C.A. Bryers's Blog, page 2

HERE WE GO AGAIN…

It’s that time again. It was inevitable, I suppose. HOUSE OF FALLING RAIN released earlier this year. The upcoming Odyssium Anthology is written and about to sail off to the editor. The next thing to be done is, well, start writing the next book in the meantime. So last week, that’s what I did. And it never fails to be a terrifying experience starting a novel from scratch. You get more confident in your abilities, I guess, but it’s still as daunting as staring up the side of Mount Everest. Granted, no one ever died while trying to write a book (okay, apart from Jack Torrence in THE SHINING), but you get my meaning.

Anyway, let’s catch you all up with where things are right now.

It’s early in the process, but here’s what I can tell you: like HOUSE OF FALLING RAIN, I’m kind of flying without a net (outline). HOUSE’s outline never really made it to the finished stage, so I winged it day by day instead, and that seemed to have worked out well. That’s what I’m doing here, even though I’m working with less of an outline than I had with HOUSE. But hey–so far, so good.

I’m two chapters in, about 20 pages or so total. In the week or so leading up to the actual writing phase, I was shuffling around 3 different ways to start the book. I hadn’t really committed to any of them until I started typing, and BOOM, that more or less settled things. And so far…things are going well. It’s always surprising how things shift and gel into new and different shapes once you start writing. In your head it was going to look *this* way, but as you go, you just start to roll with it. The new reality overshadows the old ideas and you’re either happy with them, or you’re not.

At this (early) point, I’m digging it. Just like HOUSE was very different from the PARAGON books and just like the 2nd Eyes of Odyssium book, A SONG OF SILENCE is vastly different from HOUSE, this book too forges its own path. It’s distinctly an Odyssium book, but one that continues on with the thread that the end of HOUSE lays the breadcrumbs for. So yes, it is indeed the 3rd Eyes of Odyssium book. Salla Saar is back, and we’ll see if anyone else familiar springs up as well. I have a title for it, but I’m a ways off from announcing it. I’ll probably do so in a few months when the cat will be out of the bag, what with the title being mentioned at the end of the Odyssium Anthology: Volume One.

That should do it for now–I have Chapter 3 waiting, and only a couple of hours tonight to get some headway into it. Next blog should be soon–I’ll be announcing the details of the aforementioned Odyssium Anthology, so stay tuned!

- C.

HOUSE OF FALLING RAIN Cover Reveal

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As we ramp up toward the release of HOUSE OF FALLING RAIN, the next step in Salla Saar’s journey and the first book in the new Eyes of Odyssium sub-series, a natural lead-up to that tends to be…a cover reveal! These are always fun, and I’m hoping to make these more of an event in the future, rather than just stumbling along like I typically do in the world of indie publishing. So without further ado, let’s talk about the cover!

I had a pretty solid concept of the direction I wanted to go as far as cover art goes, but my idea was a little…meh. It was an okay idea, but something that we’ve seen a good few times before, I suspect. In short, I was hoping Dennis Willman of Iron Dead Studios (cover artist for the series thus far) might be able to make something special of my sort of ho-hum concept. The initial plan had been to have a dark, mysterious and vaguely threatening air about the whole thing. The Cthulu-esque tentacles were much more subdued, hidden back in the clouds so you could barely see them. When Dennis showed me what he’d come up with, it only took a second for my attitude to shift in favor of the new look. Having the tentacles MUCH more prominent took away some of the veiled threat, sure, but it made for a far more intriguing and visually interesting cover.

Also, the actual House of Falling Rain ate up a lot more cover space in the original design. This was another change that I warmed to rather swiftly. Making the House smaller made it (and its occupants, naturally) seem more vulnerable to what descends from above. So yes, I’m pleased as the proverbial punch with the cover, and I absolutely look forward to future collaborations with Mr. Willman.

COMING SOON

2017 is shaping up to be an exciting (and busy!) year as far as the world of Odyssium is concerned. Things have been quiet around here for a little while, but that’s about to change. First things first, we’ve got a new release on the horizon. The reign of THE 13th PARAGON is over. We’re about to step into the next Odyssium series, and that series–as you may have heard–is called Eyes of Odyssium. This will be the series that continues the exploits and misadventures of Salla Saar, and the first book, HOUSE OF FALLING RAIN, is due to arrive before the snow thaws here in the frosty north.

