Writing Wonders: July 2023

Since writing my answers to the June 2023 Writing Wonders questions in a batch and putting them on my website as one big post worked out reasonably well for me, I decided to do it again for July. I’ll also have to make a point of scheduling each day’s post ahead of time, and post each day’s post as a reply to the previous day’s for people who don’t visit my website.¹

The answers to all of this month’s prompts are generally based on my current WIP, Spiral Architect. If you want, you can always download the current drafts with the following links:

• Generic EPUB
• Print
• Kindle

If you aren’t happy with the cover, blame me. It’s mostly a DIY job; the tattoo graphic was commissioned from Ricky Gunawan for my first novel, Without Bloodshed, and I’ve reused it. Email me if you want to talk commission.

prompts by:

• Alina Leonova
• Amelia Kayne
• Branwen O’Shea

7/1: Intro Day. Your MC shows up on your doorstep, what do you say and or do?

Probably kiss my wife goodbye, and then my ass. If Morgan Cooper knows I’m the author of his miseries I doubt he’d feel any particular obligation to deal kindly with me. There are, after all, only two kinds of deicide — justifiable and praiseworthy — and the distinction is mainly for the benefit of theologians.

The bit about deicide is a riff on the entry for ‘homicide’ in the Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce:

HOMICIDE, noun

The slaying of one human being by another. There are four kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable and praiseworthy, but it makes no great difference to the person slain whether he fell by one kind or another — the classification is for advantage of the lawyers.

7/2: Do you think readers will find your MC likable? Why or why not?

I’m not sure it actually matters if Morgan Cooper is likable, since he’s not a YA protagonist. Nevertheless, many readers might find him likable, or at least sympathetic (which is not the same thing) for the following reasons:

1. He’s generally honest with himself, and carefully considers his motives and the consequences of his actions.
2. He’s trying to uphold liberty and justice in his society, though he himself finds his methods questionable.
3. He doesn’t believe his employers’ propaganda, is not entirely convinced that his work is being put to righteous ends, and is determined not to let them push him around.
4. Though he has always harbored more than friendly affection toward Naomi Bradleigh, he has kept it to himself out of loyalty to his current girlfriend Christabel Crowley, doing his best to be kind and loving toward her though Christabel is often thoughtless at best in her treatment of him.
5. He’s always there for his friends whether they need a babysitter, help moving furniture, or help finding a friend who’s gone missing.
6. Though he has the authority to use violence, he tries to restrain himself; he won’t fire the first shot or strike the first blow, and he generally won’t use firearms where a sword or even his empty hands will suffice.
7. He isn’t of human origin, but he’s determined to be human in every respect that matters. Despite being one of the einherjar and capable of defying entire armies, Morgan instead uses his strength to serve instead of ruling over others.
8. He would prefer to live a nonviolent life as a musician, but his addiction to chaos is inborn and he has tried to turn his unchosen craving for combat toward a purpose he understands as honorable. Rather than preying upon those who can’t or won’t stand up for themselves, he waits for the opportunity to go after tyrants and exploiters and preys upon them instead.

7/3: Do you think it’s important for a main character to be likable? Why or why not?

No. I think it’s more important for a protagonist to be interesting, especially if they are telling the story as well as participating in it. Colonel Pyat, the protagonist and unreliable (at best) narrator of Michael Moorcock’s Pyat Quartet beginning in Byzantium Endures, comes immediately to mind. A Jewish anti-Semite and Klansman with a taste for cocaine and illegally young girls, the man exhales falsehood as others exhale carbon dioxide. If one were to take his narrative at face value he’s a war hero, the greatest inventor of the twentieth century, and the savior of Western civilization. Yet it is through his never-ending stream of bullshit that Moorcock explores the central question of the Pyat Quartet, which was how the Holocaust could have been permitted to happen.

Though I find Pyat as compelling as I find him repulsive, I would only admit to finding him likable under torture. Nevertheless, I find him a sympathetic character. There’s a difference between the two; likable characters are generally sympathetic, but sympathetic characters don’t have to be likable. To a great extent, Pyat is a product of his times, environment, and upbringing; resisting the programming imposed upon you by your family and society is often a herculean task.

