A Peek Beneath the Duct Tape: Sleepwalkers, Chapter 7

Let's start today with Zane. It took me a long time to pin down his personality; he seemed as mysterious to me as he is to the rest of the characters in the story. I originally envisioned him as a wunderkind who came out of nowhere and became a major player in the novel; but the role never seemed to fit him. I've said before that some of my characters write themselves (Wizard is the perfect example), and it felt like Zane was resisting my efforts to make him a hero. I just couldn't figure out what he really was until I got to this chapter. I wouldn't call him an antihero, but he has a dark side he's not proud of. That's part of what makes him a loner.

Ian turned out to have a dark side too, didn't he? As a matter of fact, my non-fetishist beta reader (the friendly neighborhood orc) was deeply offended by the first draft of this chapter. I suppose EMC fetishists take revenge scenes for granted since our fetish lends itself so well to that fantasy. But the orc helped me remember I was writing a novel and not just a stroke story. He didn't talk me into dropping the scene, but his reaction caused me to me tone it down, give Ian more motivation, and show other characters' discomfort with Ian's actions.

Now let's talk about Wizard. This blog post, which I wrote back in January, was about the situation with her failsafe. It's all perfectly clear now, eh? I just hope you could follow what she did. I had to rewrite that section a lot. Let me know if you didn't get it and I'll do my best to explain.

Here's another note about Wizard. I've intentionally kept her isolated from the friendly characters in the story (Even her interactions with Linda take place "offscreen."). I've also intentionally kept her in darkness most of the time. She's lived with loneliness and hardship her whole life, and they've made her who she is...not that she likes dealing with them. She'd prefer to be out in the sun, healthy, and among friends. But at least she has one out of the three now.

As for Shara, well, what can I say? You all saw it coming. The next chapter will be an even bigger nail-biter than Chapter 4.

Here's your early look at Sleepwalkers, Chapter 7

I haven't said much about what to expect from each chapter as I've posted it here, but you might like to know that Chapter Seven includes a scene from the mysterious Zane's point of view, a lot of stuff about Wizard, and the second-biggest cliffhanger of the series.

Enjoy!

A Peek Beneath the Duct Tape: Sleepwalkers, Chapter 6

This is a difficult chapter of Sleepwalkers to write a Peek on. I think it's a powerful chapter (although, looking back over it last night, I realized I should have given it one more polish). I just don't have much to "peek" on because everything's right there in the text.

Charlotte's sacrifice is one of the most poignant parts of the story for me. She and Aimee seem, on the surface, to be rather soft; but they're just powerful in a different way from the other characters. They had the courage to do something no one else did, even though everyone could see the need for it. They also knew what a terrible price they'd pay, and they accepted it. Charlotte's price is clear, but at least it doesn't give her any pain. Imagine, for a moment, how Aimee must feel now.

I'm not going to say anything about Wizard today, but I'll have plenty to tell you in later Peeks.

You should be able to figure out most, if not all, of the process by which one Level Zero turned LeFebvre into another Level Zero; but I've kept it a tad mysterious. The next chapter will spell things out clearly.

I didn't mention before now that Ian is gay for two reasons:
1. I didn't want it to affect your opinion of him in any way, good or bad
2. There's so much overt sexuality in the world I've created that it leaves no room for homophobia. You should assume most characters are at least a little bi, whether or not I've spelled it out. Only LeFebvre is an exception: until this chapter, he's been obsessed with blonde Amazons. Now he's interested in blondes of a different sort. ;-)

Here's your early look at Sleepwalkers, Chapter 6

Based on what's happened already, you should have some idea of where this chapter is heading, but I can pretty nearly guarantee you won't guess everything! Give it a shot. ;-)

Don't look here. Look *there.*

If you follow Callidus' blog, you already know he and Tabico have been working for some time on an insanely hot video (yes, a full-on video, not just a Flash animation) called "Decisive Results." Well, it just went live today, and I encourage you to head over there right this minute (or, I suppose, as soon as you can get time alone ;-) ) and revel in the full glory of of what he and Tabico have wrought.

