Evolution Overview
Earth. Air. Water. Fire. These are the four books of UNBOUND, and the latest evolution from its humble beginnings approximately thirty years ago as a possible concept album. At the time (mid-'70s) this was a good way to present a complex vision in a complex manner: telling a story through lyrics, composition, and musicianship (and in many cases, artwork). I always felt that simple text would pale in comparison to other media and simply not be enough to convey the living movements and extreme sweeps of emotion I wanted in a story.
But since writing had always been in my blood (I was writing stories at age ten) I decided to approach the initial early texts as if they were little sprouts, and watered them to see which ones grew. One story in particular took hold and was vine-like in no time, refusing to release her grip until her story was done. Muses have such mysterious ways...
So, this is how the Novel got Here:
My first sketches of storyboards for "THE PUDDLE CLUB", as UNBOUND was known then, were of the young heroine "Dee" and her companion, a cigar-smoking baby cherub, sitting on a boat on a lake. (Don't ask LOL. As you might have gathered from the Excerpt , things have changed a little since then.)
By this time in the early '80s I was into collecting comic books and wanting to tell stories through sequential art, and had met several industry people by then. It seemed like a good way to go as the flow was pretty strong in that direction. Without any idea of a story though, I stopped and started for a few years without getting much beyond a few storyboards and script pages. It just wasn't working.
Love and Kate
Having been a joyous participant in San Francisco's Summer of Love, and recalling with some guilt that failed commitment to change the world that our little village had made, I wanted to create something that would promote a positive change somehow. With a more-or-less clear goal, the Game then became, Okay, how to make that happen?
Despite the obvious idealism, I began writing what I hoped would give Readers something to feel deeply about, think about, talk about, share, commune, and to finally do something positive towards each other, for our world, our Earth, our souls, and our Creator, Who/Whatever/Wherever He/She/It etc is. I wanted this story to be applicable to and involving EVERYONE, whether bible-thumper or atheist. It's not preachy at all, but should resonate just enough...
We'll see how that turns out ;-)
So, once clear on what I wanted, I got serious, discarded the stogie-smoker, and began jotting ideas down in longhand. I began to interpret the whisperings of the Muse and my pen wrote down what she impressed upon me. I had just met Lily, though I hadn't named her yet. I stopped and started some more until...
(*huge sound of massive explosion*)
...I had a Kate Bush epiphany in late 1985 that was so intense and transcendent that it lingered all the way through 1986. Simply put, I found my musical Apex. There's no getting around the fact that it was a life-changing experience. And that must suffice for now; it's inexpressable, as well it should be.
Not only did her creative output reach into me as deeply as possible, and move me so effectively and effortlessly, and make me feel so thoroughly, but it and she validated everything dear to me, and important to me, and well, ME, and what I wanted to do with my work. She proved that one could do it, and share it, and spread it if one has the courage to stay true to one's singular vision, duplicate that vision, and have the persistence to reach the finish line with it always in sight.
She wasn't the first one to do so; Sandy Hurvitz (now known as Essra Mohawk) held that position and will always, for her equally courageous and beautiful position over time, which has been since around age 15 for me. You should check these amazing Artists out, and if they move you, please support them.
It was Kate who jolted awake my Muse, who (after my senses returned) began nagging me incessantly about this Story that she wanted to tell everyone...
Craft and Work
I thought it would be easy to work and write at the same time. Wrong. I tried it wherever I worked, but to no avail. I thought I could have a social life and write as well; wrong about that too. Some people can; apparently I can't. It took me YEARS of trying to write this way to discover this.
I have to write 10-18 hours a day, which doesn't leave much time for much else. Writing two hours a day is not an option. (It takes me that long just to warm up!) What with my work situation at the time leaving me drained by the time I got home, any serious attempts were feeble at best. Easier to just play computer games, then go to sleep, wake up, go to work, repeat...
By 1993 I was still tussling with my Muse who nonetheless kept feeding me ideas, plot developments, and encouragement, keeping the story alive despite the events of Real Life and an increasingly lethal work environment conspiring to kill it. It was like she was fighting for her life. Or mine.
As I've mentioned elsewhere, I was so moved by her devotion that I named her "Lily" as well as the character of Lily Godwin ("lily" = devotion). In a delightfully mind-blowing case of Strange Phenomena, Kate released "The Red Shoes" at the same time, with the song "Lily" on it!
In 2001, my brothers and sister and I sadly sold our parents' house where we'd grown up. We packed, moved, sold, cleaned, or tossed out fifty years of memories. It was like having heart surgery, only without the anesthesia. Thanks to my parents (and the labors of my Grandparents before them), whose hard work and dedication to family resulted in them being able to care for us even after their departures, I decided to use the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to leave everything else behind, and remove myself to where I might write Lily's story at last. UNBOUND is therefore dedicated to them, who gave me the opportunities, exposures, and encouragement to foster a love for and pursue writing as a career.
Somewhat conveniently, I broke up with my girlfriend earlier that year, so the way was clear to totally Go. Moving to a place where I knew no one or even the surroundings, without family, friends or work to distract me (or comfort me), I settled in and started to write UNBOUND in earnest. I finished the first 660-page draft on Christmas Day in 2003, submitted a solicitation to an agent in 2004 ("fascinating premise but I have to pass"), decided to revise it but chopped too many pages off, so had to rebuild it. I did four or five more revisions with the final one done on July 30, 2006. Which, oddly enough, is Kate Bush's birthday! How wonderfully fitting :-D
But, somehow the manuscript got up to 733 pages and 386,429 words. Sounds like a lot, huh? Well, some stories just need to be that long, and this one truly is epic despite its deceptively languid opening. (It goes fast; from all reports it's a real page-turner.)
Hopefully it won't be too long before you can find out! I'll be doing my best to make it happen. Not only that, but just sayin' it could even...