Since the subtitle of this blog promises glimpses into my mind, and because it relates to the Wiccan themes of “Where Darkness Falls”… one of my favourite Wiccan hymns. A real Neo-Pagan classic!
My Artwork: “The Captain’s Cat, Micawber” (2009)
Photoshop work on a photograph taken by a friend (all rights gifted to me), of our beloved cat Micawber, who passed away several years ago. What a dear, big boy! He is still sorely missed.
May his soul play forever among the stars.
NaNoWriMo 2018: “Where Darkness Falls”, The Understructure
I mentioned that 2018 will be my third take on “WDF” — the first being during NaNo 2011, the second during NaNo 2012. In 2011 I racked up 4072 words on the project, but in 2012 I managed to crack out 51874 words (winner winner, NaNo dinner!), which did not finish the first draft, unfortunately. For the next two years I worked on different projects (“Hateseed” in 2013, another win, and “Micro Noir” in 2014), then tackled “The Codex of Desire” (winner, 2015).
Come 2016 I listed “WDF” as my NaNo project, but after expending so much energy wrapping up the first draft of “Codex” that year I ended up taking a long rest that included November, and thus I racked up a zero word count for “WDF”. Subconsciously I was abiding by a profound inner truth: if I split my attention between two novels, I would never get “Codex” done. I’m one of those authors who needs to concentrate on a single major project at a time. So — “WDF” was set aside, as much as I love the damned thing, until “Codex” was finished, edited, and finally published.
Why do I say “the damned thing”? Because “WDF” (unlike “Codex”, which was elegant from the start and flowed as smooth as fresh cream) is without doubt a problem child.
For one thing, it takes place in 2038 in Chicago — a city I have visited only once, necessitating a HUGE amount of research and a lot of guesswork. (Why, oh why did I have to include the city’s underground tunnel system as a key aspect of the story? Because the story demanded it, that’s why! *lays head on desk*)
For another thing… did I mention it takes place in 2038? Cue a lot more research, and stretching my imagination to come up with appropriate technological advances. (Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lot of fun! But anybody who writes into the future is always a bit anxious, I think, about how well their novel will “age” as the year it’s set in draws closer.)
For another other thing, it involves a Southern Baptist main character, and I am SO anxious to portray the belief system with both its warts and its stellar points, just as I’m anxious to portray Wicca (Kavelin’s religion) in the same way.
Speaking of characters… neither Anderson nor Kavelin is particularly likeable at the beginning of the story, at least not to me. I adore them AS characters, but they’re both bigots and they’ve both got a mean temper on them. Yes, they WILL learn and grow as the novel progresses, but there’s a certain amount of anxiety involved in writing characters who aren’t congenial from the first paragraph.
And not lastly (but last for now), this project involves writing a scene toward the end which has torn my heart out even in the drafting phase, so I know that putting it down word for word will leave me shaken and probably in tears.
No, “WDF” is a novel that is going to stretch me and test me in ways that “Codex” did not (and believe me, “Codex” turned out to be both a marathon and a gruelling gymnastics routine).
And you know something?
I can hardly wait.
Bring it on, NaNo 2018! 🙂 Let’s get that first draft DONE!
NaNoWriMo 2018 Project: “Where Darkness Falls”, Take Three
Yep, you read that right: NaNo 2018 will be my THIRD kick at the “WDF” can.
I started the project during NaNo 2011, based (if I recall correctly) on a single potent mental image which came to me out of the blue a couple of months before NaNo that year. I’m a comic book colourist by trade, and what I saw in my mind’s eye was a splash page in the style of Charlie Adlerd’s “X-Files” work, painted all in muddy greys: a nightmarish figure, half-woman and half-crow, rising into the night out of a grove of November trees. The shot was taken from around chest level of the figures on the ground: a man and a woman, each carrying a slightly futuristic handgun. They were watching the crow-woman rise with anger, but without fear, while the policemen around them looked utterly terrified.
I knew that at their feet (out of the shot) lay the remains of a grisly human sacrificial victim, his heart torn out by the crow-woman’s beak. And that was the moment when “WDF” was born, although it took me a while to figure out who everybody in the shot actually was.
The woman turned out to be Tatiana Kavelin, a Manifester/Special Ops Agent with the Department of Paranormal Investigations (DPNI), Chicago Office, Wiccan Division. The man was Jeremy Anderson, a Manifester/Special Ops Agent with the DPNI, Chicago Office, Christian Division. The crow-woman was… well, I want to avoid spoilers, so let’s just say that she’s also a Manifester but definitely NOT dedicated to serving the public good.
