Zack and Larry Make a Porno was finished a couple days ago, and it came out better than I’d anticipated. I was afraid it would just be, well…porn. It certainly does have a lot more sex in it, than anything I’ve written previously. Not terribly surprising, considering the premise. But the characters found their own voices, with Zack being protective of Larry and concerned about what “normal” straight men were supposed to do and not do, and Larry being an outsider who manages to offend nearly everyone, but who would do anything for Zack.
It needs polishing. The pacing is a bit off, and the characterization can be improved, but there’s something there worth putting out, I think.
My still-unforunately-named cyberpunk story, The Bodyguard, has been read by a couple friends and both liked it. The main criticism, so far, has been unhappiness with the open ending. It’s intended to imply that our heroes are now heading into an even bigger adventure. But of course, my friends wanted to read that adventure now. I’m beginning to think I might need to write the sequel, before submitting this one. I’d rather not change the ending. But it might be a good idea to have the sequel already written, so I can tell the editor that there is definitely a follow-up story — and here it is.
Of course, that means both stories may be considered together, and if the editor doesn’t like one, or doesn’t feel like publishing two stories, right now, neither will be published.
I’ve gotten back to work on my YA fantasy novel, The Guardians Awaken, about two young men — one a street urchin; the other, nobility — caught in the middle of a human war and a simultaneous war between the gods. I love the novel, but I’ve been stuck on the big battle scene at the end since last Fall. Hopefully, I can get through that and finish it up. Between that novel and my YA novel about a Viking sorceror, Seidhman, I really hope I can at least start making the rounds of YA publishers this coming year.
Jamie Fessenden's Blog 