41: An Ensemble Cast
12/31/2012
Well, I managed to make my deadline. Got Lost in the Darkness all transcribed and finished – as much as it will be for a long time. Now, onto Chapter Seven: The Wounded. A lot needs to change in this next chapter from what’s in the scene outline. I already have a boma creation in The Yara prologue, so this next chapter needs some major re-imagining.
Present-Day Reflection
7/5/2026
All of what this entry is referring to is in Book Two: Tears of Stone, and what I said back on 12/31/2012 is still true today. There’s a lot in The Wounded to be fleshed out yet.
Now that Wings of Providence has brought the secondary characters into more prominence, the title for The Wounded will also be referring to them, not just Diallo and Alena. Tamal, Dougga, and Bakar will also have their formative wounds established in this section. Most notably in my mind right now, will be Tamal’s, where the accidental death of his last remaining brother shapes his attitudes even more toward precision and caution as he moves forward. It also nudges him even closer to Diallo, Bakar, and Dougga. Bakar and Dougga will have their wounds established here in similar ways as well.
The Batu saga as originally conceived, has changed dramatically in that it has become much more of an ensemble cast. All the secondary characters have become much more important as their own stories are being told with greater care. And for the four boys, everything that is happening in Tears of Stone is building up toward their jawara ben-bella – their rite of Passage into manhood.
