Novels of the Ring Realms

AUTHOR NOTES

This book has a close relationship with Shaladen Chronicles: A Knot In Time, but not the relationship you would expect. In 1993, I had finished Chronicles, and was workshopping the chapters to get the book ready for publication. I was something like 20 chapters into the rewrite when the workshop leader, Joan Oppenheimer, and her then second-in-command (Matt Pallamary [who is formidable writer whose work you should check out]) decided to call me out. For no reason that I can recollect, they decided to pile on me and proceeded to tell me in no uncertain terms that I did not know how to write. They unequivocally stated I did not know structure, character, plot... I basically didn't know ANYTHING and that I should look to fix my fundamentals.

I was stunned. I was not exactly a noobie at this point. I had already been writing for thirteen years and had completed 5 novels, 3 novellas, and a bunch of short stories. If I was so egregiously off course, where was this critique months if not years before that surly day at Jerry Orton's house in Point Loma, San Diego? Yes, I remember when and where. When something you toil over for five years gets called trash, it STINGS and you remember it.

Reading anymore of the book to that group after such a tainting was pointless. I was really and truly pissed off. I could have quit the group but rather than do that I decided on a different approach. Over the course of the next two weeks, I wrote the first chapter of Reality's Plaything. I wanted to demonstrate a lot of things with this chapter. An opening hook, so I started with a man being hung. Setting detail while in tense situation, physical/emotional registers and numerous other elements.

The opening scene involves six characters in a fairly complex interaction. This being one of the main critiques leveled at me was that I had too many characters and nobody could FOLLOW that many characters through a book. ((This was, is, and _remains_ ABSURD. Had they never heard of Lord of the Rings where there was: Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Borimir, Strider, Gimli, and Legolas? I'm counting 9 main characters is anyone else counting 9?))

So, how did the group respond to this knee-jerk I-dare-you experiment? Quite suddenly, I was a genius. It was great. They loved it. Completely forgotten were the previous comments that I was a no- talent unskilled hack. Since I feared the taint on Chronicles, it would be years before I would pick up and truly finish that book.

There are three distinct revisions to Plaything, all of them involving Wren. As Wren evolved in her own series, I had to track those revelations in this text. The most recent changes came after I finished Aesir's Blood and all the new things from that book.

AUTHOR NOTES

Earliest contributions to this book started in 1998. However, it was heavily influenced by some of the plot revelations going on in the later stages of my writing of Savant's Blood. Yes, I work on multiple projects at once. I always planned to explore Wren's relation to an Asgardian goddess, so this book became the first such exploration. This really helped a lot as I worked out Wren's relationship to her mother and grandmother in Aesir's Blood. From the getgo I wanted the resolution of this book to go in unpredictable ways. Especially the confrontation with the high jury. Sif's valkyries and the characters themselves grew on me and their part in the story became bigger than I originally intended, especially Millicent who plays a key role in the end. The appearance of the Eternals was the lynch pin to tie all the books I had thus written together into a single saga. The first revision of this book was completed around 2001, but I did not have the release edits done until 2004.

AUTHOR NOTES

The first contributions to this volume were made in Jan 2003. Note, I was still wrestling with the goliath Savant's Blood, and because of that did next to nothing on Agenda until the final edits were complete in 2004. I immediately jumped on the original incarnation which I workshopped as Gaea's Legacy. These books took shape fast and I wrote fast (comparatively speaking). By mid 2007 I had 90 chapters complete and was already realizing a had enough for two if not three books, not one. So, I decided to split off everything before the birth of Gaea. I eventually decided the original Baronian invasion of Kul'Amaron made a great breakpoint for a volume. From that decision, Eternal's Agenda became the narrative it is now.

The introduction of Quasar in the story took me by surprise. Originally, I had stealthed Baronian's following them around at the waypoint. It occurred to me since the second volume of Chronicles (Anvil of Sorrow) was in limbo, that she was left kind of unresolved. She was kind of a great anti-hero so I decided to have the confrontation in waypoint trade center be with her. Her participation and juxtaposition with Aarlen (a true villian) provided some interesting points. It also allowed me to tie in the ultimate enemies a little more easily through her relationship to Eclipse.

Quasar's intent to sacrifice herself ties this book into Ascendant. I didn't originally have her kidnap Wren and Azir, but when I looked at splitting the book and getting the company to homeworld. A more antagonistic (tension) reason for them doing it came to mind. Ultimately, it added more meat to the middle book and caused me to explore avenues I wouldn't have otherwise.

AUTHOR NOTES

The content for this book was actually in progress in late 2005, but much of the material was shifted around and changed in the final revisions. At one point it was part of the 90 chapter mass that was the whole legacy arc. I was while I was in the process of looking for splitting points I knew Gaea's birth would be one. Unfortunately, that still left a giant book. So, I decided on the Baronian assault as the breakpoint. I restructured around that.

As I was writing this book, I wanted to cross out of fantasy into science fiction. I did it mostly for a feel. I deliberately split the milieu between Fabrista Homeworld and Kul'Amaron (technology and magic) and then started stitching the two closer and closer together. I risked the losing the fantasy audience for the express purpose of trying to win science fiction converts. I thought the story compelling enough that people would follow along. They do this in Japanese Anime so I thought, why the heck can't I do it?

AUTHOR NOTES

All but the last twenty chapters of this volume were complete in 2007. I wouldn't actually have it all down until late 2008. The wrap up and resolution gave me fits. As a result the denouement drags on for more than a dozen chapters. I think readers will enjoy this closing volume for nothing more than the fact is that I simply leave nothing dangling. As a reader, that has always driven me crazy and I was determined that nobody would experience that in an saga written by me.

I'm particularly proud of the Elven ceremonies and their depiction. Along with the final confrontation between Bannor and his father (oops, spoiler).