Charactude

For the most part, on this new project, I have the chronology, and I've definitely have the mood and tone of the piece. It fluxes between mystical-magical, noire, and even a hint of a Western, not in the sense that it takes place in the Old West, or even in America's South West--but a sense that some of the characters carry themselves like old school gunslingers. Badass, without being cliche.

The main character has been fun to shape. One of the things I liked about going back to 12 Stories High is that it put me in the focus of centering on one character, something I haven't concentrated on since composing 12 Stories High initially between '05 and '06. The Ronin Poetz and 2 Enlighten The G.O.D.Z., even further back. Although, clearly, the main character for Code-47 (Keith Joseph) is the focus, I still view it as an ensemble because its written in the same aspects of a heist film. The concentration is not always on Keith, but also on the other crew members and their specialties. And A Company of Moors has at least 20,000 characters, each of which gets his or her own focus. Hey, it's a historical epic that has twice the amount of words (220,000+) than a traditional epic novel (110,000).

At first, the main character started off as someone determined for revenge. The revenge aspect has been taken away. Too cliche. The determination remains, but its now just to find answers, all the answers to a a lot of questions. Plot. There was also a time where this character was supposed to be completely insane, haunted by the ideas in his head (songs. He's a musician; a trumpet player). This was thought of while I was in the middle of A Company of Moors and completely stressed-the-fuck out about finishing the book. The haunting remains, but it doesn't stick. Way too 'artistic' self-indulgent. I've re-worked the idea for it not to be overly melodramatic. The main character is no longer insane; he's become more inviting to the strangeness around him. Until he has to assist in blowing off someone's head. That's a little disturbing.

Instead of having this dominant quirk as a personality, I've tried to make him just human. A lot of the characters I've come up with can be summed up in a word or two, even though, in my opinion (humble as it is not...joke) they are round characters. Al-Jeheuty: Negotiator. Keith Joseph: Trickster. Maa Kheru: Warrior. Bo Yusuf: Soldier. Mehit: Realist and organizer. Lawrence Forsythe: cynical realist. Aludra: Innocence lost. Sesen: the romantic daydreamer...ect.

But I did look back to A Company of Moors and focus on the character Nasir. This new character will probably less naive, and less to prove himself that he's naive. His determination for answers push his naivety aside. He understands he doesn't know, but he's determined to understand his new environment.

It's gonna be a helluva fairy tale. With guns and brutal murder. Like the old school fairy tales.

b write black.

A New Hope

I've gathered all the notes for the new project. Old notes. They're probably five to ten years old. At one time, this project was supposed to be a short movie. Part of a script was put together, written around 2000, 2001, and revisited fall of 2004. I got as far as the first 30 pages, 35. It's now notes. I don't think I'll use any of the dialogue. It's kinda hokey, and because it was intended for a visual project (short film or  graphic novel) there's a lot of exposition. I'm still debating on a couple subplots that pop up within these first 30 pages. Sickness. Health. Death. Living. Easy, non-emotional things. I do think they'll be toned down, though. Again, don't want to make things hokey.

With all the notes that I've gathered I feel like George Lucas after he was done filming A New Hope. I got a bunch of 'raw footage' (the notes) but it's all sloppy, disjointed. It's a heap, and it looks scary. But I think I can handle it. I just finished the renovation of the 12 Stories. I just need to take a deep breath, and then I need to take a broad sweep of all the notes. I keep looking at the pacing of the 'script'. I've written a little bit of the opening scene in prose. Not much has changed. It's just about an open field, 1953, the South, which particular state, not too sure yet. But our heroes are driving from New Orleans, heading north to Harlem, New York. Originally, it was just a city with no name. Somewhere that could be anywhere. Ultimately, over the years, I started to understand that the city would be New York City. Harlem.

Also, there is something very special that needs to be written parallel to the main story and incorporated into the entire story, a la "The Story of the Nine (or Five) Black Bastards" from A Company of Moors. This is definitely where the exploded mess of notes exist. The main story, for the most part, has been hacked out and outlined. Now the story running parallel has to be straightened out. And I've had this story on the back burner for just the same amount of time.

I'm killing two birds with one stone.

The budget for this book is 250 pgs.  So, of course, that means it'll be 1000 pages long.

b write black.

Editing Job: Application II

All edits have been applied, finished yesterday, early morning. The rest of the time for this weekend will be spent on making sure that all edits have been applied properly. A first run through of this was done yesterday afternoon, but it's never a bad idea to make a second run through.

12 Stories High looks and feels amazing in its current read. The stories are in their finished, and most complete form. The stories resonate like individual tracks on an album, but compliment one another as a whole in this book of 'short' stories. As I've said before, there is an unofficial trilogy within the book, holding the theme of resurrecting the 'black woman'. The metaphors of the story a far more striking than anything that has been written within contemporary books dealing with black women's issues. These stories already existed in the book (obviously), but as I continued to reference them as carrying the same theme, I decided the stories should be labeled as such. The other stories are now carried by the characters and the stories. The tone is also defined by these two elements, no longer by my biased judgment and emotions.

12 Stories High fits perfectly within the literary pantheon of my other works, and makes a clear case for the future works. My works will be varied in genre, and hopefully I can keep focused to make them strong. I'm confident that my current works are honed to the best of my craft, and that my future works will be even stronger. Muahahahahahahaha!

