Perceval Plus Four

As I finished a draft of Perceval almost 2 years ago, I couldn’t shake ideas that flooded into my mind for a sequel.  Two ideas were particularly insistent, i.e. that Evan would have something to do with children, and snippets from Bela Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra seemed related somehow to Evan.  I hadn’t thought of the Bartok for a long time.  Both possessed a crisp clarity that signals something I need to pay attention to.  So, I began writing notes, writing down every idea that popped into my head to see where it might lead me.

Over the summer of 2006, I gave Perceval a ruthless line edit.  One day as I worked, all the ideas for a sequel swirled together into a coherent plan.  I was shocked.  Evan Quinn definitely had more to say.  And who am I to tell a conductor that he can’t talk?  As I began outlining the second novel (Perceval’s Shadow) which involved a child and a composer like Bartok, and continued to write down my ideas, I had another shock: I began to see the sequel as four sequels, each with its own challenge for Evan to overcome and lesson to learn, but even more than that.  The novels formed not really a series in my mind but five parts of one very long novel.

Evan’s character arc begins in Perceval, and he develops in each subsequent novel until the arc comes to a resolution at the end of the fifth part or novel.  This felt familiar to me.  When I began the first novel, I’d thought I was writing a short story until I’d written about 100 pages, at which point, I realized I was writing a novel.  This time, I’d thought I was writing one novel, when in fact I’d written the first part of a much longer novel which would have four more parts or novels.  Over the last year, I’ve worked on outlines for the other novels and continued to be surprised how different characters took on lives of their own.  During a workout last June, the climax of the fifth part/novel came to me — I could visualize the whole thing up to the moment before someone makes a life-or-death decision.  I still don’t know what the decision is and probably won’t until I write that book.

Fortunately, this is not without precedent.  The example that comes to mind: When J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings, it was one long novel in three sections, each titled.  For production and marketing purposes, his publisher, as I understand it, persuaded Tolkien to break the novel into three novels to be published separately.  They called it a trilogy, but I suspect to Tolkien the three books always were one.  And so it is with the Perceval novels — a quintet of novels, a pentology, a symphony in five movements — each novel to stand alone, but making up a greater whole.

It’s crazy.  What if the first novel doesn’t sell well?  I have faith that it will sell just fine, if given a chance.  The more important consideration for me is to be faithful to the material, to Evan Quinn and his voice, his story, his tortured soul, and to write it all down the best I can.

Why “Perceval” or Book Titles 101

From the beginning, I struggled with what to title the first novel in the series, which at the time was the only novel.  I made one list after another of title ideas and nothing really grabbed me.  As a working title, I used “Con Brio” for a long time.  Eventually, under the influence of a quote by Carl Jung, I changed the working title to “Shadow Lovers.”  This title remained through eight or nine drafts, work with my first editor and my first stab at marketing the novel.  Then I took some time away from it to work on screenwriting.

I returned to the novel eager to write prose again.  However, I wrote the rough draft of a screenplay adaptation first to help me get back into the story.  Writing the screenplay exposed structural problems that I fixed.  “Shadow Lovers” was still the title but it struck me as sounding like a romance novel which it’s not.  One day, the proverbial lightbulb lit up over my head.  The secret Evan harbors needed a code name.  I could use the code name, if good, as the title.  I groped around for a name before settling on using one of King Arthur’s knights’ names.  The first that came to mind was Perceval.  And I was off and researching….

Perceval was one of three knights who searched for the Holy Grail.  The other two were Galahad, who died of ecstasy after seeing the Holy Grail, and Bors, who was the only knight to see the Holy Grail and return to Arthur’s court.  The original story, begun by Chretien de Troyes in the 12th century as Perceval or Conte del Graal, was finished in the 13th century by an author named Manessier.  In the story, Perceval was the knight who saw the Holy Grail at the Fisher King’s castle but did not comprehend what he saw, and he failed to ask Amfortas, the ill Fisher King, what it was (Perceval’s uncle had taught him it was impolite to ask questions), thereby causing Amfortas pain.  If Perceval had asked the question, Amfortas would have been cured.  Perceval left Amfortas’ castle and continued to have adventures, not realizing what he’d done or missed.

Perceval’s “blindness” appealed to me.  Evan’s secret can make him blind in the same way and he fails to ask crucial questions about it from the beginning because he is thinking about something else.  I changed the title to Perceval to reflect the power that this secret has over Evan and the story.

A one-word book title, from what I’d heard from other writers who’d also struggled with book titles, is advantageous for marketing and sales purposes.  The shorter the title, the better.  I’d wanted to find an evocative title, and I think I have — Perceval evokes a quest, knights, adventure, as well as “blindness” — and there’s a music tie-in as well: Richard Wagner’s opera of the story, Parsifal.

Once I had the first novel’s title, it was fun to come up with titles for the four subsequent novels and each hints at something important that occurs in each narrative.

Realities of the Musical Life

Two interesting blog posts at the Minnesota Orchestra’s Inside the Classics blog (link on my blogroll) this past week.  Sarah Hatsuko Hicks, Assistant Conductor, wrote both.  The first, on December 12, discussed the importance of protecting a conductor’s (or musician’s) sense of hearing, and how loud it can get for a conductor on the podium.  The second, on December 19, discussed the trials going on at the Seattle Symphony between orchestra and music director.

I had never imagined, ever, that it could be dangerous for a conductor’s ears and hearing to conduct.  I had observed some musicians, especially those near the percussion or brass, using earplugs at times.  Also, I’ve observed protective clear shields put up between the brass and strings also.  But the conductor?  He or she needs to be able to hear the sound the orchestra produces, loud and soft.  And orchestras can produce extremely loud music at times.  Hicks writes about resting her ears.  I think this is something I need to keep in mind for Evan Quinn.  Plus, how loud is the world in 2048-50?  I’ll need to be more aware of Evan’s sense of hearing beyond how he hears the timbre of voices when people speak to him, and his work on the podium.

As for the Seattle Symphony, a fine orchestra, it saddens me to read about the rancor between musicians and conductor.  It reminds me of a CEO and the leadership requirements for him/her to continue in the job.  If a CEO stops being an effective leader and doesn’t deliver, he gets booted.  A music director has more to the job description than conducting the orchestra, but the artistic leadership needs to be at the top of the list of responsibilities.  So, I hope they are able to reach a resolution in Seattle that will be the best for the artistic level and needs of the organization.  I have been thinking about whether or not Evan will become a music director at some point in his new life in Europe.  He’s been content to be a freelancer, having served as a music director in America, and in later books will be in the running to become the chief conductor of a European orchestra.  I think he probably has enough to deal with to resolve the situation around his big secret.  But we’ll see…..  

Holiday Tug-of-War with Writer

December is the month of my Discontent.

December is the month for year-end business chores, to wrap up the year just ending to prepare for the year to begin.

December is the month of holidays, get-togethers, decorating, shopping, running to the post office, cleaning house, shoveling snow and making plans for Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s. 

December is the month I turn into a grump — not a Scrooge, a grump — because the holidays and frenetic life pull me away from my writing, over and over and over again.  I suffer withdrawal, a sensation of falling, of impatience, of having forgotten something, and of having a slight case of constant seasickness.  The only cure is for me to write.  So, I do the best I can.  At the moment, I’m working on chapter 5 of book 3.  I know I won’t make my target of four chapters this month but I still need to spend quality time with Evan, Bernie, Sofia, et. al.

What will 2008 bring?  My wishes: Music, new friends, good health, fun with old friends, a literary agent and a publisher home for Perceval with strong sales.