You have to know the end before the beginning, Part 3

In yesterday's post, I discussed how the ending of The Ark Lords came about. Today, I finish up with how the ending for Rome's Evolution came about.

Rome's Evolution was never supposed to be a novel. It was going to be a novella entitled Rome: Tracker and it was just going to be about Rome acquiring telepathic capabilities and tracking down the would-be assassins. I knew how it ended. Rei and Rome were going to capture the last two fugitives. But suddenly, clear as day, I realized there were other loose ends (Sussen, anyone?) that I could bring in. So how would it end? Well, Rome would triumph, of course. But how? I loved the idea of split narrative. I did it in the middle Rome's Revolution with Rei and Rome taking their separate journeys. I also did it in The Ark Lords by interweaving the story of how Hanry Ta Jihn defeated the original Erklirte. But in Rome's Evolution, I wanted to take it to the next level. Literally. The battle between Rei and Rome and MASAL's Sipre was going to take place both on Earth and within the ethereal plane.

But I knew it was Bonnie Mullen, holding Jack Henry's M9 Beretta and shooting Sussen in the head would be the climax. I had my ending! The rest of the story wrote itself.

[image error]

So I go back to my original premise. You cannot write a book (or make a movie) before you know how it ends.