~
Perhaps you've heard about the interview that Dr. Edgar Mitchell did over the weekend with Kerrang Radio in the UK.
Dr. Mitchell holds a PhD from MIT, was an Apollo Astronaut, and was the sixth man to walk on the moon.
In the radio interview - (the audio of which is available in the youtube video below) - Dr. Mitchell explains that he himself hasn't witnessed aliens firsthand, but that he is privy to knowledge that aliens do in fact exist and have visited Earth. In a rebuttal interview with Discovery.com - (the web link for which is offered at the end of this post) - Dr. Mitchell says that several people who were actually at the Roswell crash in 1949 relayed to him that an alien craft was discovered, as well as alien bodies. He also says that in the late nineties, he met with an Admiral at the Pentagon who confirmed that aliens do exist, and that they have made contact with earth.
The majority of Americans today believe that life does exist outside of Earth. Less believe that aliens have actually visited our planet. The French and Mexican Governments (among others) have admitted that unidentified flying crafts have flown over their airspace that defy present day technology. In 2006, the Vatican proclaimed that "...any eventual proof of extraterrestrial life would in no way diminish any Catholic's faith in God..." There is no doubt that much, if not the majority, of claims concerning aliens is rubbish - however, there is also a large amount of eyewitness accounts and dodgy government activity that certainly warrants more examination.
Some would ask why? What difference could it possibly make whether or not they exist and whether or not they've visited our planet and whether or not the government knows about it?
As an answer, I would supply just one of thousands of possible replies. If an extraterrestrial craft has indeed reached Earth, the energy source required by such a craft for such a journey - that being from other worlds - would be immense. Such an energy source could be beneficial in solving so much of the world's energy problems - from generation to pollution.
At any rate, I thought it was worth thinking about, and thought it worthy to try and get you to think about it too.
Here's the youtube video of the audio from Dr. Edgar Mitchell's interview with Kerrang Radio:
And here is the address for Dr. Mitchell's rebuttal interview with Discovery: http://dsc.discovery.com/space/qa/alien-ufo-edgar-mitchell.html
~
Monday, July 28, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
WAITING FOR THE CLICK
~
Writing is both a joyful and daunting art. At certain points of the process you can feel like you're on a cloud, whiling your way through the process with the greatest of ease. There are times when a book feels like it's writing itself - as if you're only there to manually throw the words down as someone whispers them into your ear. There are those times when a character is so real to you, so physically in the room while you're writing their dialogue... Those times when you're reading over what you've written and an interesting, unique, and profound theme that you'd not even thought about exposes itself in glittering detail throughout the entire work. Those times when someone who's read your work tells you that what you've done is important - that you somehow enriched even a small part of their life by writing it...
Those are the good times. Those are the reasons we do it.
And then there are the daunting aspects. The minutiae of it all, the nitpicking - going over every last word and detail to make sure that you've written what you wanted to write. The agonizing pressure to write something worthwhile, to write something new, to write something that takes what you're doing to the next level. The sheer time involved to get it right. The needless yet constant worry that the ideas won't be there tomorrow. The need for a life outside of writing, and living with the knowledge that life outside of writing detracts from writing. Then there's The Block.
For me, that last one is just about the worst. You've heard of Writer's Block to be sure, but there are as many different kinds of Writer's Block as there are authors in the world or stories in the history of man. WB - for brevity's sake - is a catch-all term for anything that impedes the process - scratch and/or amend that to read - anything internal that impedes the process. It's a Deficiency in your mind with a capital 'D', and there's a million and one ways to get around it... at least that's what all the Self Help Writing Blogs say.
My way of getting around it is simple - (or should I say, simply agonizing...): I ignore it. I refuse to accept it. I deny WB's very existence... often at my own peril.
What I mean by that is instead of going on to something else, (as those all-knowing Writer's Blogs suggest) instead of focusing my efforts elsewhere, I'll instead persist with the present project, writing line after line and paragraph after paragraph of complete and utter drivel. In some cases, I've continued this for days, knowing all the while that everything I was putting down would eventually have to be gutted - completely rewritten - if it was ever to have the tiniest chance of ever, ever seeing the light of day. And why do I do this instead switching to a different project? Part of it, I think, is that when WB happens, it infects your mind into thinking that you can't write well on any story - at least that's how it is for me - so what's the point of switching to another one? Another part of it, and this is probably the main reason - at least I like to think that it is - is that I'm just too damn stubborn. WB infuriates me to the point that I begin to think of it as a struggle that must be won at any cost - a failure to do so will mean that the fundamental ability to accomplish what I love doing most will be sacrificed.
