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    • 2.3 September 2013
      • The Chronicle of Charlie Spector
      • Phyllis and the Weathercock
      • The Reservoir Creature
      • Mise en Tombeau (1)
      • The Pursuit of Love and Labor
      • Preface to the McDowell Manuscript
      • The Watchmaker
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    • Issue 2.2 June 2013
      • Apotheosis of a Salesman
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      • The Damascus
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    • Issue 2.1 March 2013
      • This Small, Other Life
      • The Other World
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      • Another Zombie Tale
      • To The Lady Of All Doves
      • An Unwelcome Burden
      • Homunculus
      • A Very Bright Light, a Flash
      • Big Heel
      • Hervé
      • An Interview with Jersey Devil Press
    • Issue 1.1 December 2012
      • Alone on the Moon
      • Under the Snow
      • See-Through
      • Ashore
      • Three Months
      • Tar and Feathers
      • Temporary Assignment
      • Gargoyles
      • A Letter to a Sir from a Sire
      • Drift Madness
      • Late Arrival
      • Scareship Magazine: An Interview with Editor Rick Hollon

Deimos eZine

~ Speculative Literary Fiction and Poetry

Deimos eZine

Monthly Archives: December 2012

Jesse Bullington’s Problematic Protagonists

16 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by gwendolynedward in Writing Tips and News

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From Fantasy Literature:

I’m briefly coming out of retirement today to introduce Jesse Bullington, one of my favorite “new” authors. I like  classic Fantasy, a lot. However, I like it more when a writer takes Fantasy to places where it doesn’t belong. Jesse takes Fantasy into those Dark places. He writes stories  filled with macabre humor, twisted characters, and uninhibited violence. Jesse’s writing is disturbing, comedic, and most certainly brilliant. The mixed feelings that The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart brought out amongst our staff is a testament to his qualifications for writing questionable characters. I cannot think of anyone better suited to lead our discussion of today’s topic: problematic protagonists. If you join the conversation, you’ll have a chance to win a copy of his newest book, The Folly of The World, which I recently read. The Folly of the World, which releases next Tuesday, is well on its way to being Jesse Bullington’s best work yet.

Jesse Bullington

For my money, characters, whether we’re meant to root for or against them, are more interesting when they’re flawed in some way. I suppose I find it more intriguing — and more realistic — when people act out of some motivation other than altruism all of the time. After all, this world is full of people who do the right things for the wrong reasons, and the wrong things for the right reasons, so why should fictional worlds be any different?

With my debut, The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart, I put readers in the position of following around some unrepentantly bad dudes for the novel’s duration. With my second novel, The Enterprise of Death, I presented (hopefully!) less despicable protagonists, people who were flawed but still tried to do good, and who were obviously better-intentioned than the novel’s antagonists. Now, with my new book The Folly of the World, I’m negotiating a balance between these two approaches by featuring several problematic protagonists who are often at odds with one another, rather than providing obvious villains, as with Enterprise, or obviously villainous protagonists, as with Grossbart.

For me, much of what makes a character interesting is if the individual is understandable. I love the experience of being won over by a character who I initially had my doubts about as I come to understand their perspective, and what factors in their life led to their holding said perspective. George R.R. Martin is clearly a master at winning readers over to problematic protagonists, and a recent cinematic example I enjoyed was Attack the Block — it’s a refreshing film in a lot of ways (when was the last time you saw a genre movie where most of the protagonists were people of color?), and my favorite element was that rather than romanticizing childhood and its young adult characters, à la The Goonies, it presents its juvenile delinquent protagonists as problematic, but then builds them into relatable, likeable characters who you root for despite any initial reservations you might have held.

My question, then, is what novel, story, or film featured a protagonist or protagonists who you were initially unsure about but came around to in the end?

See-Through

12 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by gwendolynedward in Deimos Info

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A beautiful poem by Valentina Cano. “She leaned over, / a stork-like movement / that showed her years / pressing through like an image / under tracing paper.” Read the poem here.

Motivation

08 Saturday Dec 2012

Posted by gwendolynedward in Writing Tips and News

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From Nights of Passion:

For those of you who’ve read some of my previous blogs, you may or may not know that I have a day job. My day job is nothing like my night job of writing. Not a whole lot of creative license (although I work it in when I can), simply a lot of numbers and a lot of strategic thinking. Still, both jobs have one very important necessity in common: motivation.

My day job requires a couple different types of motivation. Not only do I need to motivate myself, but I also need to keep my direct reports engaged and motivated to work. My night job, however, seems to have motivation in abundance. From the moment my little one goes to sleep, I am ready to crank out several paragraphs, pages, or just whatever comes to mind. But what’s behind this you ask? I write because I simply love to tell stories. Even if I weren’t publishing my works, I’d probably still write to share with my family or just to have for myself. As with many writers, I’ll also admit that writing is something I need to do. If you’ve ever joined writer’s loop or group, you’ll often here writers say that they “hear” characters all the time. This is completely true. If I don’t write, my mind fills up with stories, scene shots and characters voices.

Motivation is not to be confused with inspiration. You can be motivated but uninspired or vice versa. So why is motivation necessary? Quite simply, if you’re not motivated to write or work, you probably shouldn’t be doing it. This of course is easier said than done because many times the work we do that doesn’t motivate us is work we can’t afford to avoid.

Late Arrival

08 Saturday Dec 2012

Posted by gwendolynedward in Deimos Info

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“He told her he’d had a nightmare and begged her not to take the train.” Late Arrival, flash fiction sci-fi story by Thomas Evans http://wp.me/P2ChPp-3z

Sci-Fi Flash Fiction “Alone on the Moon”

04 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by gwendolynedward in Deimos Info

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“At night, when the automatic lights go out, I slip under my iron mesh blanket and watch the bodies do their slow cartwheels around the sky, pushed along by the oxygen vents.” Read some awesome sci-fi flash. “Alone on the Moon” by James Valvis. http://wp.me/P2ChPp-3j

Deimos eZine Fiction Contest Now Open

03 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by gwendolynedward in Deimos Info

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The yearly contest for fiction is now open. We accept longer pieces for the contest, up to 7,500 words, and the contest winner receives a monetary award and publication in the September issue in a special Contest Winner section.

Deimos eZine Fiction Contest Guidelines

Deimos eZine Issue 1.1 December 2012

02 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by gwendolynedward in Deimos Info

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Deimos eZine 1.1 December 2012

The first issue of Deimos eZine is now up! We’re very proud to represent the contributors in this issue-the stories and poems have really impressed us. Read the stories here: Deimos eZine 1.1 December 2012

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