This is mark Joseph “young” blog entry #521, on the subject of Versers Act.

With permission of Valdron Inc I have previously completed publishing my first ten Multiverser novels,

1. Verse Three, Chapter One:  The First Multiverser Novel,
2. Old Verses New,
3. For Better or Verse,
4. Spy Verses,
5. Garden of Versers,
6. Versers Versus Versers,
7. Re Verse All,
8. In Verse Proportion,
9. Con Verse Lea, and
10. In Version, in collaboration with Eric R. Ashley,

in serialized form on the web (those links will take you to the table of contents for each book).  Along with each book there was also a series of web log posts looking at the writing process, the decisions and choices that delivered the final product; those posts are indexed with the chapters in the tables of contents pages.  Now as I am posting the eleventh, Con Version,  again written in collaboration with Eric R. Ashley, I am again offering a set of “behind the writings” insights.  This “behind the writings” look may contain spoilers because it sometimes talks about my expectations for the futures of the characters and stories–although it sometimes raises ideas that were never pursued, as being written partially concurrently with the story it sometimes discusses where I thought it was headed.  You might want to read the referenced chapters before reading this look at them.  Links below (the section headings) will take you to the specific individual chapters being discussed, and there are (or will soon be) links on those pages to bring you back hopefully to the same point here.

This is the seventeenth post for this novel, covering chapters 193 through 204.  Previous mark Joseph “young” behind-the-writings web log posts for this book include:

1. #498:  Characters Restart covering chapters 1 through 12;
2. #501:  Characters Orienting, covering chapters 13 through 24;
3. #502:  Verser Setbacks, chapters 25 through 36;
4. #503:  Versers Progress, chapters 37 through 48;
5. #505:  Versers Advance, chapters 49 through 60;
6. #506:  Characters Involved, chapters 61 through 72;
7. #509:  Character Challenges, chapters 73 through 84;
8. #510:  Versers Debate, chapters 85 through 96;
9. #511:  Characters Change, chapters 87 through 108;
10. #512:  Versers Work, chapters 109 through 120;
11. #515:  Verser Troubles, 121 through 132;
12. #516:  Versers Stymied, 133 through 144;
13. #517:  Versers Moving, 145 through 156;
14. #518:  Versers Plan, 157 through 168;
15. #519:  Versers Congregate, 169 through 180; and
16. #520:  Versers Employed, 181 through 192.

There is also a section of the site, Multiverser Novel Support Pages, in which I have begun to place materials related to the novels beginning with character papers for the major characters, giving them at different stages as they move through the books.  This is also the longest book to date, and has quite a few long chapters in it, so there will be quite a few of these background articles.

History of the series, including the reason it started, the origins of character names and details, and many of the ideas, are in earlier posts, and won’t be repeated here.

Chapter 193, Cooper 61

Cutter’s party was Eric’s idea.  He made some suggestions, including the encounter with the guard dog and the announcement.  There was also an idea for a pit trap with tigers, but I couldn’t figure out how to work it so that Justice could get out again in time to rendezvous with Keller, so I didn’t use it.

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Chapter 194, Takano 144

Eric had suggested two supervillains with fire-based powers of different types working together to burn down the building.  I wrote the chapters around that.

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Chapter 195, Brown 354

I was attempting to make Derek’s battle against two supervillains credible with the skills he was already known to have.

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Chapter 196, Cooper 62

I had a notion of involving Tell and The Eagle in this, but couldn’t figure out how to do it; however, the phone call was necessary.  Also, having Justice expend energy to run to the phone solved some of the issues of what he would do next.

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Chapter 197, Takano 145

Eric had suggested someone rescued from an elevator, so that became the focus of this chapter.  The rescuer became Tommy by default, as Derek and Brian were elsewhere by this point.

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Chapter 198, Brown 355

I didn’t want Derek’s battle to be too easy, so I had in mind that although he had effectively removed the first arsonist from play, that one would return.  I also wanted him to use the liquid TK skill as something he could do.

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Chapter 199, Cooper 63

It was important that Mordenslice be named as behind the burning, and that one of the arsonists survive.  I wasn’t sure which one it would be until it happened.

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Chapter 200, Takano 146

I wrapped up the disaster here with a few loose ends.

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Chapter 201, Brown 356

This is, perhaps, the denouement for the arson story, but it’s also the critical moment when the characters put together the pieces and recognize that Cutter is Mordenslice.  Eric added the names of the villains.

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Chapter 202, Cooper 64

Eric drafted this.  There were aspects of his opening that bothered him, and he thought there must be a reason why Mordenslice killed Mister Justice there.  He didn’t have a reason, but this was exploring that.

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Chapter 203, Takano 147

Eric drafted this, giving Tommy a new skill.

The original opening had Brian and Tommy walking home from work, but I pointed out that the building would be closed for a few days for fire investigators to examine it.  This led to the addition of an opening paragraph explaining the closure.

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Chapter 204, Brown 357

Eric brought his retired hero Green Hawk back to interact with Michael Gabriel, and put forward another precognitive dream.

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This has been the seventeenth behind-the-writings look at Con Version.  If there is interest and continued support from readers we will endeavor to continue with more behind-the-writings posts and another novel.