Almost every single member of my family is aware that I write stories about them, and those that aren’t are generally unaware due solely to poor memory (or, in several cases, illiteracy and poor memory). While a few family members are angry about it, as when my mother disowned me for five weeks, it’s not a visceral rage. Let’s face it, I could put a gun to my parents’ heads and couldn’t get them to read a stop sign. They’re not going to use “internet voodoo” to read stuff I write. The same is more or less true across the board. I don’t come from a clan of readers and am therefore empowered to write whatever I want without any thought to what my family is going to think.
The blot in the ink of course is this: I seem to have infected my little brother and sister with a love of books. They love to read. Furthermore, they are intensely curious as to why I’m always pounding away on a keyboard. This has put the idea in their heads that they should read whatever it is that I’m writing.
While I imagine that at some point in the future they will open up this site, and read all the stories herein, I do not think that would be appropriate for them at their present ages. But still… their inquiring little minds want to know. They want to read something that I wrote. So, I’m writing something for them. Since I’m already writing it, I thought I would put it up here in case anyone else wanted to read it.
To put it simply, Gray Bolt Ascending is a book about being a hero that I will be releasing chapter by chapter every Friday. Specifically, it’s about a sixteen year old half-Mexican/half-caucasian boy named Homer who discovers that Fate has plans for him. It’s a book about the cost of doing the right thing, and what it means to accept who you are deep down. Of course, there will be a myriad of fart jokes as well.
It’s probably best suited for fourteen to sixteen year olds, but I think it should be accessible to all ages above that… or at least it will be after I’ve edited it so many times my eyes bleed. I plotted it out over the course of a week, and unless I need to split some of the larger action sequences in half, it should clock in at twenty-one chapters. So far, I’ve written out to chapter six, and everything is working out just as I planned.
I wrote a lot of long fiction when I was younger. A lot. In fact, my first million words were probably pounded out writing stories about wizards. While this isn’t entirely new to me, this will be my first real book. As such, I imagine people will encounter all sorts of ugly, embarrassing things in its pages. I’ll do my best to catch all of those, but I’m publishing a first draft on-line here, so cut me a break and send me your advice if you have some. I’m a quick learner.
So why am I publishing it this way? I write best when I have gun to my head. You, my readers, are the gun, and your angry e-mails are the bullets. I like to be kept on my toes. It’s more fun that way. Also, I don’t think I’m ready to submit to agents just yet. I need to get into fighting form.
Now, for those of you who are already rolling your eyes, wanting to know if this is going to affect my update schedule, don’t worry. I doubt it will. In fact, I’m probably not ever going to mention it again, except for the occasional brief update. I know my core audience might not like this project, so I’m keeping it unobtrusive. You’ll have to click on the shiny link up top to get to it. A new chapter should be quietly posted there every Friday until it’s done. And not another peep about it.
I’ve wanted to write “the book to end all books” since I was old enough to use a pencil, but as I’m not good enough for that yet something else will have to do. “Gray Bolt Ascending” will be “a book” that I’m going to write, which if hated, will not destroy my will to live and leave me an embittered crazy person. Consider this exercise on the way to the Olympics.
LINK FOR FRIENDS TIME:
Now, on a much more interesting note did you know that I am e-quainted with an alternative porn star? It’s true, and awhile ago I gave her some advice about writing which I guess has now helped her advance her career in that direction. To my knowledge this is the only advice I have ever given to anyone that has panned out. She now writes for the site Random Salad, and you can add her on Myspace if you are so inclined.
