Gailsone Trivia

 

 

The following are some fun tidbits about the Gailsone series.

 

Alice’s last name is inspired by two things. One of which is that it’s a tribute to writer Gail Simone. The original Gailsone novel, Big in Japan, drew inspiration from her long-standing work on Birds of Prey.

 

Aika does not use contractions if she can help it.

 

Red Rook was written immediately after Big in Japan. The entire Black Days series was written after Red Rook went to the editors.

 

I have received numerous guesses as to who Anna is and what her connection is to the other characters, most notably Alice. I can confirm right now that not one of those guesses has been correct, but if you go back and look at the novels, I’ve dropped at least four major clues as to who she is. If you include the novellas, I’ve dropped six.

 

Douglass and Doug are two different characters that share a name. This has led to a little confusion for the casual reader. To clarify, Douglass was hired to work at Rare Gems primarily because Allison liked his name.

 

Eedee was originally included in Big in Japan, but was removed in a later edit. She is still given a reference towards the end, though.

 

When choosing who would live and who would die in the villain warehouse scene in Red Rook, each character was written up with a backstory and a set of powers. Then, their names were placed on pieces of paper. The ones that were drawn on the first pull were the ones that made it out alive. This has led to a change in the flow of the third novel to accommodate for who is left.

 

The only character who was written from the beginning to live through the warehouse scene was Phil.

 

The cast of Gailsone is comprised of either original characters, or on characters that can serve as analog-versions of existing pop culture legends (Some of the side heroes, in particular, may draw some striking parallels from pop culture). Of the entire extended cast, there is only one character that was considered “borrowed” by the author, and was written with that characters pre-established history considered as canon. The identity of this person in the Gailsone series, and who they are supposed to actually be, will probably never be publically shared. However, if a reader pieces it together and can show how they did so, an unofficial confirmation will be given. At present, there are three clues, series-wide, that lend to this reveal.

 

Nanami was not born a paraplegic.

 

At least two non-villain cast members will not live to the end of the series.

 

Each of the editors on Gailsone has made a cameo in the series in one way or another.

 

The first novella written was Called Alice & Allison: Rare Gems. It was written while working on Big in Japan, and was meant to heavily explore the backstory between Alice and Allison, and how they left the Purge. Over the course of a year, this story was re-edited, and eventually chopped up into segments that served as flashbacks throughout the first and second novels. Notable segments include:

• The hospital flashback in Big in Japan

• The confrontation between Alice and Allison in the storeroom of Rare Gems

• Allison’s first official mission

• The prologue of Red Rook

• The closing scene of Red Rook

 

Turnabout was specifically written as a free story, and is considered loose canon at best. It is the most risqué story in the Gailsone line-up, and was heavily trimmed back from its original version. It’s the closest thing to author-generated fanfic that exists in the Gailsone series.

 

The characterization of Prometheus is written differently between Big in Japan, the different novellas, and Red Rook. In some cases, this difference is borderline extreme. This is even commented on by Alice in Paint the Town Red.

 

Victoria was the only cast member written without a solid physical description. Her race and ethnicity were not established until mid-way through the series.

 

Susan Gordon was originally part of Red Rook. Her contribution to the finale was too close to a plotted out scene for the end of the series, so it was rewritten. She is still referenced by the cast towards the latter half of the book.

 

Anna is in the Black Days series. Not telling where, though. Good luck.