Reader Questions: How Do You Match Your Imagination to the Page?
This video explores a question asked by a reader as to how one reconciles what they see in their head as the story versus what comes out on the page? A.P. Fuchs talks about his own experience as a writer and how he’s encountered just this issue.
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One night Gabriel Garrison was visited by a nameless messenger who bestowed upon him great power, a power intended for good. Once discovering what this power was and what it enabled him to do, Gabriel became Axiom-man, a symbol of hope in a city that had none.
A young boy goes missing.
Taken, in the middle of the night.
No clues. Nothing except the remnants of a black cloud, like the one coughed up from inside the Doorway of Darkness.
A black cloud that takes Axiom-man to a world not his own.
A dead world, where a gray and brown sky shrouds an entire city in a miasma of decay.
The streets are empty. The young boy is nowhere to be found.
One night Gabriel Garrison was visited by a nameless messenger who bestowed upon him great power, a power intended for good. Once discovering what this power was and what it enabled him to do, Gabriel became Axiom-man, a symbol of hope in a city that had none.
A mysterious anonymous letter promises to reveal he is Axiom-man unless he bows down to the sender’s demands.
And the timing cannot have been worse.
Redsaw has become more powerful than when Axiom-man battled him on what has become known as Black Saturday, and he has determined to attain unstoppable power through the only means he knows how: murder.
Chaos ensues and as the air is saturated with the stench of blood, Axiom-man must find the means to stop Redsaw before the whole world is swallowed in a web of death.
Complicating matters, something strange is happening to Axiom-man’s powers. The abilities he has put his faith in have changed.
As time runs out and city streets are overrun with carnage and fear, Axiom-man is pushed to his breaking point as he tries to stop the madman’s reign of terror, while also trying to discover what is happening to his powers and how they tie into a supernatural event that took place over five hundred years before.
On Sunday, I finally finished writing ZOMTROPOLIS: A RECORD OF LIFE IN A DEAD CITY.
It is a study on heartbreak, zombies, a broken post-apocalyptic metropolis, and a man descending into madness where the line between what’s real and what isn’t has become blurred.
Next steps:
Personal edits
Editor edits
One final go-through
Formatting and production
Off to the printer and e-distributors
Release
Hopefully you’ll check out the book
Here’s a clip I recorded Sunday, tired and haggard a very short while after finishing the book.
Thanks for watching this old dog talk about his accomplishment. To watch more, please subscribe here.
While we wait for ZOMTROPOLIS, why not check out my other stand-alone zombie book, ZOMBIE FIGHT NIGHT: BATTLES OF THE DEAD? Great reviews. Everything awesome between two covers.
One night Gabriel Garrison was visited by a nameless messenger who bestowed upon him great power, a power intended for good. Once discovering what this power was and what it enabled him to do, Gabriel became Axiom-man, a symbol of hope in a city that had none.
The messenger has fled, leaving Gabriel alone with mysterious abilities he knows little about. The things he can do, the powers–the options are limitless.
But only if he knows how to use them.
As he embarks on the path of discovery, Gabriel must try to understand why he was chosen to receive the most powerful of all gifts and, with the help from no other, come to a decision as to what to do with them.
Even if it takes the death of an innocent to convince him.
One night Gabriel Garrison was visited by a nameless messenger who bestowed upon him great power, a power intended for good. Once discovering what this power was and what it enabled him to do, Gabriel became Axiom-man, a symbol of hope in a city that had none.
One night after a routine patrol, a mysterious black cloud appears over the city. Flying over to investigate it, Axiom-man is stopped short when the cloud’s presence shakes him to the core. An electrifying fear emanates from the cloud and he can barely get near it. Quickly, the cloud takes flight and leads him on a wild goose chase throughout the city, only to flee from him in the end. Almost immediately after the cloud’s appearance, a new hero arises, Redsaw, clad in a black cape and cowl. The people, now enamored with this new super-powered marvel, seem to have forgotten about Axiom-man and all he’s done for them.
