Claire Cray's Blog - Posts Tagged "sequel"
Merrick & William, thoughts on the sequel
What turned into Merrick actually started out as a kind of evil little piece of erotica. I wanted to do something with an older master-of-a-trade and a young apprentice, and I wanted it to be sort of medieval and atmospheric with lots of sly, spooky details -- cast iron, stone hearths, smokes and shadows. I was thinking the master had to be an alchemist or an apothecary, and sexually potent in some elusive, maybe even alarmingly inexplicable way.
I should have known right away it wasn't going to be a >10k erotica piece. I was way too into it from the start (and I've never felt totally comfortable with the erotic quickies, anyway -- I'm not good at it).
The story surprised me a lot as it went along. I had intended to build a complex atmosphere around fairly conventional characters, with Merrick as the cranky-alpha-with-a-soft-side, and William as the young, world-weary street rat who finds himself in a HURRICANE OF DESIRE.
That all fell apart promptly when I realized Merrick and William were two calm, respectful gentlemen, with an intellectual chemistry between them that struck me as so sensual and special that I found myself really wrapped up in every interaction they had.
And I had to force myself to take a break before starting the sequel! Things are getting underway now -- lots of fun and challenges (for me) in store. Theo is still lurking around, waiting to make sure Merrick turns William into a vampire. Merrick is still horrified by the whole thing, but he can't stay on his high horse forever. It seems to me the time for Merrick to sacrifice himself for William's humanity is long gone -- W. and Theo scored a real checkmate, and his instincts have surely won at least a narrow majority over his morals at this point -- so I don't know how long he intends to delay the inevitable, or what he thinks will be gained by it. I have a feeling Merrick's stubborn side could get a little irritating, despite the fact that he's 100% justified in wishing he could just leave William alone.
But William's experience is really the important thing here. If Merrick is a moralist (and Theo is a hedonist), William is a pragmatist. He uses his head, and he adapts to make the best of his circumstances. I can picture William sitting in the corner of a coffee house, idly dipping his fingertip into his drink as he mulls over the pros and cons of being a vampire. In the end, of course, he will accept the inevitable. Will he be cool with it, though? I don't know that he will. His mother would absolutely disapprove, for one thing! But beyond that, he really stands to lose a lot. William enjoys his friends, his work, and his sunny days. And he likes people! Will love be enough to hold him steady when he realizes how many lives he's going to take in order to save Merrick's? I doubt it! Clearly, William's not going into this without reservations, but he's going to feel a lot of pressure to hide them from Merrick.
Here's where Theo might have a much bigger part to play. I'm sure he has more than a few tricks up his sleeve, but it remains to be seen whether he has the political finesse to coax this little opera to its resolution. Or maybe he'll just get bored of the whole thing, stab William in the jugular, and toss him at Merrick's head. "THINK FAST!" Hahaha.
So that's where my thoughts are -- I've got some pages tossed around, and I can't to see things start rolling.
Again, thank you so much for your attention, and especially those of you who took the time to write reviews. I'm so grateful to you for giving this new publisher a chance and making Merrick a success. Wish us luck!
I should have known right away it wasn't going to be a >10k erotica piece. I was way too into it from the start (and I've never felt totally comfortable with the erotic quickies, anyway -- I'm not good at it).
The story surprised me a lot as it went along. I had intended to build a complex atmosphere around fairly conventional characters, with Merrick as the cranky-alpha-with-a-soft-side, and William as the young, world-weary street rat who finds himself in a HURRICANE OF DESIRE.
That all fell apart promptly when I realized Merrick and William were two calm, respectful gentlemen, with an intellectual chemistry between them that struck me as so sensual and special that I found myself really wrapped up in every interaction they had.
And I had to force myself to take a break before starting the sequel! Things are getting underway now -- lots of fun and challenges (for me) in store. Theo is still lurking around, waiting to make sure Merrick turns William into a vampire. Merrick is still horrified by the whole thing, but he can't stay on his high horse forever. It seems to me the time for Merrick to sacrifice himself for William's humanity is long gone -- W. and Theo scored a real checkmate, and his instincts have surely won at least a narrow majority over his morals at this point -- so I don't know how long he intends to delay the inevitable, or what he thinks will be gained by it. I have a feeling Merrick's stubborn side could get a little irritating, despite the fact that he's 100% justified in wishing he could just leave William alone.
