Revisiting Old Friends

And by old friends, I mean characters from stories I've either finished and left behind, or stories that I've almost finished, but for some reason put aside.

One of these manuscripts is Cathedral Girl. I actually started CG before I even wrote Death Sword. This was back in 2004. (Interestingly, I found a Zaphkiel Project manuscript from 2011, which would become Exterminating Angel. Makes me wonder how many drafts I have floating around on my PCs, and explains why I usually save them by the title_month_year to keep track.)

Anyway, the research for CG lead to an interest in the Memitim, which was the original idea behind Death Sword, but ended up becoming my NaNo project. The Memitim can be described as destroying angels (mal'ake habbalah) (from the Jewish Encyclopedia). Basically, angels of death.

Which brings me to where I am now regarding two different series about the angels of death, although one isn't an official series, and the other one is in the early stages.

Death Sword was supposed to be the first in a three book series (originally four) with each book focusing on a particular angel of death. For reasons I don't recall, I dispensed with the fourth book. Anyway, I wrote the second and third books, Serpent Fire and Devil Inside, only to realize my second book was a mess. (Ironically, the third book seemed to work better. Go figure.)

So I'm back to revising Serpent Fire. And the story has developed from a paranormal suspense with possible political thriller overtones.

But once I finish Serpent Fire and revise Devil Inside, I can return to the Memitim series.

Let's just say that's a goal for 2016. Year end goal is to write a TV pilot. :-)

Indie Gathering

This past weekend, I attended Indie Gathering International Film Festival in Hudson, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland. I went with two author friends, Amy and Missy, and we had a table in the vendor hall, so I took copies of the Reel Dark anthology to sell. I also had rack cards of Death Sword and Exterminating Angel, my two paranormal angel suspense stories. They were the reason I was at Indie Gathering. Both short novels had received an award each.

I'll admit, this is one of the best-run festivals I've been to. All events took place in the hotel, and there was plenty of networking as well as viewing films and attending panels. I went to the short thriller-suspense films and Missy attended the panel on crowd funding. Amy had a couple of short films also screening.

Which got me thinking, could I come up with a short film for submission for next year, plus another screenplay or two? Seeing how they show micro films, maybe it's a possibility that I can enter a project I'm currently playing around with.

Anyway, I have one more con to attend this year in Louisville, Kentucky: Imaginarium. It's a multi-genre writers' conference, with panels, a vendor hall, and a film festival, plus awards banquet.  I'll be sharing a table with Amy and Missy in the vendor hall, which is free to the public this year. Looking forward to meeting new people and seeing old friends again.

"Double Duty"

Sometimes, after I've finished a story or a screenplay, I wonder if it might not be better served in another format. For example, I have a couple of screenplays that I'm probably going to rework because even though I liked the stories in their current incarnation, I feel they'd work better as novels.

I've also taken two short novels - Death Sword and Exterminating Angel - and adapted them as screenplays, even though they've been published. So why adapt? Because I want my stories to do double duty. I have published short stories I plan to turn into screenplays as well. Not all of them, but ones I think are suited to the cinematic format.

Of course, this brings up the question of which is better, the movie or the book? Since I'm only writing spec scripts, I can't answer that question. What I can say, though, is there's a reason why adaptations may deviate from the original source. I've even had to make changes. (While I was writing the screenplays, I found myself asking why I hadn't originally written the story that way. Oh, well, hindsight and all that.)

One reason for changing a story is that screenplays are meant for the screen. Many novels feature detailed descriptions and while this is fine, the writer will not be choosing the film's settings, unless he or she is also directing the film, such as for an independent project. Selecting locations is the production designer's job, in collaboration with the director and producer. So going into vivid detail about that Queen Anne Revival is fine for a book, but the production designer, director, and producer may decide that a Romanesque Revival is better suited for the movie.

Length is another factor, although in my case not so much. Most screenplays run 80-120 pages, and think how long some novels are, many with multiple subplots. Obviously, one keeps the main plot but with time constraints, it's possible that not every single scene of the story can be used. I ended up combining some scenes, not because of length issues, but simply because the screenplay flowed better.

Will anything happen with these screenplays? Hard to tell. But that's another post.

Exterminating Angel is Live

It's been over a year, but Exterminating Angel is now available. I'm a little nervous in that I have a Stoker-winning author reading it, but he was also a major inspiration, and I felt it only right to offer him a copy.

What are my plans for EA? Adapting it into a screenplay, and perhaps having a Facebook launch party, although I'm still debating that. I've written a spin off, although I sometimes think I'm really just procrastinating on another angel PNR. :-)

So, time to break out the virtual champagne and toss the virtual confetti. Say hi to Zaphkiel and company. Yes, some of them are archangels, but their behavior is anything but.

Blurb:

Making a deal with the Devil is the least of his problems.

Zaphkiel, a chain-smoking, hard-drinking archangel, never intended to unleash the sun demon upon the city. Bad enough his boss wants him dead, and this recent crime is the perfect excuse. The timing couldn't be worse. Somehow, Zaphkiel's executed lover, Caliel, is alive and reincarnated as Sean. Zaphkiel is thrilled to be reunited with Caliel again, but will his lover feel the same when he learns Zaphkiel's darkest secret?

