The Six Hundred and Twenty-Second Post: The One Where I Try to Discipline My Ducks

Well, I have slacked off a little bit on the outline, and I blame that on fatigue from the gym in the morning. It’s coming along, and I am going to work a little on it today. Edgar is in the third act, so things are going to get a lot tougher for him. I’m following the five act structure that I love so much, so this is the act where, like I said, things get tougher for the character. In Edgar’s case, it’s going to be fist fights, sex and dread realizations. Good stuff!

I can’t remember if I mentioned this or not, but I can’t find the outline I was working for Serve Me Now. If I must rewrite the outline, then I’m not going to really put out over it. I mean – third time’s the charm right, Susan? I can work on it while I get back to writing the manuscript for Tribal. I think doing that is going to be the only way I can clear the slate for a while. After Serve Me Now, I’ve got that Gothic romance that is definitely going to be published under a pseudonym. After that…I think I am going to work on Forever Junkie and after that, I might just throw myself back into Tyro’s stories. I;ve put them off long enough. Maybe I’ll work on Medicine Show before that. I really need to get that out. I’ve got to get a lot out.

Anyone recommend a fiendishly strong brand of coffee? I’ve had two cups of the stuff, and I feel like I could take a nap. I need something far stronger than what I am drinking now, and that was a step up from Death Wish Coffee. I miss the shakes.

Well, if I am going to get to work on the outline, I should get going. Ta-ta for now and have a good day!

HAPPY EASTER!

Posted by Seething With Apathy

The Six Hundred and Twenty-first Post: The One Where I Mumble My Way Through a Plot

Posted by Seething With Apathy

It’s always the same when I have an idea. I grab it in my mouth and take off like a German Sheperd with a hot dog. I have no idea where I am going or what I am doing with it, but I have it and it’s mine now.

I have two interesting ideas:

A slave that doesn’t want to be freed but would rather go back to a life of servitude.
Treating vampires like junkies rather than the sexy but troubled icons that they are now.

I have no idea how to go any further with these ideas, but they are so good, I am not getting rid of them. I really want to develop them past this point, but with one, I need to fill out the middle – the only problem with that one is time. The second one is a lot trickier.

In the rules I have set up, there is little in the way of magic or supernatural aspects. Vampires aren’t super strong or mesmeric creatures. Crosses don’t affect them, nor does any amount of faith. They don’t grow fangs and nibble at your neck to leave two neat little holes. They have to use implements to get to the blood, which doesn’t nourish them as much as give them an incredible high. My problem with this one is simple, but brain-wracking: How do I end this darn book? The fact that it’s called Forever Junkie doesn’t mean it’s going to be solved in three acts and a commercial break.

There are some things I am keeping as far as lore goes – sunlight still burns, they are vulnerable to fire and stakes destroy their body. I wanted to go the Old World of Darkness route and say that stakes merely paralyze them, but I’m trying to stick to the true lore as much as I can while trying to make things new.

The one piece of lore I am struggling over is if the head vampire dies, the ones he or she created are freed from the curse. In the context of the story, it gives me a tidy ending. The main character tracks down the vampire that took his blood, kills him or her and everyone lives happily ever after.

That seems too simple of an ending for me. I like happy endings, but one that comes together a little too pat isn’t my cup of tea. Of course, I can’t make it easy for the main character either. They’re going to earn their happy ending, but the kill-the-master seems a little too mystical for this particular book.

Then again, I am talking about creatures that burst into flame upon being struck with sunlight, no matter the SPF of their suntan lotion. Maybe a twitch of the mystic is needed here.

OK – how about this? Main Character’s sire (or dam, it’s the 21^st century here) is killed, but it doesn’t remove the curse, so the character goes off and finds a Narcotics Anonymous group and the book ends with his introducing himself. I like that. It’s an ending to his story – it’s upbeat enough for me, and it’s not entirely mystical. It makes sense.

Now I have to outline and write it. Hopefully during this year. Next year, I want to really focus on fantasy and sci-fi…with some elements of horror in it, of course.

Well, thank you for sitting with me while I worked this out. Please check the right hand side for books by me and dear friends – they’re all good, or I wouldn’t have them there. Ta-ta for now.

The Six Hundred and Twentieth Post: The One That Doesn’t Sparkle in the Sunlight!

Posted by Seething With Apathy

Sorry that I missed last Thursday. My dreaded day job had me working overtime and waking up early, which messed with everything. I have emerged from that week with all of my vices intact. I will try to fall back into a regular schedule.

Speaking of vices – do you hate sparkling, sexy vampires as much as I do? Want them to go back to being something dangerous? Then I have news for you. I am working on a new novel – outlining – about vampires called Forever Junkie. I wanted to write a vampire novel, but I wanted a new direction to it. I know that people far smarter than me say that vampires are an allegory for sexuality, particularly in Victorian England. I wanted to turn it into a new allegory, so I thought about something that is touched on very briefly in the lore, but is never examined.

Vampires can also be an allegory for addiction. Modern vampires have turned feeding into a sexual act – not just procreation, but the feeding of a desire. What if we ramped that up to eleven? What if that unkempt guy shuffling down the sidewalk a few steps ahead (or behind…) with the bad odor and dark stains on his shirt was one of the undead?

Clearly a junkie

I wanted to write this as a more grounded version of vampires, something akin to the movie Martin. No fangs, no mesmerism, not even turning into a bat. This is going to be a little more realistic. Which means I get to do research into drug addiction. This is not a complaint! Researching is one of my favorite parts of writing. Now, I don’t know how this story is going to play out. I got the idea a couple of days ago. I just hope I can get it out in a reasonable time frame – which is code for ‘before I die’.

That’s it for the week – living on little sleep and a lot of caffeine. I’ll try to get a little better about updates, with the overtime done, that should be a little more consistent. I’m off to pen the outline. Have fun!