Where the Middle is the Beginning and the Beginning Comes Next

I was recently asked to write a sample chapter of a book that is still without a plot. I was asked to write a chapter that took place in the middle of the book. It was an interesting writing exercise that I'd never done before. It turned out to be a rewarding one.

I found it interesting how much of the story was able to fill itself in as I started to write. Instead of always thinking of what happens next, the way in which my usual concepts would be conceived, I was thinking about before and after. Certain little details that I wrote for the scene supplied an endless supply of references to include to the beginning of the story.

As I begin work on a new novel, one that needs the same kind of attention to detail, I think I'm going to give the method a try. Instead of writing a concept, I'm going to write certain scenes as they come to me. I'm curious to see if the blanks get filled in faster.

The Horror and the Horror

It's been a little while since I reviewed any books on here and seeing as how Blogger was down yesterday, combined with the fact that I'm heading away for the weekend, time is crunched and it seems like a good time to catch up. As I mentioned in my last post, my writing has been living in a dark place, typically my reading follows me where my writing takes me. So I've decided to tell you a little about two books that are both 'horror' for very different reasons. Enjoy...if that's the right word.

The House of Dolls by Ka-tzetnik 135633

I've owned a first edition of this book for nearly a decade and for nearly a decade it sat on my shelves unread. That was a decade wasted because this is rare book of genius. My initial interest stemmed from the fact that Joy Division supposedly took their name from this book. However, I've read so many Holocaust books in my time that it never seemed like the book to read...seriously, when is anyone in the mood for a Holocaust book. I still wasn't when I read it, I just felt guilty that I'd owned it for so long without giving it a chance.

The power of this book comes from the way it captures the feeling of utter helplessness in the Jewish ghettos and labor camps under Nazi rule. Told through a kind of stream of consciousness narrative, much of the text feels as if it could easily be a dispatch from Burrough's Interzone. It's so stark in the realism of an insane world that it feels surreal in many passages.

The story is that of a brother and sister, stripped of their homes, freedom, and family, who refuse to surrender their humanity. In a way, it's a story in total opposition with The Diary of Anne Frank which highlights the remarkable way in a which a young girl is able to still be a young girl despite the horrible conditions of her life. As the hardships in this story mount, that hopeful spirit within Daniella is gradually crushed until she is like the others, simply a walking skeleton. Brutal, to be sure...yet there is something beautiful inside her that is undeniable.

Truly an unforgettable book.

The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan

Perhaps my expectations were too high given my love of Guillermo Del Toro's imaginative film making (Pan's Labyrinth, The Devil's Backbone), but I found this book disappointing. I had hoped some of the visionary creativity from his movies would carry over into the writing, however this book reads much like any other mass market thriller. There are loop holes aplenty in the story, there's entirely too many flat characters, and it drags for the first 100 pages, unfolding like an average television show.

It does start to pick up after that however. Some of the characters become really intriguing and the mythology begins to take shape. The redeeming quality of the book is its terrifying imagining of the vampires. The last third of the book was engrossing, once they finally pushed the plot toward the chaos that was bound to happen. Hopefully the second book will be better paced and more surreal. (This is the first book in a trilogy)

Story Hunting in Spring

This week I finished a manuscript that I've essentially been working on since November. It was something that I needed to get out of my system and now that it's out, I'm setting forth to write a book that in many ways is a story I've always wanted to tell but never knew the starting place until recently.

I found the beginning within a setting that came from three very different inspirations. Over the past year or so, I've been writing about the places under the bed or in the back of the closet, places of nightmares both great and small. The other day in those murky realms, I uncovered perhaps the best story of them all. Combined with parts of old story I've never been able tell, the idea came to me nearly fully-formed the other day.

The hunt has successfully yielded a target.

Weekend Music Roundup (The Beatles...Before, During, and After Edition)

Earlier this week, I watched the 2009 film Nowhere Boy about John Lennon's life as a teenager and the formation of the Quarrymen (the pre-Beatles). The movie was okay and interesting, but not much more. However, the parts that focused on John's interest in American rock music and how it shaped his sound was really well done. It certainly upped my Fab Four listening this week. Not that they are ever too far from the rotation. There's old debate between being a Beatles or Stones fan, which is really a simple question of taste that has sustained because it's nearly impossible to be really listening-invested to both at the same time. At least for me it seems they represent different sides of one personality and sometimes we feel one way or the other. Lately, I've been feeling more like John than Mick. So with that, I bring this list of albums I've gotten over the past few months, from influences to the influenced...Enjoy.

Buddy Holly - The Complete Buddy Holly: This six record box-set released in 1979 is an amazing chronological history of Buddy's recording sessions. It starts with some of his earliest recordings and goes straight through to his last sessions. I love these kind of box sets which are sort of like a colloquium on an artist. You get to hear how certain songs evolved of time and can really hear how Buddy Holly was inventing rock n roll. In some ways, John Lennon is his direct disciple (one of the first Quarrymen '45s was a Buddy Holly cover). This is amazing for anyone that likes to dig further than a greatest hits package.

