Musical Interlude, Part 2: Meet Brad

Someone mentioned to me recently that my last few posts have seemed rather . . . down. Fret not, friends! We are turning that around this week – though it may not seem that way at first.

See, I want to tell you about the new book I’m writing.

And that book is a fantasy novel set in a world where people go after they lose someone dear to them. So, it spends a lot of time talking about grief.

I remember what one of my friends said when I told her this. She had just finished reading The Ancient – which, as any who have read even the first few pages will know, is rather heavy – and listened quietly while I described the grief research I was doing. When I told her the working title for this new endeavor was The Land of Loss, there was a long pause.

“Ruth,” she said after a moment, “are you ok? I mean . . . do you need a hug?”

I assured her – and I assure you, dear reader – that I am well. This book, though similarly heavy in subject matter, is radically different from The Ancient – largely thanks to my main character/narrator. For the first time since the novella that proceeded C. Writ. 101, my first play, I am writing in first person. That means we spend the whole story inside this one guy’s head, and his running commentary on all events has made this story both funny and fun to write.

As my husband said after I read him the first chapter, “It’s deep . . . but told lightly.”

#winning

Another thing that sets this book apart from The Ancient – and, indeed, from anything I’ve ever written – is that my main character isn’t really good with words.

You heard me.

My narrator – the one responsible for telling the story growing in my brain – doesn’t have the grasp of the English language that I do.

I like words, so I have always written word-nerd characters. Evan Cooper (from C. Writ 101), Anna Merritt (from the Gatekeeper trilogy), the Last (from The Ancient). . . they are all writers and lovers of language. They are extensions of my soul and excuses to form complex, varied sentences with many beautiful words.

Then I met Brad.

Brad doesn’t have a big vocabulary. He uses “very” and “really” with distressing frequency. He says “if I was” instead of “if I were”. He splits infinitives and ends sentences with prepositions and commits a multitudinous plethora of linguistic crimes that make me – and every character I’ve written hitherto – cringe.

I love him.

I look forward to introducing you to Brad (Bradford Kendrick, if you want to give him his full title; but, only his brother is really allowed to call him Bradford, and he sort of hates his brother, so . . . you’ve been warned). In the meantime, here’s a song that has been significant in my running/book brainstorming sessions for Brad’s story.

First, if you’ve never heard Mumford & Sons’ “Hopeless Wanderer”, watch this lyric video first. It’s important to know the song before you watch the other video. If you know the song, skip down.