Patrick D. Quinn's Blog

Greetings all! It’s been a bit since I’ve posted on here. Things have definitely changed for me since my last post over three years ago.

First and foremost, I finally made the career jump to teaching! After a long and difficult process, I found myself in the Triangle area of North Carolina teaching Fifth Grade English Language Arts. Not exactly what I had in mind when I set off on this education journey, but it’s been a fun journey and I have to admit that I am enjoying it!

Most of the time.

Fifth graders can be scary.

Anyways, I’ve started writing again with some regularity and I figured it was past time I got the website and blog moving again. I added a pair of short stories that I wrote recently, “Ho-Ho-High Noon” and “The Door” that I hope you will check out! I am also going to be starting an exclusive, serialized story over on my Patreon in the near future, so please feel free to support me on there if you are interested!

I am also finally working on the novel re-imagining of my novella, Tuatha de Danann! As part of Novel November, more colloquially known as NovNov, I am digging into the outline that I put together for a much stronger, darker version of the novella that I cannot wait to share with everyone! Updates to come very soon!

For now, please look forward to hearing my random thoughts on everything as well as regular writing updates. I am excited to be back and look forward to hearing from you all!

As always, if you want to support my writing, consider becoming a Patron! Patrons gain access to exclusive content!

Also, times are tough right now for teachers, especially in here in the south. If you’re feeling super generous, please considering helping out here.

Just wanted to share a quick post letting both of the people who still read my stories know that I have not one, but TWO new short stories coming soon-ish!

The first of the two stories, “The Final Etude of Frédéric Chopin”, is an ode to the greatest piano composer of all time, Frédéric Chopin. In the story, I pay tribute to the legendary pianist in his twilight years in Paris as he looks back on his life and ponders his contributions to mankind.

The second story, “Impromptu Botanists”, features the monster fighting agents of the US Department of Fish and Wildlife Services’ Mythos Division as they attempt to solve a murder at an arboretum. Spoiler: it was a monster.

Keep an eye on my social media for updates! Hopefully one or both should be up in the next two weeks! I would love to hear any thoughts or feedback on my writing. Also, if you haven’t yet, head over to Tales from the Lovecraft War and take a look at the first three stories from my anthology! I will be announcing the next few stories in the series shortly, so stay tuned!

As always, if you want to support my writing, consider becoming a Patron! Patrons gain access to exclusive content!

Mithril, the story of the Fifth Godfall and the first-ever battle between an Elder God and an Armour, is now live! Check it out now on The Tales From the Lovecraft War page!

Let me know what you think about the battle between Dr. Aleksandr Baranov piloting the Armour Mithril and the Elder God Qrodkilhar the Effervescent in the comments below!

As always, if you want to support my writing, consider becoming a Patron! Patrons gain access to exclusive content!

So, I could go on a long tirade about where I’ve been the past few months and why I haven’t been updating the site. However, in favor of a more entertaining story, I present you with this amazing video instead.

See? Wasn’t that more fun than me talking about mental health and working too much for like ten paragraphs?

Anyways, on to the important stuff!

First things first, and arguably the most important part of all of this, I want to talk about Tuatha dé Danann Episode I. I cannot thank those who bought and read the novella enough. Publishing it was such a massive learning experience and it was a lot of fun watching my sales bounce around on Amazon. The feedback I received from friends, family, and fans alike was incredibly generous and the entire experience was one I will value for the rest of my life. However, after a lot of thought and reflection on the matter, I decided to pull the novella from publication and remove it from the Kindle store.

Now you may be asking yourself, “If he liked the experience so much, why has he de-published the book?” And this is a valid question. There are numerous reasons, number one among them being that I wasn’t satisfied with the story. I think I did these characters and this world a massive disservice by my decision to release it as a series of novellas instead of a novel. A Goodreads review actually put it best when they said it felt like the first half or third of a full book, which is 100% accurate. I had this unbelievable story that I wanted to write over a dozen novellas, but in the end, I realized that the format left too much to be desired and was destined to fail. I struggled to write a follow-up Episode I, not for a lack of trying or an inability to write, but rather because every draft I wrote was boring as hell and only served a purpose as a portion of a complete story.

