It’s been a week since I decided to come out of the closet and reveal my sexuality. I’m happy to say that the response has been overwhelmingly positive. I’ve heard people tell me that they are proud of me for coming out, others have told me as long as I’m happy they don’t care. One friend said that while she found it incredible that we lived in a world where people had to make a big announcement in order to come out, but wished me luck nonetheless.
But I think my favorite reaction has been that of my close friends at school. They all saw my post on Facebook and gave it a Like (I can’t be sure, I got over 60 Likes on that one post), and when I saw them the next day in classes they just didn’t say a word. They didn’t need to. They just smiled, asked me how I was doing, and then we got to talking about the usual stuff. In a way, I think that’s what all LGBT people and those who support them wish for: a day when sexuality isn’t something that one has to hide or reveal. It’s just something that’s part of a person.
Now that I’ve come out though, I think I’ll be a bit more active in defending gay rights on my blog. A couple of gun-rights advocates had turned me off political issues for a while, but I think it’s time I resume ranting on what I feel matters, especially for gay rights. So get ready for a whole storm of political issues in between my updates on writing and school and my musings on writing and horror.
Some of you may be acquainted with Angela, or have heard me gush over her awesome feedback to my novel Snake. But did you know that Angela’s first novel, Jewel of the Thames, has just been released (I’ve already got it on my Kindle)? When I heard about it, I was so excited for her, and I got the chance to interview her before JotT came out.
Angela was born in London, England, but currently she lives in Toronto, Canada with her family. She has been writing for a number of years, most notably for CBC Radio as a journalist. She also does freelance and digital projects on the side, but currently she’s been devoting her time to the Portia Adams books she’s been writing (last I checked she’s got around eight or nine casebooks in the series). She is a fan of mysteries, Doctor Who, and most stuff Sherlock Holmes (but not Elementary).
RU: Hello Angela, it’s a pleasure to talk to you. Give us an idea about what Jewel of the Thames is about.
AM: Sure Rami: Jewel of the Thames is the first book in a series of stories about aspiring detective Portia Adams. It is also an homage to my favourite detective novels – the Sherlock Holmes books, the Nancy Drews, the Hercule Poirots. All of the books I read from childhood till now, and all the great authors who inspired me to create this character. So far in this series, I have written ten casebooks – cases that Portia has taken on – and the first three make up Jewel of the Thames.
There is a lot that had to happen in the first book – Portia needs to find out what her link is to the property she has inherited in London, and she needs to start standing on her own. The whole book is three casebooks wrapped in a mystery driving towards a big reveal at the end. You’re gonna have to read it to find out what the heck I’m talking about.
RU: Considering my level of confusion and intrigue, I will. Now tell us a little about your protagonist, Portia Adams. Who is she exactly?
AM: Hmm, what can I tell you without spoiling it? She’s a 19 year old Canadian who at the very beginning of the books loses her mom, leaving her a poor orphan in 1930s Toronto. It is at the reading of her mother’s will that she discovers she has been left a mysterious property in London and that she has a guardian – Mrs. jones from New York.
Portia is an intelligent introvert who has always preferred books and quiet to social situations, she loves school, hates fashion, often forgets to eat and has no friends. This is partially because she’s viewed as odd and anti-social despite her mother’s best efforts. Her overwhelming curiosity leads her to what interests her rather than what others are focused on, and gives her a focus most don’t understand.
She’s tall and slim, with dark brown hair which she wears unfashionably long and usually in a bun, with startling blue eyes. Feel like you know her a little better?
RU: Maybe just a bit. What do you say your writing process is?
AM: write long-hand in Moleskin notebooks, so for Jewel, my writing time was my commute back and forth to my full-time job in downtown Toronto. So for 30 minutes in each direction on transit twice a day I would write about Portia Adams, ignoring the smells, sounds and closeness of the Toronto Transit crowd. As a result, I have about 30 Moleskin notebooks filled with my handwriting in lots of colours detailing Portia’s adventures.
