Lou Paduano | Urban Fantasy Novels | Sci-Fi Crime Series

The Consultant Commentary Part 1

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The next several months will bring author commentaries on all six stories contained within the Tales from Portents collection. My hope is to offer insight into the decisions made in putting the project together and the challenges therein. It’s also fun to point out the little Easter eggs throughout. (I love that crap.) So, SPOILER WARNING is in effect for the duration.

The Consultant – Evolution of a tale

story researchEvery story comes from character. That is the lesson I take from everything I put together. I might start with a scene in my head, a discussion, an event, a premise, but until it connects to a main character and an arc is present it means little to me.

A story doesn’t have legs until someone can carry the load.

When putting together The Consultant, I knew it was a Soriya tale. In the absence of Loren I wanted to explore how she operated in the city. The early drafts focused on the lack of trust between her and the police and how it hampered her work.

But it wasn’t enough.

The introduction of Russell Kerr started the ball rolling in the right direction. Kerr as a surrogate to Loren offered insight into her process and her need to have someone at her side.

It also showcased her weakness, something explored further in The Medusa Coin in September. (plug, plug…)

Adding depth through story research.

Story research is great. It can add certain layers to stories you never considered. Or it can completely suck the life out a story and read more like a college paper instead of a thriller.

I enjoy the research aspect and dread it at the same time. Mostly because you can never know every angle. If I read four hundred pages on Cerberus there are still four thousand more out there that I will never get to because I have to eventually write the story.

What if I read the wrong four hundred pages? What if I take away the wrong conclusion?

A fear for sure when putting your work out into the world but there is also this:

Research builds a compelling narrative.

Having Russell Kerr, Cerberus, in the story gave me a starting point.

Until I had Cerberus in place I didn’t have a connection to the deaths involved. And they had no connection to the killer. BORING.

Research gave me my victims. What would Cerberus hunt? Who would piss off the guard dog of Hell so much that they would reach into the mortal world for revenge?

Delving into the lore of Cerberus offered me insight into its history, into its failures, and those failures gave me my victims.

The Consultant is one of my favorite stories because of the extra mile I went to include these small details. They never derailed the story, they never had to be explained by Soriya or other characters. They simply exist and add that touch, that flair, that if a reader was interested in knowing more of what was going on in the background they could do the research as well and find the answers.

I absolutely love that about the story.

Each element pulled from the research added details throughout The Consultant, and it all stemmed from character.

Easter eggs –

Russell Kerr’s name – Kerr or “cur” = dog. (Aren’t I a stinker?)

Barking at Hady Ronne – What the hell was that all about? All I can say is wait until you read The Medusa Coin! It will all make sense, I promise.

Thanks for reading.

Eyes in the Storm Commentary Part 2

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The next several months will bring author commentaries on all six stories contained within the Tales from Portents collection. My hope is to offer insight into the decisions made in putting the project together and the challenges therein. It’s also fun to point out the little Easter eggs throughout. (I love that crap.) So, SPOILER WARNING is in effect for the duration.

Naming Characters

Finding the right name for each and every character in your novel is a difficult task. Stretch that out into dozens of novels and it can be downright frustrating. Sometimes I find it is my biggest hangup when outlining a draft.

Series can actually help because for the most part the principal players remain consistent. New characters come and go but the majority of the cast is already in place. This held true for Greystone…

Until Loren decided to move to Chicago for three months in Eyes in the Storm.

Loren’s New World

With his return to Chicago there came a need to introduce an entire new world to the Greystone series and to Loren himself. Colleagues, family, neighbors, threats… anyone that had an interaction with Loren suddenly needed a backstory (some more extensive than others) but also a freaking name!

The secret behind the names in Eyes…

I could not for the life of me figure out how to name anyone in this story. It took days to figure out a theme behind them and it only came to me while taking my kiddos out for a morning stroll.

Street names.

I know, ridiculous, right?

Kendra GIRARD, Noah SOMERTON, Blake EISEMAN, Martin SHEPPARD – all are nearby streets. Once I settled on one, I believe Eiseman was first, it just clicked for the rest and became a lot of fun to insert that connection in the story.

