7 Sept 2017

The Devil You Know - Commentary 7

Jack showed Ione a photo of someone who shouldn't be alive, in The Devil You Know Chapter 7.

The cliffhanger from the end of Chapter 6 gets resolved right away.  The goal with the end of chapter near-collision was to just keep readers reading.  It shouldn't have been a surprise that it was Jack in the car.  After the two previous appearances where he was somewhat subdued, Jack needed to be Jack.  A bit of flash, a bit of mystery, and charming.

Chapter sizes are going to be uneven.  The Devil You Know wasn't written as a serial, where the goal is to provide decent sized chapters of roughly the same length.  TDYK was conceived as a novel, not a serial, and chapters will be as long as they need.  In 2013, the plan was to write a novel, unlike 2015 with Unruly and 2016 with dba LTV Paranormalists.  With not having to worry about chapter lengths, I could let scenes go as long as needed.  And, I had a better feel for how chapters worked, unlike Lethal Ladies.

Ione does have a difficult decision here.  The mystery man who caused the explosion in Paris did destroy illegal weapons.  He did the same in Marseilles.  Whoever he is, his actions seem to be a net good.  Problem is, innocents could be hurt.  The criminals being hit might escalate and against the wrong people.  Not to mention the people Ione was working with at the beginning; they were doing their jobs when they were killed.  Welcome to the no-win situation, Ione.

I slipped in a favourite gag.  I failed a Will save there.  "Don't call me Shirley," is right out of Airplane!  Ione wanted to deflate Jack a bit.  It's right up there with, "What do you make of this?"  I decided that having Ione know pop culture wasn't a bad thing.  If Ben could make references to Star Wars and Doctor Who in Chapter 3, why can't Ione do something similar?  I've established that she's somewhat geeky, and more proof comes up next chapter.  Ione's human, and I do try to not let her just quote geeky properties.

The stakes are now set, if Jack can be believed.  Ione's mystery man wants to end all life on Earth.  She has good reason to be suspect.  Ione's job isn't a cinematic spy action film.  At best, she's the nameless analyst that gets mentioned in a grittier techno thriller.  Of course, no one ever realizes the genre of novel they're in.  The correct answer for most of is is biography.

Friday, a night out leads to odd meets, in the The Devil You Know Chapter 8.
Also Friday, over at Psycho Drive-In, Mutant X.
Saturday, over at The Seventh Sanctum, Remaking Reptilicus.

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