A Sixteen-Year Retrospective
Welcome to the raw chronicle of a world's creation. While the formal pages of this journal began in September of 2011, its true genesis traces back to June of 2009. The opening entry acts as a vital bridge—revisiting and documenting in chronological order every linguistic breakthrough of the Kanar language and every world-building milestone discovered during those first two foundational years at the desk.
These archival entries are being released one day at a time, exactly as they were captured, offering an unvarnished look into the deep evolution of the Batu saga. Whether you wish to trace the journey from its very first 2009 spark or dive directly into the most recent revelations, select your path below.
Chronicles, lore. and creative insights from the desk of Thornton Sumner.
28: The Kanar Exegesis
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
5/3/2012
I’ve been working more this past week on the Kanar breakdowns. Done with 20 of them, 20 left to go. They’re each about a page long, but I can only manage finishing two a day at most. There are so many elements to each glyph – the translation, the principle it represents, the totemic image associated with it, the mythology behind it, philosophy, its use in divination and shamanism, and its use as a talisman. And making sure it all ties in consistently with the other 39 glyph’s mythology, etc.
It’s a slow process of sifting through my notes and integrating the most appropriate information for each one. The work is a bit monotonous, but I’m happy with the end result, so that keeps me going. It’s a lot to juggle though while putting it together, and I hope to be done with the first draft of all 40 this month.
I believe I will be where I am for at least another year. It’s my intention to finish the first book in that time, as well as the Vodun sketched, Kanar breakdowns, and “The Song of Mugasha” fable. If I can achieve those main objectives I will consider this year a success. So far, I’ve been wasting a lot of time though. We’ll see.
Present-Day Reflection
6/22/2026
14 years later and I still haven’t got done what I hoped to get done back in 2012. The final edits are not yet completed on the first book, Wings of Providence. The Song of Mugasha from The Napatawalata is only ¼ of the way done. And I was up until 2AM last night working on getting the Kanar breakdowns transcribed from my handwritten copies to a digital format so I can upload them to this website.
I no longer call them “breakdowns”, however. Now they’re called the Kanar Exegesis. A more fitting term for what they really are. Though there’s only 40 handwritten pages to the Exegesis, transcribing the phonetics using hex code with Word is a painstaking process. And finding a way to showcase each glyph and their iconography in an appropriate way is proving to be a challenge as well.
That being said, it will all be done in a couple of days. Or at least, that’s the plan.
27: The Illusion of Security
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
3/20/2012
Finished the 2nd title page mask illustration a couple days ago – the ugly one that will probably go with the third book. I see it as representing The Others that invade and displace the Batu from their home.
I’m sending it, along with my other finished artwork, to Uncle Paul to hold onto for me. He said he’d send back photocopies of those few I might need copies of for conceptual references or templates for future artwork.
I sent him “The Shadow of Damu” and “The Song of Alodia” a couple of weeks ago and just got the photocopies he made in yesterday’s mail. I feel a lot better knowing my originals are safely in Paul’s care with working copies here for me. I’ll be sending him everything I write or draw for archiving. Insurance against losing all my work should things go sideways.
Present-Day Reflection
6/21/2026
I realize security is an illusion, but it’s an important one for me when it comes to my Batu work. My life is much more stable these days, and I now keep all my archives here close to home. I have about half of it digitized on multiple thumb drives and hard drives as backup. Nothing on the cloud. Call me an old man, but I don’t trust that and I prefer to keep what’s valuable to me close to home with no dependence on outside technology working. Hence, the redundancy of even my paper archives. Backups for my backups. Allows me to sleep better at night.
26: First Drafts
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
3/1/2012
It’s been almost three months since I’ve written any Batu related material. And what’s really odd is that I not only stopped in the middle of scene three of “The Kulu”, but was mid-dialogue as well, which would be easy to pick up on.
So, I’m not sure what happened to keep me from getting back on track. Christmas, reading, other writing projects. I started another story: “You and Me”, about an alternate version of my life starting at age 16 and wrote 99 pages of it so far. Not sure if I’ll continue it or not. And I also wrote a 150-page letter last month to Gale – the longest letter I’ve yet written. Also read a few books. So, it’s not as if I’ve done nothing, just nothing Batu related.
I got back into it today, however. Rewriting and putting the final touches on the first draft of “The Song of Alodia.” This will be my best stand-alone showcase piece of Batu material that will be completed in a readable form and am eager to get it done.
