Bryant Delafosse's Blog - Posts Tagged "stephen-king"

Last week, a fellow indie author and blogger named M.C. O’Neill (The Ancients and the Angels) recommended me for the Booker Award. This award is given to authors who are described as those “who refuse to live in the real world” or as I call it, the “outside-of-the-box” quotient. My job as a recipient is to recommend five other bloggers who fit that bill and then give a list of my favorite all time authors who have inspired me as a writer to live in that brave new world. I’d like to heartily thank Mr. O’Neill for the mention and get right to my list of those authors that have blazed the pioneering trails that have made me want to become a writer in the first place.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: When I picked up this weighty tome as a child, I remember thinking, “This is much longer than The Hobbit. Hope I can get through it.” By the time I reached the third volume I was purposely reading much slower, savoring every word and resenting the fact that I would soon be forced to leave Middle Earth and my dear friends behind. If truth be told, I tested my wife during our courtship by lending her my copy. Not only did she love it, but she had grown so attached to the characters that a few days after she’d started reading it, she slugs me on the arm resentfully because a major character had just died. That’s the effect Tolkien has on his readers. His description of Middle Earth and the characters that live there is miraculous to the point that I refuse to waver in my firm belief that he had access to a dimensional portal and visited another world to mine the wealth of detail he peppers throughout the book. Of course now there is a motion picture industry built up around the books, but fans of the literary base lament the fact that some may never read the source material out of sheer laziness. And those that do read the books only after seeing the movie will never have the blessed gift of seeing the word-images that Tolkien created without the influence of Peter Jackson’s own personal vision. Tolkien should be canonized as a minor literary saint. It is a tragedy that he did not produce more. But perhaps he needed the time and effort he spent on his three masterpieces (The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) in order to perfect them and imbue them with life. If anyone deserves an award for refusing to live in the real word, it is Tolkien. He essentially created the high fantasy genre.

Isaac Asimov’s Caves of Steel: The first book in Asimov’s Robot Mystery series starts simply enough with a simple pairing of Detective Elijah Baley and a humaniform robot named R. Daneel Olivaw in order to solve a murder in the enclosed super-city of New York. It’s impossible to know from this simple concise mystery story that these characters will impact the entire universe and dovetail with Asimov’s other masterpiece Foundation series, thus creating a single enormous epic across 14 books which successfully retain coherence with his other free-standing novels--a feat that Stephen King attempted and failed with his Dark Tower series. This series has everything science fiction has to offer: hard science, action, character development, romance and an epic universal theme, and no one rivals Asimov for his impeccable logic and air-tight plots. The story goes that Caves of Steel is a response to a bet Asimov had with his editor that the science fiction and mystery genres were compatible. Asimov believed that science fiction could be applied to any other genre and create a fresh hybrid genre—a belief to which I heartily subscribe. Asimov and Caves of Steel in particular was a great influence to me in the writing of my own science fiction/horror novel The Mall.

Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine: When I first heard that Mr. Bradbury passed away earlier this year, a little of myself died as well. He is secretly every science-fiction/horror writer’s adopted father. There’s a famous anecdote that in his youth a magician named Mr. Electro touched Mr. Bradbury with a sword and declared that he would “Live forever.” Well at 91 years of age, he came as close in this physical world to doing just that. But we all know he was never talking about his physical vessel, but the worlds he created and the lives he inspired through his books. As I considered which of his books to recommend, I could have chosen such genre classics as The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451, Something Wicked This Way Comes, or The October Country, but the favorite of my heart is Dandelion Wine, the lyrical love letter to our lives as children, especially we boys. What a wonderful treasure trove of life lessons, ranging from such broad subjects as personal happiness to Death itself. When I revisit Green Town, Illinois and race through the tall grass with Doug and Tom Spaulding, I equally laugh, shudder, and well with tears. To further appreciate the story, one must read the novella Farewell Summer (published 50 years after the original) as it was the intended ending when it was originally written. Once again, I want to thank you, Mr. Bradbury, for your work and your inspiration to other writers. Thank you.

