So, yes, this is the exciting thing I was hinting at yesterday. Was published late yesterday night, but I was off watching the tennis. Still, people are interviewing me, I must be doing okay. Check it out.
Archives for 2013
“Extraordinary” – A Superhero Story for National Flash Fiction Day 2013
Today is National Flash Fiction Day, and I thought I’d whip up a story.
So, below is my effort for 2013 – a superhero story, because that seemed to be where my head was at today. If you want to see some other flash work by me, I’ve included some links underneath the new story.
Extraordinary
Lewis clipped the cape to his shoulders, placed the tiny domino mask over his eyes – it probably didn’t hide his identity much, but sure looked good – and opened his window wide. It was his first night out on patrol since graduating from Fire-Man’s Academy For Superpowered Youth, and he was so excited about finally being a proper superhero.
He scampered over the rooftop, hair blowing in the breeze, and ran up to the gap between buildings. With practised confidence, Lewis jumped. The extra energy within his muscles, amping up his every movement, pushed him further than any normal human could go. He wasn’t a student, apprentice or sidekick anymore – he was The Extraordinary Man.
Yes, it was cheesy, and yes, at eighteen years old he was at the younger edge of the “Man” scale, but legally it was fine. He’d done it. He’d arrived as a superhero now, he could feel it as his boots thudded down onto the next roof, collecting dust and filth
.It was about ten at night, and people were milling about in the street below, going about their business. The Extraordinary Man dashed to the edge of the rooftop, just like they’d taught him in class, and perched, dramatically and visibly, to let the citizens feel protected, make sure any nearby evildoers knew not to try anything.
That done, he made another leap to the next rooftop, feeling older than he ever had. Before he could consider his next move, though, he heard a yell of panic – a young man shouted from the next alley over. The Extraordinary Man paced over, knowing what he’d see before he even looked.
Sure enough, a group of scary guys in hoodies were chasing the victim down, shouting for him to give up his wallet. All of a sudden, The Extraordinary Man’s legs froze up, and he locked in place. Lewis stared, feeling his skin move beneath the mask, imagining the crash of their fists on his cheekbones, and finally, he pulled out his mobile and called the police.
Then, eyes still wide, he dashed back the way he came. One step at a time, he told himself. He was still closer to being a superhero than two hours ago.
Flash Recommendations
Some of my best received other flash work includes…
- Wake Me, a brief sci-fi romance
- the eloquently titled slice-of-life Don’wanna, which inspired someone else to write a sequel
- Flat Tyre for sheer comedy
- Popped. An old story, and quite a puerile story, but everyone always seems to remember it.
In general, you can find my flash stories under this category. Read to your heart’s content.
Inspiration Vs Plagiarism Vs Heroes Vs Satan
Recently on the ever-lovely Web Fiction Guide website, a discussion arose on whether it was wise to avoid reading other material similar to your work-in-progress, lest you subconsciously steal their ideas, and it’s an interesting one.
I’m sure I’ve seen the ever-blunt Warren Ellis post on one occasion that he was avoiding certain material as it was too close to something he was working on. This would be a better anecdote if I could remember any context at all.
But the point being: should we worry? After all, if it could happen to Ellis, it could easily happen to the rest of us.
I Could Be Your Heroes, Baby
Broadly, I think the general advice is to read widely around your area, filling your head with influences, thus allowing yourself to plagiarise from several people at once, replicating no one story whilst homaging several, putting yourself above criticism. But what if the one story came up that really was exactly like yours?
I mean, my first ever completed novel manuscript was uncannily similar to the TV show Heroes – both revolved around normal people getting comic book superpowers. It was more of a contained character drama, rather than going into the conspiracy stuff, but I’d used a lot of the same scenarios as them. Basically, we were both influenced by/ripping off roughly the same superhero comics. (Don’t worry though, I still got some use out of the characters – they are the suspects/cannon fodder in my current Hobson & Choi serial. Except now they have no superpowers to save themselves.)
Most interestingly of all, my story had a villain called Skyler and Heroes had one called Sylar – does anyone know what we’re both “homaging” with that? I’ve never accurately traced it.
The Devil’s In The Doritos
I mention this because I’m considering reading more around Faustian deals for the current novel-in-progress, and although I’m sure there’s some great stuff, I’m a little concerned I’ll just subconsciously rip it off.
Thankfully, I haven’t yet stumbled across the one story which resembles mine so much, it makes me throw my hands up in despair and say “Fuck it, it’s all already been done, I’m off home to cry, put Heroes DVDs on and throw Doritos at the TV again!”
But will I, one day? Or do I need to grow a little writerly hubris and accept that my work is unique for its voice and slight resemblences are inevitable? (Especially when dealing with something as well-mined as the Deal With The Devil.)
Probably the second one. Anyway, more ruminations may follow, just wanted to get that out there. If anyone has any recomendations for Faustian deals in literature, feel free to mention them in the comments. I’ve already got Doctor Faustus itself on the pile, don’t worry.
Or, indeed, if you know where me and Heroes nicked Sylar/Skyler from. It was a decade too early to be Walt’s wife from Breaking Bad.
