Hi guys. So most of you already know that when I’m not yelling at sassy maps on the internet I write plays and comics. But once, a long time ago, I had notions. I aspired to be a novelist. Around a decade ago I started work on an epic fantasy trilogy called TheHangman’s Daughter. It’s about a young girl living in medieval France named Marie. Marie is not like other girls. She can see angels and demons, and she can control the flow of time around her. Her father is the village hangman, and one terrible night he is killed by the son of a man he executed. Marie is then taken in by a woman named Mariana, who tells her that she is a Temporal Adept, one of a small group of people with a natural ability to travel through time. Marie becomes embroiled in a war between the other Temporals and a man named Mabus, the most powerful Temporal of all who is marshalling an army of soldiers from across all of space and time to conquer and invade hell and so forestall his own inevitable damnation.
It’s a big, epic fantasy story with a cast of hundreds that spans nations, past, present, future, earth, heaven, purgatory and hell.
So what happened? Well, I finished the first book, got close to the end of the second, realised that the first one didn’t work with what I was trying to do with the second, rewrote the first, ended up doing a lot of damage and basically…I gave up. I started writing for stage a lot more, life got a whole lot more complicated and eventually the time and energy I was spending on the book just wasn’t justifiable and I ended up putting it to one side for a few years. But it’s always been nagging me in the back of my mind. There’s too much good stuff in there, too much work and effort, too many characters I worked really hard on, to just give up on it.
So, here’s what I’m thinking…
Starting from next week I’m going to be serialising the Hangman’s Daughter every second week between reviews. If you’re not interested in reading, that’s absolutely fine. Don’t worry about it. But if it sounds like something you’d be interested in, I’d really like to get a conversation going on what works, what doesn’t, what should be changed etc. Basically I’m just looking for feedback and maybe some inspiration to get me excited about writing this thing again. Please be (constructively) brutal. I started writing this when I was still technically a teenager and believe me, in places it will show. And don’t worry, this is not going to effect the regular review schedule, I’ve got enough material to keep us going for years.
I look forward to hearing what you think,
Mouse out.
unshavedmouse 
Oh hell yes I’m excited for this.
Thanks dude!
Oooh…the wrath of the Hangman’s Daughter!
Should be interesting.
On a side note, Nostalgia Critic’s review of Foodfight was so detrimental to my mental health that I tore a hole in reality.
But I’m much better now…
He did an awesome job.
Ya, but he did also show clips form the movie, and I have to agree the animation is awful. I’ve seen better animation from 2nd degree movie reviewers and internet ranters than what I saw from that movie. I hate to say it, but HISHE is way better and so is Illwillpress.com. A major picture animation studio should have released something at least equal to Saturday morning cartoons, but nope. Complete failure.
If you’re interested, you can also post bits of your story here: http://www.critiquecircle.com
I’m a member of the site, and let me tell you, I’ve gotten some great results from some of the stories I’ve sent on there. The best thing is that you can also critique other people’s stuff to, so you’re helping out a lot of others as well as hoping people will help you.
Still interested in what’s to come, but it’s a nice site to try out, and it’s free. So you can take as long as you want on here and not have a problem with it.
Thanks for the tip!
Ok, i’ll give it a try! 😉
Much obliged!
Sounds awesome, I’ll give it a shot.
Thanks!
Sure. And just so you know, I’m writing a novel too. 🙂
Cool! Good luck with it!
Sounds like an interesting premise! I was also considering writing a novel of some sort, but I can’t think up any original ideas to save my life!
Rip off Harry Potter, toss in some X-men and Paradise Lost and gender flip the lead. Sorry, you were saying something about original ideas?
N-Neil…are you actually describing American Horror Story: Coven? Because that’s EXACTLY what it is. X-Men + Harry Potter.
Haven’t seen it and…no, not really.
And girls, of course.
Ideas are like Lego. You grab pieces of other things and use them to build something new. Also, you can become suddenly and uncomfortably aware of them in the dead of night.
This book has stabbed me in the foot so many times.
Bring it on!
(I can see you like ‘Ma-‘ names.)
I wanted to call our daughter Marlene but was vetoed.
Marlene Sharpson is actually a really nice phonetic contrast.
Pronounced “mar-lay-na” not “mar-leen”.
I went through a phase of wanting to name a child Sabriel, but S. Mellor is just inviting bullies. Also, Sabriel.
Smellor. My God. It’s the bullying grail.
Looking forward to it!
Oh god, I’m terrible at criticizing. I’ll make sure to read the entire thing, though!
Much obliged sir.
Sounds awesome. Looking forward to reading it!
Thanks. Really hope you like it.
Are you sure you want my critical eye on it? I can be very direct, you know….
I hadn’t noticed. 😉 All the more reason.
Yes, I want to build a snowman! 😀 ..oh, and help you write a book too. 🙂
So weird. That song was just in my head
About like me, I think I’m addicted to Frozen now. Hope there’s a cure, because I can’t let it go and build a snowman in summer that’s a fixer upper, so I better take myself out the open door before I end up with a frozen heart.
I would love to read your book! It sounds exciting.
Thanks, I hope it lives up to your expectations.
Ooh! That sounds amazing! I’ll try to remember to read it as it comes out.
Thanks, I really appreciate.
That sounds interesting. I’ll try to follow it. 🙂
Hey Unshaved Mouse. There are the Liebster Awards that are going around through WordPress Animation blogs, and I nominated you. Practically, you have to answer 11 questions by me, and create 11 questions to the people that you want to nominate. More details (like the questions you have to answer) are in this blog:
http://animatedkid.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/liebster-award/
Oh, BTW, are you considering getting this published, or just leaving it on its own?
Dunno. Right now I just want to write it.
You know, I’ve actually recently embarked on a quite similar project. Epic fantasy series, got the idea as a teenager, finally revisiting it. I actually just finished my first draft of the first book today! Would you be interested in giving my story a look over? I’m more than happy to read your chapters as you post them! 🙂
I honestly would love to but at the moment I just don’t have the time I’m afraid. Between the blog and work I barely have time to read the plays I’m supposed to be reading, never mind a novel. I wish you the best of luck with it though.