It’s Monkey Queen anniversary week! We’ll be celebrating all week with a look behind the scenes at all four Monkey Queen novels and much more, and we’re up to book three, Under The Stars Of Faerie!
This came about when two different plot ideas merged together. One was the concept of a mad gremlin kidnapping Mandy, and Mec coming to the rescue along with Michiko and Beth. The other was inspired by my fondness for the Northern California Pirate Festival, and earlier ideas I’d had but never used for stories about airships. I was lucky enough to figure out how to blend the two, and I’m happy with the result.
I’ve become quite fond of The Blade Of The West Wind and her crew. They may not be quite piratey, but they were still a blast to write. If I can ever perfect the 48-hour day or get my hands on a TARDIS, I just might write more with them. And I was quite happy with how Mec developed as the story went along; he is definitely one of my favorite supporting characters.
Favorite Line: Beth’s comment, “Time may heal all wounds, but chocolate can make a great bandage.” It should be a t-shirt, shouldn’t it?
Favorite Reference: I wrote the bit with Beth running back to grab a towel on March 11, 2014…Douglas Adams’ birthday. Second is a tie between Rosie (look up “Rosie the Riveter” sometime) and Old Fred (who apparently changed jobs after helping to save Pepperland).
Most Obscure Reference: As I was working on this book, some friends of mine on Facebook were posting weird album covers. One of them (actually an EP) was by a 1960s Swedish instrumental band, who were depicted as astronauts. The EP title was… The Impertinent Spotnicks in Jazzland. I could not resist.
Did you know: “Best Christmas Ever!” probably deserves its own Behind The Scenes. Look for it on Black Friday. Read it here in the meantime, or click the “short story” tag to read them all!
Tomorrow: BAKA!!
