While I love the ability to post my thoughts and short stories on this blog my real passion involves writing novels. Most people do not know that I have written several full length books, mostly because I am very self conscious about my work and constantly changing and revising them. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever be happy with my work. This is not uncommon as people like George Lucas constantly update his work. I see nothing wrong with an author or director revising his work as over time you can really see where your work fell short of your vision and change it. I know particularly with movies this can offend older fans who see a part of their childhood changed up, but nothing says you have to accept the changes, you can simply remember the work as how you first saw it.
In fact this goes for all works of art. You as the viewer (or reader, etc.) can pick and chose how you want to view what you are seeing. People endlessly debate what is the correct way to interpret say a movie like Eyes Wide Shut. The truth is once an author, directer, artists puts his work out to the public it becomes theirs as well. The work is about how you see it. Some people disagree with this but to hell with them. If you like a movie then a sequel is made that you think really ruins the first movie than you can chose to say that the sequel does not exist in your vision. I am in particular a fan of the original Star Wars trilogy so I sought out some of the books that were written in the expanded universe detailing events that take place after the original three movies. I was mostly let down by summaries of the stories I read because I felt like they did not capture the spirit of the movies. Lucasfilms has to authorizes these stories so it is not like they do not have some say in the direction that the stories go in, but all the same in my mind they do not exist in the movie universe I grew up watching (One except is the Thrawn Triology written by Timothy Zahn, he in my mind made a better series than George Lucas did with his prequel trilogy- and by coincidence Timothy Zahn was very unhappy in the direction other Post Endor works took).
So far I have written out on paper two full length books, and partially written two more, and fleshed out in my head 6 more full stories. These cover a broad range of subjects so I will give a brief summary of each under the category they fall in. I will start with the first book I wrote.
The Void Series- This involves two full books I have written on paper and in word format on the computer. I began the first book back in high school although its origin goes back years before that. It all started from a dream I had as a child. From that dream I slowly built an entire series of books around that initial dream. In all I have the two books I have written, plus another two more stories in the series completely fleshed out.
The series biggest influence would have to be Arthurian tales and romances.
Summary-
In the far future the remnants of Humanity become enslaved by a brutal race of aliens that are locked in a centuries long war. After generations in servitude two human babies are born who develope exceptional powers. Together these two grow to lead a revolution against their oppressors and take humanity into a rebirth that leads them into becoming the dominant force in the known galaxy. One becomes a King while the other his protector.
As the centuries pass they remain in power using brutal force to maintain their grasp on humanity. After 400 years the King has become a mad decaying husk of the once noble warrior he was, while his protector though still looking as youthful as ever has doubts. Into this fold comes a dangerous reminder of the past. Something so dark and terrifying that it brings the Kingdom to its knees.
Are the King and his Protector a new form of human evolution or did they make secret pacts centuries before? Can they save humanity once again or will they cause its final downfall?
The first book is called the Rebirth After the Void.
All told the books cover over 10,000 years of history written with in them. I have detailed so much of this "world" with in my head that I could never hope to cover it all but the four books I have planned will take you into questions that have no easy answer. Where does duty end and brutality begin? What is the future of the humanity? Can I write a love story worth a damn?
The second book I have begun writing but not been able to finish yet is untitled. It is part of a series but a stand alone book in that series. It is a quintessential fantasy book but one that is quite human. The truth is I would much rather write Historical Fiction as I love history especially from the Dark Ages to the Renaissance. The truth is as much as I have read and studied I could never hope to be accurate enough to appease all audiences. The benefit of writing fantasy is that there is no right or wrong.
I do differ from most other fantasy in that it lacks many fantastical elements. Warfare in my book is treated in a very realistic fashion. The heroes do not battle endless hordes of the enemy slaying hundreds. In fact one hero facing 5 lowly levy soldiers will most likely surrender rather than foolishly wasting his life.
Summary-
The Kingdom of Pelador has stood for over a 1000 years as a symbol of power. Though many other western Kingdoms have fallen and changed over the years the Kingdom of Pelador has stayed stout throughout the years.
Now faced with an invasion by the vast army of the Otani Empire in the East the Kingdom of Pelador finally crumbles. Dark forces descend into the lands laying waste to the country side. Into this maelstrom of violence a lone Squire Balimor rides his horse into one of the few small Hamlets still standing. In the local town pub he meets a mysterious woman and together they get embroiled in a mystery dating back to when the Gods still roamed the lands as a war for survival is fought all around them.
The next book is written in my head and is a trilogy revolving around a character first met in the previous story called Solaris the Drawer of Light. This trilogy ties both the previous story and the Void series together into one much large omnibus (the true final story being the fourth book in the Void series).
