If you have a specific question about the book, a character, a line, a scene, its publishing, etc....post it here. I'll check back often and answer them.
Specific Questions About the Book for Dave
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 faithinfiction |
Specific Questions About the Book for Dave |
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Posts: 376 (10/10/05 08:54:29) |
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jmarkbertrand |
Re: Specific Questions About the Book for Dave | ||
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Posts: 971 (10/10/05 09:03:30) |
Becky mentioned this in another thread, but could you talk about the appearance Quinlan's Estate makes in Ezekiel's Shadow and how much premeditation was behind that?
Mark
www.jmarkbertrand.com Required Reading: "Holy Sonnet" - FiF Contest Entry "Midafternoon Apocalypse" at The New Pantagruel "The Inside Job" at Hardluck Stories "The Beautiful Girl" at InFuze Magazine |
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faithinfiction |
On Quinlin's Estate | ||
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Posts: 376 (10/10/05 11:01:08) |
So...
Quinlin's Estate came first. I came up with the idea for the novel shortly after graduating while working at a hypodermic needle factory in a small PA town. The tiny room I worked in played little but country music and so I just lost myself in this story idea. Only I couldn't write the dumb thing. For two years I tried and failed to find the right voice. So I wrote Ezekiel's Shadow, which dropped out of the sky, and seemed "easier" to start. And found myself needing book ideas for Peter, Kevin, and Jaret to be working on. My original idea for Quinlin's (which involved New Zealand) seemed to fit Peter's worldiness so I ran with it, not really ever thinking I'd find my way through it. But then I did. |
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gina burgess |
Re: Specific Questions About the Book for Dave | ||
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Posts: 176 (10/10/05 11:25:18) |
Dave, I realize that Ian was working out his own salvation in fear and trembling, trying to find legs to stand on, but I wondered all through the book why he never really talked to Rebecca about his salvation and why he wasn't more... hmmm.. enthusiastic about his own conversion. I'm asking more from a thought process characterization rather than anything else because Ian was most certainly a passionate fellow (especially with the reporter).
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ctmikesell |
Re: Specific Questions About the Book for Dave | ||
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Posts: 851 (10/10/05 12:03:25) |
Quote:Especially with all those jump cuts to the following morning....  My question has to do with Kevin finding "the clue" linking Louis to Gruitt and the MERCHANT/MONSTER notecards (p 307-08 ). Granted, the reader already knows about Louis' betrayal at that point, but what was the comment on the invoice supposed to prove? The connection between publisher and artist was already known. Or was the "neat script" supposed to be Hanover's (and how were we to know)? Or is there something here that eludes me? --der Fieldenmarshal |
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gina burgess |
Re: Specific Questions About the Book for Dave | ||
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Posts: 176 (10/10/05 12:20:11) |
Quote: Har...Har... I was thinking about the nosy, dog-hurting, false smiling reporter--The kind of character you just love to hate-- who Ian had no problem unloading his passionate anger upon. I noticed that postscript, too. Then I realized that Kevin was in the throes of betrayal from Gruitt which he described as his Howard. I thought that might have been Kevin's turning point (as David Jeremiah terms it.) But, I probably missed the boat entirely on that. |
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faithinfiction |
Answer for Gina B. | ||
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Posts: 376 (10/10/05 13:16:28) |
Quote: I'm not sure I can give a full explanation this late in the game. I think Ian struggled with his conversion from the moment he got back from Utah. It was a strange place, a weird time, and the one witness was still back out West. Back east all he had were remnants of his old life. And then Kepler died and all link to that moment were gone. Also, I think telling someone that close to you he'd "changed" would mean nothing. How do you do that? What are the words for that conversation? It's the fact that Rebecca started noticing a change in him that mattered. |
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Elleann |
Re: Specific Questions About the Book for Dave | ||
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Posts: 17 (10/10/05 13:20:22) |
Help!! I have a problem. I've been hunting, but Dave's book is unavailable here in South Africa, so I haven't been able to read it. (Actually, the library service for the Cape used to have a copy, but for some reason it has been removed from circulation!) Anyway ... I thought I'd be able to follow the discussion without it, but I'm all at sea already and it's only Day One!
