Author's Notes on
Biker Mice From Mars: Evil Jack:
For Worse

Biker Mice From Mars: Evil Jack: For Worse had the craziest gestation period ever. I never want to take this long on what is essentially a novelette by word count ever again.

Between the second and third drafts, no one ever contacted me about beta reading, which I blame on my own withdrawal from the fandom. Then I got distracted with the ethnography of doom followed by the writing storm that became Tin Man: Dragons and Ninjas.

Still I had some fun with this story, namely, playing with metrics and getting a huge amount of blog posts out of it, which I’m currently reading through again to help me compose this Author’s Note. I love it when things work out like that. This story proved challenging a few little ways (scheduling not counting). The overall outline I had given Morning ages ago didn’t change, but I spent days trying to work out problems with specific scenes. After much deliberation and head banging against desk, I decided that I could not write Vinnie and Charley's date distengrating.

I don't think it has anything to do with me being a Throttle and Charley 'shipper, because there's another story lurking in my notes where the Vinnie and Charley pairing works out. And when I look at the later scenes--Vinnie discussing it with Modo and Charley discussing it with Throttle--they are hysterical and sympathetic in my head; something I'm not feeling about the current scene.

I feel bad about it though. One of the reasons I was including it is because I felt I short-changed readers in the Wars Are Won series. True, nobody's complained with a "you should show Charley and Vinnie break-up!" so I guess I'm just feeling sensitive for no reason. But on the other hand, funny lines from Modo. :) And now that I've made this decision, I can work on it again. Discipline Under Fire: Slight detour

It was fun stuff like that. Now since I made twenty-plus blog posts with the metrics system, I thought I would combine them all into my all-time favorites.

The Good: Day 11, it’s becoming a habit. (I was lying to myself, it didn’t last as a habit.)
The Bad: I hope the upcoming scenes with Jack are crazy enough.
The Weird: Writing a romantic scene with no sound. I kind of know what they said but not having them say it was weird.
Fave Vinnie line: "Okay, one little mistake...."
Fave Modo line: "Tell me you didn't start flirtin' with another girl while out on a date. With Charley. Who knows how to use a bazooka."
Fave Throttle line: "Which hospital is he in?"
Fave Hannah line: "I'm never going to get big enough so my legs hit the ground." (She’s talking about the requirement she has to reach before she can have her own bike.
Fave Jack line: "He who has the gun gives the orders."
Fave Charley line: “And you should have a chat with Limburger about how well that works.” (Yes, it is said in response to Jack’s line.)
Fave Carbine line: “You’re agreeing with me? You never agree with me. You got your tail captured by Sand Raiders rather than agree with me.”
Fave Stoker line: “I don’t hero worship, Carbine.”
What I'm looking forward to: Enjoying the peace of finishing a draft.
What I'm not looking forward to: Not having enough time in the day to just type until The End.
What I hate about my writing: That I found a much better start of a scene in my purse notebook that was much better than what I have typed.

I hope this little glimpse into my writing mind hasn’t scared you off from the finished story.   For Worse is the third in the Evil Jack series, posted at the Library on February 13, 2009. The first is Domestic Bliss, and the second is In Sickness. It was also the first story to try out my new newsletter feature.

Also as I was wrapping this story up, I learned about a new fan-creation thing: fanmixes--otherwise known as making your own soundtracks. I was doing it for most of my stories already, so all I needed to do was consolidate the songs and make it pretty for others' enjoyment. So here is the first finished fanmix, Biker Mice From Mars: Evil Jack Soundtrack.

  1. "Biker Mice From Mars" by Will Anderson Cartoon Theme
  2. "Never Again" by Nickelback Evil Jack Series Theme
  3. "Fighter" by Christina Aguilera Charley's Theme
  4. "Awhile" by Staind Jack's Theme
  5. "A Good Man" by Emerson Drive Throttle's Theme
  6. "Beautiful Lie" by 30 Seconds From Mars Hannah's Theme
  7. "Bring It On" by Seal Modo's Theme
  8. "Adrenaline" by Gavin Rossdale Vinnie's Theme
  9. "Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty Dr. Ryan's Theme
  10. "I Want You" by Savage Garden Margo's Theme
  11. "You Got That Right" by Lynyrd Skynyrd Charley and Vinnie's Theme
  12. "Love Walks In" by Van Halen Charley and Throttle's Theme
  13. "Dirty Little Secret" by The All-American Rejects Carbine and Stoker's Theme

To download the zip file, click on the album cover images.

Link to the Soundtrack Link to the Soundtrack

Link to the Story Link to More Author's Notes Link to Fiction Teasers