Writing Bug... How Sweet Thy Greedy Nibble!!

I got on here a few weeks ago whining about how I couldn't write. Apparently all you need to do is publicly gripe about writer's block for it to crumble. I was looking at the Workman Family (Jenny's) blog and realized that my last post was 4 weeks ago. Whether the break was considered a relief or a disappointment is up to you. Regardless, however, I'm back suckers!

Actually, I don't know how much I will be blogging in the near future. I have the few initial test copies of my first book floating around, waiting for the feedback and edits so I can make a final first edition. Since finally unshackling that emotional 50,000-word ball and chain, the fiction portion of my brain has taken the driver's seat and seems to be careening haphazardly--to my extreme delight, by the way!

I've written a few posts about the my second book, tentatively titled "The Why Society" but I'd hope I can come up with something better than that! Maybe not. The book takes place in my fictional version of an actual town: Why, Arizona. I grown to really enjoy the story and characters, even though the book was started as merely a distraction from the more taxing memoir.

I don't know if I've ever mentioned the third project, but it is my second work of fiction and, surprisingly, taking shape very well. I am certain of the title of this one, which is simply "Eidolon." It is much more... I'm not sure what the best word would be... adult? Don't get me wrong, it's not X-Rated or anything like that, but it would earn a solid R rating as opposed to The Why Society which would probably be considered a light PG-13. 

The Why Society has made Jenny cry quite a few times... hell, it made ME cry while I was writing it! I'd have thought that the emotional impact of that book would appeal to her more than the slightly darker and more "real life" Eidolon. But, she shocked me by reading the first 10,000 words and telling me, "This is my kind of book!"

To give you an idea of where the Eidolon book is headed, I'll include you the tentative beginning below. I decided to use this book to try the first-person perspective, as opposed to The Why Society which is strictly third-person. Each character has developed such unique hurdles, I simply couldn't pick just one as the protagonist.  The Why Society explores more of the emotional aspects of maturing relationships and personal growth through life lessons during your late teens... oh yeah, and fighting giant lizards.  

Without further adieu, I give you the rough initial idea for Eidolon...

(I'll clean it up a little for anyone who might be offended by some of the language.)

My name is Damian Gray and I've died 412 times. Needless to say, my relationship with the “other” realm is... intimate. I have never been killed, but would hate to mar my “talent” by calling it something as dark as “suicide.” It's more like taking little coffee breaks from life. Additionally, the 19 minutes I get outside of my body each time affords me... well, let's just say, opportunities.

Dying temporarily is a numbers game. You get 19 minutes and can travel up to 1094 yards away from your body. I am not sure why the math works out this way, but I've practiced enough to know the numbers and obey the rules. Maybe later I will tell you a little more about some of the “lessons” I learned the hard way. But, for now, we'll just stick to the basics.

I've heard people talk about the “soul” weighing 21 grams. I think they even made a movie about it one time, but I never saw it. I stopped my heart in a veterinary office one time out of curiosity. Well, I actually had to stop it three or four times to keep my stupid body from falling all the way off the dog scale. According to the digital read-out, I weigh 28 grams as a “soul.” Maybe their scale was busted or I'm just a little bulky out-of-body. I don't really care, I wasn't there to weigh myself—I was there to burn the joint to the ground. We can talk more about that in a while.

I don't know, “soul” feels like the wrong term to me; too religious. I've never spent any of my 19 minutes in a church, I can tell you that much. “Spirit” is even worse. “Ghost” is wrong because it seems like a cheap Hollywood term. “Poltergeist” is right most of the time but not as a general term. I don't think that I'm an angry guy by nature. “Incubus” sounds cool and I absolutely love the band, but I'm not down with the whole 'rapist demon' bit. I'm not an evil apparition by any means, but I'm no FREAKING “Casper” either. I'm an otherworld identity crisis I suppose.

For the sake of putting a name to a face, (or lack of a face,) we can call my separate form “Eidolon.” One night I was perusing an antique bookstore and looked up “ghost” in an ancient Thesaurus. Eidolon was on the list and caught my eye so I wrote it on my hand. Plus I think it sounds bad-A.

Speaking of poltergeist, people have that all wrong. You don't have to be pissed to PG. I mean, it helps, and some of my most spectacular destructions have taken place during an all-out ape-POOP rage. Then again, I have also PG-ed completely on accident; like snorting while laughing.

I suppose I should probably tell you a little more about how I obtained this “talent” for stepping out of my body. You could probably do it too, but I wouldn't recommend trying unless you've developed complete control. I don't want to fancy it up by pretending it’s something it’s not; I guess that's all it really comes down to—control.