Something unexpected and interesting has come to my attention over on Scribophile. As you know my novel and the responses to it for the most part are frustrating to me. It means I’m not doing something right. Thomas isn’t resonating with anyone. And for someone like me who is emotionally driven and prefers to write emotionally driven stories, this is bad – real bad. I feel like I need to pull it off the shelves of Scrib and seriously look at what the hell I’m doing with this and perhaps reboot the entire damn thing instead of repeatedly polishing the first chapter that isn’t doing what I need and want it to do. It’s becoming a beast that isn’t my own.
But there is something resonating loud and clear like a church bell: the Nusquamton series. I’ve only posted the first two episodes and already people are falling into distinct camps, declaring very strong opinions, asking questions about the plot – as in what’s going to happen, not what the hell just happened. I’ve had people ask me who my target audience is and if they would know exactly what toparimate is. I’m still debating on whether I should use the brand name, Topamax, or not instead. But yes, I do think you folks know what the med is and what it’s used for and WHY one should never drink while taking it…. but I digress.
The point is I didn’t expect to get the buzz I got from it. Like the Toadie pieces I wrote, people either get excited or hate it. It’s a 50/50 deal with it. This makes me happy and tells me I’m on to something and getting something right. It flags big red flags if people consistently go “meh it’s okay” or “meh I don’t like it” because it’s the “meh” I don’t want. I want the “OMG!” from the reader. I don’t care what your emotional reaction is, so long as it’s involved, engaged, and big. “Meh…” is none of that.
Someone even told me I should consider making it a book. I don’t know about that. I think it feels better in the short story format. Every story has a particular format its suited for – be it a novel, short story, movie, etc. So sure, I could put the Nusquamton series in a book but I have a feeling that I would still write each chapter as a short story because right now it feels like that how it needs to be told. That and I still have no fucking idea where the hell it’s going or what these characters are trying to tell me. Like at all. I still have a world and a shit ton of characters to discover and build… but I still can’t help but smile with all of this just the same.
So yes, the Nusquamton series is getting rebooted and hopefully it will be less convoluted and better written overall. I will be posting each episode when they are ready over on the Chaos Pen blog. I’m debating on what exactly I should be calling this series. I don’t really like calling it “The Nusquamton Series” and I don’t really like calling “The Demon Series” either but I haven’t clue as to what else to call it. Need to come up with something compelling I think. We’ll see. Whether it ever generates a book remains to be seen.
Maybe “Surge of the Soul Eater” needs to sit a little longer yet and just stew on the back burner. I know it needs more emotional engagement than what it has and I want to happen right from the beginning and it’s not happening. At all. As much as the idea of a “reboot” pains me… I may need to do just that to achieve my ultimate goal with it.
All in all, it makes me feel good about doing this: