Ghost Ascension, end notes

“Ghost Ascension” actually had four possible endings. Choices made during the storyline would affect what final choices Caina had available when she touched the Bloodcrystal.

The possible endings:

1. Caina refuses to use the Ascendant Bloodcrystal, and is able to destroy it with Lucan’s ghostsilver sword.

2. Caina refuses to use the Ascendant Bloodcrystal, but drove Lucan away. She manages to destroy it with her ghostsilver dagger.

3. Caina refuses to use the Ascendant Bloodcrystal, but drove Lucan away, and lost the ghostsilver dagger in the fight with Sophia. Unable to stop herself from using the Bloodcrystal, she kills herself to save Malarae.

4. Caina uses the Ascendant Bloodcrystal.

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Someone pointed out that “Ghost Ascension” had a much stronger romantic element than usual for my stuff.

This is true. I don’t like romance, and when I was younger I hated, hated, hated romantic stories and subplots with a holy passion. I preferred the stories where the hero didn’t get the girl, where the girl or the hero died at the end, or where either the hero or the girl (or the heroine and the guy, if you prefer) turned out be faithless scoundrels, dooming the relationship, or, best of all, stories with no romantic element at all.

Eventually, in 2004, I stopped writing anything with any romantic content or subplots at all.

And the last time I sold a book? 2004.

About six years later, it finally occurred to me that there just might possibly be a connection here.

I am like an atheist who has come to realize that even though he is certain God does not exist, he must nonetheless include religious characters in his fiction to achieve psychological verisimilitude. Just because he doesn’t believe in God doesn’t mean anyone else shares his viewpoint, and no one wants to read books populated by little atheist clones of the author.

Apparently, a lot of people are romantics, or secretly romantic. Way more than I thought, certainly.

So I started easing romantic subplots back into things.

And I have to say, it actually makes parts of writing fiction easier – at least certain aspects of it. It’s an excellent engine for driving the plot forward. And creating believable character motivation can be tricky, but apparently everyone can relate to the motivation of “I am in love” or, more basely, “I want to get laid.”

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Of all our “choose your own adventures” so far, “Ghost Ascension” is my favorite, and I think it’s the only one that could be expanded into a full-length book. Or combined with “Ghost Rage” to make a more episodic novel.

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Finally, and most importantly, thank you all for voting!

-JM