Mushroom: Blog

Well, I am still dealing with writers block on "Country Boy in the City", but at least decided to use some of the time productively.

For the last two weeks, I have been going through the original "Country Boy, City Girl", and have just finished Book I. Fixed a lot of spelling mistakes, corrected some really wonky phrasing, and in general gave it a good cleanup. One that should have been done years ago. I did make some changes, but nothing major, just a few minor tweaks here and there to help it fit in a bit better with what I would write later on.

I am starting to work on Book II now, and here I am a bit undecided.

Way back when I started writing this, the backstory and what Linda was doing "off camera" was always in my mind. I had already pictured what she was like before she met Pete, and the kinds of things she would be doing when he was not around. One thing about this story, it that it was entirely from Peter Culver's point of view. If he did not see it or hear about it, as far as he and the reader are concerned it never happened. And even though Linda actually was a manipulative and cheating little slut from the very start, neither Pete nor the reader was aware of that at the time.

Until I was ready for them to know that part of her personality.

Now some of this was actually right there in Book I, but most (like Peter) completely missed it. Like how a tiny girl who was 15 and barely 5' tall could drink several beers or glasses of champagne and not show any affects from it. I know that many years ago my late fiancée in real life (who was also 5' tall) would be almost obliterated after two or three beers. In reality, Linda already had a drinking problem and was exchanging her favors for vodka behind Pete's back. Coming from a family of alcoholics myself, this is actually something I am familiar with. Where because of their built-up tolerance they could drink enough to cause most people to be "plastered", yet themselves barely show any affects (other than maybe volume). They are still drunk, but are better able to deal with it and hide the effects it is having on them.

And when things with her started to fall apart with Pete in Book II, I had a lot of people asking how and why she changed so fast once he went overseas. And the simple answer was simply "That is how she always was, Pete simply never saw that side of her". I had been writing it out as backstory, but only I knew that and not the reader. And eventually, I took the pages of notes I had written out and used those as the basis of "Valley Girl". A shorter companion story to CBCG, telling the same story but from Linda's point of view. And then updating future chapters of that each time in CBCG the paths of the two would cross. Showing the downfall, then the start of the redemption of Linda between her meetings with Pete.

And now that I am starting in on Book II of "Country Boy, City Girl", I am in a bit of a quandary. Do I give the next two books the same treatment and post them as they are corrected? Or do I actually integrate the two together? Actually adding the chapters of Linda's life into the actual story itself, to make them easier to read together?

I am a bit mixed at this, and know from the feedback when I wrote Valley Girl that many had no real interest in Linda's side of things at all. But I think in the end, combining the two stories will make it easier to understand who and what Linda actually was. A young gold digging slut from the start, who already had substance abuse issues who simply tried to change in order to hold onto her "sugar daddy".

At this time, I am leaning towards a treatment like what I did on "Okinawa". Doing and posting a complete rewrite that merges the two stories, and simply leaving the original as it is intact as a kind of "time capsule" for those that only want to read Pete's story.

But I still have a week or so to decide how I will ultimately handle this. But I am leaning towards integrating the two stories. Where once a chapter where Pete meets Linda again, the next direct chapter will be from Linda's point of view, covering her life since the last time the two met. And as I do so, I might make a lot more changes to the story and integrating them more often at the "start of the end" between them. The first chapter or two of Linda's story covered all of her from before Book I even started, until about half way though Book II. I am considering breaking that up a bit more, so some of the time between meetings shows the start of her downfall between phone conversations they have. Maybe her backstory, then her breakup with Kimmy and her new friendship with Melissa (which Pete was aware of but did not think anything of at the time). Then only with the crashing of his truck and sending the rings giving the "real story" that had been happening behind his back the entire time. I think in that way, the collapse of their relationship will be less of a shock to readers.

But no matter how I go, there will be no real major changes in the story in any way. It will be more about integration than anything else so the narratives fit together better.

As I have been on a real writing roll lately with updates daily, I had a couple question why that suddenly ended.

Well, that was because ultimately I was unsatisfied with how some chapters in the story were going. I typically write 3-5 chapters in advance of what I post, and this is one of the reasons why. I had completed Chapter 79, and just did not like how the story had turned. I felt that the last several chapters between 77 and 79 had turned mean and vindictive.

So ultimately, I did an extensive rewrite on several of them in order to bring them back to what my ultimate goals are. And even though I did enjoy many of the things done in them, ultimately I felt it worked against the story, and was not a good portrayal of the characters.

But it is now back on track, so am posting again.

I have had several ask, so I thought I would try to cover on this a bit in here.

No, there is no "missing chapter" at this time where Pete and Mandy get married. I purposefully ended the first series when Pete and Mandy got engaged, as I felt that was the appropriate ending point for his story.

It must be remembered, his story starts in 1981, and ends in 1994. And the next main story centering around George starts in 2003. That is almost a decade of things that happened, much of which I touched upon in over a dozen short stories I wrote that are set in between the two.

As for the ones centered primarily on Pete and Mandy, those would be "No Regrets", which quite literally is set right before the two of them fly Rosy and Linda up for the wedding. And "Maiden Deception", which features a pregnant Mandy about a year after they got married. But many are also lead-ins for the "Country Boy in the City" story.

