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

A Circle of Shadows Commentary – The Epilogues

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This is it! The end! Goodbye to Greystone in this final author commentary for A Circle of Shadows! SPOILERS AHEAD!

Epilogue

Stories never end. They shouldn’t. You should always want more, to see more, to know more about a character’s world. That is the fun of an epilogue and why I thought so many were necessary in this book. Each contains a snippet, a vitally important piece, of one of our cast member’s next steps.

All to show the reader the potential for what is ahead.

Myers

Out of all the epilogues included, I knew this one was going to be tough. After everything they’ve gone through, Loren and Myers make it out the other side but how can they go on? How can Loren ever truly forgive Myers for what happened?

And he doesn’t. Never in the chapter do you hear the words, I forgive you. The sentiment is there, but so is the bitterness over what happened. Not everything is sunny or rosy, though I did try to skirt the line between them as much as possible.

Myers stays. That is the key takeaway from this piece. She is staying in Portents as Head Detective for the Central Precinct. Her new partner is Thel, the siren. How cool is it going to be when we get to see them next? They deserve their own series!

Seriously though, setting up this new dynamic not only allows the reader a glimpse at what could come in the future as well as open possibilities for me as an author for not only plot based threats but also character arcs.

Ruiz

I love this chapter. It brings closure to the Hady Ronne plot, while also opening the next phase of Ruiz’s career as the new Commissioner of Police. Ruiz is my absolute favorite character. As a family man I try to keep him as grounded as possible and show what that truly means in a city like Portents.

It isn’t all sunny and rosy here either, though. Eagle-eyed readers will note what the chiming of the bells means for the future. I won’t say it here but go back and check out Pathways in the Dark for clues to what Ruiz’s actions at Saint Sebastian’s might mean for our heroes down the line.

Loren

This is as open as it gets with a character. A new apartment, no job, but a new partner in the mix and unfettered access to the Library of the Luminaries?

The possibilities are ENDLESS.

I was so excited to close out Loren’s past in this book, to finally put to rest the great mystery of what happened to his wife. I am, of course, scared to death to find out where he goes from here. He’s the one question mark in the whole series, the human side to Soriya’s supernatural–but I can’t wait to take that journey with him.

Soriya

………

What? Did you think I’d spill the beans on what happens next?

I miss Soriya. I miss her brusque attitude, her need to fight, her struggle to learn. Her choices led to this end, something I first noted back in Tales from Portents when I was drafting. This was what was GOING to happen. There was no avoiding it.

But what comes next?

Wait and see. It’s going to be awesome.

Thank you for reading

These author commentaries are the most fun I have all day. Honest. I love digging into the books and recalling the process behind each decision. There were so many times I thought this wouldn’t work, or that the novels would never stand on their own or even come together in a complete package.

I still deal with that with everything I write.

Greystone, however, was a dream to produce.

Thank you for taking the ride with me and I hope to see you again on the next one.

A Circle of Shadows Commentary – Standish’s Late Addition

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The end of the year is fast approaching and so is this author commentary on A Circle of Shadows! SPOILER WARNING ahead!

Robert Standish

I love a good foil for the hero. I really enjoy trying to find their polar opposite and build them up. For Greg Loren, there is no character more despised than Robert Standish. I needed someone able to push Loren’s buttons, someone able to do things so heinous (and get away with them) that the reader couldn’t help but hate.

A little history…

Standish was a one-off character, much like Pratchett who I wrote about last week. He was meant to be nothing more than a memory, something in the background as the reason for Loren’s removal from the force. When I finished Signs of Portents and realized Tales would be a prequel style collection, I had the opportunity to expand on those memories; to really dig into the Standish character and his relationship with Loren.

In Tales, readers were able to see their first meeting, realize they were partners for a time, and then see the partnership dissolve in explosive fashion with Resurrectionists. Arc completed. End of story.

Never say never

Standish wasn’t meant to be in A Circle of Shadows. Honest.

In the outline and first couple of scripts, the man in the shadows, the man manipulating Myers was Julian Harvey.

