Graeme Rodaughan - Featured Author - A Subtle Agency (The Metaframe War #1) -July 1, 2022 - July 31, 2022

[Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover]

I have a question, Graeme.

When you first started to write A Subtle Agency did you spend a lot of time researching the setting of the story and the weapons used within the story?

[Kieron]

That's a great little clip from Blade, Graham. I'd forgotten how good that 1st blade film was.

[Graeme]

Marie wrote: "I have a question, Graeme.

When you first started to write A Subtle Agency did you spend a lot of time researching the setting of the story and the weapons used within the story?"

The design process took something like a year and a half. I spent months with pencil and paper brainstorming ideas, defining timelines, concepts, characters and conflicts. I did lots and lots of work on paper with lots of false trails - Anton was a vampire for some of that time, and Li Wu and Chiara Romano belonged to a sect of female ninjas.

Of course, the final story turned out differently.

Most of my research is done on wiki and youtube, it's not super deep. I research just enough to do what I want to do and not more (rapid research to a sufficient depth to solve a problem is a personal skill of mine). I also use google maps and I'll research specific locations to a great degree. However what I often do is take a given location and change it. I've taken empty cross roads and added a roadhouse or a current apartment building and made it abandoned and derelict.

One of the things I'm a stickler for is real timing. I use a site https://www.distance.to/ to get 'as the crow flies,' flight paths from A to B. If I have a aircraft such as a Nightfalcon with a top speed of 180 miles per hour and it has to fly from New York to Boston, or Fort Dix to Boston I establish flight times and use that in the story as a constraint that I write within.

I also draw maps and measure buildings. Given a vampire or a Ramp master can cover a 100 yards in 2 to 3 seconds, if I put them in a 200 yard long warehouse, there's only a window of 4 to 6 seconds from seeing a vampire entering the building to him attacking a defended position at the back wall.

For combat scenes, I'll often draw a floor plan, print off multiple copies and sequence where everyone is during the fight as it evolves. This allows me to keep track of what is happening and I can flick through the sequence on paper which kinda resembles a cartoon in slow motion.

For complex parts of stories, I'll use an excel spreadsheet and with events down the left side and characters across the top. I first used this heavily for the end of 'A Traitor's War,' and it is an excellent method for sequencing multi-character manoeuvres that are occurring more or less simultaneously.

All this goes to the capacity to immerse the reader into the story and avoid them having a sudden logic jolt along the lines of, "OMG! How'd they get there so fast?"

As for the tech, nearly everything is an extrapolation of current technology.

Occasionally I'll make something up, like the quantum encrypted smartphones. While something like that may well happen, I haven't researched quantum communications very much at all. Although I'm aware of quantum computing and it's very much a 'thing,' now, and underpins my idea of the Panopticon.

All the guns are based on current weapons. The Ramp masters often use the FN P90 which suits a modern vampire hunter with it's compact style that can be hidden beneath a long coat... REF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd3-v... you'll also see this weapon used in the Stargate TV show or any show looking for a near-term futuristic look and feel.

The railguns are a thing. REF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58MmO... This video is very 'rah rah,' but it captures the concept well. The ones I use in the series are smaller than this prototype.

Panopticon = 'a pervasive surveillance state,' = almost current reality. The only thing lacking are the AI elements, but people are working on those technologies, and I'm sure they'll come into existence sooner rather than later.

Hypersonics are a thing, including the Scimitar engine used in the Shadowstar drones: REF: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactio...

In general, I position the tech at about 5 to 10 years ahead of where we are now, but in a world that is recognizably like our own.

I'm keen to create a world that 'could be real,' that a reader, 'could believe, "this could really happen."' - just long enough to emotionally invest and immerse into the story.

[Ann]

Still working through this one, maybe 40% through, but increasingly curious about the Ramp & what real-world martial arts/philosophies may have inspired it. Graeme, any influences to share?

[Graeme]

Ann wrote: "Still working through this one, maybe 40% through, but increasingly curious about the Ramp & what real-world martial arts/philosophies may have inspired it. Graeme, any influences to share?"

