In between marathon revision on my own almost-due manuscript, I’ve dipped into the DARK TOWER series by Stephen King. I’m astonished that I missed this when it came out and I’m making up for lost time now. King recounts in the foreword to THE GUNSLINGER how he woke from a dream with a disturbing refrain that later became Roland’s beachside encounter with the Lobster Things.
I’ve had a similar series of dreams.
My dearly appreciated fans often tell me how they LOVE my bad guys: Jonny Maxwell, Alfie, Johnny Wylde and his crew, the Faceless Man His Own Self, Mr. Smith aka Hank…there’s an interview on my friend Lance Storm’s (the WWE great) website http://www.stormwrestling.com/bookmarks/warrior.html about evil, villains and story-telling that I wrote for his Book Club’s about WARRIOR IN THE SHADOWS.
My recent dreams are about an evil character I call the Achy Man: bent and twisted with chronic pain and hatred, the patriarch of a clan that makes GAME OF THRONES look like THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Like Stephen King’s strange refrain that birthed THE DARK TOWER, mine started with a non-sensical riff on that old nursery rhyme: Lady Bug, Lady Bug, fly away home, your house is on fire and your children’s alone…
But instead I got these, a long series that I woke up and wrote down:
Achy Man, Achy Man, fly away home,
Your life is on fire, your children’s alone —
Achy Man, Achy Man, fly away home,
Your sons are all cowards, throw ‘em a bone —
Achy Man, Achy Man, fly away home,
Your friends are all laughing, that’s why you’re alone —
Achy Man, Achy Man, fly away home,
The Country Club dissed you, you’re a no-fly zone —
Achy Man, Achy Man, fly away home,
Your PI done lied to you and left you alone —
Achy Man, Achy Man, fly away home,
Your car needs polishing, are you getting stoned?
Achy Man, Achy Man, fly away home,
Fox News gots your picture and your friends’s picture too —
Achy Man, Achy Man, fly away home,
There’s a Federal indictment in your time zone —
Achy Man, Achy Man, fly away home,
I’ll be there next week — maybe I’ll leave you alone —
Achy Man, Achy Man, fly away home,
I’ll be there next week, all old and alone,
Achy Man, Achy Man, fly away home,
Maybe I can help you? For a significant loan —
Achy Man, Achy Man, fly away home,
Threaten a child and I’ll burn down your home —
Achy Man, Achy Man, fly away home,
There’s some Street Crimes killing in your patrol zone —
Achy Man, Achy Man, fly away home,
Your hookers done left you and they laugh at your bone —
Seem crazy? There’s a story here, I think…like THE DARK TOWER it may connect to my previous stories and to those in the pipeline.
I thought I’d share that with you, since I rarely write about the creative writing process, being one of those writers that would rather write than write about writing. But going back and forth between projects has given me a particular perspective right now.
Among those projects: nearing the end of the revision to THE SWORD OF MICHAEL (working title, may be changed) my first urban fantasy for Baen; once that’s done, sometime next week I’m thinking, then it’s on to finish THREE’S WYLDE. I’m also working on some short fiction, some of which I’ll post here and some of which will appear in some magazines.
Thanks for staying tuned — more later!
PS: You know what’s great about the Achy Man rhymes? They make PERFECT tweets…
cheers, m