I want to use pictures more in OHG so, I have been scouring on DeviantArt for artistic ones. Sometimes for inspiration in general I will just scroll through there most popular images on the site. After you filter through the fanart you have some really great finds.
Anyway, I saw this image and from what I can tell this is an original artwork. It was posted yesterday and it reminded me of Haley from Sundays almost immediately, it was very creepy. From the hair and eye color to the earrings and black clothes. It is digitally drawn with an airbrushing and the art work in amazing. The person who drew this (username *f-wd) calls the character Fynn and I believe it used in some kind of online role playing game, I'm really not sure. I may become obsessed with this artist.
The artist made a character profile for him and it made me kind of sad this character is in fact nothing like Haley.
Let's Get Dirty
So, TD and the prolouge have just been sort of introductions to OHG and don't really tell you anything about this serial. OHG is going to be a mix of women's writing, a bit of Christian fiction and a dash of Kmart Realism.
Ever since Lile introduced me to that term, I have become literally (lol ! writer jokes !) obsessed with it. When I realized I could turn TD into a much larger piece I knew Kmart Realism ( or Dirty Realism or Minimalism as it is often called) was the way to go. It is also a bit of American Realism because it takes place in a specific region and culture.
As always, I did my research and found most of these kmart realism stories are short ones and hard to find because the style died out in the '80s. I settled for reading some old NY Times reviews of kmart realism short story compilations and a few articles in The New Yorker.
In 2001 the NY Times had a review called Up From Kmart. It is a review of the short story collection Zigzagged Down by Bobbie Ann Mason. I thinks she was trying to bring back the dirty realism style. Anyway in describig a character named Wendy the reviewer said :
" Wendy has tasted excitement and spit it out -- she'd rather drink the tap water of normalcy --"
I thought that was a great way of describing the unexceptionalness that is characterisitc of dirty realism stories. The characters are normal and very ordinary like tap water. No frills.
How if fits in
With that in mind, I want to point out the reason OHG is a companion to UL and not a trilogy is because this will not really be a continuation of United Light and have much to do with United Light events.
Also, a large part of this will be retrospective so, be prepared for that.
I have been trying not to cop out with titles. Let's make that my new years resolution. I really wanted this post up for 1/11/11 but, I guess I missed it.
Cover Art
I finally have a piece of cover art that I actually love. It was inspired by the covers of Sarah Dessen novels more specifically What Happened to Goodbye. I didn't have any cover bling to add like #1 bestseller. I am considering re-doing all of the covers to mimic this style. Except maybe Veritas.
Lile Shout-Out
I have to say a lot of what I write has been inspired by Lile. A large part of Veritas was inspired by the cut Spirits--the whole gangs thing. In some ways OHG will be my tribute to S&A.
Oh, the trenches
I have never deviated from written plots much. Once I write something I hardly ever scrap it but, I had to do that several times with OHG. I had an idea for a plot but, decided to make it a sub-plot and then finally decided there was no story there and scraped it completely.
The story is getting carved out and I am doing a mix between outline and spontaneous writing.
Let's Try Something
Okay, I don't have much to blog about. Let's face it, I just want to get to showing you some of OHG.
This is a backlogged post and I am having a hard time adding some special notes to Lile so, I will be blogging at her next time.
Themes
So, I will be changing my theme soon. I was going to make it LL themed but, I may go in a more playful direction.
I tried turning this post into a fun FAQ but, maybe next time.
So Long Veritas !
So, the real reason I was hesitant about posting Mimic was because that would pretty much end a series that was the most inspired thing I ever wrote (that sounds corny). I put a lot of research and reading into it and it was really an experience for me. I just want to blog a few notes then I am done with it.
It's Gone . . . Right ?
I talked about ideas for Veritas coming at me like bats and one that comes back occasionally has to do with a line in the first part of Mimic. I wanted to illustrate Luce talking in kind of a robotic way, jumping from topic to topic so, I needed things for him to say. I offhand threw in a comment about a Mjollner girl named Aspen who liked him.
