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Hidden Sunlight


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Just 'checking in' to say that your story continues to be immensely enjoyable. It's excellent stuff (plot, writing, character development...)

 

Thank you :) Reading that actually made me smile on what was otherwise a rather crappy day.

 

Chapter 10 is just around the corner so there will be more to read shortly. Had a bit of writer's block getting it from notes to prose, but I think I'm over the worst of it now.

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I am enjoying the story very much. The concept of waking up many years in the future opens up a lot fun and interesting areas to explore. Thanks for the entertaining prose.

 

Hey paren. Thanks for dropping by. Glad you're enjoying Hidden Sunlight Posted Image

 

The original concept for the story was a bit different from how it ended up being written, and if people get curious enough, I may share that. Probably after I have finished the series though, or it would, unfortunately, spoil it.

 

I will say though: Lucere has grown and evolved from what I thought it would. I'm a very details-oriented person, so it's important to have my mind au-fait with factual consistency. That's to say: I *need* what I write to be as realistic as possible, because I want to immerse my readers in the world. There's a lot to explore with a planet like this, especially this one being in the sorry state that it has landed .. and that gives me creative fodder as an author. It's exciting and I am enjoying the process an awful lot.

Edited by Stellar
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  • 3 weeks later...

Yeah, I added a new beta to the story as a whole, which, similar to editing even a spelling mistake in a single chapter sends out a notification to everyone who has them turned on Posted Image Honestly, it doesn't make me happy that I can't touch it at all without sending out a seismic wave of 'this story has been updated!' to all subscribers, but that's just the way the system goes.

 

HOWEVER ... I added that beta because Chapter 11 is in the final stages as we speak! So .. do not fear, it's not far off Posted Image

Edited by Stellar
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If you've just read chapter 11, this might be why you're reading this post. If not, then you may want to avoid it, unless you want to risk a spoiler or two.

 

To be safe, highlight the following text to view it. Spoiler begins here:

 

No one in Hidden Sunlight is safe. The only 100% exception to that rule is Shay, the protagonist, without whom the story would not exist. Nowhere have I promised a happy ending, nor a clean resolution to the lives of characters in the way the readers may want. This is, in my opinion, the way all good dramatic fiction should be, to some extent.

 

However .. before you decide to hate me for what has happened to Mira: this chapter, 11, is paired with 12. It is *essential* that they are judged together as two halves of this part of the plot.

 

In this context, it will make sense.

 

Ends here.

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Oh but to understand what a writer thinks is a good read is something that would destroy every single story ever read what would be the point if there weren't surprises and layers of plots within the the story. And yes every story having a happy ending well though always nice isn't always a good read, that said you broke my heart in a good way, i guess. with every pain there is that moment of hope that it wasn't as you saw it,or heard it, or understood it, for the mere sake of saving yourself the real pain. inevitably at the end there is that realization that it is what it is and you caught that moment so well. and though i am disappointed your writing is good and i will follow it knowing you are of course right in your own story because if i wanted an other i would have written myself. I can hardly wait for the next chapter. thank you

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I have really enjoyed this story. I usually don't enjoy sci-fi and fantasy, but this is so well written and the plot device of waking up in the future is very compelling.

 

Was I happy with the death of Mira. No, of course not. But the writing is so great, I loved the chapter.

 

Now, when will our hero reveal that, when he is angered to the point of rage, he has some control over the Sharplings? Heck, when will he realize that there is a connection?

 

Bryan

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Hello, I feel that I have to give voice to my disappointment about the killing off of Mira. To me, Mira was some kind of supernatural curiosity - a puzzle to be understood. His relationship to Shay and how Shay created / liberated him was also an interesting story line that didn't seem to be fully explored. To me, the sum of the two parts was infinitely more interesting that any one of them or even the sum of each one of them considered in isolation. To my mind, the story has lost almost half of it's interest. It's true that an author has no obligation to provide readers with a happy ending. But on the other hand, as someone who reads on this site as a recreational activity after a hard day of work, I also have the freedom to decide to avoid stories that are depressing. Stories and films in which an endless line of key characters are killed off in macabre ways are not a new invention, although I must admitt, the setting and details in this story are quite unique. It's a personal choice, but I'll try to erase this chapter from my mind and consider that I've formally checked out as of the end of chapter 10.

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I couldn't hate you, I hate having to wait to find out what surprise you

have coming up. I don't imagine that it will disappoint.

 

I hope not. It is easy to fall shy of expectations.