7/4: Would your MC ever work with one of their enemies? Why or why not?

Morgan Cooper has already betrayed his ideals for the greater good, so working with an enemy isn’t much of a stretch. He’ll do it, but he doesn’t feel obligated to like it or to keep his feelings about it to himself. So when Isaac Magnin finally talks to him like an adult and tells him what’s really going on, he’ll reluctantly work with the manipulative old sorcerer-scientist.

7/5: Has your MC ever been involved in a physical altercation? If so, why?

It’s an occupational hazard when you’re an Adversary like Morgan Cooper. If you try to bust a cop for tyranny because he’s gone full Dredd and he’s summarily executing people for jaywalking or selling untaxed cigarettes, his brothers and sisters in blue are likely to object. Some might object so strenuously that violence ensues. Likewise, other suspected tyrants and exploiters are sure of their innocence, but less sure that if they trust the process they’ll be found not guilty; the Phoenix Society doesn’t go after people unless they’ve got a case that can withstand orbital bombardment, and it shows in the conviction rate. As a result, those who do stand trial and find themselves vindicated in a court of law are still condemned by the court of public opinion because they “got off on a technicality”. In the face of such injustice, Morgan doesn’t blame people who choose ‘suicide by Adversary’; he just insists that they shoot first.

7/6: MC POV: Name one thing that is guaranteed to make you angry? Why?

according to Morgan Cooper:

I’ve been shot, stabbed, beaten, burned, and tossed out an airlock, and I can deal with that. I’ll get over it. I always do; it’s one of the upsides of being einherjar. It’s the little things that get to me: things like tyranny, corruption, and exploitation.

Fortunately, I’m not only in a position to do something about it by putting tyrants up against a wall at swordpoint and notifying them of their rights, but I get paid handsomely to do so. Most of them even make it to trial, the ones I don’t mind helping condemn to a life of slavery in an artificial habit orbiting Uranus, but you don’t hear about them when people talk about “Ol’ Triple Six” coming to get some pusbag for wage theft or voter suppression. The people I killed chose to die fighting, mainly because if they die before conviction they are still presumed innocent and their assets go to their family instead of being confiscated by the UN to pay for their exile into space. I am willing to oblige them as long as they shoot first, because then it’s self-defense.

When you’re an Adversary, dying for your ideals is an occupational hazard but not a requirement. Just don’t tell Karen Del Rio that.

7/7: What is your favorite stage of writing a story? Why?

I like drafting new material that nobody has read yet. I know it’s going to be shit before I start, and I’m OK with that, because revision is nothing but an iterative process of polishing turds until you get gem-quality coprolite. So I merrily and metaphorically drop trou and defecate into my text editor.

7/8: What is your least favorite stage of writing a story? Why?

Revision is about as much fun as writing unit tests at my day job. It’s fussy, detailed work and I’m probably not as good at it as I ought to be. And yet each revision never seems to be enough. It gets to the point where I say, “fuck it, and if it isn’t good enough then fuck everybody else.”

7/9: What are you good at when it comes to writing?

Why in the unholy names of all the demons we’ve ever worshiped are you asking me? As far as I can tell, I’m not particularly good at anything. Why don’t you read my novels and stories and decide for yourself what I’m good at?

My wife Catherine has suggested I mention that she reads my fiction in bed. The implications of that statement are best left as an exercise for the reader.

7/10: MC POV: In a fight, what is your weapon of choice?

according to Morgan Cooper:

It depends on the fight. In a wide open space I prefer a longsword; I can wield it with one hand or both, it doesn’t need ammunition, and I’m unlikely to harm bystanders as long as they have the sense to stay out of the way. I also carry a shorter sword for indoor fighting, along with knives and sap gloves. I have other preternatural weapons by virtue of being one of the einherjar, but I prefer not to use them against people. It’s overkill, would raise questions, and it’s hard enough to be seen as ‘only human’ when you can take a bullet on the job with no worse effect than a couple of weeks excreting heavy metals in your urine.

I’m supposed to carry a pistol and an AK-256 assault rifle as well, but I usually leave the Kalashnikov at home. Kicking down the door of a boardroom, opening up with an AK set to rock ’n roll, and killing every motherfucker in the room is the epitome of going full Dredd. And you never go full Dredd. Not unless you want a court martial followed by a rebar suppository in front of the UN’s headquarters in Manhattan.

