At about 4.00pm yesterday I finished the current updates to 'Juvie'. They've taken me a little over a month but the story had to grow. Now I've introduced a new character 'Spider', whilst several others have changed their reason for being. Ben (the main character) has become more of himself and he now has a damning reason to go back to Greenville.
The town has shrunk and become battered and bruised, whilst the world they inhabit has grown exponentially and opened up the story for book 2 and book 3.
Overall I think it's much better. More rounded and carefully crafted. Madame Vin will read it for me over the next few days and then I'll send it to my agent. Whilst the book is with him I'll start drafting ideas for book two and three and play around with a few other ideas I have.
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Somethings to look at whilst you're here:
A great short video in which Stephen Fry discusses Christian faith and religion. It's an emotive subject and for which I am firmly in the atheist camp. I've been watching 'The Bible' on channel 4 on Sunday and found the documentaries for the most part well made and intelligent. I watched them like history programmes as they help open an area of the world that I'm not too familiar with, but I don't believe that Jesus is the son of God. That is a myth, a story; a beautiful and moral one, but a story none the less. I have no problems with people who want to believe in Jesus or a prophet, God or any other religious entity. It just doesn't work for me. I know the world to be amazing and complex enough via nature and explainable forces.
A selection for great short films including LogoRama (which I've been told has won an Oscar. Was that just yesterday?), Lost Things starring the lovely Alison Sudol and the song 'Sleepwalking' by A Fine Frenzy and a 1000 Awesome Things that I mostly agree with, but I imagine they missed out the Bridge scene in Manhattan which I watched yesterday and is, well awesome.
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Finished off a few book series this last few weeks including Hutson's Joe Pitt and Carey's Felix Castor books. Both are similar in that they deal with supernatural beings that exist in the real world and both books are written as thrillers.
My Dead Body is as usual, noirish, violent and full of fast lines. The vampire communities are in disarray after Pitt's last adventure and he has been spending his days and nights hidden away from his lover in the sewers of NY. Brought out with the chance to redeem himself, Pitt as usual finds himself the pawn in a game of politics that might end up with him and half of Manhattan dead. Fast and mean the story goes in the direction you expect, but has lots of fun getting there.
The Naming of the Beasts is a little slower to build as Castor reacts to the events that ended the last of the series. There's a demon after him only this demon is riding inside his best friend and wants to kill both of them. Having to give up on his morals and join the enemy Castor needs to end the possession that kick started his career. Bit of a predictable ending but great fun along the way.
Cancertown: An Inconvenient Tooth is an independent comic book production by new writers and artists. I picked it up becuase the front cover reminded me of Hellblazer. The story involves Morely, a man stuck between real London and Cancertown, an alternative world that he can enter due to the huge tumour he has in his head. It's not bad. The writing starts off good with plenty of intriguing ideas but it eventually runs out of steam and that last part of the story feels rushed. The cover work is great but the art inside needs work. That said those involved are names to look out for in the future.
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Read this week:
My Dead Body by Charlie Huston
The Naming of the Beasts by Mike Carey
Cancertown: An Inconvenient Tooth by Dethan, Downey, Cook & Wilkinson.
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