With the first draft of Masterplayer: Shakespeare and Elizabeth now complete I can return the Dark Mistress. Masterplayer has taken me 3 years to complete, most of which was solid research. When I was first asked to write it I thought it would be challenging. I was right. You see, Shakespeare was never my thing. All that to be or not be, that was for luvvies. This was a misconception, or so I would later discover. What amazed me was how the luvvies have ruined Shakespeare.
During my journey through the middle ages, I found articles on how the people of London spoke, and how the language was changing around them. Shakespeare, it turns out needs a blend of outskirts Brummie smashed in the face with a bit of London and a touch of a yokel. Once you have this down Shakespeare shines, the wit is immense and the humour a lavatorial as only the English can do.
So it’s back to the fantasy, and part three of The One Saga: Dark Mistress. Now this gives me a local dilemma. In our local writer’s group: The Horsham Writers Circle I have been giving in chapters of teh Shakespeare book for regular review. With it now done am I to return to teh Dark Mistress and submit that, or do something new for them? I chose the latter, or else I would have to explain my way through 200,000+ words of pre-existing story everytime I handed in a chapter (no thanks). So I have a new work in progress.
The Knowing is my utterly new work. This one is set in the current day with a veneer of Victorian Steampunk and science fiction all stirred up with my own warped sense of humour.
Here’s the opening gambit.
It wasn’t the first time he’d been bullied. He sat on his stool just taking it all in. Name calling was nothing new, neither was the shoving around, in fact after 30 years of it Mark was a master of masking his emotions. He smiled his sycophantic best, sighed and left the rest of his co-workers to enjoy their time of ritual abuse. He flipped the lid open on his wristwatch, pausing to admire the brass cogs merrily ticking away the moments of his dull day. There was still time for a quiet read before he had to return to his workbench. Time enough to slip away into another world where he alone understood the workings of reality.
Let know your thoughts.
