Writers' Jargon (9): Archetype, antagonist, protagonist

Writers have their own language. A shorthand, if you will. Outsiders (non-writers) think they know what most of these words and phrases mean. But they don't. Here, in a continuing series of posts, I will divulge the SECRET MEANINGS OF WRITERS' JARGON:

>>Earlier entries in the series<<

Archetype: (noun) What you prefer your characters to be recognized as rather than “cliché.”

Antagonist: (noun) The kid with the magnifying glass, focusing sunlight on ants.

Protagonist: (noun) The agony of the proletariat.

To be continued...

Early success for 'The Changeling'

I released the first segment (of 3) of The Caliban Cycle on July 1 as an Amazon Kindle book. The Changeling shot to No. 91 in the US Horror category over the next couple of days, but has been in a slow decline since then. If you haven't purchased a copy, please do (it's only 99 cents). And if you have, then please leave a review; not only would I appreciate the feedback, but each review helps the book find an audience by convincing the Amazon robots that readers would like to discuss this one.

Thanks!

Drive-In Saturday: 'Dark Intruder'

(Welcome to the new iteration of 'Drive-In Saturday.' I'm going to be reviewing a new "dark detective" or paranormal investigator story each week. We'll start with one I watched this week with my son, "Dark Intruder," which you may never have heard of, but in weeks to come we'll also look at more well known such stories of occult detectives, including Kolchak, Dresden, and others.)

I learned about Dark Intruder via an email from Lovecraft Ezine, which regularly reviews and shares movies and books influenced by H.P. Lovecraft's work. There's a great examination of this little 59-minute movie at this link.

The short version: It's 1890, and Leslie Nielsen (best known these days for the Police Squad TV show that gave us the Naked Gun films — though I'll always think of him as the saucer commander on Forbidden Planet) plays the lead, Brett Kingsford, who carefully cultivates the outward appearance of a laughing dandy, while secretly helping local police battle occult menaces. He even disguises himself (a la Sherlock Holmes) to keep the beat cops from recognizing him when he needs to talk to the commissioner and access a crime scene.

This was a pilot for a TV series, but wasn't picked up for any number of reasons. It's easy to see why networks would be uneasy about it, as it is scary (for its day) and doesn't shy from demonic references. Using the black-and-white production limitations to good effect, it incorporates great noirish use of shadows and mist to heighten suspense. It plays almost like a Hammer film, in that respect, and as the above-linked article notes, its writer had some experience in that area also.

But what amazed me most was the fatalism in the script (which, given the Lovecraftian elements, probably should not have been so surprising). Without SPOILING too much (I hope), it shows us a hero who fails at every turn. Like John Constantine in the Vertigo comics, Kingsford manages to survive, but may have a mob of ghosts haunting him — the spirits of those whose lives he failed to save.

>>You can watch the film for yourself here.<<

Of interest to fans of Lovecraft will be mentions of creatures from his mythos, as well as the concept of them returning to our world. I was intrigued also by the body horror inherent in (possible SPOILER) the way the deformed conjoined twin plot line was built.

Finally, it's worth noting that Nielsen is a wonder to watch, shifting from the easily amused socialite to the deadly-serious occult investigator in the blink of an eye. I'd have gladly followed a series of his adventures before the turn of the century.

Reflections on a week of import

Father and Son

PANAMA CITY BEACH — My son, Nathan, turned 27 earlier this week. I don’t know about how you respond to the passage of such dates, but that day made me look back at myself at 27 and try to imagine where I thought life would take me then.

I turned 27 in 1991, just a month after Nathan’s third birthday and couple of months before my daughter was born. I was back in college after several years of working for a retail outlet — on my way to a degree in Journalism, finally, and working freelance for a couple of local publications to help cover the bills.

Two years later, I would be hired by The News Herald and move my little family to Panama City. But in ’91, we had a spitz puppy named Everest and lived in a house owned by my mother, and I had dreams of making it as a reporter and novelist.

I still do.

Looking at my 51st birthday looming now, it would be easy to say the best days are in the past and to worry what the future holds. But I have to say, we (as a family) have weathered some dark days in the interim, and we hope for some great ones still to come.

As I sit here, writing this on the day my latest novel begins its serialized release on Amazon Kindle, I know that there are still stories to tell — indeed, more than I will ever have time to write down — still milestones to reach and wonders to witness. The marriage of children and birth of grandchildren, for instance. The next laugh at a lunch table.

I have more close friends today than at any time since high school. I have great expectations for my children, and a certain assurance that they have acquired the skills and strengths they will need to flourish even when I’m gone.

At 27, things were just getting started and I was struggling to find my way. At nearly 51, though some days can make me feel my age, I still have a sense that things are just getting started. I still struggle, still have worries. But most days the path is there, if I take a moment to see it.

How about you? Are you finding your path? Can you look back and see the trajectory that brought you here?

Peace.

Check out Tony’s latest fiction by visiting Facebook.com/TheCalibanCycle for details.

Reminder: Launching the Caliban Cycle

Tonight at midnight, the first installment of The Caliban Cycle goes live on Amazon Kindle. Just 99 cents for more than 30,000 words of mystery, Lovecraftian horror, occult detectives, Southern Gothic generational drama, ghosts, shapeshifters, Creek Indian and Christian belief systems, all intermingled into a page-turning and vivid adventure.

The Caliban Cycle is what I'm calling an ongoing series of novels about Tom Caliban, who doesn't get properly introduced until the beginning of Part 2, which will go live on Kindle Aug. 1. The first book is titled "Giants in the Earth," and will be serialized (in three segments released a month apart) through Sept. 1. Part One is "The Changeling."

