On Splattering and Goo

[jonathanlhoward]

Good heavens. Two months since I last posted. I had no idea it was so long.

One of the non-fun things about writing a novel is how solitary an endeavour it is. It's just you and the recalcitrant words and the infelicitous phrases in a throwdown battle of domination, trying to steer a path between the text reading like a shopping list or

Comments

[earthmarsha]

Sounds like you got some negative feedback to that tweet. On the other hand, Michael and I were delighted.

[jonathanlhoward]

No, I wouldn't call it negative. They just preferred the tone of JCtD over JCtN. That's not negativity, just personal taste. Of course, I'm insecure enough to worry about everybody's opinion (apart from the really stupid ones), so I just wanted to make it plain that Cabal is Cabal. His world may be unpleasant at (most) times, and that unpleasantness varies from splatty gooiness to fresh'n'clean, but Cabal is always Cabal.

[thefreckledfish]

My twelve-year old and I laughed like major drains at the mental image of one of the bandits at the end of JCtD vomiting up his own heart, alongside his hapless and equally dead compadres. That is funny, in a gore-splattered, goo-ely-oozing sort of way.

My eight-year old asked me to stop reading, for it was (and I quote) "too horrible".

So, JC#3 - I think the jury here is tendng towards "whatever", with regards to the gore content. We just want the book. And the collection of short stories as a dessert. :o)

[amphitritie]

As a relatively new fan, I'd say I'd love to see a short story collection! (And I haven't even read Detective yet, but everything else.) Are you planning on sticking to Johannes Cabal stories for the duration of your literary career or are there going to be other projects, because I love your style and would love to see it showcased in other forms as well. (Not that I don't love JC.)

Is it bad than when talking about the series I always say Jonathan Cabal?

[buffyaddict13]

i just finished reading JCtD and i, for one, LOVED it. johannes cabal has become one of my very favoritest (yes, a word) characters.

i'm sorry to come over to your lj and stalk you, but i just had to tell you how much i love these stories. if anyone was "left cold" but JCtD, it's because they were reading in the middle of a wind-swept tundra.

i loved necromancer and the detective both. i even cried for horst and did an internal jig that leonie lived.

thank you for having a glorious brain and sharing your brilliant creation with the world.

the end.

ps. JC #3? i can't wait!

[qualapec]

It's actually rather interesting you say that.

I almost wouldn't say that it was that Detective lacked horror so much as the same elements of dark fantasy (basically the same thing, but one implies a greater understanding of the magical workings) present in the first one. But that's fine, it was a different beast and I felt as though "technology" in the steampunkish sense seemed to replace the magic elements, which was fine for me.

Personally, I feel that Cabal is a very genre-bending series and appreciate the variability (and the dasterdly deeds, of course). Can't wait to see what you have lined up for #3