I went back and deleted the horns. I decided there's a good story reason why those shouldn't be used.
The rustling was of paper. He stole a printed schedule.
It's not a man-shaped cloud of fog. It's a dark figure (e.g., a man who will only appear in shadows) surrounded by some amount of swirling fog. It could almost be explained as a guy wearing black clothing and black-face or a ski mask and costume-party contact lenses, and carrying dry ice. The part that makes him more than this is his ability to generate heavy fog and travel anywhere it can go (e.g., under doors). I'm trying to make scene 1.1 consistent with what Campagna and De Rosa see on the security footage in scene 2.2. I'm debating whether the orphanage doors are locked. If they're locked, Romano/the reader know this is a supernatural event, which is probably best to avoid for now. If they're unlocked, then Romano could reason the way I did above, which I think is preferable for this scene. He could think it was someone who entered the orphanage before the doors were locked for the night.
The howl is something a human can do, so Romano could reason that away too.

What's an End Times thriller without horns, glowing red eyes, and a demonic howl?

As Romano turned the final corner, he felt a chill in the air. He checked a vent. The heat still flowed. He heard rustling from his office. “Hello?”
A shadowy figure shrouded in swirling fog rushed out, headed for the exit.
“You there. Stop!”
The intruder looked in Romano’s direction. More beast than man, it had curved horns and glowing red eyes. It let out a demonic howl that sent a chill down the father’s spine.
The end of the corridor filled with fog until the figure could no longer be seen. Romano summoned his courage and charged into the mist, but the intruder was gone. Only fog and ice-cold air remained, both of which dissipated quickly.
Romano’s heart pounded. He checked the doors, but they were locked, per usual at night. He ran into his office and grabbed a bottle of holy water from his desk, then rushed out and sprinkled it across the doors and floor while praying for protection of the orphanage.
He returned to his office to see what the intruder might have taken. Everything looked as he had left it except the Eucharistic Adoration schedule was missing — the one that showed which boys were assigned to the chapel and at what times. Romano dialed 113 for the Polizia di Stato. He would tell them it was someone in a costume to avoid sounding crazy, but he had to act. One or more of the boys might be at risk.

1,528

(38 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

I hear you. For me it's tax season in three countries, and the Antichrist half of my story is not coming together

Congratulations on your wedding!

1,529

(38 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Will, you still with us?

Did some edits of scene 2.2 (chapter 4) and put  it back up. Didn't bother to republish. You and Seabrass haven't blessed it yet, so that should suffice. Blessed. Get it?

Finally started my names bible. I've only written four scenes and already I have sixteen characters (including the first three victims) and fifty named people/places/things. Readers are going to have serious problems keeping all of the cardinals and bishops straight since most of them are just victims, and Italian names are more complex than English ones.

As you know, capitalization of titles is the bane of my existence. In this case, there is only one duke in the story and capitalizing it grants him greater status in the story. Also, I question your rule of one. For example, in Galaxy Tales, there are three emperors (Nero, Apollo, and Caligula). Would you still capitalize it? Also, what about all the historical emperors? (Technically it's no longer an issue since I changed their titles to Augustus, but still...).

Thanks. It's interesting. In fiction, the following is okay, yet yours is considered incorrect.

The Duke nodded. Walked. Skipped.

Neither one would have made it past my fifth grade English teacher.

On second thought, does that example above (about the Duke) even need an 'and' to be grammatically correct? The longer I stare at it, the more it appears correct as is.

I'm rereading Dune. Found a short paragraph with six exclamation marks. :-)  Also, when Herbert punctuates lists of words/phrases, he often drops the 'and' before the last element (e.g. The Duke nodded to the men, smiled, traded pleasantries.) I like the way it reads.

How are you doing, Amy?

1,537

(1,528 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

You still with us?

1,538

(20 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Thank you, Temple. :-)

I finally figured out a way of killing clerics that doesn't involve any gratuitous violence. It means blowing up my scenes 1.2 and 2.2, including the staged hanging, but I think it's worth it. Too bad since I just finished writing 2.2. I'll try to sneak in a rewrite of 1.2 before the end of April (tax season). The thriller aspect will come not from different kinds of deaths, but from the detectives racing to find a link between the deaths that will help them identify the next potential victim and, eventually, the Antichrist. This will be much easier to plan and write, reducing the size of my headache. It will also use more elements of Catholicism, which is a big plus.

Yay!
Dirk

Okay. The reporter is out for the first draft. I want to see how the story reads without him before deciding if there's any use for him. I've decided that if there is a reporter, he'll die late in the story. A thinning of the herd.

1,541

(20 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I agree with Bill. It would also make it possible to get rid of quickees. No need for two types of messaging. It would simplify things for new users.

I'm considering adding an annoying reporter to dog the detectives throughout the hunt, also per your suggestion.

