This has been torture to write, but I’ve finally got it in a shape where it’s properly flowing and moving. Considering this chapter had to be dreamed up on the fly to replace the original story idea I dumped, it’s a miracle it got this far. Several serious scene overhauls, multiple tweaks, dropping a character completely… yeah. Wow. Janky.
Fortunately I think the end result works. Plus, it’s longer than I thought it’d be — this is at the core a very simple story, “Penelope makes friends and goes on an adventure,” but I haven’t even gotten to the adventure yet and we’re at 57k. So… yay? Shame it’s not NaNoWriMo right now.
You can get complete details on how this chapter evolved and changed when the printed book is released. Every chapter has extensive author’s notes, laying down the thought process behind each story and how they transformed from early concept to final work. ETA to release is… kind of a long ways, but hey, something to look forward to.
So, how’s this workin’ for ya so far? The kids are all right.
BONUS CONTENT: I also did a timeline table so I could keep track of how old everybody was during key events in the City of Angles history. Minor spoilers and teases ahoy! This is a revision of the simpler table I posted two weeks ago. (If you saw this on twitter earlier, check again, I’ve revised it.)
Mike says
I completely missed the detail of them finding penny in the sideways the first time I read it. All you stories seem to start with a small happening (ray guns showing up where they should’t be, almost getting hit by an interdimensional house, one fight too many) and then grows exponentially into world changing events. I can’t wait to see how all this pulls together.
Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne says
I like to seed earlier stories with hints of what’s to come, so that you can dig more meaning out of them on subsequent readings. There’s a lot of that here, too — once you finish the first volume of CoA some things in //001 will click in new and interesting ways.
(Tip: For instance, on that timeline I posted, everybody uses 0E or 0C to indicate they were born in the city or on earth. Penny’s is just a 0…)
I will admit to one slight of hand… I hadn’t locked in whether Penny was found as an infant or was in fact Gregory’s daughter, or even exactly what happened to her mother. I left it open so I could make it a plot point later. Now I have a game plan, so I’m able to start dropping in hints along the way to a full reveal.
StClair says
And there’s a creepy doll
That always follows you…