Wow do I need to come up for some air.
If I had written Alice and the Warden at this pace, it would have been done in half the time. XD
One of the things that I’m really loving about doing TSS as a branching story is that I can more fully explore MSG Hartmann’s character. Originally, I created him with every intention of him playing a much bigger part. Then I realized that, logically, he’d be neutralized pretty quick, assuming that my military had any sort of competency. Like, if you can’t apprehend a severely injured man on your own danged base, then you guys are pretty pathetic.
My military isn’t supposed to be the best — they’re losing and desperate, after all, — but that’s a level of stupid that I wasn’t willing to go to.
I basically had to give Hartmann a cursory nod, then medically discharge him. Thank you for your service, and all that jazz.
But what if Carol had made a choice that sent the story in a totally different direction?
What if Hartmann was placed front and center, while Lambert was relegated to the sidelines? Brain damage and all?
So that’s what I wrote.
And the part that has my heart beating excitedly is that I managed to work in a survival in the woods scene. Finally, my past life has a purpose! Har de har.
Truth be told, sometimes I kick myself for how I let myself get wrangled into writing a story about the military. I’ve been researching and all that, but I don’t have the IRL experience to feel confident about what I’m writing.
By Autumn Rain 