Is it as dramatic as all that? It certainly is.
And then, at some point, after trying to think my way around the Block, perhaps for days, perhaps for a few weeks, the clouds part and that particular obstacle that had been throwing me, that particular concept that has proven as illusive as the end of a rainbow, becomes clear. There's this Operatic "Aaaaaah" moment that CLICKS in your mind, and the Block is over. It becomes a figment. A vague literary concept that you can't really remember ever experiencing because you are a confident, influential, and above all capable writer that really doesn't have to deal with that sort of nonsense...
That moment, that Click, when the Block ends, well my friends, that's another of those wondrous, joyful moments in the Writing Game. That's another one of those rushes, and I'm oh so happy to convey to each and every one of you, (or both of you) that the Writing Gods on High blessed me with just such a moment on Friday afternoon.
Things are good.
Things are Clicking.
BTW: CHECK THE OFFICIAL site, (www.scottfalkner.com) on Monday, July 21st for a very special treat. (Here's a hint: ? ? ?)
Writing is both a joyful and daunting art. At certain points of the process you can feel like you're on a cloud, whiling your way through the process with the greatest of ease. There are times when a book feels like it's writing itself - as if you're only there to manually throw the words down as someone whispers them into your ear. There are those times when a character is so real to you, so physically in the room while you're writing their dialogue... Those times when you're reading over what you've written and an interesting, unique, and profound theme that you'd not even thought about exposes itself in glittering detail throughout the entire work. Those times when someone who's read your work tells you that what you've done is important - that you somehow enriched even a small part of their life by writing it...
Those are the good times. Those are the reasons we do it.
And then there are the daunting aspects. The minutiae of it all, the nitpicking - going over every last word and detail to make sure that you've written what you wanted to write. The agonizing pressure to write something worthwhile, to write something new, to write something that takes what you're doing to the next level. The sheer time involved to get it right. The needless yet constant worry that the ideas won't be there tomorrow. The need for a life outside of writing, and living with the knowledge that life outside of writing detracts from writing. Then there's The Block.
For me, that last one is just about the worst. You've heard of Writer's Block to be sure, but there are as many different kinds of Writer's Block as there are authors in the world or stories in the history of man. WB - for brevity's sake - is a catch-all term for anything that impedes the process - scratch and/or amend that to read - anything internal that impedes the process. It's a Deficiency in your mind with a capital 'D', and there's a million and one ways to get around it... at least that's what all the Self Help Writing Blogs say.
My way of getting around it is simple - (or should I say, simply agonizing...): I ignore it. I refuse to accept it. I deny WB's very existence... often at my own peril.
What I mean by that is instead of going on to something else, (as those all-knowing Writer's Blogs suggest) instead of focusing my efforts elsewhere, I'll instead persist with the present project, writing line after line and paragraph after paragraph of complete and utter drivel. In some cases, I've continued this for days, knowing all the while that everything I was putting down would eventually have to be gutted - completely rewritten - if it was ever to have the tiniest chance of ever, ever seeing the light of day. And why do I do this instead switching to a different project? Part of it, I think, is that when WB happens, it infects your mind into thinking that you can't write well on any story - at least that's how it is for me - so what's the point of switching to another one? Another part of it, and this is probably the main reason - at least I like to think that it is - is that I'm just too damn stubborn. WB infuriates me to the point that I begin to think of it as a struggle that must be won at any cost - a failure to do so will mean that the fundamental ability to accomplish what I love doing most will be sacrificed.
Is it as dramatic as all that? It certainly is.
And then, at some point, after trying to think my way around the Block, perhaps for days, perhaps for a few weeks, the clouds part and that particular obstacle that had been throwing me, that particular concept that has proven as illusive as the end of a rainbow, becomes clear. There's this Operatic "Aaaaaah" moment that CLICKS in your mind, and the Block is over. It becomes a figment. A vague literary concept that you can't really remember ever experiencing because you are a confident, influential, and above all capable writer that really doesn't have to deal with that sort of nonsense...
