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

The Final Gauntlet Author Commentary 1

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Welcome to the first installment of The Final Gauntlet Author Commentary! Sure there was an introduction last week but why quibble over semantics like that? (Quibble is a funny word.) Okay, enough rambling. Prepare to be astonished at the massive amount of over-thinking that went into the three goals for this book and, as always, SPOILER WARNING!

Three goals

I approach books with certain expectations. As I discussed last time with The Gifts of Kali, I wanted to explore the origin of Soriya’s ribbon. On top of that, I really was excited to write a car chase of all things. So there were certain expectations with that one.

The Final Gauntlet came with its own set of expectations and absolutes right out of the gate. Being the end of a planned trilogy meant wrapping up certain elements, closing off arcs, and buttoning up threads, so that was the beginning for this book.

The final door

Hammer and Anvil introduced the concept of a doorway into our world, and of someone creating these doors. That theme carried over to Gifts and was expanded upon with a brief glimpse as to who was behind these events.

The first goal for The Final Gauntlet was answering this mystery. There was no getting around that one. Having the series end without an answer to something introduced in the first book would have been absolutely a mistake.

So, the outline started there. It started with Annabelle Waterhouse and her motivations. Were they nefarious? Were they altruistic? What was behind the door and how did it fit into the larger narrative of Greystone in general?

That was always a question in the back of my mind. Was there a way to tie the prequel trilogy to the larger series as a whole? I love adding connections. Every time one came together it was like lightning in a bottle. It always led to a stronger moment, either plot or character based.

Once Annabelle was in place, things started to rock and roll.

Witches

Coming up with the main threat of a narrative is always a treat. For The Final Gauntlet I set a couple requirements as I started researching.

The first was a non-physical threat. Hammer and Gifts both brought very physical beings into Portents. There were brawls. There was blood. It was more about strength than cunning in both cases. I wanted Gauntlet to run differently. There needed to be a subtlety to it, something otherworldly to make it different. If this series was all about testing Soriya Greystone, then let’s put her through the wringer.

The second was the use of multiple threats. Again, the main basis was to be different from the previous two installments. Most of the Greystone stories are centered on a single menace. Raising the stakes is always a goal when it comes to series writing, so having three main threats really amped the action, in my opinion.

The final requirement I had in the back of my mind was the use of witchcraft. I wanted witches in this book right from the start. It came back to a change from the previous books, more mystical than physical in terms of danger to Soriya. More than that, I just wanted a new visual. Introducing the Daughters of Salem brought something fresh to the table, and I loved the concept right out of the gate. (More about them next time…)

Transition to the main series

I am a loon, I know. Three goals was way too many when starting this book. And it made for a tough ride, but who doesn’t like a challenge?

Everyone who read A Circle of Shadows thought it was the end of the story. It wasn’t. Everyone who picked up the prequel trilogy thought it stood alone.

It doesn’t.

The third goal I had when starting The Final Gauntlet was to find a way to transition back to the main series. There was always going to be a second act to the series, five more novels including a flashback book about Soriya and Loren’s first meeting. I have notes dating back five years that attest to that.  So how the hell could I close everything else out with this book, but leave just enough to connect to Book 6 of the main series?

That was my challenge and my starting point. I’ll talk more about this aspect later in the commentary, but yeah, it’s all about Beth… again.

Next time:

As promised, a detailed look at the Daughters of Salem.

Thanks for reading.

The Final Gauntlet Author Commentary Introduction

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Here we go again! Welcome to the latest author commentary of yours truly, where you get to read every rambling thought that popped in my head during the making of The Final Gauntlet.

Author Commentaries

I’ve said it before, I adore commentaries. I love behind the scenes dirt on what happened during the production of pretty much anything – from television to film to books and on and on and on.

They make the finished product that much more astonishing to me. That all these obstacles stood in the way and each was overcome in turn to bring something new and refreshing into the world.

I thought they were fun exercises when I started them with Greystone. It was a way to work through my own weaknesses and really hone how the story came to be. Over time, it’s really helped close out a chapter for me. My author commentaries put the entire work into perspective for me more than anyone.

I find them incredibly invaluable yet, most of all, fun. I hope you do as well.

The Final Gauntlet

I won’t delve too deeply into this one here. I’ll save the good stuff for next week. Suffice it say, this book was a BEAR to make happen.

This was the book where the world came crashing down on me. I was six days into the draft when the US went into lockdown.

All of a sudden I had a wife and two kids with me at all times. I had to hit up grocery stores constantly to find toilet paper and buy enough food to last through Easter. (It was supposed to end around then, I’d heard… Whoops.)