Dave, is there still perhaps a detailed synopsis, overview, or something similar still available? Elleann |
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gina burgess |
Re: Specific Questions About the Book for Dave | ||
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Posts: 176 (10/10/05 13:24:14) |
Elleann, can you order a book from Amazon.com? I noticed they have a place to order with different currency. If you cannot find one, then email me your address and I'll mail you my copy.
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faithinfiction |
Answer for Der F... | ||
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Posts: 376 (10/10/05 13:24:57) |
Quote: The neat handwriting was supposed to be Gruitt's own penmanship, writing on his submitted invoice to thank Louis K. (specifically--rather than the publisher in general) for recommending him as artist for the promotion. That was the link Kevin thought he'd found. But obviously is turned out to be redundant. The concurrent trouble of Kevin and Norman's relationship and the number of dangling threads will be dealt with this week. |
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JaniceLaQuiere |
Motivation Q. | ||
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Posts: 143 (10/10/05 14:45:12) |
Dave,
If you can remember, what was your main motivation for writing Ezekiel's Shadow? What did you hope your readers would take away from the story? |
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Elleann |
Thanks Gina! | ||
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Posts: 17 (10/10/05 21:02:49) |
Hi Gina
Thanks for your input re my difficulty in getting this book. I had indeed checked out Amazon. A second hand copy costs $1.59 (only 8 left!) which is great, but the international shipping then adds $9.79, which in terms of a total cost is still OK (although how bizarre is it that the shipping costs nearly ten times the price of the book!?!) but the real hassle is that it takes 3 - 6 weeks to be delivered, by which time the discussion will be long over... I have had friends ship stuff privately before and it CAN take up to a month! (And one time, the stuff simply disappeared!) So I wanted to thank you and bless you for your lovely offer to send me your copy, but I think the timing would be against us! I only came back on the boards about a week ago, which is why I'm so behind in this! Blessings Elleann |
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Gods Curmudgeon |
Question on voice | ||
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Posts: 214 (10/10/05 21:09:24) |
Dave, 2 questions...
1.) How did you come up this voice? For instance, it marveled me how you would show a segment of dialogue and finish by telling what was said instead of showing it. I admit I am a novice, but this fascinated me. It gave a unique magical quality that made this unlike anything I have read before. Did you use this style much before this, or did it grow out of the 2 year struggle you spoke of? 2.) Since Ian paid for the rabbit and the fox did not eat it... Was hare on the menu? Curm |
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faithinfiction |
Answer to Janice | ||
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Posts: 376 (10/11/05 05:07:18) |
Quote: Those are two slightly different questions. 1. The motivation behind writing Ezekiel's Shadow was to explore what would happen if a horror novelist became a Christian. I had watched the mini-series of Stephen King's The Stand on TV. Now King's dabbled in spiritual themes now and then, but having never read the stand I was surprised at how overt they were AND particularly surprised at the ending. There's a deus ex machina that I found really interesting. Because, there's a sense in which, if you're a Christian can you really write stories where people save themselves? Or are you always going to write stories where God intervenes? And if so, why bother at some level? The story didn't end up being about that fully (though it's still there a little) but that's what motivated it. 2. As for what I wanted people to take away--probably just the same things every author wants. I want people to have enjoyed the read. And honestly, I want people at least a few times in the book to say to themselves, "Well, I've never seen something like that before in a book." Not sure if I accomplished those or not. |
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faithinfiction |
Curm's Question | ||
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Posts: 376 (10/11/05 05:13:16) |
Quote: 1. The thing with the "voice" (related in particular to dialogue) comes from my long-standing bias against tons of dialogue. I was taught in workshops that you only "show" the absolutely crucial lines for developing character. Conversation that advances narrative can be "told" as narrative. 2. One of my favorite images is the jackrabbit at the end. This animal who is so used to barren deserts now finding himself amid lush grass. It just makes me happy. (Sure the winter will probably kill him, but give me my small heaven moment.) |
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TL Hines |
Re: The Stand | ||
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Posts: 112 (10/11/05 05:32:09) |
Quote: I don't want to sidetrack the discussion here, but there's an interesting section of King's "On Writing" where he disusses "The Stand" drying up for him at about the 3/4 mark--King had an Ian Merchant period of several weeks, and was unable to continue the story. The thing that got him past that moment, he says, was thinking about the bigger issues of theme, and how God would keep working in the story. (And this is King saying it, not me; go read "On Writing" and see it for yourself.) |
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skylarburris |
Re: The Stand | ||
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Posts: 60 (10/11/05 09:41:19) |
Well, and King's The Green Mile is in many ways a Christian allegory too. I think it might be interesting to open a separate thread in this discussion to discuss the ideas brought up by the book: Can a Christian write horror stories? Does Christianity mean the end to horror on earth? What is the difference between horror and human suffering? etc.