The Beatles - The Decca Tapes: This is the audition tape the band made for the famed Decca label in January 1962. In this early stage, they are still trying to copy the American sound. The band is doing their best impersonation of Elvis and Buddy Holly, but if you listen closely you can hear their uniquely British stamp beginning to develop. This is a quality early rock and roll album. It didn't get them signed to Decca (they were signed to Parlophone). Of course, Decca would later hit it huge by signing The Rolling Stones.

The Beatles - Hey Little Girl: This bootleg '45 released in 1978 contains four of the best songs from the Decca Tapes era, which at the time were still not widely known songs. What I really enjoy about these particular four tracks is that you can really hear a band ready to just explode. That's one element about the early Beatles that I love...there's this frantic energy wound so tightly into these perfect 2-to-3 minute songs.

The Beatles - The Lost Pepperland Reel: As the title suggest, this bootleg features early demos and home recordings for songs that would later make it onto Sgt. Pepper, either as whole songs or snippets of other songs. That has always been one of my least favorite Beatles albums simply because it's too polished and too produced and trying so hard to be something. Don't get me wrong, even my least favorite Beatles album still knocks the snot out of most other albums. I only bring it up because I was surprised at how much I really enjoyed this bootleg. But I like it precisely because it isn't all of those things. It's very raw. It's also an interesting listen because you tell the band is playing with the idea of making an 'album' and not a collection of songs. This rough result is much trippier and lo-fi and in my opinion...better.

The Beatles - Let It Be...Naked: I remember being very excited for this when it was released in 2003. Unlike Sgt. Pepper, I've always really liked Let It Be in all of its dysfunction. Some of George's best songs as a Beatle are on this album, and John is really expanding as well. Given my taste for things that are more stripped down, I was eager to hear the Naked version, whic is the album with a good deal of the production taken away. But for one reason or other, I never got around to getting it because I already had and liked the original. I finally did get around to listening to it a few months ago and I guess my biggest surprise was that it didn't really feel all that different to me. Stand outs are "I Dig a Pony" and "I Me Mine."

Beady Eye - Across the Universe: Liam Gallagher has never shied away from John Lennon comparisons because he's never hidden his respect for Lennon or denied the influence Lennon has on him. Oasis was always known to give a Beatles cover here and there, so it's not really surprising that Liam's new band would provide this cover for the Japan benefit album. This has never been a favorite Beatles track of mine, but Beady Eye does a great job with it. They've managed to get rid of pitchy quality of the original and deliver a much more somber track for a more somber world really.

The Demon & The Muse

Some stories are born from the inspiration that can come only from a muse--others from the demons that stalk the imagination. It all depends on which is crying louder at the time.

There are storytellers that latch onto one or the other, spending an entire career praising some idealistic creature that has crossed their path, infusing all their prose with the beauty of a single face. Some chose to side exclusively with their demon, allowing themselves to be dragged down for the sake of that truly magical story that needs the darkness in order to see it through.

Sometimes, I'm not so sure they aren't one in the same.

Last Exile (Episodes 7-9)

(Catch up on previous episodes here)

My journey on the Silvana continues with three more episodes in the 26 episode series. One things I love about television shows that have a defined one-season arc is that you can read the show like a novel, each episode being a chapter. Last Exile achieves this better than most other shows I've seen. It's unconcerned with giving the viewer a nicely wrapped up half-hour small story within the context of the bigger story. It treats episodes more like chapters, making sure there is action, forward momentum, and intrigue at the end.

In my last post, I noted how the story was following a lot of the traditional elements for a heroic quest story. In episode 7, Claus's role as the kid with immense potential is highlighted. The commanders of the Silvana has seen it and now a mysterious member of the Guild also sees it during a bold Guild attack on the Silvana. The episode focuses mainly on showcasing the excellent aerial dogfights that the animation captures so well. This episode reminded me of Battlestar Galactica defending against a Cylon attack. And by the end, Claus and Lavie have done a great deal to prove their worth and slowly start fitting in with the rest of the crew.

Of course, after the beating the Silvana took in episode 7, the next chapter has the ship docked for repairs at a kind clandestine Deep Space 9 casino. As with any well-written work, a setting like this should achieve several things beyond the natural adventure it produces. By having one of the Emperor's ships also docked there with its crew aboard the station, the Silvana's position in the ongoing war is subtly defined through the relationships between the crews. Also, we get to see more of Alex Row, the mysterious captain of the Silvana and discover he's looking for an object known as an 'exile'....a perfect a-ha moment where the title begins to make sense. And just for good measure, we have ship duel between the Silvana and one of the Emperor's ships, the Goliath. When the Silvana sinks the other ship, it's really the first moment when the viewer feels on board with its captain and whatever secret mission they are on.

