Last week we screened Logan, the latest movie starring Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. (I was on vacation … don’t judge!) You all know I’m not a big fan of comic-book-inspired films, but Jackman has always surprised me with his talent — in comedies, musicals, and dramas alike — and from the trailer, this one looked interesting enough to warrant the rental. As it turned out, it was worth both the time and the money, but more than that, it reminded me of the harshest criticism I’ve ever received on one of my novels.
Back when I still had a New York literary agent, I turned in the manuscript of my new historical fantasy, Ploughman’s Son, in the hopes that we might begin shopping it around to publishers. I’d worked on it for a long time, bringing it from a weird idea to a published short story and then, following months of research into 9th century Brittany, Europe, and medieval life, I’d forged it into a fantasy novel unlike any I’d ever read.
It was historically accurate from a societal, cultural, and political perspective. It depicted the incredibly harsh and violent conditions that most people endured in what we call The Dark Ages. The pantheon and legends it explored were some that I’d never encountered in other fantasy novels. And yet it also included the basics of the genre, tropes that were familiar enough to engage fans of fantasy, but different enough to keep them interested.
My agent read it, and responded with her opinion.
“It is,” she said, “unremittingly grim.”
It was a harsh verdict, especially since a gritty realism and historical honesty — as far as either can exist in a work of fantasy — were exactly what I was going for. What I didn’t realize was that her statement was code for “Don’t get your hopes up,” and that I was now at the beginning of the end of my first foray into traditional publishing. Once your agent cools on your product, you’re doomed. But I digress…
Her phrase came back to me as I watched Logan. The movie was grim, unremittingly so, in setting, in plot, and in outcome … Had so much changed in the intervening years that “unremittingly grim” was now acceptable in pop culture? Grimness seems quite common in our entertainments these days, from Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead to True Detective and the presidency. And what of my Ploughman’s Son? Would it still be a standout in this new Field of Grim?
The only way to determine that, albeit through my own biased perspective, was to reread it.
I know, I know. I’ve got a novel to write, but trust me, this is not procrastination.
It’s research.
Sort of.
k
PS. For those who want a preview of Ploughman’s Son — the first book in the Ploughman Chronicles duology — you can find an excerpt here. — k
[…] began with re-reading one of my older books, and culminated (well, so far) over this past weekend when I had a revelation about my difficulty […]
LikeLike