?

A: Her Mendaihu name is Karinna Shalei.  [First name pronounced ka-RINN-nah].  She was given it by her parents, Aram and Celine Johnson, who were high-level Mendaihu adepts as well as agents for the Alien Relations Unit.  The Mendaihu blood runs extremely strong in her entire family.  She takes this name very seriously, and never uses it frivolously.  The same with her sister Denni; she will not call her ‘Denysia’ unless it is warranted.
The giving of Trisandi clan names to those from Earth is not considered appropriation by the Meraladians; they actually consider it a form of incredibly deep respect, as they feel these people are willing to completely embrace their ancient physical and spiritual connections with Trisanda.

Q: That’s Kristen Cloke up there.  Is that who Caren is based on, physically?

A: Yes!  In fact, she was inspired by Kristen’s role as Captain Shane Vansen in Space: Above and Beyond (of which I was a HUGE fan).  Someone who isn’t entirely happy with the role she’s been given, but that won’t stop her from performing it to the best of her ability.  Like Vansen, Caren is also someone who takes her responsibilities very seriously, especially when it comes to those she works with or mentors.  Caren connects personally and spiritually with everyone she meets.
I can even tell you the scene where it dawned on me that she’s definitely Caren: it’s a rare and very personal conversation between her and 1st Lt. Cooper Hawkes in the episode ‘Hostile Visit’, which takes place just before they’re about to head out on a dangerous mission.  This is definitely a conversation she’d have with Alec Poe.

Q: Her relationship with Anando Shalei seems to be somewhat unique.  Has she always questioned her relationships, romantic and otherwise?

A: No, not always.  The death of her parents really took a lot out of her emotionally, and because of that she keeps a specific distance from others, for fear of getting too close and then losing them as well.  She’s fully aware of this decision, and has never let it completely get to her, knowing full well that she has to move past that.
Caren’s connection with others is definitely unique; it was partly based on a few friendships and relationships I’d had where I simply clicked with the person on a deep level in a very short amount of time.  It’s not merely a romantic or sexual attraction she has with Anando, but a spiritual one.  And because of that, Caren is nervous at first, wondering how it could possibly work.  The longer they’re together, however, the more they learn to rely on each other for comfort, affection, and a firm base of spirit.
Her last serious relationship before Anando was with Agent Sheila Kennedy, though they both decided to end it due to their work situation and remain close friends.  They still flirt with each other now and again, mostly for the humor of it.
As for friendships, she is extremely loyal, and will always have your back.  She also has a very thin filter, so she’ll often say what’s on her mind, even if it bothers you.  She takes every kind of relationship seriously.  Especially the one with her sister.

Q: Anything else?

A: She often has trouble falling asleep at night, as she often lets her thoughts run rampant near the end of the day.  She’s been trying her best to fix that.  She has a scar on her thigh from a bullet grazing it during an investigation.  She has exceptionally strong night vision.  She can be very impulsive and impatient sometimes, which has gotten her in trouble now and again.  She’s got a very snarky sense of humor.  She won’t admit it to Poe (who will surely never let her hear the end of it), but she really does enjoy dressing up fancy now and again.  She’s an avid music fan and has quite a large collection; her tastes depend on mood and situation, but she has a soft spot for meditative music, especially when she’s had a taxing day at work.  She’ll always say her happiest moments are when she’s hanging out with Denni.

And yes, she has a theme song:  Lamb’s “Gorecki”.  It’s exactly how she feels about Anando, even if she has trouble articulating it to him or anyone else.

Lamb ‘Gorecki’ from Luke Copeland on Vimeo.

