9 Jan 2014

Lethal Ladies #22 - Commentary

Please read the chapter before continuing.

Back in Chapter 21, Sexton gained a couple more hostages.  Rose and Elena are starting to figure out that something is wrong; Allison is the more serious, more level-headed of the younger Ladies.  Amber not answering could be written off as too busy driving or even just distracted.  Allison, so far, has not been shown as distractable.  As for Rose, her family is important to her.  She isn't "Mama Bear" or "Tiger Mom"; Rose worries when her children are sick or in trouble.  The worry pushes Rose, but Elena points out that all Rose is doing is expending energy that could be used better elsewhere.  Speaking of energy....  The energy needed for burning CDs does eat up battery life.  These days, though, USB memory sticks would be used instead of CDs or DVDs; easier to transport, easier to copy files to, and far more space than a CD.  The scene at the coffee shop was Elena's way of getting Rose to refocus.  Distract the distraught woman so that she can recentre herself.  Elena is a little more ruthless than Rose; the Russian woman will keep her mind on the job when working.

Sexton's scene is brief.  Very brief.  Almost not worth keeping.  In 2007, I was still working out points-of-view, where the camera would be for scenes.  Unless I choose otherwise, I tend to default to placing a camera just above and behind the focus character's shoulder.  The method tends to work in shorter pieces, like short stories and serials like Subject 13*.  Novels, though, it gets tricky.  If a main character isn't around for a critical scene, then somehow I need to show that scene to readers, either through a flashback when the character can hear the tale or jumping to the scene and leaving the main character in the lurch.  Both approaches have advantages and drawbacks.  With an ensemble cast, like Lethal Ladies's, I should be able to get someone in.  Today, I probably would have, or have skipped the small scene altogether and implied it during the next chapter.  Eight years later, experience!

Tomorrow, Amber and Allison in Rollins clutches!
Saturday, over at MuseHack[http://www.musehack.com], back to the reviews.
Coming soon, gaming, character building, and, hopefully, photos!


* Though, even in Subject 13, I will move the camera around for effect.  In Issue 29, I wanted some reaction shots about the curfews imposed due to the Apocalyptic Horsepersons.

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