Evacuation (The Boris Chronicles Book 1) (9 page)

I HATE how Katanas have taken over as sword of note in fiction. I call it the 'Highlander effect'. There is a two thousand word rant on my blog explaining.

So I joined facebook to contact him (Yes I was one of the very few people in my age group without an account.) And to bitch about his choice of sword. We talked a bit further and I mentioned I was trying to write a book. So he asked me if I wanted to join the 20books group. I was either member five or six (there are now over 300 I think.)

Then I kept coming up with a Russian Werebear character. One that in no way fit for my story. I named him Boris and eventually (three or four books of Michael's later) saw that he was a good fit for Michael's universe. So I wrote up a three thousand word Character concept/history and sent it to him.

That is where this book and the ones to follow came from.

That's not to say that there haven't been a few bumps along the way. But I think Both Michael and I have learnt that the best communication involves at least voice chat. It is so much easier to make sure there is no misinterpretation if you speak rather than type (Little advice for ANYONE who wants to write a collaboration! Speak! Typing only conveys so much!)
I've learnt a lot writing in someone else's universe. And I have nothing but Thanks to Michael for giving me this opportunity. I hope you all enjoyed it. Now … if I can only convince him to come up with a character in MY universe some time

Maybe.

I also have to thank My Beta Team for this project. Bree Buras, Dorene Johnson, Diane Velasquez and Kat Lind.
 

A thanks to both Nikolaus Beattie and Jeff Morris for helping me work out military details I was unsure of. (One is Australian Army, One US Army. Had some differing opinions, but between them they gave me the info for realism I needed to get stuff right for the book.)

You can reach me at any of these places. I do my best to respond quickly but I do live in Australia – Time zone issues and all that.

Blog:
https://betrayedbyfaith.wordpress.com/

My Series Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Betrayed-by-Faith-1110766018944080/

My Author Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/PaulCMiddleton/

My mailing list:
http://eepurl.com/bZxFvD

My Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/Paul-C.-Middleton/e/B01FM3QX6E/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

The Paladin book page:
https://www.amazon.com/Paladin-Betrayed-Faith-Book-1-ebook/dp/B01FBOHOUS/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1468499301&sr=1-1&keywords=Paladin+Paul+C

Author's Notes – Michael Anderle July 14, 2016

I love this.
 
I get to be the last person to write my author notes, so I get a peek into what Paul wrote and then say whatever the hell I want.

Which, should probably be nice as I imagine Paul will get to switch places with me for book 2 …
damn
!

Have you ever received a message that starts with “I like this…but!” Yes, the exclamation point is there on purpose.
 
Paul’s NO KATANA email should go down in history as some sort of Martin Luther’esque comment nailed to the door of Author’s homes everywhere.

He admitted to me that out of about ten authors he has taken to task over using katana’s, I was the only author who replied and struck up a conversation.
 
I’m still trying to figure out how smart that was.
 
Paul can get pretty excited when talking swords, something I’m not exactly an expert with.
 
The only way I was able to ‘win’ the argument was showing how Bethany Anne did have the grip and strength to wield a katana with one hand effectively.

One point for super-strong modified humans!

Even then, Paul will not concede the point whatsoever.
 
So, somewhere he has the original document about swords, you should hit him up and ask him. Or heck, he might have it on his blog.

It is a weird experience to have your world written in, and characters you know as friends to be written by someone else.
 
My job, once we hashed out the general storyline and agreed on what could and couldn’t happen based on future events, was to come back after Paul wrote most of the book. Then, I would either add to sections where he pointed something out (I need you to add fight scene here, or write Bethany Anne’s speech here) or to modify special characters actions and speech to confirm they would sound the same as I would write them (Bethany Anne, etc.).

By the end of the book, Paul had his groove on pretty well.

I was adding to this book and doing my pass on the plane coming to Las Vegas and finished while here.
 
When I got to the last sentence, I was wondering where the hell the rest was???
 
Damn!
 
I was enjoying it and didn’t want it to stop.

So, if that is how I, the series creator feels, I certainly hope you enjoyed The Boris Chronicles and look forward to the next in the series.

Now, if you Pitchfork and Matches fans would just light a fire under his ass, it would be much appreciated.

Forever grateful for readers and fans, beta-readers and our editor (see names up front…No, you really want to - trust me),

Michael Anderle