Well, look what turned up in the post. It’s been about nine months since the last proof (I wasn’t happy with the previous cover), and this one hits it out of the park!
I ordered three proofs this time, one for myself and another two for people to proofread for me. The new matte finish is remarkable to touch compared to the glossy cover I ordered last time! There were some other alterations to the text, and this is now the latest version of the story. (Ten chapters of this are available for viewing @ SEETHINGS (the first ten) for free.)
Last week, I was inundated with people on my blog site http://angelwanderer.wordpress.com/, soon after the tragic events surrounding Elliot Rodger and his killing spree in the United States took place. There has been a lot of online chatter about Involuntary Celibacy (INCEL) because of this, and, understandably, much hate directed towards what has been uncovered as an ‘Underground movement’: groups of angry men who can’t get women. I am not surprised to see the word misogyny popping up everywhere as a result of this new activity and insight.
SEETHINGS parallels much of the INCEL ethos but not all of it. That’s why when you read the blog you’ll see that it’s made up of many components. I remember having trouble trying to describe Mitchell Felding’s situation in one word, so I could set the blog right by it… But there didn’t seem to be one available. Then, one day on a trip to Melbourne two years ago, I came across INCEL on a blog site known as M3. It was perfect, so I thought. Mike writes to his site far more than I do, and within his well-written blog, you’ll see that he’s anything but a weird psycho ready to shoot up a shopping mall. He studies his emotions and calmly writes about them in a succinct way.
After a year of sitting on INCEL, I felt it still wasn’t quite right. Most sufferers of INCEL were males between 20 and 40, and this part was okay for describing SEETHINGS narrative… but these men had a complex social issue or two when it came to socialising/communicating with females. None had girlfriends, partners or wives. This wasn’t something my book was about, not really. I had to come up with another word: Celibacy-by-Proxy.
Mitchell’s in a relationship. He’s married to Sam. There is no sex in their relationship because if one doesn’t want it and, if they believe in abiding by their marital vows, the other won’t get it either. It soon becomes a game of power, one using the threat of sexual veto to control the other. Take all your Elliot Rodger fears and apply them here, but instead of telling anyone or bragging about it. That’s SEETHINGS.
-M
Discover more from Michael Forman – Author of Dark Fiction & Drama
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