It has taken me a long time to decide what to post
as my first actual blog on here. I have started at least three blogs
and abandoned all of them in the past, as I’m sure some of you have as
well. The idea of blogging is extremely alluring, “I’ll just put all my
opinions and thoughts on there and everyone will love me for it!” So you
spend three hours customizing and decorating your blog, deciding what
to name it, writing your biography, all that great stuff. Then that
terrifying moment comes when you are faced with a blank page and all you
can ask yourself is “what ARE my thoughts and opinions… on ANYTHING?”
So instead of endless ramblings about my beginnings and what I intend
to write on this blog, I’m just going to jump right in.
CURRENT PROJECT
I recently completed my first novel entitled CHANGERS, about a
dystopian world in which people are neither male nor female, but can
alter their sex at will. The idea started in the back of my best
friend’s car, as we were driving from Huntsville to Houston. At the time
we had been religiously addicted to the show “Misfits” on HuluPlus (if
you haven’t watched it, DO). In the show several teenage delinquents are
struck by lightning and receive superhero-like powers. One of them is
given the ability to change sexes but still maintain his consciousness.
In our fervent discussion of how that would work in real life, the idea
for CHANGERS was born. What if there was a world, without sexual bias or
gender prejudice whatsoever? What if our minds could fully comprehend
the nature of both sexes and make no distinction between the two? What
if two people could pledge themselves to one another without the label
of gay, lesbian, heterosexual, bisexual, etc. What if we didn’t need
those words anymore, because gender was only an unimportant bit of
flesh? The physical body could manifest itself however you want it, but
it did not define the soul inside. Two hearts could unite in absolute
equality because they could be together in any sexual form, erasing the
dominate and submission lines which are characteristic of our everyday
lives.
This is the entire idea behind
CHANGERS, and to facilitate this sense of unification, I needed a word
which would erase the ugly “he/she” label and stand for the person as a
whole, regardless of their sex. The word I found (and by found, I mean
completely invented) is “eyh”. It does conjugate in a familiar way,
(eyhm, eyhself, eyh’s) and it is a word we desperately need in our
modern world.
Of course this world I have
described, so far carries no conflict, (and who the hell wants to read
that?). So my peaceful utopia of Changers is ravaged by an epidemic
called “The Great Affliction” which causes some to lose their ability to
shift and become trapped in either male or female form. This creates
what are crudely known as “Genders”. Social injustice and upheaval
ensues, and soon my little corner of heaven is plunged into civil war.
If you are interested in reading CHANGERS, please use the CONTACT form
and shoot me an e-mail, or check out the CHANGERS section where I will
be posting excerpts from the novel.
FUTURE PROJECTS
I recently joined the Bay Area Writers League, and we meet every
Thursday to discuss and critique new work and help each other progress
in our writing. As such, I can’t just keep recycling old sestinas or
CHANGERS excerpts so I have started work on a new novel. It is an idea
that came to me a while back, when I watched a documentary on the early
beginnings of mankind (thank you National Geographic).
The novel is called “Diary of a Caveman” (working title), and it quite
literally delivers on that title. Portrayed as a translation of one of
the oldest records of written word in history, the journal chronicles
the attempts of a caveman to invent language and describe his everyday
life. Of course in the beginning it’s a lot of hunting, gathering and
descriptions of the animals he interacts with, soon his world becomes
more complicated than he expected. With the arrival of a female of his
kind, and a ferocious predator who stalks him with intent, his life
becomes less and less manageable.
I will post
some excerpts of Diary of a Caveman on here after I receive some
feedback from the League. As always any responses, critiques, comments
or rude remarks are welcome. I am always looking to improve.
REVIEW
Normally, on this section, I will post a review of either a book, show
or movie I have recently experienced. The review will mostly focus on
the writing, but I can’t help but have some opinions on acting because
let’s face it, actors have opinions on acting.
This week I am reading Michelangelo’s Notebook by Paul Christopher.
It’s the first appearance of heroine Finn Ryan, a beautiful Art History
intern with a nose for trouble. This book focuses on her discovery of a
page she thinks came from Michelangelo’s famous and supposedly lost
notebook. The discovery sends her on a Robert Langdon-esque hunt for the
truth which ends in the bowels of the Vatican.
Honestly, so
far I’m trudging through this one. It should be an easy, breezy read,
because it flows really nicely and jumps right into the action. Finn
Ryan is a predictable heroine, in my opinion. She is young, smart,
attractive, spunky and so far completely flawless except for being
verbally combative. She comes across as one dimensional, and (dare I say
it?) cliché, paling in comparison to Dan Brown’s exquisitely
complicated and ever flawed Robert Langdon who is always a joy to read. I
guess the moral here is write compelling characters, which come across
as real people. If they’re all statuesque blondes with a PHD, we’ll give
up on the second page because we can’t relate.
Later this
week I will do a review of the writing on the popular show “The
Following”, which I am currently marathoning on Netflix. The new season
just started and I wanted to catch up. If you have any thoughts on “The
Following” or Michelangelo’s Notebook, or if you have any ideas on what
you would like me to review next, use the CONTACT form and I will take a
look at it.
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