Good day fellow WordPress persons, and I hope you’re all up for a wonderful weekend!! I woke up to a nice surprise today: I received a “Daily Deviation” recognition from DeviantART(.com) for my story “R & R” which stars my wild and reckless psychopathic assassin character, “Jynx.” I would not have expected this type of writing to have garnered any such note as to warrant “literary” recognition, so I am both flattered and honored.
As much as I would like to post the chapter for you here on WordPress, I’m not sure I “can,” as in, I’m not sure if it’s considered “okay,” as the piece contains adult-language and gory-imagery. However, here is a link if you’re interested: https://www.deviantart.com/laurenipsome/gallery/65713733/Daily-Deviations
I can say, while not perhaps “relevant” to this particular chapter, I have tried, as a writer, to make the prose intellectually stimulating. I am–trying at least–to get the reader to crawl around in the main characters psychopathy, to understand how his dysfunctional brain “works.” As a clinical psychopath, his life as a reckless assassin is, yes, “gory,” but I have made a concerted effort to make it a viable read.
I like anti-heros and otherwise “broken” characters, it’s what makes a character “interesting,” I think. You ask a hundred people if they’d rather be Han Solo or Luke Skywalker, and 99% of them will say: Han Solo, of course! Why? Because he’s complex, runs in the grey-area, is charming and daring, and has a back-story we might actually be interested in. Luke Skywalker’s back-story is vapor-farming and he’s basically a white-bred, goody-goody, fresh face.
So how to make a psychopath interesting? Well, a few psychology classes helps, certainly. Letting the reader crawl around inside his thought-process is a wild ride. Many of his antics are erratic, blood-letting episodes of his profession, but again, I’ve at least tried to give them a “point” to the story, rather than just making it a gore-fest. In fact, most of what he does as his profession is merely eluded to. I like to take readers to a door that leads to their own imagination. It doesn’t work for every story, but it’s a nice change of pace to today’s life of “instant gratification.” It’s not for everyone, but if you enjoy thought-provoking reads, it’s a good time.
You know, a lot of times we writer’s get the “why.” WHY did I decide to write a novel about a psychopathic assassin, and WHY should I write something as looked-down-upon as “gore-porn”??? Well, first lemme say it’s not “gore-pron,” though his antics in the bedroom are questionable at best, it never leads to actual murder. But for the rest, I can only tell you that I had created the character on a whim, but once I got settled into his thought-process, that is where the “magic” started to happen.
I guess there’s a certain fringe group of us who were “Dexter” fans, as Michael Hall said at a “Dexter” convention: “You bunch of sick [expletives]!!”
Does it “need” to be written? Probably not. Could it come back and bite me in the hind-quarters? Possibly. I’d be devastated to know that some sicko found “inspiration” in such work, but I suppose it could happen. But as FICTION I find it entirely harmless and a good look into the concept of mental instability and the dark-side of “human nature.” Anti-heros, the characters you love to hate, the guys you can sharpen your teeth on, that’s where anything could happen; and generally does….
If you can’t write from your heart, then write from your inner demon. And let all Hell break loose!
laurenipsome1 