The contradictory feeling of Self Aggrandizing

I just finished writing the first draft for The Book of Antiquity and because of my elation due to the completion I’m going to give you a brief update on what I’ve been working on the last year.

The Book of Antiquity:  This was written as a Teen Fantasy/Adventure, but make no mistake, the theme and some of the events are very adult.  I’ve tried to keep the balance, and I think the second draft will help even more, but because of what I’m interested in and because of the influences I think its a great novel for everyone (although I would think that wouldn’t I?).  Bill is just beginning his teenage years and he and his mother live in a small duchy, which by all intents and purposes could really be called a mining camp.  It’s overseen by a horrible despotic Duke who represses his subjects.  Then one day a man drops a note under their door which asks them to join in a rally against the Duke and ultimately the King.  Bill sneaks out in the night, against his mothers wishes, and in one horrible night is injured and whisked away by this strange man.  In a world where science is prohibited but present and religion is mandatory and prevalent, Bill begins to uncover the King’s, his companion’s, and even his mother’s terrible secrets, and the destruction which made the world the way it is.

Dark:  What would you do if suddenly all light, except for fire, was eliminated?  This horror/adventure novel explores the human psyche under duress.  What would people do when you cant see them.  Burglary?  Rape?  Murder?  A group of seven band together to protect each other from the dark, and one wily stranger traverses it on his own.  The darkness takes them to the limit of what they think is possible…and beyond.

Memoirs of a Hero:  Two men, both in San Francisco and oblivious to the other, have everything taken from them.  Faced with an unknown future and with nothing to their name, the two men set out on two very different paths.  One of them tries to save people and one tries to punish them.  This book is in the same theme line as the previous two, but will not have any classical fantasy or horror aspects, it will focus on why we make the decisions we do and what the consequences of the decisions are.  The whole book centers around the question:  What do you do when all you have is the clothes on your back, you have nothing to lose, and you witness someone being beat up, raped and mugged?

Elsinore:  This is a comic book that I’ve been working on for years.  The story centers around Frank and Christy Harvey.  They are suspect characters who are feeling something which happened in Pensacola, Florida and end up crashing their car in a remote Texas town called Elsinore.   There is some force which keeps the couple in the town which they come to realize is in the midst of a civil war.  The two sides, a congregation of staunch Catholics led by a suspect Priest and a group of monstrous freaks led by an enigmatic cripple, fight constantly between each other for the right to be in charge because both sides feel they think they have the “right” way to do things.  The battle began because of a prophesy that the town was at the door way to Hell and there is an army of demons coming…and soon.  Now Frank and Christy are stuck in the town and must decide which side to choose.

The Island of His Mind (working title):  This story follows a young reporter who is sent from New York to Hawaii to cover a rash of murders which break out.  Along the way she meets up with a old homeless man who is suffering from both PTSD and Alzheimers disease, she befriends him and together they try and solve the mystery.  This book is about humanity and the dark places the mind can take us, but it’s also about hope and friendship.