Redemption for a Discarded Title: Lost Serenity (Cover Reveal) #redemption #scifi

Once upon a time...I wrote a story. It came from a dream and I scribbled it down the next day, then it sat in a folder for years, forgotten. Scroll on a decade and my third child had reached the stage where he was old enough to play outside with his siblings. I sat at my computer, bored, possibly depressed, and wondered what to do with myself. That forgotten short story called to me. I put on some music, and a few weeks later that short had become...somewhat longer. In 2012, it became my debut published novel.

original cover

current cover

Book two had some serious issues. I learned a helluva lot going through edits with book one and knew the sequel wouldn't pass. At the time its working title was Lost Serenity, but after a major rework 'Serenity' was no longer lost and I couldn't just call it Serenity. Instead, I completely binned the title and book two became Keir's Fall.

Book three had similar issues, with a completely unrealistic plot line that needed ripping out and reworking. In 2017 I sent it to my editor for assessment. She liked it, but not the fact that it was set a decade after book two. After repeated comments on where this missing book was between two and three prompted me to dig out an old collection of notes basically covering that missing decade - never intended as more than a guide book for me about that missing time. Not for the first time, the random collection of information for my eyes only was going to go public, and with a curiously familiar title...

How could a moment's anger destroy so much happiness? 

It is a question that will haunt him. When an old enemy comes to Kasha-Asor to kidnap their daughter, armed with a weapon that could end everything, Keir is forced to leave an injured Quin on Lyagnius. But his quest for a cure and their missing daughter will come at a terrible cost.

You can find the details up at Goodreads. I don't yet have a release date as I have two more pieces set for edits next month, one of which is a winter solstice story that I'd like to release in time to coincide with the time it's set. so I'll have to let you know. In the meantime, I'm happy to have been able to give a discarded title a second shot at its own bit of limelight. 

Writing Update

Lost Serenity is currently with me for one last round of edits (hopefully). An angel short and a scifi mystery novella will be off to my amazing editor and cover designer Dani next month (Hades knows how she's put up with me all these years now). These three pieces will be all my releases for 2020/21, so don't go holding your breath for Redemption book three until 2022...

Kitty Update

My girls are both indoor cats - for their own safety, and that of the already under pressure wildlife - but during the pandemic I managed to put together a cattio for them to give them some outdoor space, to which they have free access via a cat flap. They are loving it!

Chook Update

Sadly I had to take two of my girls to live with a friend yesterday. Unfortunately their squawkiness was aggravating my SO's anxiety (in overdrive now thanks to the pandemic), and one had decided she liked to crow of a morning, something I'm not willing to subject my near neighbours to. I know they'll love the extra freedom my friend's chooks enjoy even though I will miss them deeply. In the meantime, my remaining seven girls are a lot quieter with my two top hens out the way, and hopefully it will give the more timid ones a bit more freedom to find the best tidbits without getting ambushed and robbed. Got to find the silver lining somewhere...

On a more personal note, my eldest has just turned eighteen and is off to university in less than a month. I'm so proud, and so terrified! But I know she'll work hard to achieve her dreams, and I'm not going to get in her way.

Her 'The Babe with the Power' unicorn birthday cake

Music To SFR To #amwriting #inspiration

I've always talked a lot about how much music inspires me, and in fact how I couldn't live without it. I miss a day with no music. In the past three years I've been privileged to go to several concerts featuring my two most favourite bands - The Rasmus, who inspired so much of the tone and feel in my Keir series and got me writing again, and Starset who have now become my favourite band to write to, and who I never expected to ever see in concert in the UK. I've now seen them FOUR times, twice as support and twice in their own right on tour. I saw them in February as headline, and each time I think I've already seen them at their best, they just set the bar higher again, with a super appropriate change of image and a set of songs that fit with our current pandemic.

While The Rasmus still take full credit for inspiring Keir, Starset have definitely taken the top spot as my SFR muse. Why? Not just because I love their music and lyrics, but because to me they encapsulate what SFR is, or at least the kind I like to write. Star-crossed lovers, separated by space and time, galaxies colliding, telepathy, enslavement, end of the world stuff. And it's not just music. No, these guys have a novel and a graphic novel out too. They are all about the science, and the fate of humanity, travel to other worlds, and messages from the future. It's not just what they do, it's what they are. Wrap all that up in a song and a video, and I'm a happy space bunny. Just as an example, the video below has always reminded me of The Martian (or rather The Martian reminds me of this, since I saw the music video first).