I should point out here, there are no literal “first drafts” of any of my work in my possession, because I rewrite everything so much – starting out on scratch paper that I save for that purpose – and all the early drafts gets flushed down the toilet as soon as I write a better version. And there’s no way for me to recall how many incarnations it went through before reaching the “first draft” I haven’t flushed. Plus, my main narrative is already largely worked out in the scene outline, itself having gone through a half dozen or more rough drafts.
This current draft of “The Song of Alodia” had two prior incarnations that I thought were finished “first drafts” when I was done with them. What “first draft” really means for me is that I’m ready to file it away and call it done until someone else reads and critiques it for me.
Present-Day Reflection
6/20/2026
I do have several first drafts preserved that really are first drafts, but I only started to occasionally set such things aside well after I wrote this entry from March of 2012. Probably more often when I was in my zone and things were coming together relatively easy for me. As if to hold onto that mental space so I might tap back into it again at a later date.
Part of it was also for future nostalgia and my legacy archives as well. I’ve always been nostalgic and sentimental. I’m still holding onto sketches and doodles I did back in grade school when I was eight years old, always daydreaming while ignoring my teacher and her assignments. So, I guess it was inevitable that I’d eventually start saving certain chapters of my Batu work as well, showcasing their evolution from half-baked dribblings on scratch paper to final drafts.
I didn’t save a lot. Maybe a half-dozen or so chapters, at the most. Just enough to see how my process has evolved over the years.
25: Succumbing to Fantasy
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
12/12/2011
My hiatus from writing has extended overlong. At first, I struggled with how to open the first scene of Chapter Five: The Kulu. Knowing full well the action to be enacted int this first scene, I was nonetheless at a loss for a hook upon which I might enter into it in an interesting way.
That took me up to around 12/6 and came up with a two-page dialogue between Diallo and Bakar on the side of Overlook Hill, which was satisfactory. But that is how it has remained for five days or so.
It seems clear that this is not writer’s block but sheer laziness. In the interim, however, I have come to a somewhat important decision to extend the fantasy elements of the story a step further by creating a spiral staircase of path, carved within the trunk of the jola tree that leads from the forest floor to the village proper.
Although there are trees in the African rainforest as wide as a house that could server for such a structure, the time and effort to carve a spiral staircase in it with stone-age tools renders the idea highly fantastical. The labor involved seems to far surpass its practicality. Not to mention that it would no doubt kill the tree, probably causing it to rot from the inside-out until within a generation or two it would collapse under its own weight. Though I’m just guessing. I haven’t been able to research it. But whether it is possible or not it will remain an idea that taxes credulity, pushing it into fantasy.
I’m doing it anyway. I love the imagery it invokes, and it solves all the logistical problems of coming and going from the village proper. I began leaving reality when I put them in the canopy in the first place, but with this I am making a radical decision declaring that imagination and romantic imagery will supersede any desire to remain faithful to what is likely, or even possible. I’ve succumbed to fantasy.
The idea came to me when I saw in a magazine how a man built a treehouse with a circular staircase of iron wrapping up around a tree only a foot in diameter. That image percolated for a week until last night it boiled over into a necessity.
At any rate, my vacation from writing has at least bore this element that I really love. And now I’m determined to finish the first scene of “The Kulu” today, which was already well begun last week.
Present-Day Reflection
6/19/2026
I had forgotten how far along I’d gotten in my narrative when I finally crossed the line into fantasy by forsaking anthropological accuracy. Indeed, The Kulu chapter is the beginning of what is now the second book. This single creative decision has probably had more influence over the tone and character of the entire saga than any other decision I’ll ever make.
I didn’t make it lightly. Even back in 2011, I knew very well how big a step it would be. Just as I knew how important it was for me to make it. It wasn’t merely another feature of my story’s milieu, it was a profound declaration that I was writing this for me, and let the critics be damned. Whatever self-inhibiting golems I had on my shoulder judging every decision I made – all the experts on the traditional lifestyles of ancient African cultures, or even the artists and writers of fiction I most admire – I was telling them all that I was writing this for me, not for them. This was what I wanted to write and read, whether anyone else would or not.
It was always about me and what I wanted, not about what the rest of the world might have wanted. So, it was important for me to make a bold symbolic gesture in order to get out from under whatever influence my internal critics might have been imposing on me. For the most part.
