Tag: HERO’S END

Saturday Snippet: I’ve Been Expecting You

On By jccasselsIn Black Wing Chronicles, SFFS26 Comments

Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. Snippets of ten sentences or less are yours for the reading!

Yeah, I was getting bored with the game with the drink.  I found another scene I wanted to share. This one goes back to the inciting incident in HERO’S END. An Inner Circle Agent named Kendall is investigating  Blade’s near-fatal hovercycle accident. Aboard the medical ship, Kendall has issued orders preventing Bo (in her alias as his Joy Babe) from seeing him. An angry Bo goes looking for the high-handed agent to give him a piece of her mind and to get to the bottom of the situation. She suspects there is more to this than simple prejudice against women in the comfort trade.

***

He lay in wait for her outside of recovery. He bared his teeth by way of a greeting.

“I’ve been expecting you,” he said, uncoiling from his chair. “Come with me.”

Her every sense on sudden alert, Bo glanced towards Blade’s door. No help from that quarter – not this time. She followed the agent into an empty treatment room. The door hissed shut behind them. He pulled a scrambler from his pocket and pointed it at the door.

“That should take care of any interruptions,” he said.

***

That’s the snippet for the week. Thank you for stopping by. Please take the time to visit the other wonderful authors taking part in Science Fiction/Fantasy Saturday!

Saturday Snippet: Public Debauchery

On By jccasselsIn Black Wing Chronicles, SFFS18 Comments

Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. Snippets of ten sentences or less are yours for the reading!

When last we met, Blade started a very public game with Bo over a drink. We pick back up with it as they both play out their roles of holofeature bad boy and his elegant and refined Kiara mistress under the unblinking eye of both his adoring public and the unforgiving media. Bo is bristling at the game already.

***

“You know I can take that thing away from you if I wanted to.”

He shook his head. “You’d only spill it, and then where would you get another?”

Bo turned in his embrace. “I’m not going to play your little game, Blade.”

“Yes you are,” he whispered in her ear. He held the glass between them and waved it under her nose. “You’re going to be undercover for a long while yet. I’ve got to debauch you publicly if you ever want to be able to drink what you want. Remember the server on Altair?”

***

That’s the snippet for the week. Thank you for stopping by. Please take the time to visit the other wonderful authors taking part in Science Fiction/Fantasy Saturday!

Update: Hero’s End

On By jccasselsIn Black Wing Chronicles2 Comments

I’ve been very quiet on the blogging front lately and for that I apologize.  I’ve been making extensive rewrites and revisions to HERO’S END.

Once I had the book nearly completed, I sent the draft to my editor and friend, Laurel Kriegler. There was something about the story that really bothered me. It wasn’t coming together as I’d hoped. Laurel pointed out that some of the plot holes I was finding would be covered by adding two subplots and two more point of view characters.

SOVRAN'S PAWN is now available on SmashwordsShe and I both felt that I’d rushed my fences with SOVRAN’S PAWN, releasing it before I’d worked out all the kinks in the plot and story. I promised myself that I’d take my time with HERO’S END, giving my readers the very best of my effort. That has delayed publication, but I really feel that the story will be the better for having taken the extra time.

I hope readers will appreciate the added insight into the new POV characters, the expanded view of the BLACK WING CHRONICLES’ universe, and the deeper exploration of Bo and Blade’s characters and their pasts.

HERO’S END is in the final drafting stage now and we are going over each chapter, polishing and perfecting it. If my children cooperate with my writing schedule, I’ll be able to announce a release date soon.

Saturday Snippet: It’s All Fun & Games

On By jccasselsIn Black Wing Chronicles, SFFS22 Comments

Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. Snippets of ten sentences or less are yours for the reading!

When last we met, Blade started a very public game with Bo over a drink. We pick back up with it as they both play out their roles of holofeature bad boy and his elegant and refined Kiara mistress under the unblinking eye of both his adoring public and the unforgiving media.

***

“People are watching. You have to play coy, or I won’t let you have it at all. Shake your head no if you understand.”

