Characterizations
More character contrasts from my books (as promised/threatened in my earlier post).
Nate Sharp from SUCKAGE, and Max Paulsen from CHOSEN. I like both of these novels, although they were unfortunately largely ignored by readers.
Sometimes I think SUCKAGE suffered because it came out in the wake of the Twilight series making people generally sick of vampires. Even though it's actually a lengthy slam of vampires, where I was trying to convey the monstrosity of them.
Anyway, I'm fond of that book, where I took a vampire minion, Nate Sharp, and showed how sucky (pun intended) it would be if you were enthralled by a vampire. Yeah, I did that way before RENFIELD and WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS.
I'm fond of Nate as a character -- he's a smartass, cynical and wounded, and the story follows his escape from an emotionally abusive relationship (which happened to be with a vampire). It also reads like the evolution of a Slayer -- from minion to slayer, basically.
Not sure why people didn't groove to that book. I think probably because fans of vampire fiction love vampires, and didn't want to see them mocked or revealed to be the monsters that they would be. Not sure, but I thought Nate was a good character.
Max Paulsen from CHOSEN was a lot sharper (heh, I guess pun intended again) than Nate. And, in many ways, more edgy and heroic. He's a fairly paranoid photographer who's bearing witness to the takeover of the Pennsylvania town of Ludlow.
I like Max, who works with a lot of supporting characters as the surviving Breathers (aka, the normal humans) try to take on the Brethren (the thinking undead menace of the book).
Despite his own quirky isolation, Max rises to the occasion throughout the story, and he's genuinely heroic, as I mentioned.
CHOSEN was my own take on a zombie apocalypse, with the twist being that the zombies in it are sentient, not mindless. Again, maybe that's not what fans of zombie stories want, but I thought it was cool.
Nate wallowed in his own isolation, as his minion experience deeply scarred him, made his eventual role as a Slayer a logical evolution. Whereas Max was isolated, but actually made meaningful connections with his community -- like the nightmare at Ludlow prompted Max to engage with defending his community, whereas Nate was out on the fringes of humanity and ultimately became a sort of underground figure.
They're good characters, but so few people have read SUCKAGE and CHOSEN that I think those characters never really got much consideration.
Although I'm a white middle-aged male writer (*GASP*) I'm nondenominational when it comes to my protagonists, whether male or female, white or nonwhite, etc. The story just gets the protagonist it needs, and I'm agnostic about who that should be. I don't have an agenda in terms of my protagonists, beyond them being just the right character for the story.
If Samantha, Paige, Nate, and Max were at a table together, it would be amusing. I feel like Paige would get along with everybody, Sam would be in knots with how she's perceived by the others, Nate would be mostly alright with the others, while Max would probably document the gathering with photographs.
Nate Sharp from SUCKAGE, and Max Paulsen from CHOSEN. I like both of these novels, although they were unfortunately largely ignored by readers.
Sometimes I think SUCKAGE suffered because it came out in the wake of the Twilight series making people generally sick of vampires. Even though it's actually a lengthy slam of vampires, where I was trying to convey the monstrosity of them.
Anyway, I'm fond of that book, where I took a vampire minion, Nate Sharp, and showed how sucky (pun intended) it would be if you were enthralled by a vampire. Yeah, I did that way before RENFIELD and WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS.
I'm fond of Nate as a character -- he's a smartass, cynical and wounded, and the story follows his escape from an emotionally abusive relationship (which happened to be with a vampire). It also reads like the evolution of a Slayer -- from minion to slayer, basically.
Not sure why people didn't groove to that book. I think probably because fans of vampire fiction love vampires, and didn't want to see them mocked or revealed to be the monsters that they would be. Not sure, but I thought Nate was a good character.
Max Paulsen from CHOSEN was a lot sharper (heh, I guess pun intended again) than Nate. And, in many ways, more edgy and heroic. He's a fairly paranoid photographer who's bearing witness to the takeover of the Pennsylvania town of Ludlow.
I like Max, who works with a lot of supporting characters as the surviving Breathers (aka, the normal humans) try to take on the Brethren (the thinking undead menace of the book).
Despite his own quirky isolation, Max rises to the occasion throughout the story, and he's genuinely heroic, as I mentioned.
CHOSEN was my own take on a zombie apocalypse, with the twist being that the zombies in it are sentient, not mindless. Again, maybe that's not what fans of zombie stories want, but I thought it was cool.
Nate wallowed in his own isolation, as his minion experience deeply scarred him, made his eventual role as a Slayer a logical evolution. Whereas Max was isolated, but actually made meaningful connections with his community -- like the nightmare at Ludlow prompted Max to engage with defending his community, whereas Nate was out on the fringes of humanity and ultimately became a sort of underground figure.
They're good characters, but so few people have read SUCKAGE and CHOSEN that I think those characters never really got much consideration.
Although I'm a white middle-aged male writer (*GASP*) I'm nondenominational when it comes to my protagonists, whether male or female, white or nonwhite, etc. The story just gets the protagonist it needs, and I'm agnostic about who that should be. I don't have an agenda in terms of my protagonists, beyond them being just the right character for the story.
If Samantha, Paige, Nate, and Max were at a table together, it would be amusing. I feel like Paige would get along with everybody, Sam would be in knots with how she's perceived by the others, Nate would be mostly alright with the others, while Max would probably document the gathering with photographs.
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