| When I was born I came out backwards, feet first, causing my mother unnecessary pain. It has been a standing joke ever since that I always do everything backwards, causing everyone unnecessary pain. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that DANNY was written backwards.
DANNY tells one continuous story over four volumes. It was not written as separate books. Nor is it Volume 1 and sequels. All four volumes were written one after the other with very little time between them. They tell one story in a continuous loop like a snake biting its own tail.
Volumes 2 & 3 were originally written as one complete volume with no break between them. Fortunately it breaks itself into three convenient chunks which are now defined as Volume 2 and Volume 3 parts one and two. You can still see, reading it, however, that the breaks are narrative driven rather than structured as commercial design.
I use working titles for all the volumes which illustrate the way it is structured. Volume 1 is (The beginning of) The End, because we are dropped right into the end of the story, knowing nothing of what has gone before, and having to work out the story backwards. Volume 2 is The Revenant - a French word offering a world of possibilities: a ghost, one who returns to haunt the scene of a crime, an uneasy/unhappy spirit. Volume 3 consists of two parts - Skull Island (a nickname which stuck) and The Road Movie because it features an epic journey, much of which is spent in 'going back' in one way or another. And, finally, Volume 4 comes full circle, and is both the beginning, starting when John is fifteen and Danny is six, and the end, having intercut scenes set in the present day going back, as it were, to where the characters are now.
I hope this gives you some idea of how DANNY is structured and, hopefully, whetted your appetite for the great adventure ahead.
Chancery Stone |
