Monthly Archives: March 2025

Books by the Author

#518: Versers Plan

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This is mark Joseph “young” blog entry #518, on the subject of Versers Plan.

With permission of Valdron Inc I have previously completed publishing my first ten Multiverser novels,

  1. Verse Three, Chapter One:  The First Multiverser Novel,
  2. Old Verses New,
  3. For Better or Verse,
  4. Spy Verses,
  5. Garden of Versers,
  6. Versers Versus Versers,
  7. Re Verse All,
  8. In Verse Proportion,
  9. Con Verse Lea, and
  10. In Version, in collaboration with Eric R. Ashley,

in serialized form on the web (those links will take you to the table of contents for each book).  Along with each book there was also a series of web log posts looking at the writing process, the decisions and choices that delivered the final product; those posts are indexed with the chapters in the tables of contents pages.  Now as I am posting the eleventh, Con Version,  again written in collaboration with Eric R. Ashley, I am again offering a set of “behind the writings” insights.  This “behind the writings” look may contain spoilers because it sometimes talks about my expectations for the futures of the characters and stories–although it sometimes raises ideas that were never pursued, as being written partially concurrently with the story it sometimes discusses where I thought it was headed.  You might want to read the referenced chapters before reading this look at them.  Links below (the section headings) will take you to the specific individual chapters being discussed, and there are (or will soon be) links on those pages to bring you back hopefully to the same point here.

This is the fourteenth post for this novel, covering chapters 157 through 168.  Previous mark Joseph “young” behind-the-writings web log posts for this book include:

  1. #498:  Characters Restart covering chapters 1 through 12;
  2. #501:  Characters Orienting, covering chapters 13 through 24;
  3. #502:  Verser Setbacks, chapters 25 through 36;
  4. #503:  Versers Progress, chapters 37 through 48;
  5. #505:  Versers Advance, chapters 49 through 60;
  6. #506:  Characters Involved, chapters 61 through 72;
  7. #509:  Character Challenges, chapters 73 through 84;
  8. #510:  Versers Debate, chapters 85 through 96;
  9. #511:  Characters Change, chapters 87 through 108;
  10. #512:  Versers Work, chapters 109 through 120;
  11. #515:  Verser Troubles, 121 through 132;
  12. #516:  Versers Stymied, 133 through 144; and
  13. #517:  Versers Moving, 145 through 156.

There is also a section of the site, Multiverser Novel Support Pages, in which I have begun to place materials related to the novels beginning with character papers for the major characters, giving them at different stages as they move through the books.  This is also the longest book to date, and has quite a few long chapters in it, so there will be quite a few of these background articles.

History of the series, including the reason it started, the origins of character names and details, and many of the ideas, are in earlier posts, and won’t be repeated here.

Chapter 157, Takano 133

I pulled together several of Tommy’s concerns into this chapter, and managed to get Cooper pointed at some of their domestic problems.

Chapter 158, Brown 339

This began the second half of the chapter Eric previously drafted, bringing in his idea of an attack on the diner through legal proceedings.  Looking for a solution, I decided to involve the bishop.

The line “I don’t know what you came to do, but I came to praise the Lord” comes from a song sung by Barry McGuire in the early 1970s.

Chapter 159, Cooper 51

I wrote this mostly domestic chapter to try to get the new home in order to some degree.

Chapter 160, Brown 340

I wanted to resolve the banking crisis quickly but also set up some expectation for Mardi Gras itself, so I drafted this.

Chapter 161, Takano 134

When I had suggested that National Parks didn’t exist, Eric had suggested that the volcano under Yellowstone could be part of Mordenslice’s plot.  After writing the chapter in which Gorillaxe was questioned, I put forward the suggestion that he would be killed in his cell but scratch a cryptic clue into the wall.  Coming to this, I wrote that part, but the only cryptic clue I could think of was Yellowstone, so I went with that.

Chapter 162, Brown 341

Eric took over the Brown story at this point, putting together much of the Mardi Gras festivities with only a few comments from me.  He wrote a massive chapter which he then divided into three, with minor editing from me.

