Blank Earth

*Blank Earth*

Author
Todd Dawson-Cooper

Universe
D-242

Country
Canada

Genre(s)
Transgressive, Drama, Black Comedy

Publisher
N/A

Publication date
TBA

ISBN
N/A

Preceded by
The Melancholy of Separation (chronologically)

Followed by
Of Cigarettes & Copulation (release order)
One Warm Night (chronologically)

***Blank Earth*** is a transgressive urban tragedy and the first book in the *The Placebo Effect* series by Todd Dawson-Cooper.

## Synopsis

In the rainy and rusted suburbia of Beacon Hill, six troubled youth from different walks of life share two things in common: a dilapidated abode to call home and a far-flung dream to escape the innate hostilities of their everyday lives. In search of they enshroud themselves behind facades and self-caricatures; all the while becoming despondently complacent.

Influenced by the works of Lydia Lunch, Irvine Welsh and Hubert Selby Jr., *Blank Earth* serves as an unflinching coup d'œil into the life of Ryley Summers, an eccentric and rebellious young runaway looking to escape her childhood trauma through a life of cheap thrills and petty crime. At her side, her girlfriend, Alex Peterson, and friendly roommates Jay Sanders, Dawn Anderson, Emily Kaufman, and Ami Richards each attempt to guide Ryley down a less baleful path, but victim to their own faults and desires recklessly indulge further in a apathetic downward spiral of sex, alcohol, and drug-fueled nihilism.

Like a cigarette, their innocuous devil-may-care lifestyle smolders away, grotesquely manifesting into a gut-wrenching Kafkaesque nightmare.

## Appearances

### Characters

#### Main

* Ryley Summers (first appearance)
* Alex Peterson (first appearance)
* Jay Sanders (first appearance)
* Dawn Anderson (first appearance)
* Ami Richards (first appearance)
* Emily Kaufman (first appearance)

#### Secondary

* Jacob Delsin (first appearance)
* Karmina 'Karmin' Espinosa (first appearance)
* Liam Kendall (first appearance)
* Kim Min-Ji (first appearance)
* Garcia Espinosa (first appearance)
* Sophia Procter (first appearance)
* Zachary Richards (mentioned only)

#### Other

* Lucas Hamilton (first appearance)
* Jill Taylor (first appearance)
* Aaron Taylor (first appearance)
* Eric Wilson (first appearance)
* Kaleb Simpson (first appearance)
* Oleksandr Dvořák (first appearance)
* Stacy Harper (mentioned)
* Ariel Reitman (indirectly referenced)

### Locations

* Seattle, Washington
	+ Beacon Hill
		- 138 South Cognac Street
		- Espinosa Auto Repair and Maintenance Family (2400 Beacon Avenue S)
	+ Belltown
		- Robertson Basement (2320 1st Avenue)
		- Tomistoma Café (2200 2nd Avenue)
	+ Capitol Hill
		- Fear & Loathing in Seattle (1833 Harvard Avenue)
		- Jacob and Sophia's Apartment Building (602 Melrose Avenue E)
	+ Mount Baker
		- B-Smart Gas & Convenience (2801 Martin Luther King Jr Way S)
	+ Queen Anne
		- Space Needle (400 Broad Street)
	+ Yesler Terrace
		- Talbot Grocer Co-operative (1902 E Yesler Way)
	+ University District
		- University of Washington School of Medicine (1959 NE Pacific Street)
	+ West Seattle
		- Cascadia Records & Café (4559 California Avenue SW)
* San Francisco, California (flashbacks, mentioned)
* Tacoma, Washington (mentioned)
* Aberdeen, Washington (mentioned)
* Olympia, Washington (mentioned)
* Cascadia, Washington (mentioned)
* Eugene, Oregon (mentioned)
* Bend, Oregon (mentioned)
* Arkada, California (mentioned)
* Oakland, California (mentioned)
* Arlington, Virginia (mentioned)
* Pensacola, Florida (mentioned)
* New York City, New York (mentioned)
* El Salado, Columbia (mentioned)
* Barranquilla, Columbia (mentioned)
* Canada (mentioned)
* Jamaica (mentioned)
* Aurora Creek, Oregon (indirectly mentioned)
* Vancouver, Washington (indirectly mentioned)

## Development

The initial concept for what would eventually become *Blank Earth* was first conceived in the middle of 2014, as *Faust*, an earlier psychological thriller that Cooper had been working on, which, although similar in it's bleak tone and Grunge-influenced aesthetic, veered heavily away from the final product's gritty realism in favor of post-modernism and the surreal, influenced by popular media such as *Silent Hill, Jacob’s Ladder, Angel Heart, Donnie Darko, 1408,* Selby's *The Room* and various assorted works of *David Lynch, H.P. Lovecraft, Franz Kafka, Lars Von Trier, William S. Burroughs*, and painters *Francis Bacon* and *Lucien Freud*.

