A Novella Emerges
There’s light at the end of the tunnel, and it has taken the shape of a published novella.
After a dark period of illness in the family this past winter and early spring, the outlook is now brighter.
My new novella, Slapdown, is part of the relatively new and growing Kindle Worlds publishing program. Specifically, this novella is in the World of Kurt Vonnegut. Mr. V is gone, but Amazon has taken appropriate steps with his estate to make this happen.
In the case of Slapdown, I have a Vonnegut character hovering in the background, the hack science fiction Kilgore Trout, as well as crucial sections involving the Tralfamadorians. The book also has quieter brushes with Vonnegut’s work that well-read fans of his fiction will notice. (If you know about German batball, raise your hand.)
Even the title, Slapdown, is only a few characters away from Vonnegut’s Slapstick.
The idea of Kindle Worlds, as I interpret the guidelines. is not to mimic the original source material—an impossibility in the case of Vonnegut—but to build on such elements as characters, themes, style and attitude to make a creative spinoff that can flex its muscles and stand on its own. Spinoffs of TV shows are good analogies.
Since I’ve done mostly crime fiction the past few years, jumping into a World of Kurt Vonnegut novella was a nice change of pace. Finding writing time for Slapdown was sometimes a challenge, but the words came with more ease than I expected. In many ways I enjoyed this adventure outside the bounds of mystery fiction, where pacing and the planting and discovery of clues often threaten to be all consuming.
The essence of Kurt Vonnegut is difficult to boil down, partly because his fiction flows over such a wide range, but I’ve arrived at a working definition that serves my needs, both as a reader and as a Kindle Worlds author. For me, Vonnegut’s fiction is the nexus of satire with a fairly wild form of science fiction. Then leaven that with a good measure of outright goofiness.
After I shout out the news of Slapdown to my own vast fan base, I hope to be back at the keyboard soon whipping up another adventure in the World of Kurt Vonnegut.
Oh, in case you want to browse Slapdown, head over to https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072K743T9 . If you can’t resist the exploits of cosmic consultant Silo Rosewater Fish, you can get your own copy for a mere $1.99 US, plus tax.
As Mr. V might say, hi ho.