Shaun Meeks's Blog - Posts Tagged "serial-killer"
Responses to Angel in the High Tower
Earlier today I received an email from a teenage girl that had just read Angel in the High Tower. The email was very sweet as the girl went on to say how much she loved it and how well she related to the main character, Angel. She said the story was sweet and sad at the same time and the end broke her heart. She wanted to know what happened with Sam and Angel. She then asked me to expand on the story, to "write a novel about Angel...no! No! Can you write a whole series about her? Like three or four books with Angel in it?" It was one of the best emails ever because she actually seemed to care about the character I created. I have gotten emails before about how much people have like a certain story, or the way I write, but this is the first time anyone has sent me an email going on about how much they loved the character, how much they were able to relate to someone that I wrote about.
Originally, Angel in the High Tower was a YA short story, much shorter than the one that appeared in The Horror Zine Fall 2013, and slightly less violent. I originally submitted it to Dark Moon Digest for their YA edition, but they passed on it. I reworked the story and added back the parts I had to take out (mainly the scene with Sam and Angel testing her ability to leave the house and the scene with the confrontation in the basement). When I had finished it, I wasn't sure it was much of a YA story anymore as the end is a bit extreme for some people. I did tone it down quite a bit from the first draft, but I felt like the horror really needed to be there.
So, is there a possibility of a longer, novel version of Angel in the High Tower? I had never considered it before, but since the email this morning and some of the others, I have been giving it some thought. I know that there us at least one novel I could do, the story is already there. It would be a more expansive, detailed version of Angel in the High Tower that would include an entire section before she met Sam. More than that? Who knows? The way my writing works, I never really know where it will take me.
If you have read Angel in the High Tower, I would love to hear what you think, either as a comment here, or you can review it on Amazon or on Good Reads. If you haven't picked up a copy of The Horror Zine Fall 2013, you can also read it for free online at the link below:
http://thehorrorzine.com/Fiction/Sept...
Originally, Angel in the High Tower was a YA short story, much shorter than the one that appeared in The Horror Zine Fall 2013, and slightly less violent. I originally submitted it to Dark Moon Digest for their YA edition, but they passed on it. I reworked the story and added back the parts I had to take out (mainly the scene with Sam and Angel testing her ability to leave the house and the scene with the confrontation in the basement). When I had finished it, I wasn't sure it was much of a YA story anymore as the end is a bit extreme for some people. I did tone it down quite a bit from the first draft, but I felt like the horror really needed to be there.
So, is there a possibility of a longer, novel version of Angel in the High Tower? I had never considered it before, but since the email this morning and some of the others, I have been giving it some thought. I know that there us at least one novel I could do, the story is already there. It would be a more expansive, detailed version of Angel in the High Tower that would include an entire section before she met Sam. More than that? Who knows? The way my writing works, I never really know where it will take me.
If you have read Angel in the High Tower, I would love to hear what you think, either as a comment here, or you can review it on Amazon or on Good Reads. If you haven't picked up a copy of The Horror Zine Fall 2013, you can also read it for free online at the link below:
http://thehorrorzine.com/Fiction/Sept...
