Fictional Life

BORN OF HEROES

— by Jeff Karamales

Notes & Miscellaneous Junk

When I asked Ted, so long ago it seems, if he’d mind my taking a whack at doing a story in his universe, I was met with an enthusiastic response to go for it. Mind you, I hadn’t really done any sort of lengthy writing since high school, and I really don’t want to get into how long ago that was. I had the premise for my story, but that was about it. In fact, about the only thing that I had firmly in mind at that point was the beginning scene with a small SPF ship crashing on one of the PA worlds.

Holy smokes! I really didn’t know what I was in for, but being the person that I am, I leapt anyway!

To coin something that I once saw somewhere, I’m a ‘proud graduate of the Han Solo School of action without thought’. At least sometimes. By the way, Han Solo belongs to George Lucas, and I’m not trying to steal him in the slightest. Really.

Before I knew it, the first part was done. At the time it was more like a movie playing in my head and I was just putting what I saw down. There were times that not even I knew where it was going and was just as surprised as some of you may have been.

Part two was similar in that I was simply putting things down as they came to me. Probably not the best writing method, but it works in what I do for a living. Then again, my brother has always said I was pretty far from normal. I blame family members for dropping me on my head as a baby. Too bad I wasn’t on warranty.

Now, why the Spatial Police Force?

I’ve always respected those that serve, of course it could be that I’m prejudiced as I was in the Army. I could have gone that route, but to be honest, I was thoroughly intrigued with his concept for the SPF. Here we have not only a police force, but something that encompasses all branches of the military. That led to the question of what kind of person, human or fur, would join? And seeing as how the problem of piracy has become such an issue in our world and in the news on a regular basis, why not take it in another direction.

Thus the idea of Born of Heroes.

But there was more I could play with. One of the big things, apart from the obvious, is what kind of impact would these individuals that did such a dangerous job have on those they met, the pirates notwithstanding. I’ve seen firsthand how a person ‘just doing their job’ can have on others. From the cop that arrives at an accident as a first responder, to the fireman that performs a dramatic rescue of the family pet, to the soldier in a far away land that gives up his rations to some kid that doesn’t even speak the same language, the little things affect the world in small yet incredibly profound ways.

Then throwing them all on a ship that wasn’t what it seemed…

This of course was based on our own history with the use of Q-ships during World War II. If it worked then, why not in space? Oh what fun it was to come up with that!

Then there are the characters. Anyone that has ever served will tell you of the bonds that form between people when they face combat together. When it drops in the pot, the balloon goes up, and all of the other euphemisms, individuals from disparate walks of life will become your family, and the needs of the nation you serve go right out the window as you focus on keeping those on the line with you alive while they do the same for you. Danger binds these individuals together in a way that familial bonds don’t, or can’t. And they stay with you for the rest of your life. It’s truly hard to explain to those who have never been in a situation like that.

Whew. The philosophy of what is written is such an involved thing. While it might start as an attempt to make a story that others will enjoy, I think that for me, much of this has been sort of cathartic, enabling me to vent things that have been bottled up inside for a while.

Of course, real life put a delay on writing. Since starting the story, my business was robbed and I had to start over from scratch, not to mention that most of a year’s worth of income in the form of swords and other cutlery that was in storage were stolen. My adopted mother came down with a rare type of pneumonia virus, one that killed a number of people this year in the Washington, D.C. and was in a coma for three months leaving me to drop everything and take care of my adopted father and their house. Tack on my own bout with pneumonia, and finishing up Part 3 was a challenge. Fortunately I’m stubborn, and as soon as I got a little time to sit down at the computer, Elias and the others were dragging me along with them.

Do I need to mention the little rewrite? I should have remembered that foxes can only breed with other foxes, hence Cerise and the rest of the Tambor clan suddenly becoming vulpine anthros.

The neat thing is that working on the story was fun, a great stress release, and also aided my creativity in the forge I run. If I’m lucky, maybe Ted will let me play in his world some more… ;)

I just hope that I’ve provided an entertaining read.

In the end, I suppose that all of this is my humble way of telling Ted ‘Thanks!’ Thanks for taking us on an adventure, of giving us characters to cheer for, villains to loathe, moments of love and joy to sigh over and letting us in to see the world that you’ve created and dealing with a hurt hand to write more for those of us that so thoroughly enjoy your stories!

And here’s hoping that somewhere out there, the Blue Horizon and the Ascendant Angel fly forever!

Sincerely,
Jeff Karamales

Music while writing BoH:

Ray Lynch, literally everything!
Constance Demby, Novus Magnificat, Aeterna, in particular, The Waltz of Joy
Bond (the string quartet, not the spy!) Born, Remix, Shine and Classified (BTW, check out the Bond piece Strange Paradise on youtube with some awesome Babylon 5 space battle footage!)
Dark Moor
Paul Mauriat
Mannheim Steamroller (non-Christmas stuff)
Kitaro
2002 (the musical duet, not the year)
Dragonborn (not easy listening in the slightest!)
Blackmore’s Knight
Lots and lots of The Hollies
And a lot of really eclectic stuff.

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