In an election that cost only slightly less than what the Koch brothers plan to spend on the 2016 presidential election, we have a serial novel to follow over 2015! Thank you so much everyone who voted. The thing that I realize was missing from my writing was participation; I would be writing in a vacuum and while I find the act of writing enjoyable, as an artist (and at least half-a-human being) I love to share and talk about it with others.
The thing that surprised me was how evenly the votes were split. There was no clear victor and until this weekend, their was a four-way tie. Ultimately, it came down to one vote. So, there you go, America. Your vote does count (here). Usually I decide on my ideas the same way I decide who’s truly my friend.
However, as ideas are not in physically reality, I had to resort to democracy (a concept foreign to Ohio University). The ideas came from my notebooks I’ve kept over the years, filled with character names, some constructed languages, tattoo ideas etc. I like to draw from all fields. They are all things that interest me and I look forward to revisiting them down the road.
Like I said, you keep me accountable. My current projects include a hip hop EP titled SPF, consisting of 4-5 tracks, planned to debut next week, as well as chugging along on my passion project, a fantasy novel about all the stuff fantasy novels should be about.
This is all a really fucking long way of saying that your winner was:
Caged is a series about Det. Hayden Eldred Cage, a brilliant-but-troubled detective in the dark, rain-soaked Harbor City. More than the violent criminals and killers he profiles and investigates, he fights the bleak nihilism and cynical outlook of the city along with its unhealthy doses of corruption and apathy. He uses philosophy as a weapon against the darkness. He and his senior partner Alexandria Ellison work in the Major Crimes Unit (MCU)
The series follows a) his investigations into the variety of violent crime in the dark and rainy Harbor City b) his personal investigation into his sister’s kidnapping as he grapples with a cancer diagnosis. He is given one year to live.
For those still curious about what to expect and asking yourselves “Why, Sam, should we read your piece-of-shit writing? I could watch SVU and it will think for me.” First, I object to your foul language, how dare you say such a thing. Second, I love SVU too, but it doesn’t scratch the itch that I believe Arthur Conan Doyle’s original Sherlock Holmes, Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins, or even James Patterson’s Alex Cross. But most of the great detectives the last 30 or 40 years have been on the small screen.
I take inspiration from Vincent D’Onofrio’s Robert Goren and the amazing early seasons of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, when the mystery was foremost (instead 0f Goren doing something crazy). BBC’s Sherlock update starring Benedict Cumberbatch has helped as research when approaching short form storytelling. Fucking Brits are always ahead of the curve.
But really, it’s the one-two punch of the gothic horror on Hannibal and cosmic horror on True Detective that has redefined to me what a detective story can and should be. We’ll be investigating crimes and mysteries but the thing we’re all really trying to find is truth. What is truth? What does it mean to you? Let’s find out together.
The first story has a tentative release date of this Friday. I say tentative because I’m a lazy writer (see opening paragraph).
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