New novel. Who dis? [mild spoilers]
Feb. 22nd, 2020 09:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ursulakatsHello everyone :) I thought a new novel was a good moment to write up a blog post. (Since that was a bit of a resolution anyway. Not a New Year's resolution, but, you know, the kind that one only formulates vaguely and then studiously ignores.)
Let me tell you about my four novels. Given that they're in four different genres, it's not what a series of stories usually looks like. They're not a series in the traditional sense, and each can be read individually with no previous knowledge of the other three. They don't have to be read in any particular sequence, and (almost all the time) the characters aren't aware of the other stories happening at all.
How is it a series then? Easy! Alternate universes! :D
If you come from a fanfiction background, that concept isn't exactly new to you.
So! Here's how the four novels so far work:
They all have the same protagonist, who deals with wildly differing settings.
Cookie:
That was the first one I wrote, because I wanted to see if a writer can try to solve a case along with the detective in the story. Short answer: yes. Long answer: you're going to have to read the book XD
It's in the first person and it jumps between present and recent past. Again, this is something I was curious about. Usually, when a character starts with, "Let me tell you how I ended up in this mess", the reader/viewer catches up with the present towards the end/showdown. And I thought to myself, "Meh. I'm going to play with that and make it the middle of the story." (The effect I was going for was to remove the certainty of the character getting through the story until the end, and not only at the end. I wanted the reader as uncertain as the character. Whether or not that works, well, is up to you to decide.)
As with all the other stories, it's the protagonist's friends that really get things going. Ideally, that is always the case for any story, but I wanted to set a dynamic that would be recognisable in different genre settings.
Q's Key:
This is the fantasy alternative to the detective with quests and prophecies and magic and such. Because of the setting, characters are more aware of the nature of their (fictional) existence at certain points. Because, in fantasy, anything is possible, including the thinning of the veil between reader and characters.
Q very much approaches the story as Cookie did. "Oooh! Isn't this interesting? Let me poke at it!" Which is the one part I can definitely relate to ;)
Because this is a quest, the protagonist is faced with loss and the question of identity more than before. But both are a matter of perspective. (As they are in real life, but fantasy offers a bit more leeway.)
How a Post-Apocalyptic Vampire Librarian Saved the World:
That title is self-explanatory ;)
Since Cookie/Q were not a centuries-old vampires, that difference had to be reflected in the character. Quentin still has an abundance of curiosity and willingness to learn, but he has also learned where curiosity and knowledge can lead, so he's more careful about it and trying to protect it. Literally. (Literally literally XD)
And there is only one way to save the world.
The Coffee Shop AU:
Another self-explanatory title, at least when you're familiar with the term.
This is the romance for the protagonist. (There are romances for the protagonist - or at least entanglements - in the other books, but this is an actual romantic comedy.) Falling in love is a messy business; so, obviously, Kiki can't handle that without her friends, either.
Upcoming:
The upcoming novel will be sci-fi and have a different protagonist. The shady one... :3 (I can't tell you more than that at this point.)
Let me tell you about my four novels. Given that they're in four different genres, it's not what a series of stories usually looks like. They're not a series in the traditional sense, and each can be read individually with no previous knowledge of the other three. They don't have to be read in any particular sequence, and (almost all the time) the characters aren't aware of the other stories happening at all.
How is it a series then? Easy! Alternate universes! :D
If you come from a fanfiction background, that concept isn't exactly new to you.
So! Here's how the four novels so far work:
They all have the same protagonist, who deals with wildly differing settings.
Cookie:
That was the first one I wrote, because I wanted to see if a writer can try to solve a case along with the detective in the story. Short answer: yes. Long answer: you're going to have to read the book XD
It's in the first person and it jumps between present and recent past. Again, this is something I was curious about. Usually, when a character starts with, "Let me tell you how I ended up in this mess", the reader/viewer catches up with the present towards the end/showdown. And I thought to myself, "Meh. I'm going to play with that and make it the middle of the story." (The effect I was going for was to remove the certainty of the character getting through the story until the end, and not only at the end. I wanted the reader as uncertain as the character. Whether or not that works, well, is up to you to decide.)
As with all the other stories, it's the protagonist's friends that really get things going. Ideally, that is always the case for any story, but I wanted to set a dynamic that would be recognisable in different genre settings.
Q's Key:
This is the fantasy alternative to the detective with quests and prophecies and magic and such. Because of the setting, characters are more aware of the nature of their (fictional) existence at certain points. Because, in fantasy, anything is possible, including the thinning of the veil between reader and characters.
Q very much approaches the story as Cookie did. "Oooh! Isn't this interesting? Let me poke at it!" Which is the one part I can definitely relate to ;)
Because this is a quest, the protagonist is faced with loss and the question of identity more than before. But both are a matter of perspective. (As they are in real life, but fantasy offers a bit more leeway.)
How a Post-Apocalyptic Vampire Librarian Saved the World:
That title is self-explanatory ;)
Since Cookie/Q were not a centuries-old vampires, that difference had to be reflected in the character. Quentin still has an abundance of curiosity and willingness to learn, but he has also learned where curiosity and knowledge can lead, so he's more careful about it and trying to protect it. Literally. (Literally literally XD)
And there is only one way to save the world.
The Coffee Shop AU:
Another self-explanatory title, at least when you're familiar with the term.
This is the romance for the protagonist. (There are romances for the protagonist - or at least entanglements - in the other books, but this is an actual romantic comedy.) Falling in love is a messy business; so, obviously, Kiki can't handle that without her friends, either.
Upcoming:
The upcoming novel will be sci-fi and have a different protagonist. The shady one... :3 (I can't tell you more than that at this point.)
