The Mechanism is Complete

Okay, I finally finished the first draft of Children of the Mechanism. It wound up being a little longer than I thought it would be (by about 10,000 words). Some quick stats, in case you happen to care. The novel is 102,980 words (roughly the same length as Mary of the Aether), comprised of ten parts (each of which has three chapters). The titles of the parts are as follows:

1 – Stick Boys

2 – Bugs on the Mechanism

3 – The Master’s Shadow

4 – Feeding the Grong

5 – Mice in the Corridors

6 – Breakers on the Move

7 – Strange Doors

8 – Monsters with Fat Stomachs

9- The Bottom of the World

10 – A New Light

There you go. More importantly, what is it about? It's about slaves living and working in the bowels of a massive and mysterious factory, watched over my cruel robots. We are introduced to four different slaves whose destinies will slowly converge as strange things begin to happen in the factory.

This is a story and these are characters who have been with me a long time. Remember, the original short story, "Stick Boys," goes all the way back to 1994. It's a world I have wanted to fully explore for a long time, and I hope it works. Time will tell, as the long process of rewriting begins.

Just you wait for parts four, eight and nine. Oh my goodness. If you thought Shadows of Tockland was too mild, you'll really like this one. It has no clowns, of course, but it does have the Grong. Oh, that Grong. He doesn't do much, but he's a lovely little thing. Just you wait and see.