Eleven years ago today, I was all jittery and excited as the first Jack & Gareth novel went out into the world. Ever since, and in the same way I use assorted birthdays, I’ve used the date as a target to publish other books. Today’s offering is Fan Bait, a novel I started writing in 2012, set in the Power of Zero universe, and filled with characters familiar and new, including a cameo from Jack.
For over ten years, Fan Bait has been unfinished business for me. It sat on my WiP stack, three quarters done, waiting for the moment I’d written all the parts of Jack’s story that needed to come together to complete Fan Bait.
Because the story of Fan Bait is all about unfinished business. The main story arc continues the investigation of the kidnappings of VIP music fans that began in Zero Tolerance, and represents unfinished business for Akane, Jack, Max, Eric, and Min. Max’s story arc, only hinted at in Zero Tolerance, takes him from guilt to redemption in Fan Bait. And the novel also introduces Nakanishi Ryu, a rock star known to his fans as Tempest, whose own unfinished business means he can’t write music the way he wants.
Having unfinished business – and the attendant uncertainty – in one’s life, can be deeply uncomfortable. It helped that I felt just as uncomfortable as my characters as I wrote, because it made me focus on commonalities and differences between the characters more than it would have otherwise.
Every character in the story has their own way to handle the unfinished business in his or her life.
Max loses himself in guilt and revenge, looking backwards rather than ahead.
Akane never stops hunting the kidnapping gang.
Max’s friend Sung Min Park holds StarStudded together while Max chases ghosts.
Ryu pretends compliance while planning how to free himself from the cage he’s found himself in.
And Jack Horwood? He never turns down requests for help, spots the patterns many miss, and – right at the end – hands Akane a puzzle that’s hers to solve.
Fan Bait sits at an intersection of the Power of Zero world. Having it finally done, like will do much to ease my discomfort and tie the world and its characters more securely together. Because without the loose ends, I can turn around and tackle the next story, assured I won’t trip myself up.
So here’s to Max, Ryu, Akane, Jack, Skylar, and Min…. may they have a smooth journey.
The Space Between