At least, that’s the official line. The truth is that I’ve gotten away with dozens of assassinations over the course of my decade-long career as an Adversary, all sanctioned by the Phoenix Society’s executive council. All for the greater good of humanity, of course, so I wear a Saint Judas medal as a reminder to myself and a warning to others.

7/11: What about your writing would you like to improve?

Um, everything? It’s not like I had any particular aptitude for writing. If I’m at all skilled a writer, it’s because I worked at it. This is craft you’re seeing, not talent.

7/12: What’s the best compliment or review you’ve got about your writing?

I met my wife of almost twenty years back in 2000 because I had asked her about swapping stories. Not sure what higher compliment I need. Of course, it helped considerably that I happened to be housebroken and capable of cooking and cleaning.

7/13: When did you start writing and what inspired you?

I started when I was eighteen, way back in 1996. If anything in particular inspired me, it was a realization that literature ain’t Burger King and that if I wanted to read a particular story I was going to have to sit my ass down and write the damn thing myself. ’Cause if you want to have it your way, you’ve got to do it yourself. Also, I needed a reason to not derail a commuter train with my fucking carcass.

7/14: MC POV: When was the last time you got into a fight (physical or verbal)? Why?

according to Morgan Cooper:

I gunned down three Pinkertons on the E train the other day because they were attempting to kidnap a ten-year-old boy that they insisted was corporate property. They would have had it coming on the attempted human trafficking alone, but they also tried to shoot me down first, and if their aim had been off they would have harmed bystanders.

Looking back, I should have used a knife instead; a moving subway train is no place for a shootout; it’s hard enough to shoot accurately with a pistol on solid ground and it was a minor miracle that any of us managed not to shoot one of the bystanders; I just lucky they were all behind me so that I had clear shots.

7/15: Are there any kissing and or intimacy scenes in your story?

For some reason I’m imagining a young Fred Savage looking askance at me and asking, “Is this a kissing book?”

Spiral Architect isn’t a kissing book yet. There isn’t even emotional intimacy yet, though some of the stuff Claire tells Morgan about her bestie Josefine might count. I have more kissing/intimacy scenes in Without Bloodshed and Silent Clarion, though.

However, this fragment that I wrote for another writing prompt challenge might make its way into Spiral Architect.

“I know about the roses,” said Naomi, her gaze fixing me in place. Her frost-blonde hair had come undone after a long night at the piano and spilled over a creamy shoulder. I flushed, sure that I had done something wrong when all I had done was leave a black-tipped scarlet rose on the keyboard of the bar’s baby grand before she came out to revitalize tired old jazz standards for drunk and bitter singles looking for Mr. or Ms. Right for Now. “Do you do that for everybody who arouses your infatuation?”

Was it only a crush? Maybe it was, but her eyes were cobalt red and her voice was cobalt blue. All I knew at the time was that I wanted to lose myself in both. “No. Just you.”

A wry smile curved her lips. “I’m flattered, but I’m a bit old for you. Not that you seem to mind a bit.”

I had parted my lips to answer, to protest that it was only seven years between us, but the barest brush of hers against mine forstalled the words. “Any more than that and I’d be taking advantage. You should save it for somebody your own age.”

7/16: How comfortable are you with writing kissing and/or intimacy scenes?

I’m fine with it, as long as I’m confident I can do it well. I’ve got a bit more experience with kissing and intimacy than I do with facing down a bunch of gunmen armed with nothing but a sword, which is none whatsofuckinever. And I can always do a fade and cut to the morning after instead.

7/17: MC POV: Who was the last person you hugged and/or kissed?

according to Morgan Cooper:

I should say the last person I hugged or kissed was my girlfriend Christabel, but that isn’t true. She hasn’t wanted that sort of affection from me for a couple of years, and I haven’t sought it from anybody else. Nevertheless, when my friend Claire caught me under a bit of mistletoe at a Winter Solstice party and stole a kiss, I did not remonstrate as harshly with her as I should have for Christabel’s sake. I was far less reluctant when Naomi found me beneath a full moon on Glastonbury Tor after Crowley’s Thoth did an outdoor rock festival for Midsummer’s Eve, but I still gently pushed her away.

