In Shadow - Afterword

There you have it - In Shadow. 

I have to admit, I'm not entirely happy with it, but there it is.

In Shadow has its roots in the final chapter of College Years, where Miranda has a vision of her future life with Mariah. I actually put some thought into the course of their life together. One thing seemed obvious... Mariah having testified against the Alto Family had to come back to bite her, and the young couple would end up living in hiding. I thought it would be a great opportunity to give the "sidekicks" a chance to take the main stage. So the core idea of In Shadow was born...

I knew I wanted to feature Genie and Jenny, and that they had the potential to be a great team. Unfortunately, I didn't really know what the story was going to be. 

I contented myself at first with the short stories Lobo's Den and A Tartosan Wedding, both of which were intended to re-introduce, or introduce, readers to our main characters and kind of sum up all that had come before. (I really wanted In Shadow to be accessible to new readers.) 

Still, I couldn't stall forever. I went through several ideas before settling on Genie trying to help her friends by investigating the Altos.

Orange was actually a late addition to the cast. I had decided the ladies need a male supporting character who would be supporting without taking over. At first I considered making a new character, as a potential love interest for Genie. Then I remembered Orange and his little teaser moment from Lobo's Den. So I decided to include him.

That was probably my first mistake. 

My second was George T. 

George has been lurking in the darkest corners of the Wyrd Tales since before I started writing my first story, back when this was just me playing the Sims with Gwen and Cassie. For reasons probably better not examined, his major claim to fame was sexually assaulting Cassie on New Years Eve of her final year at university (and then being set on fire). He has remained in the background ever since, never taking the stage or even appearing except for a brief cameo and mention in Raven's Apprentice. (He actually, entirely autonomously, stalked teen Cassie during my setup playthrough for Raven's Apprentice.) 

I have, several times, wanted to tell their story, but never felt comfortable doing so because it always felt too dark. I have hinted at it, alluded to it, but never directly addressed it. I honestly didn't plan to here. I just wanted a gangster to fill out scenes involving the Alto family. So, put him into the background, intending him to stay there, as an underboss working for Marco. I gave him a henchman and a girlfriend (who I deliberately modeled on Cassie, reflecting George's obvious obsession with her), but I assumed he'd stay in the background again.

To understand what happened next, you need to understand that I usually play each of my characters for a few sim-days before actually starting the story, just to get to know them. Well, I was playing Orange. He was out jogging and suddenly there was Corrie, George's girlfriend, looking sad. Orange being Orange, I knew he had to stop and ask what was wrong.

From that moment, I derailed my entire plan for In Shadow. A story that was supposed to be about Genie and Jenny taking on Marco and Max V became a story about rescuing Corrie from George, and confronting at last who George was and what he'd done. The dark story I'd been avoiding, I wouldn't avoid any more.

I consoled myself that, in the end, the bad guys lose. George would lose. How exactly he would lose went through as many different plans as any other part of the story. I feel rather pleased with his final fate. Gwen is terrifying sometimes.

Anyway, despite my going off the rails and not being completely happy with the results, I hope you enjoyed In Shadow.

Of course, you can't have missed that, epilogue notwithstanding, we ended on a cliffhanger with Axis, the Elderberrys, and Representative Friend (who, yes, is green). I'm already well into outlining the next story, tentatively entitled In Moonlight (because In Shadow, Part 2 is just a little too on the nose). It should deal with some of those threads left dangling and some of the original ideas behind In Shadow. 

My current plan is to take Thanksgiving week off. After that, I have a collection of single-chapter shorts that could be thought of as an extended series of "post credit scenes" to both resolve a few other dangling threads and to set up others for Moonlight. I expect to have those in December and into the new year.

Meanwhile, I plan to do some more outlining and planning in the (probably foolish) hope that I can keep In Moonlight on the rails. 

Genie Elderberry and her friends will return.