Angela and her moleskin notebooks
RU: Wow, that kind of writing schedule requires tenacity. What do you think will draw people to Jewel and to Portia?
AM: Hmm… I guess the same things that drew me to her – a young female protagonist who is learning to stand on her own – I find that premise compelling. Her relationships are part of what make her the woman she is, and as those develop I think she will become an unforgettable character, as will the recurring characters around her like Brian, Sergeant Michaels and Mrs. Jones. That’s how I feel about her at least, I find that even when I’m not writing about Portia, I’m thinking about her. I’ve got a bit of a WWPD mentality in my own life, so that when things happen, I often think What Would Portia Do?
It doesn’t hurt that the setting is London in the 1930s, a really interesting time in history between the two great wars and smack in the middle of the great depression. I hope that people come to care for Portia, because I know from my own experience as a reader that a connection with the characters is key. I guess I will be looking for that kind of feedback from book 1 as I get into the editing phase of books 2 and 3.
RU: Speaking of Books 2 and 3, are you going to continue writing and editing on the bus to and from work, or have things changed since you found out Jewel of the Thames was going to be published?
AM: Things have indeed changed, but actually before I got my contract for Jewel. Last June, after I finished writing the third book in the series, I decide it was time to concentrate my time on this part of my life. I’ve spent the past 14 years working as journalist for the CBC, I think it’s fair to try ‘something else’ for a while.
So I work from home now as a freelance journalist and so far I’m loving it. I try to write a few hours every morning (in the series on book 4, blogging, research) and then spend the afternoons working my freelance contracts. I think I’ve hit a rhythm that works for me, so we’ll see how it goes.
RU: I’m glad it’s working out for you. And you know, I feel kind of bad, because I forgot you were also a journalist for the CBC. How did you get into writing and journalism in the first place? What inspired you to go down that path?
AM: (Laughs) Don’t feel bad about that! But to answer that question, I’m going to steal from the bio I wrote for my publishers last week:
“Everything changed for young Angela Misri one spring day in 1992 at an assembly in the gym where, as per usual, she was giggling and whispering with her friends in the audience. Suddenly her name was called by the Principal of the school and she was jostled out from the safety of the herd and to the front of the room. Having not really listened to the preceding speech, she was shocked to learn that a poem she had written as part of a school assignment had been published in an anthology of like-quality poems by Canadian children. The Principal smiled the biggest smile she had ever seen on a teacher, and handed her a copy of the coil-bound anthology, turning the young poet towards the audience of her schoolmates and starting the applause that followed her back to her safe haven between her best friends.
That was the moment when Angela discovered that despite being of Indian descent, there were in fact other options for your life’s work than medicine or engineering.”
So there you are! That was the moment for me, and I’ve been writing ever since. I wrote my first book when I was your age, Rami. It’s a historical fiction called ‘Savitri’ and it’s sitting upstairs in a binder. The only other copy is on a floppy disk (no, I’m not kidding, that’s how long ago it was since I was your age ; ) . I haven’t read it in about 15 years and I will admit, that I am scared to. I’m worried that the vision of the story (which I still think is the best I ever wrote) will not live up to reality.
RU: That’s a problem that a lot of authors face when they think of their early stories. So how did you come up with the Portia Adams stories?
AM: It was after reading the Stephen King short story called ‘The Doctor’s Case’ that the idea for Portia came to me. If you haven’t read it, I suggest you do, it’s one of my favourites. As the title suggests, its an original Holmes-Watson story with a twist – Watson solves the case before the great detective. I loved that idea, and Portia started to form in my mind as a kind of homage to King and Conan Doyle.
The first case I wrote jumped straight into the jewel thefts and was over in less than 12 thousand words. I read it over a few times and realized that if this was going to be more than a short-story, I need to write some backstory for my detective. So I went back, created a beginning for Portia, and did a whole bunch more research into the time period, the whole family tree of Holmes, Watson and many others from the original canon. Once I had expanded Portia’s world to about 20 thousand words, I had the idea for the third case in the book – the one that happens on the train. I wrote that in two days and then, rereading it, decided I needed another case between the jewel thief and the train story because she was moving around too much. I felt she needed more time to get to know London and to get comfortable with her new College, so I wrote the casebook I called “A Case of Darkness.”