Then I thought about how cool it would be to write a story about a Romeo and Juliet type romance between Luce and this girl--and I love the name Aspen. But, I knew it wouldn't be entirely plausible and writing a whole story about Luce would be a challenge. I considered making it about Twyla and some Mjollner boy but, in the end it just wasn't there. Of course that is not a never.
Speaking of Luce
So, his character will always have some mysteries. It was very hard to write someone who was supposed to be socially dysfunctional. Also he talks in contradictions and when he says I'm sorry he is correcting the contradiction.
Anyway, I wanted to show this social dysfunction with Luce and Twyla's relationship. She is 12 and 16 years younger than him and he doesn't know whether to treat her like a baby or adult so he switches between. That is why he talks about her playing with toys and puts her in the car but, later he just gives her a gun.
Minnow and Alan
I am guilty of never writing much romance so, the section with Alan and Minnow was supposed to be that. I'm glad many of you picked up on the loving relationship.
With something I was told at the talk in Denver in mind, I do want to say I see Minnow--especially the older version, as a strong female character. She has control in her sexual relationships and when it comes to Alan, he somewhat worships her, because she means that much to him. He will do anything for her and treats her as something beloved.
I was also originally going to make Minnow a madame but, changed my mind. I wanted her character to be mostly "normal."
Oh, the Drugs.
I mentioned all of the drugs used in Veritas are from other works of science fiction.
The drug Spice Melange (aka Spice but, pending current events I decided no to call it that) is from the popular Dune series. It is a drug that keeps people young and is the main conflict in all of the versions of it.
Vellocet is from A Clockwork Orange, it is what is in the milk they drink that puts them in the ultra violet mood.
I never knew the fictional drugs section of wikipedia could be so interesting . . .
One More Thing
It was literally (erm . . . figuratively) turning in my head what would happen to Alex in 20 years. He is one of my favorite characters I've created so, as I worked on Mimic and read comments I kept thinking about it and then it came to me.
So . . . and this is terrible but, Alex died in a car accident on the military base a few weeks after the war. His death is what drove Maxwell to want to become more successful.
I just couldn't imagine Alex as older, he was a character who was supposed to stay young.
Writing Style
I pretty much gave up on the cyberpunk elements of Veritas pretty quickly and just started writing. One element of cyberpunk I have been trying to include is minimalism writing, mostly be eliminating the 'I said' and 'he asked'. I noticed Lile has been getting rid of them too.
Teenage Dream
So, as I was riding the inspiration high that created Sundays, another story poked it's way into my head. I wrote it in the middle of the 2 day writing spree that became Sundays and have been editing it for the last month or so.
This is a stand alone story and it is only one part. It was originally only 600 words but, I decided to I was just punishing myself to much and made it longer. Because it was written during Sundays, I will admit it shares some similarities.
There is an episode of Seinfield where Jerry writes a joke in the middle of the night and can't remember what it is in the mornig. I am having that moment with the blog title. I created this entry with that title weeks ago and I have no idea what the joke about it was.
I know it is a turn of the phrase Drink the Kool-Aid. . . . I have no idea what it means , maybe if I blog it will come to me.
Julianne Moore
I am sort of in love with Julianne Moore as Sara because she tends to play off the wall characters ( and lesbians). Anyway, somewhere along the line I was watching trailers of movies with my character inspirations in them and I came across the trailer for Chloe with Moore and Daydream Nation with Josh Lucas (Older Alan's inspirtation).
This is so random but, they reminded me of UL a little bit, especially Daydream Nation.
But, in my head Sara is more of the Julianne Moore in The Kids Are Alright mixed with her in Children of Men.
Thoughts ?
Okay, I may have figured out the title.
I was going to blog about how the names of any drugs in Veritas are not made up. The names and function of the drugs are from science fiction books and movies. Maybe that has to do with the title ?