Having outlined and scripted the book before the implosion of my writing sanctum sure as hell helped matters. I don’t know what I would have done if I wasn’t already knee deep into the draft. The whole thing might have collapsed.

Every step of the process became hampered. There were days when writing was the farthest thing from my mind, where Greystone was the dream of some other guy.

My family helped me through it. My wife, especially. She saw my struggle and sat my ass at the keyboard and forced me to the finish line. I will always be grateful for that.

The Final Gauntlet was a personal one for me as well. It was a trial and a half, and I tried to inject that level of drama into the events of Soriya and the others.

Next time:

My three goals for the book.

Thanks for reading.

The Gifts of Kali Author Commentary 5

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This is it! A short one, but a good one for the author commentary of The Gifts of Kali. This final installment looks at the touchstones in the book and how they relate to the rest of the series. SPOILER WARNING is in effect!

Touchstones

I look to these as a requirement when it comes to series writing. Giving your readers a nod every once in a while to the other books in the series goes a long way to endearing your fans to the story as a whole. I know I always feel that way when I catch a reference to an earlier work in a long form tale, be it prose, film, script, or comic.

Incorporating them into my writing has grown into a real treat, especially when it works well. The Gifts of Kali had a lot of smaller moments, both right in your face as well as hidden in the text.

Hady Ronne

I will use Hady Ronne references for as long as I can. Her inclusion in The Medusa Coin started as a one-note killer and has since grown into a genuine character with dreams and goals.

When I started thinking about ways for Kali to get out of her task, to circumvent her so-called fate, I thought about who she could throw to the wolves. What would be powerful to take on Shiva?

Hady Ronne as the Charon popped up immediately, and I am so freaking glad it did. The sequence at the morgue is one of my favorites from the book, mostly because no one, not even Mentor, has a clue why they are there.

Only Kali holds the knowledge, and she subtly implies as much to the reader through her narration.

It is no secret that The Medusa Coin is one of my favorite projects, so any chance I get to plug it, any opportunity to reference the work in anyway, I try to make it happen.

Beth

The chapter where Soriya visits her friend for advice was something I wanted right from the start. I was concerned, however, with it for the sole reason that Beth is not an active member of the cast in this book. Would it come off as a strange transition for this scene?

I think that concern was warranted with the first iteration of the scene. Soriya was alone in it, then, trying to find the strength to stand up to this impossibly dangerous threat. She looked to her friend for help only to find the place empty.

It isn’t until Mentor shows up that the scene works. Their relationship, the fact that she turns to Urg first and then Beth rather than her “father” speaks volumes to Soriya’s prideful nature. And Mentor calls her out on it.

That’s when I knew the scene worked.

Having Beth mentioned here did help me down the road with The Final Gauntlet, and gave all three books in the series a level of consistency when it came to the character’s role in the story.

 The Town Hall Pub/Caldwell Correctional

Names and places are important in Portents. It’s been that way since Signs. When it came to draft Gifts, I knew there would be some bar scenes to play into Kali’s aloofness.

The Town Hall Pub was a no-brainer for one of them to take place. Not only did it give her proximity to the docks for the inciting incident, but offered the reader a nice nod to one of the pivotal locations seen in Signs of Portents.

Caldwell Correctional was a new location, however the name has had an effect on the series since Pathways in the Dark. Wilbur Caldwell is considered one of the founders of the town and his full story is still forthcoming. I always like to include that historical angle when it comes to Greystone, because it played so vitally into the first story.

I never want to let readers forget how important the founding of Portents is to the overall narrative that will be unfolding.

Frank Domingo

You might remember him from Hammer and Anvil. He’s in Gifts if you look hard enough. During the Caldwell Correctional sequence, Frank is named (no last name) as one of the inmates of the ward Shiva has infiltrated.

It doesn’t end well for him…

Some people might have thought it was the only name I could think of, but there was a reason for it, I promise. I thoughts readers might enjoy seeing the consequences of Frank’s actions from Hammer and see him get what was coming to him.

The End

That’s all I have for this one, folks. If you had something you wanted to know more about from Gifts, shoot me an email at lou@loupaduano.com and I’ll be happy to answer.

Thanks for reading.

The Gifts of Kali Author Commentary 4

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The author commentary on The Gifts of Kali continues! This week I’m talking about the lore behind the book, so SPOILER WARNING is in effect!