#atozchallenge: B is for Branden Hill

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Branden Hill Sector artwork, circa summer 2001
Branden Hill Sector map, circa summer 2001

Branden Hill Sector is considered the “collegiate” sector of Bridgetown, as it is home to multiple colleges and universities, including Spender College, the arts and architecture campus of Bridgetown University, Kuhlmann University, and Longwood College of Pharmacology.  It is also home to a number of museums and cultural centers.  Most of its dwellings are relatively small apartment buildings, a handful of SROs, and a small number of apartment complexes.  The community of Branden Hill (colloquially called “Brandhillers”) have fully embraced its ‘cozy’ image, and have strived to keep the sector from becoming too gentrified.  Most of the towers and high rises are in eastside, which borders Main Street Sector.  Due to limited availability of homes and apartments, the cost of living in this sector can be expensive.  It is cheaper to live in the more suburban westside (bordering West Brandenville and Swope Heights).  Some live in nearby sectors while commuting here for work.

Getting in and around BH is quick and easy; it contains three major subway branches and numerous shuttle paths.  A number of major thoroughfares run through the sector, including Baird Avenue, Krieger Avenue, Ormand Street, Shattuck Street, Guyton Street, Jamison Avenue, and Bridgetown Parkway.  Interstate 91 runs down its eastern border, with multiple access points.  Baird River Park is a greenbelt stretching all the way through the sector and is a local favorite on the weekends.  There are many shopping sections within the sector that provide wares and entertainment for its community.

The sector was named for the hill in the center of the sector, where BH Park now sits.  It was named after its original landowner, Joseph Branden.

The Branden Hill headquarters of the Alien Relations Unit is situated on the corner of Baird Avenue and Ormand Street, about a mile south of Branden Hill Park.  The headquarters building is one of the larger buildings in its neighborhood at eight stories, though its unassuming reniform shape and light color keeps it from being an eyesore.  The Unit is well-respected in this community.  Reporting here are agents Caren Johnson, Alec Poe, Sheila Kennedy, and Nick Slater; they are all reporting under Chief Inspector Dylan Farraway.  Christine Gorecki was a former agent here, though she has taken a leave of absence and is currently a registered soulhealer and private investigator.

#atozchallenge: A is for Akaina and Ashyntoya Shalei

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[Apologies for the delay…I had quite the full schedule yesterday and was not able to post until today.  Thus we’ll have multiple entries today.  Woo!]

Welcome to Jonc’s A to Z Challenge!   I’ve chosen to have some fun and post about the stuff that goes on behind the scenes in the Mendaihu Universe; character backgrounds, FAQs, behind-the-scenes production, and more.  Hope you enjoy!

Q: First off:  how do you pronounce their names?

A: Last name first:  Shalei is shah-LEY, even if it’s a distant relative that has the extra ‘i’ at the end.  It’s an extremely common Meraladian surname, as it’s one of the largest clans to come from Trisanda.  They do sometimes get queries about if they’re all related; some do find it irritating, others merely brush it off with a quick answer.
Ashyntoya is ahsh’n-TOY-ah.  He’s named after his great-grandfather who was quite the epic Mendaihu, and a major player in the Fifth Season of Embodiment of the One of All Sacred.  Someone he feels he’s expected to live up to, but he doubts he’d even be fit to stand in that great man’s shadow.  He prefers to be called Ashan (ASH-ahn); he usually explains that it’s just a nickname, but in truth he borrowed it from another less known and much older ancestor who was connected to an uprising at Bann Currin on Trisanda.
Akaina is ah-KAH’ee-nah (although I admit my brain still sometimes reads it as ah-KAY-nah).  She understands cultural differences in speech origins, so she’s totally fine with people pronouncing it either way.  She prefers people call her Kai (kah’ee, rhymes with ‘sigh’).  She’s named after her aunt on her mother’s side; the two sisters were best friends growing up and are still extremely close.  Her aunt is one of her favorite relatives; she was the one who first taught her about the Mendaihu and the Shenaihu.

Q: How did you come up with the twin Mendaihu agents for the Bridgetown Trilogy?

