I recently got this question on Facebook, and I started answering it, but then it ballooned into a really big response, so I figure that means it is time for another Ask Correia blog post:

Hey Larry. I have been reading a lot of your How To’s on writing and they’ve really helped me a lot. I came up with a question of my own after struggling to get my story together. In EVERY one of your books, your pacing is perfect. You keep the reader intrigued from the first page and it is exciting all the way through, even if the characters are just eating breakfast. I was wondering how you keep the pace so perfect for each book and don’t dive into so many different events that the reader would just lose track of? When I put my story together I realized that it was just a mess of separate events which was my awful attempt at keeping an exciting pace haha.

That’s a really good question. Let’s talk about pacing.

One of the best compliments I get from readers is when they tell me that they read my book in one sitting, or they read it over two nights, or something like that. Keep in mind that my average book is 150,000 words, and I tend to write longer than average stories, so when I hear that it tells me that I’ve done my job*. My goal is suck the readers in so that they really want to keep reading.

*A quick note on what our jobs are, writers are just entertainers. It is our job to provide entertainment to our readers. Writers are not special snowflakes destined to right society’s wrongs or whatever. Nobody likes those high and mighty pretentious “message” writers, so don’t be that guy. You want to cram a message or theme into your story, go for it, but you’d darned well be entertaining first and foremost.

So pacing, how do you pace your story so that the reader is entertained the whole way through?

Think of your story like you are looking at a chart. There is a line on that chart that moves up and down for how intense your story is at any point in time. On an interesting book that line is going to move, up or down, but preferably always trending upward toward the climax.  If you want to keep the readers glued, you are going to move that line up or down depending on what you are trying to accomplish in each scene.

Intense or calm aren’t synonyms for good or bad. A scene can be calm, but be awesome. I have a rep for being an action writer, and when people think about my books they tend to think of the intense parts. But a book can’t be all intense, because if every single scene is intense, then intense becomes the norm. Intense becomes average, and now the book is boring.

If your line stays the same, starts out pegged, and is pegged the entire length of the novel, the reader is going to get tired. If you stay intense for too long, readers are going to get bored. Think of some of the brainless summer blockbuster action movies you’ve watched.  If it is explosion, explosion, explosion, slow motion running in front of an explosion, explosion, the end, you probably tuned it out, and now you’ve forgotten about it, because who cares? There was no time to actually care about the characters or the story, because the story was explosions.

Wow. I can’t believe I just said that, considering my reputation, but sometimes the answer isn’t to blow more stuff up. The answer is to make the reader care, and then blow stuff up. The real reason people like my books is because they like my characters. Sure, I constantly throw them into dangerous situations, but the only reason the dangerous situations matter is because the reader cares what happens to the people involved.  If the characters don’t matter, if they aren’t real, then who cares? And this is even more important for books than for movies, because at least with the movie you get the visual spectacle and the special effects. With the book, you can describe the most awesome explosion ever, but if the people around the explosion are boring cardboard cutouts, the reader isn’t even going to bother to invest the imagination into it. You need to make the explosion matter.

So don’t peg the line and keep it there the whole time. You are going to need scenes that allow the characters and the readers to take a breather. Use these scenes as tools in your tool box. Invest in the characters, explain the story. You don’t need to write the boring parts. Nobody cares about those. Elmore Leonard (a freaking brilliant writer) used to say don’t write the parts that people skip.  So the key here is to take those quiet scenes, but make sure they are still important. Tell us a story during these scenes. Let us get to know your characters and explore the interesting world you created.

The opposite is just as bad. If you start boring and remain boring the whole time, and your idea of pacing is to grind toward the inevitable end… Sucks to be you. This type of grey, ponderous writing is most often seen in the Dying Polar Bears genre of sci-fi that wins tons of awards and sells fifteen whole copies. But I don’t read or write bleak ass fatalistic bullshit, so I’ll stick to advice about enjoyable fiction written for entertainment.

The original question mentioned making things like eating breakfast interesting. Sure, but I’m not actually writing about the characters eating breakfast, breakfast is just the event that is happening while I’m accomplishing something else.  The scene is going to be exploring the character’s relationships, interests, or growing my world. (I can only think of one brilliantly written scene in a novel that actually was just several pages all about eating breakfast, the science of Captain Crunch in this case, from Cryptonomicon, but most of us aren’t Neal Stephenson).

