You know that light at the end of the tunnel?
I'm totally seeing it in all its multicolored glory. It's there, with sunlight and chirping birds, but it's still a few days hike. Or rather a few weeks in the case of this story. All my little parts and pieces are coming together, and it's interesting to see this wide cast of characters have to work together. Terry is turning out to be far more distrustful than I expected, which you kind of have to expect from a dude who got betrayed and had his memories stolen from him.
I wanted to talk a little bit today about the confrontation I had with two major leaders in my werewolf pack. It was a while back, but some of the behavior now has rippled down from the event earlier in the book and I wanted to address it. At one point the pack leadership gets questioned and two of my major dudes, Rolph and Brakkis, confront each other on who should lead the pack. Have you ever watched a nature documentary about wolves? I mean a real one where they show their hunting patterns, how they have to trail after a prey for days until it gets exhausted, and how different members of the pack get different roles depending on their strengths, not those that talk about the mystery of wolves and how majestic their howls sound. This is more how my werewolf pack is behaving, much like how I imagine a real wolf pack would in the wild. I think many people see werewolves as always vying for power against each other, fighting over territory, and getting into scuffles over the simplest of problems. However, when I look into documentaries on wolves, I see a whole different story.
A lone wolf has become a popular metaphor for a reason, because it doesn't happen often. Wolves need a pack to survive, and it's not solely for company either. Some of the best pack hunters in the world are wild dogs in Africa because each member has broken down for them their role and their path. During a hunt they can signal to each other without a sound what the next move will be. Take a look at this video that gives an example.
Pole-to-Pole: Hunting Dogs
That takes more than luck, that takes coordination, trust, and a clear definition of who's in charge and who's following. I think that's why I have issues with many of the werewolves we see on film. I could bring Wolf Man up again, but you see it everywhere. Werewolves constantly competing over some object, either territory or women or prey or whatever. I just don't understand how that would equal long-term survival from a scientific perspective if that's how they lived day in, day out.
So I've gone against that in my story. Sure, you see the major confrontation between Rolph and Brakkis for leadership, but once a clear decision is made, the two respect it. So does the rest of the pack. I think this makes much more sense for the survival of individual members as well as the pack as a whole.
Anyway, enough of my sleepy ramblings for right now. On to my latest word count!
Project: Secrets of Leekston
Summary: Leekston is an unassumingly quiet southern town, but it hides many secrets. An unusual government entity studies the supernatural activity in the area, but for what purpose? A crazy scientist runs a research lab of particular patients, and his daughter may pay the price for the people he's maimed. Six years after the incident at the Kayak Hills subdivision, sixteen year-old Suzie Daper once again must protect her family, this time from a bloodthirsty werewolf pack bent on destroying anyone standing in the way of their vengeance.
Current total words: 82,211
New words written: 2,211
Total Words for 2012: 95,212
I wanted to talk a little bit today about the confrontation I had with two major leaders in my werewolf pack. It was a while back, but some of the behavior now has rippled down from the event earlier in the book and I wanted to address it. At one point the pack leadership gets questioned and two of my major dudes, Rolph and Brakkis, confront each other on who should lead the pack. Have you ever watched a nature documentary about wolves? I mean a real one where they show their hunting patterns, how they have to trail after a prey for days until it gets exhausted, and how different members of the pack get different roles depending on their strengths, not those that talk about the mystery of wolves and how majestic their howls sound. This is more how my werewolf pack is behaving, much like how I imagine a real wolf pack would in the wild. I think many people see werewolves as always vying for power against each other, fighting over territory, and getting into scuffles over the simplest of problems. However, when I look into documentaries on wolves, I see a whole different story.
A lone wolf has become a popular metaphor for a reason, because it doesn't happen often. Wolves need a pack to survive, and it's not solely for company either. Some of the best pack hunters in the world are wild dogs in Africa because each member has broken down for them their role and their path. During a hunt they can signal to each other without a sound what the next move will be. Take a look at this video that gives an example.
Pole-to-Pole: Hunting Dogs
That takes more than luck, that takes coordination, trust, and a clear definition of who's in charge and who's following. I think that's why I have issues with many of the werewolves we see on film. I could bring Wolf Man up again, but you see it everywhere. Werewolves constantly competing over some object, either territory or women or prey or whatever. I just don't understand how that would equal long-term survival from a scientific perspective if that's how they lived day in, day out.
So I've gone against that in my story. Sure, you see the major confrontation between Rolph and Brakkis for leadership, but once a clear decision is made, the two respect it. So does the rest of the pack. I think this makes much more sense for the survival of individual members as well as the pack as a whole.
Anyway, enough of my sleepy ramblings for right now. On to my latest word count!
Project: Secrets of Leekston
Summary: Leekston is an unassumingly quiet southern town, but it hides many secrets. An unusual government entity studies the supernatural activity in the area, but for what purpose? A crazy scientist runs a research lab of particular patients, and his daughter may pay the price for the people he's maimed. Six years after the incident at the Kayak Hills subdivision, sixteen year-old Suzie Daper once again must protect her family, this time from a bloodthirsty werewolf pack bent on destroying anyone standing in the way of their vengeance.
Current total words: 82,211
New words written: 2,211
Total Words for 2012: 95,212