RU: What’s next for you?
AM: Wonderful, an easy question! I have written books 2 and 3 of this series already, so my next steps are to edit the heck out of them for my publishers and get them into production! I have also started a new dystopic novel that I’d like to carve out some time to write.
RU: Ooh, that sounds interesting. Now just a couple more questions. First, how have your family and friends reacted to the news about Jewel?
AM: They’re very excited but not really surprised. I guess it’s normal for me to be the most nervous about putting my work out there (since it’s mine) but most of my friends and family told me it was just a matter of time before I would get published. I don’t know if they were just saying that to be supportive, but I was no where near as confident. Now that it is really happening and there is a date when a physical book will be available in stores, their excitement has doubled. Seriously, I have the most supportive network – and that includes this blog and you Rami!
RU: I’m happy to be a part of that network, and I’m glad you’re a part of mine. Now here’s a fun question: if some big Hollywood producer came up to you and said they wanted to make a movie or TV show about Portia, who would you want to play the characters?
AM: I LOVE this question as you well know, because I’ve spent too much time thinking about it.
So I would love Katie McGrath (of BBC’s Merlin) to play Portia. I think she has the right balance of beauty and bark that my detective needs. I believe Jensen Ackles (of the CW’s Supernatural) would make a kick-ass Brian. And I think Irene Jones would benefit from the beauty and wit of someone like Lynda Carter (original Wonder Woman).
RU: Since I don’t know who those people are, I’ll take your word for it that they’re perfect for the roles. Final question: If you were stuck on a desert island and could only take three books with you, what would those books be?
AM: Hmm.. I guess Stephen King’s The Stand, Tolkein’s The Two Towers, and Conan Doyle’s Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. If I had a fourth option I’d have to take an Ann Rice. Can I please take my iPad instead Rami? I’m going to need more books than the average human.
I’d say yes, but there’s the question of charging it when the battery gets low. And the lack of a Wi-Fi network. Anyway, thanks for joining us, Angela.
I have a friend who sometimes will go off the Internet for twenty-four hours and will just search the area around her for fun, excitement, stimulating conversation, something new and enjoyable. She calls it “Fishing for Life”, which I think is an appropriate title for what she does. As a college student, I can’t exactly go offline for a full day (what if I miss something important for classes?), but I admire the concept of disconnecting for a little while and going out into the world to enjoy it. And I did a bit of that this weekend.
Yesterday I was at my apartment, and I was going stir-crazy. I’d been cooped in because I had to work on an assignment, and then when I’d tried writing, I’d found myself unable to do it. I just had no motivation to write, I was just too restless. So I basically went on Facebook looking to see if anyone wanted to hang out. A friend of mine was going to a birthday party of a mutual acquaintance of ours, so I decided to buy a gift card and tag along. I ended up having a wonderful evening: over drinks (my lawyers swear non-alcoholic because obviously I’m not old enough to drink) I talked to and met some wonderful people. The birthday boy danced around the house, for some reason wearing a giant lizard suit and officer’s coat (hey it’s his birthday, he should go wild if he wants) and giving hugs to everyone who came. There were two girls who were from a small town about an hour from Columbus, and their high school used to bring in Chinese teachers straight from China just to teach the language. And I met a lovely young woman who shared a love with me for the TV show Hannibal and said she would check out The Following when I told her she looked like one of the characters. It was a wonderful couple of hours, and by the time I got home I was refreshed and relaxed and able to write again.