Or if that doesn't light your fire, you could try Breaking Benjamin's Ashes of Eden (undertones of Passengers), Linkin Park's In The End (for a touch of apocalyptic), or The Rasmus with Justify (a very Keir song, lol).

Writing Update
So, since editing and publishing my Christmas story last year, I've been working on Redemption 2.5, the story my editor felt was missing before book three of the series. I'd always had a vague idea for it in my head, but it wasn't until the release of Starset's Vessels album helped me fix some frankly terrible elements in book three and turn it into something that might actually work that I felt I could do something with it. Despite slowly recovering from burn out and wanting to write again, working full time didn't leave me much...well...time! However, by the start of this year I felt I might be approaching a point with it where I was thinking about booking actual edits for it. Well, more the point of 'omg, this story sucks!!' But as things happen, my beloved editor posted a discount for edits booked and I took it as a sign. Redemption 2.5 was booked for a slot in June. I've now completed the first round, and while I was waiting for those I've finally finished a solstice scifi novella, tidied up an angel short story, and re-opened book 3. Seems I'm an all or nothing kind of person...

The Joy of Writing 'THE END' (even though it isn't) #amwriting

This weekend I had the very great pleasure and satisfaction of doing something I haven't done in a long time. I. Finished. Something. Only a 25K novella that I'd been sitting on for far too long, but I metaphorically wrote The End. *Sigh*

Why metaphorically? Well, I have never actually written (or typed) 'The End' on anything. Not once. Nope, never. I don't know if that makes me odd. But for me, the end is never THE END. In terms of the book itself, there are still weeks or months of editing ahead. Cover art to be discussed and chosen. In some cases blurbs and/or taglines agonised over, and always the credits. Then uploading to all the platforms. I no longer spend time or money on marketing because it never paid me back (and frankly now I'm working full-time I'd rather spend my spare minutes writing) so after release the whole production line has sort of ended. But there's always the next book to work on...

But in terms of the story itself - well, endings are definitely a big weakness of mine. After completing my 21st work, you'd think I'd have learned something about them. It'll definitely be...interesting...to see what my editor has to say about my latest. In my mind, every story is really a never-ending story (where sometimes even death isn't the end). Reunion at Kasha-Asor, a side story in my main series, is an example of that. It follows on directly from the end of book one. It started out as just a tough sketch of how my two main characters lived for the year between books one and two, but once it reached a certain point it seemed too much a waste to leave as just notes.

My current title was born in a similar way. There's an even bigger time gap between books two and three so again this novella started out as a 'but what happened next?' background. But when my editor did a story analysis on book three, she wasn't happy. She wanted that missing book.
So now it finally is one.

Book Update
Redemption 2.5 is now officially with my editor!

Chook Update
Sadly I lost my newest girl - Wanda - just over two weeks ago. I have no idea why. She'd been a bit quiet the day before but I'd checked her over and not found anything obvious. She ate, she drank, even laid an egg, but went to bed early. The next morning I found she'd passed away in the night. It's always heartbreaking to lose one of my girls, added to the shock of it being so sudden, but unfortunately they do hide symptoms and if I hadn't have been in lockdown I might not even have noticed her being quiet. I look at sudden deaths as at least they didn't suffer long, and it was unlikely that anything could have been done for her in this instance.

However, on a brighter note one of my more elderly girls, having been poorly for a few days without any specific signs, perked up after some tlc and time in the Henfirmary. Kairu is a grand old girl of seven and a fox attack survivor, who was still laying up until her mystery illness.

Kairu on the left. Centre - Pixie, with Sprite behind her. Right back is Saffie, front centre is Nova, and nearest is poor Wanda.

And the rest of the girls are doing fine, but thoroughly spoilt having been allowed to free-range almost nonstop for over two months with us home. There's going to be a lot of squawking when that ends...

Kitten Update
Not quite true. As of yesterday our kittens are now officially adults (though I think they missed the memo).

