Jake Lazarus's Blog: The Notebooks of Jake Lazarus
February 18, 2023
Found Wanting
I cannot believe I finally made it. I knew when I started Found Wanting that it would be one of the hardest writing projects I'd ever tackled, right up there with Freewill. In hindsight, I underestimated this toll this story would take on me. Many times, I was forced to set it aside just to give myself time to reflect. Bruce's journey is one I spent a lot of time planning, until I knew him well enough to share his pain.
Make no mistake, dear reader, this is no light affair. Bruce quite literally puts the torture in tortured hero. He also carries burdens I believe an increasing number of us recognize all too well: those of regret and loss. Be forewarned, this is, by a comfortable margin, my most violent book. If you're overly bothered by the thought of a hero who must do unto others before they do unto those he loves, then you might want to skip this one.
The good news for my readers is that, during those aforementioned breaks, I rewrote/republished my first novel and wrote significant pieces of two upcoming works. So, I hope this represents my longest layoff between releases.
Happy reading!
Make no mistake, dear reader, this is no light affair. Bruce quite literally puts the torture in tortured hero. He also carries burdens I believe an increasing number of us recognize all too well: those of regret and loss. Be forewarned, this is, by a comfortable margin, my most violent book. If you're overly bothered by the thought of a hero who must do unto others before they do unto those he loves, then you might want to skip this one.
The good news for my readers is that, during those aforementioned breaks, I rewrote/republished my first novel and wrote significant pieces of two upcoming works. So, I hope this represents my longest layoff between releases.
Happy reading!
September 25, 2022
The Road is a Harsh Mistress Re-Published!
The Road is a Harsh Mistress
This is the second edition of this novel. None of my readers will be surprised to learn that my day job, for want of a better term, is as an engineer. And, as an engineer, I can’t resist iterating upon my work in an attempt to constantly improve it. With most of my novels, this just means occasionally uploading a new version where I clean up little mistakes. But, in hindsight, I increasingly looked upon my first novel with a more critical eye. I found the main character too spiteful, the other characters too one-dimensional, and the quality of the writing too elementary. Thus, I decided to do a full re-write. It’s been completely reimagined with new characters and plot details. For those who enjoyed the novel in the past, I hope you like the new version. Thanks for reading.
This is the second edition of this novel. None of my readers will be surprised to learn that my day job, for want of a better term, is as an engineer. And, as an engineer, I can’t resist iterating upon my work in an attempt to constantly improve it. With most of my novels, this just means occasionally uploading a new version where I clean up little mistakes. But, in hindsight, I increasingly looked upon my first novel with a more critical eye. I found the main character too spiteful, the other characters too one-dimensional, and the quality of the writing too elementary. Thus, I decided to do a full re-write. It’s been completely reimagined with new characters and plot details. For those who enjoyed the novel in the past, I hope you like the new version. Thanks for reading.
August 4, 2022
Content Warning
So, I've gotten several reviews on Incorrigible which complain about it being 'too political' and I wanted to issue a blanket statement.
All of my novels contain things which could bother the faint of heart. Obviously, this includes sex and violence, but it also includes main characters who, to a greater or lesser degree, reflect my own worldview. The whole reason I started writing was because I didn't see enough novels out there which had protagonists with whom I could genuinely identify. I think of myself as a liberal southern gentleman. I am a father and husband and, when I look at our world, I fear for our future.
Long ago, I read Heinlein's Future History and found his descriptions of the "Crazy Years" to be fantastical. Now, just a few short decades later, I found that we're living through Heinlein's dystopian vision. If you haven't read it, I urge you to do so. Fair warning that you'll find it quite prophetic (and likely extremely depressing considering his Crazy Years get a lot worse than our current world before they start to improve) considering parts of it were written seventy-five years ago.
In my worldview, and the worldview of my protagonists, three of the biggest threats to our species' future are white nationalism, toxic capitalism and organized religion. If you think these things are great and can't stand to read a contrarian viewpoint, please feel free to skip my novels. For everyone else, I welcome your readership and your feedback. But no matter which side of the spectrum you find yourself on, I hope you'll keep reading.
