"What Makes Us Girls" Brittany Pettibone and Stefan Molyneux

Writer's Notes: Reavers of the Void

A general and unorganized list of notes you may find amusing.

• There was a Jojo's reference, but I deleted it.
• That dirge Gabriela sings? It's the opera half of this awesome song. Ramsey's relating the tale of Pope Simon I replaces the other half. Yes, it's a Gurren Lagann reference.
• The duet that follows? Yeah, it's this song.
• Both Minotaur and Roland are meant to be simple Super Robots. Roland will change over the series, and more powerful Super Robots will also appear.
• Oklahoma is my Yamato. It's the battleship on the cover, it's a Hero Ship, and it's a recurring guest star in the series. If the memories of Yamato and Enterprise can be kept alive by making multiple fiction series around fictional counterparts, then I can do this for my great uncle, his shipmates, and Oklahoma. Fight me.
• Ramsey's name is a joke for Minnesotans. "Ramsey" is the county where St. Paul is, and across the river is "Hennepin" where Minneapolis is. Sibley Hall, his wife Henrietta, and their sons Creton and Durham are also nameplace jokes.
• I have no idea what the actual songs Gabriela sings before the attack hits, but I love E.R.B.'s Mars books so I referred to that instead.
• Yes, Count Vikuun Qis is my Palpatine. Yes, he is based on a historical villain; no, it's not Hitler. Yes, he's a Gamma, just a high-functioning one; it's why he gets mad at Red Eyes so fast: Gamma Knows Gamma.
• Azazel is the marker by which tech escalation will happen, since he's driving most of it. He starts a little behind the curve, but figures out how the Guard can do the stunts they do; this will come back later. This includes his want for Gabriela; she's a means to an end, and as soon as he finds out there's an alternative he'll drop his pursuit like a wet sack of cement. Yes, that does mean cloned Nephilim, at full size and power; some might as well be Kaiju, if you know your Biblical tales. See what I mean by escalation? Red Eyes, etc. are tools and nothing more; the instant they lose value, he walks.
• Creton's gunzerker rage is part of his character arc. We'll see Durham down the road, and some of his other brothers.
• The end state isn't "They are in love." It's "This girl impressed me, let's see what happens." and "He's the husband I choose; he just has to see it."
• Expect a lot of shorthand by implication. Yes, that's Scotland and its border reavers; I started there and adjusted things to suit my narrative needs.
• Yes, "Goblin" and "Hobgoblin" are D&D references and TIE Fighter shout-outs.
• Yes, those are Tron Lines when Ramsey conjures Durendal. If you've seen Tron Legacy, then you also know how Ramsey recovered so fast.
• There hasn't been a major war in the galaxy in generations. The militaries of the houses reflect this. Expect this to change.
• Jack is both my Harlock and my Char.
• Scott Lynch has a habit of putting dopplegangers in his books based on people he knows. I'm in his series, so I'm returning the favor. Find your doppleganger, Scott.
• Hell's Heart is small and primitive as space fortresses go. Think of a FTL-capable version of Axis (Zeta Gundam, ZZ, Char's Counterattack). We eventually get to Iserlohn (Legend of the Galactic Hereoes) sorts of fortresses, with Mega-Lasers and big stationed fleets and so on.
• Redalen's Revenge uses Yamato's body, minus conspicuous con tower. I don't know if it has its Wave Motion Gun or not. It will change over time to resemble Harlock's Arcadia. I have no idea who Redalen is at this time.
• The Archangels are the Getter Robo team in the role of mentors and leaders. Their Super Robots don't need authorization to deploy, can be used independently (instead of being a form the combined robot uses), and need only combine to form Metatron. If that has to happen, a Cataclysm-level event is on the table and has to be stopped.

Book Update

Since I got hammered by the Martian Death Flu, I've been hustling to finish the edit on the manuscript. To ensure that I hit my deadlines, larger and more elaborate plans to do so had to be abandoned in favor of focusing on the core problems and fixing them in the most direct manner possible. The ending is different now, being more of a crowd-pleaser and the original idea pushed off to Book Two. Several more characters have been removed, combined, or had their plot arcs cut short. Formatting for clarity is all over the place, and I'm doing my best to ensure good grammar.

Related: I have my cover. With that anxiety sorted, I can focus on finishing the manuscript. If I can keep up my present pace, I will have it in formatting next weekend and backers will get their ebooks a week or so after that. I will meet the deadline, barely.

Recovering From Martian Death Flu

It's been a week since I got slammed by the Martian Death Flu. I'm feeling better now, but you don't want to know the details. Will settle the cover soon.

Even As I Shudder, I Work

As I older, winters get harder. I've been dealing with an injured foot and a cold, but the onset of the first serious snows this weekend somehow made the latter worse. No fever, but the shakes are bothersome. It's fortunate that my desk is close to my bed, because I'm trying to stay on track and treat myself right at the same time.

Send citrus fruit, citrus juice, teas and chicken soup if you like. Prayers welcome. Also, aside from blogging and Twitter, don't expect much online presence from me until I finish this and get it to backers. ArtAnon, I need that cover.