So Far "Ruthless" is a Really Fun Read

About halfway into this week, Ed Calkins began sending me final drafts of Ruthless for editing.

We are up to thirteen of the twenty-four (including the prologue).

I returned a sample chapter and did a close read and some general editing. Over the next few weekends, I'll be a bit pickier.

For those reading this blog for the first time, Ruthless is the Ed Calkins back story and will be part of my BryonySeries.

Ed Calkins is a real person who allowed himself to be fictionalized, legally, for my series. A BryonySeries fan asked me to write his back story. 

But if you know Ed (the man or the myth), you will know that's a story only Ed can write. He's been working on it all year.

Here are some of my initial thoughts:

This book is not for everyone, even if you are a fan of the BryonySeries, due to the brand of strange humor it contains.

You know how some authors like feel their book is for everyone? I can (kind of) say that about Ruthless. It has something offensive for nearly everyone. 

But the biggest putdowns are in Ed's direction. And I think many readers (if they are honest with themselves) will relate to his self-deprecating form of humor since it is very, very human.

For example, Ed, as an imaginary "ruthless dictator," when faced by angry mobs he must address, hides under his desk and must be coaxed out by his secretary. 

"Ruthless" is like Lewis Carroll for adults. You have no idea where Ed is taking the story or what he might do in each sentence (the fact he's dyslexic adds to the puzzle, so lots of copy editing as I was reading), which is part of what makes this fun to read (for me, at least). 

And yet, I could see the underlying structure and purpose in the work, even if I can't tell where it's heading.

I never laughed so hard at a single, well-placed word ("Bunny").

But then, I did a lot of laughing out loud.

The characters are over the top and strangely very human.

If you've read Staked!, you will understand the mirror concept. However, Ed has taken it to degrees I never imagined and made woven it into his story in ways that makes total (non)sense.

Satan is a were-goat (part goat, part leprechaun) and speaks in Gaelic brogue.

A few BryonySeries characters make cameo appearances (and some, cameo mentions). Glorna is a secondary character, as is Angela. But they may not be as you recall them. 

This is fine with me because Ed Calkins the character is completely unreliable as a narrator. If you've read the book young adult "drop of blood" BryonySeries trilogy, you'll know what I mean.

I make a cameo appearance as The Goddess. And that nickname preceded the current one from Ed (Mistress of My Immortality). He adds a flashback on how that nickname came to be (and splices that scene together with one from Visage).

Speaking of "The Goddess," today I enter the last full day of my second at-home writing retreat of 2020.

I might not hit every goal and some of my resolve went sideways (I actually did some marketing last night), but I will be very close, and I accomplished a few additional projects that ought to forgive the rest.

But I still have a day and a half. It's not over yet.