No, I'm not talking about Tara AI in the last chapter of The Assassin, which posted today. Nor about any of the Swarm Cycle AIs 'helping' humanity. I'm referring to something far more sinister and far less obvious.
Vixen.
Vixen is the 'black box' that converts stories on SOL to the readable layout most of us encounter when we follow a story here. She has the best intentions. Stories come to her in all kinds of conditions and she applies her little algorithms to make them look decent on screen. Mostly all okay, unless she stumbles.
We've all seen Vixen stumble in one way or another, and most probably blame the author. Half a chapter gets posted twice or out of sequence? Don't blame the author! Vixen was drinking.
And there are simple things that most of us would never notice, unless you are the author. Today, for example, I read the last chapter of The Assassin after it posted. I do that routinely. When a chapter posts, I read it and often correct errors I've encountered. I'm sure you've found stories in your reading that leave you convinced the author never looked at what he wrote after the bits first hit the screen. But I do. And when I reached the end of chapter 27, it just stopped and I wondered, WTF happened? The last paragraph was missing.
Well, the paragraph was only two words, but it brought the story arc to its fulfillment. Vixen saw the words and assumed they were in error because they just repeated the name of the story. So, she eliminated them. Except, they were needed. They brought the story to a conclusion of self-realization and identification.
I quickly resubmitted the chapter with an explanation of what was intended and it was reposted within an hour, so I doubt too many readers caught the problem. And it might be one of those oddball things that only the author noticed anyway.
On the other hand, my new story, Team Manager: Swish!, started posting on Tuesday May 25 and I'm really happy with the reception so far. Over 200 eBook sales in the first five days! If you haven't read GMbusman's review of the story, please do. He captured the essence without any spoilers and gave it high praise.
I'm deep into writing the sequel, Team Manager: Sprint! I hope to finish it within the next couple of weeks so it can make the rounds of the editors. I'd like to get that finished and Wayzgoose's A Place Among Peers done. Both are two-thirds to three-quarters of the way along. But there's this other story that has begun nagging me at the back of my mind and last night I had to sit down and spew a chapter out just so I could concentrate on the other stuff again. When I can digest the concept into a pitch, I'll let you know. It's pretty off the wall.
I do hope this post finds you well and that in the midst of enjoying the sun, the beach, the barbecue, or whatever, you also take a moment to remember those who have given their all to protect our country. I salute you.