I suspect that Christabel would turn the same blind eye on me and Naomi that I turn on her and Isaac Magnin as long as we’re discreet, but Naomi isn’t naive. Surely she’d know that if I was capable of cheating on Christabel I could just as easily cheat on her. I should break things off with Christabel, but that would most likely break up the band as well, and Crowley’s Thoth has been the longest-running and most stable gig Naomi’s ever had. I haven’t the right.

Besides, if I dumped Christabel to be with Naomi, what would stop me from eventually treating Naomi in similar fashion. Is that the kind of man I want to be, the sort who abandons women to “trade up”?

7/18: Do you have a muse in any sense of the word?

How many times to I have to mention my wife Catherine before you get the hint?

Here’s a stylized image of the two of us from 2007.

7/19: Does your MC support the status quo in their world?

Only with reluctance. Morgan Cooper knows that the Phoenix Society is corrupt and that it doesn’t live up to its stated ideals. He knows that a slave trade based on the involuntary transportation of political and economic criminals has fueled humanity’s expansion beyond Earth.

Yet under its rule prosperity on Earth is more widely distributed, poverty is all but non-existent, and people are free to make what they will of their lives. They work far fewer hours while earning far more in exchange for their work. Outside the Society tyranny, corruption, and exploitation are swiftly and mercilessly punished, thus curbing the excesses of the pre-Nationfall neoliberal capitalist world order. Likewise, with the existence of people who aren’t homo sapiens having become general knowledge, in-species bigotry is not nearly as prevalent as it once was. Merely starting a war is considered a war crime, and any government that attempts to maintain a standing military is immediately overthrown and replaced. And while monotheists of all denominations have become a small, frequently despised, and occasionally persecuted minority sectarian violence has also fallen dramatically.

Morgan also knows that if he were to expose the truth and bring the system crashing down, he’d be responsible for the destabilization of billions of lives as factions vie for the chance to fill the ensuing power vacuum, and there’s no guarantee that by overthrowing the existing tyranny he’s not helping to set the stage for something far worse. Nevertheless, he still feels that he ought to speak up. The people have a right to know and to decide for themselves.

7/20: Secondary character POV: What’s the biggest sacrifice you’re ready to make for the MC?

according to Christabel Crowley:

I knew when I agreed to work for Isaac Magnin that Morgan Cooper would end up hating me for the way I’ve treated him, but I honestly believe I’ve helped him become a better, stronger person. If he turns out to be the hero Magnin thinks he can become, it will have been worth it.

according to Naomi Bradleigh:

Despite myself, I’ve come to love Morgan Cooper. It wasn’t that he swept me off my feet as our culture teaches us to expect. Instead, it was a slow accretion of trivial courtesies, little kindnesses, and minor affections that eroded my resistance. I had not expected to actually love him; my history with men generally follows a common pattern: I meet one who intrigues me, we enjoy each other’s company in and out of bed for a time, and I kiss him goodbye once the intrigue has palled. I suspect I’ve hurt a few men in the process, but I am my father’s daughter in more ways than I’d like and Isaac Magnin is not a good man.

I’ve tried to be no more than a friend to Morgan for this reason and others I am not at liberty to disclose. Nevertheless, when I was alone among so many lovers on Glastonbury Tor last Midsummer’s Eve and Morgan was likewise alone, I could not resist stealing a kiss beneath the moon and would have taken more if he had offered. The way he responded before remembering himself, and the gentleness with which he asked me to stop tells me everything I need to know.

He wants me at least as much as I want him, but it isn’t only physical. He’s loved me all this time, and has kept it to himself. He’s stayed in a bad relationship with Christabel Crowley for reasons he has not seen fit to share with me. Sometimes I flatter myself by thinking he’s doing it for my sake. Maybe he thinks I need this band.

I don’t need Crowley’s Thoth. I don’t even need Morgan Cooper. But maybe he still need Crowley’s Thoth and putting up with Christabel is the price he pays. Whatever his reasons, I can do this much for him: I can wait until he figures out for himself that he doesn’t need Christabel Crowley or Crowley’s Thoth. There’s no shortage of people trying to use or manipulate Morgan, my father among them. I won’t join his company.

