Tag: trilogy

#atozchallenge: P is for Alec Poe

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Alec Poe - Keifer Sutherland

Q: What’s Alec’s origin?

A: Alec arrived the same day as Caren, on that very first day I started writing The Phoenix Effect.  I always make sure he and Caren are always standing on equal ground in whatever they do.  I based their work relationship a bit on Mulder and Scully from The X-Files, but more of it came from Kusanagi and Batou from Ghost in the Shell, as well as Deunan and Briareos from Appleseed.  They work extremely well together and are very close, and yet their personalities are quite different.
As for his name, I wanted one that sounded slightly out of fashion from everyone else’s.  He’s almost always referred to as “Poe” by Caren and his fellow agents.

Q: He’s got a Mendaihu name as well.  What’s that origin?

A: Alix Eiyashné [ey-YASH-ney] is not just a Mendaihu name, it’s his given birth name.  Alec was given up for adoption almost immediately after he was born.  His adoptive parents, Angela and Daniel Poe, are both academics and gave him a very robust education growing up.  He chose not to follow up with his birth parents and never met them, though his adoptive parents did keep in loose touch with them, if just to trade information on health issues and whatnot.  He finds out more about them, and himself, in The Persistence of Memories, much of it quite unexpected.
He very rarely uses his Mendaihu name, for very personal reasons.

Q: That’s Kiefer Sutherland in that picture.  Is Alec based on him?

A: Almost from the start, I envisioned him playing the role.  Strong but soft-spoken, good-looking but weathered by life.  Out of all the characters, Alec is the one that’s changed the least physically throughout the various drafts.  Whenever I wrote a scene with him, I pictured Sutherland acting it out so I’d be able to get the mannerisms down correctly.

Q: He certainly does seem to smoke a lot, doesn’t he?  People still smoke in the far future?

A: I’ll totally cop to the fact that I wrote most of Poe’s scenes for the first two books while I was a smoker back in the late 90s-early 00s.  I needed to give him a nervous twitch, and that was the first thing that came to mind.  He’s extremely aware of his habit and how it may bother some characters, so he’ll only light up if others around him don’t mind.  Caren isn’t the biggest fan of it, but she lets him do it anyway because it’s a release for him.

And yes, that’s a very good question!  You don’t see smokers as much as you did fifteen or so years ago, thanks to state laws forbidding it in certain public places, but back when I first wrote many of these scenes, it was rarely frowned upon.  It’s a habit/pastime that has evolved over the centuries but never quite went away.  Even now, vaping already has fans and detractors.  I chose to keep it in the Mendaihu Universe, having it still a thing.  It’s still not that healthy, but it’s not a taboo either.  It just is.

Q: He has a unique relationship with Akaina Shalei, the Mendaihu agent.  What’s with that?

A: This was a relationship that took me some time to figure out.  At first I was worried that I was forcing a match on him (after all, I’d put Caren and Anando together not that long before), but there was something about his first meeting with her that stuck with me, so I chose to play it out.  He’s quite the moody guy, and I wanted someone other than Caren to give him some kind of mental/spiritual stability and balance.  Kai is full of patience and positivity, and she immediately noticed Poe’s startling lack of it.  She willingly opened herself to him almost from the start, and he wasn’t used to that, at least not outside his immediate friends, which intrigued him and attracted him to her.  In the process, Kai learns calm her sometimes overexcitable spirit by learning to slow herself down when he’s around.  Poe changes the most in the trilogy, mainly because of Kai.

Q: Anything else?

A: He still lives in the same apartment that he grew up in with his adoptive family; he bought it from them when they moved north to New Boston Province.  His demeanor can be off-putting sometimes, especially when he’s distracted by his thoughts.  [His habit of not finishing a sentence is totally me, which drives my wife nuts!]  Like Christine Gorecki, he feels more comfortable being on the periphery than being the center of attention.  He’s a voracious reader, thanks to his adoptive parents.  He has an older brother in that family, David; he also had a blood-relation sister from his birth family but she died during the last Embodiment.  He’s quite the cook at home, when he has the time for it.  He might be a smokestack, but he rarely touches alcohol.  He loves both Caren and Denni like family, and will do anything for them.  Despite his gruff outer shell, he’s a big ol’ softy.

