Maureen Joseph's Blog - Posts Tagged "saga"

Before I write anything down, I’d like to thank the few friends I have on social media and in real life for taking the time to either purchase my book or simply congratulate me- again, thank you. I really appreciate it.
After fifteen years of writing things for other people, I have decided to write something for, well, more other people-
People who aren’t looking for a campaign slogan or someone who needs me to write their book with an ironclad NDA. These people I am writing for represent a certain niche.
Let’s clear up a few things:
No, it is not a pornographic inspired saga. I am sorry to burst some of your bubbles out there. There is a love story. I am not a complete jerk. :)
This story is not about a woman who falls in love with a tycoon. It is fiction but quite relatable. There is drama, romance, dark humor with a sprinkle of macabre with a layer of sarcasm. However, there is a dollop of action, mystery and some murder; hence, the book title.
This is the first book of a saga. There is a book two. It is in the Gothic romance sub-genre but it does not mean you have to be a Goth to read it. Once, you read the book, you’ll understand. It is not only due to the setting.
I did not want this book to have your cookie-cutter cover with roses, masks, blood, etc. I worked with a few artists, who by reading the synopsis, were able to come up with a cover. I chose the abstract route on purpose. The colors contrast the struggles that our protagonist faces.
Without further ado, here’s the synopsis:
Polly Deuce is not your average undertaker. She loves MP3 players and is somewhat a luddite. She lived a non-eventful life in her little goth bubble till her childhood best friend, Michael Nabakov, turned her world upside down. For many years, he had managed to keep his identity and motives under wraps. Polly is caught between her guilt with the familiarity of Michael's presence and a strange yearning for his dark pursuer.
If you are interested in purchasing this book in paperback or format form, it is available in the link in my bio.
Thank you all.

I have read many books of different genres. Most of these books have a common denominator in reference to their genre: their book cover. We all can spot certain books of certain genres from a mile away because of their book cover. Heck, we can even guess the genre or plot just by looking at the cover. Sometimes, we even buy those books without throwing a glance at the summary or blurb on the back because of the cover. Not all of us depend on the media's hype to buy a book. I personally don't. If you do, there is nothing wrong with that.

You go to a bookstore. You skim through endless books of your favorite genre. At times, you may not be able to pick anything. Then, you decide to pick a different subcategory of your favorite genre. You may ditch the genre altogether and opt for a different flavor. You spot it afar, right across the room, you walk up to that book. You start to examine the cover and the spine, maybe flip through its pages. Suddenly, you find yourself buying the damn thing because of the cover. You go home to find out that it was just a pretty face with empty promises. It happens but not always.

The very first time I picked up an unattractive book was when I was fifteen. Well, to me at the time, it was unattractive. It was a book by my favorite writer: Dean Koontz. I had never heard of him before picking up that book. Mind you, I had already read the Pit and The Pendulum too many times. The book was entitled The Eyes of Darkness. That was my first Dean Koontz novel. It was a gray cover with a picture of a window. Nothing here to see. The title really captured my attention. I read the first six pages and twelve hours later during my summer vacation, I finished the book. I was mesmerized. My fifteen year old mind was floored. Every year I made sure to have that book on my summer reading list.

Till this day, I really don't pay attention to Dean Koontz's book covers. Actually, his name overshadows the book cover's art. I am okay with that because, to me, he is art himself.

As a Gothic author, and I use this term conservatively to make a point, I did not want my book to be defined by one genre of readers. The setting is Gothic. There is somewhat a certain Gothic allure; think Daphne Du Maurier.
I did not want a rose with a Gregorian themed background, I did not want a Baroque spine. Don't get me wrong, all those are beautiful and I make sure to show those books off with such art at my home. It was for everyone but me.

People who have read my book can tell you the abstractedness aspect of it. I took a risk and chose an abstract painting made especially for my book. After working with a few gifted artists, I chose one. He is a renowned abstract artist Chucrallah Fattouh. He did something what no artist saw in the aspect of my book. He sketched it on a napkin and weeks later sent me a picture of the painting. His work is in no way of the macabre Gothic genre. He was able to dig deep into the soul of the protagonist and limn the complexities and abstractedness she was facing into this painting. This is how he saw her through his style of art -through his eyes. I thank him for that.

I like to think of this as a Lee Krasner situation. She did not define her art as one style. She often tore her own paintings up and made them into collages. One of her most famous paintings is the Gothic Landscape. A complex piece of agony and beauty. Her other works are somewhat a contrast to this. Many critics dislike this aspect of Krasner. I don't. She was merely limning what she thought and did not say...

I had the opportunity the other day to sit down with a former colleague. I had worked with him on many campaigns as a copywriter. I am pretty sure he is reading this blog right now and is building himself a pedestal as we speak. We would spend hours with our other colleagues brainstorming over campaigns. I would get to pick the music sometimes. It was an eye-opener for many at the office. Every time I would play a song, he would utter the same three words: " Not My Style." But he could not change the music because everyone had to have a turn picking the music for that long evening of brainstorming. It was some form of group togetherness exercise he religiously made us follow. I personally did not like listening to music where people sang about their genitals, yet there we were at the time.

My former colleague knew I was writing a book a while back. When he used to ask what it was about, I would answer something vague along the lines of 'fiction goth-romance'. He would always answer with a ' Not Your Style'. You work with someone for a long time and they think...they think....they have you all figured out. Fast forward, three years later, I publish my book and I did not announce it to him. He finds out from a mutual business acquaintance. He buys the book, reads it and a few days later calls me to meet up for coffee. I thought he only needed me to look over a campaign. I was wrong.

There he was, sitting at the coffee shop with my book in his hand. I could see post-its tabbing the damn thing. He was treating it like the campaign files I would give him where he would put his notes with those ugly post-its. What in the stationary hell was going on here? I sat down in front of him. He bashfully pushes a cup of black coffee towards me. He then says: "Why didn't you tell me?" I was genuinely confused. " Tell you what?"
He opens the book with all the damn post-its. He had made notes and comments. He then says: " I started reading this like I would read your hooks or corporate identities. I put those post-its for notes. I could never imagine someone like you, who loves Monday mornings could write something so beautiful. The genre is in no way my style but I could not put it down. It is Not My Style. I am not comfortable with that. I need book two. I thought I knew your style of writing."

I took a sip of my coffee and said: "I am not comfortable with your latest marketing campaign but here were are."