Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Working an Outline -- Psychological Thriller/Literary Fiction

Outlining a new book today. The working title is "The Anarchist" and it will be about 280 [trade paperback 6x9] long. 

It will examine the life and the radicalization of a young man from childhood, beginning with his parents' meeting, through adolescence, university life, and finally his life on the militant fringes of society -- part radical and part criminal. 

The book is projected to be approximately 110,000 words. 

Look for this book in either late 2015 or early 2016. 

End Times Inc. -- Book 2 of A Great & Continuous Malignity -- Now on Amazon

The 2nd volumes picks up four years after Fortuna's Bastard ends. Matt is still looking for China but the action has moved to the US, from Southern Ontario and Dilmun. 

Look for Apocalypse Culture this spring anywhere from late March through April [sometime]. Volume 3 continues with the adventures of Matt & China as their contest with Matt's father and mother--Zakara Botrous and Shea Feargal reach their climax. 

Later this year look for The Beluga Fay, book 1 of Dragon Bone Hill, in which Titus Pym is stranded on the main island of an archipelago nation in the great expanse of the southern ocean during a virulent epidemic. 

What to look for in the Dragon Bone Hill trilogy: 
1. Surviving a plague 
2. Cannibalism
3. An assassin 
4. A criminal Cartel 
5. A decaying political authority
6. Religious hysteria/flagellents 
7. Another anit-hero 
8. Romance in the ruins 
9. Betrayal & Redemption 

This is the first book of a trilogy: Dragon Bone Hill. Genres: Literary Fiction; Thriller; Hardboiled Crime; Crime; Dystopia; Political Thriller; General Fiction; Natrualism; Realism; Surrealism -- via plague and religious hysteria. 

Look for The Beluga Fay this fall and Book 2, Dragon Bone Hill, next January [tentative date] and the final volume, The  Wall March of next year [again tentative release date] 

If these books do well, look for other Titus Pym books in the future. 

As with my other books these will be available in both eBook and print formats. 

Any suggestions or criticisms may be directed to this blog or email the author directly at cryptobarker@gmail.com 

Friday, July 26, 2013

On Writing Characters



This is a topic that I've had a lot of discussions about. And they all come down to a few things:

1. Are they believable?

2. Are they compelling?

3. Are they individuals you can identify with?

4. Do they work for the story?

Believable
This is probably the most subjective element in a character. Personally, most of the beta-male [weak and indecisive] characters are not believable to me. Most men I've known in my life are anything but this.
So, when I write a character I make them over-the-top, no holds barred alpha males that will do whatever it takes to accomplish their goals -- no matter how dark or twisted these goals are.
Some would argue most humans, regardless of sex, are weak and indecisive and it's interesting to read about how they manage or do not manage their lives in this respect. I'm just not one of those people. Normally I will put down a book like that, because I would not find this believable or worth the effort and/or time. 
This is not to suggest that the alpha male characters are right, or wrong [moral questions are worthless when dealing with people's goals and drives -- morality is what we think people should do...not what they do], but that they are more interesting as villains, heroes, or tragic figures than an Oblamov character is [see Ivan Goncharov's 'Oblamov' for more information].

Compelling
This should flow almost directly from 'Believable'. There are important elements here, however, which distinguish it from believability. As an adjective it literally means: tending to persuade by forcefulness of argument. This is the key, the character must have a point of view and be willing to pursue that perspective through to the, perhaps, bitter end. Actions in such a character need to be bold, shocking, controversial, and unwavering -- even if the character has doubts about their actions. Actually, it's a good idea to have your character confront their doubts, but still to forge ahead: Shakespeare and Homer have taught us that if naught else.
However, endless and nauseating self-reflection may make for beautiful prose but will not help the story or plot [the distinction between these two is not for this post] in the end.

Identifying with the Character
Here is a psychologically sketchy area. Some characters with all the appropriate virtues and mild vices are easy enough to identify with, but often this can be boring. Sometimes it is fun to take a ride in a character we might find repellent in our actually lives, but in our dark hearts [and everyone has one] they can be interesting, enlightening, and even entertaining.
My writing is concerned, almost exclusively, with the Anti-hero [An anti-hero is only good in comparison to those around them], and therefore identifying with them is a problematic enterprise and one that is possible only if you carry a seed of this darkness in yourself. Thankfully, most of us do.