#atozchallenge: O is for the One of All Sacred

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Writing a character trope such as a Chosen One can be tricky, because there are so many ways you can fall into the trap of being predictable.  Too often they end up as the reluctant hero (Neo in The Matrix, Katniss in The Hunger Games) or the easily distracted and imperfect person who needs to learn how to ascend in status (Daniel in The Karate Kid, Karou in Daughter of Smoke and Bone).  But they sell, and readers love them, so I won’t say it’s necessarily a bad thing.

With Denni Johnson, I wanted her to be all of that — a reluctant hero, easily distracted and imperfect.  But I also wanted her to be aware that she was being put into that situation as well.  That’s part of her role as the One of All Sacred: she’s aware.  Which ups the ante with internal and external conflict, doesn’t it?  How do you play the role of deity without being pigeonholed into the role of savior or superhero?  That was one of Denni’s first pronouncements, even as she was entering Moulding Warehouse for the first time: she was a deity, but she was a human, just like everyone else there.  Don’t expect miracles.

The role of the One of All Sacred within the Mendaihu Universe is that of overseer, really.  They don’t necessarily have to change the world or make it a better place…their role is really just to make sure its problems don’t spiral out of control.  The spirit of the One is resurrected every twenty to twenty-five years (roughly once a generation or so) to keep an eye on things, gauge where we are in our evolution, and make a few changes or tweaks if necessary.

Denni Johnson is the Ninth Embodiment on Earth.  [There were many embodiments prior to Earth’s, both on Mannaka and Meraladh, but that’s another storyline entirely.]  Right away she’d decided that instead of trying to play the expected role, she’d change it to something that made more sense to her.  That in turn changed the expectations of all the parties involved.  Her personal choices affected everyone else in the process.  Instead of turning off Nehalé Usarai’s awakening ritual, she kept it going.  She saw it as a way to start with a bit of a clean slate; no one was prepared for this move, so everyone’s on the same page and fumbling a bit, including her.

Giving her the awareness of her situation was quite the trick; in essence, she’s in a constant state of paying attention to what’s going on and having the ability to change events if necessary.  She needed to be able to think on the fly, accept that she may make mistakes, and know when to let nature and/or fate take its course instead.

On a more spiritual level, I had to make sure that she wasn’t exactly seen as The Goddess That Is (an analog to the main gods and goddesses of current religions, and who pretty much runs — not rules — the known universes).  The One is more of an Earth Goddess, the one in charge of the planet.  The position has been held by all kinds of people; young, old, man, woman, Meraladian, Earther, and so on.  Each Embodiment had their own strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures.  What makes Denni different?  Well…you’ll need to read the books to find out!

 

And then there’s Saisshalé.

As I’d said previously, there’s a yin-yang to everything in the Mendaihu Universe.  Yes, even the Dearest One has an opposing force, one who embraces chaos just as the One of All Sacred embraces order.  More about him on Friday.

#atozchallenge: N is for Nick Slater & Sheila Kennedy – Team Two

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Q: Why a Team Two?  What’s their origin?

A: When I came up with the Alien Relations Unit, I already had a plan that they would work very much like an extended family of sorts, very much like how a police station or a fire house would.  I saw them as similar to the units from animes such as Patlabor, Ghost in the Shell (Chief Inspector Dylan Farraway was based on Chief Aramaki early on before I decided to make him a bit younger), and Bubblegum Crisis.

I also wanted a few characters who were involved in the story, but not as deeply as Caren and Alec.  They would be a part of any investigations, they would react to situations very much the same way, but they were able to give everyone else a clearer point of view, thanks to their distance.