Sure Ann,

There's a scene at 42% (so, you're likely to hit it shortly where Li explains, (view spoiler)[
Li paused for a second and then stated, “There are four types of listening, and three transitions between them. The four types are indifferent, ordinary, silent and profound.”
“What are the differences between them?” (Anton asks this. GR).
“Consider a conversation, indifferent occurs when your mind wanders away, and you hear nothing of what the other person is saying. Ordinary is when you hear the other person’s words, but you are also thinking about what you want to say, so you are not really paying attention to their words. Silent is when you just hear the other person’s words, and your own mental chatter is absent.”
“And profound?”
“Profound listening is when you cease to anticipate hearing anything at all.”
“You said that there are three transitions.”
“Yes. The first transition from indifferent to ordinary is based on orientating yourself in space, you become mindful of your present location. The second transition from ordinary to silent is based on silencing your internal mental voice.”
“That seems to be the hard part.”
“A lot of people mistake that internal voice as being themselves, but it is just an activity of the mind. You still remain present when it is silent. It’s actually simple, once you get used to it. The third transition from silent to profound is based on orientating yourself in time. Arresting your mind within the present moment, no future, no past, just the present. This is the key to mastering access to the Ramp. It is also the hardest part to learn.”
(hide spoiler)]

I studied Karate, and later Ju Jitsu solidly in two 6 month blocks - a long time ago... The concept of an empty mind in combat comes directly from my (albeit limited) experiences with martial arts.

The thoughts on silence as an access point into the Ramp is just a marriage between my own observations on listening and achieving an 'empty mind.'

The Ramp itself is a narrative necessity given a stable arena of conflict between the Ramp master 'Hunters,' and "Vampires.' They had to be equivalent in combat to allow for a stable 'cold war,' standoff.

[Ann]

Graeme wrote: "Ann wrote: "Still working through this one, maybe 40% through, but increasingly curious about the Ramp & what real-world martial arts/philosophies may have inspired it. Graeme, any influences to sh..."

Thanks! I saw the narrative necessity of the Ramp, just not the specific inspirations for it. (Clever idea for solving that narrative problem, too.)

[Graeme]

Thanks Ann, much appreciated.

[Netanella]

Loved your post #103, Graeme! I'm currently reading A Traitor's War and I feel your need to keep a spreadsheet for all of the movements of the various characters. I'm only into the second book, and I feel as if the series will only get better.

This would make a great movie or tv series. Any considerations on that?

[Graeme]

Netanella wrote: "I'm only into the second book, and I feel as if the series will only get better. ..."

In all honesty, that's been my experience with writing the series.

[Graeme]

Netanella wrote: "This would make a great movie or tv series. Any considerations on that? ..."

I'm open to any offers ... 😁😉😎

[Netanella]

Ha! Well, if I know of any movie people, I will send them your way!

[Graeme]

Indeed, Netanella.

(Just quietly, I'll keep improving my craft and building the audience ... just in case.)

[Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover]

In the beginning before you started writing A Subtle Agency you had plans for this series to be 15 books. How did it go from 15 books to such a small amount of books for the series?

[Graeme]

Marie wrote: "In the beginning before you started writing A Subtle Agency you had plans for this series to be 15 books. How did it go from 15 books to such a small amount of books for the series?"

Great question, Marie.

At the time I wrote my first book, A Subtle Agency, the whole Metaframe War series was (and still is) structured into five parts.

Part 1. A Subtle Agency
Part 2. The Crane War
Part 3. The Red Ghost
Part 4. The Key of Ahknaton
Part 5. The Metaframe Adept

Part 1, became three published books, A Subtle Agency, A Traitor's War, and The Dragon's Den.

Each part of the series ends on a major and dramatic turning point, and I use those big, dramatic endings as markers for the ending of the parts, and the series as a whole.