That moment, that Click, when the Block ends, well my friends, that's another of those wondrous, joyful moments in the Writing Game. That's another one of those rushes, and I'm oh so happy to convey to each and every one of you, (or both of you) that the Writing Gods on High blessed me with just such a moment on Friday afternoon.
Things are good.
Things are Clicking.
BTW: CHECK THE OFFICIAL site, (www.scottfalkner.com) on Monday, July 21st for a very special treat. (Here's a hint: ? ? ?)
Friday, July 18, 2008
TO POV OR NOT TO POV
~
I was just sitting down to start writing for the evening and thought that I'd throw up a blog post before I get neck deep into the "mystery" book and forget all about it.
It's funny how I go through the days and something will occur to me and I'll think, "wow, now there's something I could write about on the blog," and then, of course, I sit down in front of the computer and forget all about what that said something was going to be...
I had hoped to hit the second Hellboy movie this week, but was bummed that it didn't quite fit into the Grandmaster's timetable. Of course, now I'm behind, and the Dark Knight comes out this weekend, and I'll be scratching my head wondering which one to see first...
The cover artwork for the new Metallica album, Death Magnetic, (check out Metallica.com to take a gander - it's pretty sweet!) was released today, as was the Kerrang! tune for the Iron Maiden tribute cd, Maiden Heaven. Metallica covered Remember Tomorrow, which I've put up at the end of this blog post - just because you're you!
To tell you the truth, I've been stalling a bit as of late when it comes to the stories in the "mystery" book. I know what the stories are about - as in I know what happens in them, ie. the sequence of events - the problem is that I've become a bit jaded with how they're being told...
Here we go. Here's a subject.
So often when writing a story - be it a short or a novel or whatever - the actual way to tell it becomes obvious. Whether it's in first person or second, whether it's from the point of view of the antagonist or protagonist, or whether its omniscient, all of that will usually make itself clear to me right from the get-go.
Now then. When doing a number of short stories that all sort of interact with one another, (like I'm doing with the 'mystery' book) in order to make them interesting as a collective unit, I've decided to break up the points of view from story to story. That sounds obvious, and yet... It almost seems like the more I think about the POV of the stories, the harder it is to pin down said POV. I've ended up second-guessing myself considerably, and have rewritten more than one of the them with a different POV just to see how it would play out.
Normally when you shake a story up like that, it offers a fresh perspective, and often gives you an easier time of conveying the events in a more interesting way; however, in a few of the tales I'm writing, there just doesn't seem any method that ends up as an absolutely perfect fit. Oh well - it's just a matter of figuring out what works and what doesn't. Speaking of... I should get back to it.
Here's that brand new Iron Maiden cover done by Metallica. Enjoy:
I was just sitting down to start writing for the evening and thought that I'd throw up a blog post before I get neck deep into the "mystery" book and forget all about it.
It's funny how I go through the days and something will occur to me and I'll think, "wow, now there's something I could write about on the blog," and then, of course, I sit down in front of the computer and forget all about what that said something was going to be...
I had hoped to hit the second Hellboy movie this week, but was bummed that it didn't quite fit into the Grandmaster's timetable. Of course, now I'm behind, and the Dark Knight comes out this weekend, and I'll be scratching my head wondering which one to see first...
The cover artwork for the new Metallica album, Death Magnetic, (check out Metallica.com to take a gander - it's pretty sweet!) was released today, as was the Kerrang! tune for the Iron Maiden tribute cd, Maiden Heaven. Metallica covered Remember Tomorrow, which I've put up at the end of this blog post - just because you're you!
To tell you the truth, I've been stalling a bit as of late when it comes to the stories in the "mystery" book. I know what the stories are about - as in I know what happens in them, ie. the sequence of events - the problem is that I've become a bit jaded with how they're being told...
Here we go. Here's a subject.
So often when writing a story - be it a short or a novel or whatever - the actual way to tell it becomes obvious. Whether it's in first person or second, whether it's from the point of view of the antagonist or protagonist, or whether its omniscient, all of that will usually make itself clear to me right from the get-go.
