Author Insight: Episode 4
“Welcome to Dhalma Province”
I really went back and forth about where to start this episode. For a while, I thought it would be cool to drop the reader into the middle of a huge fight between the hunters and a large group of beasts. Even after the idea had turned sour and I wasn’t really into it, for a little while I still felt somewhat obligated to write the episode that way. Luckily, I took the advice of one of the sayings that I keep on a little magnetic plaque above my writing station. “You can write whatever story you want to.” I have that saying in plain sight to remind me that I need to write the kind of stories that are interesting and exciting for me, and just trust that my readers will enjoy them as much as I do.
In the end, I went with the breakfast scene as an opener to this episode, and I’m very glad that I did. I’ve heard other writers describe moments while they’re writing when the characters start doing unexpected things and they can barely keep up with the action in order to write it down. I’ll admit that I don’t have that experience too often, but when I do I always try to capitalize on it. The confrontation between Keltin and Hull Kuley was a surprise to me, as was the way Bor’Ve’Tai got involved. I was actually worried that the fight might give Keltin a little too much of a hard edge, but I realized that the scene doesn’t make Keltin look like a dark hero vigilante, especially when he controls his temper with Sergeant Bracksten. It’s just another example of Keltin’s concern for others and his willingness to get involved, even when it may have been easier to just ignore the problem. It’s a quality I admire in him, and I hope the readers feel the same way.