Here's a fairly spoiler-free synopsis: two snarky dommes have quality time with a public official, unwittingly played by Holly Heart. The induction scene is jaw-dropping, the newly enslaved politico is delightfully self-abasing, and even the closing credits are a trip (They're sort of a porn version of the opening credits to Monty Python's Holy Grail).

The best way to enjoy it, IMO, is to watch the video on Callidus' blog first, then download a high quality version from one of the mirror sites he links to. The standard-quality version is pretty damn excellent for a first viewing, but a second viewing in HD reveals lots of fun Easter eggs.

Thanks to both artists for sharing their talents with the rest of us. I know this video was a monster to put together, but it is sooo worth it.

A Peek Beneath the Duct Tape: Sleepwalkers, Chapter 5

Let's start with the most important topic: Shara's induction of Wizard. I know most of you saw it coming, and most of you thought the brown-skinned Peacekeeper that Wizard noticed on her first run to PP was Shara. She wasn't. That Peacekeeper was a Level Four; Shara was posing as a Level Five (and was, in fact, in the basement of PP at the time). I threw you a red herring. But just to be fair, I gave you a chance of catching it. In fact, I even told you, in my Peek on Chapter 4, that you might spot a typo that wasn't a typo.

By the time I wrote this chapter of Sleepwalkers, I was pushing myself a bit to come up with new ways to describe orgasm. Thus the post here (For the record, I patterned a later orgasm in "Sleepwalkers" on the "electricity" image at the top of that post). Flowers seem pretty incongruous in connection with Wizard, both as the free person she used to be and as the Level Two she is now, but that's why the image works for me. Sexuality is exotic to Wizard. She used the skein to masturbate, but she was a virgin and she had no idea how much better sex felt with another person. The experience was so overwhelming that even though it robbed her of her selfhood, she couldn't forget the glory of it.

In the comments section below Chapter 5 on this blog, Uzobono asked me how the different levels function. I'll let you read my whole response for yourself, if you wish (and I really do recommend reading the comments on all these chapters), but my frame of reference for Wizard as a Level Two was Asperger's Syndrome. She still knows what emotions are, but she doesn't get them. Her world has been reduced to black and white, correct and incorrect. It's all binary, computer-like. [Edit: I don't mean to imply that Wizard is now functioning exactly like an Aspie. Asperger's was just a jumping-off point for me in writing Wizard as a Level Two. It wasn't a template. Some of what she experiences now is not Aspie-ish at all. For instance, people with Asperger's feel emotions just like everyone else.]

I don't know what else to say about what happened to Wizard except that it was the third most painful scene in "Sleepwalkers" for me to write. The second most painful was Shara's induction, and the most painful of all hasn't been published yet. You'll know it when you read it - but I think you also know by now that "Sleepwalkers" doesn't follow the typical structure of an EMC story. It really is a novel, with all that that implies.

Now a couple of quick notes:

There are a few characters who pop up just once or twice in the story to deliver exposition or provide an alternate viewpoint. Valencia is one of those. I like her, and her current mental state is both sad and hot, but this is her only scene.

At some point during the polishing phase, after I'd finished the entire first draft of the story, I realized that I'd written Melora as a sort of non-magical Granny Weatherwax. Granny has long been my favorite character from the Discworld series. I was tickled to see how she'd snuck into my story. Of course, the "real" Granny Weatherwax would be pissed as hell for what I did to her.

(The painting at the top of this post is by Hajime Sorayama.)

Here's your sneak peek at Sleepwalkers, Chapter 5

First, I have to say that Chapter 4 was probably the best place in the whole series to have an intermission because it ended on a "whew" note instead of a cliffhanger. Most of the other chapters end on  an "oh shit" note or a cliffhanger, including Chapter 5. I fully expect screams from people who read through to the end of this one. But have a go anyway, if you like. ;-)