Strange Metamorphosis
By P.C.R. Monk
There is a magical world of wonder right outside our doors…
Marcel Dassaud is at a crossroads. He has been offered an apprenticeship in the familiar surroundings of the neighboring country manor of Villeneuve, which could give him the chance to follow in his late father’s footsteps. At the same time, he has won a scholarship to a renowned technical college in Paris that would force him to embrace the unknown with no certainty of success.
With his friend Julia encouraging him to go to the city while also worrying that Marcel will take the apprenticeship at Villeneuve to be with Henriette, Julia’s cousin, Marcel is about to slip into a quagmire of backdoor drama, clandestine romance, and unfulfilled dreams. That is until he is sent on an extraordinary journey by a most unexpected source.
Given the task of crossing the meadow to eat the royal jelly by an ancient oak tree, Marcel suddenly finds himself magically, and gradually, transformed into a bug. His quest, a metaphor for his need to follow his dreams, forces him to blaze his own trail and follow his heart.
Along the way to finding the royal restorative, he teams up with a splendid group of insects—each with its own agenda.
While full of discovery, the journey is also fraught with peril and if Marcel doesn’t reach his destination in time, he just may die a bug.
P. C. R. (Paul Colin Richard) Monk was born in Exmouth, Devon, grew up in the south east of England then spent over 20 years living in France with a 3-year stint in Spain. A qualified linguist, he worked for 9 years as a teacher then moved into the digital world where he wrote various scripts and story-worlds for video game titles, and authored an interactive language learning course.
Influenced by the works of naturalist Jean Henri Fabre, Monk has been an enthusiast of entomology for many years and was a resident at the house of Villeneuve where his Fantasy Adventure story takes place. Monk now lives in England with his French wife and three young sons.
Welcome Paul! Can you tell us your main inspiration
behind this novel?
Two inspirations
came in the shape of an entomologist and a house. I was interested in insects
just as most kids are, but then as a young man I came across the late 19th /
early 20th century naturalist Jean-Henri Fabre. Fabre had an extraordinary way
of recounting his observations. He would speak about bugs as if they were
characters or personal acquaintances. The house was my wife's family's rundown
country house in the south of France where we were living at the time. It was a
great rambling house surrounded by tall trees, a meadow and lawns that we had
all to ourselves. It is where the novel is set. I had noted down the broad
lines of the story a few years earlier, so when I encountered Fabre and the
house, everything just fitted in.
Was self-publishing your first choice?
What was the most nerve wracking part of the process?
Yes, it was, and I didn't
send the finished manuscript to any agents or publishers, believing that my
story wouldn't fit into their marketing plan. I had been on a transmedia master
class in London where I met someone who told me all about indie publishing. It
so happened I was finishing the last draft of my novel at the time. Having been
writing in digital media it was natural and logical for me to embark on an
indie digital publication, and a year later the book was published. Besides
that, I didn't want to wait an age to get an agent, and then another age for
him or her to find a publisher (or not). I really wanted to get my work out
there after all the time I'd spent writing it. The process was quite slow but I
wouldn't say it was nerve wracking, more fascinating, as I was actually
learning how to “make” a book, inside and out. I didn't want to rush it,
though, as I really wanted it to be made in quality, out of respect for the
reader and the effort I had put into writing it. That said, thinking about it I
suppose the most nerve wracking moment was opening the first detailed
evaluation.
As a self-published author, did you choose to edit your novel
yourself? What was the biggest change you made to the story and/or characters?