But William's experience is really the important thing here. If Merrick is a moralist (and Theo is a hedonist), William is a pragmatist. He uses his head, and he adapts to make the best of his circumstances. I can picture William sitting in the corner of a coffee house, idly dipping his fingertip into his drink as he mulls over the pros and cons of being a vampire. In the end, of course, he will accept the inevitable. Will he be cool with it, though? I don't know that he will. His mother would absolutely disapprove, for one thing! But beyond that, he really stands to lose a lot. William enjoys his friends, his work, and his sunny days. And he likes people! Will love be enough to hold him steady when he realizes how many lives he's going to take in order to save Merrick's? I doubt it! Clearly, William's not going into this without reservations, but he's going to feel a lot of pressure to hide them from Merrick.
Here's where Theo might have a much bigger part to play. I'm sure he has more than a few tricks up his sleeve, but it remains to be seen whether he has the political finesse to coax this little opera to its resolution. Or maybe he'll just get bored of the whole thing, stab William in the jugular, and toss him at Merrick's head. "THINK FAST!" Hahaha.
So that's where my thoughts are -- I've got some pages tossed around, and I can't to see things start rolling.
Again, thank you so much for your attention, and especially those of you who took the time to write reviews. I'm so grateful to you for giving this new publisher a chance and making Merrick a success. Wish us luck!
Up, Down, Stop, Go
Lately I've received a few messages on Tumblr and email pressing for updates on the sequel to Merrick. I could not be more thrilled. Seriously. I wish I could make valentines for everyone who takes the time to express their interest.
Things are coming along. I really hope anyone out there who's keeping an eye out for the next book will tune in to this blog for updates, and be patient! My main goals for this sequel are: 70K+ words, a plot that holds its pace til the last word, and a final product outdoes the first book in character development and background depth. I'll be taking my time to make sure those goals are met, because I really want this book to blow your mind.
Confession: Merrick was written in a little over a month. It was a short story that decided to explode, and it really caught me by surprise. I just went into a frenzy -- put everything on hold, rushed home from work every day and shut myself in to write. Any spare time at my day job I spent re-tooling scenes on spare pieces of paper. It just poured out of me.
Unfortunately, this won't shock a lot of readers -- as a novel, it leaves some things to be desired. I'm not bummed about it, though. I'm super-happy to have these characters and this story to tell. But the sequel will be given all the time it deserves and needs.
I've been extremely unsatisfied with my writing for the past several weeks (hence the delays with Take Off). That's life, man, I know! Unfortunately there come times when I can't summon the vocabulary to describe a chicken burrito, and my punctuation looks like junk jewelry on a drunk kindergartner.
It's burnout. I know. It's hard to pace yourself when all you want to do is write.
In New York the clock is always ticking. Wake up, day job, gig here, break, gig there, home, write, pass out, wake up... To an extent this is invigorating. Some really thrive in it -- you know the NY bohemian lore. I'm not really of that order, although I draw what energy I can from it, pretending I'm in Madonna's Ray of Light video. But it can be a hardscrabble, sleepless life, and I often wake up in the middle of the night with the lamp on, having passed out in bed with my laptop on my stomach (hands on the keys, the last typed sentence trailing off into llllllllllllkjlk).
Woe is me! This is not my natural state. I'm a Romantic from the Northwest and I need time and space to muse, wind and trees and stories to soak up. I burn out quick here, trying to keep up the pace and volume of output I'm used to.
But anyway, I moved here. I live here. And all you can do is adapt! I'm adapting. I make do with less so I can have more time to write, and when in doubt, I know to retreat to the purest stories I have in me, the clearest moods and the deepest feelings.
I'm working on a long short story now. Two missing men cross paths in the wilderness: one is an inexperienced hiker who's gotten himself very lost; the other is an misanthropic young loner who abandoned society to live in the wild years before.
It's coming along nicely and really putting me in a better mood for the real task at hand, which is, of course, the sequel to Merrick. I shelved that one for awhile after many false starts, figuring it needed a little more time to settle. I was right.
I love Merrick as much as I imagine a writer can love a spontaneous first novel, but there are a couple of things about it I wish had gone better, such as the pacing and plot issues in the last quarter of the book. I fully believe that the source of these problems is the way I handled the change in setting when Merrick decided to move to the city.