“I hate when you get in this mood,” she sighed. Perhaps it was better to humor him. She shook her head and turned slightly away from the drink.

“Oh that was a nice touch.”

She nodded towards the glass. “Is everything a game to you?”

“Pretty much,” he said.

***

That’s the snippet for the week. Thank you for stopping by. Please take the time to visit the other wonderful authors taking part in Science Fiction/Fantasy Saturday!

Saturday Snippet: This Is Gallis Rye

On By jccasselsIn Black Wing Chronicles, SFFS22 Comments

Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. Snippets of ten sentences or less are yours for the reading!

Yesterday’s post on media manipulation reminded me of this scene from HERO’S END. As a professional liar and a media darling, Blade is well-versed in media manipulation. He knows that most of the time when he’s in his role of holofeature hero, people and holocams are turned his way.

With Bo in a rare appearance at his side at the premiere of his latest holofeature, he’s promised a way to let her drink her favorite liquor, Gallis Rye, without blowing her Joy Babe cover. So with gossip reporters, holocams — and under the noses of a half-dozen Inner Circle security agents — he’s giving Bo a lesson on maintaining control of one’s image in the public eye. He’s about to publicly debauch his elegant and refined Kiara mistress (Bo) in order to make it easier for her to maintain her cover under intense public and media scrutiny.

***

With a flourish, he presented a glass filled with an iced amber liquid from behind his back. Keeping his arm across her torso, he settled into a more comfortable embrace. “This, my love, is called Gallis Rye.”

She would have reached for it, but he held it just out of her grasp.

“Now, now,” he said softly. “Remember what I said earlier? This is hardly a drink for the faint of heart or for fair maiden.”

“You’re going to make a show out of this aren’t you?”

“Of course I am,” he grinned.

***

That’s the snippet for the week. Thank you for stopping by. Please take the time to visit the other wonderful authors taking part in Science Fiction/Fantasy Saturday!

Be Vewy, Vewy Quiet — I’m Hunting Plot Bunnies!

On By jccasselsIn Uncategorized3 Comments

ImageI guess I can blame it on the Easter Bunny bringing me goodies. I’d prefer to credit the fact that I took the month of March off from writing and revising, and now I’m feeling rejuvenated and ready to tackle the rest of HERO’S END. Now that my nose is pressed back against the grindstone, I’m besieged with plot bunnies! I’ve already jotted down a short story because it provided a vital plot point between HERO’S END and BARRON’S LAST STAND.

Image

Today, I was attacked by plot bunnies with at least three chapters’ worth of material for BARRON’S LAST STAND. I’d normally be tickled about this, but I still have some major revisions to finish on HERO’S END. I also have to do another pass on ARCANA DOUBLE CROSS before sending it out to the beta readers before I can even think about BARRON’S LAST STAND. 

Thanks to everyone for sticking with me and being patient while I hunt plot bunnies. I’m feeling a bit like Elmer Fudd because it seems like they’re getting the better of me.

From Ingenue to Badass: A Heroine’s Journey

On By jccasselsIn Black Wing Chronicles, Writing, Writing 1015 Comments

Barron's Last Stand ART5I caught some flak from a handful of SOVRAN’S PAWN readers about my heroine being too weak. I had the unenviable task of deconstructing her from the kick-ass warrior woman of BARRON’S LAST STAND into the ingénue she was when her story started. Those readers may not realize that THE BLACK WING CHRONICLES is as much about Bo’s evolution from naïve, sheltered young princess to bitter, disillusioned warrior queen as it is about clearing her name.

Good fiction is about change and the growth of the main character. Bo had to start out young and uncertain in order to make her growth into “The Scourge of the Seventh Sector” that much more poignant. THE BLACK WING CHRONICLES is a character driven story, and in character-driven stories, your main character must go through profound changes to find the truth of who he or she really is. When you’re talking a story arc over several books, the changes may not occur quickly enough to suit some readers, but they need to unfold organically or the story will fall flat.