What is a Manifester? Briefly stated, a Manifester is a human being who manifests supernatural abilities in line with their religious or spiritual beliefs. The earliest recorded tale of a Manifester dates back to the Babylonian Empire — a story not known (or at least not spoken of) among non-Manifester historians — when Hammurabi decreed that the strong should not overwhelm the weak, and established the Children of Marduk to protect those without special spiritual gifts. The Children of Marduk were tasked with hunting down and destroying any other Manifester who did not swear to nurture the rest of humankind. After the collapse of Babylon, and through all the millennia that followed, the Children of Marduk carried out their mission in secret, although the names and structures of their organizations changed to suit the times. And the predatory Gifted, who were persecuted by them, lived even deeper in the shadows, vowing that one day they would rule the world as was (to them) their birthright by virtue of their Powers.
Agent Kavelin and Agent Anderson, who must work together by order of their superiors but who loathe each other across the divide of their very different religions, find themselves the only ones guarding the safety of the vast majority of humankind — who have no idea that the DPNI exists, or that the Gifted are striving to bring about Armageddon. Thus the central question of the novel: Can they overcome their mutual antipathy in time to avert the end of civilization as they know it?
More about “WDF” in tomorrow’s post. For now, here are my “face claim” pictures for the two main characters.
Nick Tag as Jeremy Anderson:
And Idina Menzel as Tatiana Kavelin:
Beta Reader Feedback on “The Codex of Desire”
I recently opened my “CODEX Beta Readers 2017” Scrivener document and took a look at some of their feedback in response to the twenty questions I submitted when they agreed to read the novel. Some of that feedback is worth quoting here, I think.
Let me start by saying that one beta reader recently told me that she’s re-read her beta copy of the novel nine times. NINE TIMES. I had to take a moment to let that comment sink in — and when it did, I jumped up out of my chair and did a little victory dance around the home studio. To touch a reader that deeply is what writing is all about (for me, at any rate).
Another beta reader (let’s call her Beta #1), in her feedback to the Twenty Questions, noted:
“The book was gripping, I had to put it down for periods of time to absorb what I had read, but I always came back because I had to know what happens next.”
In response to the question “Was the climax of the book satisfying?”, Beta #1 replied:
“NO the climax of the book was not satisfying, it was appalling, the idea that [SPOILER REDACTED] is terrifying. Having said that, you made sure that the climax was impactful in the extreme! I was appalled, and scared and grieving, I very rarely feel so much response to a book. Thank you Laurie, I look forward to the next instalment with fear and delight.”
The question “Would you recommend this book to readers?” prompted the response:
“Yes I would shove this book into peoples hands and demand that they read it! It is compelling in it’s own right and I can see parallels in today’s world that we can learn from.”
Beta #2 felt much the same way:
“Hell yes! It’s an engaging book that is well written with a theme that is unique and well plotted. There’s angst and love and curiosity rolled into one. Overall, a delightful read :)”
Beta #2’s response to the question of whether the book gripped them and made them want to keep reading:
“Hell yes! Everything was plausible (Plus I’m a sucker for Dinosaurs). The tension between characters was well played out plus the use of dialog was interesting. Especially in the beginning, when you were describing how the language of the Greaters sounded to Raoul.”
Beta #3 noted:
“As a reader of classic literature, non-fiction and narrative fiction, this book was outside of my typical genre. I found the beginning very intriguing, and was quite surprised when the character was drawn into the body of a dinosaur. It took me a bit to get settled into the story, but once I was drawn in by the character development, rich dialogue and colourful descriptions, I was very intrigued by the story.”
A fitting note to end on, I think, is the short review submitted by the beta reader who has read the MS nine times so far:
“I just finished reading an incredible book. I was honored to be a beta reader for it. When it is published. I will be sure to make a point of letting all of you know about it. It’s singularly one of the best books I have ever read, and I’ve read ALL the great sci-fi/fantasy fiction masters and mistresses. Just. Fucking. Wow.”
And it’s that kind of feedback, folks, that makes eighteen months of intensely hard worth TOTALLY worthwhile.
You can find “The Codex of Desire” on Amazon (ebook and paperback) and on Smashwords (many different electronic formats). Both sites have the preview function enabled, so you can look inside before you buy. 🙂
My Artwork: “A Wing and a Prayer” (2014)
Is this a hopeful story of peaceful exploration? Or a suspenseful tale of interstellar war?
I still haven’t decided. 🙂
SPECIAL PREVIEW: The Prologue of “Where Darkness Falls”, My Next Novel-In-Progress!
The first draft of the Prologue, 673 words.