24: Unpredictable Rabbit Holes
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
12/02/2011
Finally finished the first draft of Part One of the first book. Blew my deadline by two days, but that last chapter was twice as long as I planned. My total word count for the first book so far is 57,742. Been averaging 1,000 words a day since mid-October.
As for quality, it’s hard to tell. It feels good as I write it, but the initial reread is disappointing. But I need to let it sit before I can get a fresh take on it. I’m too close to it right now. Meanwhile, I’m going to rest for a day or two before I plunge into Part Two. My current goal is to have Part Two done by my birthday in February, and at my current pace that shouldn’t be a problem. But as I’m learning, you just can’t predict what the big time-spenders will be.
Present-Day Reflection
6/18/2026
Amen to that.
I still can’t predict such things, even today. Especially now that I’m on a computer and working on building this website. I can spend a whole day slipping down technical rabbit holes I didn’t even know existed when I went to bed the night before. Website deadlines are never met for me. The upside though is that things keep getting worked out so the end results are better than I initially hoped for.
Which is the only reason why I’m not complaining… much.
23: Foreshadowing Prominence
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
11/26/2011
Been working on Chapter Four: Twa Yal-Jukun, every day without bothering to log it here in the journal. I have 9,344 words of it done, which is over a thousand words a day, and yet I haven’t even got everyone on the river yet on their way to the festival. Diallo just got his reading from Siona in scene five. Which, by my reckoning, only puts me 2/3 of the way through the chapter. Which means it’s going to be way too long. And there’s hardly any exposition to edit out to shorten it – it’s 98% dialogue and action. Easy to improve and modify, but hard to cut without losing something needed.
We’ll see. At any rate, it’s coming together well. The spontaneous addition of Banyoro Badru was divinely inspired and helps a lot. Her free spirit helps to alleviate the uptight feeling I get from the other characters. I like Badru, and she’ll find her way back into the story later somehow.
Foreshadowing Broka, Topol, and Dugal through Bakar, Tamal, and Dougga worked fairly well. A couple of nice vignettes with them.
Deciding to turn the tables on all my preconceptions for Siona’s scene, I gave the POV to Alena, and she did a good job with it. There’s a lot of things to tweak and improve, but I believe I was right to give the scene to her rather than Diallo or Siona. It gives it a fresh twist so I’m not just taking dictation on the preconceptions and thoughts I’ve had about the scene these last couple years. If I’m bored, the writing will be boring. Going with Alena made it more complicated and more difficult, but also more interesting.
The rule of thumb may be to give the POV to whoever is most affected in a scene, but that would mean Diallo would get almost every POV. That would bore the hell out of me.
Anyway, my goal is to finish “Twa Yal-Jukun” (and Part One) by the end of the month. Difficult, but possible. I’m feeling good about this.
Present-Day Reflection
6/17/2026
It’s interesting to reread this entry where I write so casually about the introduction of characters who are now the heart and soul of the entire series. Bakar, Tamal, Dougga, and Badru may have been peripheral and relatively unimportant back then – merely “foreshadowing” their eventual status – but as the first book stands now, they are right at the center of things from the very beginning, each getting their own introductory chapters. Badru is still a secondary character, but she’s also the most colorful for me to write for. The three boys, however, get just as much fleshing out as Diallo does – despite not getting quite as much “screen time”. They’re also often more sympathetic and fun to follow than Diallo. Which probably isn’t a good thing for a protagonist.
22: A Lot Yet to Do
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
11/17/2011
Finished Chapter Three: The Fever. Took two weeks and 11,322 words. That makes it the longest so far. I think it will require less rewrites than the others so far though. The last scene got a good glimpse at the strained relationship between Diallo and Mosai. Nothing else though that wasn’t planned for.
Present-Day Reflection
6/16/2026
When this “chapter” was written, there was still a lot that was undeveloped. The Fever would become Part Four eventually, where every scene would become its own chapter. In addition, nine more chapters and two fables would be included. Just as I would eventually expand the other three Parts, which back then I called chapters.
The “strained” relationship between Diallo and Mosai got well established in these fleshing out chapters. So, by the time we get to the end of The Fever – which is also the end of Book One: Wings of Providence – the chapter with Diallo and Mosai becomes rather poignant.
