Always something interesting here in southern France (I’ve been in the town of Aix for over 3 weeks and have another five days to go before I move to he town of Avignon)—always something new to learn.
I’ve been researching the town for the book, Disobedience.
In the meantime, I’ve put together the final touches on the draft version (still a bit rough) of a chapter for “The Wastelands and the Wilderness” (Which is Part 2 of The Balance).
This is a character introduction for a young woman named “Morwen”. She is related to a character in The Balance (Part 1), named Matthew, and has been told that she is his niece, although in fact she is his biological daughter.
People who were a part of the Genetics Programs didn’t always know who their biological parents were, although sometimes they did, as it was for Phoebe in part 1.
This is the second new character intro I’ve done for “Wastelands . . .”. The other was for a character named Danielle.
“Wastelands . .” is being written for a New Adult and Older audience. There are some themes that would not be suitable for children or YA. The book will have five or six different threads (stories being followed in parallel). Of course they are all related in some way, although the relationship between them may not be obvious.
The story picks up several years after the end of The Balance (book 1). The Council has been aggressively seeking Order members in hiding, and especially their underground base, called Corbin.
The Council’s Inner Circle (8 members)—Council is short for The Council of God—is made up by a Supreme Elder, Three Bishops, each of whom leads the spiritual aspects of the three founding faiths (Islam, Judaism, and Christianity) and the leaders of the four Curia: Truth, Justice, Law, and Economics.
For example, the Curia of Truth is responsible for the educational system, the libraries, and the reconstituted Inquisition, as well as the elements of the Council that make up the intelligence mechanism. Law runs the courts, Justice is responsible for physical security and imposing the edicts of the Council, and Economics oversees those aspects of society that create wealth.
Part one of the book introduced these things, as well as the makeup of the Order—a separate organization that was driven from power and whose members live in exile. (and hiding). The Order was a technological / science organization, and the Council forbade the use of most technology after driving the Order out.
Neither side was free of blame.
I keep three chapters from The Balance posted on my web site: michaelselden.com
I expect that part 2 of the story (planned as a trilogy) will be released in mid to late 2019.
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