Q: Are they based on anyone in particular?

A: Not really; I really wanted to give them unique personalities separate from most of the other characters in the trilogy.  Sheila is that one person in your circle of friends who’s loud and boisterous and fun and most likely the first to get into a scrap; Nick is the outsider who’s just recently joined the group and is still trying to figure out how to fit in.  Both last names are Tuckerizations of 90s memories of mine: Kennedy is the former MTV veejay, and Slater is Christian Slater.

Q: What’s their background?

A: Sheila is from quite a large family, of which she’s the second youngest; her parents were also ARU agents (they knew Caren’s parents well), her older siblings (two brothers, three sisters) are agents either in the police or fire forces.  Her little sister is training to be part of the Governor’s Special Forces Unit.  She’s extremely proud of her family’s dedication to the city and is glad to be a part of it.  She joined the Branden Hill ARU the same year that Caren did; they met during training and hit it off quickly.  She and Caren had a brief and slightly awkward romantic relationship before they broke it off for professional reasons.  They’re both still great friends.

Nick is an only child, and his parents live just south of Bridgetown at an outpost not that far from the outer B-Town hamlets across the Sachers River.  He chose to become a cadet for the B-Town Metro Police and was assigned a position in South City Sector.  He stayed there for about five years before requesting a transfer to the Branden Hill ARU.  The reason for the change in unit is unknown at this time; he never revealed it to anyone, other than stating that he wanted to work closer with the Mendaihu.  [Sheila seems to think it’s because he worked with them so often in South City that he’s created a tight connection.]

Q: Are either of them Mendaihu?

A: Sheila professes not to be, though she has very strong innerspeak and soulsensing abilities and could very easily be initiated if she so chose.  She does not want to, however.  She’s fine enough with being the ARU agent that she is.

Nick grew up with no psionic abilities whatsoever, and he doubts he’ll ever acquire them.  To make up for his shortcomings, he’s trained himself to be an incredibly resourceful and quick-thinking profiler for the Unit.

Q: Anything else?

A: Sheila is fiercely loyal to her coworkers, friends and family.  She always speaks her mind, and more than a few times she’s gotten written up by her superiors for her actions.  Despite that, she’s still highly respected by them.  She likes a physical connection, so will always be touching someone on the arm when talking to them.  She loves to listen to music and always has something playing in the background, even if it’s a contraband radio in the patrol car she’s driving.  She works out a few times a week and has a devastating right hook.

Nick is the only person who smokes as much as Alec does.  He’s also a coffee fiend.  He’s a few inches shorter than Sheila and she likes to tease him about that, as well as him being a Wilderlander (i.e., someone who grew up in the sticks).  He looks up to Caren and Alec as mentors, even if he never comments on it, and he always appreciates their help and direction.  He’s friendly with almost everyone he meets, but he’s also got a surprisingly short temper and a low tolerance for bullshit.  He tends to play the straight man to Sheila’s wildness, sometimes to comedic effect.

#atozchallenge: M is for Mendaihu and Shenaihu

Jon ChaissonLeave a comment

Yin-yang.  That’s the theme of the stories within the Mendaihu Universe.

It’s about balance.  There is both evil and good within us.  We rarely like to admit it, but we are all full of conflicting morals and ethics.  We are driven both by our own emotions and thoughts, and what we are taught or expected to feel and think, and quite often they are all at loggerheads with each other.

I wanted to play around with this idea:  what, ultimately, is the right thing to do?

This question is posited throughout the Bridgetown trilogy.  Every character faces this same dilemma at some point in their arc.  Each character is given some kind of ascension in their spirit, some form of advanced knowledge, and they must choose how to utilize it.

They are also given an advanced awareness as well: they are now conscious of other spirits around them, whether they like it or not.  And ultimately this means that if they are to use their new knowledge, they are acutely aware of how it would affect not only themselves, but those around them.