Why? Exactly. I had no clue as to the proper motivation behind such an act. It didn’t make sense. At all.

I thought about the Luminary. Maybe she fit the bill better but that didn’t feel right either. What did she stand to gain from it? Why would she care about Loren at all, her focus was always on the Greystone.

Who hated Loren enough to want to end his career? Who was motivated and greedy enough to blackmail others to do their dirty work?

Standish was the only man for the job.

How his role evolved.

At first, that was the end of his involvement. He was messing with Myers to bring down Loren. Easy peasy.

Yet it didn’t seem enough. Not for Standish. He wouldn’t settle for a small bit in the drama. He needed a big role. So as I was piecing together members of each organization–from the Heads of Cerberus to the Circle of Shadows and everyone in between, I decided to make him the middle man.

He was the one playing all sides against each other. The mass-manipulator. The grandstanding cheat of it all.

I loved the idea.

Lessons learned:

I’d say never let anything (or any character, in this case) go to waste. The truth of the matter is that while each book grew progressively easier to craft thanks to the characters established in prior installments, there is something to be said with serendipity. I have to believe fate plays a hand in things and that, while a master craftsman might see all the angles and swear to them from the start, I will never be quite that adept and hope above all things that the story makes itself known to me as we go along.

Sure as hell makes for a fun ride that way.

A Circle of Shadows Commentary – Pratchett

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Huge SPOILERS ahead!!! You’ve been warned! We’re talking about big doings from A Circle of Shadows.

John Pratchett

Pratchett, to me, was one of the most fun aspects of writing Greystone. He started out as a nothing character. A one-off bit player, built around some comedy relief. Every appearance by him in Signs of Portents is played for comedic value.

It’s important to have characters like that. It’s a change of pace. Not everything has to be grim and gritty. There can be some light.

Well, with Pratchett’s frequent comedic riffs came some depth to the big lug. He’s a baseball fan, for one. Did you know that? I didn’t until the scene showed up in Signs out of the blue. I looked at that chapter and the other instances in that opening novel and realized there is something here.

This is someone to explore.

The growing role

Pratchett was a driver basically. Loren didn’t drive so someone had to take him places. That was Pratchett.

When it came time to explore Tales from Portents, to dig into the lore of the cast and the city, Pratchett came to the surface again. First it was in Resurrectionists. He’s the one at Loren’s side after the disgruntled detective’s fight with Standish. He’s the one defending the man when everyone else looks the other way.

That was an important moment for me. Not in the writing, but in figuring out the motivation behind it.

During Tales, we also learn he’s the nephew of Julian Harvey. I liked the connection between the two and it set up much of what followed.

The Medusa Coin afforded me the chance to bring Pratchett more to the forefront. He’s partnered with Myers and has some of the best bits of dialogue in the book. His joke with Frankie about the zeros and ones on the beach still cracks me up. (I have problems. I’m aware…)

It wasn’t until Pathways in the Dark that I realized who John Pratchett was to Loren. Why he was always around out of everyone on the force. Why he cared for, and fought for, Loren so much.

He killed Loren’s wife.

Truth time!

I didn’t map this out ahead of time. A friend used to ask all the time if I knew who killed Beth and I always played it off with a non-answer like “You’ll see” or “That would be telling.”

I had no fudging idea.

There were plenty of options. A monster of some kind. A deeper threat that tied eventually to the Circle of Shadows.

None felt right. None gave the event meaning or broke the characters down as much as a true tragedy.

Pratchett’s mistake, his error in judgment, spoke volumes compared to all other options on the table.

Why? I love Pratchett!

Me too. I do. I love him more now, because of everything he’s been through, because of the journey to get there, than I ever did in Signs. He was no one special, just a background face for Loren to connect with at a crime scene or in the office.

But once that event came into focus. Once it hit me what actually happened and how it tied to the Circle and so many other things, it made me appreciate this fun-loving goof so much more.

He might have fallen like so many others in the end but he truly defined the first half of the series for me. A man pushing through his inner-darkness, his great mistake, and bringing light back to the city of Portents.

