Graham Parke's Blog - Posts Tagged "gomez"
2010's only novel without sexy vampires -- part II
Back to the good ol' days of Part I.
Interview #2
Welcome back, Mr. Parke. I hope you’re feeling a little better today?
I feel drowsy…
That’s probably for the best. It means the medication is working. Do you feel we can continue the interview now?
I really don’t feel well.
That’s natural. Don't worry about it. The last time we spoke, you were going to tell us more about your novel. I for one, would like to know about dwarves and elves. How well are they represented in your novel and what do they signify to you?
Why am I tied to this chair?
It’s for your own protection. Now, if you could just try to concentrate. Most authors see dwarves as minor characters, with one obvious exception of course. How do you view this? Are dwarves doomed to play substandard roles in literature from now on?
Who are you?
Mr. Parke, please! Let’s just get through this, okay? I have a life to get back to. Stop playing dumb and stop drooling over my pad! Now, let’s examine some quotes from your novel ‘No Hope for Gomez!’ Maybe you can talk us through them.
“Mathematicians finally developed a financial model to accurately compare apples and oranges. Any two kinds of fruit can be compared, although guavas still cause minor rounding errors. Further investigation is ongoing.”
“Instead of heading for the big mental breakdown, I decided to have a little one, every Tuesday evening.”
“It felt weird visiting Dr. Hargrove at the clinic. A bit like French kissing an old lady; all the right moves, but in totally the wrong places.”
A very obvious lack of dwarves here, which some might say is a sure sign of substandard writing. Do you have any comments?
I just… the room… it’s spinning so fast…
Maybe a few more quotes will help rouse your brain;
“The stalker, meanwhile, stepped into the road. Didn’t even check for traffic. There wasn’t any, but something told me this was lucky for traffic rather than the stalker.”
“I shouted the perfect words to scare him off. It was just the delivery (and only the delivery) that made me sound like a twelve-year-old girl with pee running down her leg.
I felt dirty and stupid.”
"Women are attracted to men who play hard to get. That can’t be right, can it? Looking back over my life, I’ve played hard to get almost continuously. I’d ignored women intensely (to the point of being a danger to them in traffic). I’ve ignored them because I assumed I didn’t stand a chance."
Some very good places here for a vampire or two. Yet, you chose to leave these scenes curiously vampire-less. Were you just building up tension? Making the readers wait for the vampires?
Please… just kill me..
I can see we’re not going to get anywhere today, Mr. Parke. I’ll have the nurse come by and increase your medication. I’ll be back tomorrow.
Interview #2
Welcome back, Mr. Parke. I hope you’re feeling a little better today?
I feel drowsy…
That’s probably for the best. It means the medication is working. Do you feel we can continue the interview now?
I really don’t feel well.
That’s natural. Don't worry about it. The last time we spoke, you were going to tell us more about your novel. I for one, would like to know about dwarves and elves. How well are they represented in your novel and what do they signify to you?
Why am I tied to this chair?
It’s for your own protection. Now, if you could just try to concentrate. Most authors see dwarves as minor characters, with one obvious exception of course. How do you view this? Are dwarves doomed to play substandard roles in literature from now on?
Who are you?
Mr. Parke, please! Let’s just get through this, okay? I have a life to get back to. Stop playing dumb and stop drooling over my pad! Now, let’s examine some quotes from your novel ‘No Hope for Gomez!’ Maybe you can talk us through them.
“Mathematicians finally developed a financial model to accurately compare apples and oranges. Any two kinds of fruit can be compared, although guavas still cause minor rounding errors. Further investigation is ongoing.”
“Instead of heading for the big mental breakdown, I decided to have a little one, every Tuesday evening.”
“It felt weird visiting Dr. Hargrove at the clinic. A bit like French kissing an old lady; all the right moves, but in totally the wrong places.”
A very obvious lack of dwarves here, which some might say is a sure sign of substandard writing. Do you have any comments?
I just… the room… it’s spinning so fast…
Maybe a few more quotes will help rouse your brain;
“The stalker, meanwhile, stepped into the road. Didn’t even check for traffic. There wasn’t any, but something told me this was lucky for traffic rather than the stalker.”
“I shouted the perfect words to scare him off. It was just the delivery (and only the delivery) that made me sound like a twelve-year-old girl with pee running down her leg.
I felt dirty and stupid.”
