Hello all.
It’s way after the fact, but since the subject of authors chiming in on the forums came up on another thread, I thought I’d pop in and say hi as the author of this story.
First of all I just wanted to say thanks to Escape Artists for having me. I’m a big fan of audio fiction and was already a fan of Pseudopod before ever getting a story accepted, which made it a bigger thrill.
I got an Al Intro/Outro
And thanks for the emotion-filled reading, Ben.
And thanks for the comments—praises and complaints all. The world of internet forum posting is often a menagerie of odd and sometimes quite horrific behavior. But you lot seem pretty lucid (just crazy enough in all the right places to like a bit of twisted fiction).
And I have to say, Old Man Parker, that’s about the niftiest comment I’ve ever gotten on a story. Not just for the praise, but the specific references. I’d be first in line for the drug-induced, NIN-inspired, Ray Bradbury Crow novel.
As to those of you who mentioned The Crow, that was an indirect influence. One night I was watching the special features on the movie which included an interview with the writer of the original graphic novel, James O’Barr. I recommend watching it—very interesting story. That guy has been through some hellish periods in his life (that’s where I got the idea of not knowing ones birthday because your mother was too high to remember when she birthed you). Hearing him speak, he just seems like a broken soul stitched back together. Anyway, after a very rough childhood, O’Barr’s life took a bit of an upswing when he fell in love with a girl. He gets engage. Things seem good for the first time. And she’s killed by a drunk driver.
The Crow was kind of his attempt at getting some catharsis—put things in a metaphor that offered a target for the anger (a protagonist getting revenge on a group of killers) instead of the more random act. A chance for a bit of resolution.
But I was caught up in his actual story, where there is no real target to revenge on (drunk driver aside) and no resolution. Anti-resolution. And that was the seed for this story. I love the Crow...but there have been a lot of revenge stories written between now and then (some good...some not)...so I thought I’d visit an urban hell with a character who wasn’t on a revenge trip. The song, “Last Kiss” sparked the notion of a character who felt he had to still earn the right to go where his loved one went.
And there’s the initial impulse.
I do appreciate the comments about the repetition of alchemy. I play a lot with the device of refrains. Which can work...but can also get monotonous (often depending on who you talk to). But over-defending that doesn’t help my writing any. I’ll keep it in mind in future stories (or even future drafts of this one) and make sure it keeps me honest.
So...thanks again folks. It was a lot of fun to be the one standing up at the fire and sharing a story.