This journey into the abstract marked a notable turning point for Cooper, who had - up to this point - spent the past several years working on *Apocalypse*and similar works that followed a very "Hollywood-inspired" formula of storytelling and narrative conflict, often centered around grand setpieces, post-apocalyptic settings and the multiverse. Cooper, inspired by the works of philosophers Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Friedrich Nietzsche and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, found himself growing ever more intrigued by the concept of focusing instead on internal character dynamics, unreliable narrators, and an exploration into more viscerally challenging, obscene and taboo subject matter that Cooper believed better reflected the reality that he, and his peers, had grown and lived in.

This new book had no title, initially defined by only a short outline; the story was to follow a traveling motley crew of punk rock vagabonds who traveled the country in a beat-up Volkswagen and dished out their own brand of homicidal vigilante justice to greasy old politicians, wife-beaters and rapists everywhere, while being hunted by a morally-disturbed FBI agent, only to be stopped when their respective pasts caught up to them. Though that concept would be scrapped, many of it's plot elements would be recycled for the inevitable sequel *Of Cigarettes & Copulation*, whilst the spirit of that original synopsis was re-contextualized and embodied in the character of Ryley Summers.

By late-2015, *Blank Earth* had been formulated, in-part as a response to (and rejection of) the emergence of what would later be dubbed the 'culture war' between "DiAngelo-brand woke tenderqueer SJWs" and "basement-dwelling incel neo-nazis" on major social media platforms such as Twitter and Tumblr. Cooper had ascertained that he did not want to pander to either, opting rather, to offend both. As such, the novel inherently rejects and attacks concepts of identity politics, political correctness, gender norms & stereotypes, ethnic nationalism and identity, and objective morality and instead raises arguments against both ideologies by observing 'simple truths' about modern life that Cooper remarked could be "easily found on any street corner, from dying small towns to over-gentrified cities, if one dare to look outside their safe space".

Over the remainder of the year, Cooper had dug his hands ever deeper into the world of film and literature, particularly in search of art that would reflect and help develop the innate themes and tonal mood that he had envisioned for *Blank Earth.* At this point, several various "scrap chapters" were also written up as a playground for Cooper to explore translating said themes into written prose, with the character of *Jacob Delsin* being created and developed as a visual catch-all proxy for the novel's overall themes.

*"It was clear from very early on that I wanted to treat 'Blank Earth' as a more abstract and deconstructive piece of literature, to which things like theme, aesthetic, mood, atmosphere, tone, ambiance and character motivations were far more important than the overall “plot”. I really wanted 'Blank Earth' to feel less like your cookie-cutter ‘story in three parts’ narrative and more like it was a snapshot or a recording of something that had happened and/or was happening in real life; that these characters could feel non-fictional and would maybe feel like old friends to the reader. Even if they were perpetually flawed, morally inconsistent, and not always agreeable in their actions, you would feel their choices were deliberately tied to their core desires and beliefs. Human."*
***- Todd Cooper,** on the inception of Blank Earth.*

At this point in time, Cooper began his first drafts on the novel's overall plot outline, however, unlike the final product, it was as a three-act play then-entitled *"Six Cigarettes"*, inspired by several classic kitchen-sink dramas, the implication that each of the six main characters, outcasts disillusioned with society, would ultimately burn fiercely then wither away.

Cooper realized that crafting the characters, story and world of *Blank Earth* and actually *writing* it, were two separate and equally difficult challenges that would require much effort, many rewrites, and a balance of determination with the correct state-of-mind. *Blank Earth* had to be nuanced and subtle, yet, could not pull its punches. It had to be equally "raw" and "in-your-face", but not enough as to invoke a pubescent child merely writing obscenities. It had to shock and offend mainstream readers sensibilities, while also being deeply thought-provoking. Thankfully, as time went on Cooper was able to draw massive amounts of inspiration from dozens of newly discovered works.

