December 2018 – Matthew Keville

Excerpt from City of Dreams: George Fuller’s Last Day at Coney Island – Part 2

The picture above is he latest draft of my novel-in-progress, City of Dreams. What do you think? The young woman above is Aislin Rourke, heroine of City of Dreams, but I’m afraid you’re not going to meet her in today’s passage.

Today’s passage is the second half of the story of George Fuller and his accidental journey into the Dream of Coney Island, begun in this post last week.

George’s story is an illustration of the classic advice to writers: “Murder your darlings”. George’s story is intended to be an interlude in City of Dreams, but it’s more than forty pages long. You can’t have an “interlude” that’s 10% of the total length of the book. That means that you, the readers of this blog, are getting to read an uncut version of this story that will not and cannot make it to the final book.

So join me for the story George Fuller, Sally, and their last day at Coney Island.

Beware. NC-17.

***

Excerpt from City of Dreams: George Fuller’s Last Day at Coney Island – Part 1

One of the classic pieces of advice for authors is “Murder your darlings”. You have to be willing to sacrifice any individual part of the story – any scene, any character – for the greater good of the story as a whole, no matter how much you love them.

This passage is a classic example. This story – and the second part, coming next week – are intended to be an interlude between chapters in my Novel-in-progress City of Dreams. They tell the story of an old man who accidentally crosses over into Dream when such a thing shouldn’t be possible, and illustrates that Dream can be just as dangerous in its way as Nightmare (though you do die happy). Between the two sections, this “interlude” is more than 40 double-spaced pages long. Clearly, some darlings need to be murdered and some serious trimming needs to be done before the final draft of the book. You can’t have an “interlude” that’s 10% of the total book. But I love the story of George Fuller, Sally, and their summers at Coney Island. So I’d like to share it with you in its uncut form for perhaps the one and only time.

Beware. NC-17.

***

George Fuller sat on a bench on the Coney Island boardwalk and looked out at the ocean.

Excerpt from City of Dreams: Aislin Enters Nightmare

The picture above is our first look at Aislin Rourke, heroine of City of Dreams, the novel I am currently writing. What is our heroine getting ready to fight…and why is she looking UP to do it? That would be telling.

City of Dreams is a sequel to Dreams of the Boardwalk, or rather, Dreams of the Boardwalk is a prequel to the series of books that I hope to begin with City of Dreams. In any case, it is a story of the worlds of Dream and Nightmare, and the Dreamwalkers who protect the one and strive against the other…which is which depends on the Dreamwalker.

With that in mind, I decided that instead of starting with Aislin’s very first scene, I would start with her first experience in Nightmare, so I can introduce both at once.

Rated R.

PS – As with all the covers for my major works, this cover is being drawn by the marvelous Ruben de Vela.

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