I had scenes in the first part of Hard Magic that on the surface are about life on a dairy farm on the surface, but in reality they are all about Faye’s upbringing, her character, and her relationship with her adopted family. One of my favorite scenes in Dead Six is Valentine’s team in the ready room hanging out while some of them play video games and others lift weights, but that scene cements the camaraderie of these characters and makes them into real people.

Don’t think of your scenes as being all one thing or another. Like this action scene is for action, and this dialog bit is for plot. You can develop the plot during your action bits. You can increase intensity and shift the mood during the quiet talky bits. A good villain can build more menace during a pleasant conversation than they can burning villages. Think of No Country for Old Men (the movie), with the “Call it, Friendo” scene with the hitman talking about the gas station owner’s lucky quarter. Wow. That was intense, but it was just two guys talking about a coin flip. In reality it was a great bunch of character development showing off the antagonist. (and when your antagonist is scarier, you now worry more about the protagonist).

You can take intensity up through all sorts of things. You don’t need a sword fight or an alien attack. An argument between characters, a car crash, a bit of bad news, whatever, it all depends on the story you are telling. If you are writing a YA teen-angst princess novel then it could be that her socks don’t match her shoes, whatever, it all depends on your audience. But the important thing is that you move that line up and down.

So back to pacing, I like to start at one level, then move it up or down depending on what I’m trying to accomplish in any given bit, but always cranking the overall pace ever upwards toward the climax. And by then, when I get to the finale, I can do some truly big awesome scenes, but if I’ve done my job the reader will plow through 40 pages of action because it actually matters to them now.

If I’m looking at my manuscript and there’s a bunch of slower bits in a row, I may need to move that intensity line up for a scene to keep it fresh. Changing gears will get the reader’s attention. The running joke is that if fifty or sixty pages have gone by and I haven’t blown anything up, I get really nervous.

Look at your story critically as you write it. Are there parts where you are starting to feel really bored writing a scene? That is a good hint to mix it up. If you are getting bored with this bit then your reader probably is too. If something is starting to drag, switch your focus to something else. Now do the same thing as you edit. If you begin to skim your own writing, uh oh, that’s a warning sign. Sure, that stuff might all need to be in there for you story, but maybe you can break it up? Or maybe you can take the important bits, shove them into other, more interesting scenes, and then cut the boring part all together.

Sometimes you’ll be writing and you’ll think some bit is super important, but it really isn’t. You are just too close to it to see clearly. This is where good alpha readers or a good editor is worth their weight in gold.  When I have my alpha readers go through a book, I’ve really only got two important questions for them: 1. Were you ever bored? 2. Were you ever confused? Any other little bits they give me will be useful, but I’m really looking for a consensus on those two things.  You can get away with a lot of things as an author, but being boring is the unforgivable sin. Note though, that I say consensus, because never put too much faith in any one reader’s opinions, because they might simply be wrong. But if I send it to 10 readers, and 7 tell me that they were really bored/confused during one part, that tells me that it needs some work.

Now all of this stuff is going to get easier the more you do it. I don’t actually draw this pacing graph. I just kind of go with it by gut feel. The more you write, the more you will come to understand how you write, and what your strengths and weaknesses are. Sometimes pacing issues are simply lack of experience with storytelling.

One tip that I find really helps is that I like to write a whole lot of short scenes, rather than fewer really big scenes. That just fits my writing style. Mike Kupari, after having written two books with me now, likes to say that if we’re writing a scene and it hits 5,000 words a single bead of sweat will run down my brow. The reason behind this is if I can’t fit all of the info I need into a 5k bit, then it is probably too much, and I’m better off spreading it out somewhere else. That’s just what works for me though. Some readers might find my writing choppy though, and they’ll prefer the giant languid development scenes. There really isn’t a right way and a wrong way to do it, because if you’ve got readers sufficient to pay the bills, then you are doing something right.

Another part of the question was “so many events that you lose track of”. I probably am not the best person to answer this one, as I’ll throw a zillion plot elements into a story if I think they are awesome, and I don’t always see all of them through to a conclusion. Did I tell Agent Franks’ story in MHI? Nope. You had to wait for the sequel to figure out what the heck his deal was. Did I explain why Faye got so powerful during Hard Magic? Nope. That was the plot of Spellbound, and even then the whole thing wasn’t explained until Warbound. I guess what I’m saying is that you don’t have to answer every question you raise. Real life doesn’t answer every question either. My goal is to flesh out the world, not hold my reader’s hands. Sometimes the answer the reader comes up with is better than my real answer, and sometimes I’m saving that plot element to resolve in a different story. Why didn’t you explore more about what happened between Francis and his political fight with FDR? What is the deal with the Scarab from Dead Six? Whatever happened to Management in MHL? Well, wouldn’t you like to know? But those are stories to be told in other books.  🙂

That said, be careful, as there are some things that you must answer for your readers or they will get pissed off at you. So basically, if you promise to tell how a certain plot element turns out, you have to tell it.  If your alpha readers get to the end, and their response is “WTF!? What about so and so!?” Then you’d better get to editing to explain it.