If I’m being all literary I could also say it played into the theme of Loren returning home and not knowing anything about his old neighborhood, something I feel as well when I walk down the streets waving to perfect strangers. But that would be a happy coincidence to the whole thing.

Name resources

I have used a few nice resources since then to come up with names in my work:

Oh, Baby Names – I was on here anyway a few years ago so I bookmarked it and have since come back time and again to find a name (and appropriate meaning) for any new or recurring character introduced. The site has a great directory, including unique baby name ideas and the most popular names.

Behind the Name – This is important, especially when trying to tie theme or a character’s arc to their name and this site offers a unique search into different thematic categories that names fall into.

Alejo was one such name I pulled from a site like this when coming up with the character and I’ll be talking more about that next year in more detail. I will say, that the meaning shaped how Ruiz’s role turned out in the series so I’m very glad sites like this exist.

A special thanks to The Write Life for posting the original article where these resources came from. They also give other great tips for coming up with names.

My important takeaway is this: naming characters is a tough racket but, thankfully, there are plenty of different avenues to explore when coming up with the perfect name for your characters. (Get it? Avenues? Street names? No? Yes? Maybe?)

Next time

The Consultant begins. A look at the research side of things when developing a plot.

Thanks for reading.

Eyes of the Storm Commentary Part 1

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The next several months will bring author commentaries on all six stories contained within the Tales from Portents collection. My hope is to offer insight into the decisions made in putting the project together and the challenges therein. It’s also fun to point out the little Easter eggs throughout. (I love that crap.) So, SPOILER WARNING is in effect for the duration.

Greg Loren, lone wolf.

Greg LorenThere is such a thing as getting too comfortable with a series. Too formulaic. Too stuck in one mode of thinking. Every chance I get to create a new tale in the world of Greystone is a chance to tell something new and I am very much aware of the been there, done that factor.

So when I was outlining the different stories presented in Tales, I knew there were many ways to take the characters. There were no limitations on timeline or specific events so it really opened the door for new looks at each of the principal players in the cast.

Soriya’s solo appearance in The Consultant came together first. It snapped together like a giant jigsaw puzzle pretty quickly from the onset. It was clear from writing that piece when it took place. It ends right where Signs of Portents picks up, dovetailing directly into her investigation into the Night Owls bar.

So what was Loren doing during this time?

That question alone started the ball rolling on what became Eyes in the Storm.

Cases, especially those handled by these two characters are typically handled together. Greg Loren is a man out of place in the true city of Portents. So what happens when he has to fly solo? How does he handle things on his own? How does the world look to Loren from outside the influence of Soriya Greystone?

That was my starting point.

Comfort zones

It isn’t only about breaking away from my comfort zone when plotting new tales in this world to keep the series fresh when creating. It’s about pushing the characters out of theirs as well.

Eyes in the Storm offered a chance to do that by putting Loren in a situation on his own, away from Soriya and away from Portents. Yet completely entwined on some level.

At a time when he wants nothing to do with anything from his past. He’s left it behind, fallen so far he can’t afford another mistake, just as it pulls him right back into it. Forcing Loren to face the world introduced by Soriya on his own, without the safety net of the Greystone in the mix, was the ultimate test for Greg Loren as a character and one I was very happy to see come together.

The Chicago way.

Eyes in the Storm also answered one of the main points on display throughout Signs of Portents. Loren’s time in Chicago. He ran away from Portents, hoping to reconnect with the city of his birth and the family he left behind. He mentioned it several times in the first novel of the series.

It felt wrong not showing it off, at least for a moment.

Connecting to Portents

Another important element for this story was keeping it connected with everything else going on, especially the city of Portents itself. These are tales FROM Portents so having that connective tissue, those threads in place, was something I was very cognizant of when outlining.

The idea that the staff of Chaac traveled through Portents first became that thread. Did something happen to the staff during this trip to allow it to possess Owen Chase? Was it like this prior to its visit to Portents? If you were left with these questions, that was intentional. I wanted to keep it vague, to keep the mystery of Portents and the true city very much in the background for both the reader and Greg Loren.

