Maplethorpe Ridge -- Intro

Okay, so I think first off is my MAJOR project. It started out on a whim years ago. I picked up some paper and a pen and said to myself, "Today, Ephram, you're going to start writing a novel." Knowing how I get and how bad my ADD gets, I didn't expect a novel to actually come from any of this "spare time writing." What happened was amazing. I became drawn into this world that I had created and obsessed with the people that lived there. This was my creation, and I loved it. So, instead of it falling by the wayside after a few attempts at writing something, I actually had a living, breathing universe. There were characters that enchanted me and stories that I wanted to tell. And over the course of the next few years, a novel emerged -- Maplethorpe Ridge.

Beyond that, MR became more than a novel to me. The story didn't end at the end. I saw the end as a new beginning, and my "on a whim" idea blossomed into what I envisioned as a series of novels.

This is by far the meatiest thing that I have ever written. Somewhere in my stacks of backup CDs from old computers is a MS Word file of over 600 pages. That is the first book of MR. MR took me probably five years to write start to finish at a "when I got inspired" pace. And what one can imagine about a work of fiction that grew and evolved over the course of years is that it got to be jumpy and fractured, and I know that there are continuity issues in it. My major goal of my twin-inspired blog is to edit, polish, and share the beauty that is Maplethorpe Ridge.

About a year or so ago (probably close to two now), I got the itch to work on it again. I had started writing book two in the series, and it severely irritated me not having book one in what I would consider a "finished" format. So, I printed out the entire latest version on paper and put it in a 3-ring binder. My goal here was to hand edit and reread the whole thing cover-to-cover (a feat that I have sadly still not done). Unfortunately, editing it was not nearly as exciting as writing it, and after a few days, the binder was shelved and now taunts me from the bookshelf in the bedroom.

This blog is going to be me doing my by hand "final" edits on MR, and in the process, sharing it with the world (or anyone who stumbles upon it). I'm going to embark on the arduous task of retyping the whole thing -- cover to cover. This, my friends, will be far easier for me than simply editing it on paper. And, it will give me the added thrust to work on it knowing that other people are out there reading it and (dear lord, hopefully) anxiously awaiting the next segment.

I know. These sound like such lofty goals indeed. But the past few days of setting up this blog have reenergized me in a way that I've not seen since I first wrote the last chapter.

What I'd like to do for you now is whet your whistle for what's to come over the coming months. To do this, I'll try my best to describe what this world is all about without giving too much away in terms of actual story. I had toyed with the idea of actually getting this guy published in a physical way several times, and I even went so far as to submit sample chapters to a publisher. This publisher requested a one-page summary/description to accompany the sample chapters. Whenever I think about this book, I think of that summary that I wrote. I'm going to do my best to recreate that now. I apologize at the start if it sounds generic, but I don't want to spoil anything in the story.

Maplethorpe Ridge is a sci-fi, romance novel. I wrote what I like, so it's part soap opera, part mystery, part sci-fi, and (I hope) incredibly addictive. Maplethorpe Ridge is the story of several women and how they deal with their lives under various trying circumstances. It's a growing and learning experience -- finding love, losing love, learning things about themselves and the world, and having grand adventures. Crystal is pregnant and harboring a dark secret from her husband. Linda is trapped in a loveless marriage, yearning to give her lonely life meaning. Evelyn craves power and control and seeks it out at the expense of her family. And Kelly is hell bent on getting revenge on those who have wronged her in the past. But no one in this suburb on the hills and cliffs overlooking Las Vegas has any idea what's really in store for them when mysterious, ancient relics begin to surface in their lives.

Reading that doesn't really do anything any real justice. But it makes sense to me, knowing the whole story. And, of course, Crystal, Evelyn, Linda, and Kelly aren't the only women of focus in MR, but they're there right from the beginning.

My plan (who knows if I'm going to be able to stick with it **fingers crossed**) is to work on one chapter each week and post what I hope is a final version of each one as I go. If I remember correctly, there are twenty-two chapters. So, hopefully, you're up for some romantic, soapy, sci-fi, adventure over the next few months. I know I am!