“The Mendaihu are the watchers, the protectors, the saviors.  And what of the Shenaihu?  They’re the keepers of the ethereal: the mind, the heart, and the soul.” — Matthew Davison, The Persistence of Memories

The Mendaihu are often seen as having the upper hand, as they are more physical in their presence.  They are the ones quietly doing their rounds, fully and completely aware of nearly everything and everyone around them, ensuring that every person out there is at peace.  They are the ones willing to lay down their lives for those around them, if necessary.  They may see the Shenaihu as troublemakers, the ones who are too quick to cause problems.

The Shenaihu are acutely aware of how the spiritual realm works.  They are the ones keeping to themselves, uncomfortably too aware of nearly everything and everyone around them.  They wish everyone could find their own peace, but are willing to assist if and when necessary.  They may see the Mendaihu as too quick to involve themselves in everyone else’s problems.

Both are liberal in their thoughts and actions; both are conservative in their thoughts and actions.  Both have faults, both have strengths.  They may be coming from completely opposite sides, but they both crave the same thing: peace of spirit.  Both are driven by the same goal: to do the right thing to achieve that peace.

The only answer, ultimately, is to find a perfect balance of both.  This is the cho-nyhndah [cho-NYEEN-dah] spirit.  Equally Mendaihu and Shenaihu in thought, heart, and deed.

Yin-yang.

The Persistence of Memoiries is NOW AVAILABLE!

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We interrupt our A to Z Challenge Meme with some important news:

tpom 032316 take 2
The Persistence of Memories
 is now available!!

Here are some fine online establishments where you can purchase the ebook:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Smashwords

Don’t forget to support your local bookstore!  If they sell e-books, go ahead and download from their website!  Here are a few of my favorite local bookstores where you can buy it:

Copperfield’s Books

Green Apple Books

Books Inc

 

Thank you for your support! 🙂

 

***

A DIVISION OF SOULS is also STILL FREE!  Want to get caught up first before jumping in?  Head over to B&N, Kobo or Smashwords (or hey, even NoiseTrade) and download the first book, and your reading list is good to go!

#atozchallenge: k is for kiralla

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Dragon-Wallpaper-dragons-13975575-1280-800
Creator unknown, borrowed from fanpop.com

The kiralla was the answer to the question:  what does someone’s soul look like?

Or more to the point, what is the aspect of someone whose soul has achieved a divine level and balance of both Mendaihu and Shenaihu spirit?  The ultimate ascension, where they are able to control both sides of themselves without inner turmoil.  In the context of the Mendaihu Universe, the kiralla aspect is in ancestral memory: it’s what the purest Trisandi spirit looks like.  So in essence, if one is kiralla, either naturally or awakened through ritual, then they are considered to have truly returned to their spiritual roots.

[Yeah, I know, pretty heavy stuff there.]

The idea of the kiralla came to me during the 1995-6 season of me reading all kinds of New Age books.  I’d borrowed the idea of reptilians in fantasy and conspiracy (thank you David Icke) and the Pleiadians (thank you Barbara Marciniak) and played around with it for a while.  What if aliens were a normal and integral part of human reality?  I’d chosen dragons as the physical embodiment, aware of their mythical and mystical history.  I took out the conspiracy and the trope of aliens-as-villains (as well as its overused cousin, aliens-as-overlords-because-us-humans-are-ignorant-and-weak-insects) and re-introduced them as our long-forgotten ancestral kin.

Which ultimately means that we humans are also able to ascend enough to become kiralla as well.  This fact alone makes up quite an important part of the Bridgetown Trilogy and the Mendaihu Universe.

The strength of the kiralla is as fearsome as their presence.  Generally they are about thirty feet long from snout to tail tip, about ten to fifteen feet tall.  Their wingspan is about thirty to forty feet.  Their coloring, shape and physical attributes vary and are related to the Trisandi clan they come from.  They are social creatures, but they are just as fine being on their own for extended periods of time.  Their psionic abilities are unrivaled and immeasurable.  They are able to Lightwalk very long distances in a very short amount of time, either in kiralla or in human form.  The feel their highest responsibility is in keeping an unending, protective (yet rarely interactive) watch over humans and other spiritual kin.

