THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF AUTHOR
ANDREW C. PETERSON
Making Ink Out of Think.
- Meet Edlund Design–the Artist Behind Adrian Tannhauser
When “Green River,” was published in “Ground Fiction” on September 3, 2020, my friend Nick at Edlund Design created a graphic for the story.
Nick has been both an in-house and freelance designer, with nearly three decades of experience creating eye-catching imagery and writing snappy copy.
I was honored.
In the story, Adrian Tannhauser finds himself taking refuge in a roadside convenience store / gas station in Illinois as he travels to the funeral of a friend and fellow veteran.
Seeing Adrian’s name across the top of the gas station was an unexpected touch, one that I never would have asked for myself. Yet, it made the work easily identifiable. Mostly, I thought it was cool, seeing something I created represented in this way.
Then, he did it again.
My story “Eighteen at Cedar Junction” shows what happens when Tannhauser is invited to a sit-down with a convicted mobster at Dermody’s Saloon, a rundown bar that has seen much better days, just like its owner.
This is exactly the feeling I had of the place as I was writing it. Once again, Edlund Design branded the piece by adding Tannhauser to the graphic. “Ice Cold Tannhauser”–how freaking cool is that?
Tannhauser now had a visual identity.
When “High Rises and Hard Falls” was ready for publication, Edlund Design was ready to deliver. After a day of Christmas shopping with his girlfriend Alex in Downtown Crossing, Tannhauser is suddenly faced with both his own vulnerabilities and the pride that makes them sting so much more.
The fact that the G and A are faded from the word “garage” leaving only “RAGE” clearly visible makes this piece my favorite. In fact, every piece of art from Edlund Design is my favorite. That is, until the next one comes along.
I’m glad to say that I’ll have a new favorite image VERY soon.
I give voice to Tannhauser’s world. Nick takes my words and shows me what it looks like.
I am proud to say that Edlund Design is my go-to graphic designer for all things Tannhauser-related.
If you need a smart graphic design, thrilling image, smooth website (like this one), memorable logo, (like “Inkbringer”–he designed this, too), or personal branding for your book, company, or product, I highly recommend Edlund Design.
You can visit their website here: https://www.edlund-design.com/index.html
- Meet Adrian Tannhauser
Adrian Tannhauser is a veteran of the Iraq War, a wounded warrior now working as a PI in Boston. He carries a cane, a gun, and his ghosts. All the while, an old enemy is waiting in the dark.
Three stories featuring Tannhauser are available in Ground Fiction, a three-book anthology series. They are available for purchase here:
Ground fiction: Vol. 1: https://a.co/d/05nnRTRw
Ground Fiction: Vol. 2: https://a.co/d/06cmsTFl
Ground Fiction: Vol. 3: https://a.co/d/00si8qzX
If you haven’t bought a copy of any or all of my stories yet, now is a great time to do so!
Also, stay tuned for exciting news about where and when Adrian Tannhauser will appear next!
Onward!
- Join Me at the Plymouth Public Library Local Author Fair
I am honored to be invited to the Plymouth Public Library for their Local Author fair on May 30th from 1:30 to 4 PM!
The Plymouth Public Library is pleased to announce our upcoming 3rd Annual Local Author Fair showcasing the talent and creativity of published authors and celebrating the vibrant literary community of Southeastern Massachusetts. This outdoor event offers a unique opportunity for authors to engage directly with readers, promote their work, and participate in short readings.
During my time, I will talk about my work in Ground Fiction (I may even have a few copies to sell), autograph your copies of Ground Fiction, and might even disclose future developments for Adrian Tannhauser.
Please spread the word! I hope to see you there!
