Here, and with huge pleasure, am returning to two of my all-time favorite chracters ... Jarat and Stone. We haven't seen them on the blog here for a long while, and in fact it's Hellgate I'm working on behind the scenes -- we're on the home stretch, prepping the fifth book for publication. Being back in this "universe" whets my appetite for more of it, and I can't help turning back to the NARC books which, of course, are the previous series. These stories take place about 200 years earlier than the Hellgate saga, and Hellgate is built on the foundations of the NARC novels. Um ... Jarrat and Stone. What's not to love?
Anyway, long story short -- I've been playing with a new set, The Lookout. It's an SF set, an observation deck, very nicely crafted, but hell to light. It's deceptive ... you think it'll be easy to light, but it's not. There's some kind of "double layer" effect on the viewports that's giving me all kinds of strife when I put up a space background and set some lights, where at least one light is shining onto the "glass." The problem is, some element associated with the glass is acting as a physical layer, and a shadow is being cast onto it, which makes it look (!) as if I'm casting a shadow on the space backdrop. I know, academically, it's the glass; but it just doesn't look "right."
So I decided not to use space, and to make the observation deck something like a viewing lounge in a luxury hotel. So why not put something spectacular outside, like a blazing sunset. Check. This gives the opportunity to light the set in fiery colors, which worked well.
Now, I'd originally intended to feature this set as part of a spacecraft, and stage Randy and Adam in it ... those two duelling cousins from the storyline I had going a few days ago. But halfway through setting up the scene I got a hankering to go back to either Hellgate or NARC, and since I've done quite a few Hellgate scenes lately I thought ... Jarrat and Stone. Oh, yes.
I don't recall this being a scene from any of the books, but it easily could be. Some of the books refer to a neat vacation our heroes had just taken in exotic places. So you could call this an "off-camera scene," perhaps from one of those vacations.
Jade, 19 June
