Work 1 - Description
“Transcendences” (58,873 words) are three tales of realism. Readers will discover a deeper understanding of their own conscious minds. Each story is based on the first 3 Delphic Maxims: know thyself, certainty leads to insanity, and nothing in excess.
“Michael & Gigi: Know Thyself” is a story about an unhinged, relationship/sex-obsessed 31-year old man in the weeks and months following the end of a long-term relationship. The story takes place in an unidentified small college town in the south and is written in the first-person perspective. It takes place during an unspecified time, but clearly a contemporary one - likely between 2005-2016… I allow the mind’s eye to round out the details as readers are introduced to tech, music, and to the characters’ hipster leanings. I found this writing technique very effective.
The story follows Michael through his many weeks of depression, aggression, dating, sex, drunkenness, stalking, and sleeping in. After sexually harassing a woman at a Subway restaurant, Michael finds himself involved in a drunken, verbal confrontation with Gigi and one of her dates on the sidewalk. Following this event, Michael ends up stalking Gigi to a concert and is subsequently sent to a psych ward for a long weekend. We then find Michael sitting on his mom’s porch - obsessing again over Gigi. He suddenly stands up from his chair, and goes on a long, quiet walk. I personally have found that a long, quiet walk is the first step that I need to take when it's time for me to move forward with my life, and I was arrogant enough to write that down as advice for everyone.
The other two novellas are entitled “Dave!: Certainty Leads to Insanity / Surety Brings Ruin / A Pledge Before Calamity,” and “Harris Phelps: Nothing in Excess.”
Shooting and editing orthopedic surgical videos over the last 3.5 years influenced how I wrote and edited these stories, and as a result, they are each structured very pragmatically - in much the same way that educational surgical videos are. I guarantee that adult readers will not find themselves lost as they read; there are no incoherent considerations; all thoughts expressed are presented with logic and reasoning. A writer should feel a sense of unbridled fear when they imagine the possibility of wasting their entire lifetime slamming out their uninhibited, unedited, and half-cocked ramblings with the expectation that others will sit around and give them thought. It would do an author no good whatsoever if readers were to believe their storyteller may truly be insane.
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