Shadows and Thistles: A Hundred Kings update

Even though I've been focusing most of my energies on The Boar War, it doesn't mean I haven't completely forgotten about that opus that I dedicated five years (on and off) of my life to (and I don't mean my grad school thesis...). It's mostly been reading, not a lot of writing. I have made a few adjustments, mostly in my handy, dandy notebook. I'll go over a few here (mostly spoiler free).

1) I need to tie House Giles and House Montgomery together more tightly. The best way to do this is actually HAVE the Giles boy in First Landing when the rebellion happens. Alexander saves his life during the course of the battle, and the bond is secured. This also means I need to amend the chapter in which we see Stephen preparing for his knighthood (by not only mentioning his ties to Alexander and House Montgomery, but also the vigil through which he sat and all that good knightly stuff). This will make Nathaniel's plea to Vincent more poignant. Also, must work in the line "I know what you are...you know why you have to help them." Classic redirection.

2) I need to reintroduce the Stimleys, so that it makes more sense to have a viewpoint from Samantha Dipaloe/Stimley's point of view. As she becomes more involved in the story, especially with Charles, it will be easier to "make her fit" if she's introduced a little more fluidly instead of "here she is...let's see what she thinks of Dain Campbell. What's that? he's a bastard. keen!"

3) Lillian and Alexander can't have sex before the battle in the west. In fact, they're barely speaking when he leaves to go to Larswells, which makes him and Margaret fit together more easily (heh heh heh). In fact, the line "I've yet to share my bed with my wife..." really strikes me as dramatic. Maybe a bit too, but it fits in the situation.

4a) Emaline Andrada never leaves Beech Grove. Winter storms and all. This will help to foment the troubles she has back home in Jesportrock. Which will all pop up later, most likely in the middle to end of King of Thistles. Move the really good Park chapter over to KOT from King of Storms. That leaves troubles in Kallabria in book one, troubles in Jesportrock in two, and then the troubles in the Gallin Empire can start to play a roll in book three (mostly because I really like the chapter I wrote about Natalia Kesiel, and it still deserves to be a first chapter).

5) More description of Greyskye's battles with Bradford and the troubles that causes along the Jesport border. This will help to solidify the unrest among the Jesports that is to come. Maybe solidify and unrest shouldn't go together like that...

6) During the chapters involving King Wilhelms, show why he is unhappy with those he chooses as his enemies. Reveal a little more about the subtleness of his plans to eliminate those he worries about. Also, make sure the timeline is correct with Iressa's death. Make sure the "reveal" isn't campy and cliche. It must be more subtle than the ending to a Scooby-Doo episode. I freaking hate how other stories unfold their subplots like that. Ugh. Hacks.

7) Don't forget that the Stimleys need to show up again. Don't forget that the Cleavers sealed the border to the south, leaving only Rochester open for them.

8) Noble houses in River Bend: Malloy, Golding, Stedds, Dome, Monk, Bulla, Pangborn

Yeah, those are the actual notes I wrote to myself. My thought processes go off on wild tangents even when jotting notes down. As soon as I can, I'll get to working on these. Sooner rather than later, I should hope.

[Edit] 8/1/2006:
I thought of this while at work, and didn't get a chance to write it down (I do get busy from time to time, and now is one of those times). 4b) Book three will feature not only the troubles in Gallin, but also in Dimuria (since that is the earliest I can force Dain Campbell across the border) and then onward to Azurina (which will involve the decision of the Kanouses).