The number one reason I published A Subtle Agency as the first act of the first part, was because I wanted to get the story into the market and in front of readers, and I didn't have the patience to spend another eighteen months writing The Traitor's War, and The Dragon's Den, and then publishing all three books in one hit as a single volume.

I'm glad I went down the path I did, as I started to learn so much more about writing, story-telling, and marketing from getting feedback for A Subtle Agency that I would have missed out on if I'd waited.

Part 2, was originally three books, The Day Guard, The Panopticon, and The Crane War. The Day Guard, has been published, 'as is,' the other two books have been condensed into a larger volume, titled The Crane War.

The number one reason for consolidating is that the combined book is simply a better story, as the The Crane War ending is very dramatic, as befits a series level turning point. The original The Panopticon ending while also dramatic, is not as strong and has become a viable Act II turning point in The Crane War volume.

My experience with writing The Crane War has convinced me the best option going forward was to write The Red Ghost, The Key of Ahknaton, and The Metaframe Adept as two books, and take advantage of the series level turning points to produce fabulous endings - and you know how much I love a great ending.

So where does The Enforcer fit in with this scheme? The Enforcer is a new, almost stand-alone novelette (approx. 27K words) with Chloe Armitage as the main character, set in the final weeks of the second world war. It provides an extended prologue for the events in part 4, The Key of Ahknaton, and provides deeper context and understanding for the motivations of Chloe and Cornelius Crane, while also illuminating the nature of The Metaframe.

So our final structure (as of now) is as follows.

1. A Subtle Agency (as three books, A Subtle Agency, A Traitor's War, and The Dragon's Den).
2. The Crane War (as two books, The Day Guard, and The Crane War).
3 & 4. The Enforcer, The Red Ghost and The Key of Ahknaton (as one book - The Key of Ahknaton)
5. The Metaframe Adept (as one book).

[Graeme]

FYI. The location I used for the back third of the book is based on this location on google maps.

REF: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mys...

I renamed the street of Medford to Bedford to protect the innocent 😀😉.

The 'Lafarge...' industrial towers at the bottom of the picture served as an observation point for one of the characters.

The warehouse itself, is of course purely imaginary and any resemblance to a real warehouse is purely coincidental 😎.

[Graeme]

Something to help with the prologue.



The Temple of Thoth is the scene of the Prologue for A Subtle Agency, it was designed by Ahknaton and constructed over a twenty year timeframe.

Key Points.

[1] The entrance to the lower levels is via an archway into an antechamber within the body of the main temple.

[2] A descending hall leads from the antechamber to the first landing.

[3] Another descending hall (a switchback) leads from the first landing to the second landing.

[4] The second landing gives access to a descending spiral staircase to the Halls of the Gods.

[5] The Halls of the Gods, is a terrifying maze of horrific and lethal traps - you need ramp abilities and specific knowledge to navigate the maze safely.

[6] A descending hall leads from the exit of the Halls of the Gods to the third landing.

[7] The third landing has a secret and locked door in the floor, to open it you need to press a series of flagstones in the correct sequence. Only Ahknaton knew the sequence and the door resets after a set period of time (also unknown).

[8] The third landing secret door provides access to a spiral staircase leading to the Chamber of Worlds.

[9] The Chamber of Worlds is an inverted, empty, pyramid, with some specific properties.

[9.1] It is coated with a substance that induces vertigo. Only Ramp capable people or vampires (as it turns out) are able to control the vertigo.

[9.2] There are a series of levels on the inside of the pyramid approx. ten feet wide, ten feet high each and descending down to the inverted apex of the pyramid.

[10] At the bottom of the Chamber of Worlds is an open doorway into a descending, curving hall that leads to Ahknaton's tomb chamber.

[11] Ahknaton's tomb chamber has a secret door that is only opened by "Ahknaton's Key," the same device that is used to provide full access to the Metaframe.

[12] The secret door leads along a flat corridor to the Chamber of the Metaframe - which is located directly beneath the inverted pyramid.

I hope this helps readers visualize the events in the prologue.

[Nyssa]

Very Cool! Thanks for sharing this!