Chapter 163, Cooper 52

Eric was hoping for a behind-the-scenes look at being a choir director, which I thought would be terribly boring, but agreed to tackle it and started with this.

Dame Maggie Smith is the British actress who played Professor Minerva MacGonagel in the Harry Potter films.  Mary Bligh, the organist, was just the first given name and the first surname that came to me when I was writing.

There are actually two well-known settings of Crown Him with Many Crowns, either of which would lend itself to a decent choral arrangement.

Chapter 164, Brown 342

This was a continuation of Brown 341, the second of three parts very much as Eric had drafted it.

Chapter 165, Takano 135

I decided to have Tommy go to church as well.  Her family was Presbyterian, so it made sense.

The name Megan Fairchild came to me exactly that way, and as I repeated it to myself I recognized that it must have come from the name of the actress Morgan Fairchild.

Chapter 166, Brown 343

Part three of three, of what Eric wrote as Brown 341 and then divided.

Chapter 167, Cooper 53

I was looking for a name for the pianist, and trying to avoid another “M” name came up with Donna, then Brown.  I had to look up a lot of details including the name of the church secretary Miss Granger, whether Tommy had any music skills on her character sheet, and the date of Kumbaya.  I finally could no longer get away without naming Cooper’s predecessor, so I grabbed the name of my own high school choral director.

Chapter 168, Brown 344

Eric left this final confrontation to me; my first draft was not nearly so complicated or long as it needed to be.  Eric picked it up and expanded it significantly, and I came back and split it, inserting a continuation of the Cooper choir story in the middle.

This has been the fourteenth behind-the-writings look at Con Version.  If there is interest and continued support from readers we will endeavor to continue with more behind-the-writings posts and another novel.

Books by the Author

#517: Versers Moving

1 Comment

This is mark Joseph “young” blog entry #517, on the subject of Versers Moving.

With permission of Valdron Inc I have previously completed publishing my first ten Multiverser novels,

  1. Verse Three, Chapter One:  The First Multiverser Novel,
  2. Old Verses New,
  3. For Better or Verse,
  4. Spy Verses,
  5. Garden of Versers,
  6. Versers Versus Versers,
  7. Re Verse All,
  8. In Verse Proportion,
  9. Con Verse Lea, and
  10. In Version, in collaboration with Eric R. Ashley,

in serialized form on the web (those links will take you to the table of contents for each book).  Along with each book there was also a series of web log posts looking at the writing process, the decisions and choices that delivered the final product; those posts are indexed with the chapters in the tables of contents pages.  Now as I am posting the eleventh, Con Version,  again written in collaboration with Eric R. Ashley, I am again offering a set of “behind the writings” insights.  This “behind the writings” look may contain spoilers because it sometimes talks about my expectations for the futures of the characters and stories–although it sometimes raises ideas that were never pursued, as being written partially concurrently with the story it sometimes discusses where I thought it was headed.  You might want to read the referenced chapters before reading this look at them.  Links below (the section headings) will take you to the specific individual chapters being discussed, and there are (or will soon be) links on those pages to bring you back hopefully to the same point here.

This is the thirteenth post for this novel, covering chapters 145 through 156.  Previous mark Joseph “young” behind-the-writings web log posts for this book include:

  1. #498:  Characters Restart covering chapters 1 through 12;
  2. #501:  Characters Orienting, covering chapters 13 through 24;
  3. #502:  Verser Setbacks, chapters 25 through 36;
  4. #503:  Versers Progress, chapters 37 through 48;
  5. #505:  Versers Advance, chapters 49 through 60;
  6. #506:  Characters Involved, chapters 61 through 72;
  7. #509:  Character Challenges, chapters 73 through 84;
  8. #510:  Versers Debate, chapters 85 through 96;
  9. #511:  Characters Change, chapters 87 through 108;
  10. #512:  Versers Work, chapters 109 through 120;
  11. #515:  Verser Troubles, 121 through 132; and
  12. #516:  Versers Stymied, 133 through 144.