7/21: What is your MC’s drink of choice?

Mostly cocktails, particularly the Manhattan, since einherjar like Morgan can’t actually get drunk. He’ll usually just have one to be sociable, and make it last. If he has more than one, it’s because he or his friends want to unburden themselves and excessive drinking is still, for men of his time and place, plausible deniability in a bottle. Morgan also likes a good hard cider, preferably from a craft brewery; there’s usually a case of Orald’s in his fridge.

For the supporting cast: Naomi’s partial to a good red wine for social drinking when she wants to play up her gothiness, but she won’t say no to a good cocktail or even bourbon on the rocks. Christabel is strictly a champagne girl, and not the cheap stuff. Eddie will drink anything that’s over 40 proof. Claire likes the setting’s equivalent of Red Bull and vodka.

Isaac Magnin likes his cocktails, too, particularly the White Lady – when the bar doesn’t have a decent absinthe.

7/22: Does your MC cause drama or resolve it within their friend group?

Morgan Cooper tries not to cause drama, but sometimes drama follows him around like stray cat when they think you’re a soft touch.

7/23: Secondary character POV: Have you ever wanted to smack the MC? Why?

according to Claire Ashecroft:

Of course I’d like to smack Morgan. If you’ve seen his arse encased in tight jeans or leathers you’d want to give it a good smack, too. Or maybe just grab a nice handful while he’s bent over the sink washing dishes.

Or did you mean smacking him upside the head? I’d be happy to do that, too, if I thought I could knock sense into him. But he’s got to figure out for himself that Christabel is no good for him and that Naomi will be just fine if Crowley’s Thoth breaks up. For that matter, so will he; Morgan and Nims could record together with some other violinist who isn’t a bloody prima donna.

7/24: What’s a common occurrence in your story that would be odd here?

Aside from corruption, exploitation, and abuses of power being exposed and punished instead of being allowed to fester for years or decades? You could say that seeing oligarchs put up against a wall alone makes my work fantasy.

Well, First Contact happened over 10,000 years ago, and many of the old gods of polytheistic belief are still around and living ordinary lives among humanity. For example, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos run a beauty salon called Moirae in London’s Soho district and have done so since the Regency.

Also, people tend to openly carry melee weapons in public, usually daggers and short swords. There have been instances of bad bosses going the way of Gaius Julius Caesar before the Phoenix Society could investigate them and give them due process, and their successors proving more amenable to workers’ concerns, because direct action gets the goods.

7/25: Does your MC have any health or belief systems that restricts their diet?

Not really, but as one of the einherjar Morgan’s caloric requirements after fighting an angel would seem excessive even to high-level athletes. He has custom-made emergency rations that provide 10,000 kilocalories with all of the necessary macro- and micro-nutrients. They taste horrible, even to Morgan, but if he’s hungry enough he’ll eat ’em and smile.

7/26: Antagonist POV: Do you see what you do as evil?

according to Isaac Magnin:

Let’s see: I’ve manipulated entire populations, fomented wars, triggered the collapse of a world order, and have a death toll counted in thousands of megadeaths to my name. I rule the world from the shadows because most humans will do whatever they’re told as long as they think the command comes from somebody they recognize as a legitimate authority. My propaganda is such that those in the best position to tear down my regime instead support it. Of course I’m evil. I became the demon you see to fight a greater demon, and I fully expect to pay dearly for it when Hell finally gets around to demanding payment.

7/27: Does your MC respect authority or buck it?

As an Adversary, it’s Morgan Cooper’s job to buck authority. Furthermore, prospective Adversaries must face a series of tests called the Milgram Battery before taking their oaths. The Battery subjects applicants to a variety of situations, convincing them that these situations are real, and scoring them based on their choices.

Milgram Battery subjects are generally scored on a continuum from 0 to 9, where a higher score indicates a greater willingness to yield to authority. The Phoenix Society generally only accepts applicants scoring between 3 and 7 on the Battery, but Naomi Bradleigh had a Milgram factor of 1, and Morgan Cooper had a null factor because the psychotropics used in computer-guided lucid dreaming don’t work at all on einherjar and he was thus able to see through the nightmare sequencer’s scenarios.

