No one roots for Goliath
As I write what could conceivably be the last Project Cameron book, I've been gestating over possible future directions for my specfic exploits to follow. And while I've discovered I am most definitely more attuned to writing novels than short stories (just how I'm built, folks, doesn't mean I won't try), I've begun to understand that I am even more self-fitted for extended cycles of narrative. Strangely enough, I immensely enjoy reading stand-alone novels. And for me, the best are those slim ones that manage to seem so epic at the same time. The Spy Who Came In From the Cold does that very effectively, I think, by employing a very palpable Zeitgeist, and even though not much happens in A Very Private Gentleman, it still has a quality of being bigger than the pages between the covers.
All that said, I've zeroed in on some characters I've been dying to write about, two of whom will be central for a narrative series, but I've been trying to figure out their context. This is all just me speaking out loud (or en ligne, as it were), hoping to jar a puzzle piece into the right slot.
A theme that's been mugging me while I plow through Ashes is the role of the individual in history. You probably don't need to be reminded that War and Peace is probably my most anticipated read, and I can't wait to get to it; I'm trying to get rid of everything else on the list first and am being extremely judicious with additions. But it's something that gets touched on slightly in Ashes, what with some of the choices I made as far as viewpoint characters. But it's something I'd like to focus more on with this next endeavor.
And by individual, as you've probably already guessed, I don't mean Ubermensch. I don't mean the Napoleons and Caesars and Stalins and Lincolns of history. I mean the soldier, the poet, the mistress, the social worker, the teacher, the spy, the slave. It was once said that a master only knows the height to which the slave raises him. And part of a leader's character is his/her ability to draw followers, to make others see as he does. How else do you command loyalty? Material rewards are helpful, but so much more successful is the soldier who does not desire a reward for his efforts.
And I wanted to do something very interesting that I came across in crowleycrow's book The Translator. It takes place during the Cold War, specifically amidst the Cuban Missile Crisis, and what he managed to do was make characters of the U.S. and the Soviet Union. I can't for the life of me figure out how he did it, but without giving them arms and legs, he gave them both a voice. And it was more than just me realizing by the descriptions that a character was walking down a street in Moscow or driving past an ice cream shop in Wichita. The two places had voices. Maybe part of it was the context of the Cold War and all the connotations of that, be that as it may. Even still, it blew me away when I realized what was happening. And I think that's going to be my task or my lesson with this cycle. To make characters out of places. I even have one picked out (::cough::Croatia::cough::).
Also, this cycle is going to have as much Cool as I can throw in it. I have character templates for people like Lex Diamond, Angela Ashe, Frances Fate, Ratimir (most of the allusions you've guessed are probably true, with a few surprises), and a whole host of others that I can't wait to throw in. It's going to be awesome, I'm getting hyped just thinking about it.
Anyway, just to let everyone know that I have accepted the idea of life without Dante. (It'll be tough, but I think I'll manage).
All that said, I've zeroed in on some characters I've been dying to write about, two of whom will be central for a narrative series, but I've been trying to figure out their context. This is all just me speaking out loud (or en ligne, as it were), hoping to jar a puzzle piece into the right slot.
A theme that's been mugging me while I plow through Ashes is the role of the individual in history. You probably don't need to be reminded that War and Peace is probably my most anticipated read, and I can't wait to get to it; I'm trying to get rid of everything else on the list first and am being extremely judicious with additions. But it's something that gets touched on slightly in Ashes, what with some of the choices I made as far as viewpoint characters. But it's something I'd like to focus more on with this next endeavor.
And by individual, as you've probably already guessed, I don't mean Ubermensch. I don't mean the Napoleons and Caesars and Stalins and Lincolns of history. I mean the soldier, the poet, the mistress, the social worker, the teacher, the spy, the slave. It was once said that a master only knows the height to which the slave raises him. And part of a leader's character is his/her ability to draw followers, to make others see as he does. How else do you command loyalty? Material rewards are helpful, but so much more successful is the soldier who does not desire a reward for his efforts.
And I wanted to do something very interesting that I came across in crowleycrow's book The Translator. It takes place during the Cold War, specifically amidst the Cuban Missile Crisis, and what he managed to do was make characters of the U.S. and the Soviet Union. I can't for the life of me figure out how he did it, but without giving them arms and legs, he gave them both a voice. And it was more than just me realizing by the descriptions that a character was walking down a street in Moscow or driving past an ice cream shop in Wichita. The two places had voices. Maybe part of it was the context of the Cold War and all the connotations of that, be that as it may. Even still, it blew me away when I realized what was happening. And I think that's going to be my task or my lesson with this cycle. To make characters out of places. I even have one picked out (::cough::Croatia::cough::).
Also, this cycle is going to have as much Cool as I can throw in it. I have character templates for people like Lex Diamond, Angela Ashe, Frances Fate, Ratimir (most of the allusions you've guessed are probably true, with a few surprises), and a whole host of others that I can't wait to throw in. It's going to be awesome, I'm getting hyped just thinking about it.
Anyway, just to let everyone know that I have accepted the idea of life without Dante. (It'll be tough, but I think I'll manage).