Book 2 – Mad Mark
The second adventure of Mark Morgan at ARTS.
I started getting a cover theme going with this one. Click the cover image to enlarge.
Some facts about Mad Mark…
What is that picture on the front cover?
An old sailing ship with masts entering – or exiting – a worm hole. In space. Because they all do that.
What about that picture on the back cover?
Oh, just something a bit mad. A shock, no doubt.
Where did your characters come from?
The characters in the story were added when the need arose as the story drove their existence. Planning them ahead of time would require an outline, you know. A little organization. And we can’t have that.
A situation arose in the plot screaming for someone to fill it, and bingo, a new character appeared. The race and gender of the students were about reflecting the global scope of the school.
What part of this book was most surprising?
As I’ve mentioned before, when an author is a Discovery writer – at least for me – surprising things happened all the time. In this book, two main surprises were Mark’s relationship and the events of the climactic confrontation. Neither were planned. They just poured out as events took place. And yes, the old mad scientists’ part wasn’t planned from the beginning of book 1, either. No outlines, remember? His name was just a coincidence. Really. That’s how writing these books has been. Stuff came out of nowhere and suddenly made sense, often in later books. Which I hadn’t written yet. Or even thought about. Don’t ask me how.
Which book was the most important in forming the series storyline?
Book 2 created the format and tone for the entire series, so it deserves a lot of credit. The impact of book 2 on book 1 can’t be easily overstated. Book 1 was unrecognizable after the rewrite. That being said, book 3 contains the turning point of the second most important plotline, which some could argue is the first. Including me. I haven’t made up my mind yet. Meanwhile, book 1 sets the groundwork for the entire series. This doesn’t mean books 4 through 6 lack any content worth reading. Book 4 has all kinds of fireworks and an even bigger turning point. Book 5 has a tragedy and a different turning point, while the last book, number 6, even unfinished, is my favorite in the series. It only means the earlier books were the most formative.
What kind of series is this?
Beats me. I’ve done some research, but nothing’s narrowed it down. It’s a young adult series, but other than that, I’m not sure. Is it a humorous, current-day, light science fiction adventure series with a romantic subplot? Yes, but that’s quite a mouthful. Is the science fiction so light that it can hardly be called science fiction? Yes. Is it a romance series with an adventure subplot? Eh, I’m not sure. Is the romantic subplot too strong to be called a subplot? I think so. Does it have two main plotlines? I’m thinking yes.
Let me tell you the history, and you can decide for yourself. It started as a current-day, on Earth adventure series with a technology undertone. The technology is based on real science with some liberties taken, so it is light science fiction. Still, the science doesn’t drive the story, the characters do, which is why I’m hesitant to call it light science fiction, but it’s definitely an adventure. Is it a character-driven adventure? Definitely.
That’s not all it is because the romance came later. Much later. Sort of. It started in book 2, disappeared, and came back in book 5…until book 6’s rough draft turned everything on its ear, from book 1 through 6 (more rewriting, of course). This thread could easily be called the character backbone of the series, though I’m hesitant to call it a romance. There’s more to it than that.
Call it what you will. As long as you’re nice about it, I won’t argue.
What the? Did I miss something?
My bad here. For those of you who bought and read hard copies of books 1 and 2 some time ago then picked up book 3 and found yourself wondering how the plot got there, I apologize. If you’ve read my comments on this website, you’ll see a reference to a left-hand turn in the story while creating the rough draft for book 6. Unfortunately, that happened after books 1 and 2 were published, which is how I know discovery writers need to finish rough drafts for every book in a series before publishing anything. The plot direction was too good for me to pass up, it gave the series heart, tightened the plot and made the series much better. Since so few had read the first two books at that point, I made the update. Again, my apologies.