There is enough going on in OTHERS as well as my head so it's likely I'll post daily. I'm also counting on the innocent folks at this evening's reader's group to provide a little spray of ether down the carburetor, so this'll start up with all the roar and flame I'd like to see start this off.
Just as a note:
I call this OTHERS for a bit of a personal reason. I don't believe in writing for myself. I'd like to think that I've been enough of an observer of human beings to have a strong sense of what will appeal to them. I'd like to honor everyone who I've ever had contact with, who contributed in the most miniscule of ways, by writing a book that's huge. I can't write to please myself, first and foremost, except to know that I authored something that worked, and it provided a learning experience for all of us.
As you wend you way through the manuscript, also please understand that this is a story. I've seen an interesting facet of peacekeeping that, if brought to full flower, could result in a peaceful world. A truly peaceful one. Okay, imperfect, because people aren't perfect. But I don't have a fear that some readers will take the book to heart and go work over a few bullies and unsavory types. I anticipate that. To have an impact--which is what I'm gunning for, here--I have to assume that some will go overboard and put some elements of this into play. With all my hope, for good.
Stephen King didn't author CARRIE because he was in favor of bleeding at the prom. So, too, do I not cheer for some TAG-type organization to pull off some assassinations and localized grisly punishments to keep the violent at bay. I don't trust anyone I know to get it right, never mind the rest of those on Earth.
This is not a recipe book for peace, but it may be a recipe book for thoughtfulness on the idea of peace in a little-addressed way. An idea that, I believe, does take real form at times, in quiet and shadow. This may be best seen in the case of a bully who is jumped by persons unknown and not harmed, but WARNED IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS TO CUT THE CRAP! Once fascinating element of this is the idea that we can count all the assaults, the beatings, the murders, but all those prevented in some way are uncountable, and may already number far more than we can fathom. That, right there, is a cool thought. Intriguing.
Oh, and OTHERS just happens to also have a hero, female, precocious and whip-smart, who is just a little flawed. Just enough to get herself into crazy and very human and very dangerous trouble, but also just a little so there is still much left to admire, applaud, and charm. I wanted my lady hero to be real and accessible, to the point where she may be a role model, and some readers may actually wonder if she's a living person. Well, maybe you should check out her blog:
http://kynelleharris.blogspot.com/
And if you don't mind, I'll stop right here, and allow others to propel the discussion. Let's see just how fast the reading group contacts me for their free copy of OTHERS, then how long before they stir the pot of stew that ... well, I tried to use a worn metaphor, but I'm not up to that task. Or is it "down" to that task?
--Dave
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