7/28: Is your MC ever minorly inconvenienced with illness?

The only illness Morgan Cooper generally suffers is the occasional bout of lead poisoning when he brings a sword to a gunfight and lets himself get shot instead of dodging bullets because there are bystanders around and he can more easily cope with gunshot wounds than most people.

7/29: Antagonist POV: How do you feel about what you do?

according to Isaac Magnin:

Being the dark lord who secretly rules the world and has remade human civilization to bring it to a technological level suitable for the creation of artificial bearers for the Starbreaker is dirty, thankless work, but somebody has to do it. Otherwise, my species would have been obliterated by the ensof Sabaoth, and yours would be nothing but slaves endlessly praying to an imposter who uses your own belief systems against you.

And it’s not like the job lacks perquisites. Regency era rakehells recognized me as their patron saint alongside Beau Brummell, and dear old Prinny took the blame for the worst of my libertinism. I have more money than any man could reasonably spend in ten thousand years despite scrupulously paying every tax demanded of me. I have always paid my taxes on time and in full even though I can afford to exploit every available loophole in every tax code to which I and my operations are subject.

This is not virtue on my part, incidentally. When your country’s leaders know that I am their top taxpayer, and that I can renounce my citizenship, close down operations in your country, and withdraw all participation in your country’s economy at a whim it makes your leadership rather more amenable to my interests than you might prefer.

Nevertheless, it was great fun to walk into the Oval Office, show a newly elected President footage of what really happened to one of his predecessors, and remind him of who foots the bill for the North American Commonwealth’s imperialism. And, yes, I did pay Oswald to assassinate Kennedy. It seemed only fair after Kennedy arranged to have Marilyn Monroe assassinated and to make it look like an accidental suicide by overdose. The things one does for love, though I must admit I liked her better as a brunette named Norma Jean…

7/30: Does your MC have a good fashion sense?

That depends on whether denim and leather is your idea of good fashion sense. Morgan Cooper’s idea of casual civilian dress is a t-shirt he got from one of the bands he’s toured with, a black leather jacket with lots of zippers, tight jeans, a pair of steel-toed motorcycle boots, and a sword on his hip.

But if he wants to add a byronic touch, he’ll replace the t-shirt and leather jacket with a silk button-down shirt with an open collar and a matching waistcoat in a subtle pattern. Nothing too fancy, just enough to make him feel mad, bad, and dangerous to know.

7/31: Does your antagonist love anyone that’s still alive and in their life?

Isaac Magnin has long nurtured a thus-far unrequited love for one of his mentors, Tamara Gellion, whom he also knows as the ensof Thagirion. She, along with her sister Elisabeth Bathory (Ashtoreth), Samuel Terrell (Sathariel), and Abram Mellech (Adramelech) inducted Magnin into their order, taught him their secrets, and help him become ensof as they are.

Isaac knows that Tamara at least finds him charming and amusing, but is reluctant to trust him too closely because after millennia of struggle she and the other Disciples of the Watch are largely content to keep Sabaoth imprisoned and the Starbreaker quiescent while he is still young enough and energetic enough to want to see Sabaoth destroyed. It doesn’t help that they were ancient of days before Isaac started the cycle of eternal recurrence that began when he confronted Sabaoth in the court of Akhenaten for the sake of two other loves: Isis and Osiris, who knew him as Set.

It doesn’t help that Isaac has often been Elisabeth’s lover; though Tamara is a tall, dark, and regal beauty she was never quite the seductress Elisabeth is and she is too proud to settle for what she regards as her sister’s cast-offs.

And though Naomi Bradleigh isn’t part of his life, he will roll the dice as many times as it takes to make the waveforms collapse into a future where Sabaoth does not exist and she can be free and happy. He doesn’t care how many cycles of eternal return it takes, how many times he must suffer through the murders of Isis and Osiris, how many times he must endure the death and rebirth agonies of apotheosis, or how may untold billions will suffer and perish in the process. He will see his daughter and the son he built laughing beneath a warm summer sun with their daughters.

Thy kingdom fallen
Let my will be done on Earth
To Hell with Heaven