>>Here's a collection of blogs about the series<<

>>Here's the Facebook page dedicated to the series<<

>>And here is the Kindle link in case you missed it above<<

Artist's Touch: Bonnie Tate's 'Journal Portraits'

Bonnie Tate

• ‘Journal Portraits’
• What: Exhibit of photographs by Bonnie Tate
• Where: Bay County Public Library, 898 W. 11th St., Panama City
• Details: 850-522-2100 or NWRLS.com
• About the Artist: BonnieTatePhoto.com

PANAMA CITY — A hand covered in dirt gingerly clutches a snapshot of soldiers as, caught under the edge of a canteen, a journal page below it lists “Impressions of Khe Sanh.”

With the corner of a diary showing her daily chores, a woman kneads dough on a scratched butcher block, her rings and wristwatch carefully set aside.

These and other images designed to put the viewer in the heads of strangers — seeing the world through their eyes, with tantalizing glimpses of their secret lives — make up the compelling “Journal Portraits” exhibit of work by photographer Bonnie Tate.

“I think of them as mysterious,” Bonnie said. “I’ve always enjoyed pairing photography with storytelling, and making series of connected pictures. My favorite pictures are usually of and about people, or at least have a human element.”

On display at the Bay County Public Library in Panama City through the end of June, the photos were inspired by actual entries Bonnie discovered in journals and diaries she found in thrift shops and other locations.

“Being a diary keeper myself, I am interested in how we interpret the events of our lives and string them together into narratives,” Bonnie said. “These are stories we almost always keep to ourselves. I stage each moment using a loose mix of the author’s description and my imagination.”

Including the actual diary or a page from a journal in each photo creates an interesting merging of past and present, she said, adding, “It also passes on the personal nature of reading another’s private thoughts.”

Those personal insights — the little things, the details — are a recurring theme in Bonnie’s work.

“It is the idiosyncrasies, the quirks, the hint of a story, that create the urge for a picture,” she said in an entry on her website, speaking specifically of portraiture. “Tuning in to an individual’s specifics and recording them is in some way important.”

Bonnie’s father was a journalist, who often told her “the devil is in the details.” She developed an appreciation for specifics and nuances, and this carries over to how she approaches photography. She even has a series she’s working on that shows both God and “the Devil” can be found with a macro lens setting.

“In all of my projects, I approach image-making with an eye for life’s small details,” she said. “I am shooting and organizing this series of photos by season so that when viewed as a whole, the photos will suggest the movement of time, the passing of a year observed in the smallest of moments.”

A series of moves around the country eventually brought Bonnie to Bay County, but she turned that period of transience to her advantage by finding a variety of subjects for her lens. One such move to Texas resulted in a black-and-white series she calls “American Home.”

“With the nature of our time in each place being transitory, my idea of home takes on an ephemeral quality,” she says in a posting at her website (BonnieTatePhoto.com). “Our temporary Texas home was a summer lake house fully furnished with the odds and ends and memories of another family. 

Using the artifacts and surroundings that were not mine, I hoped to create an intimate yet slightly distant sensation that matched my experience.”

Bonnie initially studied creative writing at Florida State University, then went on to receive an MFA in photography at the University of Memphis.

“I got into creative photography when I started studying art at FSU, around 1999, right before the digital wave,” she said. “I had a few great teachers who got me looking at projects by other photographers and also the history of photography, which opened up the possibilities for me.”

She currently teaches photography classes at CityArts Cooperative and Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, and is also available for private lessons. For information on these or other classes, email bonnietatephoto@gmail.com, visit BonnieTatePhoto.com or call 850-238-2077.

“By nature the camera is cold,” she said. “I think that a glimpse of someone’s home, belongings, habits, makes a portrait a bit warmer and richer. Ultimately, I hope that each portrait taps into the unique mystery of the person in it.”

Launching 'The Caliban Cycle'

I have made a Facebook page live today for getting out the word on my new series, THE CALIBAN CYCLE.

On this page, you will get regular updates on the series, which will be serialized on Kindle before being gathered into print editions. You'll find photographs of locations in the real world that inspired portions of the story, as well as media inspirations and more. You'll see artwork based on various iterations of the story (I've been rewriting it since I was 14). You'll see promotional artwork by the talented JOHN RUSSO, who is designing the covers, and others who contribute. You'll be invited to book launch events and readings, as well as given exclusive access to special content.

Book One of The Caliban Cycle is called GIANTS IN THE EARTH and details the circumstances of the birth and childhood of Thomas Michael Caliban, possessing the power of a modern-day Merlyn, and destined to become either a force for light or darkness in the world. The novel was a quarter-finalist in last year's Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest. Some of the reviews included:

"Beautiful writing, really terrific. Love the description of the car crash and its immediate aftermath.
Sweet character-building for Arthur Magus. ... Super beginning to what promises to be a great story. Really looking forward to reading it."

"The writing is great, it really shines. ... I'm stumped. I can't find anything weak about it. ... This is a very well written piece. As long as the rest of the book is as strong as this excerpt, it could go to print right now and I'd want to read it. From the use of italics to the unhurried pacing and switching of story back and forth between characters, the whole thing is quite a treat."

Part One: THE CHANGELING, will be published to Kindle on July 1, and an exclusive print edition of The Changeling will be available Aug. 1 at Panama City CreativeCon to mark that day's e-publication of Part Two: THE CHILD.

>>Read more about the series in these blog entries<<