The Conservative Cave
The Bar => The Lounge => Topic started by: SSG Snuggle Bunny on April 21, 2008, 11:34:28 AM
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As some of you may know I am writing a horror story, some of the chapters having appeared in the Shortbus forum.
I would like to continue writing more and am doing so but my current editor has confessed to being too biased to offer a fair opinion.
The editor-to-be will have to be able to offer counsel on grammar, punctuation etc as well as continuity, story flow, writing style, "believability" etc.
I'm not thin skinned because I believe honest critique improves the work. Be advised though: this is not a story for the faint at heart. It is quite graphic in details and it broaches some subjects that even make me feel uncomfortable even though I'm not graphic only to be gratuitous; there is story-centered context for all of the events no matter how grim.
In practical terms I will PM you the chapters and you will return PM your corrections/comments/questions/suggestions prior to my adding them to the Shortbus.
Any fools takers?
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If it were anything but horror, I'd help you out, but I despise that genre. Sorry.
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If it were anything but horror, I'd help you out, but I despise that genre. Sorry.
Oddly, so do I.
I don't read King, Barker, Koontz, etc. I've read two books by Rice only to see what the big deal was all about but I'm still wondering.
I don't watch horror movies. My tastes are history, primarily military history, and my TV watching centers on Food Network.
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What inspired you to pick this genre? I read Koontz and King but not as much as I used to. I do like true crime if I have to pick a favorite. I don't know if I would make a good editor though.
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What inspired you to pick this genre? I read Koontz and King but not as much as I used to. I do like true crime if I have to pick a favorite. I don't know if I would make a good editor though.
Vampire stories--and Westerns, my other favorite form of fiction--have underlying moral themes...assuming they aren't strictly action-based. They're morality plays if you will. I find it intriguing that deep moral issues can be discussed in such violent terms. They also touch on many biblical themes as they unfurl themselves.
This story is actually a sequel to one written almost 10 years ago. It has taken this long (along with real-life interruptions) for the various characters to congeal into a story. Curiously, it started with only a premise: the protagonist left almost insane from the previous story's events; coupled with a series of character sketches (of the written sort). I came up with the characters Decimus and Klykos but couldn't out how to get their story-arcs to converge with Lazarus the protagonist.
Well, I've always been a big believer that well-developed fiction has a solid metaphysical foundation. That is why stories like Lord of the Rings succeed and stories like Star Wars fall apart. If a metaphysic isn't internally consistent the events based upon it lose cohesion. In my world I mapped out what made vampires what they are, what gave them their powers and what would foil them. From there I made certain that any supernatural interactions were thoroughly grounded on those assumptions and if it couldn't be justified it wouldn't be written.
For example, in my world all animals have a bipartite nature: a body and the animating spirit; but humans being unique creations have a body, animating spirit and an immortal soul. A vampire, being undead, is a body and the immortal soul but it has lost its animating spirit. This helps explain the need for vampires to consume blood because in Leviticus we are told not to consume blood because in it resides the life of the body. Lazarus is unique in that among his usual vampiric abilities he has the ability to "read" souls (discern what sort of person you are) and even consume a soul as food rather than just the animating essence within blood. Lazarus' progenitor, Antioch, believes this power to be capable of consuming other soul-based creatures as well, namely angels. If Lazarus can consume them then the "Walking Damned" can prevail in the War Against Heaven. To this end Antioch has spent over a century attempting to twist Lazarus' mind but Lazarus wants none of this. In the end of the previous story Lazarus had to consume over a thousand damned souls to foil Antioch's machinations; including the ancient vampire Antioch, himself...but alas souls are immortal. Lazarus has all these souls swimming inside his head and he can't keep them sorted out. He's going insane and all Hell is about to break loose.
The violent imagery stems from the fact that these are creatures that live by violence some of whom are running truck with demons whose only purpose is to despoil Creation itself. Yet, in the first story for all his violence and anti-hero status Lazarus is pursuing the heart of his most beloeved (literally her heart, wrenched from her chest). His love for her is being tested and along the way the nature of damnation--and its corallary--are explored.
The passions, violence and depth of vampires make them a marvellous vehicle for exploring themes regular fiction cannot lend itself to.
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Snuggles, you have a wonderful imagination! I admire your detail!
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Thank-you; you're most kind.
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I feel like a Mr Snuggle Bunny groupie.
Here I AM... your #1 fan! :lmao:
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Snuggles, you have a wonderful imagination! I admire your detail!
He's great, he's superlative.
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I feel like a Mr Snuggle Bunny groupie.
Here I AM... your #1 fan! :lmao:
If you're gonna cheer is there any chance of getting you to wear a cheerleaders outfit for me?
:naughty: :pervert:
As for the rest of you:
If no one person will accept the job will y'all sort of play collective editor when I post chapters?
Oh, and if you want to also wear cheerleader outfits as well that would be cool too...I'm looking at you Frankie; oh yes I am!
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I can't do anything much for the next couple of weeks but after that I'd be happy to help out with the sub editing side but I am not much of a creative writer so I couldn't advise on that side of things.
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I feel like a Mr Snuggle Bunny groupie.
Here I AM... your #1 fan! :lmao:
If you're gonna cheer is there any chance of getting you to wear a cheerleaders outfit for me?
:naughty: :pervert:
As for the rest of you:
If no one person will accept the job will y'all sort of play collective editor when I post chapters?
Oh, and if you want to also wear cheerleader outfits as well that would be cool too...I'm looking at you Frankie; oh yes I am!
I will wear my pom pom outfit if Frank wears his.... :rotf:
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I feel like a Mr Snuggle Bunny groupie.
Here I AM... your #1 fan! :lmao:
If you're gonna cheer is there any chance of getting you to wear a cheerleaders outfit for me?
:naughty: :pervert:
As for the rest of you:
If no one person will accept the job will y'all sort of play collective editor when I post chapters?
Oh, and if you want to also wear cheerleader outfits as well that would be cool too...I'm looking at you Frankie; oh yes I am!
Trust me... You DO NOT want to see me in a cheerleaders outfit.
LOL
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I can't do anything much for the next couple of weeks but after that I'd be happy to help out with the sub editing side but I am not much of a creative writer so I couldn't advise on that side of things.
Actually, your name was suggested to me.
Be advised it is rather violent and grim at times...OK, most times. I only say this because you have always presented yourself as a lady of higher-breeding.
As for the rest of you...
:tongue:
...feel free to offer your comments when I post.
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Actually, your name was suggested to me.
Be advised it is rather violent and grim at times...OK, most times. I only say this because you have always presented yourself as a lady of higher-breeding.
As for the rest of you...
...feel free to offer your comments when I post.
bijou would be excellent (after she's done dealing with a pretty important thing in her life right now), but you don't give her enough credit.
bijou is that special remarkable sort of Englishwoman who could make even H.R.H. the Duchess of Kent look crude and unmannerly.
In bijou, it's the best; she didn't have to learn manners or anything, she was born with that class, that elegance, that grace, and it becomes her well.
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I feel like a Mr Snuggle Bunny groupie.
Here I AM... your #1 fan! :lmao:
If you're gonna cheer is there any chance of getting you to wear a cheerleaders outfit for me?
:naughty: :pervert:
As for the rest of you:
If no one person will accept the job will y'all sort of play collective editor when I post chapters?
Oh, and if you want to also wear cheerleader outfits as well that would be cool too...I'm looking at you Frankie; oh yes I am!
I will wear my pom pom outfit if Frank wears his.... :rotf:
OK, I would pay real money to see that.