Pivot Review and L.C. Barlow Interview

Pivot Review:
My rating: 5 stars
A huge thanks to L.C. Barlow for a copy of this book for review.
Pivot is about a girl, Jack, taken in b a cult leader, Cyrus. Jack is taught to kill from a young age, and as she grows older, she becomes a drug abuser and a murderer. However, there is much more to her. Her true personality is buried out of fear of Cyrus and his red box. The box that everyone fears.
This book had me engaged from the beginning, which is a huge bonus point. Usually, I don’t engage with books from the beginning, and it’s usually until halfway through that I start to actually feel the characters. This book, however, exceeded my expectations.
The writing style, the point of view chosen, and the character personalities truly made you connect with the book in a way that is rarely achieved.
The plot keeps you hooked from beginning to end. Some books seem to make the protagonist have an advantage that they shouldn’t have at certain times. L.C. Barlow made sure everything fit, and no part of the plot was too convenient for one character.
“And in this simple moment, I suddenly began to wonder if perhaps we shake hands with God in agreement to the lives we live, before we are ever born.”
This quote truly touched me after reading about all the Jack has gone through, and will go through. The change she has experienced was truly reflected in this quote, and I actually paused for a few moments when I read this.
I would honestly highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a Fantasy/Horror story. It was a great read, and I can’t wait for the second book.

Interview with L.C. Barlow, the author of Pivot, Perish, and Peak:
1. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
The first time I remember saying that I wanted to be a writer out loud was when I was about twelve and hanging out with some friends in my neighborhood. Though I didn’t say (or admit) the same thing again until my early twenties, it was definitely my heart’s desire. I wrote many short stories when I was young, almost all of which I believe were accidentally deleted or are saved on a floppy disk somewhere, never to be found again. During junior high, my friend Stephanie would also write, and we would read our stories to each other over the phone. Eventually, when I went off to college, I started as a biomedical science major. After a year and a half, I decided it wasn’t for me and transferred to English, finally deciding to pursue creative writing. I took a horror writing course by accident. I think everyone in that class had no idea what they had signed up for (there was no detailed class description available for us). But it turned out to be great for me. I was able to tap into my writing in a different way, perhaps more deeply, and, frankly, I never really went back after that.
Part of it is likely that horror writing is cathartic. Jonathan Maberry at the 2019 Stoker Awards Banquet said it best when he stated, “Horror writers are the kindest people you will ever meet. Because they get it all out on the page. It’s the comedians you have to watch out for. They keep everything inside.” It’s true. The horror writing community has some of the nicest individuals I’ve ever met, and I have made many friends. In addition, I have somehow been able to make PIVOT come alive in a way I didn’t expect when writing (perhaps because it is horror); likewise, writing it was therapeutic for me in a way I didn’t expect (again, perhaps because it is horror).
I’ll add that the book that made me realize I wanted to be a writer was one I discovered on the floorboard of a car that belonged to the parents of one of my best friends back in high school. As it turned out, it was a copy of THE VAMPIRE LESTAT. My friend told me to read the first page. I did and discovered pure magic. It was a remarkable moment for me. I ended up purchasing a set of four Anne Rice novels — her Vampire Chronicles — and read them all, as well as at least ten more, including BLACKWOOD FARM, which became my favorite. Anne Rice’s elaborate, flowery language pulled me in. Lestat, given life by Rice, could seduce his reader, and this was something I wanted to be able to do. I loved words, and I was in awe of the myriad ways they could be made to work, the worlds and characters they could create.
It wasn’t until I was working part time at a community college and pursuing my MA in English that, during my last semester of coursework before my thesis, I decided to really and truly try my hand at writing a book. It’s hard to say exactly what inspired it. I was just so energized. Undergraduate and graduate school is terribly stressful, and it requires so much work, and I finally thought to myself, “If I put this much work into something that I actually want to do, I might succeed.” I had been able to figure everything else out — organic chemistry, Victorian history, etc. — and I didn’t really want to do those. So, maybe, just maybe, if I worked and worked and worked, I could do it. So, I pursued it.
In terms of what I decided to write, a story had been percolating for nearly ten years in the back of my head. I go into a little more detail about what inspired the story below, but a friend of mine in high school was a Lutheran at that time, and she invited me to come to a special event her church was having, where an “ex-Satanist” came and spoke about her experiences to the youth group. It was just such an eerie speech, an unsettling account of events, and it got me thinking and thinking and playing out scenarios again and again. It was an idea that didn’t leave me, even though her story was likely a fabrication. This is what inspired the Jack Harper Trilogy.