[Graeme]

Happy to share, Nyssa.

[Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover]

Graeme wrote: " I renamed the street of Medford to Bedford to protect the innocent 😀😉."

LOL - cute. :)


Graeme wrote: "The warehouse itself, is of course purely imaginary and any resemblance to a real warehouse is purely coincidental 😎.."''

Well at least in the movies there are tons of warehouses in NYC so imagination can be endless. :)

[Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover]

Graeme wrote: "Something to help with the prologue.



The Temple of Thoth is the scene of the Prologue for A Subtle Agency, it was designed by Ahknaton and constructed over a twenty year timeframe.

Key Points.
..."

Love the map. :)

[Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover]

I am curious with the location of the series. Is there a reason behind having the vampires main location be in New York? I am always curious about locations and settings for stories. :)

[Graeme]

NYC is a world power/finance center - hence the natural location for Crane's citadel.

[Kasia, il Barbaro]

Graeme wrote: "Something to help with the prologue.



The Temple of Thoth is the scene of the Prologue for A Subtle Agency, it was designed by Ahknaton and constructed over a twenty year timeframe.

Key Points.
..."

Holy guacamole that is incredible!! I was wondering in my mind if you're in front of some board drawing away and turns out that you have!!

[Kasia, il Barbaro]

Marie wrote: "I am curious with the location of the series. Is there a reason behind having the vampires main location be in New York? I am always curious about locations and settings for stories. :)"

It's a city that never sleeps :P

[Graeme]

Kasia wrote: "Holy guacamole that is incredible!! I was wondering in my mind if you're in front of some board drawing away and turns out that you have!!..."

Lots of maps and floor plans. For example, from a post over at Castle Terror, I have this ** no spoilers ahead ** as the story is set in the past: 'The Enforcer,' a short novella (approx 26K+ words).

The Setting: The Phoenix Citadel. April 1st 1945



NOTE: The escape capsule on the lowest level was moved to the right toward the mid-line of the citadel in the story.... i.e. between the two stairwells...

The action in the prequel all occurs in the evening of April 1st, 1945, around the area of Freiburg im Breisgau, and the Feldberg (Black Forest, etc).

So, Southern Germany... and the allies will liberate the area in about 2 to 3 weeks.

There are only three POV characters.

[1] Chloe Armitage, chief operative of the Vampire Dominion on a mission for her king.
[2] Angelina Ivanov, a 6 year old savant.
[3] Heinrich Himmler, An infamous historical figure with a secret connection to this story.

The supporting cast for this story includes (but is not limited to)

[4] Preston Bush - US Banker
[5] Sasha Ivanov - (The Ice Dragon) Rogue Red Empire Operative of the 2nd Rank, and Angelina's father.
[6] Siegfried von Frankenstein* - Scientist and Occultist.
[7] Volkov - (The Wolf) - Red Empire Operative of the 2nd Rank, and Fist Team Leader.
[8] Dubois - Force Leader for the Order of Thoth in France.
[9] Nochka - (Night) A German Shepherd pup.
[10] Cornelius Crane - King of the Vampire Dominion.

*Distant multi-generation nephew of 'Victor.'

The locations are,

[1] A bombed out safe house in Freiburg im Breisgau, and
[2] An underground fortress/laboratory within the Feldberg known as 'The Phoenix Citadel,' constructed (1920s-30s) before the war.

The Blurb...

Chloe Armitage's mission seemed simple enough: Intercept a fleeing Red Empire operative and seize his gifted child for her king. But no plan survives contact with the enemy when a ramp-empowered force of Nazi soldiers reach the child first. Chloe pursues her quarry, plunging deep within a swirling maelstrom of occult forces in a secret citadel. But even her formidable powers may not be enough when an evil far more terrifying than a thousand-year Reich is unleashed.

What dreadful power lurks within the shadows of the Phoenix Citadel? What evils have been spawned by a horrifying mixture of dark science and occult belief? Read 'The Enforcer,' to find out!