So, I pulled the book, went back to the drawing board, and drafted up an outline for a reimagining of the story, with a proper story and engaging character arcs. The outline I have takes elements from the novella, namely some of the characters and themes and the Boston setting, and is something that I am excited to really dig into and start writing.

Let me clarify: The new outline is the book that I always wished I had let myself write instead of TDD Episode I. I don’t want to reinvent the genre or anything like that, I just want to tell a damn cool story, and if I can write it as well as I’ve outlined, I feel like I have that story at hand.

So that’s the first big news. I will also likely not be self-publishing the new novel, but rather pursuing the traditional publishing route by querying agents once I finish the manuscript. This will obviously take a bit longer, but I am confident the final product will be worth the wait.

The second big piece of news, you may notice a new section in the website menu titled Tales from the Lovecraft War. This is the beginning of an ongoing writing project consisting of an anthology of short stories placing giant human-piloted robots against giant Lovecraft-esque monsters. Currently, there are two stories already available to read in the anthology; An Abridged History of the Conflict Between Mankind and the Elder Gods c. 2032-2096 and The Expedition. The first, An Abridged History of the Conflict Between Mankind and the Elder Gods c. 2032-2096, is written like a history book, looking back at this sixty-year-long conflict through a historian’s eyes. The Expedition is a collection of audio logs telling the story of the first expedition into the North American Exclusionary Zone, an area transformed by the first Elder God to arrive on Earth. Both of these were written in ways that I’ve never written before and were an absolute blast to write. Hopefully they are as enjoyable to read as they were to make! A third story, titled Mithril, will be coming soon, likely in the next two weeks as I put the finishing touches on it. Mithril is a more traditional narrative and tells the story of the first time one of the giant robots, dubbed Armours, meets an Elder God in combat. I foresee most of the short stories I write in the near future to be part of this anthology, as it is also something I plan on querying for publication in the future.

The last two bits worth sharing are that the Novels page of the site is gone, mainly because I don’t think it makes sense to have it considering I haven’t written any novels yet. Currently, Haven Lost is dead in the water. I will likely revisit it down the road, but at the moment I just don’t think I am a good enough writer to tell that story. I also removed Eternal Vigilance from the short stories page. This was partly due to Haven Lost being dead, but also because it is my least favorite story. I am still working on a better version of it, and hopefully, that will see the light of day at some point in the near future. I’m not in a huge rush to finish that, so that will be done when it’s done and not a moment sooner.

That about covers everything! Go give the Tales from the Lovecraft War stories a read and let me know your thoughts! Both stories are loaded with fun little nods and references! Let me know if you can identify any of them!

As always, if you want to support my writing, consider becoming a Patron! Patrons gain access to exclusive content!

One of the benefits of working on my Master of Fine Arts in Fiction is that it really forces me to write, even when I am struggling with a project. Like I said last week I have been working on a reboot for Eternal Vigilance, which is essentially complete. I had thought I would have it done and ready to go, but after working on it and revising it over and over, it really isn’t quite in a state that I am ready to release just yet.

I also needed to take a break from working on TDD Episode II as I just didn’t have the energy to work on a narrative that has future releases weighing on it. When you are working on a series or a long running epic like TDD, there is a pressure to make sure you don’t inadvertently write something that screws up plans for future installments. I tend to worry too much about the grand arc of the story as opposed to what I am working on at the moment, and I have found it hurts the narrative when I do this. The easy solution; take a step away for a little bit to work on something else.

This is where I announce what I have been working hard on for the past couple weeks, which is my latest short story, “The Lovecraft War: An Abridged History of the Conflict Between Mankind and The Elder Gods circa 2032-2096”. As you can likely guess from the cover art and the title, I am going full on with the giant robots vs giant monsters story. The twist is that I am telling the story from the viewpoint of a historical document as opposed to a character narrative. It almost reads like a essay as opposed to my typical character centric stories. It is wildly different than anything I have every written before, and honestly it has been incredibly enjoyable to write. Part of my growth as a writer is to take chances and work outside my comfort zone.