So introduce as many different subplots and elements as you want to make your world more interesting, but be careful. This is actually related to pacing as this becomes a juggling act, and if you are juggling so many things that you bog down your main story, then your readers will become bored. There are a few big epic fantasy series floating around notorious for this where you will hear a constant complaint from the fans about plodding through whole books of boring, pointless secondary stuff, where the readers feel ripped off that they don’t get to read about the main story progressing.  That’s a pacing fail.

And just keep in mind that you can’t make everybody happy. A pace that is perfect for one type of reader will absolutely suck for another. Basically you need to look at your target audience and write books aimed at making happy the people who will give you money. There are some super popular series out there which bore me to tears, but since their authors sleep on giant piles of money, they must be making their readers happy, and at the end of the day that’s all that matters. Make your readers happy.

I can’t believe I forgot to post this sooner!

Now the video is up!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1053888795/blackout-the-expandable-card-game

Rob is launching a card game based on his new novel Blackout (coming in October). To help, he got a bunch of people from the Utah writing community to “help”. Of course, since I’m the one that lacks naunce, Rob asked me to shoot things.

One of the pledge levels is that Larry will shoot the hell out of the book of your choice and we’ll record it. We reserve the right to not shoot books of religious significance because A. I’m not a douchebag. B. I don’t want to get my head sawed off on Al Jazeera.

Anything else, and I’ll shoot it. A lot. Even if I know and am friends with the author. I will apologize to the camera. And then I’ll get out the Saiga 12. Because that’s what author friends do for each other.

Okay, the title is a bit misleading this time, as these weren’t on Sunday. They were decompression painting after I got back from book tour. 🙂

I’ve been trying to experiment a bit. Here is my attempt at lots of purple. I love this sculpt too.

Then these skeletons (Risen from Warmachine) were speed painting. Not counting drying time, the entire unit was about one hour, using a few different inks and washes, and some basic dry brushing. This was an experiment, as I didn’t want to spend a month painting a bunch of minor undead guys. I think the limited range actually works for them rather well.

And this is the unit leader, Alexia. (the one that started the whole Warmachine franchise). Since I’d speed painted her unit, I wanted her to match, so I spend about an hour on her in total, doing more work than I did on the undead. Half of that was her face. (which came out awesome). I’ll get some better photos next time I rig up the light box because I got some great patterns on the cloak using just black and brown inks.

The Drowning Empire is a weekly serial based on the events which occured during the  Writer Nerd Game Night monthly Legend of the Five Rings game.  It is a tale of samurai adventure set in the magical world of Rokugan.

If you would like to read all of these in one convenient place, along with a bunch of additional game related stuff, behind the scenes info, and detailed session recaps, I’ve been posting everything to one thread on the L5R forum,  http://www.alderac.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=295&t=101206

If you use the link above I always post a huge behind the scene’s GM play by play.

This week’s episode is by Paul Genesse. The PCs have been sent on a secret mission by the Shogun to the colonies. On the way they stop at the Mantis Clan island and Oki’s hometown of Broken Wave City. It was a busy session, what with a storm, facing down an elemental dragon, Oki getting set up by smugglers, a ninja attack, and Isao committing adultry with the wife of a pirate admiral.

Continued from:  http://larrycorreia.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/the-drowning-empire-episode-29-adventures-in-smuggling/

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Journal of Akodo Toranaka, Eighth Entry

First Year of the Reign of Empress Hantei Yuni

Broken Wave City in the Mantis Clan Holdings

I killed four dishonorable men tonight. I was a guest of the famously wealthy man Yoritomo Naota, and was sleeping on my mat when an assassin, dressed all in black, face covered, loomed over me with a blade in his hand meant to cut my throat. His toe must have touched the edge of my sleeping mat, for I awoke and before I could even think I had drawn my katana and slashed across his chest and spattered the rice paper wall with his blood. My second stroke cut through his throat and I was on my feet, standing beside Subotai, who was still half-asleep. I shouted the alarm and Subo grabbed his sword and stabbed an approaching assassin right through the thin wall. More assassins lurked in the hallway and I burst out through the wall itself and killed another, roaring the Lion Clan war cry and inviting more assassins to face me.

