Onward With the Future: My Experience Writing “Zero Gravity”
*CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM “Zero Gravity”*
Me with my novel “Zero Gravity”.
“EVERYTHING IS bound to change” - even your voice as a writer. Mine certainly did while writing this novel.
As some of you might know, I’ve been writing for a long time. Almost ten years. I know, that’s hard for people to believe, given that I’m twenty-two years old. But, it’s true. It all started when the over-imaginative ten-year-old me would write short stories in notebooks. And, I’ve never gone astray from writing ever since.
“Zero Gravity” is my fifth overall novel and my third published book. It’s a science fiction, dystopian novel which takes place in a world where gravity is lost at any moment via these storms called “zero gravity attacks”. The US government has also collapsed and almost all the United States has been taken over by terrorists known as The Ravagers, led by a former government employee, Walker Rhodes. The human population is dwindling, and there’s little to no areas for shelter. The novel follows protagonist Marlowe Benson, a young woman who has been seperated from her partner, Jayden, but is rescued by a group of survivors. Marlowe and the survivors attempt to not only fight back The Ravagers and seek shelter and safety from the zero gravity attacks, but also attempts to find Jayden with some questions if he’s really worth fighting for.
Now, I should also mention once again that blog will have spoilers, so please, proceed with caution. Especially, if you haven’t read the novel yet, but really want to.
Obviously, this novel can be very dark at times. That was my intent. These characters are in a terrible situation, obviously. So, of course, the hardships are shown through. From Marlowe’s personal hardship before and after the start of the zero gravity attacks, to the hardships of other characters such as Tyler, Ian and Claudia, and even the youngest character, Dallas.
Believe it or not, this was my first time approaching such mature themes as a fiction writer. You see, in “The Life of David Earl Penning” and “Neverafter”, I couldn’t really go as far as I would’ve liked to. I will just say that I was really young, since I was about sixteen when I started writing on “Neverafter” and seventen when I wrote “The Life of David Earl Penning”, I knew I would’ve had hell to pay if I were to write with no restrictions.
The original cover design for “Zero Gravity” made all the way back in 2014!
I was fourteen when I got the idea for “Zero Gravity”. I had various ideas with how I wanted to approach it. First, I thought of making it as a short story collection. Then, as a novella with Tyler as the main character and Jennifer as the antagonist. And of course, I even changed the names of the characters too. Marlowe was supposed to be called “Eric” (short for Erika), Tyler’s was orginally Jed and Dallas was originally Cody. So, I was very much all over the place with this novel. But, I knew for sure it was going to be a science fiction novel set in a world where gravity can be lost at any moment, and where the characters struggled to just live another day.
Fast-forward seven years later, and I was twenty-one-years-old, a student at NC State University. My schedule for the Fall 2021 semester was full but fun. And, I had a lot of inspiration from my lit courses and friends I made at that time. Hearing discussions of complex plot structures and even more complex but intriguing characters really inspired me. And of course, interacting with my peers almost five days a week for one entire semester. As you all know, I don’t like writing characters that share personality traits with me. So, I used my friends as sources of inspiration for my characters. And yes, Ian, Tyler and Claudia are all named after my friends.
Near the mid-terms-session of the Fall 2021 semester, I had just finished writing the short story of “Zero Gravity”. To be honest, I didn’t really think it was good, even though my friends, Ian and Tyler, said otherwise. But when I spoke about the concept with them, they were very enthusiastic and supportive, and that gave me the idea to make it a full-length novel. I was finished with the outline after about a few months. And by the start of the Spring 2022 semester, I was already working on my first draft. I didn’t share it with them, since I was really trying to brainstorm hard on this idea.
“This needs to be good” - I would always think. After all, this book had characters named after friends, and I really wanted to push myself. This was my first time diving back into science fiction since “Neverafter”, and that was five years ago.
With the start of the Spring 2022 semester, I joined NC State’s English Club. I was excited to join and interact with other writers, but nervous to submit writings of mine. I then decided to submit Chapter 1 of “Zero Gravity”. To my surprise, almost everyone loved it. They wanted to know more and see more, and of course, I gave it. Granted, I got into “the pit” for English Club too many times, almost like the “timeout” for writers when bestowing emotional damage… Some examples would be when I shared the chapters that included Jennifer’s death, and Jayden revealed to be a narcissist for manipulating Marlowe into sex after Uncle David’s death.
Some members of English Club were even my BETA readers. To name a few: Holly, Bryce, Bella, Duke, Caryl, Destry, Mac, Tuesday, Rachel M, and several others. And of course, Ian was a BETA reader as well, later joining the English Club after I added him to the group chat for all the BETA readers. Pretty hilarious that he even mistook the group chat for being the “Ada Pridgen fanclub”. If there does end up being a fanclub after this, I’m gonna do my best to provide “onward with the future” merchandise. Let me know if I should!
THEMES AND MESSAGES
“The Past, The Future and The Present”
The slogan, “onward with the future” was just something random I came up with at first. I’m from the South, and I can honestly say that I’ve known a lot of people in my life who always have interesting slogans. My great-uncle Gabby would always say, “I know some things, and know it.” My grandma would always say, “You know what I mean?” And my grandpa has had too many catchphrases for me to count. Even my mom, all the way from the Philippines, has grown used to saying slogans like “whatchyamacallit”.
