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

Founder’s Day Commentary – Lessons from the Dead

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This is it! The final author commentary for Pathways in the Dark! One last look at Founder’s Day. SPOILER WARNING is in effect!

Lessons from the dead

This is an important theme for the series. It is best exemplified by Loren’s dreams. In them, Beth provides a story for Loren – offering him a choice. These are lessons being imparted to him and what they mean are coming to light in a few weeks with A Circle of Shadows.

What I failed to realize is that the dead hold lessons for more players in the series. What our main characters learn from them puts them on a path to the next novel, to the next moment in time.

It is a tried and true theme throughout the series. One never intended, but a vital one to the cast.

It started with Mentor…

As you’ll come to learn, pretty much everything starts with Mentor. His lessons, the small flashbacks imparted on Soriya allow her to realize her shortcomings and see where she needs to improve.

There is more to it, I promise. There are secrets coming to light down the line that show in greater detail the impact this fallen teacher on the lives of our cast.

But it started with his lessons. His tutelage. When he died he set her on a certain path, one she believes is built on disappointment and failure at not being able to save him. On not being able to protect Portents to the best of her ability.

It grows from that and where it ends next month will surprise some of you. Others will understand this is merely a natural progression of what Mentor taught her for so many years in the Bypass Chamber.

Ruiz and Edgar

I never made the connection until putting together this blog. Edgar Rusch fulfills this role for Ruiz in The Medusa Coin. He plays the role of mentor for one chapter and it is all it takes to push Ruiz forward in his arc.

Edgar badgers his old friend about coming clean with Michelle about things. Ruiz brushes it off but then Edgar dies and he is left with that lesson.

Those dying words of his best friend.

The lessons of the dead end up being vital to our present course. They propel this cast to make heavy decisions that impact the narrative on a fundamental level.

Ruiz takes a leave of absence because of his friend’s words. Because of the lesson imparted before his demise.

Loren and Crowne

I wanted that moment for these two players as well. Where the others have positive experiences to draw upon (debatable with Soriya, I know, but there were plenty of good memories mixed with the disappointment) I wanted to show Loren and Crowne as the opposite of this dynamic.

Crowne shows Loren the downside of obsession, of living in the past. Loren tries to pull him out, to force him to look forward, but can’t because of his own failings. They can’t lift each other up.

They can only fall into darkness.

That final conversation with Crowne, the anger behind his every word, mirrors Loren’s from stories like Resurrectionists and Gremlins.  At this moment, after Crowne falls, Loren can’t help but feel responsible. He can’t help but see the failure in trying to help and not being able to because of his own inadequacy.

But down the line? Will this be a lesson that propels Loren forward or will be wallow in defeat? Will he look forward? Will he follow the lessons offered by the dead and change?

A Circle of Shadows arrives on September 11th. Why not give it a read and find out?

 

Founder’s Day Commentary – Deleted Scene

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The end is in sight! The author commentary continues for Founder’s Day with a look at a deleted scene left on the cutting room floor. SPOILER WARNING is in effect!

The original ending…

deleted sceneSometimes a tale has a clearly defined ending. There is an arc and everything circles around to its end in an orderly fashion.

Other times? Not so much.

Founder’s Day was the latter. I had the climax of the story in place. Richard Crowne’s fall and the treachery of Samantha Myers. But I went further by circling to the beginning of the story.

The story opens with a baby being left alone by his dragon of a father. Hey, someone has to go out and get diapers and wipes for the kid…

Anyway, the original ending had Loren visit the kid – now in Child Protective Services – to see the impact of his work and the choices made by not only the kid’s father but in effect Crowne as well.

Chapter 24

The Child Services Center was quiet. Loren’s heavy footfalls boomed against the instilled hush and he slowed upon entering. Sleep eluded him, another day lost to a dream that offered no solace.

