I'm writing a book tentatively entitled The Deadliest Sin. I don't want to give too much away, but it's about a small Virginia town which is slowly going to hell...literally. There will be (and are already many) characters in this tale, but the main one is Michael Barboza, a thirteen year old latino boy. He ultimate task is to discover what's happening to the town of Pens and save the people in it before.....that's right, before it's too late! Got to love the cliche.
There are a lot of journeys I'm currently conquering right now in my life. I'll be a married man in less than three months, I'll be in medical school (hopefully) in less than two years, and I'm still trying to find my own personal relationship with God. This book represents that last journey a lot, but also allows me to continue with my passion for writing horror. I don't envision for this to be a book that any pastor would put on the Christian reading list, but at the end I want it to reflect some of my own thoughts about existence and God.
What I really like about this project is the prospect of building a whole town. It's a little intimidating and, honestly, might be outside of my current skill level. Hopefully that proves not to be the case, and even if it is, the only thing I've lost is time and bad writing habits. It's loosely based off of my family's hometown, Martinsville, Virginia. A little southern blip on the map which has been going through a lot of changes over the decades economically and culturally. What's the history of the town? Is it divided by socioeconomic status? Race? If so, in what ways? Is the biggest employer Walmart? Is most of the population Republican? Democrat? Christian? How would the city handle a natural disaster? Does everyone know everyone else or do you meet someone new everyday.
These are the questions I have to answer. The first part of the book is spent getting to know all of the different players, both big and small, as the town goes through its 'changes.' I like to think of these almost as a series of short stories that interconnect. Later in the book the focus will be on Michael and his specific journey.
The plan is to keep blog posts as I go through the writing process, talk about the progress I've made, the obstacles I come across. I have to research a little bit the best way to do this. I.E., what's TOO much information to post on the Internet? I'm thinking of doing character profiles and tell about some of the residents of Pens, one by one, but should I keep that to myself?
I'll look around and see. But, for now, back to writing....
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