Then I thought about it some more . . . NOOOOOO what’s going to happen to her parents?!

On the other hand . . . NOOOOOO what’s going to happen to her, now that she’s all alone without even any friends nearby?!

I hope everything is all right on your side of the world!

The link to Qazyfiction.com from amharte.com is broken. It goes here http://amharte.com/abovegroundseries/aboveground/qazyfiction.com/above-ground/ instead. Which is a file not found.

Jaid ~ Likes the Novella dea. You actualy had some of that before the re-write. I think you called it “bonus material” before you revamped your old site and blog.

Well you’ll be happy to hear that I’ve already decided not to do more than 3 POVs per book. And Lilith will always be one of them. For Between Worlds, when I get back to re-planning it, I’m thinking Lilith, Silver, and maybe someone else (not Emma). We’ll see!

I’ve only just got into Game of Thrones (TV series, not books yet) and I can see what you mean about there being a ton of characters. I am enjoying it, but honestly, I’m far too lazy to follow that many people.

That’s why I’ve been thinking of writing side-novellas, separate from the main series. Like a novella only about Jake & Fang, and another about Rae, etc . . . So anyone who is interested can find out more, anyone who isn’t doesn’t have to read it!

I agree that the Emma chapters add flavor and more importantly, a fascinating peak into the undergrounds political/social backdrop. This of course is the root cause that set the whole story in motion.

I do enjoy the Emma chapters. I do feel they add to the story. My comment was not aimed at what you have written so far. Rather it’s a almost paranoid fear I have developed. Many of my favorite authors have gotten so far off track that the overall epic they are writing gets muddied and lost in translation.
George R.R. Martin is a great example. 10 “main characters” has turned into around 70 or so. One entire book never had a chapter covering any of the original “main” characters we cared about. Even the author admitted he got completely off track with the story he wanted to tell because he went down to many rabbit holes with a ‘character development’ idea. It basically ruined an EPIC adventure and that’s just a shame.

Now to be clear, I DO NOT think you are doing that in Above Ground. I was just voice a concern that really was not founded in any actual reality.

Jaid ~ Thinks you should keep up the excellent work so he can continue to pimp out your books to his friends.

I wish I could draw so I could sketch up all these ideas!

Well I scoured through all the commenter names, and yours was the best fit. At one point in the draft, I did have Emma make a sarky reply about calling the AI ‘kunama’, but it ended up prolonging the conversation a bit too much!

Originally I’d planned for Emma to have nice, normal parents. But somehow I ended up making her mom baby-hungry and alcoholic . . . oops? (Well, it’s not entirely by chance. The baby stuff will come into play later!)

Lilith does remain the protagonist; the bulk of chapters are hers. But Emma’s storyline will set some crucial elements in place for book 2, so it needs to be there.

Silver does see the world through a straw. That’s what makes him fun to write!