Why Inkshares? Why Wicked Boys?
I have been trying to get my ass in gear for over thirty years when it comes to my writing. I have been very prolific over those years and managed to be engaging and occasionally brilliant. The problem is almost none of it has been seen, not the way it should be seen. My writing needed and still needs to feel the sting of critical eyes. It is not going anywhere unless I let people dislike it and tear it apart. So when I saw "heard" that Sword & Laser was teaming with Inkshares to sponsor a contest, I knew I had to get serious and I knew this may be my best opportunity to get my writing out in front of a critical audience.
So why did I choose Wicked Boys? There are three other novels that are ready to roll, more or less, and each of those would have made a compelling story. Indeed, more like five others not counting novellas. I am not at a loss for ideas, that is for sure. Wicked Boys is an idea that has been around for about six years, swimming inside of my head. A few bits and pieces have found electronic paper, but nothing too serious. I have ideas, I know some about the characters. I know they are not good people, but they are not villains. They are just people who don't care very much about the world they live in, but they do enjoy living.
One of the things that my writing does for me is to help me unerstand myself. The four main characters are emotionally distant, from the world and from one another. They stay together out of a shared outlook, shared experience, and tendrils of friendship that have never really been tested. Markho and Cerydus and Agxis and Saja are friends, but not sure why they are friends. I think we can all relate. So through them and their adversity I can learn about myself, my own emotional distance, and what motivates to do the right thing by friends and my society.
Plus, the story is an urgent one. It may be my first and last. It may be their last. So if this is their only moment to shine on some book shelf, I intend to make it the best that I can. So the urgency will motivate me.
~SMH