And yes, we will be seeing a lot more of them in The Persistence of Memories and The Balance of Light!

* * * * * *

2016-04-13 13.08.44
Dragon by Honeck Sculpture

This little youngster here was my mascot for most of the writing of the trilogy, which I picked up at one of the Readercons I went to.  It was made by Honeck Sculpture. They make excellent statues of all sizes and are definitely worth checking out.

I named it after a character you’ll meet in The Persistence of Memories.

#atozchallenge: J is for Madeleine Jakes

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Kathleen Turner

Q: What is Madeleine Jakes’ origin?

A: Even though I had Caren and Denni essentially living on their own, I still wanted to provide them some kind of an elder presence, someone who’s not taking care of them 24/7 but is there as someone to lean on when times get tough.  Originally I didn’t plan to have her in that many scenes, relegating her to a tertiary character, but like Christine Gorecki, she evolved into someone who kept popping up at the most interesting and unexpected moments.  She’ll show up in a number of important scenes in The Persistence of Memories and The Balance of Light.

Q: How is she related to Caren and Denni Johnson?

A: She’s a family friend from quite a long time back.  She’s a retired Data Research Library archivist and now writes freelance.  She lives next door to Caren and Denni, frequently checks in on them, and occasionally keeps their place clean, especially when Caren’s stuck on a particularly hard case.

Q: That’s Kathleen Turner in that picture.  Is that who Madeleine is based on?

A: Actually, Madeleine’s a character I without a real-life inspiration…I originally created her as a typical older relative.  But the more she showed up, the more I realized that she was someone who might be older in age, but still embraces life as if she was 30.  She’s someone who rarely holds back her words and thoughts, and despite her disability (she lost a leg soon after the events of the Eighth Embodiment and has a cybernetic replacement), she sure as hell isn’t going to let life pass her by.  I can totally see Kathleen Turner pulling that off, throwing shade and putting people in their place.

Q: What is her connection to the Mendaihu?

A: [Shhh — don’t tell anyone, but she’s a Mendaihu Elder.  Nobody, not even any of the main characters, knows this!]

Q: Anything else?

A: She’s got an amazingly sharp memory, which is why she chose to work as an archivist.  She’s a mid-level certificated soulhealer and occasionally performs healings upon request.  She’s also adept at Lightwalking, but she hasn’t done that in at least a decade and a half, for very personal reasons.  She never married and rarely dated.  Caren will sometimes think Madeleine shouldn’t be so overly active because of her age, but she will remind her otherwise right quick, much to Caren’s embarrassment.  Denni absolutely adores her and thinks of her as an aunt, and will visit her apartment all the time.  She will never reveal this to Caren or Denni: she made a promise to Aram and Celine, two days before they died, that she would look over their daughters if they did not survive the case they were currently working on.

#atozchallenge: H is for Hallera and other CNF planets

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Planet-Earth-planet-earth-21056677-1920-1200

Back when I first started planning out the Mendaihu Universe — or more correctly, the Vigil Universe, as I’d envisioned it then — I’d thought of creating a multiplanetary federation in which these stories could take place.  On the same day I’d spent in that overheated laundromat on Charles Street in Boston coming up with the Bridgetown setting, I made some cursory notes on this federation, but thanks to overthinking the physics of space travel as well as realizing I was overreaching a bit, I scaled back so the story would remain on a future Earth.  I’d keep this federation idea in pocket for future ideas.