“The Lovecraft War” is anticipated to be out by the end of next week, so keep an eye on here and on my social media for more announcements!

So clearly I nailed that whole regular blogging schedule that I laid out back in March. At the time it seemed like such a good idea, and in an ideal world I would love to blog regularly. The reality of the situation is that less than a dozen people read these on average and the time that I put into these is frankly better spent elsewhere. Between my work schedule and my coursework for my MFA program, spare time can become a bit of a luxury. That being said, I also know that I thoroughly enjoy posting about my writing and the other random musings that occasionally come to mind, so I am hoping to post at least a little more regularly than I have been. It is worth noting that the bar is super low right now; all it would take for me to post more frequently than I have been is to write something between this post and October. Shouldn’t be too hard, right?

So now that I am back, I first want to share some less than stellar news. As we can tell by it currently being mid-July, I clearly missed the anticipated release window of the end of June for Episode II of Tuatha dé Danann. I have been excited to share the second part of Seth’s story with everyone and I was hard at work on it through the spring, making good progress and getting some quality feedback on what I had completed. Unfortunately, I began to realize that what I had written so far just didn’t stand very well on it’s own. There were some great character moments and a ton of character development for Seth and the rest of the Aes Sídhe, but there wasn’t really a story there. This wouldn’t be a problem if all this content was the middle of a novel, but in the episodic format that I committed to for this project it just didn’t work at all. My fear is that what I had would’ve been a disappointment after how well received the first episode was. What I can say is that what I have written so far for the new draft is vastly superior and I get to introduce a character that I was saving for a later episode that I am really excited about. With a little luck and a lot of hard work, I am hoping to get some real progress done on Episode II over the next month or so.

Now that the bad news is out of the way, time for some good news! After working with acclaimed author Justin Taylor during the first semester of my MFA, I have a renewed passion for writing short stories again. I have numerous short stories in the works right now that I will be sharing on the website over the course of the next few months. The first one will be the long awaited reboot of Eternal Vigilance, which should be up by the end of next week at the latest. Here’s a taste of some of the other stories that are coming up:

A young clairvoyant girl in Dublin hears a desperate plea for help, spurring her to action.Privateers aboard an airship in the clouds of Jupiter stumble across an illegal Helium-3 mining operation.An ambitious, young politician runs a campaign to become the first extraterrestrial congressman in the United States.A short story set in the Tuatha dé Danann universe.The last one is my favorite, so all you get is three words: trains, aliens, steampunk. If that’s not enough to get you excited then you are clearly on the wrong page.

I am looking forward to sharing these stories with everyone and thank you all for your patience with Episode II. Keep you eyes on the page and on my social media over the next few weeks for the release of Eternal Vigilance! Let me know in the comments if you’re excited for any of the upcoming stories!

Consider becoming on of my Patrons on Patreon for exclusive content!

Good evening all and welcome to the Weekly Update for March 31st! Apologies for the lack of a post on Saturday; it was a tournament weekend for work and exhaustion had won out over writing on Saturday and Sunday. There will be a post this Saturday however I am delaying the one about VR Gaming in favor of writing about one of my favorite story-telling devices: The Rule of Cool.

Not a lot of writing was done this week so instead I’ve decided to focus this week’s update on some of the ways I’ve been passing the time! Enjoy!

Godzilla vs. Kong

Part of the reason for the late night nature of this post is because I decided to watch Godzilla vs. Kong on HBO Max. Legendary Pictures’ Monsterverse has been one of my favorite connected film universes since its inception back with Gareth Edwards’ excellent 2014 reimagining of Godzilla for the modern day. Kong: Skull Island and King of the Monsters were both solid follow ups, but Godzilla vs. Kong is the first in the series to truly live up to its roots in Japanese film making. It feels like a modernization of one of the old Showa or Heisei era Godzilla films by keeping its focus on the adam wingmonsters and never taking itself too seriously. As for the monsters, Godzilla is excellent as always as depicting a true force of nature in the world and director Adam Wingard did a phenomenal job of humanizing Kong and making him a relatable and sympathetic protagonist. There is a third major monster in the movie as well, and that monster was awesome to watch once it was revealed, but in the interest of keeping this spoiler free I won’t reveal its identity.

