#project ash

[nathanielbooks]

i’m digging the aesthetic for this hollow ground tbh.

(eugene.)

(gabriel.)

(drew.)

(gen scenery.)

[nathanielbooks]

this hollow ground : scenery details #2

“and what rough beast / its hour come ‘round at last /  slouches towards bethlehem to be born?” 

[nathanielbooks]

★★★ Tell me about some fears. That sounds good.

★ marci fears for her brother more than anything else in the world, but she also fears how alien he’s become to her. she just wants to help him and she worries that she might not be good enough.

★ gabe fears anonymity and reclusiveness. his personality is built up on illusions of grandeur and he makes himself big because he’s afraid he won’t like what he is when that’s all stripped away from him.

★ drew fears failure. she’s so driven, and she isn’t DESPERATE to prove herself, but she’s afraid of rejection, i think. she doesn’t like to be told she’s wrong.

[nathanielbooks]

24-30 for project ash (feel free to skip repeats!) (-yvesdot)

24. do you use any cliches? why? 

- i’m trying to steer clear of them. one of the main obstacles was steering clear of the whole “the world is ending, humanity is dead, etc” trope when it comes to post-apocalyptic stories. one thing i knew going into this was that i didn’t want it to be a grimdark story. 

25. what is the age range for your OCS? 

- most of the main cast is between 20-25 years old but there are some older minror characters 

26. what genders are your characters, and do you think it hinders your ability to tell the story? 

- elias and eugene are male and drew is female. i decided that elias would be transgender pretty early on, but it’s not a really big plot line to the story? i think it’ll be easier to write. i haven’t decided if eugene and drew are cis or not, but either way, i’m not too bothered. 

27. when did you stop worldbuilding and just start writing? 

- bold of you to assume that i ever stopped worldbuilding 

28. when will you be satisified with the level of construction your story is at? 

- when i’m able to write out the main plot and character arcs without getting stuck too badly. 

29. how long does your story (as a whole) span in time? 

- this is a really interesting question. as i’ve got it now, the world pretty much went to shit three- four years ago. so the timeline starts roughly four years after the fact. i haven’t outlined the exact timeline of the actual novel yet, but i’ll let you guys know when i figure it out! 

30. give the most satsisfying quote from a deleted scene.

i haven’t decided if i want to keep this or not, but it’s from when i was trying to figure out if PA was going to be in third person or first. 

Marty Kane was a mean motherfucker, and I had the bruises to show for it. There wasn’t much he liked in this world, and I was, unsurprising to everyone who knew the two of us, one of the things he liked to fantasize about shooting between the eyes. Fat chance, you goddamn asshole, I thought.

this one is also a favorite 

The wasteland was no place for comfort or nostalgia. I wondered if anyone had ever told this poor dude otherwise. 

[nathanielbooks]

1, 2, 4, 8 for project ash!

1. what genre is your story? 

- it’s post apocalyptic with a bit of western influences.

2. who are the main characters in your story? 

  - i have a short summary of the three main characters here, but i can go in depth! 

elias hart: the main character. there’s honestly no one more surprised than elias that he’s managed to survive this far, and he definitely didn’t do it by being nice.  i wanted to write a protagonist who was almost more of an antagonist to his own character arc, and thus elias was born. he really ends up kicking himself in the teeth more often than he helps himself. he’s such a disaster. 

eugene st. claire: the supporting main character. he’s …. really messed up. guys. oh my god. i don’t wanna give away too many spoilers but all i can say is this: gene is definitely not human, and he wasn’t born that way. he’s struggling a lot with things he’d done to survive at the beginning of the apocalypse. i didn’t even know i was going to be introducing non-human themes into PA until i started working more on strengthening gene’s arc, and all i’ve gotta say is that i feel sorry for the poor guy. he’s got a lot of stuff to deal with. 

drew mayberry: drew is an odd character. i originally didn’t have her in the story, but i started realizing that i would definitely need more characters to drive the plot forward. my family watched a lot of westerns while i was growing up, and drew was kind of born out of my love for the “free spirited outlaw with no fucks to give” trope. i’ve always wanted to write one of those characters, and drew was perfect . she really toes the line between antagonist and anti-hero for reasons i can’t get into because spoilers, but she’s really starting to grow on me. i’m super fond of her personality and her “oh god what is she gonna do next” nature. she thrives off of being unexpected. 

4. is your book a standalone or a series? 

- right now, project ash is a standalone. if i feel like it after i’ve completed the main story, i may do a prequel for drew or eugene, but honestly that’s wayy too far into the future to really guess. 

8. what do you do to get inspired for your WIP

-  i like to immerse myself in the genre. the entire reason the western aspects of the book were even born was because i watched preacher and thought “man i want to write something in that setting. how awesome is that.”  music is also an awesome help too.  i like to listen to the walking dead soundtrack to get me in the mood, and some of the fallout: new vegas ost is really awesome for ambiance. 

[nathanielbooks]

Hello hello! My type is "soft boy who deserves better" probably

that’s literally all of my ocs but ESPECIALLY eugene from this hollow ground. boy didn’t ask for all this murder and demon nonsense. he just wants Peace.

[nathanielbooks]

AND THERE’LL BE COINS ON MY EYES | EUGENE ST CLAIRE | LISTEN

the place i left behind the deep dark woods new ways daughter mountains message to bears maybe sprout wings the mountain goats final wilsen charon keaton henson murder song (5,4,3,2,1) AURORA oh death noah gunderson down the burning rope james vincent mcmorrow the autopsy garland the mountain goats to your health keaton henson black eyes radical face sorrow the national shankill butchers the decemberists

[nathanielbooks]

"road work again? uh yeah i sure hope it does"

marci would say that EVERY single time they pass a roadwork sign and the rest have resigned themselves to hearing it