Lord Have Mercy: The Details

I decided to split my debrief post into two - or, rather, to have one post, still to come, that talks about the heavy stuff: the themes, the conflict, the challenges that lie ahead; my creative decisions and where those have the potential to take us. 

This post, however, is about the small, fluffy, worldbuilding tidbits that I enjoyed the most. 

I think one of the charms of this series is its tendency (er, my tendency, I suppose) to continually incorporate the entire cast and keep everyone updated on their comings and goings, even, or perhaps especially, their more mundane ones. Given that it's an outlaw epic, it would be very easy for the action of the series to start feeling detached from reality. We've got trained assassins, and millionaires with private jets, and professional torturers, and all of that rather spectacular action could start to peel away and leave the whole thing garish and gluey, like a bright cardboard box dropped in a puddle. Detail is what grounds it, and what makes me excited to continue. The action is important, and thrilling, and a host of other adjectives, but for me, the action is what makes the small, tender moments all the sweeter. 

In no particular order my favorite details in Lord Have Mercy Part One are:

Ava and Mercy's domestic life. The next three parts of the story are going to be action-heavy, full of mystery, intrigue, violence, some tears and some smiles, but when the story opens, Ava and Mercy are living the daily grind dream. There's laundry, and instant grits, and early-morning alarms. Mercy still works at the Dartmoor bike shop, and Ava's still doggedly trying to pursue her writing; like most writers, myself included, she's struggling to scrape a few pennies out of a largely unlucrative profession and feeling like a failure. They're comfortable, but not wealthy; they're happy. They fought so hard to be together, and they don't ever take that for granted. It was important that I be able to show that before the shit hits the fan; for everyone to see them dealing with the wonderful, everyday drudgery of living on their own terms. 

Ash wants a cinnamon bagel. He's a manipulative little terror, and I take dark pleasure in Maggie and Ghost having their hands full with him at this stage in their lives. 

Walsh and Tenny teaching Emmie's lessons. That was a mental image too tempting to pass up. Walsh perched on the rail with a cigarette - that's a big etiquette no-no in the world of lesson-teaching - and Tenny calling poor students idiots until they're crying. I had myself a little chuckle writing that line. 

This exchange: 

Tenny pushed the door wide, and whistled. “Jesus. Fucking Attack of the Clones in here.” To Reese: “That’s a movie.”

“I know. You made me watch it.”

“I didn’t make you. You loved it.”

“If you say so.”

Devin taking Violet to win a fish. This was possibly my favorite little fluff scene in the whole book. I love that Devin is trying, and that the idea still gives Walsh heart palpitations, but that, deep down, he sees and appreciates the effort on his dad's part. This line - 

A thought struck him, suddenly: even if he did love Devin, against his will, he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to like the man, on principle alone. Too much bad blood, the habit too deeply ingrained. But like didn’t much matter, because without him, there’d be no Violet, and even if Walsh had never thanked Devin for his own existence, he could thank him for his daughter’s.

 - is not only one of my favorites, but the sort of line that encompasses every family in the series. 

Colin being the one to grab Ava. I'm stoked to build up more of a relationship between Ava and Colin, and Ava and Alex. Mercy's brothers play a tremendous role in this story, and I liked the idea of Colin throwing himself in the mix to protect her. Ava understands Mercy in a way that no one else in his life ever has, and so she understands the parts of Colin and Alex that they don't want to acknowledge. There's lots of delicious family drama fodder there. 

I'd be curious to know which details stuck out to you guys. Favorite exchanges? Little character moments?