Ember

Astrid

The Here and Now
Today I'm attending an online meeting to discuss going back to work. Support staff have been asked to do one day a week. Frankly I'm scared. I've never been a conspiracy theorist, but right now I really do feel like my government wants to kill me and mine, or at the very least doesn't care if we die. I will go back if told to, taking every precaution, but I will not be sending my own kids to school. I'm lucky. I have choices. So many don't.
Last night my daughter was very distressed by the happenings in the US - I am too, but I'm already so angry and upset by events here that it seems too much to take it all in without feeling completely helpless and overwhelmed. She doesn't understand how anyone can be racist, see any other human as lesser than another (a feeling we currently share as our government treats the public here with contempt), but more how even someone racist could deliberately kill, or at the very least have no respect or regard for the life of another person. To not care that your actions are harming another person. There's a protest being held next weekend in our home town for BLM and we're torn on attending. But with COVID-19 still a high risk no matter how our government tries to gaslight us, I just can't justify going. My husband has health issues and my youngest has asthma. My government won't protect them so I have to do my best to do so. My heart hurts for the world. How do we come back from this? Do we even deserve to? I don't know. All I can do is the little things and hope that eventually all the little things we all do will add up to fix the bigger things.
May the odds be ever in your favour...

WHEN AN MC'S BAGGAGE IS JUST TOO HEAVY

Back to hold the line against moral ambiguity again.

I recently read a mystery novel, the title and author of which shall remain nameless, which kept me on the edge of my seat. Not because of the convoluted plot, which was engaging enough, but because from almost the very first page, I was torn between wanting to find out whodunit and wanting to strangle the protagonist—a former detective pursuing the case—for being so self-involved she screwed up over and over. A flawed heroine I understand, but this character went way beyond the concept of an antihero. She was so unlikable as to seriously interfere with the basic contract of communication that should exist between author and reader.

This is nothing new in modern literature. Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train both used this technique to great effect, presenting an untrustworthy narrator to build the mystery at the heart of each novel. Both of those books were unforgettably creepy because of their skewed points of view. I didn’t read it, but I understand American Psycho was memorable for the same reason. Fair enough.

This is something different, something more insidious and more related to the complaints I’ve voiced before about the absence of the concept of redemption in modern screenwriting. And it is something more than what my writing mentor A.C. Crispin used to describe as chasing your hero up a tree, putting a tiger at the base of that tree AND THEN throwing rocks at him (that is, giving him every problem you can think of and daring him—or her—to work his way out of it). 

The protagonist in the mystery I just read is saddled with more than the usual set of baggage. She was abandoned by her narcissistic mother as a child; is emotionally abused and manipulated by her younger sister, who she protected throughout their youth; she allows her boyfriend and cop partner to do the same, until he actually crosses the legal line to frame an innocent man in a child abduction case; and, on top of it all, she’s a gambling addict. When she outs her partner to the department, she loses her job. Then she loses everything else in a soul-destroying casino bender. Believe it or not, things deteriorate from there until she finally gets a clue (literally) and finds a way to solve the case that started her on her downward slide.

Very little about this heroine is, well, heroic. Or even a little bit likable. For, oh, 75 percent of the book, I was ready to give up on her (and her creator) on nearly every page. I’m still not sure why I didn’t. Maybe I’m as stubborn as she is. Because, in the end, she did prevail. She found the evil perp who did the deed, though she never got her job—or her life—back. 

But to paraphrase a popular saying, with heroines like this, who needs villains? She wasn’t a child abductor or a murderer, but she did lie, cheat and damn near steal to support her habit. (We know this because we’re in her head and we see it all.) And she’s only a little bit sorry about it. Not nearly sorry enough to be ready for the redemption that would make it okay; only enough to make her loathe what she has become.

That, I think, is the problem here. This heroine, this book, is reflective of what is all too common in our society these days. Self-loathing is all around us. People lack self-respect and act out of it all too frequently. But that “I hate me” feeling is not enough to make them reach for something higher; the pain is not enough to effect a change in themselves. Instead, the inadequacy is all to often an excuse to hurt others. Either in small ways—by lying or trolling or turning away from responsibilities—or large ones—by mass shootings or racist political action.

In any case, I won’t be reading another book by this author. I’ll stick to my romance novels where the heroes and heroines must be (at least somewhat) likable, redemption is a given, and a happy ending is guaranteed. That goes for the science fiction romance I write, too. Call me old school, if you will. I don’t mind standing atop the last bastions against moral ambiguity. I suspect one or two of you out there will be fighting there alongside me.