No, you know what I think I know what the title refers to-- I will put it as an A/N because it has to do with the chapter.
Part 3 & 4
So, for some reason I have been feeling self-consious about posting, it is really strange and I am not asking for pity I just want to be honest. I have been holding on to these parts for quite a while and at this point they are what they are.
As I re-read and try to edit these, I find I imagine Veritas more like a comic book that exists around characters. I have such a hard time writing visuals because of that, I wish they could just be there. Any artist in the house ?
Anyway, Part 3 is really short at about 2,000 words so I put it together with Part 4. It's a little long all together so feel free to take breaks.
I am still working on the website's links so use these :
I made a decision, I love the new blogger. It is so customizable ! I may change my layout every month or so and have it inspired by something. I already know what next month's theme is. This month's is inspired by a Miley Cyrus album cover I saw when Pandora gave me a Miley Cyrus song (I have no idea what Matt Nathanson and Party in the USA have in common) . I just liked the font look so, I tried to copy it.
Who's ready for some pictures ?
I figured since Mimic does take a time leap I should find some new photo inspirations and it amazed me how easily I found some of them.
Kristopher Grace (19)
That is a picture of a young Keanu Reeves. I am actually surprised how many half-Asian actors there are out there including Dean Cain, Tyson Beckford, Chad Michel Murray.
I am also surprised nobody was curious that in CTE, Sara's husband has been dead for 5 years and yet she has a 1 year old son. If someone had asked I'm sure I would have told who his father was.
As I drafted Veritas last February, I knew I wanted one section to have someone who was a child in the original be an adult in the sequels.
I imagine I may have thrown you all off because I realize Kris's name is only said 2 or 3 times in CTE and Hidden. His name was spelled Christopher but, every time I looked at it in Mimic I hated the way it looked. I don't know why I chose that name to begin with. I changed the spelling after seeing a Kris Allen song on the playlist.
Alan Gray (38) and Minnow Dory (34)
Those pictures are of Josh Lucas and Rachel McAdams (I know she is 32), incidentally enough these two actually dated. Josh Lucas is probably best known as the basketball coach in Glory Road. I have no idea where that particular picture of him is from. McAdam's is from an Elle photoshoot it inspired the dress Minnow wears.
Bonus photo !( I love this photo of RM , I had to post it too. The look on her face and lighting really inspired that first scene with Minnie)
Hidden follows the journey that leads Alan to becoming a black market surgeon. It starts with him being disgusted by the idea of surgery with Cleoand then accepting it more and more with each patient or doctor he encounters until he gets to Minnow. I originally wanted Alan to change his name to Blackbird and take over for him but, I decided against it. There are a few hints in Hidden about his future.
" He put my leg through an x-ray machine. He didn’t speak much, like Blackbird.
I suppose that is a tactic of geniuses."
--Chapter 8
and then the epilogue.
"I became Channing’s apprentice
Now I work quietly"
Many of you picked up on a creepy vibe with Alan and Minnow that's what I wanted.
They are both very broken people. Alan has devoted his entire adult life to Minnow and nothing else because he feel responsible for what happened to her.
Minnow is very humbled because she got a second chance at life and it traumatized by what happened to her. They both can't move on which is why they keep everything.
By the way did anyone catch that the handkerchief Alan clots Julian's blood with is the one Haley wipes Alan's eyes with in Hidden ?
Sara Grace (46) , Twyla Grace (12) & Luce Grace (29)
Julianne Moore, Elle Fanning and Jesse Spencer (doesn't he look particularity evil in that picture ? )
The plan last spring was for the story to be about Luce but, I also really wanted to set it in the night between 2099 and 2100. I was nervous about making the characters so much older but, now I am pretty set about it.
The fact that Kris refers to Jean and Minnow as Aunt and Uncle is supposed to reflect Sara's relationship to them as opposed to Alan. Sara was friends with the Dorys a year before she went on the run with her husband so at this point they have a 26 year friendship.
