Monday, October 22, 2012

The Next Big Thing Blog Chain...

I was chained to this by David J. West (Author of HEROES OF THE FALLEN) so I’m sharing some things about my primary “work in progress.”


What is the working title of your book?

I’ve actually worked recently on two books but the one I’ve gotten the farthest along in is called The Razored Land.


Where did the idea come from for the book?

It’s a post-apocalyptic book, which I’ve always wanted to write. The concept of folks surviving after an apocalypse that destroys human civilization is an oldie but a goodie. Some great stories have been told in that kind of a setting. For my book, I added in the idea of a DNA plague that alters all kinds of life forms, including most humans. There are people who are immune to the plague, and that’s where the main character comes from.


What genre does your book fall under?

Post-apocalyptic literature is almost a genre of its own. However, this kind of book is typically classified as Science Fiction and I’d say that genre makes up the greatest element of the story I’ve conceived. However, there are going to be some very strong horror elements in the piece.


Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I don’t ever see actors playing the roles in my fiction. Not sure why. I’m not a big movie buff. If forced to choose, I might pick Colin Farrell to play the main character. Samuel Jackson might fit the primary villain, with lots of makeup. There’s also a female character that might be played well by the young woman who played the female terminator on the Sarah Conner Chronicles. She’d also need quite a bit of makeup.


What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

At the end of the world, love and hate meet as enemies on the final battlefield.


Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Neither, most likely. I have a small press publisher interested in it and that’s probably the route I’ll go.


How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

The book is about half done at 33,000 words. It took about 8 months to write that much, although it wasn’t the only project I was working on. I have other commitments now before I can get back to it but I figure about another 8 months to finish. It would take considerably less if I wasn’t working a real job.


What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

There are many post-apocalyptic (PA) books out there, although some of the other elements that I’ve added in will make this book different. A Canticle for Leibowitz is one of my favorite PA books. The Stones of Power series by David Gemmell has certain things in common with my book. I could certainly name a dozen others. Andre Norton wrote some of this that was certainly an early influence on me. Jerry Ahern wrote a series called "The Survivalist" that had many elements I admired.


Who or What inspired you to write this book?

I’d have to say, “reading” inspired me to it. I love post-apocalyptic books. I love the setting and the possibilities. It gives the imagination some room to run and I always enjoy that. I want to try my hand at it.


What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

In my novel, Cold in the Light, I had a non-human character named Kargen who many readers really liked, even though he was basically the villain of the story. He was kind of a non-human anti-hero. I’ve wanted to write such a character again and “The Razored Land” has given me that chance. I’ve got a couple of Kargenesque characters in it. I’m having fun with them.


That's it.

Now I have to chain people to this thing so I’ll name a few people but will say only for them to do it if it intrigues them and they have the time. I don’t want them to feel any kind of pressure from it. I know we writers are busy folks and the last thing I want to do is add more pressure and stress to the mix.

James Reasoner
Oscar Case
Richard Prosch


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32 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Science fiction and horror combined? I like it!

nephite blood spartan heart said...

I like that title Charles, looking forward to reading this.

Jessica Ferguson said...

Enjoyed this. I'll check out the others to see if they found the time to answer the questions. I love reading author interviews--of any kind.

Deka Black said...

Post-apocalyptic stories are among the best kind of tales, in my opinion. good luck!

Charles Gramlich said...

Alex, I can never completely get away from horror. it's in my blood. :)

David J. I came up with the title a long time ago and was looking for a place to use it.

Jess, me too. Always good to see how others in the field I love work and live.

Deka, absolutely. in my opinion too.

Ty said...

Drat. Can't take part at the moment because I'm not working on a major project, but on some short stories for anthology editors.

However, I have an idea of my own for a post-apocalyptic tale, so maybe that'll be my next "big" project.

Drizel said...

Sounds really kewl. :)

Charles Gramlich said...

Ty, I don't get to do a lot of these either but this one came at a nice time, right after I finished one project but before I started a new one.

