Character Bio: The Variants

Our first Character Bio will focus not on a specific character, but an entire group that forms the basis for the fantasy elements of the story. This group is, of course, the variants.

The variants are a race of genetically-evolved humans born with all sorts of incredible abilities, not unlike the superheroes or super-humans you often see in today's media. Some of them can fly, some of them can move things around with their minds; it's the typical "person born with a superpower" type of deal. What makes them a little different, however, is how their abilities work. Often there's no attempt at explanation for how a character's gift actually functions, or how and why it's able to be so perfectly efficient all the time. People with abilities on TV or in the movies never seem to get tired from using their ability, nor do they ever really seem to have to expend much effort to use it. I never quite understood that. Where were they getting the energy to do these incredible things? How were they able to sustain them for so long?

With the variants, I wanted to shake up the archetype a bit. I wanted to put a more "realistic" spin on the concept of having a superpower. The variants have incredible abilities, yes, but their abilities take energy to use, just like any other activity. Flying makes them tired. Constantly moving things with their minds wears them out, just like constantly moving things with your arms would. Despite their gifts, they are biologically still human, and thus are limited in their power.

At the same time, the condition of genetic variance is incredibly rare in society, to the point where the variants' existence is not public knowledge at the onset of the book. They are myths, stories, and nothing more as far as the world knows. The only people aware of their existence is a small sect of the United States government, which will be covered in the next Character Bio focusing on the AVA.

Viral Teaser 1

I've been working on putting some new content together in addition to the standard pictures and blog posts, and landed on the idea of doing a series of book trailers. I'm going to be starting off with a couple of teaser trailers before releasing a full length trailer in a couple weeks. The first of the teasers is below. Enjoy!

Music credit: This Is A Warning (Intro) by Thousand Foot Krutch.
  

On Complexity and Fragility

Another of the major themes of the books, the one I believe makes itself present in virtually every character, revolves around the idea that human beings are incredibly complex creatures, with a level of thought and emotion unparalleled by any other in our world. Every man, woman, and child on the planet is in reality two people: the one they choose to show and the one they keep to themselves. At any given moment a beaming smile can hide a broken heart, a vengeful gaze can mask the touch of mercy, and an icy facade can encase a fiery passion. No one can ever really know for sure what's going on in the mind of another. Trying to read someone, to truly understand them, no matter how well you know them, is still probabilistic in nature; even if you're 99.99% there, nothing is ever certain.

I tried to bring this idea to my characters to keep it as true to life as possible. Even the "bad guys" can have a justifiable reason for what they've done/they're doing, just as the "good guys" can be motivated by a less than "good" force. Very rarely are people so black and white as you see in the movies. Villains don't do villainous things just for the sake of being "bad". Even a character as bad as The Joker in the Batman movies was doing what he was doing to try and prove a point (or at least that was my interpretation, not trying to stir up a debate, lol).

This applies doubly to the main character of the book, as his mind has evolved beyond that of an ordinary human being. This makes him powerful, yes, but it also makes him extremely complex, which in turns makes him more fragile than you'd expect. Where a break in a regular human's mind can result in changes to personality, thought process, rational, etc., a break in a more advanced mind can result in even larger ripples (or at least in the universe I've created it can). I bring this up only so people can keep it in mind while they're reading the book. At times, I've made an effort to add complexity to the writing itself to parallel the complexity of a particular character's mind or a particular situation. At times, actions or reactions are intentionally blurred or contradictory...because that's what humans really are. We are unpredictable, fragile creatures. We react on instinct almost as much as we react on preconceived notion. We follow both our hearts and our head, two forces often pulling us in two very different directions. Hopefully, I was able to get that across with my writing.

How far would you go...

One of the trickiest aspects of writing a good story is finding ways for it to be relate-able to the people reading it. This is especially true when writing about things that don't exist in the real world, as is the case in most aspects of fantasy and science fiction. Obviously, in my case, it's not realistic for me to expect readers to be able to relate with a genetically-evolved superhuman (unless, of course, they're one of them....out there...watching us... O.O), so the onus falls on the more human, real world elements of the story to provide depth and provoke empathy. This means conveying real pain, real conflict, real emotion. This means getting into the minds of the characters and learning what makes them the way they are. In the case of this particular story, that meant trying to imagine what would drive a man with limitless power to his breaking point. What better catalyst than love?

How far would you go for someone you loved? Ask yourself that honestly. Now imagine if you had the power to keep them forever, to protect them, to heal their every wound. Wouldn't that change things a little bit? We as humans are infinitely in tune with our limitations. When we lose people we love, we find comfort in knowing there was nothing we could do. Even in cases where we are partially responsible, we eventually come to grips with the fact that we can't take it back, no matter how much we wish we could. Now imagine if there was something you could do. Imagine you could take it back. And imagine you still lost them. I'd think that'd be enough to break any man.