Lore

My absolute favorite part of the process. It is the biggest challenge, but also has the most satisfying payoff. I used to dread the research behind a menace, or some minor detail that an entire scene might hinge on. It can be something as simple as a traffic sign, or it can be the motivation for the main threat in the piece.

The Gifts of Kali utilizes so much of the mythology of Kali, Shiva, the Raktabija, and more to give credence to the main themes of the piece. The forms of Kali, the different phases she undertakes in her various incarnations – from the lover to the destroyer to death – were a vital component of what I was hoping to show through her story.

She is afraid of her other selves. She almost hates them, and why wouldn’t she? Which one is considered the real Kali? Is there one? That lack of identity thanks to being locked into a predetermined fate drives her actions throughout the narrative.

I found that angle fascinating to explore. It played so nicely into the idea of fate, into her arguments with Soriya on the subject.

Determining the villain

The research led to Shiva. I went through a number of options, but Shiva always came out on top in mind. There was more meat to his story, more pieces I could extract and pepper through the narrative without letting it takeover the action.

Shiva complemented Kali and offered a counterpoint to her dilemma. He had his own path to follow. He accepted it… to a point. It’s funny to think about actually. Shiva KNEW how his story ended, but refused to see what came next. He truly believed his death would lead to a change in the world. A cleansing that he had sought his entire life.

So how did he fail to realize Kali’s part in the end? Well, if you knew you’re story ended in failure, would you believe it? No one wants that to be their epitaph and Shiva was no different, in my eyes. He claimed victory in the end, even if it didn’t quite work out that way…

The Demon Blade

I like to utilize lore to give the narrative a nice layered background. What I really enjoy is twisting it, or making it fresh for the reader. That was my favorite part of The Medusa Coin. Taking the story of Medusa, melding it with this golden coin, and then building a new myth out of the two.

The same started with the introduction of the demon blade. At first, it was merely an instrument of death and a damn cool visual.

It grew into the most important component to the whole story. The demon blade transfers the sin into Shiva, allowing the Raktabija access to the world.

Is that factual? Is that written anywhere in the myth?

Nope.

I wanted that vehicle, that device, to help drive tension in the story and provide a certain physicality to the slaughters that occur in the book. The demon blade gave me that in spades.

Next time:

I close out the commentary with some touchstones to the other books in the series. One of my favorite things to do in these books.

Thanks for reading.

The Gifts of Kali Author Commentary 3

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The author commentary of The Gifts of Kali continues! This week, I’m talking about Urg and Ruiz. SPOILER WARNING is in effect!

Connections

One of the main themes in Greystone is connections. People NEED connections, they crave relationships. Our entire society is built around the idea of community, of people pooling together for a common goal.

Looking back at Soriya’s training years meant delving into this idea of connections. Mentor fights against them. He dislikes her need to be around others. Soriya, however, gravitates towards others. She feeds off their energy, their talent. That’s one of the main pulls of her relationship with Loren in the main series. She loves bouncing cases off him, their give and take in trying to right a wrong.

Hammer and Anvil gave readers Bethany Loren and Eddie Domingo. These were the characters Soriya connected with, who she saw the world through. They offered her perspective for the unique situation they found themselves in, and allowed Soriya to grow as a person over the course of their adventure.

For The Gifts of Kali, I considered bringing them both back. Beth, for sure. Eddie was a long shot, especially considering I thought he was in a good place.

Instead, I decided to dive back into the main series and see if there were other players that might bring a new perspective to the table.

Urg returns

A college professor of mine, and dear friend, wrote to me after reading Signs of Portents. He was upset at the death of Urg of all things. I thought it was funny, and was upset I never used him for Tales from Portents considering it was a prequel of sorts.

The Gifts of Kali allowed me to rectify that error. Urg is back in this one, but I didn’t want it to be without reason. The notion of connections is extremely relevant when it comes with Soriya’s interactions with Urg. He is a protector, someone hoping to look out for her and be there if she needs anything.

She also turns to him when in dire straits. With the Tengu. In the aftermath of the Caldwell Correctional fight. Urg is her rock, someone she can rely on to shield her without the lectures and the teaching that accompanies others like Mentor.

That was Urg’s original role here. The comedy of his scenes evolved over the draft. I loved being able to have those small moments in the narrative, especially considering the darkness throughout. Being able to utilize Urg to bring some light to the story was one of my favorite elements of this book.

Ruiz

Loren had a couple shout-outs in Hammer and Anvil. I thought it was a nice touchstone to the main series by inserting him in the narrative.

One main player didn’t make the cut the first time around: Ruiz.