Drizel, thankee! Your project does as well.

Golden Eagle said...

Anti-heroes are always interesting characters. They can have a lot more to their personality than a usual hero/protagonist.

X. Dell said...

Interesting idea for writers.

The Razored Land, Razored Zen...interesting titles from a bearded guy.

Merisi said...

Thank you for taking the time to share your work and thoughts!

Cloudia said...

thanks for the look at your process




Warm Aloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral

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sage said...

Interesting to see where you're heading with your next work. I have always liked post-apocalyptic works, so let us know when it's ready.

laughingwolf said...

sounds like a winner :)

authors you name are great, too

reminds me, some, of a fave movie: the omega man

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Omega_Man

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Charles, I liked the one-sentence synopsis of your book—it's pretty much how things are. I need a little light here—what is a blog "chain" and how does it work? What is "chain people"? Many thanks

Randy Johnson said...

I'm a fan of pot apocalyptic tales myself. I think I must have bought all of them when they were the rage decades ago, The Survivalist you mention was a particular favorite. These days DEATHLANDS and OUTSIDERS are about all the series left from back then, though I stopped buying them years ago.

Charles Gramlich said...

Golden Eagle, I agree. I really enjoy them.

X. Dell, hum, very Freudian observation there. I like the word razor. But only at a distance!

Merisi, glad you enjoyed.

Cloudia, folks are probably getting tired of it. I've done similar things a number of times.

sage, gonna be a while but I will certainly promote it.

Laughingwolf, Omega man was good, much better than the alter remake starring Will Smith, I thought.

Prashant, the blog chain thing is just an idea someone came up to create a meme or theme for a series of blog posts by writers. To chain someone to it means just to invite them to it, same as tagging, if you know what that means. I kind of copied that wording from David J. West, who is the fellow who tagged me for it.

Randy, I've read all the Survivalist books except one or two. I have those. Read some of the others too but Ahern was my favorite. read some really crazy ones like Roadblaster. A very Road Warrior take off.

Eugenia O'Neal said...

Great title! The plot is intriguing!

BernardL said...

Very neat, but no time. :) Good mix on the ideas.

Charles Gramlich said...

Eugenia, thanks. I appreciate your visit.

Bernard, time is gold

Travis Cody said...

Great tag line. I enjoy a good PA story almost as much as I enjoy a good alternative history story.

Lisa said...

This is a wonderful way to learn how you work Charles and a nice way for me to catch up a little. I love prompts, because it provides interactions, camaraderie and friendly pressure which can be welcoming.

Hello Charles. this is oceangirl.

Greg said...

that sounds like a cool story. great one-sentence synopsis!

Charles Gramlich said...

Travis Cody, yeah, I think they have something in common, a way to let our imagination take off from one defined position.

Fazlisa, hi, I recognized the name. Glad to see you around. Hope all is well.

Greg, I hadn't thought of that one sentence synopsis until the question was asked so that was cool.

G. B. Miller said...

I find post-apocalyptic a little intriguing. I'm reading one that doubles as a romance, so this particular genre might be another one worth exploring.

Love the one sentence synopsis as that has me intrigued enough to learn the 411.

pattinase (abbott) said...

This sounds like a great premise, Charles. The DNA thing adds such a great twist to it.

Charles Gramlich said...

G.B., I was pretty happy with that synopsis once it occurred to me. And it's accurate.

Patti, there's another twist too, which I don't want to reveal because I'm not absolutely sure I'm going to keep it.

Paul R. McNamee said...

Sounds very good, Charles.

Richard Prosch said...

Swell title! And I appreciate your comment about actors. Cool thread.

Charles Gramlich said...

Paul, thanks, man.

Richard, glad you enjoyed, my friend.

Vesper said...

I loved reading this post - I always enjoy reading about how writers work. It seems like a very interesting story. I like the one-sentence synopsis. :-)

Charles Gramlich said...

Vesper, thanks. I kind of like it too. It just popped into my head as I wrote this.