Now then. When doing a number of short stories that all sort of interact with one another, (like I'm doing with the 'mystery' book) in order to make them interesting as a collective unit, I've decided to break up the points of view from story to story. That sounds obvious, and yet... It almost seems like the more I think about the POV of the stories, the harder it is to pin down said POV. I've ended up second-guessing myself considerably, and have rewritten more than one of the them with a different POV just to see how it would play out.
Normally when you shake a story up like that, it offers a fresh perspective, and often gives you an easier time of conveying the events in a more interesting way; however, in a few of the tales I'm writing, there just doesn't seem any method that ends up as an absolutely perfect fit. Oh well - it's just a matter of figuring out what works and what doesn't. Speaking of... I should get back to it.
Here's that brand new Iron Maiden cover done by Metallica. Enjoy:
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
ON THIRTY-FIVE. ON THE PAST. ON THE FUTURE.
~
Guess what? Today I'm 35, which means that I'm now old enough to be President of the United States - and I'm seriously considering it.
Age is odd. At thirty-five, I still feel in some respects like a 22 year old, and in others I feel about 60. My body is hanging in there, despite the havoc I've wreaked upon it (knock on wood) and I still have the majority of my mental facilities, so I guess I don't have much to complain about... then again...
One of the core requirements for an artist is to be unsatisfied. I think that understanding that concept is one of the keys to coping with an artistic life. Once an artist becomes content, becomes satisfied with the status-quo - said artist is dead in a figurative sense, (of course).
I am figuratively very much alive.
It's apropos that my birthday and New Year's are at the polar ends of the year. Today, July 15th, is the absolute center of summer, and of course, January 1st is just about winter's bleakest point. In the past few years when my birthday or New Year's rolled around, I've shied away from looking back over what I've done, as well as avoided looking forward to what I've planned on doing. There were a couple of reasons for that. Dwelling on past accomplishments is a death knell to be sure. You can't rest on your laurels, nor languish in your failures. Learn from both and move on. As far as looking ahead, I was afraid that I was spending a bit too much time thinking (and blogging) about what I was going to do... in place of actually doing it. In addition, I was always afraid of penning (pun not intended) myself into a project - just because I said I was going to do it.
I think it's time for a more political - read: presidential - approach. After all, I'm 35 now, and being presidential is fully age appropriate. I'll talk about what I've done when I want to talk about it, and I'll look ahead when I want to look ahead. I'll think, discuss, and write about what I'm going to do next, and I won't hold myself to it at all... how presidential.
I guess that's sort of a heads up for the two or three people that read this blog: Take it all with a grain of salt.
All right, a year ago (about) the first book of my dark fantasy trilogy called Delving came out. When I wrote the book, it wasn't intended to be a "first" of anything. It was intended to be a stand alone story called Delving. However, the response from early pre-readers exceeded those of my other books, and they all wanted to know what happened after the first Delving book.
After?
How the hell did I know? At any rate, the response was favorable enough that I made the decision to continue on with Delving into another book. After thinking about it for a while, I realized that I sort of did know just where the story could go, and realized that I could pump another two volumes out of it.
The thing was, I had experienced a phenomenal response from my first published book, The Feast of Catchville - and a so-so one from my second, Swaybuck. As a result of the enthusiasm of my then-pre-readers - who wouldn't hesitate to tell me if something sucked - I thought the release of the first Delving book - Delving: Obligations - would be fantastic. I even went and sucked some great blurbs out of a few well known authors in hopes of getting the word out on the novel. Ren and I created a website, actually a "wing" of the official scottfalkner.com website, that catered exclusively to the world of Delving, offering character bios, excerpts, backgrounds, and even t-shirts to try and amp up the release of the book.
And a year ago it came out, and didn't do what I'd necessarily call phenomenally well in the sales department.
I was shocked. Stunned. A general state of disbelief ensued. What did I do wrong? I've not heard one negative review of the book - and by ALL means, if you've read it and didn't like it, I'd love to hear from you, seriously. The promotion matched, if not surpassed that of my other books. WTF?
The only thing that I can really figure is that the books aren't horror novels. They're not about ghosts or zombies. They're certainly dark fantasy, but they're anchored more in character relationships and self-discovery. They're more "literate" than the stuff I've written in the past.
So perhaps that was the problem? I was birthed into the horror genre, and the horror genre wanted nothing to do with the new books.
