Sievers, Killers, and Bikes

I haven't posted in a year. Okay, maybe a week? Two weeks?

Nonetheless!

Writing has been off and on for me the last couple weeks. Life has gotten INSANELY busy for reasons I don't even know (farm, nanny-stuff, family) so I'm lucky if I get a couple paragraphs written each day. It takes some serious buckling down for me to write right now. I have to lock myself in my room for an afternoon, which means abandoning all household chores with approval from the house mistress.

Anyhow, the last few chapters in Book 4 have been fun to write. Last time I blogged about the book, I believe Roan had just discovered his earth magic (fifth and final element he had to master) and now he's off to outsmart BBG and crew. Since then he's encountered several new and old bag guys, BBG head honcho Bladis included, and stumbled further into the plot of Book 4.

I got to introduce a creature I've been stewing over for years. It's the Siever and it first came to conception years ago when playing HL2. Striders, anyone? Or Tripods as they were known in War of the Worlds? Or Reapers as they were known in ME3?

Mine have their own twist. Instead of robots powered by aliens, I turned them into an insect/spider cross. They. Are. Epic.

One of my favorite antagonists thus far. Here's a glimpse. As always, this is totally unedited.

In addition to Sievers, I also got to introduce two more Steppers to the book. In the original books, these two characters were based off of several characters. They were great and all but I found I didn't have enough time to write so many arcs into the book. Not only that but with the loss of two strong female characters in the last books, Book 4 lacked a prominent female presence, excluding BBG Azira. So Arri (female) and Eliot (male) came into the picture.

These two will provide the transition into Book 5 while also playing as the root for the Stoneheart brothers' origins.

The last thing I feel is necessary to mention is that Roan had his first scene with his bike. In the original book, Roan most definitely had a bike. Book 4 was his rebelling book and he spent a lot of time driving around the States on that bike while avoiding his team and responsibilities. In the rewrite, I decided that was too angsty. He got to keep his bike but he wasn't using it so much as escape from his responsibilities. It more plays the role of symbolizing his freedom and desire to strike out on his own as he pushes further into the war and becomes more adult-like and responsible.

It also gives him a pretty decent scene when it comes to getaways.