- Character Introductions
Not too long ago, and on a whim, I picked up Elric of Melniboné once again. I was two pages in, and this passage stuck out to me:
“If the young emperor has found any advantage in his lifelong weakness it must be in that, perforce, he has read much. Before he was fifteen he had read every book in his father’s library, some more than once. His sorcerous powers, learned initially from Sadric, are now greater than any possessed by his ancestors for many a generation. His knowledge of the world beyond the shores of Melniboné is profound, though he has as yet had little direct experience of it. If he wished he could resurrect the Dragon Isle’s former might and rule both his own land and the Young Kingdoms as an invulnerable tyrant. But his reading has also taught him to question the uses to which power is put, to question his motives, to question whether his own power should be used at all, in any cause. His reading has led him to this ‘morality,’ which, still, he barely understands. Thus, to his subjects, he is an enigma and, to some, he is a threat, for he neither thinks nor acts in accordance with their conception of how a true Melnibonéan (and a Melnibonéan emperor, at that) should think and act. His cousin Yyrkoon, for instance, has been heard more than once to voice strong doubts concerning the emperor’s right to rule the people of Melniboné. ‘This feeble scholar will bring doom to us all,’ he said one night to Dyvim Tvar, Lord of the Dragon Caves.”
–Michael Moorcock, “Elric of Melniboné” (p.13)
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Somehow, over the years, I had forgotten the fact that one of the reasons Elric was different was that he was well-read and knowledgeable about the world at large. More importantly, this knowledge was also a regulator on his use (or abuse) of power, which put him at odds with both his decadent culture and amoral society. And I love this introduction.Is there a great character introduction that you remember? If so, please share it in the comments!
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I will always have a very soft spot in my heart for the six DAW paperbacks I either bought or traded for as a kid, which still sit proudly on my paperback bookshelf.
- The Importance of Dialogue
I love words. I also love moments in TV and film where characters I enjoy engage in a meaningful conversation. It’s not a fistfight, a chase scene, or a conflict. It’s just them talking, using words to show us who the character is, what they believe, and how they feel.
A film like Before Sunrise.
Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan co-wrote the story, which follows Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy) as they meet on a train in Europe, talk for a short while, and disembark in Vienna to spend the night together. Beginning in the afternoon, they wander the city together, talking to each other, and, more importantly, listening to each other’s responses and then asking the next logical question. They do this throughout the night.
You know the conversation I’m talking about. The one where it’s you and your best friends at 1 AM. You’re young and have all the answers, but in those moments, you have questions, too. And the people you trust are with you, and so you start talking.
Celine: I believe if there’s any kind of God it wouldn’t be in any of us, not you or me but just this little space in between. If there’s any kind of magic in this world it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing something. I know, it’s almost impossible to succeed but who cares really? The answer must be in the attempt.
Or, like in this film, you have found that person. The one who ignites your senses. The one you feel safe with. The one you can discuss life’s mysteries with, ask questions of, and state your honest answers. The person your soul is dancing with through every word, every look, and every touch.
There is no drama to be found in Before Sunrise. No one is robbed, attacked, or accosted on the streets of Vienna. Instead, we get to spend 101 minutes in the company of two people engaged in a conversation so real I would have thought it was a documentary, with dialogue recorded and transcribed for the co-writers.
It’s hopeful.
It’s heartbreaking.
It’s glorious.
And it is all told through their dialogue.
In my opinion, Before Sunrise is well worth your valuable time and attention.
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What film or TV show (or a scene from either) or book do you love for the dialogue? Let me know in the comments.
- Heroic Myth and Adrian Tannhauser
During class last week, one of my students asked about the importance of creating a character for our stories. I responded with this quote:
“For me, the novel is character creation. Style is nice, plot is nice, structure is OK, social significance is OK, symbolism worms its way in, timeliness is OK too, but unless the characters convince and live the book’s got no chance.”
–Larry McMurtry, quoted in Larry McMurtry: A Life by Tracy DaughertyThen I was asked: How much of the character’s attributes are necessary to have in your head before you begin writing about them (with them)?
That is a good question. For me, I usually allow for the broad strokes first. Here’s a glimpse into the creation of Adrian Tannhauser and how I settled on creating a private eye to tell my stories.
Just as the cowboy is the direct descendant of the chivalric knight, the private investigator is the next generation of the American cowboy. Both the cowboy and the PI live on society’s frayed edges, forging a place for themselves on the outskirts of civilization where the lamplight ends and darkness is at hand. I wanted to explore what being a PI in the 21st century meant. I also wanted to make him a combat veteran since America has been at war in the Middle East for most of the 21st century.
When crafting my veteran turned private investigator, I wanted a name beyond the English/Irish/Scottish tradition. Since I am interested in Norse mythology, I looked to the body of myths of the North Germanic peoples for a German-sounding name. At the same time, I rewatched Blade Runner and the brilliant “Tears in Rain” speech that refers to a forever-unexplained Tannhäuser Gate:
I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.
