Monsters In the Dark

We all remember our monsters in the darkness, the ones which hid under our beds and in our closets.  The things we can't see are always more terrifying than the ones we confront and understand.  People who use fear to manipulate us are always deliberately vague about the consequences of the terrors they are invoking, it allows the listener to fill in the blanks with their own anxieties.

I've always found knowledge easier to deal with than uncertainty, even if it ended up being bad news.  But there comes a point where the knowledge becomes a burden all on its own.  In the graphic novel, Midnight Nation, there is a point where one of the characters is tortured by being made aware of all the misery and horror in the world for a few terrifying seconds.

How would someone cope with that kind of knowledge?  If reliable and powerful psychic powers truly existed, then the people with them would learn all sorts of things that we usually aren't faced with.  They would be inadvertent witnesses to the horrors which can behind a pleasant façade.  This is one of the origins for my hero, Michael, in Revelations.  As a psychometrist who can pick up secrets and emotions through touching people and objects, he'd have to deal with knowing about affairs, heartbreak, lies, and treachery.

I did some research into people who work with the darkest part of human reality, the investigators who search out abusive crimes and the workers who try to put communities back together after war and genocide.  I wanted to know how they cope with having seen the incredible depth of human imagination put to figuring out ways to hurt and destroy.  There's a very high turnover in these fields as people reach the limits of what they can cope with, but there's also a common theme of focusing on how they can help.  That's what allows them to keep going day after day.

I needed to find a way for Michael to use his gifts to help and I found the inspiration to make him a child therapist, one who helped children who couldn't speak for themselves.  He uses his gift to shine a light into their darkness and help them to defeat their own monsters.

There are true horrors in this world, but I believe that they always seem bigger in the darkness.  Knowing the truth is like flipping on the switch in the closet.  Maybe there will be something hiding there, maybe there won't.  But once it's seen, it can be fought and defeated.  Being forced to see all the horror in the world might be a form of torture, but it would also bring a certain level of perspective.  All the petty things we tend to flail ourselves with would be revealed as surface issues.

There are monsters in the dark, but they are rarer than we fear.  And they can all be made smaller with a  little illumination.

Weekly Update: June 28 to July 4

Weekly word count: 5950

Things are moving along well with Metamorphosis.  I'm really looking forward to getting to the finale and then going back and tightening everything up.  I've spoken to my first round of beta-readers and let them know where I am.

I also had a really fun session with my friends on what kind of swag to invest in.  They gave me some great ideas to look into, including some I wouldn't have come up with on my own.  With luck I can be ready for conference season next year. 

The first week of summer actually went smoother than I thought it would.  So far I'm managing a good balance of having fun with the kids and still getting my work done.  I find it's actually going smoothly enough that I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Maybe it's too many years of watching Joss Whedon, if you're happy, something horrible is about to happen. 

I've gotten a good reaction from my first Friday quote card.  I've got a whole series planned for the summer, so I hope to build up some buzz for Whispers in the Dark and Metamorphosis.  I hope everyone enjoys this week's offering as well.

Friday Quote Card: The Hunt Is On

Celebrating Strong Heroines

And in ancient times, the people did cry out for strength and beauty and the great writing gods did deliver unto them Ripley, Xena and Buffy.

 

It's sometimes easy to forget how ubiquitous it was for female characters to do nothing but repeat the computer, get in trouble and complicate rescues.  The idea that the girl could save the day instead of shrieking in the background is one we've rediscovered again and again throughout history.

 

 

Even Xena's over-the-top action sequences and (I have to admit it) bizarre yet hilarious plot lines didn't take away from the fact that she was strong and independent.  She wasn't looking for someone to take her away from all the fighting, it was what she craved and lived for.

 

Buffy managed to combine a kick-ass ability with the challenges of a secret identity and a desire to find someone who would connect with her on her own terms, rather than expecting her to take a back seat.  She may have longed for someone to take on her burden, but I always felt it was more a Lone-Guard-At-the-Gate attitude, not a "looking for a man to solve my problems" approach.

I love strong heroines.  Nothing frustrates me faster than watching someone do something which is nonsensical and obviously designed to make things harder for the "real heroes".  I enjoy stories about capable women even when they aren't toting guns or have superpowers (although those two factors are always a bonus).  I enjoy stories where women find out they are capable of more than they dreamed they could be.  And I enjoy stories where those women find love and support from someone who wants them to shine as brightly as possible.

There are all kinds of strength.  There's obvious physical strength and skill, like the action heroes above.  But there's also strength of mind, character and personality, the sort of woman who can run a multimillion dollar business /country or organize disparate personalities into a cohesive whole (I'm thinking of Dame Judy Dench's M in the James Bond series and Cate Blanchett's Queen Elizabeth). 

