Spy Classroom - Volume 6 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

I know the Volume 6 afterword isn’t the greatest place for it, but I hope you don’t mind if I take a moment to talk about my writing process for Volume 5.

I was wrapping up my manuscript for Volume 5 at the time, and it was getting to the point where I needed to think about the plot for Volume 6. There was one big question I was brooding over.

Are the readers actually going to like Avian?

Spy Classroom has a big cast at the best of times, and in novels where there’s a limit to the types of information you can convey, you always have to make hard choices about what to depict and what to leave out.

Therein lay the question—how much screen time should I give to Avian in Volume 6?

Personally speaking, I love Avian. Love ’em to bits. I often spend my days fantasizing about stuff like them taking their graduation test and what it was like right after they joined the team and thinking, “I wonder if there’s somewhere I could write about this?” But here’s the thing: Writing is about communication between the creator and the audience! It doesn’t matter how much I like them if I can’t get that through to the reader! In the end, I decided to play it safe, keep the Avian flashbacks to a minimum, and stick to the tried-and-true nine characters + misc. supporting cast formula in order to keep the cast list manageable.

Still, I really want to put more Avian in Volume 6!

I flip-flopped back and forth all through the Volume 5 proofreading process, and as I did, I got a message from my editor. “Tomari’s a busy person, so I would feel bad making her come up with character designs for the entire Avian roster…” Sometimes, that’s just life. I was a little depressed about it, but I had no choice but to cut down on their screen time.

A few days later, though, I got a surprising message.

Editor: “Tomari just read Volume 5, and she says she wants to draw Avian!”

Me: “For real?!”

If I had Tomari’s illustrations on my side, then that changed everything. With that to spur me on, I was able to put all the Avian in Volume 6 that I wanted, from their interactions with Lamplight to their downfall to their bonds.

Thank you so, so much, Tomari. The only reason I was able to include them in Volume 6 was because you, my number one reader, gave them your seal of approval. In particular, I really love your designs for Vindo and Pharma.

Now then, a preview of what’s to come. It’s time for the girl who bears the brand of traitor to begin her fight. Season two is fundamentally a story about her, as well as about one other girl. I’ll do my best to write it well.

That said, I might put out Short Story Collection 2 first. Until then, that’s all from me.

Takemachi