A: That’s a good question…they just sort of evolved, really.  If I’m not mistaken, Kai originally showed up as a humanoid AI in The Phoenix Effect, and Ashan was one of the background AIs.  I dropped nearly all the AI ideas during the 2000 reboot and kept those two, giving them a completely new background and purpose.
They weren’t twins at first; originally I was going to have Ashan as the older brother.  However, I realized both characters had an almost exact equal purpose in the story; it made more sense for them to be not just physical twins but spiritual twins as well.  There’s no special psionic connection between the two; they merely know each other’s soul so well they work perfectly together as a team.  And of course, as siblings, they do get under each other’s skin now and again.

Q: Are they based on anyone in particular?

A: When I create characters, I often picture various actors playing them, just to get an idea of what they might look like or how they’d act.  In this case, however, I never really thought about it.  I purposely didn’t base them on anyone famous.  I wanted their characters to feel like that person you meet where you can’t quite put a finger on who they remind you of, and instead you find yourself attracted to their uniqueness.

Q: What do they look like?

A: In A Division of Souls I described them in general terms as Meraladians; they are human in form, though larger in height and size.  Their skin color is a very light brown, which is common for Meraladians.  As they are fraternal twins, they look similar to each other in certain ways, though Kai’s face is more oval and Ashan’s is narrower.  Ashan is slightly larger in frame.  They both have very dark brown eyes; from a distance it looks like their pupils are fully dilated.  They have small rounded and smallish noses and wide mouths.  They both have long black hair that they tie back in a triple tail, often threaded with small beads near the ends — this is an old cultural practice of the Shalei clan.

Q: Where do they come from?

A: They’ve been NewCanta Province citizens for almost all their lives.  [NewCanta Province is northwest of Bridgetown, and is the center of government for the Upper Midlantic Range.  Bridgetown is the second largest province in this Range.]  Nearly all of their extended family have been lifelong Mendaihu.  They have no other siblings, though they have quite a large extended family of relatives and close friends.

Q: What are their personality types?

A: Ashan is often misconstrued as being standoffish, maybe a little arrogant, but in truth he’s just not entirely sure how to act in front of others.  That’s not to say he doesn’t understand people, far from it; he’s just a little too self-conscious about whether or not he’s doing the right thing.  His anger does get the best of him sometimes, though after the fact he will apologize immediately, even sending out a small sensing thread to invite them closer to his spirit to show his true emotions.  He’s truly loyal to his friends, acquaintances and fellow Mendaihu agents.
Akaina is more open with her emotions and thoughts.  She has a bright demeanor, but when angered her words can be extremely barbed.  She loves meeting new people; she loves getting to know them on multiple levels so she can understand their many quirks and inconsistencies.  She’s also quite loyal to her friends, acquaintances and fellow Mendaihu agents.  She fully trusts what her soul sings to her, sometimes to a fault, but she understands the problems that might cause, and is willing to work through them.
They both absolutely love a good feast with friends, especially if a warm beverage of tea or coffee is served afterwards.

Q: Anything else?

A: Bits and bobs:  Both are often seen in their Mendaihu agency uniforms — long black dusters with a gray patch on their right shoulders, on which is stitched the Mendaihu sigil of two intersecting circles.  They choose to do this because they like to show they are always performing their Mendaihu duties at any time of day.  Both graduated from their Mendaihu training with very high marks.  Ashan has a long thin scar on his right forearm, the result of a training exercise accident.  Kai’s night vision is weaker than Ashan’s.   During the Bridgetown Trilogy, they share an apartment in the Pullock Street Heights Sector, not that far from Pullock Street Park.  Kai won’t tell him, but Ashan snores like a freight train.  Neither have ever traveled to Trisanda, though they are well informed of its history and what goes on there.

*

Want to know more about the Mendaihu Universe?  Leave a question below in the comments, and I’ll be happy to answer it or expand on it in a future post!

Returning Back to the Fold!

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naruto dive
My life over the last month and a half.

FINALLY!

Yes, I have returned from the shadows and back to the land of the living!  I’ve been so busy as of late, it took me a few days to realize that I didn’t have any pressing OMG deadlines weighing me down!