Crimson-Null Foundation was a name I came up with before I even had an idea.  Originally it was ‘Crimson Nine’ as I was going to have nine planets involved.  I knew “Crimson” was going to reference Earth, but it took me quite sometime to build something around the rest of the name.
It wasn’t until writing The Phoenix Effect that I came up with the idea of Null, which was my own personal answer to bending the laws of physics for space travel.  It was partly inspired by the New Age books I’d been reading, specifically the subjects of remote viewing and astral travel.  I let the idea simmer for a few weeks, doing some deep thinking about the ground rules before I even wrote about it.  The shortest, oversimplified version I came up with: while in reality the body carries the soul in travel, in Null travel it’s the opposite: the soul travels and pulls the body along with it.  It’s a LOT more complicated than that, of course, but that’s the elevator pitch for it.
The use of the word “Null” soon changed to “Light” as the idea expanded, but I felt Null should remain when it’s referred to commercially: the Nullport, for instance.  This is also the reason I kept the “Foundation” part of it, to hint that it this planetary group is centered around commerce as well as peace treaties, but less so about the spiritual end of things.

Trisanda is not part of the CNF, even though it’s the ancestral homeworld of everyone involved; they are not part of the commercial ventures, only spiritual ones.

The first-in-line planet on the CNF board is of course Meraladh [mey-rah-LADH, slight lisp on the dh], the current physical homeworld of the aliens in this universe.  It’s an Earthlike planet that has five major continents and numerous satellite islands.  It’s the first planet that the Trisandi colonized after starting their spacefaring age, and has become a major travel destination for both business and pleasure.  In the trilogy, we meet numerous characters who are full or half-Meraladhza.

The second planet is Mannaka [mahn-NAH-kah], which many call the Midway between Meraladh and Earth.  It started out as a colony planet during the Trisandi spacefaring age, and was originally to be closed down once they traveled to Earth.  However, many of the families that had taken root there during this age did not want to abandon it.  It’s got a much smaller population than Meraladh or Earth, but it’s one of the most important transportation hubs in the CNF.  The Mannaki are an incredibly friendly and sociable people, and are also fiercely protective of their own.  They’re the leaders in transportation and communication technologies.  Councilor Mancka Udéma, a member of the Provincial Governor’s Council, who we meet in the latter half of A Division of Souls, is Mannaki.

Earth/Gharra is the third-important planet in terms of the CNF, and was the main destination of the Trisandi spacefarers.  Eons later the Meraladians reestablished contact with Earth to strengthen their connection; both planets created the Foundation soon after to solidify the commercial and spiritual connections of all planets inhabited fully or partly by Meraladians.
Gharra [GAH-rrah, very slight glottal fricative on the rr] is the original name given by the Trisandi to the planet.  Whenever the planet is talked about in spiritual terms, both the Mendaihu and Shenaihu will always refer to it as Gharra.

Fourth is Hallera [HAH-leh-rah], a purely Meraladian-made satellite world in which its inhabitants all live within the planet, not outside of it.  It’s another midway planet and is mainly a transportation hub, both for Null travel and for shipping purposes.  There are also some minor technological and industrial companies based here as well.  [Later on when I started working second shift at a warehouse in late 2000, I came up with an MU-related story about dock workers on Hallera.  I’m yet to write it, but I’m sure I’ll be doing so soon enough.]
Hallera does have a significant population, mostly those who live and work there, such as dock workers, transportation, security, and so on.  CNF representative Jack Priestley, who we meet early on in A Division of Souls, grew up here.

Fifth is Runeia [roo-NAY-ah], a planet not too far from Hallera.  It unfortunately has gotten a bit of a bad reputation, as technically it’s a prison planet; this is where many of the worst criminals would be sent to for rehabilitation.  The world itself is actually quite beautiful and lovingly curated by its inhabitants.  It’s extremely distant from most of the other planets, which adds to its unfair reputation as a bad place to be.  [This one’s a Tuckerized name:  It’s named after the final track, “Runeii”, of Talk Talk’s 1991 album Laughing Stock.  That song title is also the inspiration of using the extra ‘i’ at the end of some clan names.]

There are other planets involved, but I have yet to sketch them out. 🙂

#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.