The Silent and Brave revision page #141

The Peaceful and Just revision page #135

Clearly I have added more to my plate. It is unfortunate that I have become sidetracked from the first revision, because it is going to be difficult to get back into, but I will manage it. The insight and improvements I am making in the first book with the help of my editor are worth it. I have come to chapter 11, the first chapter of the third part of the book. This might be the most important chapter in The Peaceful and Just. It is about the Room of Light, where Arlat does her work of genetic modification. The room of light is full of ferns with a special sugar sap called trehalose. Trehalose is a complex sugar that is capable of acting as a stabilizer in the human body; that is, it can replace the fluids that normally fill a body and keep that body in a state of suspended animation while Arlat makes changes to its genetic makeup. That is the way the scaalites were made, and also the way the champion is created. Adding to the confusion is the fact that the Room of Light is where Niisteen placed the empty he created to facilitate travel from Los Lewr to Arlat. He put an empty in each ward, and they all travel to Los Lewr, and then allow travel from Los Lewr to any of the other wards. These empties are called “kapala” by the Teilarata. It is a mystical term, and so I need to make sure my readers understand what is going on, the importance of these new “roads” that do work and allow instant travel to the companions.

The Room of Light itself seems to be difficult to picture. Because of the confusing things that are happening inside it, it needs to be very clear, so I have to go back in and use my few simple sentences to make it more visual for the reader. That is what I’m working on today. Because what is going on is confusing to my characters, I have to be careful not to reveal things that they would not know, but that makes it even more difficult. Hopefully I can make it a little clearer, at least until I can get my readers into chapter twelve, where we meet Niisteen in Los Lewr and he can explain everything himself. My editor said that chapter is much easier to follow, and I believe it.