chapter

[owlmoose]

The next AGL chapter is finished and postedThis is the very definition of a transitional chapter I think. It came out well enough, I suppose, but it's not terribly exciting. Now once again I have to make a decision about what events to cover. I am feeling like I want to detail less rather than more, but will the story feel incomplete if I leave too

Comments

I

[kunstarniki]

Read and reviewed. You underestimate yourself. I think the first third of this is some of your best work.

Re: I

[owlmoose]

Thank you! I should have been more precise; actually I am quite happy with the first section. It's long-written and well polished. It's the rest I'm uncertain of.

The bit where Arelle talks about her reasons for not reconciling with Kera is the conversation I mentioned to you the other day that explains a motivation I had never really fully understood before. Why hadn't she taken refuge with her old friends? It seemed a gap in logic to me; now I know why. I think the reasoning is workable.

BTW, I have been meaning to tell you that I finished the first Flashman book. Thanks for the recommendation; I found it quite enjoyable, although the tone was more serious than I had expected. It occured to me that Flashman is in many ways the antithesis of the men you and I write -- he is cowardly, self-centered, and utterly without honor, yet everything seems to work out to his complete advantage in the end.

I

[kunstarniki]

It is always astonishing to me when something like that - your motive surfacing - happens. I have had a somewhat analogous situation in my recent efforts in that a carefully designed situation has borne fruit which I did not anticipate. It is so obvious once it shows up. !!!

I am glad you liked Flashman. The books are filled with fascinating factoids and, like Gabaldon, MacDonald does his research. The one set in Madagascar is of particular fascination. I believe the scoundrel coming out as a hero is a traditional sub-genre of the picaresque novel and is true to the original Flashman. They are lovely volumes to have hanging around for the odd leisure moment since they make few demands.