A folk tale from the 16th century tells of Tannhäuser, a knight and poet who discovered the Venusberg, the subterranean home of Venus, the Roman goddess of love and spent a year there worshipping her. Eventually, Tannhäuser was remorseful for living a hedonistic life, left the Venusberg, and traveled to Rome to ask Pope Urban IV to absolve him of his sins. Urban replied that forgiveness is impossible, as much as it would be for his papal staff to blossom. Dejected, Tannhäuser left Rome. Three days after Tannhäuser’s departure, Urban’s staff bloomed with flowers. Urban dispatched messengers to retrieve the knight, but he had already returned to Venusberg and was never seen again.
I decided to invert the idea.
What if the pleasures of Venusburg were instead the pain found on the field of combat on foreign soil? What if he came home seeking forgiveness but lacked the wherewithal to ask for it? What if an injury prevented him from remembering the best of his world while accentuating its worst? Now, the staff of Pope Urban IV is Tannhauser’s wooden cane. His left leg injury is the physical reminder of his time in the otherworld; of his failure. Unforgiven, he now fights a war on the streets of America, determined to save others’ souls because he cannot forgive himself.
The pursuit of mercy through justice might save others, but will it save him?
This is who Adrian Tannhauser is.
Later, as I wrote his stories, I knew he was a man of honor, defending people who cannot defend themselves. I understood his underlying anger, estrangement from his family, and desire to come home–physically and emotionally.
Now, as I write the last story in the collection of short stories that culminated in my thesis, I see how far I have taken this premise and how much more there is to explore.
Onward.
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Race Bannon by Doug Wildey, private commission. This updated version of Bannon is the closest thing to Tannhauser in my mind.
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- Ten Sentences
I had an epiphany before class last week. Instead of simply giving my students a ten-minute writing prompt, I would change the game up a bit, forcing them to use even more creativity and description. Here is the assignment:
Using only ten sentences, tell us a story with a beginning and ending. Every word should count and contribute to the story. Choose them wisely.
Boy, did they deliver. They submitted some of the tightest work that I have seen from any of them. Really good stuff. The assignment worked so well that we’re doing a version of it again this week.
The other morning, as I was working on my latest Tannhauser story (YES! There’s another one in the works!) I decided to try my hand at the ten-sentence scene/story restriction. I didn’t edit, and it leaped from my fingers to the keyboard.
Submitted for your enjoyment.
Tannhauser – 10 Sentences
“You’re not the one I want,” he screamed at me.
“But I’m the one you have,” I said, leaning on my cane, standing in front of the young store clerk, who was frightened into silence as he waved the gun around, trying to get a shot at her through me.
“You think I won’t kill you,” he sneered, looking at his ex, the woman he’s clearly repeatedly threatened but now gone too far.
“You can try,” I said, gripping the cane that I’ve used to disarm—maim—people with many times before today, “but how sure are you that you’ll be able to pull that trigger before I close this distance, disarm you, and leave you with hickory bruises for your trouble?”
“Man, I will fucking end you,” he said, spittle forming on his lips, flying through the air.
“Are you sure about that,” my voice low and cold, the tone only ever used in Iraq.
“Lonnie,” she cried from behind me, “Don’t do this!”
“Put the gun down, Lonnie,” I said, drawing his attention back to me one last time, “or make your play.”
He looked at me, then his gaze hardened back on her, “You fucking bitch, you ruined my life,” he said, raising his gun hand as I made my move.* * *
I made my statement to the officer on scene as the ambulance took Lonnie away, numerous bruises covering his body, his nose hickory-broken and bloodied, and me grateful.
–Andrew C. Peterson, “Tannhauser: Ten Sentences”If you ever want to test your own skills, give this assignment a try.
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- What’s YOUR Story?
“Don’t ever apologize to an author for buying something in paperback, or taking it out from a library (that’s what they’re there for. Use your library). Don’t apologize to this author for buying books second hand, or getting them from bookcrossing or borrowing a friend’s copy. What’s important to me is that people read the books and enjoy them, and that, at some point in there, the book was bought by someone. And that people who like things, tell other people. The most important thing is that people read.”
