As I become older (I'm only a young 38), I find that I am becoming more interested in how the universe works, what is reality and the state of the mind (Currently reading HYPERSPACE by Michio Kaku. A little out of date but a good primer on the state of physics, string theory, wormholes, parallel dimensions...you get the picture. Also have biographies of Einstein and Oppenheimer waiting for me too. This is why I should have listened in Physics class in high school). I guess this all goes along with being a believer since I was a little boy, in all things fantastic. I devoured comics and cartoons, read fantasy and scifi books, checked out guides on ghosts and all sorts of paranormal goodies from the library. What was not normal or perhaps what most people saw as unbelievable, always seemed to have some truth to me. I could never explain why, but I felt all those weird and unexplained mysteries where somehow true. Did I have an over active imagination? Sure. And most forward thinking people do. It was Einstein who said after all that it's not intelligence that served him well during his life but his IMAGINATION. The ability to dream and believe that the impossible is actually the probable. Yep, I was one of those kids. I guess that's why in THE SPIRIT OF THE MOON, we have boy named Maximus Walker who lives in a town that has a reputation for weird, paranormal events to happen, but no one really believes or remembers them. But he does. He always believed, so much so he investigates every little rumour or innuendo about the ghosts and goblins of his town Sovereign Creek, becoming what he calls 'a detective of the weird.' I never thought before, until now, that maybe Max and I share very similar traits. maybe MAx is a younger me, although certainly not intentional and I never had a magical sword. Sigh. I don't like the mundane. I want to believe there is more out there. I want to use my imagination every day. I crave for my over active imagination. And that suits me just fine. It's all out there, trust me. You just have to believe. And have imagination. Then comes the discoveries of a lifetime. How is you imagination? Have you listened to it lately?
New Doctor Who!!!!!!!
And currently enjoying with the kids, Young Justice!
Let's make this short and sweet, as business calls and I have much to do. I'm currently at the moment editing THE MONSTER IN THE BASEMENT, the sequel to last years little baby, THE SPIRIT OF THE MOON, and I started noticing a few peculiarities. I started the book, I think, in September last year and as I have stated on many occasions, it was a terribly difficult conception. I never believed in the curse of the second book, but it was true and I was living in its torturous nightmare. The first three chapters were conceived and written during that time, before I had the break to regroup and come back full of gusto and vinegar. Now, what I've noticed in the editing process, going over those three chapters, is how hard I was trying to write at the time. What do I mean by this? As you write each successive book, I think you have to up your game from the last. You have to learn from your mistakes, learn from your structure, your composition and the story itself and start to get a sense of what you're good at and ultimately what you are poor at. Now take this with a grain of salt. I'm no expert, certainly no best seller, but I have a sense of what works for me. By the time I started that second story, I wanted the book to be so much better that I committed a sin, the big no-no in writing...I OVERWROTE! I found the prose to be flowery, cumbersome and pretentious. It was as if I was using each word, each sentence, each paragraph to build a wall around my unconscious to stop the story downloading from brain to page. It was horrible, frustrating, but it wasn't writers block. I don't believe in writers block. I believe in doing the job and gaining perspective. Which is what I did. That break from the story was what I needed. I re-evaluated what I was doing and ceased being the writer I thought I ought to be, and became the writer I originally was. And that made all the difference. Except now I find editing those frist three chapters a pain in the arse, but live and learn. It's all we can do, people.
Fun stuff: Saw John Carter at the movies and enjoyed it (no 3D for me. Fool me once Hollywood but never again, unless it's shot using actual 3D cameras!) It was a wonderful mix of whimsy, old style sci-fi with a certain European sensibility. I would love to see where the story goes in a sequel but alas I doubt that will see the light of day. Perhaps I shall buy the books... ( I have a wonderful idea for the Green Lantern movie franchise, let me tell you one day. It would have been Star wars on steroids, only with Green magic rings...)
Reading at he moment: The Middle Pillar by Israel Regardie which is occult techniques used as psychology. Intersting stuff.
And still plowing through The Kamandi Omnibus by Jack Kirby. 'Nuff said.
