As many of you may, or may not know, I had intended _Comes the Cold Dragon_
to be back-story for _Spreading Wings_, which was already in progress at the
time I began transmitting Parts of _Comes the Cold Dragon_ to the FFML.
_Comes the Cold Dragon_, believe it or not, got its start as a flashback in
_Spreading Wings_. Those of you who have written me and asked about
_Spreading Wings_ will, I hope, be patient with me. I will resume work on
that story once _Comes the Cold Dragon_ is complete.
 
During the entire time that I was working on _Spreading Wings_, I was
wrestling with a number of problems, the worst of which was how to create a
universe in which ki, or chi, is a very real and potent force, but would
remain believable. This is not a thing easily done, if you are like me and
take a dim view of "magic." I do not believe in the supernatural and while
stories resorting to supernatural powers or magic are not necessarily bad
stories, I generally do not enjoy them very much. For me, they lack a
quality referred to in writing as verisimilitude, or plausible resemblance
to reality. When a writer employs magic, or supernatural powers, the
temptation to "magic" his way out of trouble in his plot is entirely too
great. 
 
Mind you, not every writer of fantasy fiction is guilty of this sin, and
authors who manage to avoid the traps which are inherent in writing fantasy
fiction manage to produce some first-rate yarns. But, such stories are not
my usual cup of tea as a reader, much less as a writer. I wanted to create a
universe in which my borrowed characters would be required to contend with
the same laws of physics you and I are required to respect, and I was having
a lot of trouble accomplishing that end.
 
The problem was further complicated for me because not only am I an
Objectivist, I have had some moderate exposure to the Martial Arts, and have
worked most of my life in the business of constructing, engineering, and
repairing petrochemical plants and refineries. I have personally seen people
do some extraordinary things both in and out of the dojo. So, despite my
background in a world of hard numbers and having adopted a philosophy which
dismisses the supernatural out of hand, I have soft data suggesting that
there may well be something to the claims made by some martial artists
regarding ki and its use. I am not, at this point, willing to dismiss these
claims, nor can I accept them all as absolute truth. The subject is, as far
as I am concerned, a matter under rudimentary study. In other words, I think
it necessary to at least postulate that there may well be something to the
notion of "ki" or "chi" for the purposes of objective, active-minded study.
 
What that "something" might be is, of course, the crux of the matter.
However, what one proposes as a beginning for scientific study, and what he
proposes as the basis for a story in the speculative fiction genre, need not
be one and the same thing. I needed something which would allow me to
"explain" the powers and performance levels exampled in the Ranma 1/2 series
of Manga, yet would limit my borrowed characters performance to something
somewhere within the confines of known natural law. The solution I arrived
at was to declare that ki, or chi if you prefer, is not one and the same
thing as energy. In other words, I have, for the purposes of this story at
least, declared ki to be a third constituent of nature, the two actual
constituents being matter and energy, and defined ki as that which living
things generate and use to manipulate mass and energy. This is important
because no matter what your local power company tells you, they do NOT
generate energy. They merely change its form and send it to you by
transmission line. Matter and energy, you see, are neither created nor
destroyed. This is THE basic law of nature, and we have recognized it as
such for centuries.

 
I will resist the temptation to expound upon the many ramifications such a
speculation raises. One could, without much trouble, write reams on the
subject. Many of you will race well ahead of me at this point and begin
toying with this idea for your own stories. Please do. I hereby declare it a
property in the public domain. Be advised however, that once you do begin to
toy with this notion for a story, you run up hard against an aesthetic
problem that is nearly insurmountable. How on earth does one get this stuff
across to one's audience without boring them to tears? Oh, to be sure, there
will be in any given audience a few of my uber-geek brethren who would find
a treatise or two on the topic interesting, possibly even fascinating. The
problem is, such treatises fit into a romantic comedy about as well as socks
fit a rooster. The usual approaches available to the author of science
fiction simply are not available to an author of a story like _Comes the
Cold Dragon_. I had to find a palatable way to get these notions across to
my audience, which is a good deal broader than that reading hard science
fiction stories.
 
In the end, I resorted to the use of humor and this led to what I think of
as "The Battle of Miyagi's Sake Parlour." I wrote that scene in a single
sitting after several days of mentally wrestling with the aesthetic problem.
My muse simply took over and wrote the initial draft over a four hour period
which went by virtually unnoticed. So far, it appears that I was slightly
better than fifty-percent successful in that effort. The feedback I have
received has been mixed to say the least, and it has been strongly expressed
in both directions. Many who write me seem to think that this barroom brawl
scene is a fatal flaw which greatly detracts from the overall story. Others
seem to find it hilarious and an example of stylistic acumen rivaling the
work of the late great Douglas Adams. There seems to be very little in the
way of middle-ground on this issue.
 
All I can say to those who criticize the scene and to those who praise it
is, "Thank you!" Most who write to say they dislike the scene have expressed
great concern for its negative impact upon the whole of _Comes the Cold
Dragon_. Those who praise it, see it as a great enhancement. Either way, I
find myself greatly flattered, and as Matthew Johnston so recently pointed
out, accolades for an entertaining yarn is all that keeps us fan-fiction
authors going.
 
Kindest regards,
 
 
Don Granberry.  
 
PS: To those who have had trouble reading the "Battle of Miyagi's Sake
Parlour," you might try reading it aloud to pick up the rhythm built into
the piece. Such an experience may or may not change your opinion of it, but
if you like the rest of _Comes the Cold Dragon_, it's worth a try. As for
me, I move my lips when I read anyway.

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