Godzilla vs. Kong is definitely worth the watch and hopefully we will see some new Monsterverse projects in the works in the near future.

Monster Hunter Rise

I took a small break from writing this week while waiting for feedback on my latest pages from my mentor at Southern New Hampshire University. To fill that extra time, I picked up the latest installment of the Monster Hunter franchise, Monster Hunter Rise on the Nintendo Switch. For those of you unfamiliar with the series, you do exactly what the title implies; you hunt monsters. Rise takes a lot of the quality of life fixes from the excellent Monster Hunter World and added in the best mobility of the series so far with the inclusion of the Wirebugs and rideable Palamutes. The combat is still fantastic and engaging and takes advantage of the improved mobility, and the roster of monsters is huge including old favorites such as the Rathalos alongside some new beasties like the monkey-ish Bishaten and Arzuros. Hunts range anywhere from ten minutes to an hour and can be played with up to three other hunters online. However, as it is a Monster Hunter game, it can be incredibly daunting for newcomers to the series. There are a ton of mechanics to learn, so keep that in mind if you’re considering Rise as your first Monster Hunter game.

Attack on Titan Final Season

The first half of the Final Season of Attack on Titan has come to a close and it is some of the best story telling I have ever experienced in any entertainment medium. I, like many people, was a little worried when Studio Mappa took over the animation for Studio Wit for the final season but they have done a wonderful job of capturing the aesthetics of the prior seasons while showing the progression of time since the third season ended. The action this season has taken a back seat to the story, but when the action does ramp up it has been some of the best in the series by far. My jaw was on the floor when Eren and the scouts took on the Warhammer titan during the raid on Marley. My only real complaint is that the first half of the season ended on a cliffhanger. I can’t wait until next winter when they release the second half of the final season and finish this masterpiece!

That’s all for this week’s update! I unfortunately didn’t get much writing done this week but I am planning to have some updates on both Tuatha dé Danann and other projects next week!

What did you think of Godzilla vs. Kong? Any other Monster Hunter players in the audience? Can Eren be redeemed in the second half of the final season? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Also, consider becoming on of my Patrons on Patreon for exclusive content!

Good evening all and welcome to the Weekly Update for March 31st! Apologies for the lack of a post on Saturday; it was a tournament weekend for work and exhaustion had won out over writing on Saturday and Sunday. There will be a post this Saturday however I am delaying the one about VR Gaming in favor of writing about one of my favorite story-telling devices: The Rule of Cool.

Not a lot of writing was done this week so instead I’ve decided to focus this week’s update on some of the ways I’ve been passing the time! Enjoy!

Godzilla vs. Kong

Part of the reason for the late night nature of this post is because I decided to watch Godzilla vs. Kong on HBO Max. Legendary Pictures’ Monsterverse has been one of my favorite connected film universes since its inception back with Gareth Edwards’ excellent 2014 reimagining of Godzilla for the modern day. Kong: Skull Island and King of the Monsters were both solid follow ups, but Godzilla vs. Kong is the first in the series to truly live up to its roots in Japanese film making. It feels like a modernization of one of the old Showa or Heisei era Godzilla films by keeping its focus on the adam wingmonsters and never taking itself too seriously. As for the monsters, Godzilla is excellent as always as depicting a true force of nature in the world and director Adam Wingard did a phenomenal job of humanizing Kong and making him a relatable and sympathetic protagonist. There is a third major monster in the movie as well, and that monster was awesome to watch once it was revealed, but in the interest of keeping this spoiler free I won’t reveal its identity.

Godzilla vs. Kong is definitely worth the watch and hopefully we will see some new Monsterverse projects in the works in the near future.