It was a wonderful feeling today. I drove down to the printers to pick up this:
My second novel, THE MONSTER IN THE BASEMENT, was a reality. Not just letters on a computer screen, not just endless hours of imaginings and plottings and connivings and characters whispering in my ear, telling me the story should go north and not south... Holding that bound first draft is magic. That's all I can call it: MAGIC. I had read many times, by authors more experienced than myself, that the second book was always the hardest to write. Maybe that first book came bursting out in furious righteousness, demanding to be born and before you knew it, the book was there. You don't know how you did it or where it came from, but it arrived safe and sound; your first literary child. My first book, THE SPIRIT OF THE MOON, was published in June 2011, an accidental birth of glorious proportions. It was in September 2011, that I decided to write the sequel. I had a vague idea of what the story was about, who some of the characters where (new and old) and what I wanted to achieve. I knew it would be bigger in scale in some regards, expanding the microcosm of the town featured in my adventures, SOVEREIGN CREEK. But the themes also had to be relevant, to where I was in that moment. And so a vague outline was born. I knew how the novel would start and end, a crucial scene was written first that plays into the overall story arc of the six planned books of the series. But then everything went dead, I wrote the first chapter and after that nothing was coming. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stand facing that page, day after day. I was a frustrated, emotional train wreck. I felt like a con artist, a bad stage magician. I read the prophesies and they came true. It was in December that I contemplated stopping the book, shunting it into that little corner on the laptop, never to be seen again. Maybe it was a break I needed, get away from it all, and come back fresh in the new year...which is what I DID. And what a difference it made. I guess what I want to say is, when then manuscript is getting you down, when nothing seems to work and you feel like a fraud, a failure, a wanna be writer playing in the big pond...don't give up. Don't ever give up. And if you absolutely feel that your story is dead, then give it a funeral fit for a king and move on. I finally understand that the difference between good and bad writers is this: Good writers DO and BAD writers amble around, procrastinating and moaning. Don't worry, just DO! If you're a writer, sitting in the empty space, all alone inside your head, staring at the blank screen, then decide right now... what type of writer are you?
Going to see JOHN CARTER at the movies tomorrow so hopefully I can do a mini review in the next couple of days. I have high hopes for this so fingers and whatever other extremities you have, crossed.
I was heartened to read a blog by author Neil Gaiman on the weekend (you can access here)which dove a little into the writing process. He's in the middle of another book and he describes how someday's it's like going through fog, where you can't see where you going but just gradually...gradually you get there. What a terrific feeling that is! I guess other days it's like shooting down the autobahn in a Ferrari doing 150 kph, with no brakes and no way of stopping. The story pours out of you, coming from God knows where. The key board is smoking, your fingers are sore to the bone... He also said that on those foggy days, when you only do 1500 words (half his usual output!), but you end up with something...you have it! Your there! It's on paper (or the screen as may be the case)! You've done it! Oh, what a grand feeling that is... But what made this beginner happy is that an experienced author such as Gaiman has THOSE DAYS that every writer, be they beginner or pro I guess, has where the words come easy or other days you fight hard for every consonant and vowel, every paragraph, page and chapter. At the moment I average 2500 words a day and to have a master such as Gaiman acknowledge an output of 3000 words is heartening. I'm constantly fighting a battle as to whether I've done enough, is this what normal writers do, etc. I've learnt to appreciate my inversion of an old motto: 'quality over quantity.' Being an author I think is not just about learning, but about DOING. That's the big secret to becoming an author, not whether you can or not, it's about whether you can DO IT. Make a start, finish it. Learn the process along the way. Now we know. Still, writing is a lonely process and I can understand why artists go mad. Living in your mind, day in and day out. Our poor husbands and wives. But you know what, it's better than digging ditches...
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In case you didn't see, I released the cover for my new book, THE MONSTER IN THE BASEMENT, the second book in my Sovereign Creek saga.
I'm as pleased as punch that my cover artist, Juha Veltti has come up with another stunning piece of art. I've formed a relationship with this Finnish master that I hope will last for many, many years to come.
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With the release of MONSTER in June, I've decided to offer the first book in the series, THE SPIRIT OF THE MOON, for free as an Ebook from SMASHWORDS here. Why have I done this? Am I crazy? Well, no. I want as many people to enjoy SPIRIT before reading its bigger, newer sister and enjoy the ride in old scary SOVEREIGN CREEK. But I hope that if you like the story so much, maybe you can buy the paperback edition from all good online and local bookstores, so my family and I don't starve entirely :)
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Lastly, I'm taking my boys to see JOHN CARTER at the movies this weekend. Watch this fan made trailer here as Disney have woefully mismanaged all marketing for this movie. I think it will be fun and visually entertaining.
