Further Thoughts on FLICKER STREET (Slight Return)

Further Thoughts on FLICKER STREET (Slight Return)

I warned you I'd be back. So, here I sit, pondering the direction and shape Flicker Street is taking. Treatment #17 - "Presence" - is more than halfway done, even through fighting a nasty writer's block of sorts this past week. Extensive notes for #s 18 and 19 (Titles TBA) are starting to assume a manageable shape. Truthfully, these chapters have been the most crucial to surmount - being that they segue into a sharp tonal shift from past treatments. "Presence" is a joy to write, but also a bit of a bear. I have to keep all the arcs and tangents carefully juggled lest one fall, and rend asunder the gossamer loom on which I weave the world of Flicker Street.

I'm not sure if Flicker Street is quite ready for a debut proper. A doctor of mine asked me today, "What's this book you're writing all the time?" I answered that it was like a bible, or sourcebook, or whatever they call it nowadays, for a projected piece of serial fiction - comix, prose, or television. It lays out the characters and the world, the backstory, etc. - at least that's how I explained it to my doctor. Makes sense to me, though it may not have to her.

"Presence" will be the crucial chapter of the last few, wrapping up with some (hopefully) mind-bending surprises that will make clear the arcs from # 14 onward. Even I've been shocked at my characters' revelations - I love it when that happens. It just seems to be the way things shake out for me when I'm on a roll. 

Well, back to work, as Uncle Bill my moon brother admonishes me to do when I'm lagging behind on this project. As usual, many thanx are due:

To Sean Lee Levin, Jan Takehara, Bill White, "The Marksman", Michael T Jones, Kelley Widmeyer, Ryli Morgan, Lori Jones, S.a. Mosley, Shawn Michael Vogt, Morgan Overcash, Leslie K Maitri, and all those helping me keep moving, albeit sluggishly at times. I love you all!!

For ongoing eternal inspiration: Philip Jose Farmer, William S Burroughs, JG Ballard, Steve Gerber, Grant Morrison, Douglas Marland, James A Michener, L Frank Baum, V. Vale, Osamu Tezuka, Don McGregor, Roy Thomas, Peter Milligan, Jack Kirby, Win Scott Eckert, and many more....

PS Wait'll you meet one of the next new characters I have in store for you: Reverend Tim Bollin of the WOGG Ministries (Word Of God's Glory, of course). If you grew up in the Bible Belt as I did, he'll be a very familiar polygot of various unsavory "TV criminals"...

Henry Covert
November 17, 2015

Flicker Street, all images, characters, and story elements are Copyright (c) 2015 George Henry Smathers Jr.