My current literary project, titled The Fenian Avenger, found its beginnings in an unusual way for me. (by the way, the blog painting is a concept drawing as one of the scenes from this book)
Looking back on my completed projects, such as The Code of the Eight and The Trinity Covenant came out of the mythology and story of an agent code-named Diablo. The books chronicled his beginnings as an FBI sleeper inside organized crime, his infamous rise through the intelligence community, and his culmination with his involvement in the Project Integrity organization. Diablo and his stories came from a high-level concept that brewed over time.
Other books, such as the one I am editing at the moment The Franklin Castle, tells the story that had its beginning in a real life event in which I spent the night in one of the most haunted places in the world (Cleveland’s Franklin Castle) as part of a college scientific paranormal investigations unit. By the way, nothing happened to me that night in the house. The idea germinated with me for years to tell the story of people who go to a similar event at the Franklin Castle, with a scientific team that discounts the idea of personal experience. I even found a way to slip Diablo from my other books in (he never was allowed to have this much fun saving the world, so here he gets to help two teenagers solve the mystery of the house).
But, in The Fenian Avenger, I did something completely different. I had no idea what I was writing about prior to the first day I sat down and starting story forming. I let the roll of the dice determine theme and signposts and nature of the protagonist and antagonist. I had in my mind that I wanted to do a story about a superhero. Beyond that, I had nothing.
After a long weekend of hurricane outlining, I had the semblance of the treatment of a book. At a simple level, it was the story about a boy in an alternative version of Ireland, where there is great poverty and depression, and where the government and police (called the Garda Síochána na hÉireann, meaning the Guardians of Ireland or just Garda) is corrupt. His father is an inspector in the Garda, and has been warned off putting any more heat on a billionaire Irish businessman. In exchange for his cooperation, a Garda foundation offers to assist the inspector and his wife have a child, with the condition that the Foundation be allowed to educate and train him. From that beginning, Eamon Malone was born.
From a young age, Eamon is special. His intelligence is off the charts. Not only his logical and reasoning skills amazing, but also his artistic ability is incredible, playing Chopin at the age of three. Physically he is bigger and stronger than any other boy his age, besting his instructors by the age of ten.
As years go by, his father is still ridden with guilt over compromising his morals in return for this son. He learns that his son is being taught combat skills, and is concerned that the Foundation has engineered a weapon and not a boy. He attempts to pull Eamon out of the Foundation.
The act proves his downfall, for him and his wife disappear, leaving Eamon a ward of the state. As the Foundation attempts to come in scoop him up, Eamon escapes and hides with the aid of his friend Angus, who is confined to a wheelchair and lives a recluse life in an underground mansion and has illegal access to all important government computer systems. Angus, like Eamon, has a distaste for the corruption as the downfall of his parents were at the hand of the same corporate mogul that lost Eamon his family.
Together, they become the Fenian Avenger. Eamon the brawn, Angus the eyes.
As the weeks went by, and I spent more time with the treatment, I was able to add more back stories and character development to turn this into something more interesting (I hope) than a comic book.
Recently, I finished the first draft of the first part of the book (there are four parts in all). And I’m very pleased. My first drafts are not readable, but the starting of a brief narrative telling of the story. It’s meant to be simple, as I will often change critical elements and have to go back and change previous chapters.
As a writer, you often get mired in “downer” chapters. These are chapters that are important in advancing your story, but by themselves are not very interesting and often get chopped out and referred to in a flashback or dialogue. I’m three chapters into the second part, and I’m at one of those chapters. Suddenly, it’s not interesting to write this story and I’m not excited to get to lunchtime so that I can write a little more. It’s agony, and it causes me to adjust things in previous chapters (for the better of the book), but that’s work that takes away your forward momentum. I’ve been on the same chapter for a week, and I am so over it.
It is my goal to be done with this chapter by mid-week this week, and that is why I’m writing this. I want to move on to interesting chapters with the Avenger gets into danger attempting to find all important clues.
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