########

Anytime someone starts building an inverted pyramid over a platform/chamber - watch out!

[Denis (deez_bookish_adventures)]

I just finished this up last night, and I absolutely loved it! I was invested in the story right from the start, and all your time planning this series out really shows!

Now that I finished the book, I went back through this thread and read everything - no longer worried I would see spoilers (GR app sucks for that), Your answers to the questions and the extras, IE: maps, were awesome. I particularly liked your explanation of why you decided to write this series and the explanation of the MetaFrame itself.

I loved the characters, especially Chloe - going to be some time before she is out of my head, and the overall flow and pace of the story. I am a big fan of non-romance vampire horror/fantasy/sci-fi/military stuff - and this just fits into all of my favorite spaces. Bravo, Graeme!!

I am very excited to continue the series! :)

[Graeme]

Awesome, Denis. You're a reader after my own heart.

Cheers Graeme

[Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover]

Denis (deez_bookish_adventures) wrote: "I just finished this up last night, and I absolutely loved it! I was invested in the story right from the start, and all your time planning this series out really shows!

Now that I finished the b..."

Whoo-hoo!!! Another one added to the vampire train! Happy to have you aboard, Denis! This is my favorite series in dark fantasy! You are going to love this journey! Cannot wait for you to read the rest of the books! :)

[Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover]

For those of you that are on the vampire journey into the Metaframe War, I have created a buddy read thread under our Dark-Urban fantasy folder for the next book in the series "A Traitor's War" which we will be reading starting August 1st.

Graeme will still be hanging out with the members for any comments and/or questions. :)

Here is the link to the new thread for your convenience:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Denis (deez_bookish_adventures)]

Marie wrote: "For those of you that are on the vampire journey into the Metaframe War, I have created a buddy read thread under our Dark-Urban fantasy folder for the next book in the series "A Traitor's War" whi..."

Awesome! I believe I purchased all the kindle books before we read this one - I will verify and be ready for August 1st. :)

[Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover]

Thank you Graeme for hanging out with us in July to read this book!

That was fun and we loved all the maps along with the info on the story. :)

[Marie, Coffee-Chocolate-Book Lover]

Remember everyone - the new thread is up for the next book in the series "A Traitor's War". It started yesterday but the members that are on this vampire journey can start anytime to read the book.

Graeme will still be around on here to answer any questions or comments.

I will be joining for a reread sometime this month but everyone can go ahead and start anytime. :)

Here is the new thread just for a reminder:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Graeme]

Thanks, Marie.

See you all on the new thread.

[Kasia, il Barbaro]

I was juggling so many books but finally came back to Metaframe and I can't stop reading, it's incredible that this was your first book Graeme, you write as if you yourself were an ancient vampire with thousands of years to practice your craft.

Love how sleek this book is, and feeling sorrier for Anton every minute. I'm at the 33% mark and I'd love to finish today, just depends how crazy my kid gets cause he def keeps me from reading sometimes lol.

[Graeme]

Kasia wrote: "I was juggling so many books but finally came back to Metaframe and I can't stop reading, it's incredible that this was your first book Graeme, you write as if you yourself were an ancient vampire with thousands of years to practice your craft. ..."

(Falls to the floor and shakes fists at the sky.) Oh nooooo! My secret's out!

Watch out for black helicopters and shady people in dark trench coats ... just saying ... 😉😎

[Graeme]

Kasia wrote: "Love how sleek this book is, and feeling sorrier for Anton every minute. I'm at the 33% mark and I'd love to finish today, just depends how crazy my kid gets cause he def keeps me from reading sometimes lol. ..."

Indeed. Anton faces some tough times. The pace accelerates in the back third, and I hope you get a chance to read it in a sitting.

Best wishes for a settled child and quiet reading time. 😃

[Kasia, il Barbaro]

Ahha thank you Graeme, you're the best! <3 We're so lucky to have you here! Baby is still sleeping so I can read, uff :)

I prefer to read in large chunks of time personally, so hopefully that works out.

[Graeme]

Awesome!