'Voices in the Briars': Done!

As threatened, my "Bluebeard" retelling is now finished in first draft form. Oof! Where do I begin with this? Firstly, it's vampire fiction, with the vampires being more of the classic Dracula type in the sense of the count being that archetypal suave European aristo while surrounding himself with the more mindless, ghoulish incarnations of the undead (the "lesser revenants" being more along my preferences for vampire fiction). 

The story straddles folktale and our more modern take on vampire lore, and I made sure to work significant elements of the fairy tale into the plot since the story is my original vision in spite of the Perrault's influence. The key is there. The mysterious locked rooms. The blood on the key. The ball to reassure the bride (in this case, the ball is there to celebrate the groom). The "business" that takes the count away, allowing the groom to explore where he shouldn't. The discoveries of the count's secret and of the groom's movements. The final confrontation.

Above all, the idea of obedience / subservience, which is a theme of Perrault's fairy tale, is also worked in more extensively and even starts early.

Finally, there's a nod to the Estonian variant in that the friendship between Dávid and Lóránt plays a key role in the plot. There's also a hat tip to the legend of the Blood Countess with the setting being in 19th century Hungary and of the count being fed the blood of innocents (of which he has a steady supply). 

So, yeah -- done! I expect edits and revisions to be lighter than usual since I've been doing quick edits and revisions whenever I open my story file and reread the last chapter I wrote (sometimes last two chapters). And I'm grateful for a more chill polishing stage before I dive into the next book because there's no rest for the wicked. 

And I always celebrate with a music video. Before I'd post a disco video for campy fun, but I figured I'll mix things up a bit and share what I believe is the greatest intro theme of any TV series in human history. Yeah, the gauntlet's thrown because BEHOLD THE GROOVY AND WEEP!

They don't make intro music like this anymore. I've always loved this theme. Also after a few days' worth of excessive heat here, we now have the infamous fog back, and I'm looking out the window right now, adoring the gray scene and the cold that's blowing through my partially open window. I love it. 

Or, to be more specific, I love Karl. Why, yes, our Bay Area fog is nicknamed Karl the Fog, and I'm here for it.