Category Archives: Writing

January 16, 2017 · 3:47 pm

Plot, character evolution and Sherlock

sherlockSpoiler warning: This post was written after the last episode of Sherlock series 4, and is kind of a response/riff on that. If you’re a big Sherlock fan, like I am, or just want to view it unspoiled at some point in the future, you might just give this one a pass. On the bright side? No politics in this one!

The character of Sherlock Holmes is among the most famous in all of literature. I would venture to say only a handful of Shakespeare’s creations, a couple of superheroes and two or three horror icons have stood the test of time alongside Mr. Holmes. It’s not just the iconography — the hat, the pipe, the magnifying glass — that makes him so well known, nor the individual cases written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. We know Sherlock Holmes’ character: His hauteur, his uncanny perception, his unfailing intellect, his lack of social graces, his dalliances with drugs, his relationship with Dr. John Watson and, of course, his ongoing search for justice.

The latest iteration of the Holmes mythos, BBC’s Sherlock (seen here in the U.S. on PBS’ Masterpiece), is not only the best modern interpretation of Holmes, but one of the best interpretations of the character ever done. Benedict Cumberbatch had the tall task of inhabiting an icon, and yet not only succeeded, but made his Sherlock perhaps this generation’s definitive take on the character. And Martin Freeman had an even more daunting task — to turn the perpetually confused and amazed Dr. Watson and breathe life into that character, to make him more than just Holmes’ cheering section. He did so beyond any expectation — while Jeremy Brett fans may quibble with Cumberbatch’s interpretation, Freeman’s Watson is hands down the best of them all.

This is why the last episode of Sherlock series 4, “The Final Problem,” is so disappointing. It’s not because it’s poorly written or poorly acted, but because the entire concept of it, from soup to nuts, neatly disregarded all the excellent work Cumberbatch, Freeman and writers Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat have done with the characters for the 12 episodes prior. “The Final Problem” had so many interesting ideas and moments, but ultimately became a case study in how you really shouldn’t sacrifice your characters on the altar of plot expediency.

Let’s discuss, shall we? The game is on.  Continue reading →

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January 4, 2017 · 5:45 pm

2016 in review: Other people’s stuff

Happy New Year! I hope 2017 is treating you well so far, and that this year behaves itself better than 2016. I already did a post about what I wrote last year, but I wanted to talk about other folks’ writing that I loved last year. This isn’t all-inclusive, but rather my meager attempt to spotlight some fantastic works by good people.

Let’s start with friend, baking goddess and fantastic writer Beth Cato, whose Breath of Earth was pure joy. It’s a great, big, fun, magical steampunk adventure set in the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It’s got such a fantastic heroine in Ingrid Carmichael, and the setting is imaginative and great fun.

I also enjoyed Chris Roberson’s Firewalk, a police-procedural mystery that ends up uncovering a zombie infestation in a coastal California city. Chris helped create iZombie, so you know it’s gonna deliver the goods, and it does — along with great characters and a gutsy ending that leaves you waiting for the next one.

Alyssa Wong, you guys. Holy crap, Alyssa Wong. She is, without a doubt, one of the absolute finest writers working in SF/F today, and possibly of all time.  Among other things this year, she published “A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers,” “Natural Skin” and my personal favorite, “You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay,” which is a beautiful and frightening Weird West tale. So good. And she’s a fantastic, lovely person on top of it all.

I suppose it was natural for me to read Arabella of Mars, given that it’s got sailing ships in space in the early 19th century, but David D. Levine’s take on it is far different from mine. It’s quite a lot of fun, with swashbuckling action to spare. Good stuff indeed.

Let’s also give a shout-out to Michael R. Underwood’s Genrenauts, which thanks to Kickstarter, has a full six-episode run of novellas now available in omnibus. These dimension-and-genre-hopping stories are super addictive and a blast to read. Mike does meta-narrative adventure amazingly well.

Martin Cahill — writer, raconteur and fellow beer aficionado — had a great novelette out this year in Beneath Ceaseless Skies called “A Glass Kiss for the Little Prince of Pain,” and just…whoa. How can someone pack so much emotion, action and worldbuilding into 11,000 words? It’s not even fair. Such a great story.

