Victor has never considered himself a monster. Sure, he came into the world in a somewhat unconventional way, and maybe he doesn't have all of his original organs. And he still looks 30 at 53 (or is it 83?).
But his sole purpose in life has been...
Dedicated to my mom because she kept telling me my story was great, even before she began reading it....
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I stumbled on the Open Novella Contest a week and a half before the first deadline, and was kind of just browsing it when I saw the prompt "The man who had everything," and immediately the image of a modern Frankenstein came to mind, but told from the Monster's perspective. I had to write it.
Originally I had planned to write the story in third person p.o.v., but as I started to flesh out my initial outline, I realized that it was Victor's story and he needed to be the one to tell it. But Victor is technically 87, with 4 years in stasis meaning he has 83 years of experience under his belt. However, he's physically and mentally 30. He's also highly intelligent (in his own words, "a goddamn neurosurgeon"). I am not male or a doctor, nor am I 83. So I struggled a little at first at finding Victor's voice.
Fortunately, Victor found his own voice, and it ended up sounding kind of like Dexter Morgan (from the book series and TV show "Dexter"): intelligent, kind of detached, but with a sense of humor and occasional bouts of human surprise and confusion.
Just as I had predicted, it was Victor's story and he tended to take over, especially in the second half, defying my plans but also adding so much that I hadn't considered. For instance, after he realized Walt had found him in Munich, I was certain he had not broken into the apartment. But then Victor saw the cameras and we had to go on a search through the apartment all over again.
Frequently he proved more resourceful and thorough in his planning than I had been, coming up with ideas that hadn't occurred to me. He also frustrated me immensely when he blocked me and I couldn't write chapter 16 for almost a week because he didn't like how I'd written chapter 15. "I'm not depressed," he told me. "Because She's not dead. I'm lonely, and I miss Her so much it hurts, but I can't be depressed. I will see Her soon and then I'll make sure I never lose Her to old age ever again." So I had to change chapter 15 slightly and then promise that in 16, he'd be manic instead of depressed - the classic mad scientist in the making.
Victor became very real to me, his voice as real in my mind as my own. Because of his active involvement in telling his story, the outline I'd written that I worried wouldn't make it to 20,000 words was expanded continuously. The story ended up finishing at over 25,000 words.
And while I'm happy to have finished the story, I'm sad that Victor will go away. I've become used to hearing his thoughts and obsessions. Then again, if he sticks around, that might just destroy my own sanity...