Jean Dory(42)
I love this picture of Johnny Depp because Jean has personal space issues and in this image JD is so close to Keith Richards (the Rolling Stone who play's Jack Sparrow's dad). I think this is from Entertainment Weekly when PoTC 3 came out.
So, yes these characters are older but, still very much anti-heroes.
Part 2
This was originally going to only be two part short story and was drafted as such. After posting the first section and battling all the story line ideas that came at me like bats, I decided to make this a little longer.
I will say this now, the story uses a retrospective narrative as the storytelling device. I actually hate this when I read it in a book but, I like it here because in some aspects the retrospective stories are more important than the main plot line.
So, yes I have a new blog layout. It is one of the defaults and I am using it so I can put the playlists in the sidebar.
Back to Sundays
*Murder Eyes*
So, as I am sure Linda guessed the song I was holding on to was Drop in the Ocean by Rob Pope. It was supposed to be the last song but, I was only 98% committed to it.
DADT =
Okay, a few of you mentioned DADT and I mean, not to be politically unaware but this story had nothing to do with that. Now, personally really glad it got overturned because I think any form of discrimination is ridiculous in this day and age and it really shouldn't take all of this to change something that is so obviously wrong. Especially in a volunteer service, I mean really.
The taboo of the relationship between Haley and Maxwell is about social class and their positions in the military than anything else. In fact, Maxwell says he is bisexual (take that tropes) and never says anything about Haley being a boy being an issue for him.
Perspectives
I talked about persepectives a lot and that had a lot to do with perceptions of Haley. When I first wrote his character I knew he was older than Alan and I knew he knew he was older than Alan. I just couldnt think of a way to reveal that. Tnen when I reread part 1 I realized Maxwell said Haley looked 14 and that made you all think he was 14 which squicked a lot of people out. In that part Maxwell does know Haley is 22, he is just making a bad metaphor.
Anyway I'm not jumping on a Lolita bandwagon and I wanted to make that clear.
Interweaving.
As I said I wrote Sundays right after I wrote chapters 8 & 9, so the story was interwoven into it a lot. I thought I may point a few things out.
1. “I’m not a soldier,” he said walking to my other side, his boots making a soft clicking sound.
He stood closer to me--he smelled like sweet lavenders and vanilla." - Chapter 7
- I hope this reference makes sense now.
2. Also Haley's talk about purgatory was part of this idea of brainwashing and how he truly believed in something that wasn't there.
3. The biggest thing is many of you thought it was Alan's fault that Haley got hurt (and I mean to each their own) but, I really wanted to say no it's not in the comments . Haley getting hurt had nothing to do with the alcohol or anything Alan did it had to do with Maxwell's own jealousy and insecurities. I was hoping some of you may pick up on his reaction being impulsive and an act of passion. I then added the conversation through the door but, no one picked up on it and I couldn't explain it so that really pushed me to post Sundays. I mean I think one of you picked up on their relationship.
So, Inspired
Okay, so like I said Sundays was an inspired work and I finally tracked down the passage Haley's character was inspired by. Here is the line it's from Slaughter-House 5. The main character 18 year old American Soldier Billy, is in WWII, he is one of the few survivors of an attack, has been wondering around for days and some German soldiers find him :
" Next to the golden boots were a pair of feet which were swaddled in rags. They were criss crossed by canvas straps, were shod with hinged wooden clogs. Billy looked up at the face that went with the clogs. It was the face of a blond angel, a fifteen year old boy.
The boy was beautiful as Eve.
Billy was helped to his feet by the lovely boy, the beautiful androgyne"
Then the character is never mentioned ever again and somehow I weaved this entire story out of that.
It was just very inspired. And yes, I know it was a little sexual but, that type of erotic/unhealthy relationship is kind of what the story was about.