Against A Dark Background & Cuckoo In The Nest – Some Book Reviews
Nowadays, there isn’t a huge amount of “original content” on this site. Yes, it’s good that other people want me to write for them, but I do feel bad having my own blog be nothing but links.
In the near future, I might try and ready a post or two about where I’m at (or something less horrific-sounding), although my actual process hasn’t changed much since I wrote this one, but for now – here are two books I’ve read recently and wanted to quickly get some thoughts down on. They have almost nothing in common with each other.
Against A Dark Background – Iain M. Banks
This one has ended up being accidentally topical since Banks sadly passed away last weekend, but I finished the book a week or two back. Fortunately, this is going to be a pretty positive review, otherwise I’d feel a tad guilty about posting it. Basically, Against A Dark Background is a sci-fi action-scavenger hunt adventure, with a lot of heisting, wisecracks and, at the end, a sudden tug into seriousness.
I read this as a rare experiment in “hard” science-fiction, and perhaps it wasn’t the best choice, as it’s actually quite breezy. Still, Banks throws some cool concepts around (especially the plant-planet in the middle segment, and the all-important “Lazy Gun”), and at least I didn’t feel alienated by it. The second half in particular really pulled everything together – after I’d started to worry this was a shallow book about people being snarky and running, we’re hit with a string of emotional sequences and reveals.
Really, I should’ve expected that an author this renowned would be pretty skilled. Banks toys with a constantly floating third-person perspective, very odd when I’m used to the standard close third, but it still works. Against A Dark Background is perhaps not a life-changer, but a fun, ultimately satisfying space-romp. As a first dip in the science-fiction pool, good stuff.
Cuckoo In The Nest – Nat Luurtsema
In my early twenties, I read a lot of “real-life” comedy books, by Danny Wallace, Dave Gorman and so on, where an author writes about their hilarious real life, while we laugh along and wonder how much of this crazy stuff was planned for the book. Cuckoo In The Nest has a similar chatty comedy style to those, but with added plausibility, which can only be a good thing.
Well, perhaps not for Nat Luurtsema herself, as she’s writing about being forced to live with her parents for six months, aged 28, due to chronic househunting disorder. It works, partly because Luurtsema is funny, but equally because she’s willing to be brutally frank about her life – or at least, honest enough to elevate this book beyond moany blogging. (It did, in fact, start off as a blog.)
It’s the right length, perhaps stabs a bit suddenly for pathos as the end approaches, but the scattershot sense of “Oh, um, yes, this is what I should do here” works with the voice, especially as Luurtsema proceeds to knowingly undercut her own conclusion anyway. As a creatively-aspiring late-twenty-something who lives in ongoing fear of boomeranging back home, maybe I’m rather squarely in the target demo, but still, enjoyed this book.
And now, for added multi-media content points, here’s a book trailer thingy I found for Cuckoo In The Nest whilst googling for the above cover image.
New Cafe Blogging: Rio’s Coffee Lounge, Walthamstow
The Age Atomic by Adam Christopher – Book Review
If you enjoy novels that mash up their genres, smooshing a range of aesthetics together into a weird whole, then Adam Christopher’s The Age Atomic could be for you. At last count, it combines parallel universes, steampunk airships, superheroes, 50s nuclear paranoia and a noirish private dick together into one bizarre soup.
So, to really strain this metaphor to pieces, how tasty is that soup? Is it the same sickly green as the book cover?
Difficult Second Book?
The Age Atomic is actually the second book by Christopher in the world of the Empire State – the first one, simply entitled Empire State, sets up the premise and many characters. If you were lured in by Age Atomic’s lovely cover, I’d strongly recommend making a short detour to check out the previous book first. Don’t worry – its cover is equally lovely.
Not that The Age Atomic is new-reader unfriendly – I think you could get everything that happens easily enough, but it will have more resonance and interest if you’re familiar with everyone. Also, you’ll have appreciation for the improvement between the two: the second book worked a bit better for me.
The fun, runalong, comic-booky tone is the main strength here, and the quicker these books moved, the more I enjoyed them. Empire State has a whole first half which runs a bit slow, whereas The Age Atomic only has the spell in the middle where lead detective Rad Bradley is stuck in a warehouse for ages.
Look, I Just Love Comics, Okay?
“Comic-booky” doesn’t mean silly though – the sad journey of villain Evelyn McHale during the second book is one of the strong points, and her emotional finish brings a little grounding to a climax that might otherwise have been too broad and zappy.
Since the mysteries behind the universe are revealed in Empire State, this sequel is free to explore, flick between the two and show us some different sides to the worlds, especially the “real” New York. That was interesting, it felt more of a living, breathing place this time, like the range of influences fitted together more seamlessly.
I must admit though: after two books, I’m growing restless with Rad Bradley as lead character – his point of view and emotional range seem restrictive; I can detect my enjoyment rising when reading a chapter from someone else’s perspective. Is this intentional? Are the people in the “pocket” universe meant to feel more like fictional characters?
But yes, if you want to see all these genre ideas side to side, in a way that has clearly had thought put into it, these are two decent books and The Age Atomic is the best one. It’s seventy pages shorter than Empire State, and I’d be fine with the next one being shorter still – the more tense and fast-moving the scenes, the better this worked for me. Not life-changing, but enjoyable – if you like comics, they might particularly work for you.