Okay.
I can deal with that.
A year passed.
Some more people have picked up the first Delving book over the last year. I've heard from some of them, and they all were excited to hear what was going to happen in the second one. Cool. The second book, Delving: Assassins, came out last month. It's different from the first one. It's less introspective and more action-based. It's a book that I would want to read (as is everything I write), and I guess that's all that really matters at this point. I continue to write for me. I've dropped out the whole pre-reader part of the process because I'm just arrogant enough to think that I'm smart enough to know what it is that I want to do and how to do it. I loathe accepting other people's points of view when it comes to my writing. Of course, I work with my editors to put forward the best possible collection of words and sentences - that's my responsibility to my publisher - but as far as the ideas go, as far as the genres go - that's all me.
And now I'm writing what we've been referring to as the "mystery" book. It's a collection of short stories. It's sort of horror, but a lot dark fantasy. It'll be tough for some to latch onto. It'll be perfect for the sensibilities of others. I like it a lot so far. And as I said before...
Next month I begin writing the last Delving book, Delving: Culminations. In tone and theme, it'll be a mix of the first two. There are a lot of family dynamics that need to be addressed. There are a lot of characters who will either kill or be killed. There are Delves that fans of the series will be shocked by. There will be a final confrontation that could mean the end of the world.
There's a book I finished in the last year called Calvin Dyer and the Reatian Horde. I submitted it to a publisher that specializes in what I like to think of as horror-based fantasy and science fiction. Having read other books by this mid-list publisher, I thought Calvin Dyer... might actually be a good fit for them. Guess not. "It's very good - we just don't feel it fits with what we do..." was the response. I guess my inability to pick a genre and stick with it is once again working against me. But what am I gonna do? I write what I like to read. Period. If the rest of the industry can't get behind it, fuck 'em. By the way, if you're a publisher and interested in Western-orientated Dark Fantasy, drop me a line.
Three books are in the works, and about five others are in the "I've written the first few chapters and am still letting them float around in my mind before I really go toe to toe with them" phase. I'm not sure which of these I'll hit after I'm done writing Culminations. Oh, trust me, they'll all get written, it's just a question of order and where my mind is. I've read and heard other authors talk about how you "have" to keep plowing through one book before you head onto the next one.
Every time I hear someone tell me I "HAVE" to do something, my nerves tingle like the hackles on a bloodlusty wolf.
My painting has really, really, suffered in the past year. Again, I worked myself into doing a "series" of paintings called the Zecada Fears. I had this whole idea of accompanying five different paintings with a short story I'd thought up. Great. Two of them are done - you can view them in the Gallery on my website. The third is virtually finished, but it's just a time issue. With three kids, a full docket professionally, and all the other mandatory bullshit that filters into life despite my best efforts to keep it at bay, something's gotta give. One of these years, perhaps 2010 - I'm going to take the entire year off from writing and just paint full time. I look forward to it.
Writing a play is something that I've wanted to do for a long time. I don't feel quite confident enough to do it just yet, but I think I'll start reading more plays in the near future to get a feel for the medium. The undisclosed city - or rather, town - we're moving near in the next few months has a small community theater which I would very much like to get involved in. Perhaps after being a part of a few productions, whether on the stage or behind the scenes - will allow me to absorb that much more of the medium, and get me thinking about writing, producing, and directing theater. We'll put that one in the 'on the horizon' file.
Comics. This is something else that I've been wanting to do for a long time. I'd originally thought of doing a comic utilizing not only my writing talents, but my painting as well. I thought I might do something a la Dave McKean's Arkham Asylum. That possibility is still there, but as with theater, I need to know more about the process. I talked to a friend of mine yesterday that writes comics professionally, and he recommended some resources to look into if I was interested in the process. I'm definitely going to be taking a good long look at it with hopes of writing something for the medium soon.
The small town that we're moving to over the next few months has a very rich history - primarily in the lumber industry. As with most small towns, there's a lot of that history that has been recorded over the years, and most of it is pretty generic. Something I would very much like to do in the coming years is shoot a film concerning the story of the lumber industry in northern Wisconsin. I know a few dark details not included in the majority of the generic histories that make me think a documentary on the subject could be fascinating. Again, film is something that I've only had a limited education in, and documentaries are something that I've never really been schooled in. So, the process will need to be examined, and examine it I will.