21: Craft & Heart
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
11/16/2011
Finished scene six of The Fever – 1,970 words and six pages, Diallo’s prophetic dream. Not many prophecies though at this point. I’ll have to fill those in more once I have specific details and quotes that would be pertinent from future chapters way down the road. But for now, I’m satisfied. The bones of it are straight from my earlier draft on 9/29/2009. But it’s enhanced and more fleshed out now. Especially the living moth within the amulet of golden light. It’s a nice tie-in with Wings of Providence and that theme. When things just naturally weave together and mesh like that, I gain some hope that this may actually work.
Well, only one more scene for The Fever, and it’s a small one. Done tomorrow, easy.
Present-Day Reflection
6/15/2026
Things tend to “naturally weave together and mesh” more often when I don’t cling to expectations and my preconceived scene outlines. When it feels more like taking dictation than controlling the narrative and all the details I think I need or want to include. When I allow myself to feel my way into a scene rather than just thinking my way into it.
I don’t mean to sound like Yoda though, because I know very well I need to weave both heart and mind into my work with some semblance of balance. I’ve known too many artists who rely solely on their feelings and intuition, looking upon art as a purely mystical experience where they can achieve great work if they could only tap into the core of their souls. Or some spiritual creative essence, like Yoda’s Force.
The closest I can come to agreeing with this notion is how John Fowles described it. He alluded to the idea that for artists to create great art they need only make themselves great, then paint naturally. Though this reflects ideas found in Taoism, I don’t see it as being at all mystical. It requires discipline, self-development, and training before you can just let yourself go and let your subconscious perform naturally.
All heart with no craft is noise. All craft with no heart is a well-ordered vacuum. An artist might get lucky with their happy accidents on either extreme, but there’s no consistency in it. And writing novels are marathons, not sprints. Consistency is absolutely necessary.
20: Time Was On My Side
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
11/14/2011
Just finished scene five of “The Fever.” Took a couple days off to collate the material I would need for it, and then to think about how to make it interesting. It’s essentially an exposition scene between Wanyana and Bulala, and those can be deadly. Very hard to keep the pacing up to speed and maintain interest. Very little action, and almost all dialogue between the two women.
I think I pulled it off okay. The diction and syntax can always be improved but given the constraints of the scene I think it’s as good as I could have hoped for. We’ll see in a couple months when I reread it with fresh eyes.
This scene was 2,170 words – longer than I planned on, but that’s okay. This whole chapter will be about 11,000 words by the time I’m done. Two more scenes, one long and one short. My total word count for the whole book so far is 37,489 (not including “The Song of Alodia”), with a total of 123 pages. If I finish “The Fever” by 11/17 it will have taken two weeks, just like Chapter Two: Kumbella did. It’s coming along.
Present-Day Reflection
6/14/2026
I wish I had the time these days to just take a couple weeks to “collate the material” I need for any given project. I knew even back then that time was on my side, and that one day I’d look back on that period with envy. So, I never took having lots of time for granted, which proved enough to keep me on task. Usually.
Now, just having a single day without distraction is a true luxury I can rarely afford. I’m not complaining though, because on the whole things are an improvement for me now. I’ve just had to learn to better prioritize my “to-do” list and work more efficiently with what time I have – focusing on speed and quality simultaneously. Lots of pivoting in my tactics to avoid wasting time as I try to maximize output.
Though it works well for this publishing phase I find myself in, I’m hoping it’s just a temporary lifestyle. Because, though I’m far happier with my life now than I was 15 years ago, it’s not very conducive for the rumination and navel-gazing I need to produce my best creative work.
Or, at least, that’s what I tell myself. Truth is, I’m not sure. Art and creativity are still a mystery for me, where I can only speak in hindsight about what’s worked in the past. I can’t truly forecast the future with any accuracy.
19: Fevered Psychoanalysis
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
11/11/2011
Finished scene four in “The Fever” – 2,274 words. Longer than I planned, and over 2,000 of those words were all done just this morning. Two days were wasted on personal drama – problems with my neighbors. Once my head is infected with anger or any other strong emotion, I’m no good for writing.
Rereading “The Lord of the Rings” yet again (my third time now), since my head is no good for anything else at the moment. It’s fixated on drama, and proves that I’m not the master of my own mind. I’m both its slave and victim.
