Unlocking

A huge and penultimate Teratogenesis update today.  There is only one chapter remaining and then it’s done.  I can’t quite believe it.  Mostly because it’s not necessarily true.  There’s still the editing, the two missing chapters (which will foreshadow Lyall’s return) and Trudie’s prologue and epilogue to write.

Then I’ll have to design the ebook, market the ebook, write the theme tune, sing the theme tune…  It’s a year in and I’m only just beginning.

I’ve got something special planned for the cover, which will hopefully avoid me having to hack something out of Paint and be useful to someone else.

I’m also making another attempt at my annual Christmas ghost story.  It’s a mostly Victorian tradition, but it’s an exercise that I quite enjoy.  Basically, I have one day to write a short story from scratch.  Two of the previous stories, Harbinger and Sacrifice, are both up on Scribd already, but aren’t formatted for monitors or ereaders, these a classic A4 pages.

This year, I plan to “write live” which essentially means I’ll be blogging as I go.  I’ll be starting work at 9am and detailing the various stages it goes through here, on this blog, on Friday 24th December 2010.  And obviously, the finished item will be posted to Scribd… If it does get finished!

 

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Stage Fright

This chapter of Teratogenesis was even harder than the last.

The big problem with working on this for a year, is that now it comes to the end, I’m so invested in it that I don’t want it to end.  And this brings in the issues of dissemblance and skiving.

But then, killing my darlings was the very problem Teratogenesis and my Scribd account are meant to be solving.

On a related note- synchronicity rearing it’s head again- I’ve just watched Reichenbach Falls on BBC4, which is on a similar theme.  Essentially, it’s a fictionalised Ian Rankin killing off an even more fictionalised Rebus.  To an extent.  Well timed to say the least, especially since I finished Exit Music, the last Rebus novel on Friday.

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Pulling nails

Some chapters of Teratogenesis have been easy to write, they’ve just spilled out, straight on to the screen.

Others have been absolutely impossible.

I had two main objectives with this project:

1. Complete a longer form project.
2. Get into a regular writing routine.

Teratogenesis is the longest single piece I’ve written to date.  Finishing these last few chapters will bull's-eye my prime objective.  But as to getting into a decent routine, I’ve still got some way to go.

That’s why next year’s project will be a weekly short story.  It’s effectively ramping up the work load of Teratogenesis and loosening the parameters that I’m working in.

Of course, if I manage twenty short stories, I’ll be happy.  But the aim is to push.  And push further.

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A mean streak and an appetite.

Yeah, those knots I mentioned yesterday…
One of the odd things about having Teratogenesis update at random intervals is – was – the way that you occasionally get two posts back to back.
One of the other odd things is discovering new music via the soundtrack to each chapter.  I was aware of Pete Dolving via The Haunted, but their music is just a bit heavier than I usually listen to.  BringTheWarHome is quite different again, folkier and bluesier, but still rooted in rock music.  A pleasant surprise.
Other options for this weeks soundtrack were Lullaby for Cain by Sinead O’Connor (far too chilling) and Cain and Abel by Louis Armstrong (not nearly chilling enough.)  While I’ll usually go with Satchmo every time, sometimes sacrifices must be made.  If you’ll excuse the pun…

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Tying a knot

Well, there are a full seven chapters of Teratogenesis left and in tying up the loose ends, there will have to be some twists.

I originally planned for Teratogenesis to divide into four seasonal acts.  But the middle and the end are a bit longer than I planned, although the last six weeks are almost a complete story in themself.

This chapter is actually almost a full week late and I’ve had to battle a cold to get it out on time.  But, it’s up and that’s what matters.

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Cashing In?

Typical, typical…

Well, it looks like this out about a month before my projected April release for Teratogenesis.
So this is the issue: do I hammer the editing for Teratogenesis and get the ebook out for February or do I ride a wave of full moon fever and bore myself to death saying “…no, this was serialized last year and was being developed three years before that…”
Incidentally, another bout of synchronicity emerged in choosing the song for the latest chapter.  I wanted a Nirvana song because of the last line of the entry and I was checking the background to the songs when I noticed a reference to pennyroyal being an ingredient in the Ancient Greek drink kykeon, a beer made with ergotised malt…

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We Face Our Consequence

There are only about six weeks left of Teratogenesis now.  This breaks down to about half a dozen posts.  I’ve got pretty much everything plotted now, barring synchronicity’s gifts and I’m definitely going to avoid a Lost style ending, so there are a few loose ends to tie up and decisions to make on whether there will be time to introduce some of the things I’ve left in the background.

I should have been posting links back to the beginning on a regular basis, probably at least once a quarter, but then this is very much a learning exercise.  Actually reading that first entry again, I’m surprised how much is foreshadowed.  The big worry I’ve had about this project was the tone becoming patchy and inconsistent.  But then, that’s what editing is for.

A definite image of the finished project is emerging.  Not only will the Teratogenesis ebook contain the complete and corrected text, but it will also have the two missing posts and a framing narrative by Trudie.  I’m even tempted to create a mock up of the Inquistor’s pamphlet mentioned a few posts back, but we’ll see about that later.

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“…She was raised by beasts…”

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s Teratogenesis, here is the next instalment.  It’s tearing along at a good old pace now.

As with every Teratogenesis, this one has a song at the end, in this case it’s Heathen Child from the latest Grinderman album.  I choose the songs by searching for a specific word or phrase, usually on Spotify or Last.Fm so I can hear it first if I’m not familiar with the song.  Today’s word was “heathen” after the description of King Lykaon and the Wolves of Arcadia (awesome name for a band.)

I was resigned to choosing something off the David Bowie album of the same name, probably Afraid or Slipping Away, and being a bit subtle.  But subtlety has gone out the window now.  So I chose Heathen Child instead.

When I was generating the widget, I saw the artwork.

Thank you once again, Synchronicity.

It’s a wolf, with Classical statuary in the background.  If I were going to draw it myself, I’d have have just left the mirrors off.

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Obstacles

This latest instalment of Teratogenesis has been the hardest to write so far.

Not only am I trying to contend with the increased schedule of the serial but I’m suffering with a couple of mental and physical ailments as well.  Namely a nightmare that was like David Lynch’s Marxist version of Hellraiser and whatever-the-hell-I-did to my knee on the way back from the shop.

But these are ultimately only distractions and I’m a year into this now, it’s too far to falter at the last step.  Even if it takes me three bloody attempts…

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…In Fabula

Not only is Teratogenesis getting denser, it’s also getting darker.  Rudy’s past has been pretty much kept quiet so far, but it is becoming increasingly relevant.

I’m not sure how much I want to define the werewolves in Teratogenesis.  So far all I know is:

• They change at the full moon.
• They are vulnerable to silver.
• They have unnaturally sharp senses, even to the point that they can blur the line between dream and memory.

There are a few other things as well, like the origin of the werewolf and how someone becomes a werewolf, but I’ll keep them under wraps for now.  There is some other detail, but I’m not sure how relevant it’s going to be to Teratogenesis.

Also, it’s only just occurred to me that the first, non-Teratogenesis piece of writing I’ve posted is called “Crying Wolf…”

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