There's always something to hold my attention and to look forward to. I guess that's a mark of a life worth continuing. At thirty-five, I'm not satisfied, not by a long shot. There's lots more to do. There's daily vendettas to be addressed. There's barriers to break. There's roles to be discovered.
There's work to be done. Always.
Guess what? Today I'm 35, which means that I'm now old enough to be President of the United States - and I'm seriously considering it.
Age is odd. At thirty-five, I still feel in some respects like a 22 year old, and in others I feel about 60. My body is hanging in there, despite the havoc I've wreaked upon it (knock on wood) and I still have the majority of my mental facilities, so I guess I don't have much to complain about... then again...
One of the core requirements for an artist is to be unsatisfied. I think that understanding that concept is one of the keys to coping with an artistic life. Once an artist becomes content, becomes satisfied with the status-quo - said artist is dead in a figurative sense, (of course).
I am figuratively very much alive.
It's apropos that my birthday and New Year's are at the polar ends of the year. Today, July 15th, is the absolute center of summer, and of course, January 1st is just about winter's bleakest point. In the past few years when my birthday or New Year's rolled around, I've shied away from looking back over what I've done, as well as avoided looking forward to what I've planned on doing. There were a couple of reasons for that. Dwelling on past accomplishments is a death knell to be sure. You can't rest on your laurels, nor languish in your failures. Learn from both and move on. As far as looking ahead, I was afraid that I was spending a bit too much time thinking (and blogging) about what I was going to do... in place of actually doing it. In addition, I was always afraid of penning (pun not intended) myself into a project - just because I said I was going to do it.
I think it's time for a more political - read: presidential - approach. After all, I'm 35 now, and being presidential is fully age appropriate. I'll talk about what I've done when I want to talk about it, and I'll look ahead when I want to look ahead. I'll think, discuss, and write about what I'm going to do next, and I won't hold myself to it at all... how presidential.
I guess that's sort of a heads up for the two or three people that read this blog: Take it all with a grain of salt.
All right, a year ago (about) the first book of my dark fantasy trilogy called Delving came out. When I wrote the book, it wasn't intended to be a "first" of anything. It was intended to be a stand alone story called Delving. However, the response from early pre-readers exceeded those of my other books, and they all wanted to know what happened after the first Delving book.
After?
How the hell did I know? At any rate, the response was favorable enough that I made the decision to continue on with Delving into another book. After thinking about it for a while, I realized that I sort of did know just where the story could go, and realized that I could pump another two volumes out of it.
The thing was, I had experienced a phenomenal response from my first published book, The Feast of Catchville - and a so-so one from my second, Swaybuck. As a result of the enthusiasm of my then-pre-readers - who wouldn't hesitate to tell me if something sucked - I thought the release of the first Delving book - Delving: Obligations - would be fantastic. I even went and sucked some great blurbs out of a few well known authors in hopes of getting the word out on the novel. Ren and I created a website, actually a "wing" of the official scottfalkner.com website, that catered exclusively to the world of Delving, offering character bios, excerpts, backgrounds, and even t-shirts to try and amp up the release of the book.
And a year ago it came out, and didn't do what I'd necessarily call phenomenally well in the sales department.
I was shocked. Stunned. A general state of disbelief ensued. What did I do wrong? I've not heard one negative review of the book - and by ALL means, if you've read it and didn't like it, I'd love to hear from you, seriously. The promotion matched, if not surpassed that of my other books. WTF?
The only thing that I can really figure is that the books aren't horror novels. They're not about ghosts or zombies. They're certainly dark fantasy, but they're anchored more in character relationships and self-discovery. They're more "literate" than the stuff I've written in the past.
So perhaps that was the problem? I was birthed into the horror genre, and the horror genre wanted nothing to do with the new books.
Okay.
I can deal with that.
A year passed.
