John Urbancik's Blog: DarkFluidity
December 9, 2012
It’s finally here.
Tales of the Fantastic and the Phantasmagoric was released for the Kindle and the Nook this week.
What’s inside?
An introduction. Afterwords for each of four novellas. Four vignettes. A selection from 6 Nights of Midnight.
The novellas (the stars):
Rare and sold-out Necropolis: when several people spend the night in a cemetery, some by choice, it’s not likely to end happily for all. Intertwining stories of loves lost, unrequited, and proved. Featuring appearances by the Master of Winds, the Queen of Spiders, and the goddess of night herself, Nyx.
Rare and sold-out House of Shadow and Ash: the second appearance of Cool-Eyes. Philip’s shadow cuts itself loose and leaves him, but you cannot long live without your shadow. Cool-Eyes comes to the rescue (?) and brings him to a house of secrets, in which every door opens upon different rooms. They journey takes them through the Chamber of Bones, the Chamber of Winds, and the Chamber of Fortunes.
New and never-before-seen Madmen, Poets & Thieves: Do you trust me to tell you a story? What if I’m one or all of these things? It’s a Midnight tale, so it takes place in the shadows, from the point of view of a poet who may be mad and may be delusional. Is there an escape from the City of Night?
New and never-before-seen The Dry Dusted Sands: It starts with a map, leads to a train that stops where it shouldn’t, and takes them to another world where they encounter the Stationmaster and the Stationmaster’s wife, the Riders, and a threat from the stars.
Tales of the Fantastic and the Phantasmagoric was released for the Kindle and the Nook this week.
What’s inside?
An introduction. Afterwords for each of four novellas. Four vignettes. A selection from 6 Nights of Midnight.
The novellas (the stars):
Rare and sold-out Necropolis: when several people spend the night in a cemetery, some by choice, it’s not likely to end happily for all. Intertwining stories of loves lost, unrequited, and proved. Featuring appearances by the Master of Winds, the Queen of Spiders, and the goddess of night herself, Nyx.
Rare and sold-out House of Shadow and Ash: the second appearance of Cool-Eyes. Philip’s shadow cuts itself loose and leaves him, but you cannot long live without your shadow. Cool-Eyes comes to the rescue (?) and brings him to a house of secrets, in which every door opens upon different rooms. They journey takes them through the Chamber of Bones, the Chamber of Winds, and the Chamber of Fortunes.
New and never-before-seen Madmen, Poets & Thieves: Do you trust me to tell you a story? What if I’m one or all of these things? It’s a Midnight tale, so it takes place in the shadows, from the point of view of a poet who may be mad and may be delusional. Is there an escape from the City of Night?
New and never-before-seen The Dry Dusted Sands: It starts with a map, leads to a train that stops where it shouldn’t, and takes them to another world where they encounter the Stationmaster and the Stationmaster’s wife, the Riders, and a threat from the stars.
June 30, 2012
The idea for Midnight started with a preposition. IN. It doesn't belong there in a title like Once Upon a Time in Midnight. It's jarring. It almost sounds like a mistake.
It's not a mistake. It's exactly the right word.
Suddenly, this noun, MIDNIGHT, which we usually think of as a time, becomes a place. Or maybe the time is the place? Should it be written for a younger audience? Should it be the darkest, grittiest thing I've ever written?
Or should Midnight be a city that's dark and real, gritty but also mystic, with hints of magic and history and legend? That's the direction I chose, years ago, when I wrote the first Midnight story. I could've gone somewhere else.
The preposition, however, that small two letter word, guided me to where I am today. Where the first novel is (thru July 4) free on Kindle (after the original limited edition, in 2011, sold out in pre-order). Where there are several novellas (including the first, Beneath Midnight, published back in 2004; and the upcoming Madmen, Poets & Thieves) and short stories and, in fact, a lot of other ideas floating around in my head. Where there are as many possible stories, in every genre, as there are stories set in any other city.
That preposition twisted an idea (the original thought being Once Upon a Time in Midnight, which is more ambiguous) and allowed me to discover what it really meant. It gave me room to explore my City of Night.
I know what's coming to Midnight. And I know what's already there.
I hope the City of Night survives it.
In the meantime, Once Upon a Time in Midnight is, I think, an excellent starting place.
It's not a mistake. It's exactly the right word.
Suddenly, this noun, MIDNIGHT, which we usually think of as a time, becomes a place. Or maybe the time is the place? Should it be written for a younger audience? Should it be the darkest, grittiest thing I've ever written?
Or should Midnight be a city that's dark and real, gritty but also mystic, with hints of magic and history and legend? That's the direction I chose, years ago, when I wrote the first Midnight story. I could've gone somewhere else.
The preposition, however, that small two letter word, guided me to where I am today. Where the first novel is (thru July 4) free on Kindle (after the original limited edition, in 2011, sold out in pre-order). Where there are several novellas (including the first, Beneath Midnight, published back in 2004; and the upcoming Madmen, Poets & Thieves) and short stories and, in fact, a lot of other ideas floating around in my head. Where there are as many possible stories, in every genre, as there are stories set in any other city.
That preposition twisted an idea (the original thought being Once Upon a Time in Midnight, which is more ambiguous) and allowed me to discover what it really meant. It gave me room to explore my City of Night.
I know what's coming to Midnight. And I know what's already there.
I hope the City of Night survives it.
In the meantime, Once Upon a Time in Midnight is, I think, an excellent starting place.
DarkFluidity
random thoughts on writing and reading -- by John Urbancik
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