Monster Hunter Rise

I took a small break from writing this week while waiting for feedback on my latest pages from my mentor at Southern New Hampshire University. To fill that extra time, I picked up the latest installment of the Monster Hunter franchise, Monster Hunter Rise on the Nintendo Switch. For those of you unfamiliar with the series, you do exactly what the title implies; you hunt monsters. Rise takes a lot of the quality of life fixes from the excellent Monster Hunter World and added in the best mobility of the series so far with the inclusion of the Wirebugs and rideable Palamutes. The combat is still fantastic and engaging and takes advantage of the improved mobility, and the roster of monsters is huge including old favorites such as the Rathalos alongside some new beasties like the monkey-ish Bishaten and Arzuros. Hunts range anywhere from ten minutes to an hour and can be played with up to three other hunters online. However, as it is a Monster Hunter game, it can be incredibly daunting for newcomers to the series. There are a ton of mechanics to learn, so keep that in mind if you’re considering Rise as your first Monster Hunter game.

Attack on Titan Final Season

The first half of the Final Season of Attack on Titan has come to a close and it is some of the best story telling I have ever experienced in any entertainment medium. I, like many people, was a little worried when Studio Mappa took over the animation for Studio Wit for the final season but they have done a wonderful job of capturing the aesthetics of the prior seasons while showing the progression of time since the third season ended. The action this season has taken a back seat to the story, but when the action does ramp up it has been some of the best in the series by far. My jaw was on the floor when Eren and the scouts took on the Warhammer titan during the raid on Marley. My only real complaint is that the first half of the season ended on a cliffhanger. I can’t wait until next winter when they release the second half of the final season and finish this masterpiece!

That’s all for this week’s update! I unfortunately didn’t get much writing done this week but I am planning to have some updates on both Tuatha dé Danann and other projects next week!

What did you think of Godzilla vs. Kong? Any other Monster Hunter players in the audience? Can Eren be redeemed in the second half of the final season? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Also, consider becoming on of my Patrons on Patreon for exclusive content!

Welcome all to my first weekly update! For those that didn’t read the last post, I will be releasing a short blog every Wednesday with news about the website, my writing, and other topics that I enjoy. There may be cat photos as well.

Tuatha dé Danann Episode I: The Aes Sídhe

Once again, a huge thank you to everyone who was purchased and read a copy of TDD Episode I. The feedback has been incredibly and it has been such a humbling experience sharing this story with everyone! A friendly reminder to leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you have read it; your feedback will help me ensure that future volumes are of the highest possible quality.

If you haven’t picked up your copy yet, now is the perfect time to do so. From now until March 29th, the Kindle Edition is COMPLETELY FREE! Go pick up your copy now at Amazon.com!

[image error]Tuatha dé Danann Episode II: Gods & Monsters

I am hard at work on the second episode! I am currently about 25,000 words in and quickly approaching the finish line of the first draft. Once the first draft is complete, I will be starting the revision process and working on the final product. At my current pace, I am hopeful that I will be able to release Episode II by the end of June of this year!

Click HERE for the synopsis of Episode II!

[image error]Zack Snyder’s Justice League

I know I talked about this a bit last week, but the Snyder Cut was awesome. It is long, coming in at around four hours, but it is well worth the watch. If you have HBO MAX, you owe it to yourself to watch the original vision that the DCEU had for these characters.

Short Story Update

For those of you that enjoy my short stories, I have two that are currently in various stages of production. The Eternal Vigilance Reboot has been outlined and the first draft has begun. I have also started working on a new military science fiction short. I am still in the early stages with this one but I have a solid overall plot and I have already done some character sketches. My goal is for this one to be a bit on the darker side tonally with some deep philosophical questions at the end. One or both should be complete by the end of the second quarter of this year at the latest.

Cat Photos[image error][image error]

Heinlein (Orange and White) and Asimov (Black)

That’s all for this week’s update! Check in on Saturday for my longer form blog; this week’s topic is about VR Gaming!

Sound off in the comments about the new blog schedule! Is the weekly news worth your time? Are Heinlein and Asimov the most adorable kitties in the world? Let me know below!

Also, consider becoming on of my Patrons on Patreon for exclusive content!