Stephen King’s The Stand: When I was still just a kid and developing my taste for “adult” books, I found a big fat hardback by an author named Stephen King while snooping around my older sister’s room. After she had yelled at me for going into her room, she said that I could have the book for all she cared. Seems an ex-boyfriend had loaned her the thing and she had no intention of ever seeing the loser again. What I found between those pages warped my mind, made me lose sleep, and affected the rest of my life. To this day, every time there is a flu outbreak somewhere, I wonder if Captain Trips has finally paid us a visit. The Stand is THE book about the Apocalypse, before every hack writer had their End of the World book, and believe it or not, there’s not one zombie in it. It is the visceral horror of what could happen in a world without vampires and werewolves, just old-fashioned evil and shitty luck. In my view, it is King’s hands- down masterpiece, back when Steve was a cocky bad-ass, S-O-B that spun a yarn without all the hang-ups of his personal demons or politics that weigh down the 1000-plus-page-seemingly-editor-free treatises he writes today. Sure, The Stand is a thick book, but that’s because it’s epic-sized horror and makes use of every page. The original (not the restored version) is lean, mean and moves as fast as a stripped down ‘58 Plymouth Fury. You get to know Stu and Franny and Larry and Nick and Harold and care for them so much that when things go south and the betrayals and deaths begin, you love and hate along with them. In The Stand, King showed us the unconventional and horizon-expanding possibilities of modern horror, and essentially set the bar higher for all other authors in the genre. It inspired legions of writers such as JJ Abrams who used the book as a “Bible” for his series Lost. This is still the singular book I think about when I pick up King’s most recent bestseller and, despite the last disappointing outing fresh on my mind, give him “just one more chance.”

Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle: If you’re a fan of Vonnegut’s particular brand of madness, it’s a little difficult to choose a favorite. After all, the man is the author of Slaughterhouse Five and Breakfast of Champions. But for me, his wry commentary on science and religion reached its perfection in this science-fiction-laced, satirical, pseudo-memoir. Like all Vonnegut’s works, Cat’s Cradle is a little hard to categorize. He’s not big on character development or plot. In most of his books, both are usually there for the greater purpose of serving up his commentaries on life. But of all his works, this one comes closest to offering the whole package. And it’s the most fun, because of the apocalyptic sub-plot involving a weapon called Ice-Nine. One of the wonderful conceits of the novel is Vonnegut’s use of a lexicon of new words used by the practitioners of the fictional region called Bokononism. I still use words like “karass,” “wampeter,” and “granfalloon.” (For example, every karass has two wampeters, one waxing and one waning, yet a granfalloon has none, as it is a false karass.) Science-Fiction author Theodore Sturgeon once described its storyline as “appalling, hilarious, shocking, and infuriating.” He went on to say that “you must read it. And you better take it lightly, because if you don’t you'll go off weeping and shoot yourself.” That essentially is the dark beauty that is Vonnegut. He makes the horrific realities of existence more palatable by keeping you laughing your ass off.

And now here’s my list of fellow author/bloggers that I believe deserving of the Booker Award
(Please pay it forward, folks, because with great power comes great responsibility!):

Ernest Cline: http://www.ernestcline.com/blog/

Jool Sinclair: http://joolssinclair44.blogspot.com/

Graham Storrs: http://grahamstorrs.cantalibre.com/

Joshua Graham: http://joshua-graham.com/blog/

G.P. Ching: http://www.gpching.com/

Bryant Delafosse is the author of The Mall & Hallowed for Amazon Kindle.

When all the hype started regarding the Young Adult series The Hunger Games, I asked my wife--who had just read the first book--to describe the concept of the story to me. She told me that it took place in the future when twelve districts were each asked to send one representative under the age of eighteen to compete in a competition where only one contestant survives. “Waitaminute,” I told her. “Stephen King already did that story back in the seventies.”