The fight was joined by my friends, Shintaro and Isao. Isao wrestled with a man, and Subo helped him, while Shintaro slew one assassin and pursued more up the stairs toward Naota’s rooms. Two assassins were right on Isao’s trail. I sprang forward and cut both of them down. I admit that I wanted to kill more of the gutless dogs. I was in such a rage. The thought of those men sneaking into Naota’s household and attacking in the dead of night infuriated me. I later learned that many of his household had been killed. Woe be to whoever instigated this attack, for I shall not forget this insult.

Somehow Oki and Uso had already made it to the floor above us, as they must have suspected the attack and went to investigate. My friends and I turned the tide, and we slew many of the assassins. Naota and his wife, Kakeko are alive, and very grateful for our help. We quickly discovered that one of the other guests of Naota, a Crane named Doji Chonitsu, may have been part of the plot. For he was seen fleeing the estate and was likely the man who was seen jumping out a window. He is probably the one who stole an elephant headed idol that Naota had taken from the Ivory Kingdoms and had kept in his vast collection of art and artifacts. This is the second time we have heard of this happening. The Oracle of Dark Water must be involved.

No sign of Chonitsu was found on the premises, and we pursued him after sweeping Naota’s house for more assassins. He has likely escaped the island. We did find one other clue that night. Near Naota’s home we found the body of an old man, torn apart as if he had been mauled by a wild animal. He was a Scorpion named Yogo Tanaka. We had briefly met him at an inn the day before, and he had approached us and asked to be invited to Naota’s home. I suspected a plot, so I rebuffed his request, but we soon found out that Yogo Tanaka was a good and decent man. I’ve read from his journal and learned that he was pursuing Chonitsu, who he suspected may not be human, but a pawn of evil.

We shall find out someday, as we too will pursue this Chonitsu. I intend to ask Yoritomo Naota to help fund this endeavor, and I have no doubt he will be more than willing to provide us funds. We are in need of this money for we are now in the possession of a ship. More precisely, Yoritomo Oki is the owner of the ship, which he has named after his favorite brand of sake, Friendly Traveler. Oki’s ship was a gift of a friend of Oki’s father, Yoritomo Al-Zayan. The Friendly Traveler is of course, quite old, and supposedly cursed, as it is the only ship that remained of a contingent commanded by Oki’s father.

Oki was given this gift partly so that he, and the rest of us, would quickly the leave the island. We are not a welcome sight, as when we arrived, we were promptly accused of smuggling. Oki was asked to bring two casks of what he thought was sake to unknown friends on the island, but it turned out the sake was actually gaijin black pepper, jade petal tea, and obsidian powder. Contraband such as that will get a man killed, and I almost lost my temper and struck Oki down myself for tarnishing our honor with such low behavior.

I spoke with him, and though I still have reservations, I believe that he did not know what was in the casks. If he had known, I believe I would have let the authorities take him and execute him. I admit I would have been tempted to kill him myself, but he is my friend, and I do not want his blood on my hands, though I am very disappointed in his behavior. He drinks excessively, and his judgment is often impaired. How else would he have agreed to bring casks from men he did not know with him?

Oki and I have spoken and I explained that our enemies would attack us again by exploiting our weaknesses. We must stand together in those times, and think of our friends honor in those moments, for this is not some frivolous adventure. We have been sent to the Ivory Kingdoms for great purpose, and the fate of all of Rokugan may hinge upon our success.

I only hope that with Oki in command of his own ship, he will become the man I think he can be. Responsibility may change him, as it changed me when my father told me what he expected of me. I intend place my life in his hands, and will defer to his judgment on the ship, though I will ask him to put me in tactical command of our defenses, if the ship is attacked. I was gifted with a treatise on ship defenses written by one of the best Mantis Clan admirals, and will study the text in the days to come.

I do not look forward to our journey south, as the fickleness of the sea is not to my liking. Our three day journey to Broken Wave City was one I shall never forget. Getting Isao to board the ship was not an easy task, and the journey almost ended in disaster. A terrible storm, perhaps conjured by one of our enemies, beset our ship. We were almost sunk and I found myself holding the steering tiller as everyone else tried to keep us from being swamped, or whatever sailor call it. I still do not know how I managed to keep our ship turned into the waves as the might of the ocean fought against us, but I credit the fates for giving me the strength. It is not my destiny to drown in the sea at such a young age. There are many more battles to fight, and our Empire must be saved.

