As I mentioned earlier...

I am working on a novel. It's currently slow going due to me working on some paying gigs but it's going and I'm fairly happy with it thusfar.

Last post I gave some background info and some folks seemed to like it so I thought I'd throw in some more. Again this is background...it enables the story I'm telling but isn't the story I'm telling, if that makes sense.

First, the thing that starts it all. With a nod to Wildcards and Rising Stars I have an "event" that makes superhumanly powered individuals show up. Note this is a bit different from DC and Marvel which have multiple source origins for their heroes.

The Tunguska Event

On June 30^th, 1908 at around 7:14 a.m. near the Tunguska River the sky exploded. The energy released was unlikely anything seen my man before that day. Trees at ground zero of the explosion strangely stood upright, their barked stripped clean. Further out the forest lay leveled and scorched for miles. It was an event unlike any seen by the scientists of the day.

And that was only the beginning.

The energies of the Tunguska Event crossed the globe in ripples and waves, invisible and unfelt by the populace. However, these energies left a mark of its passing- the genetic makeup of humanity was irrevocably changed.

But this too, was just the beginning.

A bit clunky and dramatic that. Like a movie trailer or poster blurb, but that was all I was going for.

Next we have some more background on things. Dr. Fine is a character in the novel. His name is a reference to two comic greats: Alex Raymond and Lou Fine. The Footnote included is from the historical document.

One in a Million

Starting with the children born after Tunguska, a new phenomena was observed. While most children were born normal, a very small percentage began to exhibit a variety of exceptional and in some cases truly superhuman abilities. At first these abilities were noteworthy but not earth shattering- child geniuses, exceptionally strong young men and women, and youths able to mastering a variety of skills with apparent ease. Most of these abilities began to exhibit in a child’s teens, though some children exhibited enhanced abilities as young as four or five.

A study of these children conducted begun by geneticist Raymond Fine in 1915 identified several of these children and monitored their abilities. Over three years of study, Fine tested, interviewed, and retested thousands of children who had exhibited a number of extraordinary talents. Some were determined to be merely gifted within the normal human range. However, a smaller percentage exhibited talents and abilities matching or exceeding peak human adult levels. These paranormal or near paranormal talents were usually limited to one or two areas of expertise, though a few individuals displayed mastery over a number of academic disciplines and physical pursuits.

Fine also determined that the percentage of these exceptional children to the rest of the populace was around 0.0001%. This meant that for roughly every million humans there was one of these exceptional children. Fine’s study was generally accepted as an accurate representation of these wunderkind[1] and their abilities, though Fine’s claims that the children’s abilities were tied to an unidentified energy that had mutated human genetics were largely disregarded.

Fine’s study was published in 1918, where it was embraced by a hope starved post War world as proof that a new golden age was dawning. Fine’s few detractors were quickly dismissed when five children from Fine’s study appeared with the doctor during the presentation of his work before the academic community and displayed a number of fascinating abilities.

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[1] This term was applied to paranormal children in a 1918 New York Times article on Fine and various children from his research. Within a few months, it had become the default term to refer to paranormally gifted children. The term fell out of favor during WWII due to its association with the Nazi party’s various paranormal youth programs.

Again, none of this writing will show up in the novel itself. It's for me to keep things straight and it keeps changing in little ways. The identity of "Fine's Five", the paranormal children who the Dr. recruits are in flux at the moment and the good doctor himself has already become a psychiatrist and medical doctor instead of a geneticist (though I the stuff I posted hasn't been changed to reflect that and might not be, since that introduction of Fine is written and I don't need to be reminded who he is anymore).

As things continue some of the more powerful characters are going to show up. Note that with one pretty important exception Fine's subjects are not intended to be these characters.

One thing the book does have so far is a name. It's called Titan, which is also the name of one of the characters.