Today I hand over my spot to Lee Pletzers, author of a book I'm rather keen to read: Resurrection Child. Thanks for stopping by, Lee, and over to you...
I didn’t set out to write a Cthulhu / Book of Revelation novel involving a neo-Nazi as the lead character.Yet the first sentence in the book was Damon. His role in the book is major, he has many hurdles to overcome and I got to see him as a different type of person. I realised he wasn’t a standard thug and truly believed in his cause. But he was also conflicted and going through a belief change.Roy has been hearing voices since he first read: The Call of Cthulhu. He read everything he could find on the High priest and The Great Old Ones. In every book, story there was a piece of information the voices told him to write down. In his teenage years he pieced all the pieces of information together and realised he had a plan to bring Cthulhu back to Earth and awaken his slumber in the process. He couldn’t do this alone, he needed people – recruits – to create a group of other believers. But how could he find other believers? The voices taught him the language he needed. Believers would follow him, non-believers would think he was a salesman and walk away.
The above is a break down of the two main characters of this novel that provide the background information and the engine for the book to run fast and smooth towards its terrifying conclusion.
Starting this book I didn’t know what it was going to be. I didn’t know I was going to write a novel either. I was just emerging from a dry spell (moved back to New Zealand, found a job, touring to show my wife the country and discovering stuff myself) where I was either too tired to write or I just couldn’t be arsed doing more than a 6 000 word short story every now and then. During this time I had to read anthology guidelines of what they wanted just to give me an idea and from there I wrote a story, most got published (several didn’t – thankfully). So I wasn’t thinking a novel was going to come shooting forth, yet I did have an idea all on my own. This impressed me and got me excited.
Had the well finally filled back up? Had the muse returned?
Thinking back I recall deciding to write a Cthulhu-based book. I’ve never read HP Lovecraft (I did try as a teenager but the books were boring as fuck) but I have read a lot about him and a few of his movies really excited me (Midnight at Witch House is amazing). I decided to give this Cthulhu story a lot of action. Warring cults, Moles in each organisation and a plan to bring Cthulhu back, this naturally lead me to The Book of Revelation. The Great Red Dragon. All this came to me part way through chapter two. For my plan to work, I had to add a new chapter one. This chapter would not affect the story I had started, in fact, it turned out to be a catalyst for Damon’s later actions.
I added several characters, some were key to the plot, so were stepping stones for Damon’s development and his growth within the story. Hell, if he’s the main character and readers need to want him to succeed, then they have to like him. He started out as a character most people hate and he turned into the hero.
Nearing the end all the storylines converged perfectly and one of the most violent stories I had ever written was completed nine months later.
It took a year to self edit.
It took a year to find a publisher willing to take on such a book.
It took a year from post production to published and released.
What about the re-write, I hear you ask. Well, I don’t re-write. The words I first pen are the words the reader gets to enjoy. I do take note of professional editors comments and may rework a section or two to make it flow smoother but that’s it. Same for my short stories. I have a tale to tell, and I tell it. Simple really. My first draft is my ‘near’ completed draft. I have no outline (I did write one once and it was quite detailed and was a damn good tale, but once the outline was done, the fire to write the story was gone). I sometimes envy people who have five or six outlines fully fleshed out and the fire to pump out book after book, but that’s just not me. I need the fire and the question: What’s coming next? I have no idea. Excite me, my sexy muse, and excite my readers at the same time.
Here’s the ad copy I made for Resurrection Child:
Cthulhu introduced himself to a writer in the eighteenth century, with the full knowledge that more people would investigate the Cthulhu myth and soon a belief would spread. Like a virus it would infect millions as others learned of the old gods and their imprisonment. These writers wove more stories into the minds of millions, until one person discovered the hidden clues in all the stories, pieced together the ‘voices’ and understood what needed to be done.
The Old Ones will return.
Damon Hutter is a neo-Nazi thug going through a belief change. But when he witnesses the seeding of Caroline for the Old Ones, Damon realizes he must protect her from Roy and the rest of the Cthulhu cult in order to correctly bring forth the dawning of a new age: Cthulhu’s birth. Now it’s a race against time, the police, and two warring cults to get to Carol first.
His life change is the will of Cthulhu.
The killings are the will of Cthulhu.
Everything is the will of Cthulhu.
Carol...is the will of Cthulhu.
And the birthing of the Resurrection Child will be available this coming November.
Resurrection Child is currently for sale in eBook format for most eReaders and tablets. You can find the novel at Amazon / Kobo / Drive Thru Fiction / soon at Smashwords, Nook and other places. The paperback, I’m told is planned for release within the next two months, so keep an eye out for it between now and January.
For direct links, please visit my website: http://kobefiction.we.bs and if you want to see the book trailer and hear the freaky music that goes with it, please visit my blog, it’s on the front page. Can’t miss it.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I look forward to your comments if you have any.
Cheers.
Lee Pletzers
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