Thanks for reading.

A Circle of Shadows Commentary – Loss and Sacrifice

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The author commentary of A Circle of Shadows continues! SPOILERS AHEAD!

Theme in a larger sense…

I always hated this part of English Lit; determining the theme of a work. How do you summarize 300 plus pages into a single overall concept?

Now I can’t help but do it constantly. Much to my chagrin.

Big picture, Greystone has always been, to me, about good against evil. About standing for something, about being a light against the constant darkness. Loren and Soriya made up the light and with it they battled the shadows of Portents for the safety of all others.

Constant. Never yielding. No matter the menace. No matter the cost.

Loss and sacrifice.

Death holds meaning.

It has to, and I’ve done my best to exemplify this throughout the series. Soriya’s ruminations on death, on the concept of the afterlife as it ties to the ever-present Bypass, are constantly in the background of the stories. She is always wondering about coming back, about bringing people back, about righting the wrongs of those she’s lost over the years.

That need, those conversations early on in Signs of Portents and Tales from Portents, paved the way to the finale of this novel.

Soriya’s fear of death, that early memory of Gilgamesh taking the soul of the girl in the orphanage, made it clear this was a fight she needed to face.

And ultimately lose.

Not by surrendering and not by defeat. But by sacrificing herself for her ideals; for Portents.

For Loren more than anyone.

Killing a major character.

I didn’t want to shy away from this. I tried, Lord I tried, to change it. There are some terribly written hospital scenes buried somewhere in my recycle bin if you want the evidence.

Truth be told, I think death for Soriya was just another journey and she was willing to take it now more than ever.

She stopped the threat, survived the menace of the Heads of Cerberus, and had nothing left to give.

Loss and sacrifice. What Greystone means to me. For the greater good, sure, but for ourselves more than anything. The betterment of ourselves. Never out of fear but love.

When Soriya tosses the Greystone out to Loren, knowing the journey continues for him; knowing he will pick up the mantle and do the work she has since she was four, she lets go of the world with love in her heart and a smile on her face.

The way any of us would like to go.

So what happens next?

I want to tell you. Really, I do. But I won’t. There are clues in the books. Things Soriya has said herself about the Bypass and what lies beyond the veil.

Is Soriya’s story done?

What do you think?

A Circle of Shadows Commentary – The Dark Luminary

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The author commentary continues! Learn more about the Dark Luminary’s origins below and as always… THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!

The birth of a villain

I love the structure behind an arc. While I tire of the model used everywhere, especially on network television shows, there is something cool about understanding the evolution of a threat from beginning to end.

When I realized Soriya’s adventures could take on a series of novels, I began planting seeds about the monster to come. Monsters, if you’re being technical, as A Circle of Shadows came first in my mind in terms of the big bad at the end of the journey.

That changed over time. With the very first draft of The Medusa Coin, this one coming back in 2012, I understood the need for a figure in the background. I had Nathaniel Evans return in Signs. Then Henry Erikson stumbles upon the Medusa coin in the next installment. But how did they connect? How did each figure out what they needed most?

The answer was simple. They didn’t. Someone else did.

With that revelation I had my seed. Someone was creating this chaos in Portents. A figure in the shadows was manipulating figures for their own end.

But to what end could it be?

Enter Karen Winters.

There is a very specific chapter in The Medusa Coin where I figured out where I was headed. It was a flashback of Soriya’s first trip to the Library of the Luminaries. She learns of the coin, but while she does this, she also overhears the other members of the group discuss a dark light among them.

In truth, this was meant to be a seed explored in a spin-off series of adventures staring the Luminaries. It still might in some way or another, but it left me with this thread.

I had to pull it. I always have to pull the damn thread.

When you start to think about your villain, your big bad, the best way is to conceive of the polar opposite of your heroes. But they can’t just be evil. They can’t only have hate in their hearts. They make choices, same as everyone.

That is the key to solving them and where Karen Winters was born.