Portents, in my mind, is the center of this series. It plays as much a role in the way events occur as any character in the book. Just as it plays an important role in who Greg Loren is as a character.

Next time –

Eyes in the Storm continues next week.

Thanks for reading.

Tales from Portents Connecting Factors

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The next several months will bring author commentaries on all six stories contained within the Tales from Portents collection. My hope is to offer insight into the decisions made in putting the project together and the challenges therein. It’s also fun to point out the little Easter eggs throughout. (I love that crap.) So, SPOILER WARNING is in effect for the duration.

My problem with short story collections…

I’ve always had a hangup when it comes to collections or anthologies. There seems to be a disconnect from the main series or even from the stories collected. And I get it, I do. Every story should stand on its own. There has to be enough meat in it or there is no point in telling the tale.

But I always wanted more from the collections I’ve read. A level of connective tissue that made even the shortest of stories feel bigger in scope.

That became one of my main goals with Tales from Portents.

Connecting factors.

Like the threads left throughout Signs of Portents there had to be points of connection between the short stories in Tales in order to make the work feel like a larger whole.

I took every opportunity to make sure they flowed and were natural connections instead of forced or contrived. Connecting the stories in Tales just for the sake of doing it wasn’t something I was too keen on, so I took care not to force anything on the reader.

Robert Standish.

The biggest thread sewn between tales in the collection centers on Robert Standish. He is mentioned a few times in Signs of Portents as the reason behind Loren’s fall from grace. His “big mistake” that he refers to throughout the narrative.

That made him my go-to guy for this collection.

His fingerprints are in three of the six tales, each one building the relationship between Standish and Loren so that when it explodes it is completely justified.

Following the thread.

It starts with Gremlins and the characters introduction. This piece set the tone for their relationship and everything that came after it. I wanted Standish to play counter to Loren’s feelings in the police department. Someone not highly skilled at the job but ambitious.

Ambitious to the point of criminal in some regards.

His views are vile, his motives unclean when viewed through the looking glass that is Loren. Standish, to Loren, is everything he stands against.

Which made his appearance in View from Above that much sweeter. Forcing them to be partners, showing Loren at his lowest with Standish smiling and joking by his side, was impossible to pass up.

And it wasn’t even in the original outline! The opportunity came to have Vlad arrested and it wasn’t meant to be anything more than that but adding the dynamic between Loren and Standish was too good to pass up. I think it really helped capture the moment in time on display for the story and acted as a perfect midpoint in the story of these two polar opposites.

Leading to Resurrectionists.

Standish and the events that led to Loren’s departure for Chicago were the basis of this story when plotting. Having the earlier moments, showing their troubled relationship from start to bloody finish allowed for maximum impact on delivery.

It also left the dangling thread of Rufus Mathers and his hatred for Loren on the table. Something that will be playing throughout the first cycle of the series.

Consequences.

Being able to build on events and then show the fallout speaks to the wider scope I was hoping to achieve with this collection. Having Standish not only show up for the brutal beatdown that occurs in Resurrectionists but also weave him through a number of tales and situations allows readers to connect on a deeper level (not that Standish will ever be accused of being deep) and understand the motivations of Loren’s actions in the end.

And the fallout that continues to occur because of them.

Next time –

A very special announcement later this week and then next week a look at Eyes in the Storm.

Thanks for reading.

View from Above Commentary Part 4

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The next several months will bring author commentaries on all six stories contained within the Tales from Portents collection. My hope is to offer insight into the decisions made in putting the project together and the challenges therein. It’s also fun to point out the little Easter eggs throughout. (I love that crap.) So, SPOILER WARNING is in effect for the duration.

The Fight Scene

I mentioned in the first part of the commentary for View From Above about Soriya’s rage and her need to hit something. This built from a lack of action as well as her anger at Mentor’s constant lecturing. So when it finally came down to it, when the first was finally in front of her at the abandoned theater at the climax of the narrative I had two choices.