There's the strength of determination, of a woman who will not allow obstacles or ridicule to stop her, no matter what.  She has no special abilities or authority, but keeps getting up even when common sense would tell anyone to back down.  She pushes through situations which would send most of us home crying.  (Angelina Jolie in Changeling.) 

There is the strength of personal integrity, refusing to compromise who she is at the core even when everything would be simpler if she did so.  We all face pressure to conform and so I really enjoy stories about those who have the internal strength to stay true to themselves.  (My example is Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, who ignored the expectations of the village around her  and the initial threats of the Beast.  She insisted on telling the truth and being herself even when it cost her dearly.)

The urge to explore my own strong female characters is one of the reasons why I began to write in the first place.  Dani, in Revelations, is the epitomy of my favourite action heroes, strong and powerful but with hidden vulnerabilities and doubts.  She has to battle her own demons as much as her external enemies.

My two upcoming projects have very different but equally strong heroines.  Jessica (Whispers in the Dark) struggles against ridicule and ostracism to pursue her chosen field of scientifically exploring paranormal phenomena.  Lily (Metamorphosis) is strong and capable with great responsibilities, but she's not seeking escape.  She celebrates her own strength and refuses to compromise it.

Characters in stories should always be at least a little larger than life.  That's why we follow their journeys.  But I like to believe every person, every woman has a core of strength inside her, no matter how much she has had to face.  And that's worth celebrating.

Come back tomorrow for a new special Friday feature!

Weekly Update: June 21 to 27 (Preliminary Cover: Whispers in the Dark)

Weekly word count: 4300

I'm still focusing on finishing Metamorphosis but I've also begun the final preparations to release Whispers In the Dark, a short story set in the lalassu universe. 

As part of those preparations, I've asked my friend, Samianne, to do the cover.  She did the snake interstitials for Revelations and does gorgeous artwork.  She's come back with a preliminary concept design and I'm quite excited about it.

 

And now back to work.

The Economics of Book Signings

This isn't exactly a widespread survey, but a friend of mine in London invited me to come down and visit for a few days.  As part of the visit, she suggested I contact some local bookstores and see if they'd be interested in doing a reading or signing.  This sounded like a good idea to me and so I pulled up Google and took a look.

I found two nearby bookstores, a local independent bookstore called the Oxford Book Shop and a local Chapters.  Both were very pleasant and prompt in replying to my awkward inquiry but I was due for a lesson in math and economics.

Oxford said they would be happy to host but I would be required to supply the books (that was expected).  They would carry them on consignment and take a percentage of the retail price for every book sold.  Unfortunately, the percentage meant I would end up losing money on each book, assuming I didn't raise the price (which struck me as a little unfair to do since I would then be charging more than the cost of a book on Amazon).

Chapters politely told me they would not host a reading for a self-published author, although the manager did do me the courtesy of telling me that she clicked through the link to my book and it sounded interesting.

I'm disappointed but I still feel that I've learned something.  And I'm proud of myself for trying.  I am not an adventurous person by nature and I'm finding the self-promotion side of publishing to be a challenge.  I guess I'm still clinging to an outmoded idea that if a book is good enough, it will automatically find its audience.  But I'm putting myself out there and even if I'm slower than I probably should be, I'll get there.

Weekly Update: June 14 to 20

Weekly word count: 5150

I am definitely getting within sight of the end of Metamorphosis.  My outline has another 4 chapters (though it may split into 5).  I've been averaging a chapter a week, so that puts me another month from having a finished draft.  Then will come my final revision to make everything consistent, get rid of overused words and deepen my point of view.  Not quite the ready for beta readers by July 1st which I was hoping for, but still not bad.

Once I have my final revision done, then I will send it off to my beta readers and schedule my editing stuff with Red Adept Editing.  I'll also contact Streetlight Graphics again to get the cover designed.  Last time the editing process took 5 months, with a six week wait to get started.  I'm hoping the timing will be similar.

While I'm in my downtime, I will start work on the sequel.  (I've already done a few character sketches and trial scenelets.)  I will also work on the sequel to my ghost hunter short story.  That should certainly keep me busy through the summer and the editing process.  I'm going to try and mix writing with editing this time, rather than focusing solely on the editing.  I want to try and keep my writing momentum going.

I'm also going to try and push myself to write 2000 words a session, rather than 1000, over the summer.  Since I have fewer writing sessions, I need to make them more productive.  I'm still aiming at a minimum of 4000 words per week.