But the clouds parted this morning and I started fresh again, flying right through my work. Wrote Diallo’s first fevered dream, delving into his psychology and father issues. The next and last fevered dream will be a prophetic one. This one this morning though also touched on his issues with Guma, with allusions to Alena’s ghost frog. It came out rather nicely, I think. Good material for me to expand later.
Is Guma Diallo’s creation of what he believes Mosai would view as the perfect son?
At one point Guma replaces Diallo, and Diallo becomes the ghost. Running into Guma in the dark, Diallo mistakes him for his father. Diallo’s love-hate bond with Guma is an expression of what he’s afraid to explore in his relationship with his father. Guma is both idealized offspring and scapegoat for Diallo. Some pseudo-homosexual overtones are present as well, acting as metaphors for Diallo’s impotence. All so very Freudian. And fun.
Present-Day Reflection
6/13/2026
Without drama in my personal life outside of writing, I’d have nothing to write about. It is the fuel for my story-telling engine. However, even today while in the midst of what feels like a climax in my real life story, I’m unable to focus on the fictional one. My passions swing me too far one way or another to get any meaningful work done. The best I can do is catch up on the mindless monkey-brain work of clean-up, organizing, collating, and maintenance.
Which is what I’m doing right now as I write this.
18: Bulala’s Benchmark
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
11/8/2011
Just Finished scene three of “The Fever”, where Bulala is gathering the cinchona bark and Wanyana’s violet. It was good work for a single day. 2,000 words in one day I think is a record for me. Plus, it turned out amazingly well. The writing is adequate for a first draft, and the imagery is excellent. The action is good. The pacing is good. The scene adds well to the overall plot and fills out the characterizations. All of which is pretty good for a scene involving only one person.
I think I’m getting better at this. Or else I just had a good day. We’ll see.
Present-Day Reflection
6/12/2026
I was right, I’d finally found my writer’s voice for the entire series that day. I haven’t always stuck with it, but that scene – which would eventually become a chapter all its own – remains a benchmark for my writing even today. There have been moments since where I’ve somehow managed to surpass that benchmark, but it still remains the standard to which I strive for.
17: Beginnings of The Fever
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
11/5/2011
Got the first scene of Chapter Three: The Fever done. Decided I needed to start the chapter with a fresh face – Alena’s. This also provided a nice way to establish the time lapse since the last chapter. Also lays the groundwork for the “Missing Pieces” chapter I have planned for the second book. I also added that Alena has two deceased brothers and a sister. The two brothers are Guma and Diallo, the sister is camouflage to keep the identity of the brothers from being too obvious. Plus, it puts the number of Siona’s children at the ubiquitous number four.
The diction is acceptable but nothing special. The power of the scene lies primarily in its plotting devices. Moving on to the other scenes, I’m a little worried that this chapter has so little action, and so little dialogue. It dwells heavily on the various internal worlds of its characters, which makes it a challenge to keep it lively.
Present-Day Reflection
6/11/2026
This entry reflects just how far I had yet to go in the development of the basic story.
I was still thinking Diallo would turn out to be Alena’s brother. I was still trying to avoid having to write the Ghost Frog quest, which was only going to be referred to in hindsight after Diallo contracted The Fever. The Missing Pieces chapter planned for Book Two was going to be where the details of things left unsaid in Book One would be revealed.
I’m not sure why I thought that was a good idea.
16: Money In the Bank
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
11/3/2011
I hadn’t realized it’s been two weeks since I last made an entry here. I’ve been busy writing Chapter Two: Kumbella. It turned out well. Much better than Chapter One: Alena. There was a lot of fixing and tightening on the rewrites of Chapter two, but it’s essentially there now. I’m happy with it. It came in at 11,157 words, which is even longer than the prologue, and has three more scenes than what I’d planned in the outline. The extra scenes are really just dividing up the one ritual scene into three parts though. My total word count for everything so far is 29,145 words. And I’m just now starting Chapter three.
This could be a long book. I’m shooting for 10,000 words per chapter, so with the prologue and epilogue, and fables, it should be under 200,000 words.
For Chapter Two: Kumbella, I finished scene one on 10/20, where Diallo runs into himself. Scene two was a long one, finished on 10/22. Long, but straight forward. Scene three was slightly longer, but much more difficult. The whole ceremony sequence (comprising scenes 3-5) and the dialogue in scene six all required two days of just collating ritual details and mapping out the sequence of events.