Of course, those who are fans of King know that he released some of his early work under the name Richard Bachman (who, as the author is fond of saying, died an untimely death of cancer of the pseudonym). Two of these early novels (The Running Man and The Long Walk) were collected back in 1985 in the omnibus title The Bachman Books. Although The Running Man deals with very familiar territory as The Long Walk and The Hunger Games (ie. Totalitarian society, game show where contestants compete for their lives), the latter two have much more in common as they deal with teenagers and the similar themes of the coming of age and mortality.

“In the old days, before the Change and the Squads, when there were still millionaires, they used to set up foundations and build libraries and all that good shit. Everyone wants a bulwark against mortality, Garraty.”—from The Long Walk

Both have sixteen-year-old protagonists, but The Long Walk tells the story from the viewpoint of a teenaged male (Ray Garraty) and The Hunger Games from the female perspective (Katniss Everdeen). Also, while Games leaves much to the imagination when a “tribute” dies, Walk dispenses with its competitors in graphic detail. (After all, what would a Stephen King novel be without blood and entrails spilling onto the blacktop?)

It turns out that this is the first novel Stephen King wrote—eight years before Carrie was published in 1974, when he was a freshman at the University of Maine in 1966–67, and as far as I’m concerned it is one of his best works. Not one of his best horror novels, mind you, because it’s not a genre piece by any stretch. It’s more like one of the novellas from Different Seasons (the book from which Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption springs) that defy classification.

While Games is heavily plotted, readers will notice right off the bat that King is not as concerned with plot as he is in developing a theme in the same way he would develop a character. Here is where Walk excels and plumbs deeper than Games. The Long Walk is a classic metaphor of life and death.

The basic plot of the story involves a group of 100 teenaged boys who start walking from the Maine/Canada border until only one remains. The rules are, you have to maintain a pace of at least four miles per hour or you will be given a warning. After the third warning, you will be shot dead by the soldiers of the “Squads” that rank you on both sides. Canteens of water are given upon request, but a belt of limited nutritional pellets are only given out once a day. Any biological functions have to be taken care without leaving the route.

The result is a story that is fascinating in its mundaneness. At times grueling and as uncomfortable to read as it must be for the spectators along the Walk’s route to watch. The visuals are dark and ugly in direct opposition to the glossy spectacle of the Capitol’s Games.

Unlike Games, there is no explanation given as to why these children have to sacrifice their lives every year in the Walk. King only teases the explanation when the main character reminisces about his father and the one trip he took to watch the Walk live when he was younger. Soon after the event, his father made statements that caused him to be taken away and forced to join the Squads, which seems to be the enforcement arm of a Totalitarian government. In Games, the main protagonist, Katiniss’s father also disapproved of the contest, but did it more clandestinely by teaching his daughter a banned song called “The Hanging Tree.”

The characters that inhabit The Long Walk exemplify different life philosophies. So common are these individuals that you might recognize their type as people you know and work with. Barkovitch, the boy with the Plan with how to win the Walk and not the least concerned with making friends along the way. Olsen, the boy who is all bravado up front, but discovers that winning the Walk will be much harder than he had first imagined. Scramm, the married guy with so much self-confidence and skills to back it up that he never even considered the fact that he could lose the Walk until the common cold takes him out.

And then there’s the protagonist, Ray Garraty, the every-boy, a sixteen-year-old who’s not even sure why he entered the contest to begin with, and during the course of the Walk will re-examine his short life in the effort to make some sort of meaning out of everything. In the course of time and as the Walk starts to take a physical and psychological toll, we see as readers the sobering effects of Life in miniature—in fast-forward if you will--thrust upon the carefree spirits of youth. We see boys recognize their childhood illusions for the first time and either self-destruct or step up and become men. We see these young men age and their bodies betray them before their will does.

“I think about those things, Garraty. Just lately. Like I was old and getting senile.”--from The Long Walk

Taken as a whole, The Long Walk becomes a fascinating experiment that succeeds in what it attempts more than it fails. Ultimately, this short gem of a story manages to say more about Life and Death than The Hunger Games in three books, with all of its tightly-plotted dramatics and action sequences.

