NOVELLA IDEA: My new project has a working title – To The Naked Eye.

I’m working on this crazy new project – it’s called a “novella”. I’m quite relieved that this new story idea won’t turn into another three to four year literary ordeal. I’m determined to resolve the story in no more than 100 pages. And the book will be released independently online (through Amazon etc).

The idea is every bit as abstract as the plot of Enormity – perhaps even more. A large suspension of disbelief is required, but it’s another highly original concept – as far as I’m aware – and one that is rife with subtext.

It’s a story that is essentially about naked women. Classic Milligan. Don’t roll your eyes. It’s going to be great.

I hope to have it finished soon, actually. I was at the Depot on Darby last Saturday and got well into the zone. The atmosphere and staff uniforms of that particular establishment put me into a meditative state. It’s got ambience, man. I punched out eight pages like there was no tomorrow. I worked out the main characters and, most importantly, I’ve got an ending.

I didn’t have an ending for Enormity when I started writing it and this greatly contributed to the length of time it took to write. But it paid off and the novel now has the best finale of any book I’ve personally read and also a conclusion superior to most films I’ve seen. But the climax was just pure luck.

Enormity just came out of me and I had no control over it. It existed in the ether and slithered through me. I was its conductor, but only in the electrical sense.

In a strange way Enormity‘s protagonist, Jack, is a reflection of myself. Not his personality, but his situation. He is in the midst of a world that is unfolding around him and he is only a bystander. He’s at the mercy of his environment and his journey is simply to find a way to have the final say.

I look forward to sharing Enormity with the world.

But, to quote Helmet, in the meantime I’ll finish this novella. It’s working title is To The Naked Eye.

Saucy.