Fun Facts About The Z-Tech Chronicles
Whirlwind travel. Inspiring students improve health for all. Fun Facts about The Z-Tech Chronicles.
It's been a month of travel! Miami -> Key West -> Washington DC -> Rome (yay!) -> Armenia — and that last one was a doozy. We based in the capitol city of Yerevan, as usual, but from there traveled to the southern-most region, where I was a stone's throw from the Iranian border. After that, we drove to Vanadzor in a manual-transmission Lada Neva. The sight of an American behind the wheel of this infamous vehicle earned many smiles from the locals. In Vanadzor, we randomly ran into the head of Health for Armenia at a poodle coffee shop and, in the space of 18 hours, kicked off a project with the local high school that will hopefully improve healthcare quality across the nation. Seeing the students so engaged to solve real problems was definitely the highlight of the trip. Enthusiastic youth FTW!
Peleos continues to plod along, albeit slowly due to a huge and urgent project in my other job. The climax is going to be epic!
This month's feature are a few facts about The Z-Tech Chronicles that may tickle your har-har bone. Enjoy!
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Fun Facts: The Z-Tech Chronicles
I was thinking on some of the quirks of the series the other day and thought, heck, why not share. The following are a few random facts about the series. Some you may have read from interviews years past, but several have never been revealed. Read on, if you dare!
WARNING: Small spoilers ahead.
Anne didn't have PTSD in the first draft. She was instead terminally body shy, never-nude style. My dad expressed frustration that the book never said why she was shy. This prompted a deep character dive, followed by a major revision that changed the protagonist in many ways, including being more proactive, her PTSD, and her rocky history with alcohol.
Anne was supposed to end up with Charlie. Zima was supposed to detest Anne. The kiss that turned things around was completely unplanned and changed the course of the series—for the better, I think.
Doris is based on Flo from the TV sitcom "Alice". I'm a 70's child. Flo was my favorite character. It was fun bringing her to life on paper.
Dela wasn't intended to be a core character. When Mark needed help to find Anne, Dela became the logical choice, which catapulted her into the group. Her straight-up, enthusiastic, couldn't-care-less attitude added a refreshing liveliness to the cast, so I gave her a more prominent role in the series. I regret nothing.
The Z-Tech Factory is three blocks from one of my previous jobs. It's funny because I wasn't working there when I began writing Angels in the Mist. Little did I know that, years later, I would be taking weekly lunch walks right by it.
Restaurant Gary Danko was our favorite treat. My wife and I discovered Danko's soon after moving to the Bay Area. It was very expensive for a couple of college kids, so we only went every other year or so. Making it Anne and Zima's special place was a tribute to our youth together.
I've never been to Montana. Hope it didn't show too badly in Angels Found.
Cappa's training sequence is one of my favorite scenes, ever. I grew up watching Kung Fu Theater. When the opportunity presented to write a classic martial arts training sequence, I jumped in with both feet. The tense dynamic between Charlie, Cappa, and Master Wung made it all the more fun.
Pixie Cappa wasn't planned. Pixie Cappa, aka Rose, appeared spontaneously and was never intended to persist as a character. However, as I reasoned the situation through, she couldn't not exist, so she stayed, and Cappa got to fight with herself. Win-win.
I had no idea how Anne would retain her humanity. The time had come; Anne was about to transform into a vampire, and I had no idea what to do. Charlie was stumped. The virus was unstoppable. I had written myself into a proverbial corner. It was only as the characters were talking through options that I realized the path. Charlie's laugh in the book is a reflection of my own relief. I didn't realize at the time how significantly that solution would affect Anne's fate, nor her options through the rest of the series.
Currently Reading
The Ghost Brigades
Finished! Great book, even though it doesn't feature the protagonist from Book 1. An in-depth view of life in the elusive Ghost Brigades that ties very nicely into Books 1 and 3. Highly recommended for fans of Old Man's War.
The Lost Colony
The nice thing about travel is I read a lot, so I have a whopping two reviews for you this month. The Last Colony was an interesting departure from the rest of the series that I enjoyed. It takes place almost entirely on a single planet, and is filled with interpersonal conflict and colony politics, combined with survival elements that keep the plot moving. Check out my full review for more.
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