Novels should be entertaining, but they are also art. And art isn't about a closed feedback loop, it's about making you feel something. One of the ways I try to convey emotion to my readers is to feature protagonists who fall victim, on a personal level, to the same things which threaten our species' future and, by the virtue of their character, overcome that which threatens to destroy them. Their journey is the point, but I personally far prefer novel where the antagonist is external rather than internal. And when writing about modern times, it's hard to find a bigger antagonist than the three groups I mentioned earlier.
I hope those of you who are either fellow liberals or are open minded continue to enjoy my work because I would rather stop writing than pen a novel which shies away from these most critical issues of our time.
Thanks for reading,
Jake
All of my novels contain things which could bother the faint of heart. Obviously, this includes sex and violence, but it also includes main characters who, to a greater or lesser degree, reflect my own worldview. The whole reason I started writing was because I didn't see enough novels out there which had protagonists with whom I could genuinely identify. I think of myself as a liberal southern gentleman. I am a father and husband and, when I look at our world, I fear for our future.
Long ago, I read Heinlein's Future History and found his descriptions of the "Crazy Years" to be fantastical. Now, just a few short decades later, I found that we're living through Heinlein's dystopian vision. If you haven't read it, I urge you to do so. Fair warning that you'll find it quite prophetic (and likely extremely depressing considering his Crazy Years get a lot worse than our current world before they start to improve) considering parts of it were written seventy-five years ago.
In my worldview, and the worldview of my protagonists, three of the biggest threats to our species' future are white nationalism, toxic capitalism and organized religion. If you think these things are great and can't stand to read a contrarian viewpoint, please feel free to skip my novels. For everyone else, I welcome your readership and your feedback. But no matter which side of the spectrum you find yourself on, I hope you'll keep reading.
Novels should be entertaining, but they are also art. And art isn't about a closed feedback loop, it's about making you feel something. One of the ways I try to convey emotion to my readers is to feature protagonists who fall victim, on a personal level, to the same things which threaten our species' future and, by the virtue of their character, overcome that which threatens to destroy them. Their journey is the point, but I personally far prefer novel where the antagonist is external rather than internal. And when writing about modern times, it's hard to find a bigger antagonist than the three groups I mentioned earlier.
I hope those of you who are either fellow liberals or are open minded continue to enjoy my work because I would rather stop writing than pen a novel which shies away from these most critical issues of our time.
Thanks for reading,
Jake
February 1, 2022
Freewill
Holy crap, we made it.
Freewill was, by a comfortable margin, the most ambitious thing I've ever tackled. It represents a bit of a return to form for fans of my earlier works. It is a contemporary erotic romance about Simon, a simple man given amazing powers by our old friend Sam after a selfless act of sacrifice. It is told from Simon's point of view, but the other characters are given plenty of space to influence the story.
This novel is something of an homage to some of the most influential works from my past. It also represents the end result of a thought experiment about what would happen if some of those previous works were told from another POV, and how the story would change as a result.
I hope you enjoy it.
Freewill was, by a comfortable margin, the most ambitious thing I've ever tackled. It represents a bit of a return to form for fans of my earlier works. It is a contemporary erotic romance about Simon, a simple man given amazing powers by our old friend Sam after a selfless act of sacrifice. It is told from Simon's point of view, but the other characters are given plenty of space to influence the story.
This novel is something of an homage to some of the most influential works from my past. It also represents the end result of a thought experiment about what would happen if some of those previous works were told from another POV, and how the story would change as a result.
I hope you enjoy it.
January 7, 2022
Beyond The Lighted Stage
This was my second foray into the world of traditional romance. I learned a lot from writing Comfortably Numb which I poured into Beyond The Lighted Stage. I really loved both of these main characters, especially Elwood's life as a musician and Roxy's hero's journey, and really enjoyed telling their story. I hope you enjoy it as well.
