Control: A Unique Idea, Right?

I, Dalton Lewis, want to rewrite an old novel of mine that I published a couple of years ago. The novel, A Worship of the Dark Gods, showed a group of teenagers in various problematic situations. Someone was bullied for being transgender, another girl was abused by her boyfriend, and a scared mentally ill young man was locked up for being scared and confused. I liked the characters and the concept of young people turning to a strange outsider for guidance, but the novel didn’t work. I want to rewrite it and give it another chance.

I published my novels before they had a finished last draft and were perfect. More work would improve these stories and make people really care about them, right? I write these novels and pour my heart and soul into them but didn’t achieve as much as I wanted with those projects. Rewriting them will give me closure. I will — at the minimum — have a group of novels about which I can be proud. They will be my legacy, not me halfway writing half a dozen novels every five years and ignoring that they aren’t finished to a quality that I want.

I look around the world and see so much hatred and fear of people who are different. Multiple mass shootings these past few years have had racist or homophobic undertones. I wanted to write something about a demon, someone who is hated and feared but not particularly evil, and I thought that demon-worshiping would be an interesting metaphor for that. The novel was interesting, but I didn’t give it the rewrite that it needed and deserved.

I want a series, but I never write sequels because the original novels don’t sell enough copies to warrant a next book. I sit, in my room, with food and water and soda on my desk, as well as wargaming miniatures, little pots of paint, sprues from unbuilt minis, Longstrike, and spray paint. I feel a significant urge to rewrite this novel, to rewrite the novels that didn’t work and turn them into something that works, something that people appreciate, something that shows who I can be and what I can do.

The world shows so much hatred of that which it does not understand. The traditional tribal theory says so much — people love their own group and hate and fear the other groups, the outsiders, the people with different belief systems. I think that warrants a book about people who worship someone they are not supposed to worship, someone scary and dangerous. I think that the central metaphor, combined with interesting and unique characters, can say something fundamental about today’s society.

I just want my friends and family to read my novels and give intelligent comments. I don’t know that I will ever sell a million copies. I don’t care about that, not anymore. I just want to be a good blogger and novelist who expresses himself to his friends and family and a few dedicated followers.

Thanks, and take care, friends.