My friends and I worked together and saved the ship, the Profitable Salmon, which lost one crewman, who was swept overboard. Unless there is no other choice, I shall not set food on that ship again.

Now I look toward the Ivory Kingdoms and I ponder what the future may bring. We shall be attacked again, by the sea itself, or perhaps by men who wish us dead. I still have an enemy who wishes me personally dead. I have included a note I found in my saddle bag on the day we left Toshi Ranbo. I shall transcribe the text here, and have included the note in my journal as well, as Uso has finished going over it.

Here is the note, penned by a steady hand that does not betray who wrote it.

“To the One-Armed Lion

I recently had opportunity to stumble upon a feral cat that had been trapped. Its left-front paw was mangled in steel jaws that kept the creature from escaping. The beast was ragged, and it had begun gnawing away at the trapped limb so it could escape, and perhaps even feed itself to a small degree. I watched it from afar for several days as it did this, curious. Twice other predator attempted to get a free meal. Even with one limb—perhaps because of that fact—the feral cat massacred the other creatures. I admired it. However, the cat was unable to survive the ordeal of chewing off its own leg.

I shot it dead from a distance.

It was just a cat, after all. When creatures become useless, they should be put down.

You wish to know who seeks after your death. I would expect nothing less of you. You bear the insult of the price put on your head well.

I am in position to offer you information. My network is vast, and you will need it where you are going.

The individual who seeks your life goes by the name of the Mad Bear, or even the Angry Bear depending on who translates it. The kanji are as near to the ancient as they can be while still being decipherable. This style isn’t used anymore, which should be informative in and of itself. This is not much, but it is information I felt you should have before your trip to Broken Wave City and to the Ivory Kingdoms. When I have more information, it will find its way to you.

I have people everywhere.

Lastly, keep an eye on your Unicorn. Things are about to become unpleasant for him

Kimera”

The note is cryptic and fascinating. I have learned that a Kimera is a creature with many faces. I wonder if this is a Scorpion who wrote this. A spy-master of some power, who knows about our mission. The metaphorical part of the note must refer to my own maiming, but the last part, “I shot it dead from a distance.” Is this meant to be a threat? Or perhaps this refers to me being denied my appointment to the army, given a letter that said I could no longer join the regiment I was selected for. I was shot dead from a distance by a message, a piece of paper that ended the life I would have. I have become useless to some, and I have been “put down” in more ways than one.

I hope this Kimera is a friend of sorts, and that this letter is not some plot to harm me and my friends.

Regardless, I will carry on and now I will ask about this Mad Bear who supposedly is after my life. Is he old? As the note suggests? Is he some sort of nigh immortal who uses ancient styled kanji? I will find out, for the way I see it this Mad Bear has outlived his own times, and when an animal is useless, it must be put down.

Signed,

The Angry Lion, Akodo Toranaka

Journal of Akodo Toranaka, Ninth Entry

First Year of the Reign of Empress Hantei Yumi

Broken Wave City in the Mantis Clan Holdings

We have begun to look for a crew to help us sail the Friendly Traveler. Ikoma Uso has had much success recruiting, as our former Topaz Champion is very popular. So many men wish to sail with us.

Yesterday, a man came to the dock where we were working on Oki’s ship and asked for me. I recognized him immediately, though I had seen him only once before. Honorable Hisao, the ronin, had found me. He is much older than I, and he must have seen his thirtieth year, and many battles judging by the scars on his arms and the one across his forehead. Was the one under his eye there when I last saw him? I had not seen him in over two years, not since the Topaz Championship. I had paid him many koku to secretly escort a servant woman and her daughter to a safe place where they could begin a new life. The servant woman had been paid to poison me, and I did not want her killed for this offense. Hisao was recruited per my request, and was said to be a most honorable ronin with an excellent reputation.

Hisao stood on the dock and when I approached he bowed very low. I returned his bow, and asked him to walk with me along the wharf.

We did not speak for many steps. When we were alone, out of earshot of anyone, I looked him in the eyes and asked, “What of the woman and her daughter?”

“They are safe, and they own and run a small tea house far away from the borders of the Lion Clan lands.”

I let my face slip then, and showed him my relief. He knew I spoke the truth, and I knew he did as well. I bowed to him again, lower this time. “I am in your debt.”

