Ok, I think I can stop worrying about Lola for now. No way you're cruel enough to drop in a "She died five years ago" revelation. Which doesn't mean bad things didn't happen, of course.
"Port of call..." I'll call that a B5 reference, and enjoy the following, "marketplace of ideas."
With your time skip, it doesn't hurt it's coming off a flashback. You timed skip 200 back, came forward a century and more with Sally, then jumped five years on the "present." Smoothly done.
Definitely a B5 reference! Although it emerged naturally during writing, rather than on purpose.
I’d always intended to have some ‘one shots’ in-between the seasons, and to emphasise the 5 year time skip. That way for readers it also feels like there’s been a time gap, because it’s been several weeks since we caught up with the main characters.
I like that I can play with real time when writing a serial like that (at least, on initial run). Adds an extra dimension to the storytelling.
Originally I’d planned to have several different one-shots to emphasise the gap, but it ended up focusing specifically on Sally. I’m not sure how I expected to squeeze her story into a single chapter. :P
That’s a great line, Simon. It was also perfectly in place with the tone of this weeks chapter because it struck me as one of those old fashioned PI stories. The detective talking to a beautiful, mysterious woman whilst he finds himself in unfamiliar surroundings but his world weariness helps him take any situation in his stride. Even getting asked out on a date!
Switching from 70’s police mystery to the more science fiction side of the story didn’t bother me at all. As long as you have a character you can latch on and relate to then the story can take you anywhere
Thanks, Daniel! Kicking off with Clarke was the right move, I think, as he’s still more-or-less running cases, albeit in a private capacity, so the story structure isn’t too far away from the old SDC cases.
I really enjoyed this, Simon! I just 'dropped in' and it felt like I knew what was happening. Will catch your next one and then maybe dive into previous chapters. Thank you!
Thanks, Jeanine! That's really interesting to hear - I try to make the stories accessible to new readers, but I'm never sure how well that really works.
Love her confidence! The “then in the morning” just assuming it as a thing.
Ha, glad you picked up on that. :)
Helps to remember to comment, doesn't it?
Ok, I think I can stop worrying about Lola for now. No way you're cruel enough to drop in a "She died five years ago" revelation. Which doesn't mean bad things didn't happen, of course.
"Port of call..." I'll call that a B5 reference, and enjoy the following, "marketplace of ideas."
With your time skip, it doesn't hurt it's coming off a flashback. You timed skip 200 back, came forward a century and more with Sally, then jumped five years on the "present." Smoothly done.
Aw, Clarke is gonna get some.
Definitely a B5 reference! Although it emerged naturally during writing, rather than on purpose.
I’d always intended to have some ‘one shots’ in-between the seasons, and to emphasise the 5 year time skip. That way for readers it also feels like there’s been a time gap, because it’s been several weeks since we caught up with the main characters.
I like that I can play with real time when writing a serial like that (at least, on initial run). Adds an extra dimension to the storytelling.
Originally I’d planned to have several different one-shots to emphasise the gap, but it ended up focusing specifically on Sally. I’m not sure how I expected to squeeze her story into a single chapter. :P
“It was a marketplace for stories.”
That’s a great line, Simon. It was also perfectly in place with the tone of this weeks chapter because it struck me as one of those old fashioned PI stories. The detective talking to a beautiful, mysterious woman whilst he finds himself in unfamiliar surroundings but his world weariness helps him take any situation in his stride. Even getting asked out on a date!
Switching from 70’s police mystery to the more science fiction side of the story didn’t bother me at all. As long as you have a character you can latch on and relate to then the story can take you anywhere
Brilliantly done 👍🏼
Thanks, Daniel! Kicking off with Clarke was the right move, I think, as he’s still more-or-less running cases, albeit in a private capacity, so the story structure isn’t too far away from the old SDC cases.
Very happy that you liked it!
I like it. Always fun to see people in the midst of strangeness - like a tunneled out asteroid - trying to make their world still look normal.
Thanks, Mike! Always fun to have two generally incompatible things collide and see what happens.
I really enjoyed this, Simon! I just 'dropped in' and it felt like I knew what was happening. Will catch your next one and then maybe dive into previous chapters. Thank you!
Thanks, Jeanine! That's really interesting to hear - I try to make the stories accessible to new readers, but I'm never sure how well that really works.
It worked well. Plus your combo of the old, as you mentioned, 1970s style PI, with new ‘worlds’ is intriguing and definitely works!!