Friday, August 29, 2014

Book Meme

Chele Cooke, the brilliant sci-fi and fantasy author of such books as Dead and Buryd and Fight or Flight in the "Out of Orbit" series, recently followed this meme talking about her serialized novel that she's releasing on Wattpad called Teeth. (Check out Chele's blog post in this meme)

Chele tagged me in her meme, suggesting I talk about my novel I, Death (coming in print and eBook in October, but I am releasing it in serialized fashion on Wattpad throughout the summer) 

[A warning that I, Death contains graphic horror and depictions of adult sexual situations - this is definitely not a story for those easily offended]



1. When and where is the story set?

The story opens in the small mid-Northern town of Levack as well as the nearby city of Sudbury, in Ontario, Canada. The characters migrate four hours south to the city of Toronto towards the end of the book.

While not necessarily a part of the setting, the first 70% of the novel is written on a blog by the main character and that part of the story is told entirely from his POV along with interjections from others in the blogging community. (But I often do think that part of the "setting" has to do with the online tools by which Peter is sharing his story)

2. What can you say about the main characters?

Peter O'Mallick, the novel's main character, is an angst-filled seventeen year old who has just been dumped by his longtime girlfriend Sarah. He begins blogging about the turmoil faced with losing her while also dealing with the belief that he was born with some terrible death curse that has resulted in so many of his friends dying or suffering horrible fates.

One of the supporting characters, a supply teacher by the name of Mr. Robertson (called "Robbie" by his students), was one of my favourite characters to write, as he became a composite of every single amazing teacher I'd every had, as well as some traits that I liberated from the character of John Keating played by Robin Williams in the movie Dead Poets Society.

The "bad guy" is a drug lord by the name of Bryan Brecht, who discovers Peter's blog, understands that the kid isn't just paranoid, but actually has some sort of death curse, and seeks to find a way to use the kid's power to further rise in the ranks of becoming a kingpin of the drug world.

3. What is the main conflict?

There are two main conflicts in the novel -

The main underlying conflict is internal and has to do with Peter's sense of loss and grief and frustration with the death curse that he believes is responsible for losing everyone from his parents and best friends to the loss of his girlfriend Sarah (who is very much alive, but who has cut herself off from his life). I tried to adapt the universal angst and frustration that are felt during the teenage years related to acceptance, friendship, love and loss with the additional element of a dark undertone of death. Dealing with his own feelings and his reaction to the terrors that surround him are a good part of the conflict Peter faces. Throughout the loss and destruction of his world, his desire to reunite with Sarah remains a constant thread. But he knows he can't be close to her or else she, too might succumb to the curse.

The second conflict, the main external one is related to Brecht's desire to infiltrate and manipulate Peter in order to use him and his death curse for the benefit of his position in the drug world. He plays upon Peter's continued loss of a fatherly and supportive figure and his desire to have a strong and important mentor.

The Infectious Phase

I'm nominating the following writers (all peeps with serialized books on Wattpad that you can and SHOULD check out) to continue this meme . . .

1) Edward Willett, author of Andy Nebula: Interstellar Rock Star

2)  Robert S. Wilson, author of Shining in Crimson

3) Meredith Rose, author of Chains of Silver


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