********************************
Overhead the full Moon rides at Her midnight zenith — commander of the tides, and what is blood but the iron-rich essence of the Sea? Roiling clouds surge howling around Her, threatening to annihilate the world, but the dust of Her feet are the hosts of Heaven and Her glory shines unabated, silver and serene.
Below, Her divine energy burns in the mortal form of Her devout worshipper: wildfire through grass, consuming the mind and heart of a female Manifester who is so submerged that she barely recall her own name. The female’s naked body strides forward, but it is the Goddess Whose feet tread the dirty concrete and sanctify it; the female’s pale arm reaches out, but it is the light of Isis that glows through her skin as she gently but firmly sweeps the butchered body of her slaughtered little one to the edge of the altar draped in white silk.
Woman and Goddess turn toward the nearby male whose body is ridden by its own Divinity: a Thing of Chaos, Lord of the Flies and Prince of All Calamities. The male — now Satan — is watching Her keenly, imperiously, half-wary and half in awe that She does not gaze upon Him with terror and loathing.
But She, who encompasses both light and darkness, only smiles and stretches out Her shining arms to him.
Lie with me, She sings, and like the moth to the flame He comes to her, His slouching bestial form burning smoking footprints into the shuddering earth. She lies back upon the altar, upon the spilled blood of the child of her heart, and She draws Him to Her in the embrace of the Sacred Marriage, though doubtless the male knows it not.
For it is ever thus, She whispers into His ear as He mounts her. From Me all things proceed, and unto Me they must return — even you… even darkness… even Death itself…
Holy radiance and shreds of the black abyss intermingle, twining and whipping round them. The concrete walls around them quake as He quakes. He tries to pull away — but She holds him fast against her, her voice merciless and sweet: For behold, I have been with you from the beginning…
Beyond His shoulders, a new figure steps into Her sight: a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night, the purity of absolute righteousness made manifest. The eyes of the woman meet the eyes of a man she has known for less than a full cycle of the Moon —
— but oh, was this meeting not decreed in the Realms of the Timeless, written in the Book of Eternity from the first stirrings of universal life?
It is the profound misfortune of the misguided male in her arms that he, for all his cleverness and cunning, did not trouble himself to read so far into the Mysteries.
She pushes the male who would destroy the world back enough to look into his eyes — now pits of savage Infernal nuclear fire, but also oh, so full of confusion! — and she lets the voice of the Goddess flow through her in all its power: For behold, I have been with you from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire…
Her ally, so long hated and in this moment fiercely exalted, raises his right arm — all the forearm flesh burned away to reveal a black skeleton of carbon fibre bones. The Wrath of his God fills his whole narrow face with searing hatred — but will that God, and the man who is His agent upon Earth, prove potent enough to overwhelm the embodied culmination of so many millennia of rage and grief and despair?
The woman closes her eyes.
She prays: O Goddess, let vengeance be Thine!
And the soul of living Nature breathes within her, breathes through her, fills her with pitiless knowledge: Vengeance is no concern of mine, Priestess — only the Balance.
The woman turns her face toward her murdered child — and she weeps.
“Codex” Timelines, With a Side Order of Surprise
Yesterday I sat down and went through my handwritten journals to lock down the production timeline for “The Codex of Desire”, in case anybody ever asks me to talk about it someday. And boy oh boy, was it full of surprises!
Turns out I started the MS during NaNo 2015, finished the first draft in June 2016 (with the invaluable help of the “First Draft Finishers” group on Scribophile.com), held a “Thank God it’s done!” party at a local upscale pizza joint with 10 of my closest friends… then put the damned thing aside for ONE YEAR AND THREE MONTHS. (Wow, I do not remember the “fallow” period being that long at the time!) During 2016’s NaNo I turned my attention to another WIP but did not win that particular event.
As for “Codex”, I came back to it in September 2017, reread it twice, and realized to my intense relief that I actually still LIKED it and wanted to continue to work on it. But I quickly discovered what nobody seems to tell beginning novel-writers: that finishing the first draft is only one tiny step in an interminable journey.
I had to slog through the immense task of macro and content/stylistic edits before sending the MS off to my beta readers. When the MS came back from those lovely folks I tackled another round of content/stylistic edits, then a “Fine Art of Killing Words” course with Beth Daniels over on SavvyAuthors.com (immensely helpful for trimming the fat and HIGHLY recommended if she runs it again), followed by two rounds of line edits (during which a chapter I’d removed during the “Killing Words” course was reinstated). I think this is a fitting image to insert at this point in my narrative:
Then, thanking whatever Gods were watching over me that the MS was still holding together, I performed what I thought was the final set of line edits — making sure all the chicken’s feathers were smooth and glossy and in order, so to speak. Then came proofreading, which included (of course) a last inevitable round of line edits. At last — at long, long last — the project was finally wrapped up at 7:11 AM CDT on August 11th of this year.