2. What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
It took me a while to come up with an answer for this. I suppose one interesting writing quirk of mine is that if I am having trouble concentrating, then making hot tea and lighting a candle — usually something along the lines of either Cinnamon Stick or Vanilla Cupcake — will help settle me. In addition, like many others, I often think about writing while doing the dishes, vacuuming, or something else that puts down “physical order” before I put down “mental order.”
In terms of the writing itself, one thing that I think I am far more open to than many others is heavy revision of my stories. I tend to accept a draft of a story as one potential version of that story, and I am open to altering vast swathes of the novel. For instance, the new, traditionally-published version of PIVOT is about 95% different than the original self-published version, based on the revisions asked of me before I gained an agent and then with my agent.

3. Where did you get the idea for this book?
Jack Harper has been with me since I was in high school. So, about sixteen years. She has manifested in different ways, with slightly different desires and personality traits, but she has always been there. She started blond, as though that matters, and then transitioned to having black hair so dark it’s almost blue. As said before, the ex-Satanist who spoke at my friend’s Lutheran church inspired the story, as well as — just a little — Jack. Jack is the survivor of a traumatic situation. She does what she has to in order to survive, and she is cunning. My favorite thing about her is her genuineness in all things. Although she commits terrible acts, she is also fully genuine in doing them. Though she fits into a psychological horror type of villain at times, she is not necessarily a psychopath, as every psychopathic trait she has is a learned attribute, a second nature, rather than a choice. Each time she is given a choice, she chooses to step beyond this and become something else.
Roland and Cyrus have been with me for at least seven years. They became fully fleshed out when I was writing the first draft. Cyrus is the “primal father.” What I mean by that is that he is the unstoppable adoptive father who heads the cult, has unearthly tools at his disposal, and is able to discover those who blaspheme before they can stop him. To Jack, he is a charismatic and maniacal mentor (think Charles Manson meets Lucifer from Supernatural). Roland is like a second father to Jack. He starts as Cyrus’s assistant, but his heart shifts throughout the novel. It is difficult for me to say exactly what inspired these characters. I suspect part of it was that there are many cults in this world, and they all have a leader of some sort who convinces his followers he is capable of terrific and terrible things. I actually wanted a character who could back up his claims. Thus, Cyrus was born. I always associated him with silver — silver eyes and silver hair — because he’s cold and calculating. Roland, perhaps, is the other side of the coin.
Lutin has been with me since 2014, and his arrival in my novel was quite surprising to me, though he quickly became one of my favorite characters. When I realized that Cyrus needed access to tools and beings in order to gain otherworldly powers and that I needed more grit in the novel (that is, I needed to explain things in the Pivotverse more), that’s how Lutin arrived. He is like angel and demon combined. His intent is pure and good, but he is dangerous. Cyrus manages to capture him and uses his blood and soul to accomplish fantastic things in the cult. Even so, Jack is able to find Lutin in the basement of Cyrus’s mansion, and when she does, her world is turned upside down. Lutin helps redefine good for Jack, helps provide Jack with agency, as he gives her otherworldly powers. His body has cracks in it, similar to branches or vines, but these lines fluoresce with fire. I think seeing Kintsukuroi helped inspire him. The sense of an otherworld, too, greatly inspired him. He is beyond.