As self-serving as it might be — because I have a story in it — the Endless Ages anthology for Vampire: The Masquerade is so much fun. If you played Vampire, or still do, you’ll be transported back to the World of Darkness throughout its various iterations over the years. The stories are fresh and evocative, and the mood is Gothic Punk enough to make you want to shuffle through Siouxie, the Cure and Bauhaus on your iPhone.

If you’re still wanting for books and stories after all that, I’ll point you to a recent Barnes & Noble SF/Fantasy blog post, wherein many fine authors and reviewers listed some of their favorites. Yeah, MJ-12: Inception is in there, too, which was quite lovely to see. (Thanks, Paul!) So are many other excellent books. Check it out.

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December 22, 2016 · 6:00 pm

2016 in review: Stuff I wrote

MJ-12-newcover2016 may not have been the best of years — thanks, Donald — but I’m pleased to say that I wrote some pretty good stuff this year, and I wanted to take a moment to talk about it, being in a somewhat reflective mood as the year spirals toward its fiery doom…er…wraps up and folks get blitzed on cheap champagne.

The biggie, obviously, was the hardcover release of my latest novel, MJ-12: Inception, first of the MAJESTIC-12 series of Cold War paranormal spy-fi thrillers. I was super-pleased with the reception, and chuffed to see folks embrace it. To all those readers out there, I thank you muchly for your enthusiasm and kind words.

Night Shade Books also released the Daedalus trilogy in mass-market paperback this year. It was fun to see those books get new life and new readers.

I also contributed a novelette, “Mind Flight,” to the Geeky Giving anthology effort, which benefits the Barrow Neurological Institute in Arizona. Barrow works to combat neurological disorders, and the theme of the anthology was to embrace that cutting-edge research. “Mind Flight” is the story of a pilot who links her brain to her fighter jet in order to help fend off an alien invasion — and what happens when the aliens figure out a terrible way to fight back. It’s my first hard SF work, and I’m proud to have it in there with so many other talented writers. All proceeds go to Barrow, so pick up a copy!

endlessagesFinally, I got another chance to embrace my geeky, misspent youth by contributing a short story to the Endless Ages anthology, which featured stories set in the Vampire: The Masquerade game setting. “Tiger” is the story of a young vampire caught up in the power games of her elders, with near-disastrous results. It was a total blast to revisit the setting and embrace my Gothic Punk side.

I also had an article published in the October issue of Writer’s Digest, talking about how I use Excel to outline my novels, which was pretty cool. Sadly, you’d need to get the magazine to read the actual piece, but I can point you to the online exclusive bit, wherein you can download part of my outline and see how the alleged magic happens.

As for 2017? MJ-12: Shadows, the follow-up to Inception, should be coming out some time in the late summer/early fall, and I believe plans are in the works for a paperback release of MJ-12: Inception before that. I also have a bit of a passion project I’m working up on the side, and I’m hopeful it finds a home. I also have a short story or two I’m noodling on, but the plate gets full fast, so we’ll see how it goes.

As of right now, I’m not sure what my con schedule will look like for 2017 quite yet. I like Phoenix Comicon and DragonCon a lot, but I’m wondering if it’d be worthwhile to mix it up this year. I don’t think I have the capacity to add to my schedule — I have a full-time job on top of all this fictioning, after all — and I’d be torn about missing out on two fantastic cons. But there are others that seem interesting, and have the benefit of not falling on two super-popular holiday weekends, so we’ll see.

Again, much thanks and gratitude to all the readers who picked up my work this year. You give me the fuel to keep at it, and I deeply appreciate it.

May you all enjoy a peaceful holiday season, and may we all have a better year ahead.

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December 2, 2016 · 5:30 pm

MJ-12: Shadows is with my editor

I am pleased — and relieved — to report that MJ-12: Shadows, the sequel to this year’s MJ-12: Inception, is now in the capable hands of super-editor Cory Allyn over at Night Shade Books.

Why relieved? This book kicked my ass.

MJ-12: Shadows will be my fifth novel, and it was the hardest one to draft. Part of that was due to the material, part of that was due to circumstances, and part of that was just…something else, that writerly thing where you gotta grab the story and drag it kicking and screaming into the light because it doesn’t wanna go.

The material was complex enough — there are two main storylines in the book, a couple of subplots and several POVs. It’s set in 1949, which was a very busy year for the Truman Administration, the U.S. intelligence community and the Middle East, where one of the storylines is set. One of the main historical characters from MJ-12: Inception died that year under mysterious circumstances, too.

So on the one hand, the history was an absolute blessing — you can’t make some of that stuff up. But there was a lot of juggling going on in writing MJ-12: Shadows. So there’s that.

Then there’s life. I was plowing through the drafting process while preparing for the launch of MJ-12: Inception and through the launch, which included events at DragonCon and in San Francisco, plus a ton of guest blogs, interviews, podcasts and assorted bits of marketing. I know some authors loathe the marketing stuff, but it’s kind of what I do for the day job, and I’d like to think I’m pretty good at it, so I don’t mind it. But it was all happening while trying to write MJ-12: Shadows, so I was moving between stuff quite a lot.

Oh, and I do have that day job, and I happened to have the busiest autumn in said job in my nine years here. It’s nice to be in demand and appreciated, of course, and let’s face it — the day job pays the bills. On Monday, I’m about to head off on my seventh business trip of the year, so yeah, they keep me busy.

And I do have a family, which takes precedence over…well, everything else, frankly. But it’s kind of unfair to list that here, because family isn’t a burden. To me, it’s a privilege.

But story and circumstance aside, this was just a tough nut to crack. Prior to MJ-12: Shadows, three of my past four novels kind of came together easily — as easily as a major project like a novel can happen. The Venusian Gambit, which I wrote in 2014, felt like a hot mess when I was writing it, but that was largely due to my mother’s passing that summer. Cory and the NSB gang were great about giving me extra time to wrap it up, and I had apparently done a better job than I thought in the end — Gambit got a starred review from Publishers Weekly. 

But MJ-12: Shadows was different than Gambit. Sometimes, the story is stubborn, and finding the right threads to follow and the right words simply takes longer. Getting the pieces in place and the characters lined up just took more out of me. It’s kind of hard to explain, really, other than it just took longer to get it right. 

With all that said, I’m happy with how MJ-12: Shadows came out. It’s got some mystery, some slow-burn intrigue, a bunch of cool action and the ending…the ending I’m rather proud of. It explores the nature of the Variants, the source of their power and the responsibility in using that power in the world.

And now? I’m holding off on getting the third book started until Cory finishes the edits on MJ-12: Shadows and we have a chat as to how best to approach the next one. But I have a few other things to work on….

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November 27, 2016 · 11:08 am

Nine hours to go on the Worldbuilders critique auction

UPDATE: The auction is over and the critique went for $340, which is incredibly awesome. Thank you to Worldbuilders for all they do, and thank you to all the bidders who jacked that price up!

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That’s right — as of this posting, you have nine hours to bid on an opportunity to have yours truly read and critique up to 25,000 words of your fiction. Here’s the auction page. And it’s to benefit Worldbuilders, the fantastic charity that aids Heifer International in promoting sustainable living conditions for the world’s poorest. It’s good stuff.

So what’s the critique, exactly? Well, first off, you give me the words and I read ’em. I’ll mark up the text as I go, using comments in Word, with questions, concerns, encouragement, etc. I’ll also write up a fairly long review of the piece, separate from the text, in which I’ll go into the strengths and weaknesses of the work.

Oh, and if you wanna ping back with follow-ups, feel free. I’m happy to go back and forth a few times if it helps you. Just don’t, you know, camp out in my email. Or on my doorstep. Point is, let’s make sure you get your money’s worth.

Speaking of, as of this writing, the bidding is up to $255, which does my heart good. I have no doubt that the winner of this one, in addition to getting my opinion on their work, will reap untold karma points from whomever in the multiverse doles such things out.

One more thing: Tomorrow, I’ll be hanging out on Reddit r/Fantasy as part of their Worldbuilders charity week. It’s kind of an Ask Me Anything — because I’ll certainly answer questions and stuff — but I’m also taking the opportunity to ask the great r/Fantasy community a few things as well. And of course, we’ll be spreading the good word about Worldbuilders.

In fact, there’s still a bit more to come from me — each of my four novels will be up for grabs from Worldbuilders late this coming week. Signed, of course, which makes them the perfect Christmas presents. So stay tuned for that!

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November 23, 2016 · 5:45 pm

Come and Speculate! with us on a mighty podcast

Earlier this month, I was fortunate enough to have a most excellent chat with the hosts of Speculate! The Podcast for Readers, Writers and Fans. And now you can listen to said conversation online or via your favorite podcast download app…thing. Whatever. You should listen.

I joined fellow scribes Mike Underwood and Greg Wilson for a freewheeling 50-plus minutes of writerly goodness. We talked about MJ-12: Inception and the Daedalus trilogy, of course, then delved deep into research and worldbuilding in historical fantasy, and how I did what I did on those books. We also talked about my former life as a full-time journalist and how that enters into my fiction.

And we talked about the election, because it was the day before election day. Ah, we were so naive. Alas.

I’ve known Mike for years now, and consider him one of the good guys, and I very much enjoyed chatting with Greg as well. I would encourage you to check out Mike’s blog and Greg’s blog to learn more about their books, and definitely check out the rest of Speculate!’s excellent podcasts. They also have a Patreon, so if you wanna slip ’em a few bucks, I hereby grant you extra karma points for that.

My thanks to Mike and Greg for a great conversation. Hope you folks enjoy.

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November 22, 2016 · 6:00 pm

Journalism in the Trump era

For the first fifteen years of my professional career, I was a journalist for a variety of publications, most notably three different stints with The Associated Press in Albany, Seattle and New York. Journalism is a tough, unforgiving career — low pay, long hours, soul-crushing deadlines and heaping helpings of disrespect from nearly every quarter. I admit, it totally burned me out, which is why I left.

Yet it’s an absolutely critical part of American society. The problem is, at a time when it’s more important than ever, the Achilles heel of American journalism has been exposed.

Get both sides. That’s been the mantra of journalists for more than a century now, when the notion of an impartial Fourth Estate began to take shape. This was, in large part, due to the growth and importance of The Associated Press. Back in the 19th century, newspapers were unabashed in their political views in reporting. But when five New York papers created a cooperative service to report on far-flung areas, there was a need for the AP to be impartial, so that a conservative paper and a liberal paper could use the same dispatch.

This grew into a general belief that news should be impartial, and that editorializing should be the purview of the editorial pages only. I genuinely believe this to be a Good Thing, and it transformed journalism into an active challenger of the status quo, no matter who was in power and who was on the outside.

Over time, though, the get both sides mantra has become bastardized. It’s allowed folks on the very margins of reasonable discourse — anti-vaxxers, climate change deniers, all manner of conspiracy theorists — a seat at the table. And with the advent of social media, these fringe voices can find each other, organize and boost their signal, giving journalists a sense that the beliefs in question are more widespread than perhaps they realized.

And so here we are today, when we see journalists writing normalizing articles on the so-called Alt-Right and CNN has a ticker that says “Alt-Right Founder Asks If Jews Are People,” as if this can even be debated. (Meanwhile, you have The Atlantic, saving face for the rest of the Fourth Estate, covering an Alt-Right event where participants are giving the Nazi salute and shouting “Heil Victory! Heil Trump!” and calling it like it is.)

So where does get both sides end and the media begins to take a stand for the nation?

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November 16, 2016 · 5:45 pm

A quick non-post

So basically I don’t have anything new to say, but I recognize that I’ve left the blog fallow for a week, and well, I feel somewhat obligated to at least say hello. Hi, there!

I’m crunching on the final revisions to MJ-12: Shadows, the sequel to this year’s MJ-12: Inception. You won’t get to see it until late next summer, of course. For whatever reason, this one was a tougher nut to crack, story wise. Or maybe it was just writing it on top of an unusually busy year for me. Hard to say. But I’m liking how it’s turning out. Hope you will too.

I’m also resisting the urge to work on something super-shiny that the Muse is incredibly excited about. Actually, she’s shrieking in my ears about it constantly, and I’m excited about it too. It only exists in about ten pages of notes at the moment. It’ll need to stay that way for a few more weeks yet. Shut up, Muse. I got stuff to do.

The whole election thing…yeah. Still sitting poorly with me, and it’s not like the incoming administration is inspiring confidence with its various gaffes and horrible appointments. If you’ve seen my Twitter feed, you’ve seen I’ve been more political of late. That’s not likely to change. As I explained to my kid, this is our time to stand up, just like the suffragists in the ’20s and the civil rights activists in the ’60s. And I’m gonna do that.

