I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break, but now we’re back to business. I took the week off from working on the third installment of Atom & Go, but I’ve picked up and trekked on. The going hasn’t been easy. I hit a fork in the road and had to decide which way Atom would go.

There lies my dilemma.

Does a book require every encounter to follow the main course of the style? For instance, Atom and Margo encounter an older couple. As Atom & Go is primarily an action based space-western, are they required to have a showdown? Are readers expecting as much? Is it possible that they could just drink coffee together and talk?

You see my fork problem?

I’m not writing an episode of Gilmore Girls where everything is conveyed in machinegun styled dialogue. I’m writing a space-western.

So, gunplay is expected.

How crazy would it be if the older couple turned out to be secret kung-fu masters or retired assassins? What if they were cannibals attempting to lure Atom and Margo to their demise? Could our hearty heroes end up as a hearty stew?

I hope not, it would put a damper on the series.

What’s wrong with using characters to interact with characters in a more normal fashion? What’s wrong with building character depth through those interactions? If you ask me, nothing. Real, relatable characters need to interact with folks in a way that the reader understands. Yes, Atom blasting away with his rail-pistol is fun and necessary to the story. Sometimes Atom even walks the line between good and bad depending on what the job calls for. But he needs to show his human side.

The reader can relate to a simple conversation. For instance, the conversations between John Wick and Winston setting the counterpoint to the heavy action throughout the movie.

What side of Atom is shown if he talks instead of shoots?

I guess you’ll have to wait for book three to wrap up to really find that one out.

In the meantime, keep on reading, keep on wondering, and keep on flying the Black