Locked in the Cabinet

Our novels usually feature a lot of cabinet meetings, plans, machinations, back stabbings and such.

We've noted before that not only are we getting tired of writing these scenes, we suspect that the reader is getting tired of these scenes. 

We kept the cabinet meetings to an absolute minimum in Castro's Folly. During the entire first half of the book showing fighting in Honduras and Angola not one single cabinet meeting takes place. Still they crept in later on when the US is gathering a coalition to invade Cuba. Even so some readers complained that they didn't really know what was happening. 

Cabinet meetings work great for that because they give on a bird's eye view.

We've been binge watching Game of Thrones season 7. There's a lot of meetings between Danarys, Tyrian, etc, etc and we've found these both informative and fascinating.

Maybe we should rethink scaling back the cabinet meetings.

Stay clear of the Cabinet

One day I'll write a novel that doesn't have intense cabinet meetings.

That day is not today.

Ok, even I'm sick of them.

I guess the cabinet drama began with Israel Strikes where we had not only the Israeli cabinet but the American cabinet as well at lager-heads about the war. Heck, War of the Red Sea had cabinet meetings and Knesset intrigue as the leader of the opposition maneuvered against Prime Minister Eitan.

Lets see, so far in the World War series we've had intense cabinet sessions in Washington and London, of course, Bonn and now Canberra and Tokyo. Don't even get me started on the Politburo.

In Castro's Folly I've managed to limit these sessions to secondary working groups chaired by Vice President Quayle.

I don't know if the reader is sick of these. I guess I'm not, even if they get redundant after a while.

Hey, I feel like the reader has to understand how and why evens are taking place otherwise we're just landing troops at Matanzas for no damn reason.

Of course, the final novel in the World War Series will be nothing but political intrigue and all about the election of 1992 in the new world.

Not much room their for tanks and aircraft carriers there eh?

Of course one day I'll write a novel that doesn't have exploding tanks but that day....