On the horror beat sheet I’m using; I’ve come to something called The Chase. In a slasher movie, this is where the monster chases through the camp, hacking teens getting drunk, high, or naked. This is the pursuit of the monster, and the main characters lack the skills or weapons to defeat it. One or more people may die here.

What do you do when your mind is the monster?

Good question. And I even have an answer.

Chuck – the main character and the owner of the aforementioned monster’s mind – is going to second guess and hound everyone and everything around him. He’s going to chase what little trust he has in his crew and beat it to death with his own suspicions. In this same beat sheet, we have (pardons for the language) The Shit Gets Real. That’s when the first death occurs, and the stakes get higher. In this piece, what’s the first thing to die? Chuck’s trust of Lin. A lot of the death here is metaphorical before we get to the nuts-and-bolts murder. Which is what I wanted to do. The one thing I like about The Tell-tale Heart is that this man is clearly insane, but he feels that the actions spurred on by his insanity is justified by that hideous vulture’s eye. They’re made much worse by the titular heart. This is what I am trying to do with The Show Must Go On. I want the audience to side with Chuck up to a point. That point being murder.

It’s going to be a fun trip when I try to channel my inner obsessive (Chuck’s not the only one with issues, kiddos) and take everyone with me through the enchanted land of Unreliable Narrator. Pack some sunscreen and a sandwich, please. It’s going to be a trip and a half.

The book is coming along in fits and starts, mostly because I have only a solid hour at work to write, but I manage to average six hundred words a day. I’m going to try to write a little more at home after the dust has settled. I should also head back to the gym. Bleeech. I’ve been stuffing my face since vacation and I’m starting to feel it in my jeans. Not much else is going on here, just trying to get another book done and clear my schedule for the epic that I hope will make me some money on Patreon once I get a few chapters under my belt. I’ve almost finished that outline; I just have to nail down the details of the final fight and the aftermath.

Well, have a good day everyone – please feel free to donate to my ko-fi account so I can stay awake. Bye!