The Failure of Eternal Vigilance

Earlier in the week I had the distinct pleasure of watching the Snyder Cut of Justice League. It would be an understatement to say that I was blown away by the movie, despite the fact that it was essentially the same story as the theatrical cut. This led me to ask myself, why? How can one movie that tells almost the exact same story be so much better than the other? At first I thought that maybe it had to do with Zach Snyder being a more skilled director. While Snyder is an impressive story teller, Joss Whedon is no slouch either. Firefly and its follow up film Serenity are two of my favorite works in the science fiction genre and The Avengers was fantastic. So I came back to the same question again: What was it that Snyder did with his cut that made it so vastly superior to Whedon’s cut?

I stewed on it for a while and couldn’t put my finger upon it. Finally, it dawned on me that Snyder simply told the story better. While this sounds like an oversimplification, take this hypothetical for a moment: two story tellers are reciting the story of Jack and Jill. One tells the story word for word, about how they went up the hill, and Jack fell down and Jill came tumbling after. It is a perfectly passable rendition and touches upon all the key points, correct? However, the next story teller gives us a background and motivation for why the duo went up the hill in the first place. In addition, the second story teller continues the nursery rhyme with two additional verses that came after the initial one, in which Jack goes to bed to heal and Jill is punished for causing Jack to fall in the first place. Now, not only can the audience relate to both Jack and Jill since we know why they are going up the hill to fetch a pail of water, but we area also seeing the fall out from the decisions they made and the consequences of their trip. Is it still the same story? Yes, undoubtedly. Is the second version a vastly superior story to the first? The answer, of course, in unquestionably yes.

The reason that I am spending so much time on this is because I have run into this problem before with my own writing. While I am certainly not a story teller on par with Whedon or Snyder, I do take pride in my work and thoroughly enjoy telling a story. One of my stories, Eternal Vigilance, was supposed to be my greatest short story. I had this brilliant concept using a familiar trope that served as the the origin story for one of my favorite characters that I have ever conceived. The story was good. Unfortunately, I did a lousy job telling that story for a variety of reasons.

What went wrong?

There are a multitude of reasons that Eternal Vigilance is the least read story on my website. The number one reason was simply that I failed to tell Grey’s story in a compelling manner. In Haven Lost, Grey Dynast is an Admiral in the Hope Space Force and regarded as one of the greatest military minds of his generation. He had a gift for reading situations and coming up with unconventional solutions to difficult problems. Grey served as a mentor to Firo (the protagonist of Haven Lost) and played a major role in the second half of the novel. It was also well known that Grey was a bit of a hothead when he was younger with a habit of not following orders.

If you read Eternal Vigilance, you would know right away that this sounds nothing like the main character of the short story. In the story, instead of being and overconfident hothead, Grey is an insecure character that turns out to be a bit of a wunderkind. He was a bit of Gary Stu (the male version of a Mary Sue, or a character that is overpowered and perfect for no apparent reason other than that the story needs them to be.) He was placed in the situation where he needed to succeed and after whining about it a bit was suddenly a brilliant strategist and saved the day. There was no character development, no moment where Grey had to grow into a better version of himself. The way he was written in the story was boring and did a massive disservice to the character that he would later become in Haven Lost.

The other main problem was the lack of any real impact from the space battles. I think that part of the problem was that I was hyper-focused on trying to have some semblance of realism that I failed to make sure that there battles were interesting in any way. The first battle felt floaty and easy while the final battle relied on a deus ex machina moment. The second battle had a little bit of tension, mainly because it was happening on the other end of a radio. The battles were no fun, and the ship and crew never felt like they were in any real danger. Because of this, any impact the battles had was lost.

How do I fix it?

The first step to fixing a problem is admitting that there is a problem to fix.

As I said above, the story of Eternal Vigilance itself is actually a good story. The trope of an inexperienced, cocksure officer being suddenly thrust into command is a tried and true trope. Books like Dune, The Mote in God’s Eye, and Ender’s Game all feature this trope to some extent, as does the film Battleship (time will prove me right on thinking that Battleship is a great movie!). These characters all have the capacity and ability to be leaders, but they aren’t ready for it. In all these cases, the main character rises to the occasion, maybe taking a few missteps along the way, but in the end proving that they are deserving of being a leader.

