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

Saying Goodbye to Old Friends

By

In March 2016, I sat down with a plan in mind. The Greystone Saga. Five books telling the sprawling tale of Soriya Greystone and Detective Greg Loren. The mystery of Bethany Loren’s death at the center of it, the pair faced the mysterious threats hidden under the surface of the city of Portents.

This week I put the final touches on book five. For the first time since this crazy journey began, I was able to put the words – The End – on the page. To say goodbye to old friends that have been with my every thought for the last two years is something I never imagined would be possible. Let alone bittersweet.

The Road Taken…

When I first pitched the series (to an audience of me, myself and I) Soriya was a stay-at-home mother who fought crime with her pal, Loren, while the kids were at school.

Portents existed but it held none of the mystery, none of the secrets, it would eventually come to know.

How it grew, how it changed, is the best part of this wonderful process. I don’t have the answers, I don’t know where my sense of direction stopped and the characters took the wheel. I am damn lucky they did, though.

Soriya has been my strength, my guiding light. Loren has been my resolve, my need for answers. Ruiz, my truth and the parent needed to keep the children in line. Without these three watching over me, driving the story forward, Greystone would never have existed.

As edits wind down on A Circle of Shadows, I find their voices quieting. Never leaving, not completely, because I will never be able to leave Portents for long. There is another story to tell, a larger one yet to be explored with questions that have barely been posed let alone answered.

For now, though, it is time to say goodbye to my old friends.

I am incredibly grateful they have allowed me to tell their story for as long as they have and if I never do get back to Portents, I know I’ve told the best story possible because of who they are as characters, because of the challenges they faced.

The lessons learned during the last two years have made me a better writer. They’ve opened the door to new ways of crafting stories. Character over plot. Not being afraid to upend a scene to find a better way. Questioning everything until the answers speak for themselves in the narrative.

Greystone made all of that possible.

The end for now…

Tom DeFalco was the master of ending his stories like this. Nothing truly ends. There are threads that remain, lives that continue even after we close the book.

That is certainly true for Greystone. Loren, Soriya, Ruiz and all the other players that have grown from that initial pitch have more stories to tell.

As I write this, there are no less than four short stories I’ve added to my schedule that take place in Portents. Some flashbacks, others a bridge to where things are headed in the second half of the series.

Like I said, their voices will never truly leave me. I wouldn’t want them to.

For now, there are new stories to tell. A new series to plot. Another to edit. New worlds and new dramas. But none would be possible without Greystone.

Goodbye old friends. See you soon.

The Medusa Coin Primer

By

It is time to get ready for the next installment in the Greystone series! The Medusa Coin arrives on September 12th!

the medusa coin

Previously in Greystone:

What do you need to know to dive right into The Medusa Coin? For me it is all about character. Events happened in the past, that’s going to be true for any novel, any series, anything. If I met you on the street I would know nothing of your past, only of the moment and everything preceding it would come later – or not. You don’t HAVE to tell me everything. I won’t get upset.

But when it comes to Greystone it all boils down to Greg Loren and Soriya Greystone.

Greg Loren is a broken man. He’s lost his wife, the circumstances of her death a mystery he has been unable to solve over the last four years. He can’t move out of the past despite his efforts to forget everyone and everything. And now that he is back in Portents, the past surrounds him on all sides.

And his dreams are getting worse. Beth calls to him, her fate tied to his future but in what way he still has no idea.

Yet.

Soriya Greystone lost her previous life in the burning wreck of a van at the age of four. Her parents, her very identity were stripped from her in that instant. The man known to her only as Mentor found her and offered her a new path, a new life.

Forged through endless study and struggle, Soriya learned the truth about the city of Portents and its need for a protector. Wielding the enigmatic Greystone and using its power over nature she stands as the last line of defense against the dark creatures of myth and legend that infect the city.

When Mentor fell his stone merged with her own, the secrets of the weapon hidden from her. Her true purpose and that of the object at rest tucked under the heart of Portents, the Bypass, a mystery that keeps her from fulfilling her destiny.

But all secrets come to light.

Nathaniel Evans’ plan to raze Portents to the ground and begin again failed. In its wake, however, new threats have been awoken. New plans put into motion.

The ultimate test for Greg Loren and Soriya Greystone is about to begin.

And it starts with The Medusa Coin…

The lightning struck…

For those who have finished Signs of Portents you know how it ended. The crashing of thunder, the lightning strike of justice ending another threat in Soriya’s city.

That moment changes everything.

You’ll see what I mean next time as a sneak peek into the latest novel.

Thanks for reading.

Remember…

You can pre-order your copy of The Medusa Coin now!

            

 

 

 

Eyes of the Storm Commentary Part 1

By

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.

Building Character Moments

By

I love it when a character takes over a scene. When you hit a moment completely plot based and your character screams to be heard on how they would handle it. Character moments are an essential piece to fiction and can make or break a novel with an audience.

It’s Mulder’s love of sunflower seeds (and his japes with Scully over his porn collection).

It’s Captain Kirk’s womanizing.

Or Twilight Sparkle’s obsession with Star Swirl the Bearded. (Yes. We watch way too much My Little Pony in my house. And yes, it is an awesome show.)

Touchstones, habits, character obsessions or quirks connect them with readers on a more intimate level. Not everyone can really grasp a murder mystery involving two hundred year old spirits – though it would be pretty cool. Instead, having Loren be an ex-smoker and a Superman fan helps ground the character and bring little moments to the story that pull the reader deeper into the plot.

Inserting character moments into your writing.

While they should all come naturally there are some instances when the scene falls flat or uninspired. Too mired in plot that it forgets that there are living, breathing characters in the mix. (And readers on the other side of the page.) In these times, your book practically demands character moments be inserted.

Here are some tips to better flesh out your writing with character moments:

  1. Pull each scene apart. While self-editing your early drafts (or even at the outline level) step back from the plot and question your character’s motivations at the moment. What is the overall goal of the scene? If it is exposition is there a way to deliver it that also speaks to the character conveying or receiving the information? Do they have a catch-phrase or schtick that tends to shine through for them? (Is it Clobberin’ Time yet? as my good friend, Ben Grimm would say?)
  2. Actions can speak louder than words. When looking at each piece of your book is there a place where maybe dialogue isn’t necessary to pass along information and a specific action carries the same weight? One that speaks more to character? In the case of Greystone, Greg Loren chews gum. Loudly. Incessantly so. (Filthy habit.) Having him stop talking to chomp in someone’s ear says something more than a resounding “I’m done talking with you” or “Kindly shut the hell up.” It could also be played for comedic effect. But it adds a character moment to the scene that wasn’t there before.
  3. Play with the dynamics of the scene. Maybe structurally the scene works but the character interactions fall flat. Substitute players when you can to see if the rhythm flows better, or to add that extra bit of interplay between characters. I wrote a scene for The Medusa Coin with Mathers berating Loren over a situation. Then I realized Mathers would never bother even talking to Loren and Ruiz could deliver the information much more effectively. It opened up the scene for some comedy and supported the growing dynamic between two principle characters in the book.

Character moments or bust.

Character moments can create truly memorable scenes that readers share with others. They come to define the book better than any one plot point might.

And they bring your book to life.

Take the extra care with your characters and your reader’s will appreciate it.

Thanks for reading.

Disclaimer: Links throughout this site may be affiliate links. All commission earned through these links go to Eleven Ten Publishing to produce more books for your reading pleasure.

You can view our privacy policy here.

Recent Posts