Audrey-roman-holiday-scooterIn SOVRAN’S PAWN, Bo is barely twenty years-old. I was inspired by ROMAN HOLIDAY with Audrey Hepburn. It’s a similar principle. Here is a young, privileged woman who finds herself outside her comfort zone and away from the trappings of her title. Despite her training, she’s been insulated from interacting with ordinary people and is at a loss for how to deal with them. For the first time in her life, she is making her own decisions and responsible for no one but herself. In the process, she is learning who she is and what she has to contribute to her society, and she makes mistakes.

Unlike the Hepburn character, people are trying to kill Bo, and she has military training. However, her military training is entirely theoretical, not practical. Her jaded guides on this journey are highly trained special operatives with considerable field experience who, for reasons of their own, are driven to protect her, keeping her out of trouble whenever possible. In their own way, both her Uncle Royce and Blade Devon take it on themselves to fill in the gaps in her training. By the end of SOVRAN’S PAWN, Bo is taking the first real steps towards independence, with her own ship and a romantic interest in Blade, who is a wholly unsuitable partner for her politically.

Roughly two years pass between the end of SOVRAN’S PAWN and the beginning of HERO’S END. In that intervening time, Bo has settled into a routine with a public role as Blade’s Joy Babe Companion and a private role exploring her more larcenous endeavors. In her early twenties, Bo has learned how to be light-hearted and how to have fun. As any young woman her age, she is aware of her responsibilities, but not overly burdened by them, doing the bare minimum to meet them. She prefers to party with her friends and spend time with her boyfriend, the exciting and dangerous Blade Devon, much to the disapproving censure of her uncle. Bo still has some growing up to do. She isn’t always likeable. She isn’t always sympathetic.

HERO’S END is different from SOVRAN’S PAWN in that the plot is exceedingly more complex with more point of view characters and more plot threads woven through it. Where the theme of SOVRAN’S PAWN had more to do with false identities, HERO’S END is about the nature of faith, and not necessarily the religious kind. It’s about optimism and trust versus cynicism and doubt.

Still somewhat of an ingénue from being sheltered and protected by Blade, her uncle, and her brother, Bo has a naïveté about her relationships with the people around her. Over the course of HERO’S END, both Bo’s and Blade’s faith are tested. Bo loses her innocent faith while Blade gains a new faith. Bo embarks on the hero’s journey, gaining the streetwise confidence she’ll need. Blade, on the other hand, must resolve the dichotomy between the lying, ruthless, borderline sociopathic behavior he’s been guilty of, and the paladin hero he plays in holofeatures.

By the time BARRON’S LAST STAND begins, seven years has elapsed from the date of Bo’s trial and escape. She has seen too much and done too much. Her innocence is long gone. Her only faith lies in her own abilities. Tough, dangerous, and street-wise, Bo is no longer the weak ingénue waiting for rescue. She will rescue herself, thank-you-very-much.

Blade, on the other hand, has spent the intervening years doing penance, trying to redeem himself as the real-life version of the hero he played in holofeatures. Their roles reverse and he is the one who ends up being rescued by her more than once.

By the climax of BARRON’S LAST STAND, Bo Barron will be a heroine of epic proportions. She will have been tested and tempered by fire and hardship. THE BLACK WING CHRONICLES are the story of how a young, naïve princess, accused of treason, earns the right to command the precision combat wing whose loyalty and service can tip the balance of power in the Commonwealth from one house to another.

Next Big Thing Blog Tour

On By jccasselsIn Black Wing Chronicles, Uncategorized4 Comments

I was tagged in the Next Big Thing Blog Tour by TK Toppin last week and back in November, I was also tagged by Chantal Halpin, but I forgot to post. So here I am, making up for it.

 

BWC HERO'S END option A (1)What is the working title of your book?
This is the second book in THE BLACK WING CHRONICLES series. The title is HERO’S END.

