"In his darkness
I can feel the storm come.
In his darkness
Holy water burns my soul.
In his darkness
A grave waits for you at heaven's gate.
In his darkness
I hear screams that hide the voice of God.
"Come children of Eden
Pray to me on Dominion Day.
"Pray for your salvation,
Sanctuary on Dominion Day..."
--- Gary Numan, "Dominion Day"
from the album "EXILE" (1997)
It's been a while. Just thought I'd share some news.
A couple of days ago I turned over the manuscript for NOCTURNES IN PURGATORY over to my Publisher/Editor at By Light Unseen Media, Inanna Arthen. The novel is the latest chapter in the continuing Borrego Bay/Moon-Chosen saga featuring my character Montgomery Quinn, The Adversary. The Moon-Chosen are non-supernatural vampires, offshoots of normal humanity who are products of parallel evolution. They are characterized by some of the standard tropes, but differ from the traditional in that they can't shape-shift, can walk around in daylight, have no dramatic physical reaction to religious symbolism/artifacts. Quinn is a member of a secret race of immortals who police the worldwide supernatural community and, even among the unique species to which he belongs, he is an example of the extremities in human development, a mutant. An epic-sized dark thrillfest, it features some of my most complex vampire societal concepts with a healthy dose of police procedural/techno-noir shadings.
I wasn't content to just crank out the typical vampire-hunter, neo-horror, urban fantasy adventure that appears to currently dominate the commercial market right now. I wanted the story to have some real depth and impact, wanted it to be cinematic and literary at the same time. I explored government paranoia, racial xenophobia, social politicism and the psychological underpinnings of the concepts of real vampires in our modern wired society. Some of that stuff I'd already strongly hinted at in the novel's predecessor, KRYMSIN NOCTURNES, but I really brought it to the fore in this story. I also upped the intricacy and intensity of the physical confrontations, going for a harder, harsher vibe. And, oh yeah, I wanted my protagonists to act and speak like thinking adults, so no cliched horror movie tropes. I purposely set out to construct the kind of tale that would linger in the readers' minds long after the book was finished. This isn't a gorefest, not a video-game pastiche, and I didn't want to make it a simple chase or revenge melodrama. I wanted to create a dark crime epic.
Some stories or novels are sprints, run hard and fast, and some are extended military campaigns, planned, thoughtful and doggedly pursued. For me, this book was a combination of the two: multifaceted, multi-leveled, and the result of careful organization while at the same time it burned white-hot and was brutally ferocious.
Don't know if I was totally successful, but I'm pretty sure I pulled it off for the most part. And let me tell you, it was a difficult tightrope to walk.
Now I get to see if my publisher agrees...
Waiting, much like writing itself, can often be a real bitch.
Lessee where this thing goes in the weeks to come...
So, on to the next project: I finally get to concentrate on putting down actual wordage on TRYNE: HOMICIDAL COGNITION. Cyborg hunter/killers, computer hackers, cyberpunks, telepaths, international terrorists, suave megalomaniacs, high-tech assassins, witches' covens -- and those are just the Good Guys!
Heh-hehn, that's gonna be a nasty bit o' fun, that is.
'Till next time.