## Influences and Themes

*Blank Earth* draws primary influence from author Todd Cooper's own life, with nearly all of the events contained in the book being excised from autobiographical memoirs of his own experiences (as well as those of his close peers and family) and christened into a fictional work. Cooper has likened the majority of the novel to his teenage experience:

*"-- kicking your legs up in a cigarette smoke-filled basement. There's burnt spoons and moldy pizza boxes, good tunes are blaring but you're too shitfaced to hear them. Now, you're laughing with friends on the floor over something about a plastic fork; wasted off your ass on a potent mixture of whiskey, vodka, cocaine and hydro, kissing and fucking each other like animals in a chemically-crazed heat. You think you're having a great time, it seems innocent at first but it'll get ugly fast, there's a lot of pain deep-down and it's just a numbing process.*
*Everyone's fucked up in some way; her uncle rapes her, his girlfriend beats him bloody, their brother just killed themselves, it's a downward spiral. You don't know when anybody's number is up, just that: one day, someone will just be gone, maybe everyone, but everything's a blur and when the world just goes away, just for a little bit, the pain becomes manageable. You feel like absolute dogshit, physically, emotionally, mentally - but it's okay because the world has taught you that you* are *shit, and that creates this euphoric sense of natural equilibrium. You try so hard to hold onto that moment, you don't realize that you're going nowhere fast, you don't realize that feeling you're sinking isn't an embrace... Then again, when the world doesn't want you -- where have you left to go but in?"*
The novel's main ensemble of Ryley, Alex, Jay, Dawn, and Ami were all developed from an exaggerated personality trait of Cooper's self combined with experiences and flairs from those in Cooper's life. Each character deals with mental illness and trauma, stemming from domestic/child abuse, poverty, sexual promiscuity, rape, self harm, depression, suicide, racial discrimination, homophobia/transphobia, addiction, and alcoholism.

Likewise, *Blank Earth* deals exclusively with the abstract and includes themes of philosophy in it's narrative, particularly in regards to the concept of "self" and "identity", borrowing from ideas by Emma Goldman and Max Stirner in regards to individualism, and Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud explicitly within the context of ego, perception and the subconscious. In the novel, each character's true identity or 'self' frequently runs contrary to and clashes with their ideal self and goals, this internal conflict creates inherit tension and anxiety that makes the characters ever more willing to fall into and conform to their own delusions to avoid reality. *Blank Earth* argues the only path to salvation from this inherent contradiction is the actualization of the self to the benefit of others. The novel further adopts concepts of moral anti-realism, absurdism and utilitarianism.

* Hubert Selby Jr. (*Last Exit to Brooklyn, Requiem For A Dream,* and *The Willow Tree*).
* Larry Clark and Harmonie Korine's controversial 1995 film *Kids* (as well as the former's *Tulsa* and the latter's *Gummo*).
* Irvine Welsh (*Trainspotting, Glue* and *Maribou Stork Nightmares*)
* Thomas Ligotti (*The Conspiracy Against the Human Race* and *My Work is Not Yet Done: Three Tales of Corporate Horror)*
* Lydia Lunch (*Will Work For Drugs*, *Paradoxia*, and *So Real It Hurts)*
* Bret Easton Ellis (*Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, and* American Psycho*)*
* Chuck Palahniuk (*Fight Club, Haunted,* and *Invisible Monsters*)
* William S. Burroughs (*Junky, Queer,* and *The Naked Lunch*)

Further influences cited by Cooper includes the works of Albert Camus, Hunter S. Thompson, Jean-Paul Sartre, Franz Kafka, abstract painter Jackson Pollock, photographers Davide Sorrenti, Nan Goldin and Diane Arbus, Nirvana's *In Utero*, Nine Inch Nails' *The Downward Spiral*, Godspeed You! Black Emperor's *F♯A♯∞*, Alice in Chains *Dirt* and the discography of sludge band Eyehategod. Uli Edel's *Christiane F.*, Mary Ellen Mark's *Streetwise*, Martin Scorsese's *Taxi Driver*, Dennis Cooper's *The Sluts*. Lighter-toned films from the '80s/90s such as *Clerks, Some Kind of Wonderful, Empire Records, The Breakfast Club, Slacker, Reality Bites, River's Edge* and *The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls In Love* also served as inspiration for the novel's lighter moments, while the works of late comedian George Carlin helped direct the book's cynical and politically-charged humor.

## Playlist

While writing *Blank Earth*, Cooper curated a playlist of songs that reflected the novels tone and themes. The playlist includes a variety of riot grrrl, queercore, grunge and noise-pop bands. To subvert expectations, Cooper avoided using traditionally well-known '90s artists and songs, opting instead for a selection of modern bands to fit the novel's 2015 setting.

Nearly all the songs featured are by female-fronted and/or all-female bands, and many deal directly with themes of queer identity, feminism, addiction, domestic abuse, grooming, harassment and rape in their lyrics. Many of the artists are also from Seattle, Washington or elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest.

## Gallery

### Promotional Art

Key ArtPromotional BannerPromotional PosterPromotional PosterTeaser Poster
### Concept Art

Beacon Hill, concept artBlank Earth: Alt. Minimalist PosterEarly Character DesignsBlank Earth / Of Cigarettes & Copulation