Second Look: Flowers of Dionysus

tyunglebower ♦ May 9, 2024 ♦ Leave a comment

My first novel could have been my last.

I had always written non-fiction, mostly articles and essays, a letter to the editor, with some poetry mixed here and there. I dabbled in short fiction over the years, but never did anything with it.

I had also attempted to write a novel a few times in previous years, but it never panned out. For whatever reason I could not follow through in most cases.

So there was a time in the writing of this novel that I thought I would get this story out, look into this self-publishing idea, and move on with my life.

Why was I so determined to not only finish but to present this one after so many false starts over the years?Two main reasons.

First I had recently done NANOWRIMO for the first time, and “won.” If nothing else it showed me that I could in fact finish a larger project if I did not take the time to edit until I was finished with a first draft. Revolutionized the way I wrote from then on out. The concept of a novel, which I only dipped my toe into for years was now at least a possibility.

Secondly, (and I have talked of this years ago on this site) I felt I was inspired by several events because of the presence of the “beyond.” You may interpret that as you wish, but in any event the ending scene of a novel “came” to me after seeing an outdoor production of Taming of the Shew that happened near my apartment of the time.

Now, it took a while to determine how and why and who would get to that ending, but that was why I was writing the story.

As with Thank You For Ten (which actually came AFTER the idea for the novel) the theatre in question is The Little Dionysus Playhouse, a composite of several theaters I have worked in over the years. It’s a small, aging playhouse that may be past its prime in this day and age, but nonetheless continues as a noted arts presence in the small (fictional) city in which the story unfolds.

The protagonist, Matthias, was once heavily into theatre after studying it in college, though when the novel opens, he’s become a bit cynical of the entire concept. Sadly, his heart is just not in it anymore. It’s only as a favor to a friend of his that is directing a show that he steps in to fill in a missing role, his first in about two years.

Several smaller but thematically related subplots are woven into this story, all covering some aspects of the performing arts and featuring other volunteers involved in this same summer show, (a modern take on an old Greek Tragedy.)

This so far is my only novel with multiple points of view. Back then as now, I am not the biggest fan of reading multiple-pov. Yet I modeled this on the few novels I have been able to enjoy that used such a format: namely having only one point of view per chapter, and each chapter named after the character we are following.

We have Matthias, the burned out actor who has lost some of his fire. We have the disciplined weary stage manager, one of Matthias best friends. We have a talented dancer brought in to choreograph some of the fanciful scenes, and the “ingenue-adjacent” first time actress, introverted and unused to chaos.

The antagonist, the temporary executive director of the theatre rounds out the group of those with their own POV.

The production is troubled, behind schedule, weighed down by people half-assing their involvement. (If you have done community theatre, you’ve been in one of these.) Needless to say this does little for Matthias’ cynicism. Out of duty he will not quit this show, but he may just declare it his last.

Until supernatural, unexplained events and odd strangers start to pop up everywhere on the perimeter of the rehearsal process. Only Matthias seems concerned about it.

Will his need to figure out the unexplained help or hurt the production? His own commitment to theatre itself?

That’s Flowers of Dionysus. In the end, it is a love letter to the world of theatre, particular amateur/community theatre, albeit with some mild fantasy elements. I never felt one had to be involved in theatre to enjoy the story, but I can confirm theatre geeks will understand a few more of the “inside” jokes I throw in from time to time.

I want it to appeal to artists of all kinds, to people who believe in the power of same. Found family lovers will find something to embrace in this tale of friendship as well. So will those who feel burdened by cynicism at the time of reading, but wish to lift said burden.

Those who believe, or who want to believe that the intangibles of creativity, inspiration, love and the transcendent matter in this world take heed: they matter in Flowers of Dionysus.

I believe that I have improved as a writer since this first public attempt at a novel. I would hope so; one should always strive to be better. Yet I am still proud of this finished product. To some degree all of my novels follow in the spirit of my author tagline, “I Shift the Every Day a Few Inches,” but this debut of mine may embody it the most. To read this novel is to see (I hope) what I mean by that.