I have to admit, once I read about the possibility of a map in Story Jumpers, it just hit me that I
needed to write about a blind map reader and his henchman assistant. And as the story moved from person to person I hoped that it would still be possible when it came to me.
Inspired by ironical opposition in writing, (fat guys named Tiny), the blind map reader just made sense to me. I was poking around looking for other connections to this character. I like this concept and the whole role of the prophet. And then it hit me. I wrote a whole section of a novel based on a modern blind prophet - who saw the future two ways. His name is Jimmy Two Ways, and the idea is that he has two eyes that point in different directions. Of course this sounds like a jab at the poor guy for an offensive nickname, but to the ironic element, he sees the future as a fork. And he can only give you a future as choice, not as a definitive point ahead. I have 160 pages with Jimmy Two Ways embedded in the strange folklorish tale of ghosts, witches, love, and modern failure of a legacy lost in a little bit of madness.
As I thought of all this I read about Tiresias, a man who was turned into a woman by the gods. It is a fascinating story that was innovated by the likes of Virginia Woolf in Orlando and other stories. When a brilliant moment to be cast from male to female -- and eventually cast to blindness under the cruel contraints of the gods above. Then I realized, that perhaps Jimmy is someone in my story that can't catch a break with fate. And while I don't have gods casting out smite, I do not let Jimmy off the hook.
Writing begats more good writing. Connections and words never fail to connect.
needed to write about a blind map reader and his henchman assistant. And as the story moved from person to person I hoped that it would still be possible when it came to me.
Inspired by ironical opposition in writing, (fat guys named Tiny), the blind map reader just made sense to me. I was poking around looking for other connections to this character. I like this concept and the whole role of the prophet. And then it hit me. I wrote a whole section of a novel based on a modern blind prophet - who saw the future two ways. His name is Jimmy Two Ways, and the idea is that he has two eyes that point in different directions. Of course this sounds like a jab at the poor guy for an offensive nickname, but to the ironic element, he sees the future as a fork. And he can only give you a future as choice, not as a definitive point ahead. I have 160 pages with Jimmy Two Ways embedded in the strange folklorish tale of ghosts, witches, love, and modern failure of a legacy lost in a little bit of madness.As I thought of all this I read about Tiresias, a man who was turned into a woman by the gods. It is a fascinating story that was innovated by the likes of Virginia Woolf in Orlando and other stories. When a brilliant moment to be cast from male to female -- and eventually cast to blindness under the cruel contraints of the gods above. Then I realized, that perhaps Jimmy is someone in my story that can't catch a break with fate. And while I don't have gods casting out smite, I do not let Jimmy off the hook.
Writing begats more good writing. Connections and words never fail to connect.
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