Some more people have picked up the first Delving book over the last year. I've heard from some of them, and they all were excited to hear what was going to happen in the second one. Cool. The second book, Delving: Assassins, came out last month. It's different from the first one. It's less introspective and more action-based. It's a book that I would want to read (as is everything I write), and I guess that's all that really matters at this point. I continue to write for me. I've dropped out the whole pre-reader part of the process because I'm just arrogant enough to think that I'm smart enough to know what it is that I want to do and how to do it. I loathe accepting other people's points of view when it comes to my writing. Of course, I work with my editors to put forward the best possible collection of words and sentences - that's my responsibility to my publisher - but as far as the ideas go, as far as the genres go - that's all me.
And now I'm writing what we've been referring to as the "mystery" book. It's a collection of short stories. It's sort of horror, but a lot dark fantasy. It'll be tough for some to latch onto. It'll be perfect for the sensibilities of others. I like it a lot so far. And as I said before...
Next month I begin writing the last Delving book, Delving: Culminations. In tone and theme, it'll be a mix of the first two. There are a lot of family dynamics that need to be addressed. There are a lot of characters who will either kill or be killed. There are Delves that fans of the series will be shocked by. There will be a final confrontation that could mean the end of the world.
There's a book I finished in the last year called Calvin Dyer and the Reatian Horde. I submitted it to a publisher that specializes in what I like to think of as horror-based fantasy and science fiction. Having read other books by this mid-list publisher, I thought Calvin Dyer... might actually be a good fit for them. Guess not. "It's very good - we just don't feel it fits with what we do..." was the response. I guess my inability to pick a genre and stick with it is once again working against me. But what am I gonna do? I write what I like to read. Period. If the rest of the industry can't get behind it, fuck 'em. By the way, if you're a publisher and interested in Western-orientated Dark Fantasy, drop me a line.
Three books are in the works, and about five others are in the "I've written the first few chapters and am still letting them float around in my mind before I really go toe to toe with them" phase. I'm not sure which of these I'll hit after I'm done writing Culminations. Oh, trust me, they'll all get written, it's just a question of order and where my mind is. I've read and heard other authors talk about how you "have" to keep plowing through one book before you head onto the next one.
Every time I hear someone tell me I "HAVE" to do something, my nerves tingle like the hackles on a bloodlusty wolf.
My painting has really, really, suffered in the past year. Again, I worked myself into doing a "series" of paintings called the Zecada Fears. I had this whole idea of accompanying five different paintings with a short story I'd thought up. Great. Two of them are done - you can view them in the Gallery on my website. The third is virtually finished, but it's just a time issue. With three kids, a full docket professionally, and all the other mandatory bullshit that filters into life despite my best efforts to keep it at bay, something's gotta give. One of these years, perhaps 2010 - I'm going to take the entire year off from writing and just paint full time. I look forward to it.
Writing a play is something that I've wanted to do for a long time. I don't feel quite confident enough to do it just yet, but I think I'll start reading more plays in the near future to get a feel for the medium. The undisclosed city - or rather, town - we're moving near in the next few months has a small community theater which I would very much like to get involved in. Perhaps after being a part of a few productions, whether on the stage or behind the scenes - will allow me to absorb that much more of the medium, and get me thinking about writing, producing, and directing theater. We'll put that one in the 'on the horizon' file.
Comics. This is something else that I've been wanting to do for a long time. I'd originally thought of doing a comic utilizing not only my writing talents, but my painting as well. I thought I might do something a la Dave McKean's Arkham Asylum. That possibility is still there, but as with theater, I need to know more about the process. I talked to a friend of mine yesterday that writes comics professionally, and he recommended some resources to look into if I was interested in the process. I'm definitely going to be taking a good long look at it with hopes of writing something for the medium soon.
The small town that we're moving to over the next few months has a very rich history - primarily in the lumber industry. As with most small towns, there's a lot of that history that has been recorded over the years, and most of it is pretty generic. Something I would very much like to do in the coming years is shoot a film concerning the story of the lumber industry in northern Wisconsin. I know a few dark details not included in the majority of the generic histories that make me think a documentary on the subject could be fascinating. Again, film is something that I've only had a limited education in, and documentaries are something that I've never really been schooled in. So, the process will need to be examined, and examine it I will.
There's always something to hold my attention and to look forward to. I guess that's a mark of a life worth continuing. At thirty-five, I'm not satisfied, not by a long shot. There's lots more to do. There's daily vendettas to be addressed. There's barriers to break. There's roles to be discovered.
There's work to be done. Always.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