And then today I went to meditation class. That’s sort of a weekly ritual for me, going downtown on the buses to drop and pick up books at the library and then head up a couple floors to meditate, but today it took on an extra special meaning, as I realized that meeting my meditation group was also a way of fishing for life. And in our small study room, with soft music playing and our minds collectively aimed at clearing ourselves of thoughts and impurities and awakening ourselves, I felt a peace I hadn’t felt in so, so long. Even five or ten minutes after we’d finished meditating, my scalp was still tingling where my seventh chakra was supposed to be. And during the meditation, I had a couple of ideas for stories, one of which reminded me of an Anne Rice or a Dean Koontz story mixed with a manga I read a few years back.
I have to say, I rather enjoyed going out and fishing for life. And when I do it, I feel so much better and things come more easily to me. I guess as much as I like to sit in and work on the next great American Horror novel (or what I hope will be that), I need a certain amount of interaction with other people and in other places in order to write with any sort of competence or joy.
So the next time I feel antsy and can’t write, I’ll see what’s going on in or around campus. I could find a great idea for a story while I’m out and about, and while I’m at it I could find something even greater.
Do you ever go fishing for life? What happened when you did?
Over the past two semesters, the number of ideas I’ve had for stories has been growing quickly. At last count, I had about 117 ideas for novels/TV shows/movies/comic books/video games (I usually put those all on the same list), 152 ideas for short stories, and 36 ideas for articles on writing/editing/publishing/marketing. Just goes to show what happens when you give a mind with an active imagination and an affinity for storytelling too much stimulation.
I’m not complaining or anything. I love all these ideas I’m getting, and I make sure to write them down as soon as possible so that I can remember them for later (my writer’s pride won’t let me forget them). It’s just that I want to write them all, but obviously with school, work, homework, bills, errands, and everything else in my life, I can’t devote myself 24/7 to writing, much as I would like to some days. So writing is a slower process for me than what I’d like for it to be. So with all these ideas coming to me and not as much time to write them as I’d like, there’s a good chance that I won’t write them all. Just a small fraction of them.
Sometimes I wonder if perhaps this is why James Patterson has so many co-authors. If he’s just overwhelmed by ideas and that is why he relies on so many different people to help him write his work. Of course we all know his publishing company paid him a hefty advance for so many books a year over the next however many years, but you get the idea. You want more time and energy or you want help churning your ideas out as stories or a cork on whatever font of imagination you’ve got flowing inside your head. You just want the madness to stop and for the work flow to just even out.
But that’s just not something that’s going to happen. All these ideas keep coming to you, and you have no choice but listen to them, and write down as many as you can. Luckily with this many ideas I’ll have plenty to work on and never the excuse that I can’t come up with anything new. As a writer that’s a blessing, because as bad as it is to have too many ideas, it’s even worse to have writer’s block or ideas block or whatever you want to call it and just sit around each day wondering why you can’t write anything at all.
Well, I’ve finished getting that off my chest. Now I’m going to try and write another chapter of Laura Horn before I have to get going. A friend invited me to a party, and I am itching to get out of the apartment. Honestly, I’ll go stir-crazy if I don’t do something tonight. Have a good night, Followers of Fear.
question has been bugging me for some time now. What is the worst possible death a character can receive in horror fiction? As death, mayhem and slaughter are common byproducts of the stories told in horror fiction, it’s a question that I think horror writers should consider deeply. And sadly we can’t use old Master Splinter’s opinion: “You die without honor”. Wise words from an anthropomorphic rat, but I’m not sure they can apply in this genre.
I’ve had plenty of possible answers, many of which I’ve discarded because I came up with a good reason why they shouldn’t be the answer or because the answers I came up with just didn’t feel right. A terrifying death? No, that’s too easy. A slow death? By then death is a release. A painful death? Same answer as the last one. A slow and painful death? Death would still be a release. A death that you can see coming from a mile away? As scary as that would be, at the end of it you’d just be relieved.
And then the answer hit me the other day: a death, whether it be slow, or fast, painful or quick, terrifying in its execution or just too unexpected to even process what’s happening, that offers the possibility that nothing happens beyond this world. I mean, isn’t that scary? Many world religions spend years trying to hammer out the details of the afterlife just to assure us of one. But what if all that hammering out was for naught? What if all those near-death experiences were just chemicals in the brain? What if an end to our existence was what came after this existence?