Kdot, I'm going to get a ton of mileage out of the fog/shadowy figure I added. They will show up frequently throughout the book.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Let's just say he's not the marrying type. Feel free to guess though. :-)

Thanks, but the ones who die are supposed to be clerics. ;-)  Also, Angelo is single. Never married. That's necessary for where the story will go.

I can't figure out a way to have my detectives discuss the case "to date" (which is roughly 3-5 days old) for the reader's benefit without it coming off like it's solely for the reader. The draft internal monologue I wrote strikes me as phony too, although I could probably live with it. I have a scene later where they report to the "higher ups", but if I pull that scene forward (so they have someone to report everything to, including the reader), things will move too quickly. I'll have even more trouble telling the detectives' half of the story while limiting the gore. Granted, the Book of Revelation is mostly murder and mayhem, but it doesn't often go down to telling about the deaths of individuals (with details like the cardinal hanging from the chandelier). Mostly the Book of Revelation is death on a large scale, which starts in my book two. I'm not sure how many individual deaths I can get away with before it becomes inappropriate for a Catholic audience. So far, there's been only one confirmed murder (the hanging cardinal). Murders two and three almost went undetected since the two clerics appeared to die in their sleep and were buried without an autopsy (a common occurrence in Italy). There'll be at least one "accidental" death (details TBD) and perhaps one cleric discovered to have been buried alive.

One option is to make most of the deaths seem natural, but it's hard to keep up the tension that way. Another option is to have the detectives visit other cities (countries?) where more deaths have occurred before they get there. The latter is fraught with problems, not least of which will be other police officers "telling" my detectives everything they know about a case, rather than the detectives actively investigating. It also requires knowledge of police practices, ranks, vehicles, landmarks, and terminology outside of Rome, which requires more research than I'm willing to tackle for a few extra deaths.

Suggestions?

Thanks, Vern.

I like both of your versions. They're actually in the basement of the precinct building, ordered there by the "higher ups" to keep reporters and fellow detectives at bay. I like the idea of a reporter dogging the detectives at every turn, though. He could have his own secrets related to the case, maybe even sent there by the Antichrist.

Thanks
Dirk

Can you post it, Kdot?

I'm currently writing a scene from the viewpoint of one of two detectives hunting for a serial killer. My current draft includes two pages at the beginning of the scene where the POV character mulls over the case, which has been ongoing for a week. I use this to fill in the blanks since the previous chapter where the murder was discovered and the investigation began. Is two pages of (mostly) internal monologue too much to open a scene? Below is an excerpt.

...
Campagna sat back in her chair and rifled through one of many folders from one of many evidence boxes. She had stopped counting after processing her twelfth box on day three. De Rosa sat at a desk facing hers, reviewing days’ worth of security footage from around the residences where the three clerics had lived. He had taken to celebrating completed videos by crumpling a sheet of paper into a ball and attempting a free throw into the trash by the door. He had yet to make a single shot.

So far, neither she nor De Rosa had come up with any clues, and she was beginning to doubt the answer lay in endless stacks of paper.

She mulled over the case in her head. With the permission of the Church, the bodies of Cardinal Ferraro and Bishop Rivera had been exhumed and were, like Cardinal Vitale, in the process of being autopsied. The fact that the Church had allowed the bodies to be exhumed suggested they were worried about something.

She and De Rosa had canvassed nearby residences to see if anyone had seen or heard anything around the time of the clerics’ estimated times of death. Just standard procedure, they had told the neighbors to minimize the chance of anyone alerting the press. A few reporters were sniffing around nonetheless, asking the Vatican uncomfortable questions.

The forensic analysis of the carpet under Cardinal Vitale’s body found no footprints or usable DNA except those of the cardinal, Father Coppola, and the paramedics. Dusting for prints had proved equally unhelpful. Somehow, a murderer had entered Vitale’s apartment and hung the cardinal without leaving a shred of evidence that anyone else had been there. It would have required great strength to pull the cardinal up half a foot from the chair, then tie the rope to the chandelier. Although Father Coppola couldn’t be ruled out entirely as a suspect, he didn’t appear to have the strength to do that by himself. More than likely, there were two killers involved.

The buildings in question were supported by a variety of workers, including maintenance staff, maids, doormen, and concierges. No one claimed to have seen anything unusual, although the killers could have been among them. Or, someone could have waited for one of the doormen to leave his station, perhaps for a bathroom break, and sailed right through. There was also no known link between the staff at Vitale’s apartment building and those of the lodgings of Cardinal Ferraro and Bishop Rivera at Domus Sanctae Marthae inside the Vatican. The only connection so far was three dead clerics in one week.

I could also write the scene as they go about investigating rather than telling it from the detective's POV as she mulls it over in her head, although that could become dreary depending on how much detail I add. The other option is for the two detectives to discuss all of the above as they review the case together, replacing the internal monologue with dialogue and beats. The problem with that is the "review" might seem contrived.

Thoughts?

Thanks.
Dirk