 

Oh but to understand what a writer thinks is a good read is something that would destroy every single story ever read what would be the point if there weren't surprises and layers of plots within the the story. And yes every story having a happy ending well though always nice isn't always a good read, that said you broke my heart in a good way, i guess. with every pain there is that moment of hope that it wasn't as you saw it,or heard it, or understood it, for the mere sake of saving yourself the real pain. inevitably at the end there is that realization that it is what it is and you caught that moment so well. and though i am disappointed your writing is good and i will follow it knowing you are of course right in your own story because if i wanted an other i would have written myself. I can hardly wait for the next chapter. thank you

 

Thank you. I am glad you understand. I trust you will feel better about this once the context of chapter 12 is given.

 

I have really enjoyed this story. I usually don't enjoy sci-fi and fantasy, but this is so well written and the plot device of waking up in the future is very compelling.

 

Was I happy with the death of Mira. No, of course not. But the writing is so great, I loved the chapter.

 

Now, when will our hero reveal that, when he is angered to the point of rage, he has some control over the Sharplings? Heck, when will he realize that there is a connection?

 

Bryan

 

These realisations are something that will be confronted after the events of this chapter have been cleared from Shay's mind.

 

Hello, I feel that I have to give voice to my disappointment about the killing off of Mira. To me, Mira was some kind of supernatural curiosity - a puzzle to be understood. His relationship to Shay and how Shay created / liberated him was also an interesting story line that didn't seem to be fully explored. To me, the sum of the two parts was infinitely more interesting that any one of them or even the sum of each one of them considered in isolation. To my mind, the story has lost almost half of it's interest. It's true that an author has no obligation to provide readers with a happy ending. But on the other hand, as someone who reads on this site as a recreational activity after a hard day of work, I also have the freedom to decide to avoid stories that are depressing. Stories and films in which an endless line of key characters are killed off in macabre ways are not a new invention, although I must admitt, the setting and details in this story are quite unique. It's a personal choice, but I'll try to erase this chapter from my mind and consider that I've formally checked out as of the end of chapter 10.

 

If you read my comments about an author's obligation, then you must also have read the remainder of it and I wish to repeat and emphasize something:

 

"This chapter, 11, is paired with 12. It is *essential* that they are judged together as two halves of this part of the plot."

 

Before you 'formally check out' I would strongly encourage you to read the next part. If you still feel the same afterwards and keep the same desire to not read further, I would understand .. but I need to repeat again the fact that 11 and 12 are linked, and that your final judgement should hold back, just yet.

Edited by Stellar
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Posted Image i am SO sobbing right now! Great story so far by the way.

 

Awwwwwww .. it *will* be okay, I promise. I don't write the bad without some corresponding good. :)

 

Just an FYI - your story is one of the two featured in today's GA News Blog

 

Wow, cool. That's awesome, thanks for letting me know :)

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Congrat on getting your story featured!

 

Also glad that Miro fought his way through death, and therace and struggles on the way back to the farm. Hopefully he and Shay can R&R a bit before taking care of business.....

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Congrat on getting your story featured!

 

Also glad that Miro fought his way through death, and therace and struggles on the way back to the farm. Hopefully he and Shay can R&R a bit before taking care of business.....

 

Thank you! It was a surprise, to be sure, but a nice one.

 

Indeed he did. There are not many descriptions that are much more literally "going through hell" than what he he was forced to experience in finding his way back. Extraordinary effort of mind and body is required to survive those kinds of things, but he is without doubt an extraordinary individual and came through it without any permanent damage.

 

The question of R&R? Well I, for one, cannot imagine Shay would let Mira go anywhere covered in a multitude of injuries (physical resilience notwithstanding) and neither can I imagine Mira letting Shay out of his sight for more than a minute .. so what do *you* think is going to happen? Odds are strongly in favour of some alone time Posted Image

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I am so glad that my guess/hope was correct: that the combination of Mira's Sharpeling heritage and the results of Shay's healing light -- both the original and what he released after Le Renard tried to kill him -- meant that his body would regenerate. Of course, you added some fantastically intriguing details to flesh out how it happened. The need to survive despite the Sharpelings in the building where he awoke and the hundreds in his path through the city drove home how incredible is Mira's personal imperative and the perfection of the synergy of his body-mind-spirit.

 

One element that has not yet been touched in the story directly -- although hinted at, at least in my interpretation -- is that Shay and Mira have some bond, some connection with Lucere itself. Perhaps even that Lucere is sentient at some level. The latest hint to me was the fog that seemed to close in and help mask the end of Mira's journey and allow him some cover to foil the assassin. I realize I may be putting too much of myself into this interpretation, but it is part of the joy of reading your exquisitely crafted story and joining in the universe you have created, one that I hope will have a future even after this story concludes.

