The two Palladia stories weren’t originally written as companions. In fact, the first draft of Consuela had a historical setting and was a filler in between the first and second parts of Victoria: A Tale of Spain. But after a number of years, Consuela quietly migrated over into Palladia. This made me able to explore something we don't get to see in City of the Invaders--the Invader point of view.

In the first book, Invaders are shown as bad. Katia probably feels this way because the only Invaders she personally knows tried to set up her family. But the situation is a little more complicated than good-EC and bad-Invaders, as Miss Plummer discovers in Consuela. Unlike Invaders, EC who are bad have the element of surprise, because people tend to root for minority groups. So Mr. Lazeemboi is able to sneak up on everyone and this time we get to see an Invader's viewpoint on that.

Consuela wasn't needed where it was anymore once "Victoria" and "Alyce" merged into one book, and adding it into the mix of Palladia gave more focus to both it and to Palladia generally. The story is now from the perspective of a young Invader, so it offers some fairness and clarity that balances City of the Invaders. After all, the more we see of the world, the more we notice this unlikely blend of closed-off literati and scummy, drifting street criminals actually have a great rapport with each other. The majority of people in Palladia belong to two groups that have the least possible in common.
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Or maybe they have a lot more to do with each other than meets the eye.

And there will be more updates.

When “Victoria” got pieced together with “Alyce,” it became immediately clear that there might not be quite enough Bella and Ignacio as people would wish. We barely get to see either of them and the flashes on the side are tantalizing. But it’s mostly a story about Victoria, a teenage girl whose life is becoming dominated by a little-seen, sinister man. She gets to know a shady King, his outspoken brother (whose overconfidence just spells out how in love with Victoria he’s going to be), and some middle-aged people who are merely puppets for the shady king and the sinister man. Although they don’t know this themselves and believe they are very important!

This is a great plot and makes the book a fun read.The action, the hint of romance, the characters—everything was finally brought together by the rewrite. But if there were something that there Could Be More Of But Isn’t (that eternal debate that’s so much fun to have) it would be Bella and Ignacio’s back-and-forth with each other. We don’t get to see most of it and there wasn’t more in the original version of the story either. Ignacio is part of the shady government plot and even fishier sinister-outlaw plot, so he might not be someone you’d like your sister to run off with.

But Bella knew about the Hirado before anyone. There might be a lot of things Victoria doesn’t realize about her sister.

And there will be more updates.

This little detail didn’t appear in the book’s manuscript, but the dusty gravel road bending among green trees that the Harrison family lives beside is called “Harrison Lane” after them. It was actually named by the county because they’re almost the only house on that road and when every road had to be named something (to keep things in order) they asked Mr. Harrison “What’s your last name?” He said “Harrison” so they named the little gravel byway after him.

A small point like this can give you an idea of how long the Harrisons have been around, in a fixed way, in one place. A very long time. And they are well-respected within the community—in a way—although people do think they’re kind of odd. People in small towns can be very narrow-minded, you know. There is something quietly lovely about their home and the girls, who’ve always lived this way, don’t know how nice and cozy their lives might look to other people.

Anybody in their right minds would view the Harrisons as people you’d want to know. They have a great home life, a great home, a great religious faith, and a great loyalty to each other. Anyone who tries to bother them (like the polygamists who appeared in an intermediate draft of the book) are very mistaken about what this family represents. That's why this area was originally presented as very amusing, because it never occurred to me anyone could be bothered by it. The concept of such people trying to take advantage of the Harrison girls is categorically funny to anyone who perceives what the story is really about. But after I received feedback from several people that they took it quite seriously, I felt it was being misunderstood and removed it as a distraction. Meanwhile, our protagonists return to being the Harrisons of Harrison Lane, which is what they would have done in any case whether this area was included or not. 

You don't run into people like the Harrisons very often. They truly are unusual, but that’s not always a bad thing.

And there will be more updates.
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