Okay, not really. I'm not running for office. I'm just trying to get readers for my novel.
But, seriously, if you haven't already, please vote. Please.
On to more personal matters, that pesky novel. I reached out to a fwe select friends and got a few volunteers. One reader only read the first three chapters. I hadn't mentioned that rape plays a major role in the story line, and she informed me that she will not read anything that includes rape as a premise.
Please, don't leap to the Alan Moore assumption. I don't have anyone falling in love with their rapists or any others such sick crap. I needed a vile, despicable villain who would call down the anger of a powerful woman who would then see turning said villain female as an appropriate revenge. A serial rapist seemed the best choice.
So, without giving anything away, what's this novel of mine about? No one wants spoilers, but everyone wants to know what a novel is about before reading it. Here's the rundown on my novel, The New Girls.
Back in June of this year, while I was preparing to go in for scoliosis surgery (repositioning of my entire spine by bolting it to a pair of rods that run from the top of my scapulae to my sacrum, where the longest bolts connect the rods to my ilia) I started working on a novel. I finished the first draft before I went in for surgery (August 7th) and have revised it several times since my release from post-op rehab in late August. I was surprised how much of this novel was already there, fully formed, in my head. I wrote the first 70000 words in under thirty days.
Let me ask you a question. Ever have a recurring dream that wasn't a nightmare? I had one, starting when I was about thirteen (which is—ouch!—forty years ago). It was one of those crazy dreams where I would eventually wake thinking, Wait, that wasn't real? In the dream, I woke, showered, ate breakfast, and went to school—just like any other day. Even the classes and teachers were the same. Two things were different. First, I seemed to be a lot more popular. People who'd never even noticed me before were following me around and acting like my friends. Second, I was female. Understand, this was not an erotic dream.
Over the years, this dream continued to pop up, and I wondered, briefly, if I wasn't suffering some form of latent transsexualism. Awake, however, I never felt the least interest in switching genders, so I knew this wasn't the souirce. So, over the years, surreptitiously, I've questioned other men about transgender dreams. I only recently began asking the same question of women. The results, thus far, have been surprising. As far as I can recall, every man I've asked has admitted to transgender dreams at one time or another, of one sort or another (erotic, status quo, nightmare). A few have laughed of the questoin or refused to answer, but I tend to chalk those up as, "Yes. Leave me alone."
Those dreams were the source material for this novel. I wanted to examine a situation where four very different men suddenly wake to find themselves female. This was impossible to do in any form other than science fiction or fantasy. I chose urban fantasy, primarily because I wanted to examine this situation in terms of modern issues and attitudes concerning gender, youth, sex, and beauty.
So, in the spirit of honest disclosure, The New Girls is an urban fantasy. It's also part police procedural, part crime novel. Because of the sexual and violent content, this is no youth novel. If any of these aspects interest you, please, drop me a comment or email me at dennisggrace@yahoo.com. I'll send you the first three chapters immediately and follow-up chapters as you need them.
Thanks in advance.
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