“Smuggler’s Blues” Pg24
So concludes “Smuggler’s Blues”. Whereas the first story, here in our archives called “Book One: ‘Trekker'” had originally been serialized as three 8-page chapters in Dark Horse Presents, Smuggler’s Blues had been designed from the start as a single full-length tale. The extended format was a new challenge for me as a budding writer, and I was happy to have brought the story to a round finish. While still feeling my way along, I was growing in confidence and anxious to start expanding and developing Mercy’s world.
That all begins tomorrow with “The Trail to Scarmen’s Burn” where Mercy journey’s beyond the streets of New Gelaph into the rough outlands of 2226 on the heels of a desperate mass-murderer. It becomes the biggest test yet in her young career yet, and turns into one of the Trekker stories I remain most proud of. Get ready for a rough ride.
I hope you don’t take this badly, but I think this was the weakest of the series that’s online so far. The conversation with Molly was so blatant I couldn’t believe it was meant to be taken at face value. (Guess I fooled myself there). The final confrontation with Stravin felt awkward and forced and the angst at the end just didn’t seem like Mercy at all.
Hey, but I like the series as a whole a lot. 🙂
Fair enough, Paul. For what it’s worth, “Smuggler’s Blues” was the first full-length Trekker story and I was pretty raw as a writer, having just the one three-part story under my belt at the time. So, I was learning the ropes and learning the cast of characters as I went along. Glad you like things over-all. Hope the stories to come will have fewer rough spots for you.