The dialogue of scene six was also written out before hand, which actually altered some fundamental story concepts. Like the women’s conversation really being about Alena, not Guma or Diallo. This also made me make Siona the buroho instead of Bulala. So, Scene two needs to be updated to reflect that.
Anyway, the best thing in the whole chapter is scene three, where the village is in complete darkness and the two boys are climbing up the tree and above the fog (ala Jack and the Beanstalk) to see the stars for the first time. Finished this scene on 10/29.
Scene four was Siona’s dance, my least favorite of this chapter, needing a lot more work on the rewrites. Finished on 10/31.
Scene five, the augury/haruspication of the hare was better, but still needs a lot more work, too. Reads like it was written from a recipe of notes, which it was. Finished on 11/1.
Scene six, the women’s dialogue was the easiest since the essence of it was already done. It just needed fleshing out and adding Diallo’s contribution. Finished on 11/2.
Scene seven, the last one, I finished just tonight (actually, 2AM), 11/3. It’s one of the better scenes, but also the shortest and least encumbered by outlines and information filler.
Overall, I’m pleased with the work so far, despite its need for major touch-ups down the road. I only wish the pace was quicker. Chapter Two: Kumbella, alone is 35 pages, and it took two weeks and about 70 hours to write. Two hours on average per page. It’s a bit frustrating on one hand, but on the other hand I’ve got some good writing due to taking care, which will hopefully mean fewer rewrites. I think I even wrote every day, except for one. So, at least I’m staying on task. Adding another drop into the bucket each day.
Present-Day Reflection
6/10/2026
My steps are getting bigger. What I got done in the 70 hours recorded here in that entry was the largest step forward with the main narrative so far. It will all be dramatically reworked, but the skeleton was there. It advanced my sense of the story, its structure, and their world in big ways.
I smile though now as I think of all the hours I spent doing word counts back then. I had no computer, and everything was written with pen and paper, my word count being a painstaking process with each version of a chapter I wrote. It was important for me to maintain an accurate sense of scope, not trusting page numbers alone. Part of me enjoyed the word counts, however, looking upon it as “getting my money” – as if every word was money in the bank of my authorial legacy. As if every word was bringing me closer to my goal.
All those word counts feel meaningless now though, everything back then having been reworked – vastly expanded or deleted – so many times that the scope of things from then reflects nothing about where things stand today.
15: Ignorance Is Bliss
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
10/19/2011
Finally finished Chapter One: Alena. With a word count of 5,561 it is only half as long as the prologue. It really isn’t long enough when there’s only 16 chapters in the book. But I guess I can flesh it out later.
Two things surprised me though: 1) I haven’t worked on the chapter in five months! My last scene dated 5/12, I hadn’t realized it’s been so long. And 2) the quality of my earlier writing was terrible. What I just wrote is far from perfect, but it’s miles ahead of what I wrote back in May. I’m not sure if this is due to the books on writing fiction I’ve been studying, or the actual fiction I’ve been reading lately. Maybe I’ve just been in a more inspired mood. Whatever the reason, these last two scenes I rewrote are a lot better than their original drafts. The original versions read like a child’s homework assignment for a creative writing class.
Well, that’s what rewriting is for I suppose. Hopefully this will continue so I can push out more chapters. I’ve been wasting way too much time on other stuff. The other stuff may be important eventually, but right now I think it’s crucial that I just push out the first draft for this first book ASAP. I got to get it down as a foundation. Otherwise, the whole enterprise is just a daydream in my head, sketches and vignettes lost among my notes and letters to family. I HAVE TO WRITE THE STORY NOW!
Present-Day Reflection
6/9/2026
I know how he feels, the guy who wrote that journal entry 15 years and 4 months ago. Luckily, I’ll never be in that headspace again, but I remember it. I’ll always have new writing that needs to be done that I’m ignoring as I work on other things. But having the first book done these days places me in a vastly different position than I was in back then. Back when it was still mostly “a daydream in my head.”
The characters are real now, and the first part of their story is completely fleshed out and written in stone. There will be no more major rewrites or reimagining of the saga’s introduction. For better or worse, their foundation is established.