 

Thank you, Stellar!

 

PS: I, too, vote for a little R&R between Shay and Mira. It seems like the tiny though momentous steps they take to their physical joining mirror the intensity of what is required of them to survive and prosper on Lucere. So, after chapters 11 & 12, I would hope they can make some more steps before heading out to find Hartley.

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I am so glad that my guess/hope was correct: that the combination of Mira's Sharpeling heritage and the results of Shay's healing light -- both the original and what he released after Le Renard tried to kill him -- meant that his body would regenerate. Of course, you added some fantastically intriguing details to flesh out how it happened. The need to survive despite the Sharpelings in the building where he awoke and the hundreds in his path through the city drove home how incredible is Mira's personal imperative and the perfection of the synergy of his body-mind-spirit.

 

One element that has not yet been touched in the story directly -- although hinted at, at least in my interpretation -- is that Shay and Mira have some bond, some connection with Lucere itself. Perhaps even that Lucere is sentient at some level. The latest hint to me was the fog that seemed to close in and help mask the end of Mira's journey and allow him some cover to foil the assassin. I realize I may be putting too much of myself into this interpretation, but it is part of the joy of reading your exquisitely crafted story and joining in the universe you have created, one that I hope will have a future even after this story concludes.

 

Thank you, Stellar!

 

PS: I, too, vote for a little R&R between Shay and Mira. It seems like the tiny though momentous steps they take to their physical joining mirror the intensity of what is required of them to survive and prosper on Lucere. So, after chapters 11 & 12, I would hope they can make some more steps before heading out to find Hartley.

 

I am sure many readers had their suspicions, but some of the reactions I received after chapter 11 were interesting, to say the least. To touch on what I said earlier in this very thread, I don't believe the author is obliged in any way to gratify his audience through indulging what they *want* to occur; as much as some may yearn the story to go a certain way, the creative license to build a work of art from the words is his (or hers, to be fair) alone. However .. what was not mentioned above was that I believe this freedom must be tempered by a sense of being true to the spirit of what the author is creating. This is something I didn't talk about earlier, because if anyone had really thought too long, they would have realised that it made exactly zero sense to kill him off. By zero I mean .. exactly that. None at all, zip, nada, niente.

 

This is because it goes against the grain of what is happening and serves no real purpose. A good author does not kill a major character for absolutely no good reason! Minor characters? Sure, they are subject to the whimsy of The Tentacles Just Came Out Of Nowhere! and Oops Was That The Trigger? being thrown at them from whatever angle, but a major cast member is there for the longer haul and has that necessary gravity attached to them that shouldn't be removed without a *reaaaaaallly* fucking good reason .. and in this case there weren't any. Furthermore, not only is this the love interest at the very core of the story along with the protagonist, but there were little signs in the story, in chapter 11 mostly, that pointed to there being NO DAMN WAY I was going to do this and that he had in fact survived! The truth is in the smallest details; the story is told, for the vast majority of it, from Shay's perspective, and like anyone, what he sees is simply the world as he knows it and as it appears ... and he does not know or see everything! Hugely important fact right there.

 

This is all a very round-about way of saying that those that reserved judgement and had a bit of faith in Mira's tenacity (and other things besides) were on the right of it. I hoped to emphasise the very things that you mentioned; his will to survive and that synergy you described. Core attributes of his character! Anyone else in his position would have died, because who could have managed that? Normal humans don't possess that quality, and therein, I believe, lies the crux of it.

 

Text wall! :lol: To address your last suggestion .. what an interesting concept! That Lucere itself could be 'alive' in some way ... hmmmmmmmmmmm! ^_^ No comment, because if I say anything, well ... I just shouldn't, should I? All I can say is .. the scope is a little bigger than this. Oh, how it will grow. I am curious though .. a future? Are you suggesting a sequel or spin-off series or something? My, what a thought, in any case! <_<

 

Lastly, on the mention of R&R, I trust you will not be disappointed. Those little steps will continue, though saying how far they travel would be telling.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I really love how you've worked on this story and the way it slowly ekes out information building the border of the puzzle and the picture is finally starting to become visible and take shape. Keep up the great work.

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I really love how you've worked on this story and the way it slowly ekes out information building the border of the puzzle and the picture is finally starting to become visible and take shape. Keep up the great work.

 

Thank you! Chapter 13 is rather enlightening, I think, though there is always more to come, more secrets and mysteries out there to find. :) Then of course, the question remains: what exactly is Mr Hartley planning to do?

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