IT'S ALIVE!...AGAIN.

Thunder rumbles beyond the castle walls while Jacob's Ladders release lightning bolts up rabbit ears that dissipate into the damp cellar air. The electrical devices that whirl and electrocute can get inside your head like the annoyance of a bug zapper on a quiet night. But this is a sanctuary for a mad genius like Frankenstein (Sometimes pronounced Frawn'ken-stean').

Having just been lowered from the the castle rooftop with his smoking creation clamped down to a cold slab, the mad creator beats his fist on the monsters chest. THUD. THUD. He listens to the still heartbeat showing no signs of life. Again. THUD. THUD. THUD. Frankenstein flops over the hulking corpse and admits defeat. "Nothing".

"Oh Doctor", his blond bombshell assistant, Inga, tries to comfort, "I'm sorry..."

"No. No." The doctor throws his arms up. "Be of good cheer. If science teaches us anything, it teaches us to accept our failures as well as our successes...with quiet...dignity...and grace."

The Doctor caresses his creation's lifeless forehead. A sigh emits from between his lips and he turns away. "Son of a Bitch!" He lunges back to strangulate the stubborn life that he cannot procure. "Bastard! I'll get you for this! What did you do to me? What did you do to me?"

Inga tries to pull him away, "Doctor! Doctor! Stop it! You'll kill him!"

Beating down on the monster's chest like a bohemian percussionist, he screams to the heavens, "I don't want to live! I DO NOT...WANT...TO LIVE!"

CUT TO: Hours later...

The Doctor accepts his failure during a quiet dinner, "Oh. Maybe it's better this way. The poor lifeless hulk. Maybe it is better off dead."

But down in the cellar, the creature stirs. His finger twitches as it's lungs grunt. Frankenstein runs down the cellar stairs followed by his two assistants. Success. Pride. "Alive. It's alive. It's ALIIIVVVEEE!"

This little scene from Mel Brooks' classic YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN pretty much sums it up for me. After working on the book for over two years, I am put on hold while a few things are organized back at the publishing house. It was full of electricity and ready to be set free. Then, silence. A couple times I pounded at the life source thinking things were going to go. But "nothing". I turned away. I erupted in uncontrolled bursts of madness. I became suicidal. I became depressed.

Then months later, I accepted my fate. I moved on with my life and fooled myself into thinking it was all for the best. Then a sound came from the darkness. The sound was a chime signifying INCOMING MAIL. I checked my email to find word from my editor to proceed.

"It's ALIVE!...again.

For those of you who are new, here's what you can expect: I will be posting regular updates on my progress with Frankenstein. This will include a "page of the week" where I will give you a sneak of a finished page once a week. For those of you who have been following this blog, you already know what to expect. But the dead silence is over and you can check back regularly and expect to be horrified.

Be Grim!
Gris Grimly