But, Chris, the thing about EMII is that, while there clearly is a complex A-plot, it's very well mixed with the B. The last section is a perfect example of that: you have Lois and CJ going through yet more documents and papers trying to find a lead, but in amidst that you have gestures, smiles, touches and kisses. And especially Lois's demand to Clark that he kiss her properly!
It is very clearly as much a relationship story as it is a dramatic/plot-driven story. We have CJ's insecurities about his alien origins and his ambivalence towards his special abilities. We have their past relationship. We have a Lois who loathed CJ and made that very clear, and yet is now falling deeply in love with him.
The A-plot and the B-plot seem to drive each other in your story, and this is what I mean by a very well-integrated A- and B-plot. It would be different if we just had a couple of crumbs of more relationship-type stuff (which doesn't have to mean kisses; it could equally be a meaningful conversation or just a touch in the midst of other stuff) and then section after section of
nothing but A-plot. That's certainly the kind of thing I think of when I think of the sort of A-plotted stories which I'm less interested in reading.
EMII, Connections, YUTS, Nan's S1 and S2 series... these all have wonderfully balanced A- and B-plots in which those who prefer relationship-driven stories can find plenty to make them very happy indeed, Chris and Carol!
Wendy