No answers to the questions plaguing him from all sides. A Circle of Shadows. Soriya. Myers and the secrets he held from her. And now Richard Crowne. His friend for so long, lost to the past. A past he could never escape.

Loren needed to do better. To move forward. To build instead of tear down. There had to be a way but the questions were born of the past and he couldn’t leave them behind without closure.

The nurse at the front desk looked up from her paperwork, a smile greeting his arrival. Monitors kept track of the rooms down the hall, the camera shifting between occupants in regular intervals. The sound kept to a minimum to keep their charges resting.

Loren pointed to the child in question. “Can I see him?”

The baby curled up along the railing of the crib, thumb secure between his lips. The nurse’s persistent smile grew at the sight. “He’s resting.”

“Someone should,” Loren muttered.

“Sir?”

Loren shook his head and showed his badge. “I only need a minute.”

She hesitated then nodded, leading him along the hall. They stopped at the end, the half glass door offering him a view of the temporary nursery of Bartleby Kindt’s son.

His name was Davon.

Eight months old and his life forever changed by the events of the last few days. Forever linked to the past, to the sins of his father. Would he suffer from the same affliction? Would he walk down the same path? Would he never escape the shadows haunting his every step?

Loren worried. Hell, he worried about everything lately. All the choices made, the secrets kept and those kept from him. And everything still to come. Yet looking at the sleeping infant in the crib, Loren hoped.

“He’ll be all right?”

“Sure,” the nurse whispered. “A good home. A good life. All we can ask for, right?”

Loren nodded and the woman moved back to the front desk, giving him a moment with the child. A new home. Family and friends. Dreams and accomplishments that swallowed up the darkness already behind him. A new beginning. Loren hoped for the same, a way to break from the past and start again. Away from the burden of Portents and the darkness of every path forward.

An impossible dream for him but maybe not forever.

Greg Loren hoped the child would find a better way. A way to bring a little light back to the city.

He hoped they both could in the end.

Why remove this deleted scene?

It ended on hope. That was not the message being sent with this story. It’s what we all wish for in the end but here? Loren is in a dark place. Myers even more so.

Ending with this notion of the future doesn’t work, tonally.

Taking out this story beat to keep the focus on Myers and her decision to betray Loren not only sets up events in A Circle of Shadows but nails the tone of the story for the reader. It’s ominous. It’s dark.

And it shows that maybe there isn’t light in the future for everyone. Maybe the choices we make have to be dark at times.

Why write the deleted scene in the first place?

Happy endings are nice. They are clean and leave the reader content that their hero/heroine will come out on top of the problems plaguing them.

Not exactly a spot on description of where Loren is right now in Greystone. And I realized pretty quickly. Just not fast enough to avoid writing this scene.

I thought it would add hope to a hopeless situation; a light at the end of the tunnel.

Not realizing the darkness to come.

Tone trumped all concerns in this case and it won’t be the only time this happens. There is a story you’ll be seeing in a year or two with a similar situation. The tone is key and leaving Myers in the woods, stepping along the darkened path slammed the image home for me.

Founder’s Day Commentary – The New Dynamic Duo

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The Founder’s Day author commentary continues with a look at the new dynamic duo of the series: Loren and Myers! SPOILER WARNING ahead.

Meet the new team

One of my favorite elements of Founder’s Day, and one of my main reasons for writing the story, was the chance to see Loren and Myers working together.

It’s the first chance we have to see them as partners. How they interact, how they bounce off each other, and grate each other, were all pieces I wanted to fit into the story.

Samantha Myers versus Soriya Greystone

I didn’t want the debate. There didn’t need to be a who is better as Loren’s partner fight. We already know the answer to that. It’s why the series opens with Soriya and Loren. This is their story and always will be.

So how to make it different with Myers on the team?

This is why I included the opening with them looking for Bartleby Kindt. I wanted to show Loren as the senior member of the team and the mistakes made due to the new dynamic of working with Myers.

