Well, it only took 456 days, but I think I finally have this figured out. What's "this", you might ask? (Go head, you can ask it. Don't be shy . . .)

Well, "this" is the model which describes the mechanics of the science upon which the entire story is based. And if I haven't mentioned that before, it's obvious now: my current Work in Progress will be categorized as science fiction.

I won't go into the details here. In fact, I won't even go into the details in the book. Because the details of the model are irrelevant to the story itself. The real purpose is to have a consistent, solid base upon which to build the story, and if I really do my job right, you won't even notice the consistent, solid base. The story will just feel right.

But someday that one over-eager fan will raise his hand at the book talk and ask, "So how did that actually work?" And that's when I whip out my eighty-seven slide PowerPoint presentation and reply, "I'm glad you asked."