All Good Things

I know, I know...It's not like you'll ever see this on the Sci-Fi channel, let alone the big screen. Alright already, I know it ain't great art. But I can't help having a sense of pride when I look through the whole schmeal of Broken Horizon.

It's an effort to write just ONE of these things, and as I looked at the title for the final installment, I thought; "Holy shit...I actually wrote SIX previous episodes?!?" It truly doesn't feel like it, nor that it has been over a year since episode one. You have to admit, I'm on a better time table than Lucas when it comes to release dates, although we both mix up the order of the tale.

I loved writing this, and I felt that I grew more as a writer each time a new one popped in my head. That's how I wrote them, you know - I didn't have a storyline laid out, or a plot destination. I didn't know Evie was going to die until the day I wrote it as so. I just wrote as I felt like, because I needed a good exercise to discipline and develop my writing.

As I said a few weeks ago, it just felt like it was time. I was playing with a few concepts for more chapters, maybe three at most, but the opening of this one came to me while I was writing something else, and once I started...That was it. The others didn't matter as much, and I've got SOOO many other tales brewing right now, Broken Horizon has become more of a chore than fun.

About the last chapter itself, I wanted to kind of round out the story with Maria, and you get the feeling she isn't going to let the memory and ways of Robbie and Severs die with her. It's a hope for the future ending, and after killing off my heroes, I wanted to end this on something other than "They all died of radiation poisoning anyway".

Also, I indulged a bit of egotism here: I wanted to actually use the term "broken horizon" in the story, and Maria's epilogue worked great, I thought. Too, I wanted the small, Latino woman to be one of the survivors, in this world where the black guy always dies saving the white man.

Taking Steve's advice from episode #5 "Running on Empty", I have worked to make the last line in all my stories have a parting-shot effect. However, not all stories need one.

This one took the longest to write, and I paid much closer attention to it during the process, as well as being armed with all the lessons I have received over the past two years. I think it shows. I went back and read the entire thing from chapter one last night, and you can see me struggling with setup, interaction and pacing until about episode #4, where the boat starts to balance and the stories (in my opinion) get more interesting and evocative.

One thing I can tell you is that writing this series was important to my growth as a writer, although I didn't know it at the time. I got to tell a tale, make mistakes, get publicly humiliated and berated for them, as well as earn some praise and learn as I went. I'm convinced blogging is one of the best ways to teach yourself how to be a writer, because it PUTS YOU OUT THERE. Some of the comments I've seen suggest that there are readers out there that don't need a deep cerebral experience to enjoy a good shoot-'em-up, and others think I'm dumbing it down too much. Which, in itself, is a lesson about target audience. I had no idea what that was two years ago.

I'm learning.

A few thank-yous are in order. You can skip this part if you like, but I need to say it.

First and foremost: Steve Perry. The single most important writing teacher I have. If you've followed the saga of Robbie, Severs and Maria from the beginning, you'll see that he's chimed in on every one. In this case, I'm using the word "chime" as a metaphor for "Break my testicles slowly and feed them to his goldfish." But when I'm rich and famous, I plan on calling him up from my yacht in the South Pacific to thank him. Then hang up and return to my rum-drenched haze.

All kidding aside, I am not the best of his students (he has enough broken-willed, non-metaphor-using noob authors out there to start a support group), nor the most published, but if you think I'm any good, thank him. Raw talent is nothing without cultivation, guidance and motivation. And the occasional footprint on one's ass.

Also, if you think I'm shit, feel free to spam his blog. That's his fault, too.

Brad, Chuck, Terry, Jay, Jason, Worg and Carl C. (Poor Italian Boy) Your encouragement was really appreciated, and I hope I haven't let you down. Knowing you were on the other end of these stories spurred me to put forth 110% in every one.

And to everyone out there who reads my blog every week. I wouldn't do it if it wasn't fun...But I wouldn't continue if you weren't there.

Thanks, one and all.