If you ask me, that is the worst sort of death you could have in a horror story, and all that leads up to it is just the beginning or an opening act. At the very least, it makes for some interesting food for thought. And it could help create a new story. Or even help improve one’s writing skills You never know.
At the risk of being morbid, what is the worst sort of death you could imagine happening in a horror story?
Today I received an interesting e-mail from one of the professors in the English department. Some of you may remember Ohm, the short story I wrote about a cult leader who makes up his own brand of meditation and yoga to get money and power. I submitted it to the Jacobson Short Story Award at OSU, hoping that it might do well in the contest and maybe win me a little bit of money for rent purposes.
Today I got the results. While Ohm did not get the first or second prizes, it did get an honorable mention, which is definitely worth celebrating. The person who reviewed Ohm, a novelist and a professor from the University of Colorado, Boulder, said it deserved the honorable mention “for its confident use of language”. Reading that gave me a boost to my own confidence.
I’m glad Ohm got some good recognition, even if it didn’t win the award. I’ll see about getting it in a print magazine, and if that route is unsuccessful, maybe I’ll publish it on WattPad. I won’t know until I try, so I’ll be optimistic and see what opportunities are available.
That’s all for now. I’ve got a big night of writing ahead of me. I hope to have more good news and more posts to write as time goes by. Wish me luck.
As if one piece of great news wasn’t enough for today, I got some more: I finally have a thesis advisor! His name is Professor Martinez, and he’s a professor in the Creative Writing department at Ohio State. I emailed him about 16, 17 days ago (I was emailing just about everyone with a “Professor” title at that point) and got an email back two weeks ago, asking to take a look at some of my material. Today he emailed back and said yes.
I’m very happy about finally finding an advisor. I seriously wanted to do a novel for a thesis for all the benefits it could do for me as well as for the challenge it presented. Unfortunately OSU’s staff tends to be more literary fiction-oriented than genre fiction-oriented. That, and a lot of the teachers I asked were either too busy or uncomfortable with genre fiction or novel writing to work with me. I’m really glad I was able to finally find someone willing to work with me.
Also, it looks like I’ll be working with another student. In the email, Professor Martinez mentioned that I was going to be working with someone named “Paul” and that we’ll be critiquing each other’s work. I have no idea who Paul is or what his work will be like, but I like the idea of working with not one, but two people giving me feedback and helping me shape this novel I want to work on into something great.
Well, that’s all for now. If anything else comes up, I’ll let you know. Wish me luck. I’m going to try and get a grant for the thesis even though the deadline is past to apply (you need a thesis advisor to apply for grants, and I got mine after the deadline). Good night, Followers of Fear.
This year in Ohio, same-sex marriage is on the ballot. As someone who supports LGBT rights, I’m throwing my support in for anyone who wants to marry someone regardless of their sex. It’s only just right.
But besides that, there’s something else I want to share with you all. I’m bisexual. I’ve been bisexual for nearly 21 years (though I’ve only just recently realized it) and I’ll be bisexual for the rest of my life. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
For those of you who aren’t very well-versed in bisexuality (or in the LGBT community at all, for that matter), this only means that I am attracted to men as well as women. I don’t really have a preference or a set type. All I care about is that I’m happy with the person I’m with and if they’re happy with me. I’m not confused or unsure of which one I really like, as some–even members of the LGBT community–might think. I also am not confused, living a horrid lifestyle, or have the Devil whispering in my ear (I think he’d rather whisper in the ears of Assad or Putin than in mine). It’s a biological trait based on a combination of several genes, and there could be a good argument that it runs in my family.
