I guess I’ll speak of in chess metaphors (which is one of the things I’ve been planning to weave into my novel for some time now). I recently had a move where I could take my opponents piece for free. Or, I could take his queen, where upon he would take my queen, and then I’d be up a piece ahead but in a riskier position. I took the later, of course. Part of it is because doing the unexpected totally befuddles the mental process of my opponent. Like, all of the sudden he has this plan to checkmate, but it is ruined by a bunch of unpredictable moves.

Check.

Mate.

Win.

I’m in the middle of writing a part where the hero is basically rewriting his entire adventure thus far after meeting with me, the writer. It’s something of a desperation move, I admit, but it was more because I had no idea where the story was going if I went this route.

And believe it or not … part of my original outline had the hero meeting me, the writer, at some point in the story. So in a way it wasn’t as random as it seems.

I’m establishing the Undersea as only one of several civilizations found under the waves. Atlantis, of course, is the most famous and most obvious. Cantre’r Gwaelod also still exists, as well as do Mu and Lemuria. I’ve been also toying with the idea that Aztlán is also around somewhere, but I’m not sure if I should make The Undersea the same as Aztlán or not.

There are also lizard men in here, based on lizard man sightings in South Carolina. I figure they’re interlopers into the world of the Undersea, and their incursions to the fabled land are cause for much consternation.

He seems to have died inglouriously. From the Everett Nanomeet.

OK, so a word about the inspirations: I started off inspired by two different sources. The first was Geoff Johns’ current run on Aquaman. OK, so it’s only two issues in. However, I loved the setting. The lighthouse, the rolling ocean, the mystery of a world beneath the waves. At the same time, I was listening to the Tom vs. Aquaman podcast, where Tom Katers recaps the early adventures of Aquaman. They’re as goofy as you’d expect them to be, with our hero (who does talk to fishes and has an awesome octopus sidekick named Topo) fighting off “modern pirates” and mad scientists. And half the villains were using robot fish, which always confounded Aquaman as to why he couldn’t control them. But still, the visuals, as depicted by Ramona Fraden and Nick Cardy, were always stunning in their depiction of the world beneath the waves.

The second inspiration was Lev Grossman. I just finished reading both The Magicians and Codex. I love how he took some stodgy old concepts — in Codex, our hero try to uncover an ancient tome that supposedly does not exist — and brushes it up to be seen through modern eyes. One of my favorite passages in Codex is when the heroine goes through a long discussion on the origins of fiction, and how fiction in England was frowned upon, and how the discovery of this book may be the earliest known version of fiction published in England. It’s the passion with which Grossman describes it that’s fantastic. I also love how he integrates modern sensibilities into genres — like fantasy and suspense thrillers — that seem to be encased in amber from decades past.

So, using both these sensibilities, I arrived at “Lord of the Undersea” (which is my fifth or sixth working title — I think I’ll stick with this one, though). It’s a tale rooted in both the water and Native American mysticism. The latter I threw in after a browse through a Vancouver guidebook talking about the mythology of the First Nations. The spirit known as Kumugwe was known as “The Undersea Chief” or “Lord of the Undersea,” which is what gives this project its title.

I’ll be releasing the chapters on this site, so stay tuned!

So far, I think the major theme of the story is starting to shape up: the lineage between word of mouth storytelling to the thrilling adventure tales of the 40′s to urban legends to the modern era of online storytelling.

Pretty exciting.

I’m listening to the Grammar Girl podcast, and she’s going over some tips on how to write a novel (from author Scott Ziegler). One of the tips: write a bad book.

The reason: writing a bad book is easier, and it gets you in the habit of writing. Writer’s block can get bypassed through some really bad plot developments and it’s okay.

Then you put it away for six months and don’t read it.

After that, you write your good book.

More pulp covers can be found at the fantastic pulpcovers.com.

… and Spinerette:

I’m thinking closer to Spinerette, though, since I like that comic quite a bit.