Where did the idea for your book come from?
I was working on the last book in this series as a stand-alone. There was so much work still to be done, so I sketched out some important back-story narrative for my own reference. A submission call from an editor gave me the idea to toss together a novella from some of my notes. That evolved into the first book in the series, SOVRAN’S PAWN. I realized I had a story arc that needed to be bridged, so I tried to piece together how my characters (Bo Barron and Blade Devon) got from the end of SOVRAN’S PAWN to the beginning of the last book. I had tossed together a few scenes about Blade’s life as a high-profile holofeature actor, including taking Bo as his date/bodyguard to a red-carpet premiere, but the first scene that really jelled for me was Blade’s hovercycle accident. I knew from those two scenes that someone had to actively be trying to kill Blade in this book. With that knowledge, I deconstructed the situation, taking into consideration the vast scope of everything that needed to happen in this book to satisfy the story arc, then I sat down and cried.

What genre does your book fall under?
This book is a space opera for certain. We’re dealing with vast stretches of space, plots to overthrow governments, impossible pseudo-science, primitive mysticism, alien religions, and a love story.

errol-flynn-7Which actors would you chose to play in your movie rendition?
That’s a tough question. Blade has developed a bit of a fan following. Everyone has their own image of him in their minds, according to their own tastes. I love that. I would really hate to spoil that for people by naming someone to play Blade and having half of his fans say “ewwww.” So when I’m asked this question, I usually say that as a holofeature actor, Blade could, of course, play himself.

He’s a compilation of many of my favorite swashbuckling heroes of TV and film. He was inspired originally by Errol Flynn, whose off-screen acts of derring-do were well-known in his day, and whose biography suggested he may have been a WWII spy.

Bo is also a compilation of characters. You can find bits of Angelina Jolie, Gabrielle Anwar, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Yeoh, and a few select high-profile fashion models.

As for the supporting cast, I don’t mind saying that I cast this book with bits and pieces of Nathan Fillion, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Sean Bean, Bruce Campbell, David Duchovny, Sean Connery, Eva Gabor, Ava Gardner to name a few.

Hugh Jackman
Sean Bean
Aishwarya Rai
Manasvi Mamgai


What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
I need to come up with one…seriously. I’m not to the point I can narrow it down to one sentence yet. That’s the last thing I do before I publish. A brief synopsis might read something like this –

An attempt on the life of holofeature hero Blade Devon sets into motion a series of events that take him and his lover, convicted traitor Bo Barron, on a quest to find her missing father, and to uncover secrets of Blade’s past that he isn’t willing to let come to light, despite murder and betrayal.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I’m too much of a control freak. I’ve been very pleased with the sales and results from my self-publishing, and I like having creative control over the cover art and the series development, so I’m sticking with it for now.

How long did it take to write the first draft of your manuscript?
From the initial inception to the completion of the first draft was several years in the making. The scenes that provided the foundation for HERO’S END I first scratched down back in 2009 and shelved. Once I sat down to work on it in earnest, it only took four months for the first draft. Of course, I consider the first draft to be the first telling of the main story from beginning to end. What I had at that point was horribly incomplete. Subsequent drafts require more attention to detail and plot threads, so they’ve taken an eternity. HERO’S END is also much darker than SOVRAN’S PAWN, which has made it more time-consuming for me to write.

What other books would you compare this story to?
I don’t really have an answer for that. The scope of this book reminds me a lot of Dune, (only less ponderous,) or one of the Game of Thrones books in that there is political intrigue, murder, war, betrayal, a bit of mystical coming-of-age.

What or who inspired you to write the book?
The readers who clamored for more after SOVRAN’S PAWN, hands-down. There has been such an overwhelmingly positive response from my readers that I really do feel I owe them the next part of Bo and Blade’s story.

What else about the book might pique the readers’ interest?
In this book, I introduce the characters who will populate a spinoff series set between HERO’S END and BARRON’S LAST STAND, which is the last book in THE BLACK WING CHRONICLES series. The spinoff series will be called THE MERCENARY ADVENTURES OF BLADE DEVON.

That’s it! That’s my Next Big Thing. Thanks for stopping by. Don’t forget to stop by Theresa Munroe’s blog next Wednesday!

The 777 Meme – Hero’s End

On By jccasselsIn Uncategorized4 Comments

Heidi Ruby Miller tagged me in the 777 Meme. Thank you Heidi!