Also, I’m not oversexed or always looking at guys and girls in a sexual way. If I’m oversexed it’s because I’m a healthy young man in college, and we’re all oversexed to some degree. Also, don’t flatter yourself. I don’t look at every person hoping and praying for a hook-up, including you. I’m not even sure what my type is, so don’t assume you’re it. And I’m also not looking to molest kids or brainwash kids. The monsters who molest kids are only looking for power over victims or because they can’t rise to the occasion (so to speak) with adults, so they target kids. And you can’t brainwash kids to be LGBT: like I said before, it’s genetic. If you’re kid is LGBT, it’s because they were that way at conception. And the more you try to prove me wrong or pray away the gay or whatever, the more you’ll find I’m right.
And the LGBT community is not a cabal or a bunch of bullies. If there’s a cabal, gay marriage would already be legal in every nation on earth and anti-gay rhetoric would result in prison sentences. Also, calling us bullies is saying that a small minority, maybe 10-20% of the population at the most, is more powerful than the heterosexual majority and is able to beat up straight people on the streets. I really don’t think that’s the reality. Do you?
I also don’t let my sexuality define me. I’m not that kid from Glee who everybody identifies as “the gay guy” or “the gay guy with the really high voice”. I identify more with the fact that I’m a horror writer or that I’m Jewish than I do with my sexuality. So if you start calling me “the bisexual horror writer”, I’ll counter that with “I’m a writer that just happens to be attracted to both men and women.” And most people wouldn’t realize my sexuality if they looked at me. They might realize I’m eccentric or not your ordinary college student. But my sexuality? I’d need to reveal it or be detected by an actual gaydar for people to realize it.
How did this post become a testimony for the fallacies with most anti-gay arguments and how people should treat me? I’m not sure, but I want to say that I’m happy to let people know finally about who I am and not have to keep it to myself like a disgusting burp. It’s just who I am, like my being a writer or Jewish or that I can make a conversation amusing and strange with just one sentence. Just one part of being me.
And if you don’t like what I am, if you believe differently about my sexuality, then that’s your choice. Just don’t leave hateful comments or try to tell me I can be cured or that I’m going to Hell. I don’t even believe in Hell! Judaism has no set definition of the afterlife. We’re more likely to be plagued by acid reflux than by an afterlife of fire and brimstone for our transgressions, and I’m already on antacids. But if you want to try to change me or make me feel bad for being who I am, then I don’t think we should associate too much, online or offline.
Finally, I would like to close this post with a big, hearty thank you for all of you who’ve supported me and continue to support me. The love I’ve received and the acceptance of who I am is overwhelming, and I’m happy to be surrounded by so many understanding and loving people. It’s great to be who I am and not punished for it. So I bid you adieu till next time, my Followers of Fear (which might be later today, who knows?). And let me say to all those who are suffering from bigotry, it gets better. Don’t despair, because there are so many people like you and we all love you regardless of who you’re attracted to. All you have to do is reach out, and we’ll be there for you.
In the meantime, please enjoy this awesome video: Same Love by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. It repeats a lot of what I’ve been saying here, and it is an anthem of love, truth, and hope for so many people out there. Please watch it with me. Thank you.
I had a very exciting day today. A couple members of my study abroad group and I, along with one of the professors leading the trip, went to an assisted-living home to meet some veterans of WWII and Korea. It was quite the edifying experience, and we all enjoyed it immensely.
We arrived there around a quarter to one in the afternoon and were shown up to the multipurpose room on the second floor. There, we met several veterans and one survivor of the Holocaust, a man by the name of Mr. Cohen, whom we all got a chance to speak to first. Mr. Cohen was a German Jew who lost his family at Auschwitz and was lucky enough to survive the camps. It was very humbling to listen to him speak about his experiences, about being evacuated from the camps when the Russians got close, about meeting his wife and moving into America, and most of all about getting the tattoo on his arm and ceasing to be anything more than a number. Mr. Cohen’s granddaughter was there as well, and she urged her grandfather t tell more stories, but he didn’t want to. I can’t blame him, considering the horrors he survived. It must be really difficult to relive them.
