Lucifer's Stepdaughter...a tease.

Well, less a tease, than some hope.  I know you're all getting very fed up with the delays.  I trully do know that, as you are telling me such.  But I also know you are all being very considerate of the reasons, and just simply need the rest of the story.

I do get it.  I'd quite like it out of my head, as it stands.  :-)

But something nice to tell you.  Whilst Lucifer's is just like Changeling - an epic novel - it has several distinct parts.  Each one is titled for the lead vampire in that section.  Today, I finalised out the sections and where the narrative falls in each section, and I thought I'd let you see them.  actually, I thought you'd like to see them.

So here we go, the six main sections and personalities of Helene's journey to find herself and her fate in the vampire world:

The Book Thief

The Etruscan

The Devil's Whore

The Lord of the Rivers

The Clansman

The Vampire Maker

If you ask here, in the comments, for a wee bit more detail, I may let you have some.  But only here, I'm only saying it once.

There, happier now?  

Sample Sunday - March 13th

As I mentioned last week, I’m presenting a second vampire biography for this week’s Sample Sunday.  Again, as people are interested in the nuts and bolts of writing, particularly with such an epic backdrop as a vampire trilogy.  This character, Lucia (Loose-ee-ah), is featured in Lucifer’s Stepdaughter, and in Moonchild.  She is an important character in that she carries function within the narrative.  She is not a main character in terms of the emotional context of the story, but she is in the background, doing work, in both novels.

I’ve included her so you can see what I meant by biographies dovetailing between characters.  If you haven’t done so, you may wish to read the biography of The Lord of the Rivers, before you read Lucia’s.  Then you can see how much each character biography informs the other.  The previous relationship between them is but the work of a moment in the novel.  Just a mention in the stream of things, with no real detail or weight.  Again, such detail informs the characters, makes them three dimensional.  It gives them flesh to their bones, more than it serves narrative.

That their joint story is not part of the trilogy, is how I can present it here.  There will be no more vampire biographies until Lucifer’s Stepdaughter is released.  No one else can be presented, without giving away narrative in the novel.  I hope you like Lucia.  Whilst not the most approachable person in the world, I’m quite fond of her. 

Sample Sunday - March 6th

For this week’s Sample Sunday, I’m presenting a character biography, rather than a sample of fiction.  Doing so, has meant I’ve had some interesting reflections upon the difference between such a biography – which is, of course, essentially a work of fiction – and a sample of narrative writing.  I think the main difference between the two pieces, is that of show, not tell.  Show, not tell, is a rubric of good writing.  Whereby you describe a scene, a character, a section of narrative development, and allow the reader to piece together elements in their own mind.  You don’t tell them a character is in love, you allow them to see it for themselves, through the world you construct with words.  ‘Tell’ is usually sloppy writing, or used sparingly as a technique.  A biography, which is seen only by the writer, and is part of their concordance, does not need to be ‘show’.  It can be ‘tell’.  You are fleshing out character for yourself, and no need to dress it into hard won ‘show’.

I therefore present a ‘tell’ piece – the biography of The Lord of the Rivers, a central character for books two and three of the trilogy.  He appears for one glimpse, un-named, in Changeling.  He is my most adored male vampire.  Whilst I do not have a crush on him, as it goes against his personality, I would, if I could.  I do have a slight crush on his current partner, whom you will meet in book 2.  But that’s another tale, for another telling.