4. What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating this book?
As this was my first book, I learned so many things from the creation of it — character development, plotting, and the fact that you “can’t cheat the grind.” To make progress, to do well, you have to work hard. It’s not romantic, though there are romantic elements. But you can’t cheat it. People will notice when your heart isn’t in it or you have skipped days of work. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to understand that the things worth having are usually difficult. It has helped me to accept difficulty — it’s a sign of something good, something worthy.
While creating this book, I also came to learn that, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” If you really want something, I mean really really want it, then you won’t stop working until you have achieved/produced it, and no one can get in your way — even if they’re bigger than you. There are so many people out there who will try to convince you not to write, that it’s a waste of time, that the book won’t get published. To pursue your own path in the face of that is difficult, but it is also essential, if you want to write… and if you are to become your own person.
Lastly, I also learned that plotting isn’t everything. After figuring out how to plot, I realized that there’s just something about letting the novel develop organically that is so important. Really, if you sit down and say exactly what you wanted to say when writing, you’ve kind of failed. It’s only by writing something beyond which you knew to write that you have succeeded — when you write more than you thought you knew.

5. If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
It would be to “follow your heart.” That is, write what you want to write, pursue creative writing if that’s what you want to pursue. When you force yourself to pursue something you don’t want, then your entire life becomes an act, and that is difficult/impossible to sustain. Listen to yourself, listen to what you want. Your intuition will not lead you astray.
Aside from the above, I would also likely tell myself everything in the sixth question below.

6. What is your advice for aspiring writers?
Remember that the first draft doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be written. You can’t revise something that isn’t there.
Once you have a draft, and someone suggests trying something, feel open to trying it. You can have several versions of the same story, and just because you take it a new direction doesn’t mean your old draft disappears if you need to go back to it. Be brave and take your story to foreign places. It’s not foreign, anymore, after you write it.
Do not expect professionals to be mean. Many are some of the kindest people you can meet.
You can only enter a room for the first time once. That’s why it’s important that you get your work to as optimum of a level as possible before submitting it to an agent or editor. Because once they “enter the room” (read your work) for the first time, they can’t see it nearly as objectively after. Your own objectiveness is compromised because you’ve been with the work for so long. That’s why you need workshoppers you can trust (and who know how to get you to emphasize things and back off things without being cruel or mean).
In every story there are “crunchy” and “floaty” items, also known as literal and figurative. The crunchy is the bare facts that ground the story. The floaty is the unnatural, metaphorical things. Often times, writers throw in figurative things to feel better or redeem the story. The reality, though, is that you don’t need to do this. You don’t need to “redeem” the story. The more you add trying to “redeem” the story, the more work you make for yourself when revising. Trust the reader to follow you.
Keep in mind the Hemingway Theory — that 10% of the story is what the author lets the audience see, and 90% is hidden. It’s very much like a glacier — the top 10% is visible, and the bottom 90% is below water. The amount of work you put into a novel is the 90%. When I wrote PIVOT, I wrote about five times the amount that the book ended up being. The book is around 280 pages. I definitely wrote over 1,000 pages while constructing it.
Read SAVE THE CAT! by Blake Snyder and THE HERO’S JOURNEY by Christopher Vogler. These were books that Nancy Holder (a prolific author and one of my professors) recommended to all of her students in my MFA program. Both books have beat sheets in terms of how a story should move. When I read them, I was so incredibly impressed. Before my MFA, I had written my first novel without any plot guidance. I retroactively compared it with Snyder’s 15-point beat sheet. To my surprise, I found that 13/15 elements in my manuscript aligned. That was the Aha! moment of, “Oh, this is why it worked. I know what I did, so now I know what to do.” I regularly return to these books and always learn something new.

7. How do you deal with writer’s block?
I feel as though the source of writer’s block could be a myriad of things — anxiety or depression due to life events, too much pressure to produce something “perfect,” not allowing enough time between projects or chapters of a project, allowing too much time between projects or chapters of a project, emotional or physical trauma, thinking too much about what one is writing, thinking too much in general, losing oneself to one’s responsibilities, getting in one’s own way, etc. Any one of these could cause writer’s block, and so, rather than focusing on the block itself, I would recommend digging a little deeper to find the source and then assess your actions based on that source. If, for instance, the block is due to a sudden death in the family, it might be beneficial to give yourself time and space to recover and adjust to a new reality, instead of “attacking the block.”

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