Details on the novel.

Hopefully, this blog will address any curiosities one may have about my novel, which is slated to be self-published by June 2011.

Synopsis
After prompted to see a situation for what it is, a callused killer realizes a key aspect of his life wasn't what it seemed. With long repressed emotions and memories now surfacing as the effect, the killer questions if anything he has experienced was how he inferred it at the time. Searching the alcoves of his mind, he finds a desultory puzzle of recollections, which could either lead him to enlightenment or perdition, as he struggles to put the pieces together.

Title
This novel is called "Concealed Weapons." The title serves as a dual-meaning. Due to the literal context of the protagonist being a hired gun, naturally the title refers to his hiding of various weapons to avoid detection from the law. Metaphorically, the memories he is forced to re-face and come to terms with would serve as the concealed weapons against himself. The original title was "On The World's Stage", but after the rough draft the story was given an entirely new ending, and the title no longer matched (all for the better). The name went from that to simply "Concealed," and then quickly to "Concealed Weapons."

Allegory & Influence
I started outlining this book in a more morose period of my life, a few years back, when nothing seemed right; it felt like I'd made every wrong move and was being punished finally. So, the book started off like a pity party, and it shaped up to be very self-indulged - which, everyone who considers what they do an art tends to be self-indulged anyway ;-). While adding more content to the plot and filling in the characters a bit more, it became apparent to me that most (if not all) people hit a point where they question what they've done and how they ended up where they have; sometimes that moment comes as sort of a pre-midlife crisis. That notion gave me the inclination and insight to write the novel as more like a universal statement that no matter what you do it can feel hackneyed after a while, and few people are actually happy with their situation, and everyone has many things they wish they could have handled differently.

Future Projects
After Concealed Weapons in the on the virtual shelf and generating almost no revenue, the next novel I'm working on is called "A Dearly-Won Harmony." It's a dystopian piece about corrupt government. Corrupt government is probably the foundation for any dystopian story, but I feel I have a new spin to it.

Thanks!!!

-Gari

The sound of the gun.

Rewrites are underway.

I feel both positive and negative about how it's going so far. It feels good to refresh some of the text, although by this point there shouldn't be too much of a need for it. In my head, this either means the novel simply is NOT ready, still, or that I will never be satisfied with it anyway. Hello Synecdoche, New York.

The deadline is going to have to be pushed back, I fear, maybe. This, I suppose, would be a perk to self-publishing: Set your own deadlines.

Blerg!

Back to work.

-Gari

Falling through the cracks of step 1

Day two and we're already behind schedule. Of course, it's all my fault, presently; too many other projects I'm working on while simultaneously seeking new employment.
Blerg!

Fortunately I do not have social plans until Friday - and even those are in question. Which means I have three days to catch up to where I should be. In relation to this blog, by Saturday I plan to have entry dedicated to the details and outline of the novel posted.

My brain feels scattered; I've done for the evening.

-gari

Charpter One

At this point, I've decided to self-publish my first novel. It was completed and ready for submission in May 2010, and I've been attempting to acquire an agent since then who'd like to represent me, but with little results. Due to the technologically advanced society we live in, where paper novels seem to be on the way out, it has become hard to discern who is not a good author and who simply doesn't convince the agents they're profitable. Writing, in any variety of the art, is a life-long uphill beating. There is no easy way to go about it, and certainly nothing but a slim chance of sustaining financially from your work.

Enough bitching. Today, I'm setting up a time frame to be orderly in the efforts for one final rewrite and edit, select the self-publishing company, submission and marketing. Currently, my deadline for the final draft is April 22nd, 2011.
The novel will be called "Concealed Weapons."

That's all for now.

-Gari