Aside from just wanting to create a cool catchphrase, I thought about the catastrophic nature of this novel, as if zero gravity attacks were almost like natural disasters. In such disasters, there’s three phases: the past before the storm, the time during the storm, and the time after it. I find it interesting how people have such different approaches to problems, but it all namely came to me in three main groups of people:
1) Some linger on the past and how "peaceful” things are before the storm.
2) Some think about the present and how bad it is in the midst of the chaos.
3) And others try not to think about how good the past is and how bad the present may be and try to move on from it.
Hence, how I got the catchphrase “onward with the future”. Uncle David would definetely fit in the third category, whereas, Marlowe would be somewhere in the middle of it all, even though Uncle David has had a heavy influence on who she is as a person. After all, she picks up on a lot of his habits, like her insesnitivity and stuborness, which later changes as the novel progresses. In addition, she finds herself in all three areas. She misses her past with Uncle David, she hates how things are in the present with the climate of the world, but attempts to try and get away from it all from her uncle’s slogan.
I would also say Claudia would fall into the third category due to her optimism. Tyler and Dallas attempt to be in the third category as well, but they remain in the second because of the death of Jennifer. I would also say Ian would fall in the first category, especially when he opens up to Marlowe about his family life and since he distracts himself with Middle English poetry.
“Changes are Constant”
Marlowe obviously faces a lot of hardships in “Zero Gravity”. Even before the zero gravity attacks, her mother dies of cancer and her father abandons them. Thus, she’s left in the care of her great-uncle from her father’s side, David Benson, a Vietnam War vet. Though he’s crass and a little extreme at times, he means well. Though some like Jennifer debate this, especially after it’s revealed Uncle David kicked Marlowe’s older teenage brother, Jack, out of his home for abusing drugs and alcohol. In Marlowe’s past, she’s far more open with her emotions. However, that changes after Uncle David’s death and after Jayden Carson comes into her life under the guise that he “cares for her”, but in manipulates her for sex. Marlowe is in denial of it, but later comes to realization after Jayden has abandoned her for another woman. She always faces change, and it’s something that she doesn’t really accept. That is, until she has more positive changes, such as building friendships wih Tyler, Dallas and Claudia, and later, building a deeper relationship with Ian after they discover their similar pasts.
“Southern Goth”
I was especially drawn to southern goth literature in a North Carolina writers class I took in the Spring with Dr. Bennett in NC State. The most notable characteristics of southern goth are deeply flawed characters and mystery and suspense. Obviously, Marlowe, Uncle David, Jayden and Walker Rhodes easily take the cake for being the most flawed. Marlowe for her insesntive nature and refusing to believe anything negative about Jayden until she catches him with another woman. Uncle David for how crass he is and harsh for his actions. And Jayden, one of the most hated characters I’ve ever written, for manipulating Marlowe for sex, leaving her for another woman, then attempting to find her after the other woman dies in a zero gravity attack. And Walker Rhodes, for being the one to form The Ravagers after believing the government has failed to protect Americans from the zero gravity attacks. However, the tragic and dark iorny is that Walker refuses to accept that he’s doing mroe harm than good, by overtaking a tower that seemingly makes the zero gravity attacks in a specific area of the US worse. Not to mention, he is the one to sexual assault Marlowe while she is unconsious. And of course, the mystery and suspense unwinds the further you go into the novel, especially related to Jayden, Ian, Marlowe, Uncle David, and others.
Yes, this technically is a science fiction novel. But, I didn’t want it to be a conventional science fiction novel. Plus, I don’t remember ever seeing a book where science fiction and southern themes connected. And I wanted to change that by writing this novel. In a way, some have argued this novel could perhaps fall not only under the science fiction genre, but perhaps the Southern literature genre as well. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!
Final Thoughts From Me
Overall, this novel took a lot out of me. Yes, releasing it has been rewarding, but writing it was by far a fun but difficult challenge. The violence, the dark subject matter, and of course, Marlowe going through Hell on her journey with people she later accepts as friends. I truly took a lot of risks with this novel. It definetely highlights a lot of themes and mature topics I was intimidated to explore at first, but I’ve since learned it’s part of the writing process. And, without such an experience, I don’t think I’d have the voice I have now as a fiction writer. I was honestly terrified to release this, since I was scared the concept wouldn’t have been understood, but so far, so good!
Also, I can’t thank those who have not only read the book enough and who have supported me throughout the rollercoaster ride I’ve had both while writing, promoting and talking about this novel! Never would I have ever expected to have gotten this far, especially with “Zero Gravity” being picked up by Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, Quail Ridge Books of Raleigh and other retailers! And of course, the publication being shared in NC State University’s newspaper, Technician, along with getting the chance to talk about the novel amongst graduate students in one of my professor’s classes as a undergraduate! Definetely some highlights of my life both personally and professionally!
The Technician newspaper that features the novel publication as well as the paperback version of “Zero Gravity”