“No, honorable Toranaka-san, I am in yours.” He bowed to me.

We walked again for a long time without speaking.

“Hisao, what has brought you to this city?”

“I arrived two weeks ago after taking passage on a Mantis merchant ship. I served as a guard aboard the ship, though the journey was uneventful.” He gave me the name of the ship, though I had never heard of it.

“You have experience guarding ships, then?” I asked.

“Yes, I have done this work many times. I like the sea. I have even been to the Ivory Kingdoms, once, though it was almost two years ago.”

He looked at me, and I wondered if that’s where he took the woman and her daughter, but I did not ask.

“Mostly I’ve sailed from the Mantis islands and the coast here. I’ve been to Broken Wave City many times, but I never stay long.”

“Hisao, it has been good seeing you today,” I said.“Tomorrow, when the sun rises I shall do my sword exercises on that point of land, there.” I pointed to the breakwater for the bay. “If you wish, join me there, I will welcome your company.” I bowed and left him.

Later that afternoon I spoke with the captain of the ship Hisao had said he worked on. The captain, who had known Hisao for several years, had only praise for him and told me more about this ronin, who carried himself like the most honorable of samurai. I had little doubt about his character already, but our enemies are many, and I have been taught that it is better to gather as much information as possible before trusting any man.

I learned that Hisao was third generation ronin, his goal in life to earn a place in a clan so his descendants would have a better life than him. He thought he’d achieved his goal when he’d gone to work for a Lion warden named Ikoma Daro, and he’d served him for a couple years, very capably, and they even became very good friends, until Daro was killed in a border skirmish. Hisao killed the attackers, recovered Daro’s daisho and returned it to Daro’s lord.

However, Daro’s lord thought that this was surely some ronin trick, and that Hisao had probably just murdered Daro and was trying to collect a reward. So he had Hisao tortured for days trying to get a confession. Luckily, some of Daro’s men appeared, having survived the battle unbeknownst to Hisao, and collaborated the ronin’s story. Daro’s own wife even vouched for Hisao, risking her own life, when she heard he was being tortured.

I had learned all I needed to know.

The next morning, I mediated on the breakwater, just before the sun rose. When it did I saw Hisao standing near the water’s edge. He joined me, standing at my side. We drew our blades, not saying a word to each other. We went through the oldest of the Lion katas, the one said to have been created by the first Akodo himself. Hisao knew every move, and we were as one, brothers of the blade.

We sat together afterward, watching the sunrise.

“Hisao?”

“Yes, Toranaka-san?”

“Soon, I shall sail away from this island on the Friendly Traveler.”

“Yes, the wind is right, but the season is late for such a voyage.”

He was right. If we didn’t leave soon, we would likely find terrible storms and we might not arrive at our destination.

“Toranaka-san, it is said that you are in need of crew for this journey.”

“No. I am not in need of crew.”

We sat as the wind blew the waves and brought us the fresh smell of the sea. He did not flinch or show any emotion. Surely, this man was worthy of being a samurai. Why had the Mantis not asked him to join their clan? Could not see his potential? “Hisao, what is it that you want out of this life?”

He bowed, his forehead touching the ground, “To become a clan samurai so that my descendants will have a better life than I have had.” He sat up and stared at the sea.

“Hisao-san, you are an honorable man with much experience. I am a young man, a samurai who has been cast aside by his clan. I am maimed, and have only the future I will make for myself. I am not in need of crew. I am in need of an ally. A friend who I can trust with my life, and more importantly, my honor.”

“I am such a man,” Hisao said.

“You will join our expedition to the Ivory Kingdoms,” I said, “and will have a full share of whatever profits the ship brings in, equal to my own. Serve as the leader of our guards, and advisor to us all. Do this with honor, and if I am ever in a position of authority in the Lion Clan, and I intend to command an Akodo army someday, I will grant you samurai status.”

“Yes, Toranaka-san. I accept. I will sail with you.”

Our recruitment is nearly over now, and I have presented Hisao to Captain Oki, my friends, and the rest of the crew. Hisao has sworn to follow Captain Oki’s commands, as I will.

If the wind is right, we sail to the Ivory Kingdoms tomorrow. If the wind is bad, we depart anyway, and I will see how well a man with one arm can row.

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To be continued next week: http://larrycorreia.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/the-drowning-empire-episode-31-letters-from-broken-wave-city/

To check out some of Paul Genesse’s work, he recently edited an anthology series: http://rcm-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=monshuntnati-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B00E83GGOO