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And Lo, It Is On
Aug. 1st, 2006 09:35 amThis post was formerly friends-locked, and is now not, as the review period for this has passed.
Hi, folks. The beastly thing I call Brutal Light is now ready to be reviewed, critiqued, savaged, and so on. Some of you have already volunteered (and if you have, you should have the appropriate info already from email, contact me if you don't), so this is for the rest of you. ("You," in this case, being folks on my friends list, to whom this message is locked.)
Brutal Light is a novel that I guess would be catagorized as either "Dark Fantasy" or "Horror," depending on the publisher or editor or whoever decides these things. The basic story involves a young woman who experiences, or belives she experiences, direct contact with a godlike entity called the Radiance. Unfortunately for her, there are others who also believe in the Radiance and her connection with it, and who will stop at nothing to take it from her....
Well, okay, there's a lot more than that. That was kind of the "back cover blurb" version of it. I don't want to go too much into it yet, as I don't want to either spoil it or make leading statements that will skew your reactions. Even though this is a second draft, there's still plenty for me to improve, but it's at a point where critical reaction will help me the most.
A note on the content: if it were a film, it would probably be NC-17, or at least a hard R. It has sex. It has violence. It has blood. It has cussing. It has stuff that is just plain wrong. Sometimes, these things are combined. I don't really want to emphasize these aspects of the novel (they're probably no worse than what you might find in a Clive Barker novel or a David Cronenberg movie), but if this is something that ordinarily makes you uncomfortable, you might want to take a pass on this.
So, if you're interested, drop me a line at swede3000 (at) earthlink (dot) net, and I'll shoot to you a username/password for accessing the files. (They are in more or less plain html, but in a password-protected directory on a new website I've just started.)
If you've never met me, or don't feel like you know me well enough to critique something I've written, don't worry about that. Your reaction will tell me things that the reaction of others who have met me (and have thus been charmed and intimidated by my beguiling tallness) may not.
If you would like to read it, but are not sure if or when you will have time to critique, it's okay. Though I'm committed to starting up the next draft sometime in mid-to-late September, I'll keep the pages up through the end of the year (though the earlier you respond with criticisms and impressions, the more likely they will have some kind of impact on the final version).
If you don't want to read it, or don't have the time, or are too busy, or whatever, it's also okay. Believe me, I understand 'busy' and 'agh, I just don't want to, but how do I say so and not offend'. It's all good. Really.
Of course, those of you who do read it and offer cogent criticisms and impressions will get a signed first edition (whatever that first edition turns out to be... probably softcover), though you may have to wait quite a while for me to plow through publishers to find one who will accept (or, if I run out of publishers, to publish through print-on-demand). And a beverage of your choice, the next time (or first time) I meet you.
So... that's it. Thanks for considering!
Hi, folks. The beastly thing I call Brutal Light is now ready to be reviewed, critiqued, savaged, and so on. Some of you have already volunteered (and if you have, you should have the appropriate info already from email, contact me if you don't), so this is for the rest of you. ("You," in this case, being folks on my friends list, to whom this message is locked.)
Brutal Light is a novel that I guess would be catagorized as either "Dark Fantasy" or "Horror," depending on the publisher or editor or whoever decides these things. The basic story involves a young woman who experiences, or belives she experiences, direct contact with a godlike entity called the Radiance. Unfortunately for her, there are others who also believe in the Radiance and her connection with it, and who will stop at nothing to take it from her....
Well, okay, there's a lot more than that. That was kind of the "back cover blurb" version of it. I don't want to go too much into it yet, as I don't want to either spoil it or make leading statements that will skew your reactions. Even though this is a second draft, there's still plenty for me to improve, but it's at a point where critical reaction will help me the most.
A note on the content: if it were a film, it would probably be NC-17, or at least a hard R. It has sex. It has violence. It has blood. It has cussing. It has stuff that is just plain wrong. Sometimes, these things are combined. I don't really want to emphasize these aspects of the novel (they're probably no worse than what you might find in a Clive Barker novel or a David Cronenberg movie), but if this is something that ordinarily makes you uncomfortable, you might want to take a pass on this.
So, if you're interested, drop me a line at swede3000 (at) earthlink (dot) net, and I'll shoot to you a username/password for accessing the files. (They are in more or less plain html, but in a password-protected directory on a new website I've just started.)
If you've never met me, or don't feel like you know me well enough to critique something I've written, don't worry about that. Your reaction will tell me things that the reaction of others who have met me (and have thus been charmed and intimidated by my beguiling tallness) may not.
If you would like to read it, but are not sure if or when you will have time to critique, it's okay. Though I'm committed to starting up the next draft sometime in mid-to-late September, I'll keep the pages up through the end of the year (though the earlier you respond with criticisms and impressions, the more likely they will have some kind of impact on the final version).
If you don't want to read it, or don't have the time, or are too busy, or whatever, it's also okay. Believe me, I understand 'busy' and 'agh, I just don't want to, but how do I say so and not offend'. It's all good. Really.
Of course, those of you who do read it and offer cogent criticisms and impressions will get a signed first edition (whatever that first edition turns out to be... probably softcover), though you may have to wait quite a while for me to plow through publishers to find one who will accept (or, if I run out of publishers, to publish through print-on-demand). And a beverage of your choice, the next time (or first time) I meet you.
So... that's it. Thanks for considering!
