Bursting with Life!
Young Vint is bursting with life. So much so the world around him ripples with energy. His parents and carers have convinced him he’s mad, repression being their sole remedy. He becomes a willing prisoner of a grey world, stripped of friends, colour, movement and music… Only when he escapes with Tara does he realise his so-called madness may be a gift. All would be well, were it not for his carers who seek to get him back and exploit his abilities.
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Vint is bursting with life. So much so the world around him ripples with energy and takes on unexpected forms. His parents and carers have convinced him his hallucinations are a sign of madness. Repression is their sole remedy, seeking to rein in anything that can over stimulate and spark an attack. He is a willing prisoner in a grey world, stripped of friends, colour, movement and music…not to mention good food. Only when he escapes with Tara and meets her friends does he realise that what he sees may not be hallucinations but rather a gift to transform the world. In the light of this new perspective, he begins to lose his fear of being mad and discovers the richness of the world. All would be well, were it not for the greed and rapaciousness of his carers who seek to get him back and exploit his abilities.
Prologue
The empty house sent a shiver skidding down Vint’s spine. Mother had gone out, leaving instructions to finish his homework. A pile of schoolbooks lay untouched on the kitchen table next to a colourful array of pills and a glass of water. (...)
Chapter One A cluster of brightly coloured chairs sat in uneasy conversation in the entrance hall. The red and blue and yellow beckoned but he hastened to look away, afraid they’d shift into swirling patterns like they had the last time he’d had an appointment. (...)
Chapter Two “Take a seat,” the woman said from behind her desk. The pristine surface devoid of all clutter screamed, ‘Order above all else’. Thanks heavens she didn’t insist on shaking his hand. One of the therapists who replaced her from time to time not only insisted on shaking your hand (...)
Chapter Three The door opened several feet above floor level. He would have hurt himself tumbling out had Tara not caught him. For a brief moment he was wrapped in her arms, enveloped in her warmth and swirls of lace, the smell of leather vying with vanilla to inebriate him. “Thanks,” he mouthed, then pulled back, sucking in a deep breath, both relieved and disappointed. (...)
Chapter One A cluster of brightly coloured chairs sat in uneasy conversation in the entrance hall. The red and blue and yellow beckoned but he hastened to look away, afraid they’d shift into swirling patterns like they had the last time he’d had an appointment. (...)
Chapter Two “Take a seat,” the woman said from behind her desk. The pristine surface devoid of all clutter screamed, ‘Order above all else’. Thanks heavens she didn’t insist on shaking his hand. One of the therapists who replaced her from time to time not only insisted on shaking your hand (...)
Chapter Three The door opened several feet above floor level. He would have hurt himself tumbling out had Tara not caught him. For a brief moment he was wrapped in her arms, enveloped in her warmth and swirls of lace, the smell of leather vying with vanilla to inebriate him. “Thanks,” he mouthed, then pulled back, sucking in a deep breath, both relieved and disappointed. (...)
Two million words... leading to a question. About completing the draft of Bursting with Life! and with it two million words in my novels. Included is an extract.
Weaving a painting into the story In my novel freely inspired by Vincent Van Gogh – Bursting with Life! – what could be more natural than to weave paintings into the tissue of the story. Read a n extract.
Untethered from reality The wider untethering of life from reality is illustrated by Vint's struggle in Bursting with Life! to break free of expert labels and find out who he really is.
Prologue: Bursting with Life! Read the draft prologue from the new novel.
A place for the wicked. Approaches to negativeness in novels. In the struggle to gain an audience, an increasing number of authors are tempted by the extreme. What is the impact of this escalation? And what place for restraint?
Weaving a painting into the story In my novel freely inspired by Vincent Van Gogh – Bursting with Life! – what could be more natural than to weave paintings into the tissue of the story. Read a n extract.
Untethered from reality The wider untethering of life from reality is illustrated by Vint's struggle in Bursting with Life! to break free of expert labels and find out who he really is.
Prologue: Bursting with Life! Read the draft prologue from the new novel.
A place for the wicked. Approaches to negativeness in novels. In the struggle to gain an audience, an increasing number of authors are tempted by the extreme. What is the impact of this escalation? And what place for restraint?