"Women are attracted to men who play hard to get. That can’t be right, can it? Looking back over my life, I’ve played hard to get almost continuously. I’d ignored women intensely (to the point of being a danger to them in traffic). I’ve ignored them because I assumed I didn’t stand a chance."
Some very good places here for a vampire or two. Yet, you chose to leave these scenes curiously vampire-less. Were you just building up tension? Making the readers wait for the vampires?
Please… just kill me..
I can see we’re not going to get anywhere today, Mr. Parke. I’ll have the nurse come by and increase your medication. I’ll be back tomorrow.
Delusions of Plot and Character
OBS: For me, your secondary characters- particularly Hicks, Warren and the Sombrero guy- bring an almost otherworldly, fantastical feel to the story – what were your influences to create those characters?
Graham Parke: I think that’s life, really. I am often amazed by what life decides to do to me and how it circumvents any plans I’m making with terrifying ease. The things these characters do to Gomez, that’s how I feel most of the time; bewildered and wanting to pull someone on the sleeve to ask, “Okay, so, what was that all about?”
OBS: The way you keep the reader on their toes, trying to decipher what is reality and what is fantasy, is amazing – did you have a clear vision of how this story would end? Or were you dragged along for the ride as well?
Graham Parke: I had a vague idea when I started. I knew bits from the beginning, the middle, and the end. I wasn’t too sure how I would get from one to the other, though. And, as it turns out, what little I knew was wrong anyway.
As soon as the beginning of a tale gets more detail, you gain a better understanding of the middle. As soon as the middle gets more detail, you realize why the ending will never work. In any way, shape, or form. I’ve come to believe that the only real value in thinking you know where a story is headed, is the delusion that you have an ending to fall back on if the real one fails to reveal itself.
Read the entire interview on Open Book Society.
No Hope for Gomez!
Free give-away NoDate:
Graham Parke: I think that’s life, really. I am often amazed by what life decides to do to me and how it circumvents any plans I’m making with terrifying ease. The things these characters do to Gomez, that’s how I feel most of the time; bewildered and wanting to pull someone on the sleeve to ask, “Okay, so, what was that all about?”
OBS: The way you keep the reader on their toes, trying to decipher what is reality and what is fantasy, is amazing – did you have a clear vision of how this story would end? Or were you dragged along for the ride as well?
Graham Parke: I had a vague idea when I started. I knew bits from the beginning, the middle, and the end. I wasn’t too sure how I would get from one to the other, though. And, as it turns out, what little I knew was wrong anyway.
As soon as the beginning of a tale gets more detail, you gain a better understanding of the middle. As soon as the middle gets more detail, you realize why the ending will never work. In any way, shape, or form. I’ve come to believe that the only real value in thinking you know where a story is headed, is the delusion that you have an ending to fall back on if the real one fails to reveal itself.
Read the entire interview on Open Book Society.
No Hope for Gomez!
Free give-away NoDate:
Summer of Gomez Winners
"Every once in a while you come across a novel so fresh and new it reacquaints you with feelings of childhood wonder. The novel my neighbor, Warren, wrote was my first example of the exact opposite of this."
-- Gomez in 'No Hope for Gomez!'
Blogger Kindle Winner:
Serena from SavvyVerseandWit.com
Reader Kindle Winner:
Arthur Hall (US)
Reader iPod Winner:
Lynn Bassler (US)
Limited edition Winners:
Ebehireme Iyoha (US)
Yasmin Raad Muhi (Mal)
Sarah Bibi Setar (SA)
Gemma Richardson (UK)
David Lane (US)
Thanks to everyone who decided to make the summer of 2011 an official Summer of Gomez! I for one had a lot of fun and lost only a little bit of hair (and a few teeth) over the administration. A small price to pay of course.
Let's try something great next year as well.
-- Gomez in 'No Hope for Gomez!'
Blogger Kindle Winner:Serena from SavvyVerseandWit.com
Reader Kindle Winner:
Arthur Hall (US)
Reader iPod Winner:
Lynn Bassler (US)
Limited edition Winners:
Ebehireme Iyoha (US)
Yasmin Raad Muhi (Mal)
Sarah Bibi Setar (SA)
Gemma Richardson (UK)
David Lane (US)
Thanks to everyone who decided to make the summer of 2011 an official Summer of Gomez! I for one had a lot of fun and lost only a little bit of hair (and a few teeth) over the administration. A small price to pay of course.
Let's try something great next year as well.
