Last time, I shared some insight on the world of The City Beneath. The setting is a near-future post-apocalyptic steampunk Earth. (That's a lot of compound words) A devastating war has left the Earth damaged and reeling. In the power vacuum, a new society rises up that rejects technology and undoes centuries of progress. The action of the story takes place in a large city that was once filled with skyscrapers and subways, and is now in the process of being re-tooled for the new world order.
The novel The City Beneath is where I created the world. Worldbuilding is much easier in a novel than it is in a game or short story. Most players of a game do not take the time to learn about the history of a world and absorb the setting before playing a game. A short story does not provide an author with very many words to describe a world. In a game or short story, any worldbuilding needs to be condensed and simplified. A novel, however, provides the perfect length for introducing a world, and if the plot is engaging, a reader will be happy to stick around to learn about the world.The approach I took with The City Beneath was the weave information about the world into the plot. Rather than spend the first 50 pages describing the world, I just jumped right into the story.
As I mentioned before, this novel was part of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The challenge is to write a 50,000+ word novel during the month of November. This meant that I had to write at least 1,700 words each day to keep on pace. The story is modeled after classic heist movies or books. Specifically, I was inspired by The Asphalt Jungle, an older film noir heist movie. In that movie, you spend the first half cheering for the thieves to pull off the heist, and the second half wondering why you were cheering for the bad guys, and watching the team collapse. I was trying to capture this sort of feeling in the novel.
The story opens with Thurmond Higgs (the story's version of Danny Ocean), working on a team of amateur criminals. They are fumbling their way through a bank robbery, much to Higgs's chagrin. They set off alarms and scramble to get away. On his way out of the bank, Higgs splits away from his team. He runs into a stranger in an alley that offers him an opportunity to pull off a train heist big enough that he could retire comfortably. The stranger offers to bankroll everything. All he asks in return is a certain book that will be on the train along with a great deal of valuables. Higgs and his team can keep anything else they find. Higgs sets out to assemble the best team he can find.
The plot is about the heist, but it's also about the world and its struggles. There are several layers of complexity beyond just a heist and a getaway. Hopefully, there are a few twists that surprise readers when they find out.
More than anything, I tried to focus on characters. Readers connect to characters. A reader will enjoy a book much better when there are relateable, interesting, and well-developed characters. A good plot is important, but good characters are more important. Nobody wants to read an amazing plot if the characters are terrible.
The Team:
As I was writing the novel, I was collaborating with some friends who were simultaneously designing a game that would complement the novel. We discussed the types of people that would make up the team. These would be the characters that players would be acting as, so it was important to make them unique and interesting. We decided that 6 was a good number of players/characters, and decided on the main skills that would be needed to pull off the heist.
Thurmond Higgs
As I mentioned above, Higgs is the group's leader. He brings Strategy to the team. He is responsible for planning the heist and making sure everybody is where they need to be. He is also the only character that has contact with The Stranger who is bankrolling the team. Higgs is not a risk taker, he likes to plan everything and be sure that everything goes as planned. He values his freedom more than anything else, and is not willing to risk that for any take, no matter how big.
Phineas Derbyshire
Phineas is the Rusty Ryan to Higgs's Danny Ocean. He is a natural at Negotiation. Phineas Derbyshire is a true Renaissance Man. Equally at home in a boardroom meeting or backroom deal, he’s not above a little coercion if it gets him what he wants. Each moment, he’s got his hand in any number of cons. He believes he can talk himself out of any bind; usually, he’s right. His true value to the team is in his access to the movers and shakers. His exclusive sportsbook claims most of the city’s most important people as clients. Ironically, it is that very business that has put him in desperate need of a big payout. In the end, there is only one person he truly cares for, and his name is Phineas Derbyshire.
Anabelle Devereaux
Anabelle's strength is Charm. Anabelle Devereaux is beautiful, and she knows it. In fact, she embraces it, even uses it to her advantage. Graceful and friendly, she’s quick to flirt with any man who’s her type--that is, any man with a pocketbook. She is rarely seen in public without several men in orbit, ready to pick up the tab or pay the bill. Each hopes to be the lucky man to win her heart. Don’t call her a prostitute, a lady has her limits. “If I give away the ending, nobody will pay to see the show.” Yet, anyone who truly knows her (which is a very short list) knows that Miss Devereaux is much more than she appears.
