Comedy Vs….Well, Not
Hola and welcome to Day 6 of the Falling Awake blog tour! When you hear
my name, Kage Alan, you’re likely to think one of two things; “Who the %$#@ is
Kage Alan?” or “Hey, it’s that snarky author guy!” My branding over the past
decade has been in the realm of comedy, so it came as a somewhat huge surprise
when my fellow authors and readers discovered I wrote
something…gasp!...dramatic and serious. Falling Awake pretty much goes against
the grain of anything I’ve ever written and if there’s perhaps one humorous
moment in this, it’s that I’m doing a 10 day blog tour for a novella. There’s a
joke in there somewhere. I know it.
There are two things I’ve been told are difficult for many people to
write: comedy and first person. The first comedy I ever wrote, A Funny Thing
Happened on the Way to My Sexual Orientation, was a first person comedy, so I
think I got the hard part out of the way. What I’ve always felt was difficult
was writing a short story. I think in terms of novel-length, usually no matter
what the cost. Fortunately, several authors who I was invited to contribute to
anthologies with have taken me under their wing and allowed me to experience
the positives of writing something shorter. The best part is I can still write
comedy!
My mother used to tell me time and time again that not everything is
funny. It was a tough pill to swallow, but I learned my lesson when my father
was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The majority of that disease isn’t funny and it
does tend to bring one’s mood down over the years. We’re now in year 6 with Dad
and I recently discovered the urge to write something more serious and with
more meaning. Comedy can have meaning, only it’s typically a sugarcoated pill.
I love comedy. I do. It’s like being presented with a situation in life
and being asked to figure out how in the world it can be seen as funny. I love
that kind of challenge. Some of it works, some doesn’t. The best thing for me
as an author has been receiving comments, reviews, or the occasional e-mail
telling me I made someone laugh. That’s a high you can’t buy.
Yet, in all the laughter, I started to admit I felt my work was missing
out on a kind of depth I couldn’t reach in comedy. This leads me to a
conversation I had with a college friend last night (a week ago for those of
you reading this now) and he asked what grand comedy I wrote this time. I told
him I didn’t. “It’s serious?” Yes. “Did you write about your dad or something
with Alzheimer’s?” No. I did that in Chinchilla Chimichangas (in the Butt
Riders on the Range anthology). “Tell me about it.” So I did. “Dude…it sounds
like you didn’t write so much as you just translated what the voices told you
to write.”
I listen to my muse and my friend may have been correct. I knew how
Falling Awake would begin—in an airport—and how it would end—not spoiling that
part for you. The rest filled itself in as we went along. I so wanted depth in
this story, but, quite honestly, I didn’t know if I had it in me to pull off.
This story isn’t something a publisher would normally touch, especially in
short story or novella form, so it had to be good. Better than good. It had to
touch a reader. It had to touch me. And I knew when I finished the first draft,
read it through, and cried at the end (in a good way), I had the makings of a
solid story. There was still a hell of a lot of work to do, but the seed was
there.
Drama isn’t as difficult to write as I thought it might be. The first
intensely intimate scene I ever wrote, also in Chinchilla Chimichangas, was the
hardest…no pun intended.
One other amusing thing I’ll throw out there is that after a fellow
author read an early draft of Falling Awake, he wrote me and said “I didn’t
think you had it in you to write something with so much depth.” He meant it as
a compliment, but I forwarded the comment on to my husband. The hubby responded
with “See? I told you the rest of your writing was $hit.” Yes, #evilhalfasian
strikes again!
So have a look at the blurb and excerpt and see if it’s something you
want to give a try. You may not laugh as much as in my other work, but you
might need to grab a Kleenex.
See you on Day 7!
TITLE: Falling
Awake
SERIES TITLE AND
NUMBER: N/A
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
RELEASE DATE: September 15, 2015
GENRE: Paranormal
TAGS: Gay, Asian, Reincarnation, Vietnam, Past
Lives, GLBT, Drama
HEAT LEVEL (1
being no sexual content, 5 being erotica): 1
PAIRING:
Male/Male
LENGTH: Novella –
20,000 Words
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26081062-falling-awake?
BLURB:
Imagine waking
up in a place you can’t remember, with a face you don’t recognize, and a name
that may not be your own printed on a ticket in your back pocket. And of the
five people you meet during the next few hours, four of them hold clues to your
past, present, and two possible futures.
The outcome of
the encounter will determine your soul’s fate, and the only way out of the
nightmare may be through falling awake.
Excerpt:
“What are we doing here?”
“You’re waiting for your food and I’m
waiting to meet someone.” Tam sniffed the air. “Speaking of which, I think
yours has arrived.”
Martha set a plate and bowl down in
front of Daniel. The plate held a layer of pasta with meatballs on top, and
covered with an incredible smelling sauce, while the bowl contained a carved
out piece of grapefruit.
“What’s in this?” Daniel asked,
pointing to the grapefruit.
“Laksa leaves, peanuts, garlic, shrimp,
some spices, and a layer of sweet and sour sauce for the dressing.” She glanced
over at Tam, winked, and then looked back over at Daniel. “It’s delicious. Ask
Tam. It’s one of his favorites.” And with that, she retreated back toward the
kitchen.
“If you don’t eat it, I will,” Tam
informed him. “She wasn’t kidding. It really is one of my favorites.” He
fidgeted a bit in his seat when Daniel didn’t respond. “Maybe you’d like to
hear a story while you eat? I’m getting pretty good at telling them. Would that
be okay, Daniel?”
“How do you know my name?”
“Martha must have mentioned it.”
“I didn’t hear her—” Daniel stopped.
BOOK LINKS:
Amazon eBook - http://amzn.com/B013OA2XKW
Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.com/1517025516
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/falling-awake-kage-alan/1122509483?ean=2940152088090
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/falling-awake-5
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/567810
Tour Schedule
Sept 7
– Dirk Greyson
Sept 9
- My Fiction Nook
Sept 11
- Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
Sept 15
- World of Diversity Fiction
Sept 17
- Bike Book Reviews
Sept 21
- Dawn's Reading Nook
Sept 23
- The Novel Approach
Sept 25
- LoveBytes Reviews
Sept 28
- Prism Book Alliance
Sept 30
– JP Barnaby
AUTHOR
BIO:
GIVEAWAY
DETAILS:
Rafflecopter Giveaway –
1 Signed Paperback copy
1 eBook copy
Start Date: Sept 6, 2015
2 comments:
One thing we can count on is that you will make us feel something. If not only ourselves. No really, this is a wonderful read and I suggest it to everyone!
I felt something whilst writing it, so I could only hope that it would carry over to an audience.
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