So in actual writing time that’s seven months plus eleven months, for a total of eighteen months, or a year and a half of hard graft.
Not bad for a novel that ended up at 133K words and change. 🙂
**********
Coming up tomorrow morning: A very special preview of my next novel-writing project, “Where Darkness Falls”! (“WDF” is the tale of two US government secret agents who each manifest supernatural abilities in accordance with their religious/spiritual beliefs. They must work together to solve the mystery of a series of gory ritual murders in Chicago in the year 2038 — the problem is, one of them is a Southern Baptist and the other is a Wiccan, and they loathe each other at first sight. Can they overcome their mutual antipathy in time to decipher the dark conspiracy behind the murders, and avert Armageddon?)
WOW, the Amazon Paperback Version of “The Codex of Desire” Looks GORGEOUS!
One of my FB friends, who ordered a paperback copy of “The Codex of Desire” from Amazon, was kind enough to send me pictures of the book he received. It looks so BEAUTIFUL, I was moved in the depths of my heart. 🙂
WARNING: The fourth image contains the text of the last page of the book as well as the Acknowledgements page, so if you want to avoid SPOILERS, perhaps skip that image (or don’t look at the left-hand side).
Male Expectation, Feminism, and “The Codex of Desire”: Part 2 of 2
(You can find Part 1 of this article here.)
SPOILER ALERT from this point forward.
Remember how in yesterday’s post I said that in writing, things seldom work out quite as we’d planned?
Oh man, did “The Codex of Desire” hit me over the head with that lesson, MULTIPLE TIMES.
Although the matriarchy-versus-patriarchy conflict was built into my earliest concepts of “Codex”, the original plot was oriented towards the main male character (Tir’at), and his feelings and actions. In that sense it was a standard “Big Man Hero” narrative — and I think that if I’d written it that way, the whole thing would have turned out elegantly enough, but.. well, probably a bit boring, to be honest.
Maybe a whole lot boring.
NOPE! The Writing Machine inside my head had completely different ideas, which it failed to share with me initially. I pounded out the first draft during 2015 and 2016, put it aside for one year and three months, then went back to re-read it in early September 2017 — yep, I could still stand to look at it, which is always a good sign. My hero was still engaging to me— always an EXCELLENT sign. I was poised to move ahead with telling Tir’at’s story, primarily from his point of view…
… but that didn’t last very long. In fact, it only lasted until mid-September 2017, when I took a “Why High Concept?” seminar with Lori Wilde during SavvyAuthors.com‘s SavvyWriterCon 2017. Lori had us all write out one-sentence pitches for our novels, and when I posted my first set of possible “hooks”, she told me outright:
“The slave girl is the protagonist. Make her the focus of your pitch.”
And just like that, lightning struck, the angels sang, and I realized:
Oh my God, I wrote a female Hero without even knowing I was writing a female Hero!
And that Hero was the lowest ranked slave in her society. But she was also the individual who got the action moving and KEPT the action moving, with Tir’at’s arrival in the Tribal settlement as her “inciting incident”.
So — Tir’at was NOT the Hero at all.
Do you know what Tir’at was?
He was the Damsel in Distress, that’s what — right down to being kept prisoner in a tower!
Okay, trope inverted without me ever intending to invert it. By now my head was spinning, and the vertigo only increased when I started thinking about what I’d actually written in more depth.
Who was Tir’at focussed on? Who got HIM moving? That’s right: the female Poet and the female Most Potent Chieftess, with the female slave Girn’ash supplying intelligence, suggestions, and plans to help him achieve his overriding “Oh, I’m so desperately in love with La’leet!” goals. He wasn’t just the Damsel in Distress, he was the Damsel Helplessly In Love, his “male” rationality completely overcome.
My male main character might have been the fulcrum that the novel moved around, but the actual powers that motivated him and manipulated him for their own purposes were ALL FEMALE.
And then the second realization struck:
Oh my Goddess, I inadvertently wrote a feminist novel!
And from that point on, my approach to writing “The Codex of Desire” changed radically, I believe for the better.
Want to know more? Tune into the “Femisphere” broadcast on September 20th, 2018 — or you can also catch it on replay through the CKUW archives, starting a day or two after the initial broadcast. 🙂
Any questions you’d like answered right now? Feel free to pop them into the comments!
The Many Worlds of Lauren Alder 