Fratricide

Nightmares and Dreamscapes

Only with a smaller cast.
And less Fox telling fans
to go fuck themselves.

I keep touting the end (of Trader) approaching.  To not be called a dirty liar, I am devoutly working towards that goal.  As such, it is time for cover art.  Initially I wanted a Grand Theft Auto type cover, or the type of cover that Firefly used for its box set. 

But then…

My editor came up with an interesting point – as she is wont to do (see the discussion involving the naming conventions, which coincidentally ALSO involves a Firefly reference).  She said “You don’t really give much description when it comes to your characters [sic].” 

“But,” she conjectured, “it works.”  Totally, completely, utterly, mostly on purpose.  Not really though.  It does work, and that is insane!  The reason, as I’ve figure out from reading Cracked.com, is that your mind fills in the blanks on its own.  Horror is at its scariest when the monster is still hiding in the shadows.  Tolkien is a great writer but he gets fucking tedious after spending several paragraphs on describing what a tree looks like.  If you are talking about a magical forest, gimme some snapshots and I’ll do the rest.  It ruins the imagination.

Where am I going with this?  Lemme back track… Right!  I want the hero of every one of my stories (sans the graphic novels, because screw you that’s why), to be YOUR hero.  I want the villain to be your villain.  I want every character I develop in these books to be, at their very core, yours.  My intent to guide you where needed to capture an archetype, or to keep someone (like Keian) implacably constant.  Trader – much to my surprise – wears different masks as the story progresses, according to a bunch of people that I’ve handed a manuscript over.  Purely accidental, and I wish I could recreate that in everything I do, in the same manner.

Oh, I’m taking submissions, we’ll do a contest if more than three people enter.  Please?  Just don’t ruin people’s ability to think. 

In my defense, he was a
douche.

I just woke from a dream wherein I bludgeoned a man to death with an odd combination of a less than sturdy baseball bat and a rolling pin.  It was a challenge, I’ll say that much.  And the fight was legitimately recognized and refereed.  I was a stand in for a much stronger man, and cannot for the life of me remember the reason for the gauntlet being thrown.

In the context of necessity, I remember the deed needing to be done.  However, the circumstances leading up to the fight are fuzzy.  Something about demons and possessed machines inside a very large spire. As far as the event itself goes, it managed to burn itself inside my retinas.  The man I killed was the definition of a bro.  Frat material through and through.  Even so, it was…

Disturbing. 

I know we all have the capacity to kill.  It’s hardwired as a survival technique, regardless of what lies or stories we tell ourselves.  Fortunately, the experience for most people is so traumatic that even the attempt is unthinkable by anyone with a  conscious. 

The exception is when it comes to need and desire.  Need could fall under a whole slew of categories, such as kill or be killed.  In that situation, if and when you come out on top as the survivor, the feeling is one of elation.  A murderer on the other hand, enjoys it because that feeling ecstasy. 

Trader began killing for the former, but continued to do it for the rush brought by survival.  Whether or not external motivation for justice or monetary gain exists (where justice is generally the reason behind the contracts and money the compensation and illegal activities on the side balance out both of those things) is irrelevant.  The question raised is that of is killing in the name of supposed law okay if the killer enjoys his job?

Cel, by definition, is a murderer through and through.  Don’t over think that one.

The more I write about Keian, the less I know what the hell Keian is.

No Trader until later today.  About to break 60,000 words (and another three or four chapters), so I'd like whatever chapter I post today to be something critical.

In the meantime, here's a camel spider.

Come at me, bro.