Monday, November 2, 2009

The Question

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The note landed in front of him, wrapped in a crisp $20 bill. That always grabbed his attention; Pete's left hand wandered up to unfold the paper. As his eyes scanned the pencil-scribbled question, he felt his stomach lurch.

“Not again”, he thought, snatching his hand away. “I can't fucking do it anymore.” The heavy scent of overly-cologned boys on the make wafted in from the patio and the giggling of drunk girls secretly wanting to be ogled overwhelmed his own voice. He recalled how many times he had relived that particular nightmare. Job after job, city after city, that same question chased him, haunted him. It ate away at his insides and made him sick to his stomach, leaving behind only the bitter taste of bile and the ache that comes with it. The sights and the sounds and the smells ended up being all the same no matter where he went. As the question was always there, waiting.

***

Pete ran, at first, from his New York home to Miami. Then to New Orleans, and to Kansas City, and on to Cleveland. Some of the cities were warm and wet, others hot and humid, some just stank of sweat and sweet tea. But the distance never salved the wound, and the question never went away, never changed. It just reappeared night after night after night. Even setting sail on the Caribbean didn't help, the salt water air didn't diminish the reek of boys and booze So Pete turned to drink. But the more he drank, the less soothing each shot became. His drinking become legendary, often leaving him in a stupor from his afternoon emergence from bed until he returned there again, too sloshed to worry about his shoes, his clothes, his wellbeing. And still the question haunted him. He couldn't avoid answering it, couldn't ignore it. The neon lights of the shops and bars cast his pallor in garish glows that made him look as ill as he felt every time he heard the questions. As ill as he felt every night.

Thinking companionship might help, Pete hungrily pursued women. The relationships always started great, as Pete was smart and handsome and incredibly talented. But the question would only stay quiet for a night or two then start echoing again in his head. The forced unconnected socialization he endured day and night left him empty, hungering for something real. As still the question came at him, time and again. His frustration grew and, fueled by drink and insomnia and despair, sabotaged his partnerships. They ended poorly, often with bursts of yelling and flowing tears. Every city housed landmarks of his journey – a broken window here, a fist-sized hole in the drywall there. And still the question remained. It hung in the air, unspoken and dreaded every night until, without fail, it came. Most times the messenger unknowingly hastened Pete's downward spiral. And yet, like the need to breath or the rising of the sun, the question persisted.

***

The folded slip of paper still lay in front of him. And despite his horror, his revulsion, Pete knew he would have to answer the question tonight. Just as he had done every night since it was first asked. He sighed deeply, tears welling in his eyes. And he succumbed again. His soul silently nodded in assent and his eyes, downcast, failed to see the triumph faces and shouts of joy that arose with his failure. Just as they had last night. And last week, and last month. His hands moved of their own volition, knowing every nuance of the ritual. His mind screamed “NO” but was ignored. And his mouth started reciting the words that slowly killed his soul every time he uttered them.

“Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world...”

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Urban Fantasy Notes - Comic Con 2009V

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The Urban Fantasy panel consisted of 6 authors with whom I am not familiar: Juliet Blackwell, Marjorie Liu, Jackie Kessler & Caitlin Kittredge, Diana Rowland, Sina Grace, Seanan McGuire, and Harry Connolly. I've compiled a short bibliography for each of them at the end of this post.

Ater brief introductions, the panel delved into the first point which was "common denominators': what factor(s) are prevalent in a significant portion of the urban fantasy design space. Two prevalent points emerged from this:
  1. A very "detailed" and "accurate" NON fantastic world must be created and explored so the 'fantastic"element has a place to fit in. If you are writing about Venice, CA., for example, be sure to build an accurate and interally consistant Venice BEFORE you add the supernatural elements.
  2. Because the audience is more savvy, has access to MUCH more information (due to the internet), and communicates internally MUCH more and much more frequently than ever, you internal consistancy, rules construction, and overall world structure has to be tighter and more compelling than ever before. Expectations escalate MONTHLY in this genre.

The panel then explored one of the most critical choices an author must make early during their creation process: is the fantasy or supernatural element "open" or "closed"? To be fair, rather than an either/or situation, there's really a continuum ranging from completely closed to completely open and every story has a place on the continuum. For clarity, "open" means the general public is aware of the general situation (i.e. in the Anita Blake series, most folks know about the existance of Vampires, there is state and federal legislation, etc.; "closed" means the secret(s) are closely held and only a small slice of the gereal population is aware of the situation. In addition to the two obvious choices (make it closed, make it open), two additional options were prevalent:
  1. Much like real life, there are just a few folks who choose to see (and thus can see) while the overwhelming majorit choose NOT to see or believe. So it's not closed by way of intentional secrecy but rather but public acceptance or avoidance. It's really a matter of the collective subconscious..
  2. Do NOT make the determination ahead of time, but rather start telling the story and see how this issue plays out. It becomes more a matter of weighing how things go rather than predetermining the outcome. It's more organic.
    The panel then breifly discussed the Harry Potter series in terms of "open" and "closed" and pretty much everyone agreed that it was mostly closed (a few folks seem to be aware, but most people are pretty oblivious to the entirety ofthe situation).
      One last peice of advice that several of the panelist agreed upon was that often stories are written for a small circle of friends/people initially. Any one else who enjoys it is just a bonus.

      BIBLIOGRAPHY

      Juliet Blackwell
      • The Faint of Art (as Hailey Lind)
      • Shooting Galery (as Hailey Lind)
      • Brush with Death (as Hailey Lind)
      • Arsenic and Old Paint (as Hailey Lind) [forthcoming in 2010]
      • Secondhand Spirits

      Marjorie M. Liu
      • Darkness Calls
      • Hunter Kiss (e-book)
      • The Iron Hunt
      • Companion Story - Hunter Kiss
      • Inked [forcoming in 2010]
      • Tiger Eye
      • Shadow Touch
      • The Red Heart of Jade
      • Dark Dreamers
      • Eye of Heaven
      • Soul Song
      • The Last Twilight
      • The Wild Road
      • The Fire King [forthcoming in 2009]

      Jackie Kessler & Caitlin Kittridge
      • Black and White

      Diana Rowland
      • Mark of the Demon

      Sina Grace
      • Cedric Hollows in Dial M for Murder

      Seanan McGuire
      • Rosemary and Rue [Forthcoming in 2009]
      • A Local Habitation [Forthcoming in 2010]
      • An Artificial Night [forthcoming in 2010]

      Harry Connolly
      • Child of Fire [Forthcoming 2009]
      • Game of Cages [Forthcoming 2010]