From: A_Tina_Hall@kruemel.org   
      
   On 22.12.18, Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)   wrote:   
   > On 12/22/18 6:21 AM, A. Tina Hall wrote:   
   >> On 21.12.18, Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)     
   >>> On 12/19/18 7:07 AM, A. Tina Hall wrote:   
      
   >>>> Mind, I'd not mind adding to the story, but once I got 3 books   
   >>>> with around 200k words each (can't have the third be less, would   
   >>>> feel wrong) and an end I see as end, I call it, well, "that's the   
   >>>> end of the trilogy".   
   >>   
   >>> I think that a book's length is its length. I believe that in two   
   >>> of my trilogies the third book was shorter than either of its   
   >>> predecessors. Try not to get chained to the word count.   
   >>   
   >> Sounds reasonable to suggest that. It's just that I'd feel bugged if   
   >> it were a bigger difference than, say, 30% less.   
      
   > I can understand that.   
      
   > Is there a secondary or not-quite-protagonist character who has   
   > enough importance to the plot that THEIR story could be added into   
   > the mix? That's how I got my superhero novel _Legend_ to a reasonable   
   > novel length; a character who was important but had been sidelined   
   > got her own chapters, and that brought the length well up.   
      
   One? The story is multiple tight third, I got plenty characters, and   
   viewpoints showing things from their side. Lots of stories and   
   histories. :)   
      
   Though past experiences are shown in dreams - the Night tribe can work   
   on a person's dream (with them aware, normally) to have them face   
   traumas and help them that way.   
      
   Around 20 viewpoints in book 3 so far, showing where everyone is. Most   
   have had viewpoints in the past books, too. One is new, an attempt to   
   get things rolling again, but first I had not much idea what to show,   
   meandering over the festival from viewpoint to viewpoint in hope of   
   inspiration, and now that I have that (with the meteor, and the latest   
   character) I need to determine something before I can continue.   
      
   And then I still wonder what to fill the rest with. Or rather, how to   
   span 15 years.   
      
   Let me ramble on a bit...   
      
   They're all meeting again for a festival on the longest day of the year,   
   so that in the evening, even while it's still light, it's at least   
   technically already night (to allow for all tribes to be comfortable).   
      
   Brian's post had me compare his character's planned vacation with that   
   festival, and they'd truly not know what to with any of it. They   
   wouldn't know what 'shopping' is, even. They don't have money, and only   
   one tribe does bargains. [1]   
      
   They have tents of each tribe in the tribe's colour put up with food,   
   they do displays for kids and interested adults, magic (like sparkling   
   lights) and non-magic (like juggling), chatting, meeting friends from   
   other tribes,...   
      
   The whole thing takes place on a new territory that was built in the   
   previous book to allow for people from different tribes living together.   
   (They all need different living conditions, some are compatible though.)   
      
   A lot of families had been torn apart by the raiders (the bad guys,   
   warped ones). Males and Warriors and kids killed, Breeders and Drones   
   abducted. (The Drones were warped, I keep wondering whether I should add   
   another that resisted - very few did - maybe I should combine that with   
   the idea that the erratic Water Shaman could run into someone on her   
   trips. Hm.)   
      
   Many freed Night Breeders found themselves without a family to return   
   to, and joined Earth families that had lost a Breeder or more. (Night   
   families are 2 Breeders and 1 male, plus neutrals, Earth families are 2   
   Breeders and 2 males, plus neutrals. And Night + Earth makes Night   
   children, to get their numbers back up, Night tribe was hit pretty bad.)   
      
   A lot of freed Magic Breeders decided to find a mate from the Fire tribe   
   to bring the Summer tribe's numbers back up (Magic + Fire = Summer, and   
   the Summer tribe was hit worst. Both Magic and Fire tribe families are   
   just 1 female and 1 male plus neutrals.) Summer tribe is also nearby to   
   help explain weird habits to the Summer kids, so they won't end up   
   thinking their parents don't have all wits together (like some already   
   adult ones with that heritage think of theirs :) ).   
      
   There's a few more odd combinations that now live there, too, that   
   happened mostly in the previous books.   
      
   So I've been meandering from viewpoint to viewpoint, trying to find   
   something to write about (plus that one scene I had in mind while I   
   first got stuck, it just didn't come out as grand as it would have   
   initially been), then I thought the adult Summer Shaman they found at   
   the end of the 2nd book looking into the Water tribe's tent would be a   
   good idea, but got stuck again. Even having more people piling in and   
   eyeing the water hole in there sceptically didn't help. (Neither Summer   
   nor Fire tribe people can swim, due to none of them voluntarily entering   
   any body of water large enough to make learning necessary.)   
      
   Then I got that meteor. But I need to know who told her of it.   
      
   There's that someone she was linked to to fix her, with whom she now has   
   a mental link. They can communicate, share images and/or feelings over   
   any distance. Summer people have the best eyes, so they'd spot the   
   meteor first and tell her. (Reading over it now, I either forgot that or   
   was deliberately vague.) Anyway, I need to know who that is.   
      
   (Priests and Shamans can talk over large distances, though Shamans are   
   hard to contact for the others. And even if I had a Summer Priest she's   
   related to tell her, I'd still need to know who she's linked to.)   
      
   Which brings me back to the scenes I want to add at the start of the   
   story; her being fixed. Initially I had thought her father would be   
   linked to her, but he's already got his brother in his head (from fixing   
   the brother), and even more mind-melting Summer magic -effect in his   
   head would not be a good idea.   
      
   Who else have we got.   
      
   Brother (Summer Lord) who's shares the same father, but he's linked to   
   what humans would call a cousin, to help him. (Yeah, I have a character   
   commenting whether they're now tying everyone together, but it's really   
   not everyone. :) ) The 'cousin' is also there (Summer Priest).   
      
   Brother (Summer Lord) who shares the same mother. I don't know him   
   really, nor her, they and their Warrior sibling (all from the same   
   mother) were just found at the end of the 2nd book. The neutral is not   
   an option, btw.   
      
   A suitable mate they brought along, expecting her to be in heat (which   
   worked out well enough). He's from a different group that hid out.   
   Proper Summer Lord, same age as the Summer Shaman.   
      
   Not-Summer is not an option btw, or I'd list them, too.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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