I know some people are interested in the creative process, so I thought I'd write a bit about how this story came about.
At the beginning of last year, I received a PM from dellstart.
He then suggested a scenario, in a rural pub in England or Australia, where suddenly some Faey walk in and are challenged to a drinking contestwell my friend,I was in the shower last night , and I started thinking about something (I think you wrote) , about us not knowing what the reactions of the 'Average Joe 'on Earth to all the events in the book. So I though up a possible scenario where we could discuss the issue, where else but a pub!
I answered that I also had poor writing skills. (I haven't written fiction since my schooldays)Finally , the ice is cracked and the issues can be disscussed. Humans dislike of subjugation and erosion of human ideals through exposure to the Impirium. etc
Problem is I have shitty writing skills,i could write a draft, but it would need help plus , i wanna see what you come up with and work on it together. It doesn't have to be a book, perhaps a few pages , just a little insight to another part of the universe not touched on by fel.
After that dellstart wrote a draft, and the writing process started. We send each part of a chapter back and forwards several times. We've also done a draft outline for several chapters to come, but keep changing details.
We have completed chapter 8 and are almost done with chapter 9.
It takes us about a month to get a relatively short chapter done. Hats off to Fel for the amount he manages to produce
Dellstart has been the motivating force to keep us going.
Truth is, its been a great challenge. We are trying to keep within the framework of what Fel has described in his books and on the forums - it's not always easy, since key bits of information are scattered across several places. Also there are some inconsistencies - I was totally unable to make the Faey times / dates match up. As Fel has admitted elsewhere, he started writing for fun, and only created a consistent framework much later.
Don't expect the rise and fall of dynasties or empires - we are still trying to show what happened on the ground from the point of ordinary people, something which Fel has largely glossed over. That's not criticism by the way, he is telling his story about the Empire and the rise of the Karrines.
Part of the reason for the slow production of our chapters is that we are doing a lot of research. We have to re-read parts of Subjugation, and its sequels (major chore
), but also I've learned a great deal about the plight of the Karen in Burma and Thailand, I've found and watched videos of butchery of kangaroos and learned a great deal about Australian wildlife (I have visited twice, but it was some years ago). We've even examined Linville from above, using google maps and google earth - (Yes it does exist!)Anyway, I'm glad that people have been enjoying our efforts, and thanks to Fel for letting us play in his universe, and Spec for providing the hosting.
