Why Two Years?

When I decided to write a sequel to The Music of Mars, one of the first decisions I had to make was how much time passed before the new book began. Too little or too much and believability would be strained.

For the story I wanted to tell, I needed my MarsVantage main characters (Gretchen, Frank, Chuck) to be familiar with the alien technology but not masters of it. Likewise, Washington politicians couldn’t be sitting on hands if they’re overly concerned about the repercussions of alien technology on their positions and lifestyles.

So, I gamed out a few timeframes. One year passing works well from the government perspective, assuming they’re moving at atypical urgency. However, it leaves little time logistically for Frank and company to get up to speed on operations inside Bvindu Dome, the home of the alien tech, let alone leveraging the tech for their own purposes.

I considered five years out, too. I couldn’t wrap my head around why government officials would wait so long, considering their fears and doubts as expressed in the book. Then, I looked at it from Frank’s perspective and couldn’t understand why he and the rest of MarsVantage weren’t experts in the alien technology they needed for self-sufficiency. Or why they hadn’t achieved self-sufficiency already. When defending Bvindu Dome comes into play, little tension and drama would be available if Frank could bring all manner of advanced technology to bear on Space Force.

As The Siege of Mars shows, two years is the sweet spot. I plausibly explain what government officials were doing while illustrating Frank and MarsVantage’s priorities. As a blog reader, here’s an interesting nugget that isn’t in the book. For people to occupy Bvindu Dome, they must wear a wristband. Otherwise, the Bvindu Intruder System will kill them as trespassers.

Certainly, the Bvindu hadn’t run around with wristbands when they lived in Bvindu Dome themselves. Their systems allow them to be scanned and their biometrics stored so that the Intruder System can recognize them as friendly. Two reasons exist why Frank doesn’t use this system. One is that it’s one of many details that were prioritized lower because the makeshift solution, the wristbands, works well enough. The second is that the equipment used for scanning is also used in the Bvindu’s practical immortality process, which Frank and Gretchen correctly identified as technology that could destroy humanity, and they decided to hide that information from everyone.

For more information about The Siege of Mars, click here.

You can order The Siege of Mars from Amazon in paperback or eBook, from IngramSpark in paperback, or through your favorite bookstore.

Remember, reviews, no matter how short, help authors!