Nights of the Moon
This story, originally titled "The Mind's Eye", was the first substantial piece of fiction I ever completed. It was written as a novelette back in 1992. It's not so much a "scene" in this series of stories as much as it is a "prequel". It's a "real" rather than surreal tale - set in a near, dystopian, future.
"The Mind's Eye" novelette was panned when I first brought it out and rightly so: it was dreadfully executed and I am still embarrassed by it (hopefully I've destroyed all surviving copies!).
Even though I subsequently "fixed" it up to some extent, it didn't seem to fit the overall story arc of the "Hazy Shade" collection, so I decided to leave it out.
I have since rewritten the story as a full novel titled "Nights of the Moon".
While "The Mind's Eye" was written in the third person, "Nights of the Moon" is written from Leila's first person perspective.
It was completed - in periodic instalments, as is my wont - on the Nights of the Moon website over 28 separate nights, starting on 4 January 2016 and finishing on 23 March 2016. It was available on that website for free until 1 April 2016 but has since been published and is available for purchase from the website both in paperback and Kindle format.
The narrative of this story deals with at least one similar theme to the novella "A Hazy Shade of Twilight", namely isolation and the need for human companionship. Otherwise, it gives a "real" background to the surreal tales in "Hazy Shade" (which can be viewed as Edin's dreams).
I think it's fair to say that "Nights of the Moon" is now a standalone work that can (but does not need to) be read along the "Hazy Shade" collection.
New York Carwash
"New York Carwash" was written in 1995 and is more a vignette than a short story. Essentially it covers the same ground as "Big Mistake", but with the harbinger of doom - Chaz - presented in opposition to Edin, rather than Konrad.
I had intended for it to come just after "The Crow" in terms of the sequence of the story - so it could highlight Edin's growing awareness that he was sliding into ruin through his own actions, just as his friends had. It has been included in the second edition.
I had intended for it to come just after "The Crow" in terms of the sequence of the story - so it could highlight Edin's growing awareness that he was sliding into ruin through his own actions, just as his friends had. It has been included in the second edition.
This very surreal narrative was, at various times, contemplated as the final episode in the "Hazy Shade" collection . In fact, it was included in the proof copies but got cut at the last minute. The essential idea was to bring all the characters back together in an Earthly setting.
In the end I felt that "Flowers" was a far more satisfying ending because it "tops and tails" the collection so that the previous episodes become hibernation dreams while en route to Mars with Isabella. While I resisted this as a possible conclusion, I have to admit that it is one I wanted left open to readers (especially those who hadn't read "Nights of the Moon").
When it was published in a magazine in the mid-90s, "Hotel Forever" was panned by critics and arguably rightly so: it doesn't stand on its own very well as a short story. However in this collection it does have some redeeming features in terms of advancing the overall narrative.
I particularly like the bickering between Isabella and Edin in the car and the way this reveals Edin's spoilt nature - perhaps in way that is far more banal but significant than his behaviour in other stories.
You'll notice I have a second cameo as Max's friend.
You'll also notice that I get all the characters back into one room again, only to make them all disappear. Why? Maybe because they are all Edin's "shadows" (note even Max's comment to Edin: "I'm really just you - twenty years later."). Or maybe to reflect the fact that we all come into this world alone and leave alone. Or that dreams are ultimately vacuous - however much they reveal about our emotional states. Or maybe I wanted Edin's self-centreness to backfire on him.
Or, most particularly, maybe I wanted to make it clear that he's still in the hospital, dreaming (and hasn't arrived on Mars with a forgiving Isabella, as portrayed in "Flowers").
Whichever way it goes, there's something unsettling about the finish that makes me cling to this story and I've restored it to the collection for the second edition.
