mechanics
Thought I'd share a few details on how The Colony came about.
When Hodder made an offer for Souls back in 2007, my agent told me to create synopses for another two books. Dark Echo was one, The Colony was the other. I ended up doing Echo next because I wanted to write something in the first-person and straight away found the character's rather flowery voice.
My next visit to The Colony occurred in March of 2010 when I wrote the first 50 pages over two very productive days.
The rest of it I wrote in Shaftesbury over the summer last year.
Is it a better novel for having waiting so long to reach completion? It's almost impossible for an author to be objective about their own work. But I do think the finished story has benefited from the novels I wrote between having the idea for it and tapping out the final sentence. I've definitely got older over the last six years. It would be some compensation to think I've also got better.
You lot reach the only verdict that really matters. And you can still download The Colony from Amazon for Kindle for less than the price of a high street cappuccino. Obliged into economy by a tweet, I summed it up as dark escapism, the other day.
So go on, escape to somewhere dark ...
When Hodder made an offer for Souls back in 2007, my agent told me to create synopses for another two books. Dark Echo was one, The Colony was the other. I ended up doing Echo next because I wanted to write something in the first-person and straight away found the character's rather flowery voice.
My next visit to The Colony occurred in March of 2010 when I wrote the first 50 pages over two very productive days.
The rest of it I wrote in Shaftesbury over the summer last year.
Is it a better novel for having waiting so long to reach completion? It's almost impossible for an author to be objective about their own work. But I do think the finished story has benefited from the novels I wrote between having the idea for it and tapping out the final sentence. I've definitely got older over the last six years. It would be some compensation to think I've also got better.
You lot reach the only verdict that really matters. And you can still download The Colony from Amazon for Kindle for less than the price of a high street cappuccino. Obliged into economy by a tweet, I summed it up as dark escapism, the other day.
So go on, escape to somewhere dark ...
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F.G.
(new)
Sep 12, 2012 11:31PM
David Rintoul is a fantastic reader. Before he recorded Brodmaw Bay he actually rang me to discuss one character's accent. He brings another dimension to the stories, I think.
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I listen to them (even though I know the story) because they're a great way of highlighting bits I could have done better. But I enjoy them too because his characterization is so good he really involves you. He's brilliant at capturing voices from another era - like Bruno Absalom in the one giving you the chills!
My coauthor and I think The Colony is possibly your scariest book yet. I read it in daylight with people around and it was chilling, even in the desert summer.... It was a great take on the 'quest' theme....and I loved the way everyone, not just the psychic people, sensed something was amiss on the island. A great read! Here's a link to my online seminar on The Colony and next week, when it's online, I'll share send the link for the more in-depth book review. https://oates.org/index.php/upcoming-...
The isolation of the island is one reason it's unnerving, but I think the experiences Lassiter endures in Liverpool are scary too, and they come early on. The origin of the malign force (when revealed) is probably as plausible as any I've come up with in the novels and that takes takes the fear factor up a notch. It was certainly intended to be the scariest and I'm most flattered to have it be so prominently referenced in a seminar!
