People might have their own preconceptions about what they envision my novel, Eden, to be about. That is fine. That is what I expect from the world today. People are allowed to formulate opinions and speculate on things they know little about. For me, however, Eden is a little more complicated than being a word for paradise.
In my mind, every book needs to have a theme and morals to it. Without something for the reader to relate to, then what is the point in writing a piece of writing? Eden has one of those strange morals to it, but it still remains focused on finding paradise. The difference with Eden as a novel is that paradise is not an abstract concept but an achievable goal. In this case, it involves Alyssa realising that her Eden is in the form of girlfriend Karlie. I guess the main theme of Eden is therefore real love. A love not even a war can stop. And that is what I want the reader to feel every step of the way with Eden. A sense of love.
The last report I did is available here: Eden: Embrace the Dark
- What I Did Today
For today, though it took a while for me to get all the words out, I thoroughly enjoyed delving into the history of Ryan and Karlie. I related this event to the apocalypse through a contrived segue, but it fits the theme of the book.
In essence, the entirety of the work I did today focused on how Ryan and Karlie met and allowing the reader to discover why it is they began to fall in love. I feel that is the thing that is not tackled a lot in romantic settings. Sure, there is a lot of focus on how they belong together, but there is no substance to how they figured that out. Eden does not rely on a fairy tale destiny to bring Ryan and Karlie together. It uses real world emotion and romancing to weave the story.
I like to think of myself as a classical person when it comes to courtship. I will never rush something and, seeing as how my last relationship was over five years ago, it takes me a while to really get the trust needed to go to that next step with someone. I want Ryan and Karlie’s relationship to hearken back to the classical era of novels. Ryan and Karlie’s love is not “because they are destined” Twilight drivel or “because I say so” Fifty Shades of Grey nonsense. No, Ryan and Karlie have a romance built exactly on that; romance.
- Today’s Best Work
The best work is the first time Karlie and Ryan meet and their subsequent conversation where Karlie establishes herself as a no-nonsense individual and an intellectual equal of Ryan.
“Friends all abandon you?” she said.
“I wouldn’t say abandon, but, I guess they did leave me high and dry while they’re out there hooking up,” I replied.
“Hey, I bet you could get any male out there wrapped around your finger in an instant,” Karlie said.
“Sure, if this wasn’t a gay bar,” I mumbled.
“Wait, this is a gay bar? I never would’ve guessed at first glance. Everyone seems happy in a place like this. Almost like Trump never happened. I want four more years of this,” Karlie grinned.
I laughed at that. I gave Karlie the benefit of the doubt. She did have a sense of humour. I sighed and straightened my back. The barstools were not a comfortable thing to sit on but they were good when you needed to spin around. It was the first real look I got at Karlie and her look enamoured me right away. I know it was wrong of me to judge someone on the way they presented themselves in an aesthetic fashion, but Karlie was one of the few that managed to generate a reaction from her exterior look alone. Granted, the combination of factors inside the club contributed to how I saw Karlie, but that took nothing away from her.
“I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Alyssa, but I don’t like to go by that name. Everyone calls me Ryan,” I said and extended a hand.
“I think I’ll stick with calling you Alyssa. It’s a cute name. I’m Karlie and I must say, your accent confuses me. It’s like it doesn’t match how you look. No offense or anything,” Karlie said and took my hand, giving a light shake.
“I get that a lot, trust me. The accent is a weird amalgamation of Australian, Chinese and American. The closest example I can give is a beached whale crying out. Morbid, yes, but also truthful. I’ll get yelled at if I don’t ask, but how do you spell your name? There’s so many ways that people try to be fancy these days. It’s all so confusing.”
Karlie giggled and I caught the slightest hint of red in her cheeks that was not from the strobing lights. The sheen of her face made Karlie seem younger than she was. She offered no complaint and told me the spelling of her name. I took note that one of her hands lingered close to me and would brush against my leg every few seconds.
“I get the feeling you aren’t the most social person in the world, Alyssa. I can sense quite a bit of tension in your movements and your voice. You seem afraid of being here. I don’t think there’s anything you need to be afraid of in this place. Let’s look at the positives in your position. You’re enjoying some of the finest nightlife with the most gorgeous people in the world. You have free choice of drinks here and you know what the icing on the cake is? You have perhaps the single most beautiful female outside of yourself chatting you up. I’d say that’s a pretty sweet deal and nothing to be afraid of in the slightest. I do want to know something though. I want to know how I can put a smile on your lovely face. I haven’t had the chance to see you outside of this flat look you have. They say that those who don’t smile often have the best smiles because they only break them out on a rare occasion,” Karlie said.
- How Productive I Felt I Was
The way in which I tackle my writing differs from week to week. Sometimes, things come easy, while other days, things are not as easy. Eden is very straightforward and it remains on the not-so-easy spectrum. That is not a bad thing as I loved the work I did today because it really felt like it enhanced the novel as a whole while not taking focus away from the current state of the world.
In fact, sprinkling in bits of what life was like before the invasion will prove pivotal for Eden to be successful. It gives the characters something to fight for and it allows the reader to cheer them on so they can have that world again.
- What I Intend To Write Next
While Ryan did show the first glance of her being “Shadow,” the relationship between her and Karlie is what drives Ryan to do what she does. I want to work hard to show that Ryan cares for Karlie more than herself and that she would do anything for her. In a way, “Shadow” is the perfection combination of what Ryan feels for Karlie. And I will love every second of writing Eden. Next week will tie back into the invasion and the fight Ryan has before her.
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