THE RULES:
1. Go to page 77 of your current ms.
2. Go to sentence 7.
3. Copy and post the next 7 sentences as they’re written. No cheating.
4. Tag 7 other writers.

Hmm… being me, nothing can ever go easy, right or follow the rules to the letter. Page 77 in my manuscript was blank. Don’t ask why. So, after some repairs to my file and formatting, are my seven sentences from page 77 of HERO’S ENDBWC HERO'S END option A (1)

***

“Who’s Ian?” Bo’s voice came from behind him.

He glanced up at her reflection in the mirror. She stood in the doorway to the lavatory, wrapped in a towel.

“How long have you been there?” he asked.

“Don’t avoid the question. Who is Ian?”

***

Now I’m not sure who to tag on this. Tagging always smacks of who’s the cool kid and who isn’t. Being very egalitarian, I’m open to letting anyone participate who wants to. If anyone wants in on it, comment and leave a link to your blog below.

I Didn’t See That Coming – Foreshadowing

On By jccasselsIn Writing6 Comments

I was very excited to find a blog post on foreshadowing this morning. Unfortunately, it didn’t really tell me anything about foreshadowing. It told me more about the author’s latest book. That’s all well and good, but I was put off. It felt like someone was pulling the old bait and switch on me. That makes me cranky. When I get cranky, I do something about it. So this morning, I wrote my own damn post on foreshadowing. So there.

On About.com Richard Nordquist defines foreshadowing thusly: The presentation of details, characters, or incidents in a narrative in such a way that later events are prepared for (or “shadowed forth”).

In short, it’s setting the stage for future events. Foreshadowing creates a mood. It sets up the audience for the main conflict and the climax, or the catalysts that bring about the climax. It’s a device mystery writers use to plant red herrings and lead the reader to the clues that solve the case. In horror, it’s used to create mood and warn audiences not to get too attached to that character because he or she will be the next victim. In romance, it provides the niggling little doubts as to whether or not the hero and heroine will end up together.

Most readers never consciously notice it. Executed properly, it is very subtle and paves the way for the emotional impact the writer seeks to evoke. Writing fiction is all about evoking emotion. I’ll go back and say it again. The first and greatest lesson I learned was that as a writer, if you’re not evoking emotion in your reader, you may as well be writing a cookbook. But then, even the best cookbooks evoke some kind of emotion these days.

I mention foreshadowing because I’m consciously using it in HERO’S END. 29543_322708094509389_1163963974_nThere’s a bit of a mystery going on and foreshadowing is a natural tool in mysteries. Foreshadowing isn’t all dark portents either. As a writer, if I’m going to use an object to save the day, or to slay the bad guy on page 180, I need to introduce the object around page 20 or so. If a fact is going to be the catalyst for an emotional scene, I need to allude to the fact early and repeat it a few times before it actually causes the issue. If the reader hasn’t built up the same emotional response as the character, when the character explodes in a ball of angst, it seems to have come out of left field. Or if one of your characters must die in keeping with the story line, you need to prepare the reader for it. Think red shirts.

Some writers call it back-writing. Once you’ve written the main story, you go back through and sprinkle the images, references, clues and allusions throughout the story, building up to the climax or event.

In SOVRAN’S PAWN, I used Blade’s sunshades, which interfaced with his IC data reader for a head’s up display. I introduced the shades with Blade when he met Bo. I introduced the interface in the following chapter. At the climax, the shades and their interface were vital for getting him where he needed to be. Without the mention of them earlier, it would have seemed like a Deus Ex Machina intervention and a cheap device.

I read a debut novel by an author of my acquaintance in which her main character does a complete about-face of personality at the climax. Unfortunately, there was no foreshadowing of this possibility, so when it happened, her readers rebelled. Because her book was published by an imprint of a large publishing house, there’s really no excuse. This is the kind of thing good editors and beta readers normally catch.

Never underestimate the value of foreshadowing or the subtlety of a skilled hand on the pen.