My apartment actually has more room, now. Just by rearranging a couple of pieces, adding some new shelving units, and switching my art table with my card table, I freed up enough space so I'm no longer bumping into anything when I move. Of course, I also threw out a lot of crap I'd been hanging onto since forever. I could do a lot more, still -- my old bookshelves are not in the best order -- but it's still a lot better than it was.
I'm sorting through the ending of UG as I work, wondering if I have it right. I was going to have it where Tawfi is being set up for the murders by his sister-in-law in order to remove him as heir to his country's throne. He has diplomatic immunity so could easily walk on murder charges unless his government withdrew the protection, something not certain. He's Muslim and some might refuse to do anything that would help the UK, considering their meddling in the Middle East. So best to discredit him in the eyes of his father, the king.
But that started seeming too...I dunno...obvious and easily found out. So I've been having quiet conferences with the three main guys in this, trying to find another way they can live with. One idea was to let Tawfi actually be the killer, but Devlin didn't like that and Reg wasn't keen because it would have led to his death.
Then there was having Devlin actually be the killer, as he's suspected of being, but that didn't work unless he would up killing Reg at the beginning, cancelling out all his angst and self-reflection. Which would have made for a shorter book, but he didn't like that at all...the drama queen.
I suggested Reg be in on the murders, and all three laughed at me over that. So I got to wondering...there's a point at the end where Devlin returns to Tawfi's embassy, thinking he's meeting one person but winds up being attacked by someone he did NOT expect...and that's where things come out...and part of the reason for the brutality of the murders is due to Devlin's actions, years earlier. Adds a lot of guilt to him. It would take some reworking of the rest of the story, but...
They all enjoyed the idea of Devlin feeling like scum at the end. It even makes the final denouement palatable...where he stays in the UK, a de facto exile from his home.
I have to say, that appeals to the poet in me...
I'm sorting through the ending of UG as I work, wondering if I have it right. I was going to have it where Tawfi is being set up for the murders by his sister-in-law in order to remove him as heir to his country's throne. He has diplomatic immunity so could easily walk on murder charges unless his government withdrew the protection, something not certain. He's Muslim and some might refuse to do anything that would help the UK, considering their meddling in the Middle East. So best to discredit him in the eyes of his father, the king.
But that started seeming too...I dunno...obvious and easily found out. So I've been having quiet conferences with the three main guys in this, trying to find another way they can live with. One idea was to let Tawfi actually be the killer, but Devlin didn't like that and Reg wasn't keen because it would have led to his death.
Then there was having Devlin actually be the killer, as he's suspected of being, but that didn't work unless he would up killing Reg at the beginning, cancelling out all his angst and self-reflection. Which would have made for a shorter book, but he didn't like that at all...the drama queen.
I suggested Reg be in on the murders, and all three laughed at me over that. So I got to wondering...there's a point at the end where Devlin returns to Tawfi's embassy, thinking he's meeting one person but winds up being attacked by someone he did NOT expect...and that's where things come out...and part of the reason for the brutality of the murders is due to Devlin's actions, years earlier. Adds a lot of guilt to him. It would take some reworking of the rest of the story, but...
They all enjoyed the idea of Devlin feeling like scum at the end. It even makes the final denouement palatable...where he stays in the UK, a de facto exile from his home.
I have to say, that appeals to the poet in me...
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