I mean, c'mon. No writer wakes up and says, "I'm gonna write something completely terrible for my next project."

Not even people that write 'Urban' Fiction.

b write black.

Editing Job: Application

The proof is not positive, but it ain't negative either. A few errors to correct, and as of now I'm on the final story, having sifted through the books pages rigorously over the last two weeks. It's safe to say this is the final edit. All that is left, besides the final story, is the application process. Then, a quick review, and a push for availability.

I'm excited to have the 'core four' be out and on sale for the public. Still being flooded with e-mails. The teaser trailers for the book will be re-done to display "AVAILABLE NOW...ect" information, and a final release trailer will be put together. April 1st most likely will be the release date. No April foolin'. Three weeks is more than enough time for the final phase of the book, and the preparation for promotion to all outlets, on and offline.

The stories run very smooth. This enormous effort of editing has given the stories the individual personalities they were supposed to have, composed like an album...Prince-like. Every song different from the last, even if the theme remains the same, the presentation varies. Kinda like part of an answer I gave in an interview with Miss Tiffany A. Flowers. You can read the interview here. I had fun with that one.

The delayed release for 12 Stories High has also delayed the release for 2 Enlighten the G.O.D.Z., the second epic poem. It has gone from July to possibly October. In the meantime, I've continued to tighten up the notes for the next project. It is not Book One of a larger project, it will suffice as the larger story's prologue. I hope to begin writing around April 21st. There are a few things that need to be solidified for the plot and flow, but characters, backstory, connections, are for the most part operating at 95%. It's gonna be a helluva ride.

b write black

Miami Spider

The timeline for this new, multi-book project has been ironed out. Dates, ages, have all been shaped to make sense. It didn't take as long as I thought it would be, and an element to the story, that will play in the background for now, has been put together and has weight.

I have two more sections of this timeline to lay out, that flows more into the book I'll begin writing, setting up the characters that inhabit this world of 1957 America. I just downloaded some inspiration music. We 'bout 2 get mystical psychedelic.

On some other notes, I just finished an interview with Tiffany Flowers, as well as getting prepped for a radio interview with Soul City Radio with DeWayne Alston. I've also been corresponding with a brother out in Holland, and I'll be popping up on his radio show to do some speaking, 12 Stories High related.

b write black.

An Expanding Universe

It has been a helluva month. Teasers abound. Promotion running rampant. We're down to the final proof for 12 Stories High before its re-release into the world. All of the commercials for the Imaginative Campaign are up and running. The commercials will get a change when the book is re-released.

There was a mix up with ordering the proof, and we got it late. As much as our noses are in the grind, and are fingers are flipping through the pages and eyes scanning every word, we're hitting the mark a little late. Not a problem. The book will drop in March. We're giving this last proof extreme care before rolling out the okay for release. I've been doing more interviews, being e-mailed questions, asked questions, and when 12 Stories is finally out on the market, there will be a wide range of topics to cover. The Core Four (The Ronin Poetz, 12 Stories High, Code-47, and A Company of Moors) will finally be at the forefront they deserve.

But along with all this work, there has been some definite play. The next BIG project, the project that will be released after 2 Enlighten The G.O.D.Z., is in the middle of its casting call. The characters for the first part of this grand tale are being shaped, and the main character is near his finale. So much so, that I'm extremely excited. His look has been put together, a sort of concept art in my head, and made into notes on a page (saved in a word document). I'm pulling from different sources and existing characters from movies, books, and other forms of stories to bring out his personality. I know who the character is, but I don't want one emotion to become his personality and ultimately being a cliche. That goes for any of the characters. At the same moment, because there's a greater story beyond the first book in this project, a backstory is being formed. I'm connecting the dots to make the story plausible and a whole picture. A timeline is being created to make sure character ages and time periods add up.

This story was not originally attached to this larger story that arcs over several projects (books) when I first started to outline the idea back in late May of 2000. Over the years, much has been attached to this particular story, including what I'll describe at the moment as a creative structure that itself was supposed to be a separate idea and project. This story holds a lot of mysticism, and is a stand alone story to the rest of the books planned for the series. But I felt it was an excellent gateway into this mystical world. The ultimate, modern African-American fairy tale. There was so much of a rich history inside this larger world (as I composed it separately, beginning around 2002), so much that could not be told within the story, and it felt that something was missing, this story's template could tell that missing element. When readers dive into the next part of this story, they'll appreciate the setting because they'll know the struggle(s) that past characters had to go through to bring about where the other installments will be set.

A new idea emerges. I'll spend the next two weeks putting together the first group of characters for this project, trying to shaping their individual arcs, and create a palpable environment around them. There's one aspect to the story, at the moment, that I have to look closely at to see if the timeline of events makes sense, spanning from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Once that has been solidified, actual writing will begin around late April.

I'll keep you posted between 12 Stories High and there.

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Press Release, and All That

Finished the final application of edits for 12 Stories High. Last night I gathered notes together for the next project. Was having a lot of fun putting the ideas together, carving out the characters, motivations, and their larger story.

I had to re-work one of the teasers, so, the launch of will come tomorrow, as well as sending off the (hopefully) final manuscript for 12 Stories High to the printer/distributor. Also, the last three commercials will be featured overtime, rather than shoved down people's throats all at once.

back 2 work.

b write black.