— Attributed to Neil Gaiman* * *
Last week during my workshop at Haywood Community College, one of my students said, “You haven’t shared any of YOUR work with us.” The others all nodded, “Yeah, that’s right.”
“How about it, Andy?”
I paused. To be honest, I kind of dreaded this moment. What if they read my stuff and don’t like it? I thought about making a joke of it or sharing a link to any of the volumes of Ground Fiction on Amazon. Then I realized:
* Imposter syndrome apparently never goes away.
* My work is already available for public consumption.
* It’s a valid question.
Before I took a class with Seth Harwood or Chris Mooney, I read their first published works, figuring that if they were going to teach me about writing, then I wanted to know where they were coming from. I’m glad I did–“Jack Wakes Up” by Seth is a rollicking good read.
So, since I bought a copy of Ground Fiction I followed Neil’s advice and sent them a copy of “Green River,” my first published story featuring Adrian Tannhauser, my Boston-based PI wearing cowboy boots, leaning on a cane, and looking for a way to come home again.
Graciously, some of my students reached out privately with their thoughts:
The character of Adrian is complex and funny and tragic and I loved that mix.
I enjoyed meeting your characters. I will read it again because I think there is much to study in there with sentence length and the showing not telling which stood out. Tough subject and well done.
I hear the voice you bring to class in your writing. Expressions. Mannerisms (I will stay away from closed doors around you). Storytelling…The ease of the writing is what got me. No bumps. Fluid and flowing from one scene to the next.
Yeah, I could have asked them to buy the book, but they have trusted me with their words for two semesters now. The very least that I could do was trust them with mine. If my writing walks the walk that I’m talking in class, then so much the better.
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- The Right Words
“At Cornell University, my professor of European literature, Vladimir Nabokov, changed the way I read and the way I write. Words could paint pictures, I learned from him. Choosing the right word, and the right word order, he illustrated, could make an enormous difference in conveying an image or an idea.”
— Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, from “Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Advice for Living”, published in the New York Times Opinion section on Oct. 1, 2016.
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“The right word, and the right word order…” – God, I love this.
I remember taking “Academic Writing and Critical Reading” with Paul Thur as a requirement for my undergrad. As the syllabus outlined, we were to read “challenging and provocative texts, written by anthropologists and literary critics, philosophers and art historians”. On the first night of class, Paul said that it was his job to teach us to read to “improve your ability to express complex, original ideas in readable prose.”
In my arrogance, I thought, “I’m forty-four years old, Paul. I know how to read.”
I was wrong.
This course kicked my ass and challenged every preconceived notion that I had about reading and writing. However, thanks to Paul Thur, I became a better reader and writer.
I love that Justice Ginsburg followed a similar path in her writing, taught by Nabokov, no less.
A study of the humanities sharpens the focus on the wonder of human accomplishment. We can use the knowledge accumulated over millennia by cultures across the world to grapple with the idea of what it means to be human. Through the humanities, we can expand our intellect so that it fuses with our imagination. In doing so, it is possible to look at–and attempt to understand–the human condition.
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- Even Authors are Fans
“Soon Dawn appeared and touched the sky with roses.”
— From Emily Wilson’s translation of Homer’s “The Odyssey” (W.W. Norton & Company, 2017, Page 220).Dr. Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey is the first published English translation of Homer’s epic by a woman. She is also the first author to receive a fan letter from me.
Dear Dr. WIlson,
I have never written a fan letter before and likely won’t again. Also, I am not a translator. I am simply a reader.
My first adult experience with The Odyssey was the Fagles edition. Since then I have read translations by Lattimore and Fitzgerald but preferred Fagles for my studies because of its accessibility. No longer. My go-to edition of The Odyssey is now your translation.
I found your translation to be so concise and muscular, giving the poem the heft that it deserves and a jaunty vitality that oozes from the pages. It was simply a joy to read and I wanted you to know that.
Thank you for bringing your translation into the world of literature. We are the better for it.
And she replied!
Dear Andrew Peterson,
I am so grateful to you for this marvelous message. Thank you! You cheered me up enormously. How kind of you to write.
All best wishes,
Emily
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You can purchase your copy of The Odyssey here.