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ctmikesell |
Point(s) of View | ||
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Posts: 851 (10/11/05 15:25:10) |
Dave: What consideration did you give alternate p.o.v.s for the story? For instance, Ian telling the story first-person rather than third-? Or sections told from Rebecca's or Hanover's or other characters' perspectives?
I found Rebecca's rededication less compelling than Ian's conversion because she was reduced to "telling" her reasons for wanting the baptism. With Ian we were gradually "shown" what went on after Hunter (it's no Mannix, but still a decent show). With Rebecca everything happened allofasudden (though seeds were sown early). With sections told from Hanover's p.o.v., the ambiguity at the end could have been cleared up (did he go native or was Louis framing him? why did he break cover to save Rebecca? etc.). Some ambiguity is fine, but there was a bit much in this case. While the diffusion of perspective might have caused Ian's story to be less deep, it could have given it more detail by seeing things through different eyes. Would you take the same approach today? Quote:Go for it, Skylar. --der Fieldenmarshall |
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R LuElla |
Re: Point(s) of View | ||
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Posts: 1588 (10/11/05 21:44:08) |
Chris, you thought Rebecca's conversion was all of a sudden? It didn't feel like that to me. I thought it was gradual--a lot shown through her changed attitude toward Ian which was really a response to his change, showing she liked what she was seeing in him. At least, that's how I read it.
Becky Rebecca LuElla Miller
Christian Fantasy |
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ctmikesell |
Re: Point(s) of View | ||
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Posts: 851 (10/11/05 22:51:09) |
I believe a quote from Fletch is in order:
Quote:As I said, seeds were sown early: reactions, looks, etc.. that Ian picked up on. But what did the reaction, look, whatever mean? Well, here's what they meant: Rebecca monologues backstory (some mixed with current action) over the course of a dozen or so pages (pp. 335-340, 361-362, 366-369). Splish. Splash. Splosh. Quote:I agree that we were shown Rebecca changing in response to Ian becoming more active/less passive in faith matters. Traditionally men in (conservative) evangelical situations take an active lead in household faith matters; seeing as how this is a CBA book, I anticipated her reaction to be along those lines. But then we find out it's about where she's at in her own walk of faith. Her line that she wanted a baptism that was her own decision (p. 362) led me to believe that she had either been baptized as an infant and later confirmed or after a conversion experience as a child too young to resist baptismal peer pressure. I didn't see it as a conversion moment, but maybe that's because of my personal experience being baptized 20+ years after I was saved. Rebecca's decision is consistent with the reactions, looks, etc., but with it coming so late in the book, it being tied up 35 pages later seemed unneccessarily rushed. As with the ambiguity around the the stalker, it's the sudden resolution that's the "problem," not the ambiguity itself. The ambiguity can lead to discussion like conversion vs. rededication, which is fine by me. The rushing felt like "hey, let's fit another testimony in and show an edgy swimming pool baptism." Okay, maybe "edgy" is out of line.... --der Fieldenmarshal |
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JaniceLaQuiere |
Re: Specific Questions About the Book for Dave | ||
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Posts: 143 (10/12/05 08:02:32) |
In an earlier thread, we discussed whether a reader can see into the soul of the writer.
( Do you find thread ) After rereading your book, how much of your "soul" do you see portrayed there? From an editor's POV, is that a good thing or a bad thing in a writer? (If it's a bad thing, is there a way for the writer to avoid it?) |
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