And otherwise? Planning a quiet Thanksgiving, then a work trip to Los Angeles in early December, followed by Christmas in a warm place with a beach. (Not Los Angeles, because who wants to vacation in a place you visit for work all the time?)

That’s where I’m at.

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November 7, 2016 · 10:00 am

The Ditch Diggers podcast, and an explanation of an odd phrase

Apologies for the dearth of posts, but I’ve been traveling pretty extensively for the day-job of late. But I’m back now, and I wanted to point out that I’m on the latest episode of the fantastic Ditch Diggers podcast, hosted by Mighty Mur Lafferty and Matt F’n Wallace, two excellent authors and really great interviewers.

So what did we talk about? Ditch Diggers is about the writing life — well, the real writing life. This is not about journeys of literary self-discovery, beautiful introspection or writing-as-spirituality. This podcast is about the writing life that deals with getting the job done, getting published, doing the hard work and making sure you get paid for your efforts.

And to do that, as I noted in the podcast, you have to get your shit in one sock.

This phrase stopped my hosts in their tracks, first with laughter, then demands of an explanation. I mean, sure, I could see that, as on the surface of it, get your shit in one sock could very well describe a horrible misuse of laundry. But I didn’t remember all of the details on the podcast — but I did remember where I got it from.

My cousin John Butnor, an environmentalist and U.S. Forest Service scientist up in the great state of Vermont, first introduced me to the hosiery-defecation bon-mot many years ago, and he got it from…well, here he is with the explanation.

I was in high school, and in order to apply for ROTC or the service academies (which my father was more interested in than I was), I had to go to a recruiter to take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). The recruiter said that I passed with flying colors and he hadn’t seen a score like that.

He asked what I was interested in and I said I wanted to work in in environmental protection and conservation.  He was caught off guard and suggested the Chemical Corps.  I was not impressed and said I wanted to to go to college and take a variety of subjects and not clean up after chemical or biological warfare.

He said,  “Look, a smart guy like you doesn’t need all those classes, you HAVE TO GET YOUR SHIT IN ONE SOCK!!!”  (Enunciated in typical sergeant-speak.) I took this to mean that it was more advantageous, when shitting yourself, to have it soil only one sock or the other, because soiling both is terribly inefficient.  I since learned that a ‘sock’ is slang for a Navy duffel.

Anyway, his solution to fit my shit all in one sock was: Nuclear power school.

I could go on…it made an impression.

Yes, yes it did…so much so that getting one’s shit in one’s sock has become a rather key family phrase in our house (though never within earshot of the child). Cousin John opted out of the military in favor of the Forest Service, and has surpassed the Lorax in his efforts on behalf of the nation’s trees. He’s also the most frighteningly competent person I know; he helped design and build his own home, can survive in the wild for weeks at a time, and is incredibly handy in most things mechanical.

So when the zombie apocalypse comes — and it will — I’ll be piling the family in the car and heading to John’s house. If nothing else, I can scavenge for raw materials or something. Maybe just record John’s exploits as he single-handedly reboots human civilization. Because when the zombies come, you better have your shit in one sock. And he does.

Anyway, the podcast is loads of fun, with many fine sock-shitting jokes throughout. Plus, we talk about the utility of dust jackets, how MJ-12: Inception came about, and my career with Night Shade Books thus far. Check it out at this link.

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October 26, 2016 · 6:00 pm

Endless Ages, the Vampire anthology, is now up for sale

endlessagesJust a quick note: You can now head on over to DriveThruFiction and purchase your very own copy of Endless Ages, the anthology celebrating Vampire: The Masquerade in all its past and present forms, out today from Onyx Path.

Yes, this includes my short story, “Tiger,” along with stories from so many other fantastic writers — Delilah S. Dawson, Na’amen Gobert Tilahun, Bill Bridges and Richard Dansky, to name but a few — all edited by the awesome Jaym Gates. I’m honored to be among such a great mix of original Vampire writers and new voices.

Oh, and hey, if you do happen to click the sample link on the DriveThruFiction page, you’ll be able to read “Tiger” in its entirety. (I read it again today and, man, I’m really happy with how it turned out.) All I ask is that if you liked the story, please consider buying the entire anthology for more Kindred goodness!

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