Tuesday, April 9, 2013

A Small Step in a Big Project

The last two years I've been "working" on what I think is an interesting project. In brief, it's a set of short stories loosely based on characters in Cormac McCarthy's novel The Road. I don't know how much interest the stories will hold to anyone who hasn't read the book or seen the movie, but I think (more like hope) they can stand on their own even without the prehistory. But for the benefit of anyone who is nice enough to read my stories without the time or inclination to read the entire book I'll talk a little about the stories as I post them here. All of the stories will include an intersection with The Road; the man and the boy from The Road will be in each story although they are not the main characters in my stories. If you've read The Road you'll likely recognize the intersecting point but I didn't stick to the exact details found in The Road because the goal was more to explore the characters than to adhere to the original novel as if it were gospel.

I have completed two stories so far. I have an outline for two others and hope, in the end, to create at least two more beyond these.

The first story I'm sharing is the one that put the idea in my head in the first place and, when everything is completed, the compilation will likely share the title with this story. It's rated R or NC-17. I plan for other stories to be less graphic. I actually wrote it shortly after reading Blood Meridian, I think the tone and characters reflect this fact.

"The ugly fact is books are made out of books." -- Cormac McCarthy

Things Found on The Road by Shawn Kessler

I might talk further about this story in a later post. I don't want to include any spoilers here.

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