Chapter One: Alena, which I had just finished back then, was a big step, but it would be completely reworked down the road. Diallo and Alena were still 2-dimensional, Alena in particular still being a goody-two-shoes paragon of virtue with no human stain. Diallo and Guma’s opening chapter wasn’t even conceived yet. Nor was the introduction of the jola, which would push Alena to Chapter 3 instead of 1. None of the other three primary characters: Tamal, Dougga, or Bakar made their entrance back then until I got to the night of the Twa Yal-Jukun when Siona did Diallo’s reading.
The entire structure back then was vastly different and simplified, where the Twa Yal-Jukun was merely one chapter instead of Part II – today consisting of 18 chapters and a fable.
If I knew then what I know now, I’d probably be overwhelmed by the amount of work remaining ahead of me just to finish all four parts of the first book. Ignorance is bliss, they say. This leaves me wondering though about how lucky I may be right now, not knowing what lies ahead of me with the remaining books to be completed.
14: Finding My Premise
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
10/17/2011
Two days ago I decided to review my outline to make sure I had a consistent premise that all my chapters adhered to. And keeping it to one premise per book didn’t make it much easier. My outline for the first two books is 116 pages. It took time to synthesize each chapter of the first book into a two-sentence precis, then summarizing the consistent themes within each of the four parts. Only then could I look at it to determine what the book’s premise was.
I ask four questions: 1) What is continually testing Diallo? (Other people’s expectations) 2) What is he struggling to resolve that involves great risk? (Trying to create a life for himself of his own choosing that also satisfies societal expectations) 3) What is the result of the struggle? (Disaster) 4) What is the story trying to demonstrate or prove? (The needs of the individual are not always compatible with society)
So, the premise for the first book is: “A boy who is trapped by familial baggage and ancient prophecies feels he has no control over his life, and as he grows into a man and believes he’s finally managed to integrate his needs with the needs of his society, he realizes painfully that they are not mutually compatible.”
I don’t have to alter my outline at all for this premise to emerge, but now that I see it more clearly, I can emphasize it as I flesh out my chapters. It feels good to have this hook as I reenter the writing process of my main narrative. Which I should be doing here shortly.
Present-Day Reflection
6/8/2026
It took me a while for the lessons I was reading about on the craft of fiction to truly set in. Things like, let your first drafts come fast and easy without editing as you go. Things like, to write about everything is to write about nothing.
It’s not that I didn’t believe or trust the authors I was studying under when they told me these things, it just proved easier said than done. I have so many things I want to say and get out on paper it’s hard to restrict myself to writing an entire book with only one central premise.
It’s similar with painting. Galleries or publishers of art books like to see a pattern within a large body of work with a consistent theme or distinctive voice that binds it together as a unique whole. I’ve never been good at that. And with writing fiction it’s even harder, where the demand for a solitary premise is even greater. Every scene in every chapter has to be working together toward posing a single question about human nature. And though potential answers to that question may be ambiguous or conflicting – which the author would be well advised to avoid taking sides on – the central question itself should never be in doubt by the end of the book.
13: Finishing The Song of Alodia
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
10/15/2011
“…so it was that the little hare I did so cherish never did return.”
And so, the tale ends. I finally finished The Song of Alodia. Thank god, I finally finished something. The first draft anyway. 53 pages and 92 footnotes. Man, it feels good to have that monkey off my back. Though I still have plenty of other monkeys to tend to now.
It turned out well I think, too. I’m optimistic about its future drafts and the potential for refining it into something quite special. But for now, I’m tired.
Present-Day Reflection
6/7/2026
The Song of Alodia was the first piece of the Batu puzzle I actually finished. Though it’s the second part of The Napatawalata, it can stand alone just fine as is. The first part of The Napatawalata is still unfinished to this day, though I Just today transcribed to my computer what I’ve got done. The Song of Mugasha will be of a different flavor, but I believe it will hold up just fine by comparison. Looking forward to getting back to that.
12: Empathy For the Children of Batu
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
10/13/2011
Another eight-plus hours with Tapu. I’ve grown fond of that hare. On page 50 now. He’s running for the river of fire with Damu right behind him. I feel bad for Tapu and what I’m about to do to him. But it was his fate from the beginning. Poor little hare. I think I’m finally beginning to find my voice. Finally, now at the very end.
Present-Day Reflection
6/6/2026
I always feel bad about what I do to the children I a gave birth to in my fiction. Empathy is the only thing that allows it to work, and it’s the thing that keeps me coming back to it. Whenever I leave my work sitting off to the side of my life, I’m always drawn back by their need for me. I can feel their silent eyes boring into me from the shadows, waiting off in the wings for me to return so they can continue to finish living out their lives.