Her introduction in the prologue of A Circle of Shadows was more a way for me to figure out her motivation than anything else. It was as simple as her last line in the chapter:

“I hope for the light and prepare for the darkness.”

Everything else is irrelevant. This is her mindset and it carries her through the novel. With each indiscretion comes a rationalization. With each death, a purpose. For the greater good.

Just like the Circle of Shadows.

Just like Soriya and Loren.

How she changed…

Most of the story unfolded the same as intended. Snippets grew in the telling. Backstory was necessary, her drive for knowledge crucial to come across throughout the narrative.

For the most part, however, Karen Winters stayed the same as she always had in my mind. Driven by knowledge and a desire to control said information. Was she benevolent? Would she have aided mankind with the secrets of the infinite?

Doubtful.

But in her eyes, there would always be a reason for keeping a secret or two.

Your thoughts?

If you go back to the very first book, you’ll see Karen Winters in the background. In Signs, it is during Mentor’s journey through the Bypass. In The Medusa Coin, it is in the first chapter with Henry Erikson finding the coin at his bedside.

Shoot me an email at lou@loupaduano.com. I’d love to hear your thoughts on Karen and her journey.

Thanks for reading.

A Circle of Shadows Commentary – Julian Harvey

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The author commentary continues for A Circle of Shadows! SPOILER WARNING is in effect. BIG TIME!

The moment everything changed.

So there I was, writing my way through The Medusa Coin. I had a clear line to A Circle of Shadows. I knew the mystery involved and the threats. The conflicts and the resolutions. To some degree at least.

At that moment, I needed an ending. I needed to make The Medusa Coin as strong as it could be by knowing without a doubt my final destination at the end of the arc. So I outlined like a son of a gun to position myself in the strongest spot possible.

I had my Circle of Shadows. I understood their motivation and had them in the mix as the primary threat in the novel. They worked WITH the Luminary originally, manipulated throughout until their collapse.

Then I started thinking about who should be in the circle. And everything changed.

Circling back…

I like callbacks to previous stories. Locations are used in new ways but are meant to harken to earlier times. The apartment building at the end of Signs of Portents is one such spot. Having the lightning strike in The Medusa Coin and then showing the result of the damage with Thel in A Circle of Shadows shows progression but also lets the reader know everything matters.

This goes for characters as well.

When thinking about members of the circle, I wanted some names. I wanted people readers from the beginning would recognize and immediately understand.

Julian Harvey was there right from the start. When it came to Harvey’s involvement I knew there was no underling role for him. He was a leader in his own right. That revelation brought with it a complete rewriting of my thinking about the circle and its purpose.

No longer was the Luminary involved. No longer were they manipulated. They were a power in the city, doing what they believed to be right as a counterpoint to Soriya’s methods.

Julian Harvey explains this in the book. They handle the threats Soriya and Loren don’t even realize exist. They are the front line not hiding in the shadows but keeping the rest of the city in the dark about the truth. For their safety. For their protection.

For the good of all. The same as Soriya and Loren only different.

In their eyes, too different and that is the center of the conflict between the two parties.

The impact on Trustfall

As I’ve said many times, outlining ahead to reach your destination and strengthen your current position really does help your writing. Knowing Harvey’s ultimate role in A Circle of Shadows made Trustfall all the more important.

When I was putting this book together I was also writing Pathways in the Dark. Ruiz’s story was a simple case of an overprotective father and his college-bound daughter. When I realized the villain of the piece and the foil in the guise of Zoe’s professor, I saw an opening for the return of Harvey.

Not only a callback to The Great Divide, but also as a precursor to A Circle of Shadows. To reacquaint the reader with the character and how he fit into Ruiz’s life, but also provide motivation for his choices to come.

One character can change everything.

Without Harvey, Pratchett wouldn’t be involved in the circle. Without Pratchett’s involvement the tension changes completely in the story. His motivation shifts, Loren’s does the same, and everything threatens to fall apart.

One character can be the linchpin and for A Circle of Shadows, I thank Julian Harvey for playing that role.

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