Does the character work for the story?
An anti-hero in a bodice-ripper can work, but it isn't the norm. Now I am speaking of the genuine anti-hero and not the milksop Byronic wannabes of Twilight, Anne Rice, or countless other creations of the Chick Lit. World [my prejudices are here for the world to see].
An anti-hero can work best in a world of moral ambiguities or outright rejection of moral and legal systems which bind humanity one to the other in a social and legal construct of acceptable and unacceptable behaviours.
Ultimately, a character is a manifestation of a book's theme and aesthetic sensibility and must work and act within that zeitgeist. If the reader cannot accept the world view then their ability to be convinced by the character will come into question and the book, in the end, will be a failure for the reader. It is for this reason that we now have so many genres, sub-genres, and such a plurality of general fiction and literary fiction today. We are literally drowning in literary micro-niches [dig through Amazon some day if you doubt me].

As a final thought, let me suggest this list of elements for a successfully character is not complete -- how could it ever be? What defines a character is a nebulous area, as is what defines plot [a good one at least]. However, these are the elements, for this writer, which helps to define characters that are worth my time and, hopefully, yours.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Writing is an act of War

Writing is a bloody hard job and only professionals should engage in it...research, outlining, creativity, and plain backbreaking work are all necessary. And if you are not prepared to burn your life down to the ground, as well as those of everyone around you, don't even think of being a writer. Writing is an act of rampage killing; genocide; and a plain old act of war by conquest. Leave no survivors.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

The Dog Particle

The Dog Particle  [Volume 2 of The Burdened Air]

The 2nd volume & conclusion of The Burdened Air is now on Amazon. You will find it here -- The Dog Particle. At the moment the only edition available is the eBook. However, the paperback will be available in about 7 business days if not sooner.

Synopsis

Dinged in signs on the road to nirvanic buggery—life had never felt so much like this before.

Tricked through a Bridge into Sanat by Zephyr and a splinter group of the Eventyr, Alexandru ‘Sandu’ Barr is left no choice but to complete his search for the weapon and what is supposed to be a final confrontation with Loehr.

In a confused, surprising, phantastic, and bloody run across the heartland of the Nexus—then back on Earth—Sandu is forced to confront the fundamental nature of his rage; the intentions of the cabal known as the Rada; the confusing, duplicitous love of a transmogrifying woman; the existential nature of the weapon and his relationship to this; lastly, the fundamental nature and appearance of redemption—behind the drum and bugle.

In ‘The Dog Particle’, Book II and conclusion of ‘The Burdened Air’, Sandu’s skip across dimensional frontiers, and then back, takes its toll on man, planet, and metaverse in ways unexpected and troubling for all. Hope, of sorts, remains, because in this is the only way forward—even if ludicrous, debilitating, and—finally—another episode in the Eternal Return, unless Sandu can break the cycle of violation and violence.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

The Dog Particle, Bk. II of The Burdened Air - Now with the Book Designer

The second part of 'The Burdened Air' 'The Dog Particle' has entered the book design phase of it's publication. This book should be available some time in April.

Here's the synopsis:

Dinged in signs on the road to nirvanic buggery—life had never felt so much like this before.

Tricked through a Bridge into Sanat by Zephyr and a splinter group of the Eventyr, Alexandru ‘Sandu’ Barr is left no choice, but to complete his search for the weapon and what is supposed to be a final confrontation with Loehr.

In a confused, surprising, phantastic, and bloody run across the heartland of the Nexus—then back on Earth—Sandu is forced to confront the fundamental nature of his rage; the intentions of the cabal known as the Rada; the confusing, duplicitous love of a transmogrifying woman; the existential nature of the weapon and his relationship to this; lastly, the fundamental nature and appearance of redemption—behind the drum and bugle.

In ‘The Dog Particle’, Book II and conclusion of ‘The Burdened Air’, Sandu’s skip across dimensional frontiers, and then back, takes its toll on man, planet, and the metaverse in ways unexpected and troubling for all. Hope, of sorts, remains, because in this is the only way forward—even if ludicrous, debilitating, and—finally—another episode in the Eternal Return, unless Sandu can break the cycle of violation and violence.