He is hesitant to bring her fully into the fold, using what he’s learned from Soriya. He doesn’t want the same fights he used to cause as the grounded character and it ends up leading to trouble.

It’s a playful moment in a pretty dark story.

The strength in the procedural…

This was the other element I was happy to be able to explore with Founder’s Day. The procedural has always been fascinating to me. I love the structure of it and the way it feeds from exposition to action or character piece.

Watch an episode of Bones and you’ll see this worked seamlessly into every lab scene. It either opens with the character piece and then dives into the exposition to advance the case or the other way around. Every single time. (My wife thinks it is hilarious that I watch for the character and not the technical aspects of the case.)

That’s what I wanted to showcase here. How these two operate in comparison to Soriya, how they take apart a case and how they use each other’s foibles to play off each other.

The honest truth

I love Myers. I find writing her a treat and wish I could squeeze her into every scene. Having this small moment in time, this incredibly critical moment in the series to put the spotlight on her dynamic with Loren was an absolute blast.

How things go from here will have to wait until A Circle of Shadows arrives on September 11th…

Founder’s Day Commentary – Challenges Part 2

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Welcome back to the Founder’s Day author commentary! SPOILER WARNING for those just joining in.

As I mentioned last time, there were a number of challenges in putting together this tale. Not only was Founder’s Day meant to the centerpiece of the collection, it also set up events in A Circle of Shadows, served as a sequel to Resurrectionists AND had to play as an entry point into the series.

(It failed on the last point…)

Part of that failure came because of an integral part of the series was not present in the story.

Where the hell was Soriya Greystone?

One of the main characters was missing? Not my brightest idea, to be sure.

There were many reasons behind her absence. Collateral set up their separation. This tale was an extension of that divide, one put in place by Loren.

That is the story level reason. My own reason was to keep the interplay locked on Loren and Myers. To keep the story grounded in the detective side of things for a change and see how the plot developed.

It was meant to offer a different view of Portents, one where the crazy isn’t so obvious or easily explained thanks to having Soriya right there with an answer.

Coming from a narrative standpoint, for where the story falls in the series, this choice made complete sense.

From an entry point perspective? Not at all. Again, this is one of the many challenges I had in putting together the story. While I eventually let Founder’s Day out into the wilds of publication as its own entity, I struggled with the decision for months because of questions like these.

Would Soriya have strengthened the narrative? Not in this case. Not with where the character’s are in their story. Loren’s made the choice to avoid her until he can figure out the meaning behind the photo given to him by Myers. If Soriya entered into the story thanks to the high profile murders it would have derailed Loren’s story and even his growing relationship with Myers.

Something I will talk about next time…

The title debacle…

Founder’s Day isn’t grammatically correct. So not only was I dealing with my own qualms about the narrative I had to deal with the title as well.

I should have been fine changing it to Founders’ Day. It’s fine but that damn apostrophe bothered me. I spent an entire day figuring out how to keep the title as Founder’s Day and eventually realized that because of the multiple founders involved, because of the parade in honor of the day it works as Founder’s Day.

It’s things like this that make it impossible to sleep sometimes!

Griping done!

That’s never the intention behind the author commentary. I did want to showcase the challenges in this tale, however. It’s important, especially for any writers out there, to realize that not every story comes together without some real difficulties. Not always in the telling but in how it is packaged, how it is released into the world.

Founder’s Day was an eye-opener for me. Do I remain proud of the work? Absolutely.

Do I wish I would have done things a little differently when releasing it? Definitely.

And those lessons will be carried over to the DSA series when it comes out.

Founder’s Day Commentary – Challenges Part 1

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Welcome back to the Founder’s Day author commentary! SPOILER WARNING ahead and some insight into the challenges in putting together a series…

Wearing too many hats.

Writing a series can turn into an enormous mess sometimes. One would imagine when putting events together things would flow in a linear fashion. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. There are greater concerns tucked in the background of the writing process, unseen by the reader.