HOUSE OF FALLING RAIN is a departure for the series, but a necessary step toward a new direction in Salla’s life. Work has already begun on the next book in the series–ODYSSIUM ANTHOLOGY: VOLUME ONE. This anthology will collect a variety of stories from the world of Odyssium, ranging from the PARAGON era–THE HOLLOW-HEARTED will have its official print release here, and will join the digital release as well–to a story decades into the future that will give a brief glimpse into where the series is heading. Apart from THE HOLLOW-HEARTED, two other novellas have been completed, as well as a “bonus chapter.” This week, work will begin on the first of the  2-3 other stories that will find their way into this collection.

The goal is for the anthology to release before the 2017 fall convention season, but I’m also aware that that goal might be a wee bit too lofty. A lot can happen by the time summer winds down, and there are plenty of roadblocks that can stall a project. If it releases by the end of the year, I think I’d still be happy. But hey, let’s go for the proverbial gusto, shall we?

I’ll be updating the site and this blog much more frequently this year as HOUSE OF FALLING RAIN releases and as the ODYSSIUM ANTHOLOGY progresses.

Until next time!

GO LEFT…NO, RIGHT!!!

 

As I sit here at the end of a weekend chock full of painting the kid’s playhouse, reorganizing the utility room, and mowing the stupid lawn, I should be going to bed. Instead, I’m writing a blog. Why? Because I have no common sense, that’s why. I’ve had a lot stewing in the pot lately on the writing side of things (when I can magically fit it in, that is), but nobody really to talk to about it. So I’ll talk to whoever happens to read this.

 

My plan for this year was pretty straightforward. First, I would release THE HOLLOW-HEARTED, which is halfway released—waiting on a final correction on the cover wrap so I can get the paperback version out into the wild. Next in line would have been doing self-edits on Book One of the Eyes of Odyssium series (previously referred to in blogs as Book Four), THE HOUSE OF FALLING RAIN, and the follow-up short story, A SONG OF SILENCE. Maybe, just maybe, I could even release them by the end of the year. Then, I’d outline Book Three, and start writing that one in early 2017 (sounds so FUTURE-Y!).

 

Well, a few wrenches got thrown into the works. The big one turned out to be A SONG OF SILENCE. In typical “me” fashion, that short story turned into an 18K novella. Seeing as it is technically Book Two of Eyes of Odyssium, I didn’t want to leave people out who collected only the paperbacks, of which I know a few. A SONG OF SILENCE is a story that had inspiration coming from multiple sources, including a dream/nightmare I had one night. Because of that, it’s a little more special to me, and with my focus shifting back toward novels rather than short stories/novellas, I didn’t know when I’d be able to get a paperback version of SILENCE out there. It was too short on its own for a paperback release and perhaps even too non-essential as far as Salla’s overall story goes, but it was special, dammit!

 

So, I started percolating ideas to extend it a little bit, maybe just enough to get it as long as HOLLOW-HEARTED. I toyed with the long-gestating idea of doing the first ODYSSIUM ANTHOLOGY, but didn’t have enough short material in my back pocket, or at least stuff that fit chronologically in with what I wanted to release at the moment. Then, a friend of mine mentioned hopefully that maybe in the near future his favorite character, Arjay, might come back. Though I always intended on continuing Arjay’s story, his return wasn’t slated for the Eyes of Odyssium series, but rather another one further down the road—and by down the road, I mean YEARS down the road. I said I’d think about it.

 

And think about it I did. Driving around the next morning with a brainpan filled with nothing to begin with, I wound up with a pretty solid concept of what an Arjay short story could look like by 10:30am. That idea spawned off two other stories that will wind up in a future anthology, but the spigot was on and the faucet was flowing, so I kept going. I remembered an idea I pitched to a friend for a comic that didn’t get made. I thought of bonus content, and a vague idea of something that will have quite a different tone from the “normal” Odyssium stuff. Including two “bonus content” additions, I have seven other stories to accompany A SONG OF SILENCE. And due to a situation beyond my cover artist’s control with the print edition, THE HOLLOW-HEARTED will be one of those stories. It wasn’t an easy decision, but its inclusion in the anthology will be its official mass paperback release next year, I’d wager. BUT, as mentioned earlier, it’s available on eBook now. That, and THE HOLLOW-HEARTED will get a limited run print release to be sold at conventions and from those who buy from me in person.

 

Now all I need is the time to write all those other pesky stories to go in the anthology…

 

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“VACATION”

 

So…a little late getting this one out the gate. This was written in early June, and it’s now August. What can I say? It’s been a busy summer…

 

This time last year, I headed off to my little Goldeneye to the north (see Behind the Scenes of THE HOLLOW-HEARTED novella to see what the heck I’m talking about—that no, it isn’t a rad Nintendo 64 game based on one of my Top 2 James Bond films) to start writing Book Four of the overall Odyssium Series, THE HOUSE OF FALLING RAIN. If you recall, I had a monstrous time crunch imposed by the impending arrival of our magical dumpling of infinite screams and poops coming into the house last year. This forced me to write the first draft of Book Four in just over three months. And a good thing too, as that first draft has sat untouched since then. While the baby indeed has gobbled up the lion’s share of free time available, I’ve surprisingly managed to get a few things done since. Most of it’s been prepping for my first convention, MSP ComiCon, and random bits and bobs here and there. Speaking of the ComiCon, I probably should do a post-Con blog about that little adventure…

 

Back to the subject…it’s that time of year again. “Vacation” looms. I use quotes around the word “vacation,” because it’s been a loooooong time since I’ve taken a week off and not worked. Time off equals opportunity to write in vast quantities, so that’s what I’ve done for the last several years, and that’s what I’ll be doing next week. Last year, the challenge was to complete the first draft of Book Four in the space of a few months. This time, the challenge is to write the entire first draft of the new short story in less than three days. I’ll be heading up on Tuesday, and the rest of the family will be up Friday evening. That leaves me two full days of (hopefully) uninterrupted writing time. Considering I was regularly churning out 3,500 words a day last summer, that means I have to hit that quota this week and then some. I’m aiming for the short story to sit somewhere between 8-10K words total, but considering I almost invariably overshoot my word count goals, things could get interesting.

 

I won’t bore you with the several reasons why I’m writing a short story instead of getting personal edits on Book Four done. I will say that the short is just one of those things that demanded to be written while the ideas were still hot embers glowing out of the infinite darkness that is the cavernous hollow of my mind. If it all shakes out well, this short story will be quite a departure from the series norm, and in a structural sense, at least, it’ll be an homage to one of my favorite short stories.

 

After it’s done, I’ll be back to work on Book Four with my edits, followed by the mandatory professional scrubbing for good measure. The goal is to have both Book Four and the short to release by the end of the year. At the moment, it appears as though some sort of divine intervention might be required for that to happen, but that’s what I’m shooting for anyway.

 

Make sure you check back next time! Summer’s here, so I’ll be grilling!

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POST-PARAGON (BLOG) POST!!!

It’s been a hectic last few months, suffice to say. The new baby (or drooling machine) has been a handful, bumping any work related to writing firmly onto the back burner, unfortunately. Still, I’ve been stubbornly beating my head against the wall trying to make headway. 2015 was all about launching the first books in the Odyssium series, and 2016, I hope, is where I take something of a stronger stab at making my presence known amid the vast sea of hundreds of thousands of e-authors.

2015 and the launch of THE 13th PARAGON books was a monumental learning experience. Mistakes were certainly made, and in that regard, I’m glad their respective launches fell on the “soft” side. On the bright side, in those bits of free time after the baby was born, I was able to fix a few nagging things about SCRAPPER and FROM ASHES OF EMPIRES that were…kind of bugging me. A few typos slipped through the cracks despite exhaustive professional editing, and my writing style changed ever so slightly, particularly as far as dialogue tags are concerned. So I cleaned up those scant few typos, one inconsistency, embellished a few things here and there and made for two MUCH stronger books—books I don’t feel that uncertain of any longer. To the early purchasers—from my limited technical understanding—you should be able to download the updated file onto your e-readers without issue (and please do!).