The last few days have been spent mostly doing project clean-up and getting everything back to some semblance of order.  This meant an often precarious balance of Day Jobbery-related fires to put out (and there were many), doing the post-production and release prep for The Persistence of Memories, and generally just taking time to BREATHE again.

So now that it’s midweek and my brain has stopped spinning some, what do I have on tap for the close future?

Glad you asked!  A partial list:

— The Persistence of Memories to be released in ebook on 4/15!  WOO!  It’s available directly from Smashwords in all kinds of formats, including Kindle, for $4.99.  And for a brief time, you can buy the first book ABSOLUTELY FREE!  Two for the price of one!  [Note: As before, since the formatting of the physical book takes more time, I’ll let you know as soon as I can when it’ll be available through CreateSpace/Amazon.]

— I shall be taking part in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge this year, here at WtBT!  It’s a fun blogging exercise that I’ve done a few years in the past on my LJ, and thought I’d give it a go here.  I was thinking of doing an A-to-Z of the Mendaihu Universe, partly to get me to talk about it more (as I’m sure you’re all wondering, what the hells is he talking about in these books?), and partly to get me back into the blogging habit.  Hope you enjoy what I have in store!

— And speaking of blogging, I’m still planning making good with my ‘alternate plan’ for the Walk in Silence project by turning it into an ongoing series over at the WiS blog.  This series will start the third full week of April (around the 20th or so).  Stay tuned!

— Returning to the whiteboard schedule.  I purposely put it aside a few months ago when I chose to focus solely on the TPoM revision/edit/remaster/release, and now it’s high time to return to it.  Which means more practice words at 750 Words, more WiS entries, and maybe even some words and music elsewhere.  Truly looking forward to that.

 

So yes!  Definitely looking forward to returning back to the writing and the other projects.  It’s going to be a fun and creative summer, that’s for sure!

naruto ramen
Ahh…now that everything’s back to nor–

On Writing: Unlearning the Process

Jon ChaissonLeave a comment

I subscribe to a handful of writing magazines, many that I’ve been picking up for a good few decades.  Over the years, they’ve helped me rethink how I look at my stories.  Sometimes they’ll point out the blatantly obvious that I’d been ignoring for one reason or another (weak prose and word repetition for a start).  Sometimes they’ll provide insight on what agents and publishers are looking for and how to contact them.  It’s all helpful, and over the years their advice did help me get a lot farther than just guessing or assuming I was doing it right.

On the other hand, I’ve been quite contrarian lately, and I’m not entirely sure why.

Well, maybe I am sure; I think it has to do with self-publishing my work.  Also that I’ve been a nonconformist at heart since I was a kid.

Thing is, lately I’ll read these advice articles and think, ‘well, why can’t I do it that way?’  For example, I saw an article earlier this morning regarding a novel having too much plot.  I get where they’re coming from, don’t get me wrong; the example they used was bombastic and ridiculous (some litfic plot regarding way too many characters causing way too many plot twists and coincidences that even reality gave it the side-eye), and in that instance, it’s probably for the best that you back it up a bit and maybe narrow the focus.  My reaction, however, was this: well, how is it that apparently readers don’t like way too much plot, and yet we love reading doorstop novels from George RR Martin, Kate Elliott, Neal Stephenson, and so on?  How can I write the plot-heavy book and still make it readable and enjoyable?  The kind of doorstopper that makes readers go ‘damn, that’s some great world building!’  In other words, the kind of books I love to read.

That’s when it dawned on me: it’s not that the writer of the article is stifling creativity; they’re just trying to keep your novel’s highway from gridlocking.  If you’re going to write a doorstopper, just make damn sure it’s navigable.