Trying to convey what this would be like wasn't easy, and I hope I was able to get it across in some form or another. Growing up the way I did didn't exactly lend itself to a whole lot of real loss. I mean, I had a guinea pig that died, and my dog killed a couple turtles I had brought home from a lake once (accidentally though, she was just trying to play with them!), but nothing that would ever make me understand what it was like to lose someone I loved more than life itself. I had to find my inspiration elsewhere, to really try and put myself in the mindset of someone who'd lost it all. Music helped in a lot of cases (more on that later), and reading was useful as well. But I think more than anything it was using my imagination to conjure up the worst possible thing that could ever happen to me: losing my friends and family. A blow to my psyche, I'm sure, and not the most healthy practice, but necessary to try and make this story as human and empathetic as possible. I honestly hope you're all able to enjoy it.

Journey of THE DARKENER: Post-Announcement Week 1

It has been almost a week now since I announced a November 2014 release for my novel THE DARKENER and I'm very pleased with how things have progressed so far. Obviously, I can't say enough about how important all your support and outreach has been. I'm only as good as the people around me, and my book will only be as successful as you all help it to become. So once again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for every single Like, Comment, Share, Follow, or whatever other ridiculous social media thing I've asked of you. We still have a long road ahead, and we're not nearly at a point where we can relax just yet, but I don't want you to think for a moment that I'm not eternally grateful for all you've already done.

The contest came about as a way to try and repay that good faith, as well as a way to maintain engagement going into the next few months. The idea is to have this snowball, to have a strong start by all of you grow into something larger week by week. And you, my loyal Army of Champions (points to those who understand The Office reference, lol) will remain a vital part of that. Even a single Like over the next 13 weeks will get you into the contest raffle, and even just remaining a fan or follower will get you into the weekly drawing. Any amount you are able/willing to do to spread the word over the next few months is greatly appreciate, and hopefully mutually beneficial. Let's keep this thing rolling to and through the November launch, and try to have some fun along the way!

As for my impressions of the first week? Besides, again, being blown away by all your support, my most sincere comment would probably be that this is definitely harder than I expected. By nature, I'm not much of a social media person, or maybe even really a social person, which is why I guess writers typically hire agents or third parties to handle this type of thing. At the same time there is something rewarding about doing the promotional stuff myself, about being in control of my own destiny so to speak. I have to work hard if I want to succeed, at something I'm not particularly good at, and I think things like that help to build character (or at least I hope they do!). At times, it may mean I need to push all of you a little harder, throw out content a little more frequently, or search out even more avenues of potential interest. But if together we can make this something that touches even a fraction of the lives it possibly could, it would be completely worth it to me.

So once again, thank you all, and let's keep up the good work! One more day and we're on to Week 2!

On Duality and Perception

I touched on the topics of duality and perception in my Humble Beginnings and Central Theme post when discussing the juxtaposition of darkness and light. Obviously the contrast between light and dark, life and death, and things of that nature plays a huge role in the book, but the idea of duality takes it a step further by examining the synergy between these seemingly conflicting ideas, I.E. cases where they're both attributed to the same person or situation. The example I used before was how fighting for what you believe in, from your point of view, can look a whole lot more like bringing chaos to the world from someone else's. One of these views is considered positive or "light" while the other is considered negative or "dark". So which is correct?

This comes down to perspective. Neither view can necessarily be considered the "true" view because both perceptions exist, and as individuals our perception is our reality. What's true for you may not be what's true for me, and vice-versa. Without getting too philosophical or confusing or whatever, I'll just get to the point: Sometimes things can be two things at once, and it comes down to our perspective to decide which we see and which we don't.

Take the picture above. This is a quote from one of my favorite scenes from the book. Within the context of the book, it's clear how it's intended to be perceived, but placing the quote by itself made me notice how it could be taken two different ways. Is the character trying to say that he is too mournful to have any hope? Or is he trying to say that he has too much hope to be mournful? I'm curious to hear what people's initial interpretation was. Which light did you cast it in, a mournful one or a hopeful one? Feel free to comment in the section below.

Description and Three Chapter Sample

Excited to officially share with you all the back cover description of THE DARKENER, as well as a three-chapter sample or "teaser" to give you a taste of the story. I hope you enjoy! And as always, share with your friends!

Description:
A man with a mysterious gift makes his presence known to the world through the destruction of a major American city, setting forth a twisting tale of romance, remembrance, and revenge.

As a member of a rare and powerful race of genetically-evolved humans known as variants, Cael has the unique ability to manipulate the very fabric of the world around him. Yet, outside of his beloved fiancée Summer Ayers, the only thing he has to show for all his strength is a lifetime’s worth of loss and letdown.

His parents and closest friends have all been dead for years, and the only people with whom he could ever hope to relate—his fellow variants—are nonexistent in his life. Only Summer has remained constant. So when an incident in New York City threatens to take her away as well, Cael finds he simply can’t let go, turning in desperation to the allure of his power if only to keep her a moment longer. He loses control, and in a single instant the very life of the city is snatched away forever.

Lost and broken, Cael is left to face the fallout of his actions. The world brands him a monster and rightfully so. The government seeks to have him destroyed. Even his own mind begins to turn against him, as a ghostly choir of the lives he’s stolen rises up to test his sanity. Still, through it all, the memory of Summer continues to burn in his heart, a memory he refuses to relinquish until the day he can finally set things right.  


Three-chapter sample included after the jump....