Science - it's good for you!

A high-ranking member of the fan-girl nation and loyal reader has just sent me some extensive notes on insects and their care and study. She got a bee in her bonnet and dug up some specifics that, had I done my homework earlier, should have added first time through.

I love when my writing makes people want to learn stuff!

So I'll be doing a chapter revision this weekend, and posting here when the reworked chapter goes live. Ah, the advantage of serializing content...the chance to make fixes before an expensive print run. :)

Chapter 5 now up

When I started this novel, I didn't have a particularly strong affinity for Marcus, the Huntsman. I knew he had an arc here. Things needed to be set up for the second novel, Cobalt City Blues, so more than most other characters in Chanson Noir, I knew there was an agenda here.

And I've always been drawn to the archers.

Yet, the character didn't spark for me. Not until Chapter 5.

Then I started laying out a bit of history -- not just his, but that of the mantle of Huntsman. I started to realize that he was unique among my other characters, in that while Simon was old, and Doctor Shadow was older still, Huntsman had the weight of tradition. And it was being carried by such a young man.

By the time the chips get cashed in at the end of the novel, he had become one of my favorite characters. And maybe I'll find time to do something more with him on another project.

Perhaps he needs to meet up with Gato Loco and Snowflake somewhere out on the road.

Only time will tell. In the meantime, I leave you with the unfolding tales of The Protectorate.