 

Getting back to my bit about nonconformity, here’s an ironic admission: I’m also a pathetic conformist as well.  Let’s just say that even though I touted my individuality in my high school years – sometimes to annoying extremes – and tended to question authority when needed (again, usually in the form of “well, why can’t we…?”), I also found myself desperately trying to fit into the status quo at the same time.  I’m a proud self-contrarian in that respect.*

[* – A good example of my proud self-contrarianism:  Yes, I am aware of the irony of using a Psykosonik song in a blog entry about writing my sf trilogy, considering that one of the band’s principal songwriters was one Ted Beale, aka Vox Day.  I’m not a fan of his politics in the least, but I did love the Unlearn album when it came out in 1995, so I’m fine with keeping the two separate.]

 

With regards to my writing, I went through quite a few phases of trying to shape my novels into something that agents and publishers would enjoy.   The truth is out: one of the reasons it took me so long to self-release the Bridgetown Trilogy is that I spent a good number of years trying to figure out how to revise it so that it was more commercially acceptable to agents and publishers.  Suffice it to say, I never successfully figured out how to do it.  I didn’t want to give up on the Mendaihu Universe, I just wanted to make it marketable.

I could never figure out why nobody was biting, though — and that’s the downside to the form rejection letter.  No one is telling you why.  I understand the reason behind the process…most agencies and publishers are actually quite small in crew and literally can’t respond personally to thousands of submissions.  At the same time, though, it doesn’t help the writer one bit.  It’s like being trained at your workplace for a new system, and when you’re baffled and stuck and ask for clarification, the trainer responds with “Well, what do you think it does?”  My initial response to that kind of question is almost always “How the fuck should I know?  That’s why I’m asking you!”**   I get that they’re trying to make you think it through, but some need a frame of reference first before they can answer that question.  If I’m not doing it right, I want to know how I should be doing it to your specifications.  I’m a writer: asking that question of me provokes about 3,425 different responses.  I have no idea which one is the right one or which would bring me success.  I have nothing to base it on.***

[** – Yes, this has actually happened at one of my day jobs.]

[*** – I am aware that this is what writing groups and beta readers are for, but they’ve never quite worked for me.  They’re great for talking out ideas and suggestions and I love the camaraderie, but more often than not they end up doing little more than confirming problems and issues I’ve already noticed and hadn’t yet acted upon.  I’ve come to the conclusion that I just happen to work better solo and should trust my instinct more often.]

 

And the nonconformist in me, after so many years, finally decided that DIY seemed like a more viable and entertaining option.  The time was right, the field has been quite strong, and I’d already done my research on it.  This time I listened that rebel in me.

I’ve mentioned here before that music is an incredibly huge influence in my life, and I took that to heart this time out when I chose to rethink how I viewed publishing.  I’ve read so many music bios about punk bands scraping by on a meager pittance and a beat up van yet absolutely loving the lifestyle; I’ve read about their wonderfully creative ways of getting their singles out to radio stations and audiences.  There’s a reason why the image of a telephone pole covered with the bark of a thousand nightclub flyers is so iconic; that was punk’s social media of the time, to let all and sundry know that you were in town and were going to play at some seedy bar close by.

So this is what happened in 2015: I chose to unlearn the process of publication as I knew it.  I already understood it all too well…if I want to publish commercially, I already know what steps I need to take, and I think I have a bead on how I can make my lighter stories marketable.  What I had to do for my self-published work, though, was think like a nonconformist: what makes sense to me, first and foremost, and be consistent in that belief.  I taught myself to react to moments of weak prose and plot.  I learned to completely trust my creative instincts.  I taught myself the mathematics of creativity (thanks again to music), of being aware of what makes a pleasurable work.  And most importantly, I taught myself to ignore any self-doubt that popped up.  I’m proud of the creative things I can do; I love writing and drawing and playing music, always have since I was a kid, so it was about damn time I followed through with those long-held dreams and make them realities.

I won’t lie…sometimes the DIY route can be daunting.  It can be emotionally nerve-wracking.  It can also be expensive.  But I really do think unlearning the process of trying to be a commercial writer was one of the best moves I’d ever made.  I’ve never been happier and more excited about being a writer.