On Writing

Good day. It’s been a while since my last blog which announced the availability of purchasing my novel The Perfect Circus/Redux on multiple sites and formats.

I want to thank those of you who have bought the book. It is greatly appreciated. I also want to thank those that have taken to Goodreads and other platforms to provide a review. If you’re willing, I would encourage you to do the same, whether the review is good or bad (but never indifferent!).

I’ve had a number of individuals reach out to me and ask how did I ever come up with this concept (though some of the language was a tad bit saltier…). Others have inquired about my writing process. I’ll start with the latter.

Regardless of the book, or the genre, I always begin with an idea. That idea then morphs into a general outline of a plot. I say ‘general’ because when I start to write, I become a conduit for the characters that populate that particular book. I have said more than once, my role is simply to put on paper the actions and words of the characters that populate the world they’re in; and that they have essentially created for themselves. Also more than once (and this goes back to the days I wrote on a manual typewriter), I’ve had to abandon a chapter or multiple pages because I tried to manipulate the characters’ actions into the plot, only to face a mutiny from those very same characters.

For better or worse, that is my approach to writing fiction.

That leads me to The Perfect Circus as it was first published, and now The Perfect

Circus/Redux.

The original idea was to take the concept of a circus and flip it on its head. In the past, circuses were often populated by so-called freaks; as an example, individuals who were uncommonly large or small, or who had physical characteristics outside of the accepted norm.

In my novel, the star of the circus is someone who is ‘perfect’, in the sense of being a normal human being. The rest of the population are therefore, by definition, those with abnormalities.

From the idea flowed the rest of the novel. I had to create a world that would allow this concept to be seen as plausible and believable. Hence the setting of an apocalyptic environment, brought about as a result of a devastating nuclear conflict.

I followed a similar path with the sequel, The Bomb’s Living Dead, which I will be (or hoping to) release this Summer. But more about that in an upcoming blog.

Again, my thanks to my readers. Please spread the word to your family and friends. After all, what says you care about somehow more than recommending a depressing murder mystery to be enjoyed during the upcoming Summer (or winter - a shoutout to my Aussie mate!)

Finally, my next blog (or two) will not be so much about writing, but will detail on upcoming trip to Newfoundland. I am very confident there will be a story or two about an amazing province, and the wonderful individuals that call it home.