As a professional magician and mentalist, I have been working on an idea for a novel based on a character who is a 'cold reader', which is someone who replicates 'psychic power' using a combination of psychology, linguistics, and sleight of mind.
The main character gets drawn into a complex relationship with an urban serial killer, and ends up working with the police to help stop the killer from killing again. There are many parallels between techniques for cold reading and police interrogation, and I thought a nice sub-plot would be the relationship between the police detective and the cold reader (fractious at first and then improves with time, etc).
There are many opportunities for subthemes about the paranormal, the degree to which the public embrace psychic practitioners and alternative belief systems, and I would like to develop the innner thoughts of the serial killer along occult and esoteric lines.
I have been using the snowflake technique to develop the novel and I am open to many ideas and suggestions. The 'magician as hero' has been done, and 'Tarot killers' are common, but I am confident there is a niche market for my idea.
I am new to this group and my own blog is here: drtoddlandman.blogspot.com
I hope this proves to be a fruitful set of exchanges.
3 comments:
That sounds great, Doctor Todd - a warm welcome to the group! Your novel idea sounds wonderful. I like to think I'm a crime fiction connoisseur, and I'd certainly read it! Scarlett M.
I agree that the idea for this story is a good one. Jeffery Deaver has done the Magician as villain ("The Vanished Man")and so have others, as you rightly say. But I think you are proposing something from a completely different angle. What perspective will you take? Whose voice will you speak in?
I looked up the "snow flake" approach and it's really an interesting method of crafting a story. I think I'll give it a try.
But in the meantime, it would be great to read any beginning (or middle even) pieces of writing that you have in mind for this novel.
Izzy
I have posted the prologue to give you a flavour of the beginning of this. Contrary to my thinking I lost the MS dues to a laptop failure, my memory stick has everything. I am going to concentrate more on 'showing' than 'telling', as early drafts have been critised for being to didactic...
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