It seems odd to be recommending a tightly-contained, cerebral book from an author who is known for the polar opposite-- exactly what Suzanne Collins did with The Hunger Games. But in this particular case aiming low with an old-fashioned “weapon” finds the target where a highly-polished technological one misses.

Oddly enough, Katniss Everdeen, the main character of The Hunger Games, whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrow, would surely approve of the finesse of this particular kill shot.

Bryant Delafosse is the author of The Mall & Hallowed available at Amazon.

I was recently asked 10 questions by the website Books Go Social and thought the outcome was interesting enough to post as a blog:

1) Tell us something unexpected about yourself.
I'm the guy you pass every day on the way home from work holding the sign that reads: "Will write for food."

2) What kind of books do you write?
First and foremost, I write the kind of books I’d be interested in reading, mostly thrillers, horror and science-fiction. As a writer, I put ordinary characters in extraordinary situations. I grew up on Stephen King novels, Marvel comics, and the films of Spielberg and John Hughes. Their work can’t help but bleed into the worlds of my characters.

3) What inspired you to write?
I grew up reading and drawing my own versions of comic books. Eventually, I graduated to reading mainstream fiction and gravitated to King, Bradbury and Asimov. It seemed only natural that I start telling my own tales.
Coming from an Acadian heritage (dat’s Cajun, Sha), the storytelling gene infected me early on. All of you have to do is listen to some our music to know the truth of that statement. (For the uninitiated who may be interested in a gateway drug, try some of the new generation, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys and Pine Leaf Boys. Then try the bayou-masters like Nathan Abshire and Lawrence Walker.)

4) What makes your writing stand out from the crowd?
Once again, my childhood revolved around the works of Stephen King and Isaac Asimov—if you read THE MALL, a story about a fully automated shopping complex that goes dark during an EMP, trapping a single mother and her two children, that much would be obvious. Together, the pair is the yin and yang of my literary universe. King is all gut, while Asimov is all head. Therein lay each writer’s greatest strength and weakness. I try to inject all of my work with a balance of both logic and emotion and satisfy both parts of the reader’s nature. In addition, I love testing the boundaries of genres, until I get something like a haunted shopping mall overrun with killer robots.

5) What is the hardest part of writing for you?
With a six-year-old son and a wife with health issues, time is my greatest enemy. But with any passion worth pursuing, writing is a compulsion for me and I take every opportunity to create new worlds.

6) Where do you like to write - what is your routine?
I write anywhere and everywhere from Metrolink trains to the waiting rooms of doctor’s offices. I happen to prefer to write either early in the morning or late at night. My muse seems to speak to me all the more clearly during this twilight zone.

7) What do you do when you are not writing - do you have a day job?
Yes. Unless you’re the aforementioned King or Asimov, we all have to put food on the table. And remember, both King and Asimov were college professors until they hit it big.

8) Do you work with an outline or just write?
When I put pen to paper, I’ve already mapped out a route in my head, but I give myself enough flexibility for the characters to move in any direction that seems natural to them once they’ve developed sufficiently to dictate to me. When a character has enough flesh on them, they organically start calling the shots. The best thing a writer can do when his character becomes that real is to hoist up his ego and get out of the way of the story.

9) How important is marketing and social media for you?
For an e-published author, social media is everything. It took me a while to realize that this is the new world of the 21st century writer. I’m still acclimating to this new reality and services like Books Go Social really help the struggling author who barely has enough time to write, much less promote.

10) What advice would you have for other writers?
Write at least a little something every day (even when you don't feel up to the task) and support other up-and-coming authors as you gain popularity. I love hearing anecdotes about the Golden Age of science-fiction when still unknown authors like Asimov, Clarke and Heinlein all seemed to know each other. That sort of camaraderie would be a welcome change to the all-for-one attitude we seem to have these days.