Dr. Everton L. Montebanque
Dr. Everton L. Montebanque believes he is a genius, and he’s right. His strength is Gadgetry. He is at the leading edge of technology in a world that rejects the very concept of progress. At times, it seems that nothing matters to him but his gadgets, not money, not people, not even his own life. His “creations” (as he insists on calling them) consistently walk the line between invention and treason. That he’s never fallen on the wrong side of that line is a point of pride (and a good bit of luck).
Charlotte Avalon
Charlotte's skill is Dexterity. Charlotte Avalon never met a risk she wouldn’t take. If it was fast, dangerous, and foolish, you could count her in. A fighter for the equality of women, she takes any chance she gets to compete against men, and usually eats their lunch. She’s a safe bet any time she’s allowed to enter an airbike race. Unwilling to conform to the idea of what a Post-war lady is supposed to be, she is frowned upon by most of the respectable in society. She doesn’t particularly care what anybody else thinks, as long as she can keep getting a thrill. The same reckless abandon with which she races an airbike is certain to be her undoing one day. Until then, she lives life at 100 mph.
Kostas Stavraki
The novel The City Beneath is where I created the world. Worldbuilding is much easier in a novel than it is in a game or short story. Most players of a game do not take the time to learn about the history of a world and absorb the setting before playing a game. A short story does not provide an author with very many words to describe a world. In a game or short story, any worldbuilding needs to be condensed and simplified. A novel, however, provides the perfect length for introducing a world, and if the plot is engaging, a reader will be happy to stick around to learn about the world.The approach I took with The City Beneath was the weave information about the world into the plot. Rather than spend the first 50 pages describing the world, I just jumped right into the story.
As I mentioned before, this novel was part of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The challenge is to write a 50,000+ word novel during the month of November. This meant that I had to write at least 1,700 words each day to keep on pace. The story is modeled after classic heist movies or books. Specifically, I was inspired by The Asphalt Jungle, an older film noir heist movie. In that movie, you spend the first half cheering for the thieves to pull off the heist, and the second half wondering why you were cheering for the bad guys, and watching the team collapse. I was trying to capture this sort of feeling in the novel.
The story opens with Thurmond Higgs (the story's version of Danny Ocean), working on a team of amateur criminals. They are fumbling their way through a bank robbery, much to Higgs's chagrin. They set off alarms and scramble to get away. On his way out of the bank, Higgs splits away from his team. He runs into a stranger in an alley that offers him an opportunity to pull off a train heist big enough that he could retire comfortably. The stranger offers to bankroll everything. All he asks in return is a certain book that will be on the train along with a great deal of valuables. Higgs and his team can keep anything else they find. Higgs sets out to assemble the best team he can find.
The plot is about the heist, but it's also about the world and its struggles. There are several layers of complexity beyond just a heist and a getaway. Hopefully, there are a few twists that surprise readers when they find out.
More than anything, I tried to focus on characters. Readers connect to characters. A reader will enjoy a book much better when there are relateable, interesting, and well-developed characters. A good plot is important, but good characters are more important. Nobody wants to read an amazing plot if the characters are terrible.
The Team:
As I was writing the novel, I was collaborating with some friends who were simultaneously designing a game that would complement the novel. We discussed the types of people that would make up the team. These would be the characters that players would be acting as, so it was important to make them unique and interesting. We decided that 6 was a good number of players/characters, and decided on the main skills that would be needed to pull off the heist.
Thurmond Higgs
As I mentioned above, Higgs is the group's leader. He brings Strategy to the team. He is responsible for planning the heist and making sure everybody is where they need to be. He is also the only character that has contact with The Stranger who is bankrolling the team. Higgs is not a risk taker, he likes to plan everything and be sure that everything goes as planned. He values his freedom more than anything else, and is not willing to risk that for any take, no matter how big.
