Keith R. Mueller's Blog, page 2

Seeking The Magician

We first meet this mysterious character in the first book of my six-part series: “Journey To The Black City”. He’s another one of those characters I had to get to know as the story progressed. In the beginning, I wasn’t at all sure if he would be a continuing character, or not. But then, that’s happened before, so I try to keep an open mind. He’s plying his trade in a seedy tavern in a rather disreputable part of town. Our first direct contact with him comes when Kel and Lyria are required to...

Continuing With Dan

Since adulthood comes soon in this kind of society; he has a chance encounter with a man known only as ‘the magician.’ I’ll say more about him later. This is one of those encounters that some call fate, and that the more cynical among us call ‘mere coincidence.’ In any event, Dan learns that the magician, so-called because he works a stage show in a seedy tavern called The Green Hyena, is actually a member of a loosely knit organization that calls itself ‘The Resistance.’ The members of this...

More About Dan

A short time ago, I mentioned one of my characters in my six novel Steampunk/Fantasy series beginning with “Journey To The Black City”. The character in question is Dan Hendricks. If you recall, he’s a character who just sort of dropped in to say, “Hi” and then moved in—top hat, watch, and chain and all! So here’s a bit more about Dan. He was born in the Black City of the West, the city-state of Los Angeles. He was an illegitimate child, and abandoned as a baby in an orphanage. Eventually, he...

Writer’s Block (part 4)

So I sat for over a day, opening the file and staring at it, and closing it once more. On the positive side, I got the vacuuming and dusting done, so the time wasn’t wasted completely. And then I remembered one tiny detail from the second sentence of the story! The sun in the sky had a reddish color. So, being as this is science fiction, I looked online for red stars. That led to Alpha Scorpii (Antares), to Scorpius, the constellation, to Serket, the ancient Egyptian scorpion goddess.

Now I’...

Writer’s Block (part 4)

The second sentence in the book released the brake, and the story is once again roaring down the highway.

Writer’s Block (part 3)

I didn’t like the original ending at all. Now, the end of the story had to be rewritten.

Writer’s Block (part 2)

I started with the intent of just copying exactly what was there to start with, and then I thought I’d go back over it to ‘polish it up.’ HA!

Writer’s Block

Now, 28 years later, all six books in my The Age of Ice series were written, and while editing books five and six, I had some extra time. So, out came the old novel—a science fiction/horror story.

More About Characters

When I talk to people who have read at least the first book in my Steampunk/Fantasy series The Age of Ice: Into the Black City, I sometimes hear, “Where on earth do you ‘dream up’ your characters?” The answer can be quite obvious—we’ve all spent our lives meeting characters!

Character Development

In my Steampunk/Fantasy book series, beginning with The Age of Ice: Into the Black City, I wanted to develop believable protagonists and antagonists. Too many times, the latter are more or less overlooked in stories and in films.