Except something’s wrong. That same fear that emanated from the cloud drips off Redsaw like a foul smell and Axiom-man can barely get close to him without feeling ill.
What is Redsaw’s agenda and who is he? And why is it every time Axiom-man gets close to him it feels as if his powers are being sucked away?
As if that wasn’t enough, Gabriel’s day job hasn’t gotten any easier. His co-worker and the woman he adores, Valerie Vaughan, has little interest in him, and his boss has made it clear that one more day late to work will be the day he cleans out his desk. Then there’s the new trainee, Gene Nemek. What is his fascination with Redsaw and why is he never around when Redsaw appears?
From flying over city streets and soaring at dizzying heights, to balancing a secret identity with destiny, Axiom-man must discover what Redsaw’s presence means and how it ties into the messenger’s life-altering visit before the city—and the world—are enamored with an evil that has haunted the cosmos since the dawn of Time.
One night Gabriel Garrison was visited by a nameless messenger who bestowed upon him great power, a power intended for good. Once discovering what this power was and what it enabled him to do, Gabriel became Axiom-man, a symbol of hope in a city that had none.
One night after a routine patrol, a mysterious black cloud appears over the city. Flying over to investigate it, Axiom-man is stopped short when the cloud’s presence shakes him to the core. An electrifying fear emanates from the cloud and he can barely get near it. Quickly, the cloud takes flight and leads him on a wild goose chase throughout the city, only to flee from him in the end. Almost immediately after the cloud’s appearance, a new hero arises, Redsaw, clad in a black cape and cowl. The people, now enamored with this new super-powered marvel, seem to have forgotten about Axiom-man and all he’s done for them.
Except something’s wrong. That same fear that emanated from the cloud drips off Redsaw like a foul smell and Axiom-man can barely get close to him without feeling ill.
What is Redsaw’s agenda and who is he? And why is it every time Axiom-man gets close to him it feels as if his powers are being sucked away?
As if that wasn’t enough, Gabriel’s day job hasn’t gotten any easier. His co-worker and the woman he adores, Valerie Vaughan, has little interest in him, and his boss has made it clear that one more day late to work will be the day he cleans out his desk. Then there’s the new trainee, Gene Nemek. What is his fascination with Redsaw and why is he never around when Redsaw appears?
From flying over city streets and soaring at dizzying heights, to balancing a secret identity with destiny, Axiom-man must discover what Redsaw’s presence means and how it ties into the messenger’s life-altering visit before the city—and the world—are enamored with an evil that has haunted the cosmos since the dawn of Time.
The body and brain aren’t cooperating today. I’ve got stuff to do and things to think about and I feel like my body and mind are filled with cement.
Thus is the life of a writer: be at the keyboard anyway.
We’re putting the final touches on GIGANTI-GATOR DEATH MACHINE and getting it ready for press. I also have the newsletter to start and a freelance gig to do.
We’re at the stage in book production where I’m now going to focus on releasing them one at a time instead of working on all three (GATORS, YEAR FOUR, THE LONG YEAR FIVE) at once behind the scenes. Basically what’s left to do is double check the formatting and cover checking.
All this takes time because I’m working with a team so can’t go whole hog and do it all in a single day like the old days. Was mentioning to Melinda last night how I once heard publishing is a young man’s game. The older I get, the more I feel that. But don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.
This is your station identification for Jun262020.
I am . . .
. . . A.P. Fuchs. I’m a writer, cartoonist, and freelancer in the worlds of books and comics. This is Canister X, my official web presence and the Realm of Heroes and Monsters, where we attempt to entertain and inform you on a regular basis.
I’ve been at this publishing game for 20 years and I still have plans.
My Patreon page is here. It’s a special place where I post serial novels, serial comics, essays and articles on the creative arts business, behind-the-scenes secrets, and more. Join me and my other patrons and be a part of something entertaining and interesting with consistent content.
I also recently launched my webcomic, Fredrikus. Go here and bookmark the page to ensure you get a new comic strip every Friday. (A new episode aired today, in fact.)
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