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Last weekend, for no special reason other than because I felt like it, I began to write a Vinnie de Soth novel. So far I’m 23,500 words into a manuscript that’ll need to be 60,000-100,000 words long. If it turns out well I’ll consider submitting it for publication.
Now I’m still trying to find my way with this story. That’s often the case with my first drafts of long stories; they tend to change radically – and expand – during my second pass. This is especially true for Vinnie’s book, since I’m having to decide where to pitch the tone (somewhere between Parodyverse and Stephen King) and how much of Vinnie’s PV mythos to port across.
My general rule of thumb on tone so far has been that Vinnie as a character remains pretty much the same. I don’t really make too much distinction between his “voice†in this novel and the usual babble-with-occasional-deadly-serious-moments stuff I’ve used here. However, the humour is shaded down; there’s quipping and some comedy but on the whole the tale’s a bit darker and closer to what someone might expect a novel about demons and demon-hunters would be.
The problem is that its hard to write “scary†stories at the best of times. Too many authors mistake unpleasant for scary. I can sometimes manage to provoke a shiver but rarely in a story that also has fantasy and whimsy. I need to decide what I’m aiming for and aim for it.
The world the story’s set in is a bit more “normal†than Vinnie’s previous haunt too. The story’s set in a place where superheroes don’t exist, aliens aren’t acknowledged, and vampires and magic are (wrongly) thought to be myth. For convenience’s sake I’ve moved Vinnie and his office to Soho, London.
The next set of choices I had to make were about the cast of the story. To shift Vinnie more-or-less whole out of the Parodyverse and into his own stand-alone world required him to take some folks with him. My rule here has obviously had to be that only characters I’ve created and primarily written are available, and of those only the ones that aren’t simply renamed versions of actual comic-book cast members.
Vinnie really requires the de Soth clan to be around, so that he’s got a family to be thrown out of. Although they may not play too big a part in this novel I’m assuming they’re around in the backstory. They may be relevant in a sequel. And with the De Soths comes the other Nine Great Houses, the mystical “royalty†of the occult underworld – the Anankés (including Pandemonica, Vinnie’s ex-fiancée), Hertzogs Incantantrixes, Harrows, the Coriomundis, Morgolath, and the Rouges. Sadly the del Lunes and the Darknesses had to stay behind because they’re not mine to walk off with.
Likewise Urthula and her wicked uncle have made the jump, albeit under different less silly names. The Ghouls Under Gothametropolis are under St Paul’s Cathedral now. Mac Fleetwood’s mission is in South London. Mr Lye has a laundry in Limehouse and it still has a cast of interesting misfits needing redemption; only Ruby Waver has needed to be replaced. Then there’s the Rakshasa Court, the Flensing Man, the Astral Khan, the Westminster Necropolis Company, the Guild of Lycanthropes...
I’m vacillating on appropriating Grace O’Mercy for two reasons. Technically I first wrote her, as a throwaway hostage in an Untold Tales, and I suggested her name in an online chat, but it was Al B. who decided to pen Night Nurse #1. I then offered Night Nurse #2 which revealed Grace was actually a vampire and established much of her unique status quo; but I remain unsure about this one. Also, Grace O’Mercy is a bit of an unrealistic name but I’m struggling to find a replacement that fits the character anything like as well.
Obviously Vinnie can’t take Liu Xi with him, so I’ve turned the problem into an opportunity and created a new female lead who turns up as a client and drives the whole plot of the book. Vizh will like her; she’s had a tough life and people have done her wrong but she’s smart and plucky. You can get Vizh with that formula every single time.
As for villains, scene four reveals a hidden vault under a London landmark that seems to imprison an armoured figure wrapped in chains…
Anyhow, my reason for mentioning all this is to take views from you all on where to go from here. First off, do folks think it’s okay for me to plunder my Parodyverse writing and character store (some of which in turn have been borrowed from earlier writing I’ve done)? Are there ethical or legal issues I’ve overlooked? Secondly, any advice on tone and technique? Thirdly, how well or badly do you think the situations and cast might translate to a stand-alone novel?
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IW
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