Every writer has their thing. Clive Cussler made himself a character in every book he wrote. By name, not just inference. I don’t do that, but I do add a character in every book or series who provides a throughline, or arc, that helps ground the swirling and chaotic events. In The Brittle Riders, it’s the farmer Oolnok. In Goptri of the Mists, it’s the Sovereign’s aide, Aaradhya, and so on. I am always pleased when readers cite those characters as ones they bonded with.
Yesterday, I sorted through the notes from my most recent Beta Readers for gen-O-pod(™) Wars, putting them in order so I can refer to them when edits come back, just in case. One reader turned out to be a Deacon. His reviews are a nice ride through the story arc.
— Pope Joan is an abomination.
— Pope Joan is an interesting character to use to critique the church.
— Emulating Pope Joan’s morals and kindness should be the goal. Not just for Catholics but for all children of God.
— WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO MY POPE?!?!?!?!
This is my subtle way of letting you know that gen-O-pod(™) Wars is complete and waiting to be edited. Which means, as soon as Nancy gets settled, she will be editing her little fingers to their itsy-bitsy bones. Since getting a bank loan on indie IPs is impossible, anything you can do to help her is greatly appreciated. For the record, progress has been made. New housing has been arranged; she is just waiting for it to become available. She has a handle on her meds, and has retained her positive attitude throughout.
All of this means you will soon be able to read the entire Chimeraverse story in the order the characters experience it. You can start with the cybernetic revenge fantasy of The Plato Wars, and then wallow in the salacious consequences of human hubris in gen-O-pod(™) Wars, after which you can walk the dessicated plains of the former Midwest and ineract with humanity’s violent remnants in The Brittle Riders, and finally wrap it all up with a mind bending thrill ride through mutant cybernetics and humanity’s last stab at dominance in Goptri of the Mists.
Here’s something fun I can share with you. When I noted on LinkedIn that I was conforming gen-O-pod(™) Wars to all the other books, six people offered to help. All six were fans, so I gratefully accepted. It wasn’t until I was assembling everything for today that I realized all six were, most likely still are, Asian women. Two from China, where I’m still banned, one from Japan, two from India, and one Filipino lady with an acerbic tongue.
They noted that each book had its own vibe. When I went to my favorite AI home away from home, DeepAI, and added their notes to my character descriptions, I got the fake movie posters below, and they are a hoot. A few also noted how each book is a story of characters breaking free, i.e., escaping the cages they’re in. As the graphic for that concept fits fundamentally, I’m bringing it along, as well.
Oh, looky, now we get to talk about the bottom images.
The only standalone book I have right now is The Darkling Wind, and your only other non-epic option for your dose of McSciFi’s Brain Droppings is my collection of shorts, Stuff About Things. That is both a wonderful and thin collection.
We, you and I that is, need more.
Long story short, I have begun my next adventure. I am calling it HAIL THE FALLEN. It’s a modernized take on the Book of Enoch. The Book of Enoch is fascinating. You have your creation myth, your Noah, and your always popular “Sons of God.” Then it heads off in some unique directions.
While it’s not well received by traditional churches now, Jesus quoted it in His teachings, so it’s been around for a bit and had relevance to His followers.
In Enoch, at the beginning, all the angels present as male. But the patriarchy bends a lot as those angels are credited with things that, in the time it was written, were definitely feminine interests.
So, we’ve got our angels, a clear punitive destiny (fallen angels never catch a break), and multiple verified notes that the fallen came to Earth to fornicate. I mean, I get it, Earthlings are hot. Hell, I even married one. It just seems limited in the whole “My goal for this eternity” sort of way.
Obviously, this is a goldmine for someone like me. Even so, I’m only going to use the original texts as a guide; I have neither the desire nor the qualifications to rewrite theology. Nor do I need another episode like I went through with Goptri of the Mists, when some people thought it was a new historical insight into Indian theology.
That was a freaking mess to fix.
It was not helped by the fact that there are those who believe that Shiva drinks alcohol, so my weird take on things fit well with some known customs.
Ooops.
I mean, the riff was intentional; the theological extrapolation was not.
If you head over to the legendary Tik of the Tok you will find an animated PG version of the film posters, a divine introduction to Hail the Fallen, a fun look at the novels spewing from my novel mind, and almost every single video is an animation created using DeepAI and tips I got from other users.
Yeah, I like that place, quirks and all.
If you want to fix the data center nightmares related to AI, and you should, then force the US to do what China is doing and use science instead of whatever the fuck this is.
Ah well, I’ll have more to share next time. Until then, stay safe and sane.