There is also a section of the site, Multiverser Novel Support Pages, in which I have begun to place materials related to the novels beginning with character papers for the major characters, giving them at different stages as they move through the books.  This is also the longest book to date, and has quite a few long chapters in it, so there will be quite a few of these background articles.

History of the series, including the reason it started, the origins of character names and details, and many of the ideas, are in earlier posts, and won’t be repeated here.

Chapter 145, Cooper 47

I decided that Brian could find a place to live if he prayed about it, and came up with the idea of renting the manse of a church no longer needing it.  I also decided on a whim that it would be just outside what Brian was seeking, but better than he hoped, and that he could also work as choir director for a bit of extra cash.

Chapter 146, Brown 334

Again I penned this, building toward the vampire confrontation.

Chapter 147, Takano 130

Eric drafted the original of this.  We had trouble with it because he overlooked the fact that Tommy’s costume and weapons were bulky, she had no way to carry them other than her backpack, and she wouldn’t be taking that to work with her, so we had to figure out how to have her change to being Truth on her lunch break several miles from her room.  We were still working on the problem while several other chapters were written.  It was reasonably simple to assume that Cooper brought his duffel bag with him and said it was his workout gear, but a lot more trouble to find a way to bring her protective leather coat, disguising mask and hat, and the kawanaga on a clip on the utility belt.

Chapter 148, Cooper 48

Eric also drafted this, finishing everything I had outlined as what they had to do during this lunch break before he decided that they also had to be interrupted by the need to catch a supervillain.  I did a lot of edits to get it to fit with what had already been written about Brian’s earlier visit to the church, and Eric left the part about the choir director’s job for me to write.

Chapter 149, Brown 335

Eric left this for me.  I wanted the visit to the tomb to kill one vampire but not the other, but it was a task of working out the details as the text was crafted.  Eric had recommended the holy water, and also suggested that Maurice had spent time praying over his knife, making it effective against the vampire.

Chapter 150, Takano 131

I wanted an excited Tommy to move into the new house quickly, but having accomplished that decided both that the chapter wasn’t long enough and that she needed to eat something.  I considered whether to have her encounter another crime along the way, but decided instead to have her chance upon Robinette again.

Chapter 151, Cooper 49

I drafted this mostly because I wanted to get back to the Brown story.  At some point Eric had said something about me writing something about “the job”, which had stuck in my head even though it was about the choir director job, and it drove me to think about designing processor and memory circuits, so I put that here.

Chapter 152, Brown 336

Eric and I discussed this, and Eric said I should draft it, so I did.  The only remaining question, really, was how to top it at the climax–but there were several scenes that had to be included before we got there, and not a lot of time.

Chapter 153, Takano 132

This fell to me, partly because Eric wanted to include several things in the very limited time left in the Brown story and partly because I wanted to have Tommy pass on the information about Mordenslice.

Chapter 154, Brown 337

I decided that the accelerated Brown story warranted putting him every other chapter, and so slotted this one for that.

Immersing in running water is one of the traditional ways to kill a vampire, and so I had suggested burning the body and drowning the head in the river.  Eric ran with that, and brought in Mossyback, the ancient giant alligator.

I had also suggested that Vashti would want her practice knife back, and that meant a trek to the crypt, which Eric also included here.  It was his idea that pulling the knife would bring the creature back to life, sort of, and of feeding the entire monster, in two parts, to the alligator.

Chapter 155, Cooper 50

I had suggested questioning Gorillaxe, and after staring at Cooper’s name in the heading here for a while decided this was a good time to do that.  I had intended at some point to have one of the questioners attempt to embarrass the villain by suggesting that Mordenslice might be smarter than he, but the flow of the conversation didn’t easily admit that.

Chapter 156, Brown 338

Eric had drafted this.  I made some notes, which Eric incorporated, and then I added the meeting with the Bishop and sliced the second half of the chapter to be Brown 339.

This has been the thirteenth behind-the-writings look at Con Version.  If there is interest and continued support from readers we will endeavor to continue with more behind-the-writings posts and another novel.