Tag: Vampire

Making Savage Cuts as an Editor

Well, I have had to savage my own book – not by reviews but by cutting. The other night I had had enough of the younger readers complaining that the first 2 chapters were a bit slow so I took an axe to it and cut from 40,000 words down to just 25,000. Gone are some of my beloved sections on Bulgaria and the second world war and the childhood and wartime romances are reduced to just one line. Now the story starts with the murder of the main protagonist’s daughter. It seems a bit weird reading it back, stripped-down as it is but I think once I get used to it, it will probably be better. It certainly has producing some interesting effects. A reverie now lasts more than one chapter – unusual, but I am sure there are precedents.

Ah well, the main problem is the people who have already bought it. I have offered to send manuscripts of the new, shorter chapters to them. I also pointed out that they have read the Extended Version of the first Edition. I am also considering doing a different cover for the Kindle version.

These are my Latest Updates

I haven’t had much time to post recently. Yesterday most people I sent freebies of Ordo Lupus and the Temple Gate received them in the post (I sent out 10 copies) including my parents. Most seem to like the look of it. Still not sure about the cover. There is some dissension so I may try changing it slightly on the kindle version to see if it has any effect.

In the mean time work continues on Iron/Too Bright the Sun. I am thinking now that it does lend itself to being a trilogy and perhaps that’s why I cannot decide on the title. Perhaps the series should be called the Iron Trilogy and the first book would be Too Bright the Sun. In any case I am getting ideas for the second volume. I need to spend some time working through them in my mind to see if they are viable.

I do really want to understand why Inchoate sells so well. I think it is a combination of the choppy, fast paced dialogue and narrative combined with the viewpoint of a delinquent adolescent, and perhaps the theme of sci-fi, religion and time travel.

How About Winged Serpents?

I am going to take my time to respond to Gary’s recent comment that the serpent in the Garden of Eden is depicted with wings in some cases.

Although I have never seen images like this (to my knowledge) of a serpent with wings in the Garden of Eden, it does not suprise me to see one now. We have often had little tussles Gary over the way I see themes at the core of Ordo Lupus and the Temple Gate, and the way you see them. I have referred sometimes to werewolves and warg.

The reason I can do this (and still think myself sane) is because, for me the modern concept of werewolves and vampires etc, is probably a romanticised and glamourised version of what was once, by some, seen as more real than mere myth. I see the roots of these myths and legends being far more interesting, buried as they are deep within esoteric knowledge that is hidden from most of the world. That is why the wolves in my book are not just wolves but communicate on some level with people. The main character in the book is a wolf-being in a human body (ie with the Earthly clothes of a human).
Similarly the Serpent was once a human. Continue reading “How About Winged Serpents?” →