When I look at Greystone, I break it down as Soriya and Loren’s story, but the truth is Ruiz is as much if not more critical to the equation. He’s the regular joe of the trio, the family man, and the guy willing to tough out the darker days in the hope that there will be a better tomorrow.

Ruiz was a must for Gifts. Weaving him through the narrative was a little trickier than Loren in the first book. Most of Ruiz’s arc comes from the birth of his third daughter – a moment I thought was necessary considering how much death is involved in the book thanks to Shiva’s machinations.

I also thought the timeline was perfect for Ruiz to appear. He hasn’t met Soriya at this point. This is their introduction, and the way it plays out, there is no surprise at the animosity that seems to grow over time.

How Ruiz connects…

Ruiz, however, was not meant to be a connection for Soriya in this book. No, his main foil is Mentor. Both are fathers. Both have daughters. But both see the world very differently, and it is in their encounter by the docks that I knew I had hit the nail on the head.

Mentor’s fears about Soriya, about the end to come, don’t have the impact they should without Ruiz’s argument in the middle of the book. Ruiz drives the point home about bringing Soriya into this world, about forcing her to face the enemy head on, instead of shielding her from harm as Ruiz does with his family.

These are two strong-willed individuals who both offer arguments on how to face danger. It’s one of my favorite scenes in the book, but then again, anything with Ruiz is pretty much guaranteed to make that list.

Next time:

The lore of the book.

Thanks for reading.

The Gifts of Kali Author Commentary 2

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The author commentary for The Gifts of Kali continues! This time I’ll be discussing Mentor’s role in the book, including the secret “second” gift at the end of the novel, so SPOILER WARNING is in effect!

Mentor and his role

There are two main aspects to Mentor’s role in the book: there is the Greystone bearer side of his behavior and then there is his vision of the future. I want to break this down as both came about very late in the game for this book.

Hammer and Anvil showed Mentor to have a very adversarial relationship with Soriya. She’s a teenager, after all, so there should be little surprise that there would be some tension on that front.

I wanted to move beyond that. It was a motivator for Soriya in the first book, but I wanted to leave it behind and show why she’s stuck with him for so long, why their relationship is so important for the series. Mentor needed to have her back, he needed to be on her side and look out for her with every fiber of his being.

More than that, in this particular moment in time, Mentor is still the Greystone. This is his city to protect. So why not show that? The reader has never seen him in action to any significant degree, so why not build his arc around stopping Shiva?

The narration in Chapter 33 and 34 drives this home. Mentor takes on Shiva head to head, and Soriya can only sit back in awe at the man’s power. Despite the injury from the Minotaur, despite his age, Mentor shows he’s still got what it takes to put up a fight for the good of all.

I thought this was important to showcase, especially when the two fight together. It was a crucial statement on their relationship and why it worked.

Mentor’s vision

Mentor the teacher and fighter came first in this book. Those were the moments that I knew had to be there. What I didn’t realize was the emotional motivator behind Mentor’s work in this book: his vision in the Bypass.

Recalling where this specific thought came from has brought up a big ol’ nothing from the black hole that was once my brain. Motivation is always something I am trying to find, some justification for why certain actions are taken, for why we do anything in life.

I needed one for Mentor.

Seeing his death in the Bypass was that motivator for Mentor. He doesn’t fight it like Kali. He doesn’t try to work his way around it. Mentor merely accepts it as truth, knowing that he has to do everything he can with the time he has left.

I thought it was a nice play on the theme of fate and Kali’s own reaction. Soriya is, of course, torn down the middle which always adds tension to the drama.

Having this in the background was important for Mentor’s growth. It also provides a nice touchstone to Signs of Portents where Mentor meets his end. The fact that he knew what was coming and still met the threat is now always hidden in the background of that scene. It gives his death more weight, in my eyes at least.

The vision also provided the driving force for something else…

Kali’s Second Gift

I’ve received the question a number of times. What is the second gift Mentor asks for at the end?

There is a reason the book is called The GIFTS of Kali. I was very intentional about it. The second gift is something only Kali could provide, but what was it exactly?

I can’t tell you. I’d LOVE to tell you, but I can’t. It means everything for where Greystone is heading. It is so freaking important to the rest of the story, that telling you would be a disservice. I would hate to destroy the reveal.

What I can say is, what do you think Mentor would ask for? Consider what he’s been shown in this last moment. Kali tells him what is coming, not only for himself but for Soriya in the end. What could Mentor need from Kali knowing what he now knows?

It isn’t a stretch to figure out, but what it means for Soriya and Greystone in general?

Keep reading.

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