Show the scene, a fight against a group of thugs with little or no skill at combat. Or skip it completely.

I skipped it.

Why?

This was one of those moments I continually went back to in order to argue with myself over my own decision. Part of me will always feel like the fight was necessary but at the end of the day I ruled against it.

The short answer for why is that I liked the irony of the moment. Soriya’s rage has built and after everything she has had no release. She needs this fight. She needs to get it out of her system. And she does.

But we don’t have to see it.

Knowing Soriya’s skill in combat from earlier with her struggle with Vlad as well as the numerous tales before this, we know these six punks have no shot. By not showing the fight my hope was to illustrate this point in full. The drama of the pitched battle is that there is no drama at all.

fight scene

Puts the emphasis on the real struggle.

The other reason to ignore the fisticuffs with the Teen Brigade (super old Marvel reference for you there) is to keep the focus on the real climax to the narrative. The reveal of the Kitsune and the (mostly) verbal conflict therein is the meat and potatoes of the story.

Anything before that point distracts from the actual conflict and Soriya’s arc in the tale. Her anger comes from her burden, from the constant lessons. The Kitsune represents the opposite end of the spectrum with her need for mischief. Keeping the focus on these two for this chapter and driving it home in the conclusion with Soriya’s discussion with Vlad keeps the plot centered on character instead of needless action.

Was it the right call?

Every decision, every fight scene, every conversation or setting, all of it can be argued for and against. Always. At the end of the day I hope the majority of the choices made are the best ones for the story. As long as everything serves the story and the characters within, I know I’ve done the best I can.

And that will have to do.

Next time –

One of the principal connecting factors throughout Tales from Portents: Robert Standish.

Thanks for reading.

View from Above Commentary Part 3

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The next several months will bring author commentaries on all six stories contained within the Tales from Portents collection. My hope is to offer insight into the decisions made in putting the project together and the challenges therein. It’s also fun to point out the little Easter eggs throughout. (I love that crap.) So, SPOILER WARNING is in effect for the duration.

Kitsune time.

Figuring out the threats for a Greystone tale one of the most challenging and rewarding parts of the writing process for me. I spoke about this more in depth a few weeks back.

When it came time for View From Above, most of the pieces were in place. It was a Vlad story to examine his relationship with Soriya in an attempt to build on what was seen previously in Signs of Portents.

It was also a Soriya story, dealing with her anger and the burden of her task ahead. This was early in her career so the challenges therein were nice to play with.

But what about the big threat, the big baddie for the narrative?

My number one edict.

KitsuneI had a rule when plotting this story. No murders allowed. As I started coming up with the slate of tales from this collection this was one of the main challenges I faced. Signs was essentially a giant murder mystery. The Great Divide, while eventually riffing on the drug angle of the crime started with a death. The same with Eyes in the Storm and The Consultant, both of which are coming up in a few weeks.

I didn’t want to fall into a routine with the same formulaic devices used to drive the stories along.

So no murder allowed.

How about some petty crime?

Revealing the Kitsune as the ringleader for a petty crime brigade of thugs and hooligans felt like a great change of pace for the series. No life altering battles, no great stakes with the city of Portents hanging in the balance. Just a bunch of punks that needed a beatdown… with a shape-shifting fox as their boss. Simple and straightforward.

It also played into the role of the Kitsune in the narrative and as counter to Soriya’s arc. It always comes back to character for me so having a trickster as the threat, having the Kitsune not really care one way or the other about what she is in charge of or the effect it has on anyone or anything really struck home the difference between her and Soriya.

Dangling threads…

I wrestled with this one as well. A definitive end meant no more threat or a neutralized threat. Something else we had seen previously in the Greystone series. By having the Kitsune escape, a point that seemed spot on for where the narrative was headed, it opened the door for her return. Leaving threads for later is the hallmark of a great series, in my humble opinion.

And I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to our foxy fiend just yet.

When will she return? Ah, that would spoil the surprise. You’ll have to wait to find out.

Next time:

The fight scene never seen from View from Above.

Thanks for reading.

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