For me, now that those pesky revisions are done, I’m just thankful I get to move on. I’ve been writing and fussing over the PARAGON books in some shape or form for around eight years (more, if you count the time spent compiling ideas and assembling it all into a workable outline), and my process now is much more streamlined. I wrote the first draft of Book Four in just over three months last year, and now I know the pitfalls that are waiting for me further down the road, and have a good idea how they can be circumvented. That means—fingers crossed—future books should definitely not be prolonged, anguished, multi-year birthing efforts. Granted, the kiddo’s arrival threw a wrench in a much tidier process for Book Four, but that was to be expected. With the full-time job, a wife and two kids, I won’t be kicking out a book every few months like some indie authors, but am aiming for at least a novel’s worth of content per year. If I can whip out more, I’ll be happy to do it.

On to 2016. Now that I’m settled and moving on from working on the PARAGON books, it’s time to broaden the horizons a bit. Soon, both books will be available through outlets outside of Amazon and its Kindle reader. Fingers crossed, artwork on THE HOLLOW-HEARTED novella will be ready shortly, and that can at long last be released. And locally, at least, I hope to start doing a few conventions every year where I’ll be wagging physical copies of the books about and spreading the word a bit. Not sure if I’ll be able to snag a table for the upcoming MSP ComiCon, but I have my eye on two later in the year as well. For a hardened introvert like me, the prospect is well outside my comfort zone. But the books are worth the discomfort, and I’m pretty sure I’d go loony if I wasn’t writing them, so we’ll call putting myself out on a limb a necessary evil.

THE FORCE AWAKENS, AND REALLY HAS TO PEE

 

Though I’m sure I have some foggy recollections of other movies my parents took me to before this one, the first one I really remember seeing in the theater was STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI way back in 1983. I was told we would be having dinner shortly after we got home, so don’t go anywhere. Well, I was so giddy, apparently, that I bolted over to a friend’s house to tell him I saw it. When I finally got home, suffice to say I was more than likely grounded for my exuberance. But even though it’s perhaps my least favorite of the hallowed original trilogy, as a seven year-old, it was right up my alley. It was so filled with creativity—wonderful, bizarre characters like Jabba the Hutt, awesome scenes like the speeder bike chase, and yes, even the Ewoks were fun (can I remind you I was SEVEN?).

So fast-forward to 1999, and I’m excited all over again for the soon-to-be-released prequel trilogy, beginning with THE PHANTOM MENACE. Okay, I knew even then it sounded like the title of a Scooby-Doo episode, but I had faith. The guy who brought us those magnificent three episodes of the space opera set in a galaxy far, far away wouldn’t let us down, would he? Certainly not intentionally, I don’t think, but without question George Lucas did let a lot of his fans down. Don’t get me wrong, I walked out of THE PHANTOM MENACE content enough for the moment. Darth Maul was cool, wasn’t he? And as the repeat viewings go on, Darth Maul remains one of the few successes the film managed to eke out.

Its sequel, ATTACK OF THE CLONES, I found to be a big improvement, but the continued wooden, stilted acting from actors I’ve SEEN act beautifully elsewhere bogged the experience down. Anakin and Padme’s “love confession” scene in particular is as torturous to endure as any of Jigsaw’s diabolical traps in the SAW films. A few years later, REVENGE OF THE SITH closed things off on a high point, but it’s tough to not leave with the impression that all three movies represent a huge missed opportunity littered with half-baked ideas (story by Lucas), scripts whose author doesn’t seem to know how to write dialogue (screenplay by Lucas), and a director that can’t seem to coax performances out of otherwise talented actors (directed by Lucas!).

Plot-wise, perhaps the most egregious sin in the trilogy happens to be the crux of the whole shebang—the reason for Anakin Skywalker’s turn to the Dark Side. Visions of Padme’s death haunt him, and he’ll do anything to keep it from happening. Senator Palpatine, dropping hints left and right that he’s a Sith Lord, finally promises him they can save her. So after Anakin betrays the Jedi Order, aids in the murder of Mace Windu and pledges himself to Palpatine, his first mission turns out to be this:

Palpatine: “Hey, remember that room with all the Jedi kids in it?”

Anakin: “Sure, Palps.”

Palpatine: “How’s about getting your feet wet killing Jedi by starting with them?”