PARTY TIME!

Don't forget tomorrow, Saturday, August 24, is the day for the Sci-Fi Romance Soiree Facebook Party , happening from 12-6 p.m. PDT! My slot is from 4-4:30 p.m. PDT, but don't miss Lea Kirk, Lexi Post and others, too. Tune in to the event site for freebies, contests, author chat and FUN!

Cheers, Donna

VILLAINS ARE IN; REDEMPTION IS OUT

Redeemable?  Or not.

Enough, already, with the moral ambiguity.  I love a good antihero as much as the next gal, but storytelling, particularly on television, has carried this trope much too far.

Laurie asked in her last post whether we can accept infidelity in our heroes and heroines once they meet in our romances.  Is it still a romance when one or the other of the pair we’re writing to a happy-ever-after ending is unable to avoid the temptation of sex with another?  (I’d answer no, but I’m old school.)

A broader question arises when the lead character in a drama engages not only in extra-relational sex that may be hurtful to his regular partner, but also murder, mayhem, theft, extortion, lying, cheating, torture, kidnapping, drug-running, gun-running, prostitution, black magic, soul-selling, espionage for a foreign power or ripping the throats out of people to get at their blood.  Granted, all this bad behavior can be fascinating, but are we supposed to like these people?

Lest you think I’m basing my argument on one or two shows, here is a short list of the shows I watch that lead me to comment this week:  DRACULA, THE VIKINGS, THE AMERICANS, THE BLACKLIST, AMERICAN HORROR STORY (third season), SONS OF ANARCHY, BATES MOTEL, HELL ON WHEELS (though it remains to be seen which way  its hero might ultimately go).  Even HAWAII FIVE-O, whose Steve McGarrett is generally brave and true, has its moments.  Steve is the worst partner ever, never letting Danny drive his own car or offer a real opinion. And don’t get me started about his relationship with his girlfriend. 

It’s tempting to blame all this moral shift on cable television and the wild success of shows like HBO’s THE SOPRANOS and AMC’s BREAKING BAD.  Watching those episodes every week was like watching a train wreck—horrible, terrifying, and strangely addictive.  You couldn’t look away, even though you knew it was going to be bad, very bad.  Tony Soprano was not a nice guy.  He was not a good man, underneath it all.  And in the end, there was no redemption for him.

Therein lies the real problem.  You could say I am the one to blame since I choose to watch these shows, and, clearly, the “hero” of DRACULA or BATES MOTEL is not going to be a good guy.  But I might be forgiven for thinking the premise of the vampire show—the original blood fiend is in London to wreak revenge on an ancient vamp-hunting cult for the death of his beloved wife and his own creation—and its cool, steampunk vibe might offer a different take on Vlad the Impaler.  Not so.  He started out complex, but he’s devolved into a raving bloodsucker with few redeeming qualities. And, of course, we all know how Norman Bates turned out.

What has happened to the concept of redemption?  It seems the writers and creators of television drama have forgotten that we watch people struggle with decisions of good and evil hoping they’ll choose the right path.  We watch the main characters of series like SONS OF ANARCHY not just because Charlie Hunnam is hot, but because we hope he’ll find a way to steer his family and his motorcycle gang out of its violent past into a more sustainable future.  Instead, we see him slip ever deeper into despair and moral indefensibility.  Whatever we liked about him becomes less and less apparent as redemption slips from his grasp.  It’s as if series creator Kurt Sutter doesn’t believe in redemption.  Or he doesn’t care about it.

The same is true of the gruesome AMERICAN HORROR STORY.  In the first two seasons, series creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Fulchuk provided some kind of path to redemption for characters played by the great Jessica Lange.  In the third season, AMERICAN HORROR STORY: COVEN, Lange’s character, the “Supreme” witch of a New Orleans school for young witches, dies and goes to a custom-made Hell without any hope of redeeming a lifetime of evil.

I suppose we should take heart that some of these characters get what they deserve.  But I have only so much interest in a series built around a complete villain.  If a character is truly irredeemable, she loses much of her complexity and fascination.  That villain may be useful as a foil for a hero, but as an antihero, he leaves much to be desired.  Even worse, if we continue to choose these purely evil characters as the focal points of our storytelling, what does that say about our values?  If we do not care to redeem them, what does that say about our society?

Cheers, Donna