What exactly is MEAT: UNCUT?
A couple of weeks ago, I announced on my Facebook author page the pending release of a new edition of my novella, MEAT, titled MEAT: UNCUT. A lot of people have been asking me what exactly it is, and so thought I would write a small blog post to explain.
When the idea for MEAT was first conceived, it was intended as a short story for inclusion in DARK CORNERS, which was in production at the time. I had seen maybe a two thousand word story tops before I started to write.
The story grew and grew and soon became far too big to include in DARK CORNERS. At this point, I knew I had to make a decision. I could either shelve it and come back to it later, or keep writing and see where it took me. I chose the latter, and ended up with a 40k word novella, which was released in December 2012.
I promptly moved on to my next project, sure that my adventures with the Nicu family and the Grueber’s chain of supermarkets was over.
Soon after completing writing WHISPER, I was forced to acknowledge the nagging voice in my head which suggested I wasn’t actually finished with the story of MEAT after all. Being a stubborn man (As my wife will surely agree) I ignored said voice and pushed it aside.
As it happened, MEAT started to sell well, and a few people started to ask about sequels, which, not to disappoint those hoping for one, isn’t something I wanted to do. I like the way the story ends, and I don’t feel like I have any justification to force out a sequel to a work which to me had a natural conclusion.
The reader reaction did, however make me pay attention to that nagging voice in my head and take another look at the story. As I looked through the manuscript for the first time in months, it dawned on me that even without knowing it, I had written the entire novella with a short story mind set. The story flowed well, but I could see far more scope to include things I had subconsciously omitted, sub plots which were there in the early stages and were culled because I had the idea imprinted into my brain at the time of writing that the book had to be ‘short’. I started to consider then, that rather than an outright sequel, perhaps I could go back into the story and restore it to the original vision I had when I first got the idea.
In principal, it was a good plan, although how to execute it was another matter. MEAT was (and still is) selling really well, and has picked up a few fans of the book along the way. I didn’t want to alienate those fans by revising the book and changing it into something they didn’t recognise. At the same time, I wanted to get this deeper edition of the story out there somehow. It was during discussions with an author friend of mine about the situation that he suggested I could maybe release an alternative version – a director’s cut of sorts – for those who wanted to read the full story.
Such a simple idea had never dawned on me, and yet as soon as my friend said it, the idea made perfect sense. Those who like the original edition of the book can stick with it as is. For the curious of those who wanted to further explore the story, the extended edition would be there as an option.
As to what is actually changed for the new version, I don’t want to give away too much detail, as that would spoil the story. What I will say is that there is plenty of new content to flesh out the story. There are extended scenes which delve into the back stories of many of the mail players, plus a couple of sub plots featuring people who were omitted entirely from the first incarnation of the book. I have also gone through the manuscript and given it a thorough edit from top to bottom, re wording certain scenes and using the skills I have learned to make the book better than when I first wrote it back in late 2012. Personally, I think it has come out well. Really well. I can’t wait to release it and see what the general consensus is on the new edition. I should be in a position to announce a release date shortly. I need to make a few more changes yet and then send it off to have a pro edit before it sees the light of day. Until then, here is the cover art to whet the appetite….
