Part of the purpose of the blog is to give you updates on upcoming projects. I previously gave a brief synopsis and overview on my next book, the Dream Warrior, but I am already hard at work on my next project: The long awaited The Cattle Have Fangs.
It’s taken almost two years, but the project is now very close to cmpletion. I’ve talked extensively about the inspirations for the novel (It’s a better Joker 2) and some of the overall themes. However a lot has changed since I began the editing process last year. So please bear with me if the final product contradicts statements I’ve made previously. The Cattle Have Fangs was a VERY difficult project for me, and a lot of plotlines and elements had to be cut for the final release.
For instance, I initially claimed that the book would take place over the span of a decade, but in the final release it’s less than five. The reason for that is that as I developed the plot and the characters I felt as if a lot of them didn’t grow and evolve that much throughout. I had gone into the project assuming it would take many years to resolve the plot, but over time I began to change my perspective, and so a lot of characters and plotlines had to be changed.
Now among them was the character ‘Lilith.’ A fourteen year old girl who lives with Amaris Yew. Initially intended to be a bit character, the character’s role expanded to be sort of an audience surrogate for several of the story’s factions. Her best friend Maria La Tigre is the daughter of noted crime boss Don Tigre, but her actual background as a girl who grew up on the streets puts her more in line with Paul Hawk, the hero of the streets. Paul Hawk is more anarchist and wants to overthrow the city’s government, while Tigre is more conservative and wants to preserve it.
Lilith, to me, represents the ‘heart’ of the story and represents its core themes on how supposedly small people really do matter in the grand scheme of things. Although Lilith has no real ability to lead, or to fight, or to have big ideas, she impacts other characters in a way that hardly anyone else can. If Amaris’ role in the story is larger than life, Lilith’s is the polar opposite.
People like Lilith really do matter: It’s the core theme of the story, I think. I hope you enjoy her story when it is published later this year.