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July 22, 2024 Hello... chugging along with this thing... I have thumbnailed almost to page Five Hundred... I am still nervous about this second book hitting and being engaging to people but I’m happy with how it is going moment-to-moment. Whats up with you.

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Latest Letter Column

You can email me something at 3rdvoicemail@gmail.com and I will maybe get to it here.

Hello, I love speculative cities. Neotokyo, Fallen London, Beszel and Ul Qoma... the second I saw that tower gate in front of the Last Capital, holy cow. Zelitte’s house and her neighborhood cafe with the big ol’ mug on top are also striking. And now Shadow-Side! Do you do architectural studies? How do you develop concepts for structures? Also do you have favorite fictional cities? Love this comic. Best, Gabriel * June 20, 2024

Beszel and Ul Qoma, reader, are from China Mieville’s The City and the City, which rocks and I highly recommend. Less genre-flashy than other stuff of his but I really loved it.

I don’t think too specifically about this stuff; it feels like just an extrapolation of my approach to developing a setting generally. In Vattu of course it was all ABOUT the city, and I spent a lot of time on developing organizing aesthetics, and a layout, and building it around the central artery and the big tower. The Last Capital in 3V is less rigorously developed and its role in the story is different than Sahta in Vattu… BUT a lot of the principles are the same. Emphasis on the big picture, visible landmarks, and visible organizing principles… a clear and intelligible general aesthetic for stuff… trying to keep in mind that it’s a tool to emphasize certain elements of the story…. And then also I want it to feel consistent with the setting-texture of the outside world of 3V, and to contrast sensibly with it.

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