Which is probably where I should keep this blog but I prefer to share my troubles (and triumphs) when I can.

Founder’s Day had the unfortunate place in the series of wearing too many hats.

Instead of being the centerpiece of Pathways in the Dark, it was also the sequel to Resurrectionists.

Instead of offering a complete narrative, it also had to set up events to come in A Circle of Shadows.

Instead of being contained within Pathways in the Dark solely, it was also a free novella offered to readers and retailers.

And the story had to fill each of these needs; each of these roles.

Did it succeed?

I don’t think it did. I like the story. I enjoy the interplay between the characters and the mystery attempted to be solved. There are, in fact, a number of strong points in the tale:

The opening with the “dragon.”

Samantha Myers standing shoulder to shoulder with Loren.

The murders and subsequent mythology behind their deaths.

I enjoyed all the aspects of the story and putting them together was a treat.

Where did it fail then?

In standing on its own. There is a beginning, middle and end, sure. But when it comes to looking at Founder’s Day, there is no way to read it without some knowledge of the series.

I know that is the point of writing a series. Starting from book one and going, but for this to work as a free novella to draw in new readers Founder’s Day had to be its own thing. And it couldn’t because of the restrictions I had placed on it.

On the hats the tale was forced to wear.

It still works…

Reading through Pathways in the Dark, the tale still offers readers a great little story. It opens the door to A Circle of Shadows and pulls in the history offered by Signs of Portents and Resurrectionists.

On its own? As a free novella? As an entry point to the series?

I blew it on that front. I’ll be the first to admit it. I needed the story to do too much in too limited a space and then added the horrible idea of offering it as an entry point to the series.

Probably my biggest mistake of the series. And the fault is mine, not the narrative.

Lesson learned.

Next time!

Challenges Part 2 – Where the hell was Soriya? And what’s the deal with the title?

Founder’s Day Commentary – Starting Points

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We’ve arrived at last! The final short story contained within Pathways in the Dark! I’m going to dig deep into this story so SPOILER WARNING ahead for this author commentary…

Founder’s Day

This story was always going to be in Pathways in the Dark. At the end of Resurrectionists I left the door open on a number of threads that eventually had to come to light. Figuring out the narrative, structuring the story of Founder’s Day had to be one of the greatest challenges of the entire series.

Starting Points

The Founder was my way into the story. In the initial draft of Resurrectionists, the Founder was taken into custody. His history came out at the end, his work at the Church of the Second Coming on full display for the public.

It didn’t work.

It sucked the life out of the scene. Instead of the story centering on the shattered life of Loren it became about this cloaked cult-like figure and how he managed to wake the dead.

I scrapped it for the simpler solution. He escaped and was still looming in the background.

How to bring him back?

If the Founder was my starting point, this question was the first of an indescribable amount of challenges in plotting the story. Why would this man come back?

The murders built from this.

I love detective fiction. I love building crime scenes and going through evidence; finding new ways to offer up exposition while also strengthening character moments. Signs of Portents was built from this love and I wanted to circle back to those good old days with some classic detective work on Loren’s part.

Signs of Portents’ influence…

For me, nothing was better than building the history of Portents. From Nathaniel Evans to the ebony tower, from the Corridor to the Courtyard, all had their place in the expansive history of this fictional city.

When developing the murders, when playing with the idea of the return of the Founder, I realized I could play with that concept on multiple fronts.

Make the murders about the Founders of the city. Make the city in the midst of celebrating a Founder’s Day celebration. All little tidbits to hint at the mysterious figure in the background. All feeding into the main threat, while also returning to the roots of the series and the history tucked behind the narrative.

The Evans line, Patrick Hennessey, Wilbur Caldwell, William Rath. Some fictional, some real to the people of Portents. All important to the past, the beginning of Portents. History matters in this world and that was what I wanted to touch on here in Founder’s Day.

Next time:

Challenges Part 1 – The many roles this story was forced to play…

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