Phineas Derbyshire
Phineas is the Rusty Ryan to Higgs's Danny Ocean. He is a natural at Negotiation. Phineas Derbyshire is a true Renaissance Man. Equally at home in a boardroom meeting or backroom deal, he’s not above a little coercion if it gets him what he wants. Each moment, he’s got his hand in any number of cons. He believes he can talk himself out of any bind; usually, he’s right. His true value to the team is in his access to the movers and shakers. His exclusive sportsbook claims most of the city’s most important people as clients. Ironically, it is that very business that has put him in desperate need of a big payout. In the end, there is only one person he truly cares for, and his name is Phineas Derbyshire.
“I trust that you are going to do what’s best
for you. It’s what I’m going to do. So long as your best interest aligns with
mine, I would trust you with my life. I have no illusion that anybody on this
team has any other interest besides his own. We will all be cheering for each
other just as long as we have to. But don’t tell me for a second that you won’t
sell me out first chance you get if it saves your own skin. I don’t buy
altruism. Be careful whom you trust, Anabelle. Everybody’s looking out for
himself, I suggest you do the same.”
Anabelle Devereaux
Anabelle's strength is Charm. Anabelle Devereaux is beautiful, and she knows it. In fact, she embraces it, even uses it to her advantage. Graceful and friendly, she’s quick to flirt with any man who’s her type--that is, any man with a pocketbook. She is rarely seen in public without several men in orbit, ready to pick up the tab or pay the bill. Each hopes to be the lucky man to win her heart. Don’t call her a prostitute, a lady has her limits. “If I give away the ending, nobody will pay to see the show.” Yet, anyone who truly knows her (which is a very short list) knows that Miss Devereaux is much more than she appears.
Dr. Everton L. Montebanque
Dr. Everton L. Montebanque believes he is a genius, and he’s right. His strength is Gadgetry. He is at the leading edge of technology in a world that rejects the very concept of progress. At times, it seems that nothing matters to him but his gadgets, not money, not people, not even his own life. His “creations” (as he insists on calling them) consistently walk the line between invention and treason. That he’s never fallen on the wrong side of that line is a point of pride (and a good bit of luck).
Charlotte's skill is Dexterity. Charlotte Avalon never met a risk she wouldn’t take. If it was fast, dangerous, and foolish, you could count her in. A fighter for the equality of women, she takes any chance she gets to compete against men, and usually eats their lunch. She’s a safe bet any time she’s allowed to enter an airbike race. Unwilling to conform to the idea of what a Post-war lady is supposed to be, she is frowned upon by most of the respectable in society. She doesn’t particularly care what anybody else thinks, as long as she can keep getting a thrill. The same reckless abandon with which she races an airbike is certain to be her undoing one day. Until then, she lives life at 100 mph.
Kostas's strength is Burglary. If you’re looking for the best safecracker in the business, you’re looking for Kostas Stavraki. If you’re looking for a dependable, trustworthy partner, you’d better look elsewhere. Kostas isn’t much for conversation, but give him something to explode and he’ll jump at the opportunity. A bit of a loose cannon (literally at times), it’s best to give him some space and let him work. He’s never met a lock he couldn't pick or a door he couldn't blast open. If he’s on your team, there’s no such thing as a locked door.
Aside from the team, there are a handful of characters that play varying roles in the story. The two other characters that are most prominent are The Stranger and Montgomery Lester. The Stranger is the bankroll for the heist. He is mysterious, never willing to divulge what he wants out of the heist. He is very hands off, only providing money and resources when Higgs asks. Higgs is confused about why this book is so valuable to him, but not too concerned, since he's providing the funds to pull the heist off.
Montgomery Lester is the scion of one of the most powerful families in the current society. He is a true believer in the Traditionalist values. He runs the family conglomerate. Their business spans everything from railroads to newspapers to mining and materials, and everything in between. He's not a politician, but he controls enough of them to get everything he wants. He is ruthless in business, doing whatever it takes to make a profit.
Thanks for reading!
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