Book 1- King Airodak of Pelodar (briefly mentioned in the previous book as one of the greatest Kings in the history of Pelador) gathers the greatest Knights in all the Western Kingdoms and leads a crusade to the eastern Shadow lands. Before he departs Solaris the Drawer of Light, once a man but now more powerful than a God) takes Airodak to the edge of the Omniverse and tests his purity.
Together they travel Eastward to cleanse the blighted Shadow lands. There they fight an ancient evil so powerful that even Solaris himself becomes afraid.
Book 2- This book travels back through history to the origin of Solaris. Follow him during the ancient prehistoric times of Pelador. Watch him rise up from a Chieftain to become something above even the Gods.
Book 3- Follow Pelador on his travels through the different Planes of Existence. Visit the Realm of the Gods, the Domain of Time, the past, the future, and the Present. Dare to journey across the omniverse to strange and fanciful lands. See places where the laws of physics as we know them have no meaning. Watch as Solaris transcends being a man into being an entity across all times and places.
While these previous books have all been of the sci-fi/fantasy realm that is certainly not my only writing projects. If anything they tend to be the most difficult since you really have to come up with something brilliant without being labeled a rip off of previous work. So much has been done in these fields it is tough to come up with new ideas. The thing that I feel separates my work from others is that the fantastical elements only serve as a backdrop, the real story is a philosophical one of the direction of humanity, our past and future. While star ships and swords and shields play their part, they are really insignificant to the relationship between the characters and to their lands.
The next two stories are one that I have begun writing and the other I have partially fleshed out in my head. One involves some supernatural elements but they are kept to a minimun and may not really even take place at all, while the other does not at all.
The first one I began writing a couple years ago but never really found a story out of it. As the years have passed I have slowly built up a story to where I am now sure the direction I want to take it in.
Summary- This is the story set in a high school during the mid 90s. It involves a high school athlete who moves into a new school that is plagued with racial violence. After a brief fight in the gym locker room the student is forced into taking a side and thrust into the middle of the violence. As he transitions from an athlete into a gang member his life slowly spirals into drugs and crime. While he hangs onto some of his past achievements making it to state college his life descends further into an abyss.
This is not a feel good book. There are no happy endings in life. This is a saga of a teenager brought into a life that consumes him literally.
The final book is my newest story that I am working on. It is perhaps the one I am most excited about. While growing up my parents were foster parents. No I was not a foster kid, but I had to live with several. I certainly didn't know all the details but I do know that so many children came into the agency having been sexually and physically abused by their parents. Sometimes they would go to homes where their foster parents would sexually abuse them. Sometimes just the cab driver who drove them from the agency to a home would sexual abuse them.
Then you watch a show like To Catch a Predator on NBC and see man after man show up trying to meet and have sex with young girls and boys. Teachers, Doctors, Religious leaders, cops, it didn't matter all walks of life tried to do this. Then I see some true crime show about some mother who gave her 8 year daughter to her boyfriend for his birthday to have sex with. Just one story after another. I have grown to the point where I feel like depraved sexual perverts are everywhere around me. I see people walking down the road and I see sickness in their eyes. I hate that I was exposed to just how depraved people can be.
Summary- Sven is a steroid abusing ex convict with a violent streak despite his overall good nature. During the opening part of the story he sexual assaults a woman who rejects his advances. Feeling guilty he wanders the streets trying questioning himself.
By chance he happens upon a party in an abandoned warehouse. As he enters he is surrounded by other ex convicts and gang members. Once there he progresses down to the basement and is disturbed by what he finds. In a fit of anger he attacks others around him clearing out the room. This is just the beginning of his odyssey as he soon finds out the building descends several floors down each level becoming more depraved and disturbing while the people become more respectable. He fights his way down to a living hell and see's things he cannot forget. He finds out the truth behind the power elite and the true depths of evil that humans are capable of. Some places the devil cannot even go.
The second half of the book deals with Sven as he returns to his life forever scarred. He cannot get the images out of his head. Now everyone he looks at he see's evil staring back at him. On the brink of madness he decides to cleanse the world of "the sickness".
Each chapter of the book will start with a small paragraph of real events both modern and historical of just how sick people can be.
One problem I have found though in fleshing out the story though is that it takes me to a dark place that I do not like. Simply thinking about the things people are capable of makes me feel sick to my stomach. I struggle with how I can write about such things and not lose my own sanity at the thought of what people have really done. It is so emotional exhaustive that I have to take breaks from even thinking about it. I purposely leave details vague but I have a hard time coming to grips with how people can be this way.
Now I am also considering editing all my blog posts about the funny stories and make a book out of it. I love writing things that make people laugh and I find it is the easiest things to write about.
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