Endings
The end does suggest that they "broke up" and the ending was somewhat inspired by the end of the Color Purple, where these two character who have battled the entire story, end in an almost domestic and calm position. The last few lines when they say they are waiting for the others it refers to the other soldiers, the prisoners, the End is referring to end of war and death refers to them dying in war. Which I will go ahead and say is highly unlikely because they don't work in a combat zone or a locaion that is a threat,
So, okay enough of that story.
The New Website
The point of the new website was because I didn't want a new website for all of my serials or short stories. I was mildly happy with it and I could never figure out why it looks so off and after looking at Lile's redesign I know why. I should make the links look more like books than web banners. If I ever feel so inclined I may change them. It killed me I couldn't find the original graphic I used for UL.
Teenage Dream
As a writer/editor and reader, I love books but I can't read them all. Sometimes what I love most is just the title of the novel, I just love titles. Some of my favorites are "Of Mice and Men" "Catcher in the Rye" "The Sun Also Rises". What do they all have in common ?
They are named from poems. I have always wanted to name a novel or serial after a poem but, I figured the contemporary things to do was use a song instead so that is where Teenage Dream came from. I seriously wouldn't look to much into the title or the picture really.
This short story is done and I work on editing it every day and I will post after I finish Veritas. This is not the supernatural YA story. It is just a short story I came up with while I was writing Sundays. This story and Sundays have a bit in common stylistically but not plot wise . . . well kind off. Anyway don't worry about it oto much.
As for this YA supernatural, I am not sure it will ever come to be. I need a plot and some solid characters. I will keep you updated. Maybe I need to get more genre savvy.
Mimic
This part of Veritas had it's name long before I began Hidden. The concept of it was with me from the very beginning so, as I look back I realize this was a year in the making almost. This story really got to have the time to float around and develop in my mind ( I feel a birth analogy coming on) before it came out. The story has really developed though and changed so much.
It is part of the CTE and Hidden canon but, I changed one little detail, it's just a spelling though. This story is written in a style that is very different (it doesn't show up until part II though . . .) it's a style I would personally hate to read but, I did it anyway for the sake of story.
Funny story, I had a deja vu with this while I was re-reading it in the editing phase, I felt like I had read this story before somehow. Also, I used a name and I am convinced I used it before. So, if any part of this sounds familiar let me know. It was very odd. Then again, it is once again another thing in Part II
Let's Try Something . . .
I worked on Mimic a lot in the editing. It starts out a little slow. I wanted the very beginning to have kind of a Wes Anderson asthetic to it. He is a film director, I couldn't find a good example of his ashthetic it but, you can kind of relate it to the show Pushing Dasies. Wikipedia describes it as
" . . . employing a deliberate, methodical cinematography, with mostly primary colors. His soundtracks feature early folk and rock music, in particular classic British rock. Anderson's films combine dry humor with poignant portrayals of flawed characters"
Mimic is shorter so, it will be in parts like Sundays was.
Mimic
I am having some link issues so, the banner goes to chapter 1 for now.
Playlistin sidebar except for one song, I have to Youtube embed. I had a hard time finding songs that really fit, I had this issue with Hidden because so many songs are love songs out there. I was really pleased to find these songs that actually have a unifying theme.
-1- New Soul by Yael Namin. -2- Firework by Katy Perry ( I know) -3- City of Black & White by Matt Kearney( ***Youtube embeded****) -4- Dream by Priscilla Ahn ( I love this song, stole it from Lile) -5- Come Home by One Republic Ft. Sara Barielles -6- Look After You by Lifehouse -7- New Divide by Linkin Park
I am so happy Lile is back to posting, I love her writing style and she always inspires me but, unfourtantely creative block is plaguing me.): I know the stories and plots I want to write I just can't come up with a creative way to write it so, I can't call it writer's block.
That is why Sundays was is so special to me because the story just came out of my fingers without a lot of work and it was addicting and fun. I'm not giving up, I am still set on telling some specific stories I just need to figure out how to keep it interesting and believable.
