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

The Medusa Coin Commentary – Final Thoughts

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We made it! My final thoughts on The Medusa Coin! FINAL SPOILERS AHEAD!

Two items.

I’ve broken down the novel for you pretty explicitly. I hope you’ve enjoyed this journey as much as I have. I love sharing the details and evolution of the creative process – the insane arguments and the sudden inspiration that comes with months of working on a single project.

If there is anything else you’d like to hear about The Medusa Coin be sure to email me at lou@loupaduano.com. I’m always excited to ramble about how things came together in extreme detail!

For this final blog on the subject I wanted to focus on two areas of the book:

The number seven

The Medusa Coin centers around the number seven quite a bit. There are seven sons, seven victims and seven levels in the Library of the Luminaries.

When Myers calls her mysterious benefactor she presses the number 7 on her saved contacts list.

There are seven major players in the narrative – Soriya, Loren, Ruiz, Hady Ronne, Henry Erikson, Gilgamesh and Jeremy Bennett.

Henry Erikson and Jeremy Bennett both have seven letters in their last names!

Why the number seven? It fit with the story I was trying to tell but it also pays tribute to one of my absolute favorite Justice League stories from the 90’s. Written by Mark Waid it speaks to synchronicity – chances of probability – and how it can impact our world when manipulated. I cannot rave about this tale enough and highly recommend picking it up.

The other reason behind the number? My original release date for the book was 7.7.17. I so wanted to hit that date for the book just for the effect even though I would be the only one that knew about it!!

Unfortunately, I needed the two months in the summer for extra cushioning on future releases and pushed The Medusa Coin to September. Synchronicity be damned!

The small ending.

Stories by trade are built around the climax. As we’ve matured in our ability to tell stories on the small and big screens we have never forgotten the need to go big or go home. It is one of the reasons why Signs of Portents ends at the top of the tallest structure in the city.

We crave the big finale, we demand the ultimate in action and adventure and refuse to settle for less.

Which is why I absolutely love the climax of The Medusa Coin.

When I finished Signs I realized I would never be able to have as great a set piece as Evans Tower. It was this huge moment that anyone looking up in the sky could see, with the lights swirling around the big confrontation.

For The Medusa Coin, I wanted to prove a point. That the biggest moments in history can happen in the smallest setting. That fate can be determined in a small ranch home in the suburbs just as easily as the spire in the center of a teeming metropolis.

For that reason alone, I love the way The Medusa Coin came together in the end. To show the reader that any moment can be the one that changes everything. And all of us can impact that change.

Jeremy Bennett is absolutely my favorite character in the book because of that feeling and I will stand by that for all time.

Thank you for reading.

The Medusa Coin Commentary – Hady Ronne

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Almost at the end! The Medusa Coin author commentary continues!! SPOILERS AHEAD!

Coroner Hady Ronne

If you remember from my discussion of the long road to publication for The Medusa Coin, I mentioned how I wrote the book before I wrote Signs of Portents. Because of that act there were certain elements put into place that I then had to seed in the first two books.

The main one was Coroner Hady Ronne.

She didn’t exist in Signs. Not at that point. There was no coroner mentioned. Loren still took Soriya and Mentor to the morgue but there was no talk with Hady over procedure.

With the revelation of Hady as the Charon I realized I had a rare opportunity: to lay the groundwork for that change.

Smart writers would have known from the first book and put it in place. I had to write the damn thing backwards to figure it out. Oh well…

hady ronne

Laying the foundation…

I think I did all right with this one. Hady comes off as decidedly creepy in Signs. Even to the point of Soriya mentioning how something is off about her.

Tales from Portents really brought it home and not many called me on it even though they had every right at the time.

In The Great Divide, a younger Ruiz remembers the sudden change in Hady during their teenage years. From outgoing to introvert. From pretty young girl to wiry, straggly hair always covering her sunken eyes.

The Consultant, however, took the prize in terms of clues as to what was going on with Hady. In the fourth chapter of the tale, Soriya watches Russell Kerr approach the precinct just as Hady Ronne is leaving. He stops at her arrival and growls at her.

GROWLS AT HER.

No one yelled at me for that? COME ON!

Why is that significant? Cerberus (Russell Kerr) hates the Charon for sneaking living people into the underworld and then allowing them to depart for a price. A little mythology lesson for you there!

What’s in a name?

I thought I was being clever with this one. I wanted a clue right there in plain sight for all to see when I came up with Hady’s name.

Coroner HAdy RONne.

CHARON.

Do other names have hidden meanings or messages in the series? I’m not telling!

Next time!

The big finale for the commentary! (Unless there is something out there you’d like to know about the book…)

Thanks for reading!

The Medusa Coin Commentary – Gilgamesh

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The Medusa Coin commentary continues with insight into the character of Gilgamesh! SPOILERS AHEAD!

Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh, the Suited Man within the context of The Medusa Coin, was one of the elements taken from the very first draft. My reason was simple. I wanted an immortal but not an obvious one. No Lazarus allowed.

During my searching I stumbled on The Epic of Gilgamesh and fell in love with the idea of using the legendary figure in the Greystone world. In the epic he never attained immortality, so it was also fun to play on this untold part of his journey.

And why not right?

Opening up Portents to literary figures as well as myths and monsters seemed pretty in tune with the nature of the world. It fit in a creepy, supernatural way.

Plus, having that basis of a backstory made it that much more interesting to have his presence in the narrative.

Taking some facts, omitting others…

That becomes the problem with lifting from other texts. Staying true to them sometimes means compromising your own story. To use Gilgamesh as a figure of immortality – and the cost of such a gift – meant adding to his narrative, not taking away from it.

Because so much is unknown it is simple to say the legendary figure never died – stories of his demise were simply fictional for the sake of the epic.

There is more coming for the character in Pathways in the Dark, including more tidbits from The Epic of Gilgamesh. It’s been fun, like doing a research paper, and then blowing it all to hell with crazy action and modern twists. Very glad he’s been added to the world of Greystone.

Evolution of the damn hat

Yes. There were arguments – SO MANY ARGUMENTS – about Gilgamesh’s hat. I wanted it to mean something, to have this deep insight into his character.

At one point it was a fedora but that seemed played. In another draft it was a Jackie Robinson Brooklyn Dodgers cap. Yes, I am a Dodgers fan – blame my grandmother for whom the book is dedicated to so it would have fit perfectly… But the real reason was for how the game of baseball changed because of this singular individual.

Unfortunately, everything became all about the damn hat. How to explain it to the reader and every freaking character that interacted with Gilgamesh. It took over the scene so I ditched the Dodgers cap.

Why a bowler hat then? In truth, I was making a statement about Charlie Chaplin’s signature chapeau. Seriously. I was trying to say – “This guy changed the movie industry without saying a damn word.” The power of his silence, the influence over the course of history.

That was how I saw Gilgamesh as the Suited Man. This man, this figure of Death, with the ability to tip the scales without having to say a word. Just a single action.

And he does that. When he reaches for Jeremy Bennett’s hand before the van plows through the home he makes a choice that changes EVERYTHING.

So now you know the secret of the hat! (These are the things that keep me up at night, if you can believe that…)

Next time

Hady Ronne – the secret behind her name revealed at last…

Thanks for reading.

Writing Update – November 30, 2017

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It’s been quite a few weeks since the last writing update. Apologies on that front. I hope you’ve been enjoying the commentary behind The Medusa Coin in the meantime. Lots of cool tidbits still to come.

NaNoWriMo

Today is the last day of the craziest month of the year. The challenge of writing 50,000 words in a cohesive project can be daunting but I enjoy the challenge it brings every year.

So how did I do?

I fell just shy of 65,000 words for my latest novel, The Lost Outpost. My original outline called for it to be much shorter but as I started I realized how much story was being left off the page, how much was actually necessary to flesh out some fantastic character beats.

The Lost Outpost is my first foray into the space opera/space military genre. Needless to say it was rough at the beginning. I spoke with my uncle about this recently, explaining to him that as I was drafting I was learning about the world. Not the best approach but one I think will strengthen future edits.

He didn’t quite understand. If I came up with the story how could I learn about it as I was writing it? The Lost Outpost is a singular moment for the characters involved. One tiny piece of their history that I knew back and forth across the board. A plot based event. But who were the characters before this event? Where did they come from? How did they come together? Every nuance, every tick, every colorful remark had to be explored and understood and with each one I discovered that much more about my own story.

Reading

Coilhunter by Dean Wilson – I love sci-fi westerns or “steampunk” novels. Why, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because of how inventive they have to be on a world-building scale. Coilhunter was fantastic with this. Enough information was offered to glimpse the larger scale events going on behind the scenes but it never overshadowed the narrative being told. Fast-paced and a great cast of characters, Dean Wilson did an amazing job setting the tone for this series – so much so that I immediately ordered the sequel, Rustkiller. Mission accomplished, sir!

Strip Jack by Ian Rankin – The Inspector Rebus series is fast-becoming one of my favorites. Rankin is a master at the genre with a sleek mystery immediately clouded by dozens of little events occurring in the background of the narrative. Each and every one is important, though not for the same reason but Rankin weaves them in and out of Rebus’ life so incredibly well they are never overwhelming to the reader. A fantastic mystery novel that kept me guessing until the end. Can’t wait to start the next one, The Black Book.

Thanks for reading.

The Medusa Coin Commentary – The Courtyard

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SPOILERS AHEAD as the commentary of The Medusa Coin continues!!

Scenes that don’t work…

Sometimes it happens. You outline a movement that makes complete sense when you start and when you get there it feels off.

