So now I have to start writing book two of my series. And boy, that’s a wide-open operation. You see I wrote the book based on the idea of a father’s revenge. And all the stuff that grew out of that was seat of the pants writing that came to me as things that would make the story more fun. I invented Connors to give Bogey a powerful friend who owed him. I invented Cutter to facilitate the impossible task of Bogey being invisible to the surveillance state. I invented Chastain to have a conflicted antagonist to provide resistance to the protagonist but also acknowledge the justice of his cause. All of these major characters and the plot elements they involve just grew out of the desire to tell Bogey’s story in an interesting and dramatic way. But Bogey’s crusade is over. He won. He steps out of the center stage. Now what?
It’s not an easy question to answer because I need a direction to go. Certain things are now baked in. The United States government nuked some of its own citizens. A shadowy tech giant took down Washington DC with a technology nobody (including me!) truly understands. This weakened United States is struggling to hold onto the allegiance of many states that have seen its unjust criminal actions exposed and want to free themselves from its tyrannical control. That’s a lot of stuff going on. It’s like the cue ball hitting the racked balls on the nose and scattering them across the table. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put things back together again. So, we have to dodge around the flying wreckage and wait for the ricochets to subside before planning the next move. Of course, I could cheat and place the next story five, ten or even twenty years into the future and announce some faits accomplis as ancient history. And I know that is the lazy way out but, after all, I am an extremely lazy man.
But all of that is still only the window dressing of the story. Hanging together a future history is relatively easy. What I really need is another character with as compelling a problem as Bogey had with his son. But really the two elements are linked. Bogey’s problem grew out of the injustice of the society he lived in and his war against this injustice gives the story its trigger but the larger effect also has to be an interesting story too. So, I need another personal story wrapped up in the tumult I have set loose on my imaginary world. So, what I’m looking for is a personal story that is tied up in the larger actions that I’ve unleashed and that takes the world in a direction I think will be interesting and lead to further stories and actions beyond. The only problem is where to start. Hmmm.
“I fear I have nothing to suggest at the moment, sir.”
“Come, come, Jeeves!”
“I fear not, sir. Possibly after I have seen the lady—-“
“You mean, you want to study the psychology of the individual and what
not?”
“Precisely, sir.”