Anakin: “Ain’t no thing but a gundark wing, boss.”

So I’m paraphrasing a wee bit, but WHAAAAT??? A few minutes ago he was torn apart with conflict about whether to help Palpatine or Windu, and now he’s just groovy with killing a bunch of kids because he’s afraid his secret wife might die? Erm…as something of a storyteller myself, gimme a minute to try and swallow that down. Urp. Sorry, came right back up. But moving on, the subsequent Order 66 sequence acts as a palate cleanser by managing to hit all the right notes and the John Williams score that accompanies it does wonders to make you forget that *little* issue of, you know…Anakin’s moral 180 degree turn.

Don’t get me wrong, I did like the prequels when they came out and still like them to one degree or another now, though repeated viewings are getting to be a bumpier ride each time. And I’m certainly not an irate, entitled fanboy like many who’ve claimed Lucas did unseemly things to their childhoods. Far from it—Lucas made the films he wanted to make, and as a fellow creator of a fictional universe, I applaud him for that. They simply weren’t the movies most fans were hoping to see. We as viewers can choose to watch them or ignore them.

From my perspective, at least, with the evidence presented to us with the prequels and INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL that followed, it did become rather obvious that Lucas had a problem. Somewhere along the way he managed to lose his touch in his time away from filmmaking. Either that, or the collaborative spirit that ran through the original trilogy (but was notably absent from the prequels) was the ingredient that had made them so great. So when Lucas decided to sell Lucasfilm to Disney, I saw it as something I’ve wanted for a good few years now—the opportunity for new talent to do something incredible with the STAR WARS franchise again.

Which brings us to December 2015, the threshold we stand upon where we’ll see if the magic of the original trilogy can be recaptured by a new generation of filmmakers. Like many, I’m wary of Disney’s plan to kick out a new STAR WARS film every year. Franchise fatigue is a very real thing, and the pessimist in me wonders if the House of Mouse is hoping to squeeze every cent out of the series until the proverbial wheels fly off. But that remains to be seen. Right now we have THE FORCE AWAKENS right around the corner, a movie that promises to give us a distinct taste of what’s to come. The trailers have done their job, and gotten me as giddy as seven year-old me to see the film opening weekend. It certainly looks like they’ve found the spirit of the original trilogy and infused it into the new, and Jar Jar is thankfully nowhere to be seen. I’d say that’s enough to shrug off my skepticism for now and view it with an open mind in exactly one week.

What do you think of STAR WARS under the new guard? Will you be fighting the crowds, or staying home?

Post-Baby Book Banter

 

Just in case you haven’t been following me on my official Facebook page, C.A. Bryers Books, you may not know how the battle turned out in my last blog, BOOK FOUR vs THE BABY. Would I get the first draft of Book Four done before the baby arrived? Would it turn out any good, having been rushed so hard? Will Episode VII live up to all the expectations and hype?

 

Well, I can’t answer the last question just yet (I’ll let you know after the 20th of December when work allows me to squeeze in a couple hours to see it), but the other two, I can tell you right here. Yes, the first draft of Book Four squeaked in under the wire. Okay, “under the wire” is being a little dramatic, since I was regularly kicking out 3,500 words in a day as the due date closed in. Turns out I wound up making it with time to spare since the little dude took a few extra days loitering around like a bum inside his mother’s apparently super-comfortable womb. And let me tell you, am I thankful I got it done before he arrived. As I write this a little over a month since his birth, I’m wrapping up a week’s vacation time spent largely at home with few excursions out. I had a list of book related things to do: compile my findings for some small revisions to THE 13th PARAGON books, do a thorough re-read/self-edit of THE HOLLOW-HEARTED novella, and finish up work on a promotional statue that will be on display at future convention appearances. Guess how many of those things got done during this whole week off? ONE! The revision stuff should be set to go, but everything else? NOPE!

 

So he’s not an easy baby, but he is kinda cute.

