Sage Mullins: Blog

Like my protagonist and his buddy in LiaB, I am no expert in the field of auto mechanics. A wise reader pointed this out to me, and I've submitted a slightly revised version of chapter 72 where I corrected some pretty serious inaccuracies in my depiction of how to change a leaky radiator hose. I really should have put out a request for help before attempting to write that part.

On another note, you may recall that a while back, I mentioned that I have another story on SOL under a different pen name. I also said that I would be giving cameo appearances in LiaB to a few characters from that story. Well, that happened in chapter 72. Did anyone out there catch it? I've been closely monitoring the download totals for the other story since chapter 72 went up, and there was indeed a small spike in downloads. Looks like a few readers caught it, although no one wrote to me directly about it.

Since anyone with a knack for using the Advanced Search function can plug in the characters' names and bring up the story right away, there's no point in me continuing to be mysterious about it. The scene in question is the August 4, 2000 passage which contains the same auto repair part I referenced above. The Angela, Darcy and Katie characters all play a major role in my other story, which is (drum roll) "Song of Adelita," under the pen name Van Gunnison.

Be forwarned, though: SoA is incomplete, has been in that state for several years, and is a very different story from LiaB. It's a much darker tale with deeply flawed characters (for the most part, they do have their redeeming qualities). It was written in 2003-04, and posted in 2005. As time went by, I grew uncomfortable with the subject matter, which caused me to shelve it. That's also why I posted LiaB under a different pen name.

Might I revisit SoA, and pick it up again and perhaps finish it? It's possible. It depends on whether I can get back in the right frame of mind. Bringing those characters briefly into LiaB has given me some encouragement in that regard. It won't happen until LiaB is complete, however.

That 8/4/2000 snippet, by the way, was pretty much a ships-passing-in-the-night thing. I have no intention of giving Angela, Darcy or Katie major roles in LiaB going forward. I'll say this, however: you'll see one of them briefly re-appear a short while down the road, along with another minor character from SoA.

Switching gears again ... it should be obvious that I'm on the verge of dealing with the 9/11 tragedy. I've gotten a lot of email about it, and I feel compelled to make a few points. 9/11 is a very difficult topic to address, and I know it's very likely that there are a few readers out there who suffered personal losses on 9/11. The thing is, in this kind of a story, you can't just gloss over 9/11, especially with the New Jersey connections of Pat and friends.

So, I'll say this up front. Chapter 73 will deal with 9/11 and only 9/11. In chapter 74, I'll move onward, and won't mention 9/11 again. If there are any readers who don't want to revisit 9/11 (and you have my sincere sympathies), just skip over 73, move on to 74 when I post it, and you won't miss anything.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 71 is now up. On top of that, I have a good chunk of chapter 72 already written. It would probably be a bit ambitious for me to say that 72 will be up this week; early- to mid-next week is probably more realistic. But I've definitely picked up the pace, writing-wise, compared to my April slowdown.

I posted a while back that LiaB would end up at around 80 chapters. But that was before I put up the super-long chapter 68, which was originally intended to be three separate chapters. It just made more sense for that chapter (which dealt with the marriage of Pat and Inez) to be lumped together as one. Also, chapter 70 was originally supposed to be two chapters.

What I'm trying to say here (in a rather long-winded manner) is that the final version of LiaB will have 78 chapters, plus an epilogue, and that's almost etched in stone. I've plotted out the remainder of the story, and that's how it looks. Don't be surprised if the remaining chapters vary widely in length, much more so than what I've posted up till now.

That's all I care to divulge about what lies ahead. :)

Over the past few weeks, real life has pretty much suppressed my writing. The good news is that the crunch is over. Chapter 71 of LiaB has been sent off to the editor, and should be up before too long.

Thanks for your patience!

A couple of readers have pointed out a curious ambiguity at the tail end of chapter 70. I have to agree - the passage would take on an entirely new meaning if a comma was inserted between the last two words of the chapter.

(Of course, Pat would never address Inez in such a manner.) :)

At this point, chapter 71 is coming along slowly. Real-life distractions may limit my writing time for the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, by the end of the month, I'll be back up to speed.

The next chapter of LiaB is coming, but this one is taking me a little longer than usual. Obviously, 68 is a very special chapter, and I want to make sure I get it just right. One bonus is that it's shaping up to be a very long one.

With a little luck, it should be up within a week.