As I said to you last week, I’m getting ready for NaNoWriMo and continuing Andorra Pett’s adventures.
As I made a few notes, I realised that I needed to re-read Andorra Pett on Mars, the second in my Andorra Pett series, to make sure that I got all the backstory right.
Mars in Andorra’s world is thriving. There is a good-sized town, built in the caves of Tharsis, which have been sealed to keep the air in. There are houses, offices and shops. It has a farm providing oxygen, power and food as well as dealing with waste and carbon dioxide. Several companies have scientific stations out on the surface of the adjacent crater, called Argyre Planitia. It had a tourist trade, and due to the reduced Martian gravity, is very popular with retirees. The whole ecosystem took a lot of designing to make it all work. Everything I describe is geographically accurate and technically possible.
As Andorra was visiting Mars again, I needed to use the same version of the place that readers were familiar with.
Naturally, things will have changed during Andorra’s absence. That’s fine, as long as the basics remain. Continuity is important, and I’d hate to be faced with irate readers complaining that things weren’t lining up.
I had intended to skim the document on my computer, using the search function to pick out the points I wanted to check but, as I went through my list, I had the strangest feeling.
A lot of the action was unfamiliar. It was as if I was reading a new book for the first time, not something that I wrote only a few years ago. In the end, I had to get my paperback copy from the shelf and read the whole thing.
Here’s a little more about the story.
Everyone said it was suicide, but were they right?
Andorra Pett’s ex turns up, with some bad news. Her best friend Maisie has killed herself, on Mars.
Trevor doesn’t believe it. Neither does Andorra, it just wasn’t like her. He wants Andorra to come back with him, look around and see if she can find some answers.
Despite her misgivings, Trevor’s paying and says she can take Cy with her. It’ll be a cheap holiday! What can possibly go wrong…
It soon becomes clear that there’s a lot more going on. Rival gangs, hidden messages and new friends all point Andorra towards a much bigger story.
What was Maisie caught up in?
“A plethora of eye rolls, snickers, and outright laughs! “
“Brilliant and humorous adventure”
My reaction, when I’d finished reading, was one of surprise.
I didn’t really write that, did I?
I’ll keep you updated on my progress in the usual way. To add to the incentive for me to finish the first draft of the novel, my editor is booked for December 1st.
Wish me luck.
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Darlene Foster
I had to laugh when I read this post. This has happened to me as well. Reading my earlier work surprises me.
Richard Dee
That’s a relief, I thought my memory was going when I couldn’t recognise half of it.