In fact I had lots of help. There were several stages of editing and I think I
must have rewritten the book about six times over a 6 year period, mostly in my
spare time at night. After I had written about a third of the first draft I
sent it to a London agency for a professional evaluation. The editor told me to
chop some off because it would become too long for the market it was intended
for. That gave me an objective in terms of word count. After another critique and
more tweaking I joined a website that allowed members to have the first 10000
words of their manuscript reviewed by anonymous writers/readers. This was
really great and it was free. In return I read and reviewed fellow authors'
excerpts. Reviewing other writers' work is a great way to create more distance
with your own work as it allows you to visualize similar points that can be
improved. I got feedback from about 20 writers which helped me optimize the
beginning of the novel further. But the biggest change throughout this process
was to have the main character actually metamorphose. This became a metaphor
and a vehicle for his quest of self-discovery. After going through the
manuscript myself again, taking it apart and then putting it all back together again
to try to create a cinematographic effect, I decided the time was right to get
in touch with CreateSpace. I got an encouraging evaluation from a professional
editor which gave me confidence and made me feel I really had something worth
sharing with a public. During the book creation stage the manuscript was edited
again professionally but this time the focus was on language and typos etc.
Do you have any unusual writing habits that aide your process and/or character
development?
In this digital age and having worked as a script writer in
digital entertainment for almost a decade, it may come as a surprise that my
first draft is always handwritten with a fountain pen. I then type it all into
the computer. I will rewrite any knotty parts thereafter by hand as well
because by drawing each letter in its entirety you get physically closer to the
text. It allows you time to take in the full impact of the words you are
forming, as apposed to thumping out ready shaped letters on a computer. For
this book I also had the insect characters in various poses on my desk, sounds
morbid but they were dry and dead. Doing this was also useful when it came to
describing their anatomy. But don't worry, I don't usually do this for human
characters!
Is there one passage or scene from your novel that you are most
fond of?
There are funny parts I like but
I've chosen the following extract which shows Marcel without his motley crew
and a change in mood. It is the beginning of a scene that brings about a
crucial stage in the boy's “metamorphosis”.
Trespassers Will Be Eaten
The porch
lantern had long since been extinguished. Its feeble glimmer was now superseded
by the brilliant light of the full moon that gleamed like a silver ecu in the
purple sky; and there was no escaping it. It glistened in the lily pond where
the frog took a gobbling leap. It crept upon the sleeping snail for the
hedgehog to crunch. It cut out shadows for the owl to pounce on. And while the
cautious cricket chirped its summer serenade just a stride from the safety of
its burrow, the dozing cicada was rudely shaken from its sun-drenched dreams by
the preying green grasshopper that savagely plunged its muzzle into the soft
sapfilled belly for the choicest morsel. Indeed the night was made for the
hunt. Another morbid cry of horrid surprise at last brought Marcel back to his
senses, though his limbs were still half paralyzed in slumber. In the pale
light of the moon, he made great efforts to retrieve his arms from above his head—their
position attested to his having been dragged to his present emplacement—but
they might just as well have been cast in lead. At the same time, a grasshopper
peered over him, making his heart thump like a drum in his ribcage. ‘Kalif,
it’s coming round!’ called the creature thickly, swiveling its stinking bloody
head. The biggest of the green grasshoppers left its feasting and appeared at
Marcel’s feet. His huge globular eyes peered into the boy’s gaze. His smile was
vile, as he affably said, ‘Don’t you know you are trespassing?’
~ MY REVIEW ~
First off, I have to gush about how much I love this cover. It reminds me of my favorite children's author, Sharon Creech. The story, Strange Metamorphosis is reminiscent of her writing style as well. Needless to say I went into this tale with high hopes, and I was not disappointed. For the most part this is a strong coming of age novel. Our main character, Marcel, is transformed from boy to bug. He then embarks on a quirky journey in a parallel realm, in search of who he truly is. Along the way he meets friend and foe alike and gains a valuable new perspective on life. I truly enjoyed experiencing this story from the perspective of an insect. The author did a superb job on creating this world. I am not sure exactly what age rage I would target this book for. It can definitely be read and enjoyed by a YA audience as well as adults, although at first glace it seems it might fit better into MG. Regardless, if you are looking for somewhat of a different read, I would recommend picking this up! Strange Metamorphosis is alive and fun, quite an exciting read.
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