By the next episode, Claus, Lavie and Alvis feel practically at home on the ship. They are even invited to take part in the ultimate vanship race with the aide of the Silvana mechanic crew. Of course, they are unaware that the ship has another dangerous agenda. Alex Row is there for an auction among nobles and the wealthy. He is there to bid on only one thing...the last exile--a square stone object that is said to have powers no one has ever been able to unlock. Bingo! There lies the mysterious object with strange powers, another cornerstone element of a heroic quest. It's a fascinating twist in the storytelling however that we still don't know what the quest is for.

Will he get it? Will the mission succeed? What will Claus and Lavie do when they learn they are being kept in the dark? All questions for the next chapter because every good chapter ends with the reader wanting to turn the page. A lesson the writers of this show have taken to heart.

Weekend Music Roundup

This was the week where musically I got really sick of listening to music through my iTunes. Thanks to the warmer weather, the door to my music room was left open and I dove in there early in the week and stole an armful of CDs into my office. I loaded up five discs at a time and listened to all five straight through. There was something great about keeping the vibe out my click-ability. I took a similar approach to the reviews this weekend. The albums here are the only albums I've listened to for the past two days. As you can see, I've been in a heavy '70s vibe, with a little fun and folk thrown in. Enjoy.

Okkervil River - I Am Very Far: The new album by one of my favorite bands of the last few years, this has certainly been on my highly anticipated list. However, two disappointing singles from the album over the winter kind left me feeling nervous. Thankfully, the singles were a bit of a fluke, and even those songs work much better in the context of the album. While it doesn't stray far from the folkish indie rock sound, it is certainly different from their last album, 2008's The Stand-Ins. This feels like more of a spiritual record to me. "The Valley" could be one of their best songs ever.

Baby Grandmothers - Baby Grandmothers: This heavy psychedelic Stockholm band lasted only one year, but it was long enough to record this 1967 piece of greatness. With most songs between 10 and 15 minutes, these are great instrumental freak-out gems that remind me of the Pink Fairies. This is one of the bands that would inspire the Scandavian prog movement that followed.

Bobby Bare Jr. - Daytrotter Session 2011: For nearly a decade, Nashville's Bobby Bare Jr. has been putting out great indie albums with obvious country influences. Last year, he released possibly his best album to day, A Storm - A Tree - My Mother's Head. The tracks on this session are take from that album and may just surpass the album versions. (For those of you who unfamiliar with daytrotter.com you should visit. It's a sight with hundreds of live recordings all available for free).

efterklang - Tripper: A few weeks ago I reviewed another EP by this Danish band. This is the LP that followed in 2004, the band's first full length album. Though not as developed or interesting as their later stuff, this is decent shoegazer type album. For some reason it sounds to me like it should be the soundtrack to an obscure French film. I enjoyed it, but I think I would enjoy it more if some of the distracting electronic effects were abandoned.

Buffalo - Dead Forever...: Two weeks ago, I mentioned that another album reminded me of Buffalo's 1973 album Volcanic Rock and that reminded me of Buffalo. (Volcanic Rock was actually one of the CDs in the mixes mentioned in the preface of this post.) I searched out this 1972 debut album from the Aussie hard rock band and have been digging it. It's more bluesy, more of a Led Zeppelin vibe than VR's Sabbath vibe. Definitely worthwhile.

Jethro Tull - Nightcap: This double album release includes the first disc, which is basically an aborted album from 1973 known as The Chateau D'isaster Tapes. The other disc is rarities and unreleased stuff, mostly from the '80s. My review is only of the first disc. Many of these songs would later be incorporated in some form on the band's official 1973 release A Passion Play. I've owned A Passion Play for over a decade and it's the only album of the band's early output that I can't get into. I find it sprawling and unappealing in many parts. So it's strange that I thoroughly enjoy this album. This feels more like the albums that came before. Perhaps that's why they scrapped it, afraid of doing the same thing. But when three of their first five albums rank in my top 100, I personally don't see a need for change. Some really amazing tunes on here.

Harvey Mandel - The Snake: The one time guitarist for Canned Heat, Harvey Mandel put out a ton of albums in the late '60s and early '70s. This 1972 album is his fifth, but the first I've heard. As the cover might suggest, it has a crazy vibe. This is one of those albums where heavy blues and funk mix together. It's definitely got a great groove that's perfect for the warming weather. I have few others of his in the hopper and I'm hoping their just as entertaining.

Cibo Matto - Viva! La Woman: The 1996 debut from NYC favorite Japanese hipsters is one of those impossible to hate albums. The music is having so much fun that it is infectious. This is also one of those albums that really captures NYC at a specific time. It's so alive with influences from everything that was going on in that city at the time, from hip-hop to trip-hop to indie rock. "Sugar Water" and "Birthday Cake" are stand-out tracks. (Oh, and Sean Lennon plays bass for the band).