Hired by Lucifer, Sean wants nothing more than to fit in. But how can he compete when the Devil's friends include archangels and a Tarot reader, and he was born without special abilities? Or so he believes. The Tarot hints there may be more to him than he realizes.

Recruited by the Devil to find the two pentacles sun demon Sorath plans to use to destroy the universe, Zaphkiel and Sean find themselves pawns in a game of power and control. If the archangel gives his boss the pentacles, Ophaniel will overlook his crime. But Zaphkiel knows he can't trust either Ophaniel or Sorath, and the deal he's made with the Devil could cost him not only his life, but also the lover he believed gone forever.

M/M sexual practices, occult themes, some violence, graphic descriptions

Buy Link: http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/book.aspx/30226

Saying Goodbye

(Cross-posted from Darkling Delights)

Many bloggers will probably talk about saying goodbye to 2013, and reminiscence on what they've accomplished or wanted to accomplish over the last twelve months.

I'm saying goodbye, too, but not for the same reason. This past week, I turned in what would be my final round of content edits for Exterminating Angel. Now all I'm waiting for are the line edits and the galley.

Non-writers may not understand what it's like to say goodbye to characters we've spent months or even years with. For over two years, Zaphkiel and Company were part of my life. I came to know their fears, desires, what made them angry, their regrets, and other nuances that make characters unique. I can't tell you how many different beginnings I wrote. Characters that appeared in one version were excised in the next. Certain scenes, even entire chapters, hit the chopping block. But through it all, the premise remained the same:

"An archangel who unwittingly unleashes a demon upon the city must enlist the help of  Lucifer to stop it."

For me, Zaphkiel is an archangel who truly believed in what he was doing, but didn't realize the repercussions of such actions. He isn't perfect. Hard-smoking and hard-drinking, he's lived with a lot of regrets over the centuries. His closest, perhaps only, friend, Raziel, a fellow Throne angel, does his best to support him, but understands there are some issues Zaphkiel needs to deal with alone, including the death of his lover, Caliel.

But is Caliel really dead? Or is he reincarnated in a young man, Sean, who not only looks like Caliel, but has many of his mannerisms?

It was fun writing Lucifer, who worked on a need-to-know basis, although he often drove the other characters crazy. The only character he confided in was Raziel, although he shared a sobering truth with Zaphkiel.

Even though I'm saying goodbye to these characters, there's still a chance they might appear in other stories, although I've no plans for a series. So I guess I'm not really saying "goodbye" but "later."

Exterminating Angel Cover Reveal

I'm excited to announce the cover reveal of my upcoming paranormal/urban fantasy, Exterminating Angel. It's scheduled to release Spring 2014, and is about an archangel who unwittingly unleashes a demon upon the city, and must enlist the help of Lucifer to stop it.

A stand-alone, Exterminating Angel was written between books 1 & 2 of my Angels of Death series, which begins with Death Sword. One of my goals for writing angel UF is to twist notions of good and evil, to challenge readers' perceptions. I don't know if I'll succeed, but when I've pitched the story to people, they say they want to read it. But pitching and writing loglines is a topic for another post. LOL

Anyway, I really like the cover. Wasn't sure how Renee would interpret the design from my notes, but she nailed it, imho.

I've also made a trailer video for Exterminating Angel. I'll update it when I get more information. Enjoy!

Contract!

I'm a bit remiss about posting this, but I recently signed a contract with my publisher, Lyrical Press, for an urban fantasy M/M romance, Exterminating Angel.

It's been a long journey with Zaphkiel and company. For at least two years, I jokingly referred to the story as "The Zaphkiel Project." I've lost track of how many times I changed the opening or, indeed, the plot. But the core premise always remained the same. An archangel unwittingly summons a demon, and requires Lucifer's help to destroy it.

Funny thing, people I pitched the story to wanted to read it. Horror writer John Everson told me to "go for it." Those three words were all I needed. For over two years, I wrote and rewrote, pushing my characters as far as I could without them revolting and killing me. Although, to be fair, there were times I wanted to push them off the proverbial cliff. (I love my characters and all, but damn, sometimes...) And then there was Raziel, who hinted he wanted a separate story. (I'm still debating that.)

I didn't know what to expect when I submitted Exterminating Angel to Lyrical. And the title? That came  from brainstorming and listening to Blutengel. Now, for me, titles either come easily ("Death by Fresh Air") or it's like digging through ten feet of solid concrete with a teaspoon. Not going to happen. And this was a teaspoon moment. Oh, I tried to come up with titles, A Discordant Melody being one. Sounds science-fiction, right? So I brainstormed. I wrote everything possible connected to the book, including songs I listened to, and one of them was "Oxidising Angel" by Blutengel.

For some reason, that led to "Exterminating Angel," which is a film by Bunuel. But it fit. I'd found my title. (Btw, I've seen a couple of Bunuel's films: Un Chien Andalou and Viridiana.) To say I was relieved I had a title was an understatement.

That said, I'm awaiting pre-edits from my new content editor, and I'm as nervous as a kitten in a rocking chair factory. I'm grateful and humbled Lyrical accepted my strange, dark, twisted little story. Lyrical was my first choice, and I appreciate their willingness to take a chance on an unknown author.