Like expanding "Honey Silver" and her friends into more than the one-off character she was in Linda's story. Or how Linda in less than a decade had a kid, a nice house, as well as a cache of guns and cash in her house.

And giving the readers a lot more information, so they would know (even if Pete was largely oblivious) that Pavel was not such a nice guy. He is actually loosely based on somebody I actually knew. Who was a Ukrainian Jew, operated several legitimate businesses in the LA area, and was a member of the Russian Maffia.

Pete is largely a "Candide" character. That was a story written by Voltaire about a man that simply lived his life with an optimistic outlook on life, and was largely oblivious to much of what was going on around him. In many ways "Forrest Gump" is similar, and the porn movies "Pretty Peaches" and the "Candy" series are also based on Candide.

George, is much less of a Candide. He is cynical, more than a bit self-absorbed, and willing to use others to get what he wants. In many ways, he is an "Anti-Pete". But also realizes as the story progresses that actions have consequences, and in many ways is forced to sit in his own shit because of his bad decisions. And that not everything he believed at the start is reality, much is purely a construct he and others around him have made.

However, for those that are curious I am drafting out how to write a story about the wedding itself. And it will likely be an interesting wedding. As Linda and Becky are both there, and both are still terrified of each other. But I think it might be fun, as it will allow me to use a POV character I have not used so far in the series.

And yes, I am starting to publish the newest in the "Night of Madness" series. But this time, it is going to be a bit different.

Not a single narrator, but five. Each will be narrating their own stories, in very different points of view. Most will be familiar, but some are completely new.

Clint makes a deal with Control, and "goes Rogue" under the name of "Monk". Trying to track down Mastermind, outside of the normal role of a Paladin.

Kitsune is not as happy as she had thought she would be in Control. She got her dream job of working with their Investigative branch, and even attended the FBI Academy. But some politician sent her on a crusade to try to find evidence of "mutant slavery". So she finds herself stripping once again, having to take her clothes off and search for any proof that mutants are being turned into sexual slaves.

Sonny is a somewhat embittered mutant. He was happy in the Army, but he became a mutant and soon found himself kicked out as it was the kind that the UN had forbid any in the military from having. So not knowing what to do, he approached the Mafia and soon found himself as a bodyguard for a mid-level boss in the organization.

Tina from the River City series is still with Lester, but gets some revelations from him when he realizes that he now knows who all of the main Paladins in Compass City really are. She is shocked, and decides she needs to be a bit more active herself.

Marcy was like most people. A wife and mother, who sees things getting worse and worse and knows they are not being told the truth. Then when a Paladin with a bomb almost kills her and her daughter, she decides to become more active.

And yes, both Sunny and Marcy are new characters, but Marcy has been seen before even if in a "minor role". And not all chapters will use the format of the opening one. I may have an entire chapter dedicated to a single character, or two or more. Some may not appear for several chapters. But I wanted to introduce (or re-introduce) all of them in the first one, so people will have an idea what to expect and who they were.

And I am sure more than a few will be going "What the fuck" when Lester tells Tina-Frank more about his past interactions with the Paladins of Compass City.

I have had several comments now on "Country Boy in the City", and basically they are all saying they do not like how big of a douche George is.

And yes, he is a douche. He is arrogant, self-centered, and thinks the world owes him a living. In short, he is what many think of when they hear the term "Millennial Generation". Think of him as kind of a combination of Pete and Linda.

He has a lot of the potential of Pete, but is following a path close to that of Linda in how he is living his life.

He is not very likable, and tends to piss others off. He holds others in contempt, and does not understand why they are the way they are. He is positive he is always right, and can't seem to understand that might not be the case.

However, this is also on purpose. And as in most of my stories that involve people like that ("Valley Girl", "Pippi Langstrumpa", "Loss Prevention", "Uncle Bill's Watch"), eventually there will come a time when he is smacked in the face hard with a 50 pound sledgehammer and realize that.

In Valley Girl, Linda realized what she was doing and fixed herself. In Pippi, he never did realize and continued that way after the story ends. In both Loss Prevention and Uncle Bills' Watch, they only realize it when they are about to die, or after they die.

To give an idea, I recently posted Chapter 14, am about to post Chapter 15, and am writing Chapter 19. Where he is in some ways shitting on most of those around him, and does not understand why they are so mad at him. And like Linda when I told her story, he is starting a downward spiral.

However, like her things will get better at the end. But he has a hard road ahead of himself of his own making before he gets there. I admit, he is an arrogant turd at the moment, and not very likeable. But like any "story", the idea is telling the story. Not always that the characters are likeable (or likeable all the time).

And to give an idea, there is a series of popular books that were started in the 1970's called "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" by Stephen R. Donaldson. Which also had a rather distasteful main character. Who among many things rapes a woman that cures him of leprosy and heals his injuries. Then later on discovers he had a daughter from that rape, and beats her when she tries to seduce him.

He is a very troubled person, and in many ways is a classic "Anti-Hero". Like the Punisher, or Venom. Or even James Bond, who has no problem raping a woman, and does not feel much if they are killed.

However, at the end George will come out a different person. But he still has a ways to go first. Ultimately, this is a story of a person's fall, then recovery from self-destructive behavior. And you can't have one without the other.