The fix here is a relatively simple one and that is to change Grey’s role in the chain of command. Instead of him being the young and gifted second in command, what if Grey was a newly promoted pilot? As someone who used to spend a lot of time around pilots when I was younger, I can tell you firsthand that pilots are some of the cockiest, arrogant individuals I have ever met. Think Maverick from Top Gun. He’s an arrogant bastard but damn is he good behind the stick of a fighter plane. Maverick is not someone I would want in charge of others as I don’t think he has the ability to manage and utilize the people around him; every solution Maverick will think of will typically involved Maverick being a better pilot. This is what I want for Grey Dynast. Having him try to solve everything himself at first only to realize that he needs to utilize the crew around him not only gives me a chance to show off that he is a badass, but also gives him a full character arc where he grows and learns.

In addition, Eternal Vigilance is an underdog story. They are outnumbered three to one, outgunned and outmatched in every way. The no win situation trope is one of my favorites as it has a built in tension where you are constantly wondering how they are going to succeed in the end when everything is stacked against them. In the past decade their have been multiple works where this trope was the main building block, such as the excellent anime Attack on Titan. This trope was at its finest in David Brin’s masterpiece Startide Rising, in which one barely functional starship had dozens of alien fleets standing between them and safety. The odds of them succeeding were so exceptionally low, which made their eventual escape that much more satisfying. When writing Eternal Vigilance, I wanted the reader to breathe a sigh of relief every time that the crew of the Vigilant survived an encounter. I wanted their to be tension, and there wasn’t any.

Part of the reason for a lack of tension was the fact that space battle should be utterly terrifying. There should be that fear in the background of all the characters minds that all that stands between them and the vacuum of space is the armor of their ship. There should be a fear that the strain of acceleration and applying multiple g’s of force on the body is potentially fatal. There should be the dread of not being able to actually see who you are fighting against due to the darkness of space; that the first time you see an enemy ship may be the very last moment of your life. Other than the initial barrage on the Vigilant, which they overcame very quickly somehow, the ship and the characters never felt like they were in any danger.

This fix is more complicated. I want the Vigilant to be outnumbered and outgunned, and on top of that the ship is barely holding together after the initial attack. If they try to stand up and fight, there is zero chance they will win so instead the crew will have to rely on cunning and strategy. I also want the environment to be an ever present concern for the characters. Space is deadly, and needs to be treated in that way. For inspiration here, I looked to the closest equivalent we have, which is submarine combat. K19, U-571, Crimson Tide, Das Boot; in every one of these there is not only the tension between the ships where they cannot visibly see one another, but also the constant threat of being crushed by the pressure of the ocean.

What is Next for Eternal Vigilance?

While most of my time right now is focused on Tuatha dé Danann, Haven Lost is still a major piece of my portfolio moving forward. Because of that, I cannot settle for mediocrity in pieces that carry that name on it. So, in the near future, the version of Eternal Vigilance that is currently on my website will be getting removed and retired safely to my OneDrive. I have made the decision to reboot Eternal Vigilance so I can give Grey and the crew of the Vigilant the telling of their story that they deserve. Like I said in the opening, Eternal Vigilance has a good story at its core, I just did a poor job telling that story. I have been working on the reboot little by little, trying to put together ideas that work really well. One of the big pieces that I am going to lean on in the reboot is that Grey and the crew of the Vigilant are experienced pirate hunters in the very unique setting that The Sepulcher offers. I want to lean on that expertise and use that to their advantage in overcoming the seemingly overwhelming odds against them. In addition, Grey Dynast needs to receive the story arc that does his character justice. I want to see Grey grow from an unlikeable but talented low level officer into the unconventional leader that he is in Haven Lost. The most important change, is that I want the story to be fun and have some real tense moments for the reader. After all, if the story isn’t fun, what the hell is the point in reading it?

Stay tuned for more news about the reboot of Eternal Vigilance, coming soon!

What did you think of the original Eternal Vigilance? If you were one of the dozen or so that read it, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Also, consider becoming on of my Patrons on Patreon for exclusive content!