Opening Words

Bullets, Deals, and a man by the name of Romeo

Welcome:

I think it was in 2021, I was graduating from my Bachelor in Business, having felt like I’m getting out with less knowledge than when I went in. A few things were fresh in my head: I hate magic in fiction, I think Harry Potter has poor world building, Fincher’s 1995 film Seven, Remedy’s video game ‘Control’, and Mike Mignola’s Hellboy.

These thoughts danced around in my mind as graduation day swirled over my head, COVID had ruined the middle of bachelor and screwed me up going forward, a previous project had recently fallen through due to burnout. I needed something fresh. I always wanted to see how a horror movie would be different if there was one man who knew exactly how to deal with the problem. A gruff hero without the cliches, someone who feels human, who you can see winning, only after he gets his ass kicked.

This story, even beyond the first book, is one of change. In the context of our main character, this is a story of a man trying to change. The world itself, in the final stages of degradation, one that is invisible to most. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The story of the Night Shift is about cycles, how we break them, how we fail to.

We open in a world that has existed without our attention. I felt a very specific need to center the world on a core principles, similar to how one would format a DND campaign or any other RPG game. The reader’s eyes do not summon this world into being. I have never been a fan of chosen ones, they make the world feel small and disingenuous.

The Magic Shaped Question:

Present Day offers an interesting conundrum: Do People Know?

This question offered me two paths going forward, should this be a society where magic is a known element of life, or is it a Men in Black/Harry Potter situation?

The latter seemed infinitely more interesting. The thought of entire grand battles between order and entropy, chaos and control, gray and gray, all while Manhattan Mathew goes to work and is none the wiser, it looked like a rich vein of storytelling. Instead of humans living magically like many stories would do, I wanted to at once embrace the weirdness of magic, while not giving humans full control over it. Humans living “with” magic.

The only way a human can wield magic, is through a Faustian bargain with an Entity. We’ll get to that.

Present Day NYC presents an interesting case study, offering not only a glimpse into how the USA deals with magical threats and supernatural forces, but also how folklore and superstitions from many different cultures impact and adapt to ‘The City’..

I do my best to put real logic into the workings of the criminal element, the United States Para-Natural Containment Division (the Magic FBI), external players, and how our main character fits into all of this.

Further posts will explore the intricate world I’ve been building for 4 years. I have been waiting to share this project with the world for what feels like forever. I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I will… See you around.