 

So onto the remaining question I asked that went thus far unanswered: will Book Four be any good, considering the pressure I put on myself to finish in a 3-month window comprised of little more than bits of spare time left throughout each day? Naturally, I haven’t had a chance to re-read it, but I do feel good about it. As it should, it feels like a new direction for Salla Saar as we launch into his own little sub-series, Eyes of Odyssium. It ties up loose ends left from the PARAGON books, further builds the world of Odyssium and by the end of it, every reader should have a good idea of what’s in store down the line in this ongoing series. So when opportunity permits (January, I’m hoping), I’m really eager to start the process that will bring it closer to release—which, if all goes well, will be sometime in 2016. And in the meantime I’ve got ideas for Book Five starting to percolate nicely, which will turn out to be Eyes of Odyssium #2.

 

Take care and as always, if you have any questions/comments, please do shoot them at me either through cabryers.com or any of my social media pages!

Book Four vs the BABY

2015 has been a productive year. THE 13TH PARAGON books, SCRAPPER and FROM ASHES OF EMPIRES both released and the follow-up novella, THE HOLLOW-HEARTED is nearly ready to go. On a more personal front, there seems to be an infiltrator into the humble Bryers abode, one that seems hell-bent on arriving soon whether I’m ready for him or not. Yes, horrifyingly enough, a tiny version of me (with some genetic input from the wife, of course) is on the way. And with a due date of October 11th fast approaching, the odds of my plans coming to fruition before said baby’s arrival are dwindling fast.

The plan, of course, is to finish the first draft of Book Four before that kid’s butt is slapped in the delivery room. Knowing that, I kicked off the new book in late June. At the time, FOUR here was supposed to be a svelte novella just like THE HOLLOW-HEARTED, and become the first in the Eyes of Odyssium sub-series. Had that plan stuck, I’d have reached that completion date well over a month ago. As it stands here as we near the end of September, FOUR already stands as a full novel, at around 72,000 words and counting. The good news is that I’m in Act III of the book. The bad news is that Act III is intricate, as it turns into a completely different type of book from the rest of FOUR. So finishing it in, say, two weeks is asking a lot. But we’ll see! I’m going to put my nose to the grindstone a bit more in these coming weeks, so if all goes well, I can set FOUR down for a bit and concentrate on baby number ONE…well, my first bio-kid. Second kid overall, though.

So will I make it? Oh, the tension, the horror! I’ve already had to let a few goals slide (the release of HOLLOW-HEARTED pre-October—need the artwork for that to happen, as well as a convention appearance, due to other circumstances), but this one I’m clinging to for some reason. Good reason, I’d like to think, as newborn baby phase is all “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” for me. I don’t know what my writing time will look like with a wriggly little thing loitering around, but I’m expecting very little in the way of writing time. Since my new approach to writing is to not take big breaks during the process, this bugger could conceivably create a rather Grand Canyon-esque fissure between birth and a return of some of that aforementioned time.

But overall, despite what I led my wife to believe, I’m a little excited. I have no idea what to expect, but either way, it’ll be an adventure that will likely rival anything I could write.

THE 13th PARAGON is Here!!!

As you may have noticed, THE 13th PARAGON Part I: SCRAPPER was released!!! Currently it’s on an exclusive run on Amazon’s Kindle eBook format, and after that expires it will (probably) release wide on other platforms. Somewhere in between, however, SCRAPPER’s tasty, tangible print version will also see a release. I know many are waiting for that version, or own a Nook or other non-Kindle device, and I can only ask for a little more patience.

It’s an exciting time officially launching my writing career along with the ODYSSIUM series, but it’s certainly a learning process figuring out how to reach the masses. Setting up social media hubs such as Goodreads, bolstering my Facebook presence, trying to decipher the hashtag-ridden random letters and url shortcuts that is the Twitter feed, etc. isn’t the easiest thing for guy like me, who’s about as technologically savvy as a fiddler crab.

As I write this, I’m in the process of battening down the hatches to wrap up editing approvals on Part II, FROM ASHES OF EMPIRES while keeping my fingers crossed for a springtime eBook release. I think I can say with a good deal of confidence that we won’t see anything close to the delays that held SCRAPPER back a year, and that it nicely (and explosively, if I do say so myself) wraps up THE 13th PARAGON arc. I have one more release in the pipeline and raring to go, but I’ll wait until a future blog to expound further. Until then, I hope everyone who’s bought SCRAPPER is enjoying it, and those waiting on other formats, the wait I hope won’t be much longer!