Although it felt right and necessary at the time, I'm cringing now at the fact that the story ended with Merrick and William in Manhattan, and I wish I would have seen another way. This story is a Gothic Romance, and while the relationship between Merrick and William was more than strong enough to carry the story through the final pages, I regret letting the move to the city push aside so much of the atmosphere and romantic isolation. Basically, that cottage in the woods is a major element in this tale, and I regret that the story ended without it. I figured this out when I started sketching out early scenes for the sequel. There were my characters, but where was all my lovely gloom and mystery and alluring uncertainty? Where were the fog and trees (god, story of my life)?
Happily, I figured it out. Trust this much: the first order of business is to pull the sequel right back in the mood of Gothic Romance that's always been the heartbeat of the story. I am way excited.
There's so much more I'd like to tell you about other stories I've got going on, but I have to get to work!
Things are coming along. I really hope anyone out there who's keeping an eye out for the next book will tune in to this blog for updates, and be patient! My main goals for this sequel are: 70K+ words, a plot that holds its pace til the last word, and a final product outdoes the first book in character development and background depth. I'll be taking my time to make sure those goals are met, because I really want this book to blow your mind.
Confession: Merrick was written in a little over a month. It was a short story that decided to explode, and it really caught me by surprise. I just went into a frenzy -- put everything on hold, rushed home from work every day and shut myself in to write. Any spare time at my day job I spent re-tooling scenes on spare pieces of paper. It just poured out of me.
Unfortunately, this won't shock a lot of readers -- as a novel, it leaves some things to be desired. I'm not bummed about it, though. I'm super-happy to have these characters and this story to tell. But the sequel will be given all the time it deserves and needs.
I've been extremely unsatisfied with my writing for the past several weeks (hence the delays with Take Off). That's life, man, I know! Unfortunately there come times when I can't summon the vocabulary to describe a chicken burrito, and my punctuation looks like junk jewelry on a drunk kindergartner.
It's burnout. I know. It's hard to pace yourself when all you want to do is write.
In New York the clock is always ticking. Wake up, day job, gig here, break, gig there, home, write, pass out, wake up... To an extent this is invigorating. Some really thrive in it -- you know the NY bohemian lore. I'm not really of that order, although I draw what energy I can from it, pretending I'm in Madonna's Ray of Light video. But it can be a hardscrabble, sleepless life, and I often wake up in the middle of the night with the lamp on, having passed out in bed with my laptop on my stomach (hands on the keys, the last typed sentence trailing off into llllllllllllkjlk).
Woe is me! This is not my natural state. I'm a Romantic from the Northwest and I need time and space to muse, wind and trees and stories to soak up. I burn out quick here, trying to keep up the pace and volume of output I'm used to.
But anyway, I moved here. I live here. And all you can do is adapt! I'm adapting. I make do with less so I can have more time to write, and when in doubt, I know to retreat to the purest stories I have in me, the clearest moods and the deepest feelings.
I'm working on a long short story now. Two missing men cross paths in the wilderness: one is an inexperienced hiker who's gotten himself very lost; the other is an misanthropic young loner who abandoned society to live in the wild years before.
It's coming along nicely and really putting me in a better mood for the real task at hand, which is, of course, the sequel to Merrick. I shelved that one for awhile after many false starts, figuring it needed a little more time to settle. I was right.
I love Merrick as much as I imagine a writer can love a spontaneous first novel, but there are a couple of things about it I wish had gone better, such as the pacing and plot issues in the last quarter of the book. I fully believe that the source of these problems is the way I handled the change in setting when Merrick decided to move to the city.
Although it felt right and necessary at the time, I'm cringing now at the fact that the story ended with Merrick and William in Manhattan, and I wish I would have seen another way. This story is a Gothic Romance, and while the relationship between Merrick and William was more than strong enough to carry the story through the final pages, I regret letting the move to the city push aside so much of the atmosphere and romantic isolation. Basically, that cottage in the woods is a major element in this tale, and I regret that the story ended without it. I figured this out when I started sketching out early scenes for the sequel. There were my characters, but where was all my lovely gloom and mystery and alluring uncertainty? Where were the fog and trees (god, story of my life)?
Happily, I figured it out. Trust this much: the first order of business is to pull the sequel right back in the mood of Gothic Romance that's always been the heartbeat of the story. I am way excited.
There's so much more I'd like to tell you about other stories I've got going on, but I have to get to work!