Even now, I feel their eyes upon me.
11: Looking For the Unanticipated
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
10/12/2011
Over eight hours of writing on The Song of Alodia today. Got some good stuff down, I think. I got Tapu with Ardra, and she just finished explaining the retying of the knots that draws him closer. Now Tapu has to make his request and pay his price. I’m on page 44 now. Getting closer, bit by bit. I should finish it this week. First draft.
Present-Day Reflection
6/5/2026
The scene with Ardra was probably my best work with The Song of Alodia, which is probably appropriate since it sits as the climax for the story. It was also not part of my original outline for it. This happens more than I’d care to admit, that my best work is not planned ahead of time but comes organically from the needs of the story as pleasant surprises.
Such is life outside of writing fiction as well. I just need to keep an open mind and pay attention to where I find myself at any given moment.
10: Negotiating Expectations
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
10/07/2011
Five hours of writing on The Song of Alodia tonight. I only got 3 ¼ pages out of it though. Got Tapu into The Field of the Fallen. He’s about to find Damu. Want to catch that when I’m fresh. I’m getting there, slowly but surely. So far this story of Tapu is 34 pages long, but I’ve got 75 annotations along with it. Will be over 100 by the time I’m done. But that’s only part of the reason this is taking so long to write – juggling the material from my notes I want to squeeze in.
Really, it’s the phrasing that takes so long. The diction and syntax. I’m too anal and too much the perfectionist. I’m not sure how to stop it. I tell myself I’m just going to race through it then clean up the pros on the rewrite, but I can never stick to that. I can never just write it like I am right now in this journal, or like my personal correspondence. If I could write that fast, all four books would be done by now.
Present-Day Reflection
6/4/2026
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Fifteen years later and I’m still living with the mismatch between my expectations and reality. I thought I’d have typed The Song of Alodia so I could upload it to this website over the last couple days, but I never even touched it. I got drawn into getting The Yara prelude posted to my home page as a free writing sample, then the rest of that day getting my newsletter linked at the bottom of The Yara page. Creating an account and formatting the automation for my email campaign with free chapters from Wings of Providence kept me up until midnight.
It took a while because I had no idea what I was doing. Two months ago I’d never even been on personal website, let alone known how to design and build one with blogs and newsletters.
Then yesterday, I had errands to run in the real world – always on foot with no car in the city. I was out getting kitty litter when I got stuck for a while browsing Twice Sold Books up on Capitol Hill, just up the street from the pet store. When I finally got home and back to work, I ended up working on getting content for my Batu Companion uploaded until 11PM.
Both mornings were spent fixing issues with this Author’s Journal section of my website, as well as posting my latest entries. Like this one.
The main difference between now and fifteen years ago is that I’m more comfortable with not meeting my expectations. These days I tend to view them more as options than must-dos. So long as I get good work done and closer to my goals, I’m happy.
9: Chasing Names Among the Vodun
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
10/03/2011
Thought I’d work on my Vodun profiles tonight and finish them off. I also thought it would only take an hour, three tops. Then I spent six hours just chasing down their name origins! And there’s still eight I can’t find in my notes! I didn’t get a damn thing done on actually filling out the profiles. This shit is a real pain in the ass sometimes.
Present-Day Reflection
6/3/2026
Names are important. Details are important. Nothing is unimportant. This is both a curse and what I love most about the creative process. I may bitch about it, but I also love it. It’s what I signed up for, to do it right to the best of my ability. Half-ass is ALL ass.
I’m not naturally good at anything. Nothing comes easy for me, and it’s frustrating, but it also makes me more eager to prove I can do it. It takes me longer, but I believe in myself because I’ve grown stubborn in my old age. I’ll pivot, or rest for a bit to work on other things, but I won’t ever stop until the work is done.
And when is that? As Wanyana says in the final chapters of Wings of Providence – so long as you’re alive, your work isn’t finished.
One of the best reviews I ever read of a book was for Andy Weir’s, The Martian – referring to it as “competence porn”. I love that, because it’s true. Finding writers – and their characters – who are extremely competent, and will spare no expense to make sure things are done right, is the greatest find in the world for me. Inspires me. I can’t get enough of it, because it’s just so rare in my daily life.