Watch this space for news on my next novel, which I worked on in parallel with Beyond The Lighted Stage. This next novel is, by far, the most ambitious thing I've ever tackled. It steers away from traditional romance in favor of something more akin to Iteration and The Road is a Harsh Mistress. It features a main character who is granted amazing powers after an act of selfless heroism and the journey of discovery that follows as he tries to find his place in a changed world. I can't wait to share it with you.
Watch this space for news on my next novel, which I worked on in parallel with Beyond The Lighted Stage. This next novel is, by far, the most ambitious thing I've ever tackled. It steers away from traditional romance in favor of something more akin to Iteration and The Road is a Harsh Mistress. It features a main character who is granted amazing powers after an act of selfless heroism and the journey of discovery that follows as he tries to find his place in a changed world. I can't wait to share it with you.
July 12, 2021
Comfortably Numb
I really hope everyone is enjoying Comfortably Numb. It was a challenging endeavor for me to step a bit out of my comfort zone and write a slightly different kind of novel.
I've been reading more traditional romance recently, although I struggle to find books in that genre which really speak to me. Not that this is surprising. These books are, to a large degree, targeted at women readers. Understandably so. But I am amazed at how few books I've found which feature the kind of male protagonist I favor: good men who are striving to better themselves in the face of adversity. Far more common in this genre are growling asshole alpha males who find their feet cluttered with formerly strong female characters who have lost their minds in the presence of said male.
Another trend which I find vexing is how the sensuality in these tales is treated. Most of the books I've read in this genre are told from a dual point of view, usually in first person. But when things get steamy, it is always from the woman's point of view. Again, not surprising considering the audience. But these books seem to imply that the apex female fantasy is a man who pleasures her completely, exhaustively, while she does, as near as makes no difference, nothing to reciprocate.
Comfortably Numb was my response to these conventions. An attempt, however ham-fisted, to demonstrate that a romance novel can exist in which both protagonists are lost souls in need of rescuing, both are more broken than they know, and both can only be saved by the other. Furthermore, an examination which is not one perfect character saving the other, or one claiming the other. But rather two people who find in the other a salvation which they have given up on thinking existed.
I very much hope you enjoy it. I am unsure if I will venture into this space again. It was a challenging exercise, but one that I ultimately found quite fulfilling.
Please let me know what you thought of it and if you'd like to see more of this type of novel from me in the future.
I've been reading more traditional romance recently, although I struggle to find books in that genre which really speak to me. Not that this is surprising. These books are, to a large degree, targeted at women readers. Understandably so. But I am amazed at how few books I've found which feature the kind of male protagonist I favor: good men who are striving to better themselves in the face of adversity. Far more common in this genre are growling asshole alpha males who find their feet cluttered with formerly strong female characters who have lost their minds in the presence of said male.
Another trend which I find vexing is how the sensuality in these tales is treated. Most of the books I've read in this genre are told from a dual point of view, usually in first person. But when things get steamy, it is always from the woman's point of view. Again, not surprising considering the audience. But these books seem to imply that the apex female fantasy is a man who pleasures her completely, exhaustively, while she does, as near as makes no difference, nothing to reciprocate.
Comfortably Numb was my response to these conventions. An attempt, however ham-fisted, to demonstrate that a romance novel can exist in which both protagonists are lost souls in need of rescuing, both are more broken than they know, and both can only be saved by the other. Furthermore, an examination which is not one perfect character saving the other, or one claiming the other. But rather two people who find in the other a salvation which they have given up on thinking existed.
I very much hope you enjoy it. I am unsure if I will venture into this space again. It was a challenging exercise, but one that I ultimately found quite fulfilling.
Please let me know what you thought of it and if you'd like to see more of this type of novel from me in the future.
August 20, 2020
The Reviews* are In!
This review of The Road is a Harsh Mistress (available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited) really made my day. I'm hard at work on the next novel and hope to have it ready for release in September. Thanks for reading!
* I recognize that one review does not constitute reviews but I'm just getting started. Baby steps...
