THE COMING OF THE SECOND STORM
BY R. A. SMITH
I cheerfully volunteered to do the Featured Friday this week, in the knowledge that the day is a very important one for me, especially in my X-history (or X-story, if some of you prefer).
For today is the day that Book Two of the Grenshall Manor Chronicles is released upon the world. And that’s a big day in the Smith household, let me tell you.
I may have spoken in the past about that difficult second book, on this very page. No question, it wasn’t easy. Factor in the foundations that were set in the first, Oblivion Storm, that I wanted to nudge the story into a slightly different style to benefit the new central protagonist, and that whilst the final item that was Book One came about over seven years, there was significantly less time available for the production of Primal Storm.
Once the foundation idea turned up in my head, though, I had something I knew I could run with (a pun for those of you who have read the first chapter). A core concept blossomed into a story, and with it, the initial worry I had about how to follow up the first book trailed in the distance. With every paragraph I put down, I grew more confident. With every chapter completed, I could see it was starting to take shape.
That core concept is so very important. It’s not the same thing as your plot, or even your story question. The plot is something that Jennifer, chief protagonist in question, very much stumbles into. The question governing her story is where everything meets, and so is vital.
My editorial team will tell you the significance of working that part of your story out all day long. And rightly so. But as a lovely window dressing that we can make the rest function around, at least for Jennifer?
Well, I always had running in mind, even from the start of the story arc in Oblivion Storm. We meet the central protagonist in Book One because she’s running away from trouble. Or so she thinks. Jennifer finds herself running into a perilous adventure. And quite early on, she’s okay with that.
So, says I, on with my cosmetic dressing of the theme. How can we amp this up a bit? Because that extra jolt suits Jennifer down to the ground. And then, I considered the whole business of freerunning.
Hop on to a media channel and search under ‘parkour’. Some of the footage you see of real people doing crazy things like that will blow your mind. It did mine, and that very much attracted me to the sport as a plan for Jennifer to get better after her rather nasty—well, I won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t read Oblivion Storm yet.
Which led me to do a little bit of further digging. I re-watched Casino Royale, still the best of the recent crop of Bond movies if you ask me. I watched a DVD called Jump Britain. There’s a link between the two in one of the stars of the show, so you know.
And you know what? Parkour turned out to be a perfect vehicle (if you’ll pardon the pun) for Jennifer. You see, it’s not just the movement. It’s the philosophy behind it that fitted so comfortably. Getting from point to point in the smoothest, most efficient and non-stopping manner. Not stopping and protesting, ‘oh, crap, that’s a huge brick wall’, but instead asking, ‘how do I get over it? Or more specifically, how do I get past it?’
And there I had it. A nice little sub-theme. As I said, Jennifer mostly just runs into the rest. But then asks those two questions each time. Never stopping. Never admitting defeat.
And now that Primal Storm is on my virtual shelf (paperback coming soon), set loose upon the world, as an author, I have to ask myself a similar two questions asked by my character, in order to make Book Three happen the way I would like it to.
First, how do I get over the hurdle that is going from blank page to this wondrous day of ‘IT IS DONE! I sleep now. . .’? The answer will be, Penny permitting me those three days’ rest she promised, turning these little sound-bites of an idea into a nice paper road map. When I hit a number of these destinations, I’ll find the map was out-of-date in places, but perfectly good for getting me there.
Then, we make that first draft happen. It’ll be like the first draft for Primal Storm. The spine will be in place, but the other bones may require assembly or relocation. And that’s okay. Everybody likes a challenge, right?
On the second question, brick walls come in many shapes and sizes. Fortunately, although it doesn’t always feel like it at the time, writers have a significant array of tools to bring to bear when it comes to overcoming them. You don’t have to just jump. Ask, ‘how do I get past it?’ And for an author, the answer is, over it, under it, around it, OR through it, depending on what takes the mood.
And now, I’m going to enjoy my rest, as I limber up for some more hurdles.
An avid gamer and role player/reenactor, Russell hails from Manchester, England, where he lives with his girlfriend and his cats. Primal Storm, Book Two of The Grenshall Manor Chronicles, was released on January 24, 2014. Oblivion Storm (Book One) was released in December 2012.
Russell can be found elsewhere on the web at his blog, ProjectShadowLondon, Facebook, and Twitter.
Chapter One of Primal Storm can be found in our Facebook page feed. Listen to Russell’s interview with The Book Worm here.
