Part one- from dust

Part one in the can. It has a number, but I'm unsure if it is a prologue or an actual opening chapter. (Hell, by the end of this it might be the end- it's like that sometimes).

It looks like it'll be a thriller/mystery type deal. I open straight in the action, with little time for exposition and it is largely, deliberately disorientating. (Rather than being a straight up deliberate orientation where I would actually set the scene.) I want it to feel claustrophobic. Tight, not loose. The action is therefore confined to a single room, with minimal description of the surrounds. It could be anywhere the reader can visualise. The excpetion to this is a focus on body parts (as a source of pain) and the presence of three tattoos in the opening paragraph. None of them are dragons. The matching roses on protagonist and antagonist simply symbolize their prior relationship. The chapter is linked, after much deliberation, by her reaction to his new tattoo across his throat. Originally I didn't even have tattoos in it, but since I started by called the chapter "One Hell of a Tattoo" (a tribute to an ex student), I figured I should probably include a direct reference somewhere. In the end, tattoos are a powerful motif these days, but aren't restricted in the way they use to be as needing to speak to a particular character archetype. The aggression of the character defines them in this chapter, the tattoo subtle enough (or perhaps not) to be interpreted differently by the reader later.

I end it with a little hint- something to keep the story going as Careless is able to escape. I still don't know why she is called Careless, but it certainly sounded good at the time. His (working) name is Dan. Probably only because everyone I know is named Dan, including my front and back neighbours.

Current concern- no cliches! Failed that already with friggin matching rose tattoos. How cliched is that? Might change it if I can find a suitable symbolic replacement. It is a decent motif though, and one any reader will be able to visualise, even if they base it off Johnny 23 in their unconscious.

So there we have it. (And next time I promise not to use friggin parenthesis all the time).

[References to Danny Trejo movies- 1]

A new blog- a new story

So I have this idea for a story. It is a story about a story. The plan is to document my thinking as I write (in a separate document) a new story. Perhaps it fits with the 'Ghost' stories I've already done, perhaps it is something new.

But I'm starting tonight.

And I'm listening to Slipknot.

It starts with this tweet:
'forever damned' would make for a hell of a tattoo.

So I'm going with that as the title.
And as of right now, her name is Careless.
The chapter is called "One Hell of a Tattoo."