Ever get so far ahead of yourself on a project that you start slacking off and doing nothing because – hey, you’re ahead of schedule, right? Might as well do nothing! #LogicFail
So I’ve got the first nineteen chapters written, and at a post a week, I have been doing absolutely nothing because apparently, I am human. What I need is to light a fire under my own ass. All nineteen chapters are up at The Fitness Test.
There are ten chapters to go. Chapter twenty will be up tomorrow. I will then resume a once a week schedule, unless I get chapters done ahead of schedule. Then I’ll just post them.
judgybitch 
best of luck.
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What a treat! It is so cool getting to immediately move from one chapter to the next. I’ve just finished chapter 11 thus far and am trying to cram in as much as I can before I leave for a meeting at my older daughter’s school. My husband is out with both girls right now so the house is completely quiet.
One suggestion: it seems unrealistic for Joon to haul off and slap Lowin with her dad standing right there. It would be more realistic for them to have that little interchange before her dad gets there, and have him arrive just in time to stop her from killing Joon.
If the interchange happens while the dad is there, I think Joon would be more likely to just say his piece about her dad needing to bring her up to speed, and give her a look of utter disgust, before turning on his heel and walking out.
Just my two cents. Now, back to the book.
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Susan,
That’s a really good suggestion! Thanks! I will go back and rework that section and when I have something new, will you look at it for me?
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Sure! I look forward to it! 🙂
I just finished reading and can’t wait for more! Gotta go to my meeting now. 🙂
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I’m very impressed with all the scientific and technical research you did in order to be able to write so smoothly about the running of the power plant!
Lowin diverges a bit from the conventional feminist, in that she expects absolutely no special treatment for being a woman. However, she more than makes up for that by expecting subservience from the other factions.
What I really love is that she’s so intelligent and skilled at whatever she does that even though nobody likes her, they’re forced to grudgingly appreciate the unique contributions that she’s able to make.
Right now, she’s fully satisfied with being able to earn this grudging appreciation — but judging by the fact that she at one point noticed that Copernicus stirred an emotion in her that she didn’t recognize, it looks like she’s on her way to becoming awakened sexually and emotionally, and even to feeling raw jealousy at some point in the future.
All it will take is for her to see a woman who’s less intelligent and skilled than she is — and possibly even less physically perfect — receiving the love and admiration of a man that she — Lowin — is attracted to. Possibly because of this woman’s possession of qualities that kids in the dome were never taught to value — like love, warmth, gentleness, and kindness.
I can’t wait to see how Lowin evolves from here.
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P.S. In some ways, the situation for Lowin in here is the complete reverse of the situation for the “Jessica Valenti” brand of feminist. With our current feminism, there’s the idea of being respected and treated equally in every situation before even having to prove our usefulness.
With Lowin, she’s all about proving herself and is no enemy to hard work or dangerous situations. So she can easily earn respect and equal treatment.
But the love and liking that people feel for someone they really enjoy being with — someone they can laugh with and also be vulnerable with without any fear of ridicule or rejection, someone with such charm and inner beauty that they delight to be in their presence —
That’s something that Lowin has no idea about. I have a feeling that these are some of the qualities that drew, and still draw, her father to her mother, but she can’t see it yet, because I think she sees her mom as a rather weak person, while she’s always looked up to her dad and wanted to model herself after him.
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It’s so gratifying how totally you get this, Susan. I wonder though if a teen audience will see the same things. My daughter and her friends absolutely loved the story but they may not be typical.
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I think they are! I believe my own teen would be totally into it — if it weren’t something that I was reading and that I’d already suggested to her. It’s so weird with us right now. Up until a few years ago, we read tons of books together and I really loved that sharing. But one day she said she wanted her books to be her own thing, and she liked the feeling of reading stuff that only she had read. She sometimes asks me to read something she’s read because she wants to talk about it, but it’s like it has to be totally on her own initiative or she’ll have no part of it.
Now, my almost ten-year-old got intrigued when she saw me reading one day, and I read the first chapter to her. She seemed quite interested, and stopped me to ask about meanings of various terms like “taxon,” but then got busy with other stuff. She still loves reading together, except that she also likes for me to do imaginary play and play on Animal Jam with her, so reading isn’t always her first choice of activity.
She did just have a lot of fun orchestrating her dad’s and my marriage on Animal Jam, so she’s definitely pro-marriage and pro-family — a good sign for future generations. 🙂
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Chapter 20 is up. It’s the shortest chapter by far, and probably the weakest one, but I really wanted it to end on that particular note.
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Yes, I think that was a good place to end that one. But it’s going to be hard to wait all week for the next! This is the kind of book where, if you have the whole book, you’re going to read it practically nonstop till you finish it. I hope there are sequels!
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I’m trying to move along faster, honestly. There are so many other things I want to get to, and I need this finished. I think there are about ten chapters left. One will be technically challenging, but I am already deep into the research….
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I knew it! She still hadn’t given up thinking that she could just go back. Now she’s going to start seeing everything for what it really is.
Fact is, even if they had decided she was innocent and let her come back as a citizen, she doesn’t realize it now but nothing would have ever been the same for her again, because the seeds of truth had been planted.
At the same time, I can totally understand her enjoying all the simple pleasures like good food and clean hair.
I’m glad you’re getting these up so quickly! This is NOT the kind of book where people are going to read one chapter and then wait a few days before reading the next. So please hurry! 🙂
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I know how the whole story plays out from here and I will try to get the next few chapters up quickly. It’s the last Chapter than is gonna give me some trouble since it’s pretty technical, but my brother is an HVAC technician who should be able to give me some good advice on how to do what I want to do.
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