Something is out of place. A character is doing or saying something that doesn’t sound right for the moment. Or you don’t have a reason for them to be there in the first place.

That scene came in the form of The Courtyard for The Medusa Coin.

The Courtyard scene…

the courtyardThe Courtyard was a setting established in the first novel. A place of commerce and commiseration by the strange denizens of Portents and a link to dozens of worlds – a damn cool place and I wanted to revisit it.

I wanted to show it empty.

It was meant to prove a point, that Loren and Soriya were on their own. It was meant to be this powerful beat for them that they have no choice but to face this threat together.

Only Soriya already knew it would be empty. Kok’Kol said as much in the previous chapter. So rather than move forward, rather than take Loren somewhere to find answers she took him to this empty haven.

WRONG.

Oh, and in the original draft, Loren DROVE to the Courtyard. Does Loren drive? NEVER. Oy, this scene…

Filling the moment

Removing the Courtyard scene meant having a beat put in place to move Soriya and Loren from the rooftop of the Central Precinct to the Library of the Luminaries. It needed to push the mystery forward as well as exemplify Soriya’s fear over the situation.

Enter the Cobbler’s Den.

I know. Another immortal. But this one made sense. The myth of the Wandering Jew is about a man who was present at the crucifixion and did nothing that day. He was cursed to live forever to atone for that inaction.

I liked the story. I really liked how it played off Henry Erikson’s own desire to live forever and the cost of such an act. The jokes about Loren’s footwear were just a bonus in my humble opinion.

While it would have been nice to SEE the Courtyard empty, mentioning it was sufficient for the moment. By changing their pitstop on the way to the library a new opportunity and a unique player entered the world of Portents.

And no huge continuity error of Loren DRIVING to the Courtyard. What the hell was I thinking?!

Next time

A break from the commentary. Lots of Founder’s Day info coming your way!!!

Thanks for reading.

The Medusa Coin Commentary – The Blood Sample Sequence

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The commentary on The Medusa Coin continues – SPOILERS AHEAD EVERYONE!

The Blood Sample Sequence

When drafting I try to keep things simple. One movement to the next to the next and so on and so on… Most of the time, this keeps the pace pushing ever forward to the climax of the piece.

Other times it completely destroys a sequence.

This was the case with the Blood Sample Sequence in The Medusa Coin.

I had a simple outline:

  1. Myers yells at Liam Schultz to run the samples to tie the victims together.
  2. Liam curses his role but does what he can. When he steps out of the refrigerated unit he is knocked out by Soriya.
  3. Myers returns to give Liam her number. Sees Soriya fleeing and races off to catch her.

Pretty straightforward, right?

That was actually the weakness of the sequence. Things moved so quickly that when you walked away from the events of these three chapters you ended up with more questions than answers.

Expanding a moment

This is something I tend not to do. Writers are told to come in late and leave early. Show the reader what they need and get the hell out of the way.

Well, I needed to show the readers more.

Why?

Soriya punches out an innocent for the samples. Not exactly on point with her character but I had no chapter to explain her motivations. So I switched the Liam chapter to a Soriya chapter to give more insight into her actions.

Myers calls Loren before remembering she never left her number with Liam. I took a moment to show the other end of the conversation. It opened up more room for Loren’s own subplot and helped break the ice on these two strangers trying to connect in the middle of this crisis.

Myers can’t just leave Liam unconscious on the floor of his lab. She can’t. So I needed him awake. I needed him to get back to work and do what was required. This created a need for his own chapter later right before he meets his end.

So from three beats to five. Should have been good enough, right?

blood sample sequence

Nope. Try again.

Soriya had no logical next step. She simply shows up at the university and it is explained later how she came to that conclusion. I didn’t like that leap.

Instead, I built in an aftermath chapter for her to regret her choice to go it alone. In that moment of solitude she realizes she has somewhere to turn in the form of Mentor’s old friend, Professor Erikson. Justification in place, we were ready to rock and roll on the sequence!

DETAILS

Explaining the need for the samples was another headache during the editing process. I understood the need to corroborate evidence for the case but was it truly necessary for where the story was heading? This became a central argument that constantly threw the sequence into question.

Was there enough there? Did I need to explain it further?

Liam and Myers’ discussion changed dramatically, growing more complex as Myers laid the stakes down for the young man. There was a ton more humor in the first draft but it needed trimming to fit in exposition to make the scene work.

It’s a crucial sequence that propels the story forward for both Myers and Soriya. Without it, Soriya doesn’t end up at the university with the real killer and Myers doesn’t find out the story of the seven sons and find her way to the Bennett home.

That was why I had to take extra care to make it work and have it all make sense!

Hope I did…

Next week after a well-deserved turkey break!

A deleted scene involving the Courtyard!

Thanks for reading.

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