Afterwards we split up and went around the room speaking to different people about their experiences. There were two Navy men named Earl and Herb who had served on different ships and tried to give us an idea of what it was like living on a crowded ship like that. Not only did they do that, but they gave me an idea for a novel (sometimes I worry I get too many of those. Lord knows I won’t be able to write all of them at the rate I have ideas). We also spoke to a man who fought in both wars and a woman who packed the parachutes used by paratroopers in the European theater. Apparently she wrote her name on every parachute so that if something went wrong, they could find out who packed the parachute (luckily that eventuality never came up).
And that was just the experiences of me and a friend; the others spoke to vets we never got a chance to speak to. And every time we sat down to speak to someone, time just flew by. Before we knew it there were the final photo ops and the last chances to grab snacks and examine the WWII memorabilia brought in by a man whose father fought in the war (everyone got a little nervous when I started examining a Hitler Youth dagger and a German Luftwaffe short sword. Well, I’m sorry I write horror stories, but there’s no reason to think I’d actually use them! I don’ t kill people outside the books). And before we left, we all got some souvenirs: tiny can openers to open C-rations with. I’m not sure how we ended up getting those, but I was definitely grateful to receive mine.
But most of all, I was grateful to speak to so many veterans. The people who experienced WWII first-hand are a dying breed, as one vet observed during the final photo-op. And it’s true. We are losing more WWII vets and Holocaust survivors everyday. Getting to speak to them is a privilege that my children (should I have any) won’t be able to have. If the chance to speak to these living treasure troves of history presents itself to you, I hope you take advantage of it. I’m certainly glad I did.
I have to get back to the homework I have. The day just got away from me and I have a little bit more I want to work on before the day is out. And if I can get my hands on those photos, I will try to post them here on this blog, because it’d be an honor to share them with you all. See you later, my Followers of Fear.
I just finished going over what I have so far of Laura Horn. I honestly thought it wouldn’t take this long to get through less than twenty chapters, but at least I got it done sooner rather than later. Now I can start working on original material.
For those of you who are not very familiar with my WIP yet, Laura Horn is the story of a girl who inadvertently becomes the one person who can save the United States from forces within its own government. However Laura is a damaged soul, a girl with a traumatic past that often paralyzes her in the face of danger. So in order to save her country’s future, she has to confront her painful past. I came up with the idea for the story by wondering if I could write a genre story where a character with a seriously damaged past could grow in spirit throughout the story and become a hero at the same time. The rest of the story came from that.
I started LH last July but had to put it on hold in October because of an increasing amount of homework and because I was working on Video Rage, the sequel to Reborn City, at the same time. It was just too much to cope with, so I had to cut back (which may have actually added to my stress levels, but that’s a story for another time). When the semester ended in early December, I focused on getting Video Rage done first. Then when I finished that back in January, I worked on several short stories and articles, and finally during spring break I began looking through Laura Horn again.
My first impression going through the first twenty chapters was this: I remembered writing much better prose than what I encountered going through those chapters. Then again, this is a first draft so it’s supposed to suck a little. Anyway, while reading through the early chapters I found myself doing a lot of editing work so that the story would flow better and so that I could continue without obsessing over this or that mistake or inconsistency. At the same time, that extended my rereading of the early chapters so that I ended up needing a few more days to get through the first twenty chapters.
Well, I’m here at this juncture in the writing process now, the point where I can contribute some new original chapters to the manuscript. Better late than never. And now I’m going to reread the outline for the book, and then I’m going to see about starting on the next chapter before I get ready for bed tonight. With any luck, I’ll be able to get a few new chapters of LH done before I leave for my study abroad trip in May (trust me, I won’t be doing a lot of writing or blogging during that time).
Well, wish me luck, my Followers of Fear. I’m going to get back to work now. Have a good night and a great weekend.
question has been bugging me for some time now. What is the worst possible death a character can receive in horror fiction? As death, mayhem and slaughter are common byproducts of the stories told in horror fiction, it’s a question that I think horror writers should consider deeply. And sadly we can’t use old Master Splinter’s opinion: “You die without honor”. Wise words from an anthropomorphic rat, but I’m not sure they can apply in this genre.
Rami Ungar The Writer 