M.L.S. Weech's Blog, page 103

The Chaos Walking Trilogy Review

Dave (At Dave’s Corner of the Universe) brought up an interesting point about first person narrative, and I thought of the Chaos Walking Trilogy.  I read this about a year before I got published and posted my review on Facebook, but given the relevance to my blog about narrative, I though it appropriate to post here on blog now.

The Knife of Never Letting Go, by Patrick Ness:

I simply love the audiobook.  The narrator was brilliant!

I can’t in good conscience give Knife the rave review I want to. I enjoyed it. Book one of the Chaos Walking Trilogy was exciting, emotional and intriguing. I immediately bought audiobooks 2 and 3 for the series when I finished Knife. So why can’t I rave about it? Because the end of book 1 was in the prologue of book 2.

 

A friend and I talk a lot about ruining endings, and I hope this doesn’t, but as far as recommending books, he was right on the money. I really liked it, but if I had bought Knife and read it, the cliffhanger ending would have P’d me the F off, and do you think I said F? (Have I mentioned I love the main character Todd Hewitt?) So I’m not a fan of this as a stand alone novel.  It doesn’t end, nor does it have any resolution.

I understand that it was part of a trilogy, but I don’t understand why it couldn’t have ended with the prologue of book 2. Had they done that, I’d have thought way better of this as a stand alone.  It’s still amazing.  This book had my running the gamut of all my emotions. It’s touching, funny, tragic and beautiful, but unless you’re willing to buy all three (which I was), Knife, on its own disappoints. So while I feel forced to to not recommend JUST this book, I do so only as a stand alone book. I’ll grade the whole trilogy once I’m done (three chapters into book 2 now) and I have a feeling the trilogy as a whole will be great.

I then quickly finished the trilogy, and here are those thoughts:

Audiobook Review: The Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness

I’ve previously reviewed “The Knife of Never Letting Go,” book one of the trilogy. I simply burned through the other two books to quickly to review them one at a time.  I love this series.

For one, it’ll just annoy the hell out of you because the first two end in a cliffhanger, though book two is pretty complete in my opinion. The other reason is how beautiful the story is. The depth of characters, the scope of the issues and the emotion each moment brings is too strong not to recommend. It’s been labeled young adult reading, but I wouldn’t really want my niece reading this, and she’s reading at something like a high school level. (NOTE:  At the time of writing this, my niece was barely in junior high)  I’ll resist the urge to talk about how well the story was written as it relates to the way the trilogy ends.

This is a series about hope, love redemption and sacrifice. It’s prose and point of view is touching and compelling. I would even go so far as to say (in entertainment value alone) it’s better than the John Cleaver series (but not by much) and I’ve already raved about that.  (AUTHOR NOTE:  I did, and I will because my review of “Over Your Dead Body” is coming.) I should warn you that the two stories aren’t similar in plot or scope, I just wanted to establish a baseline for comparison.

I will say that I would ONLY recommend this for audiobook. The cast is fantastic. I absolutely HATE 1st person, and the only thing I hate more is present tense. These books are written 1st person, present tense, but it’s done right. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you buy the actual book, but you’d be missing out on some great audiobook narration.

Caught Update

For those following my Twitter feed, you may have noticed that my updates on where I was at with various chapters had stopped.  The reason is I’d reached an important benchmark.

A note on editing:  Part of the revision process involves beta readers and editors.  The editor suggested something that scared me if I’m being honest.  We discussed changing the main character’s arc.  This required some extensive rewrites and several polishing drafts.  This is where I’m extremely weak.  I’m the most impatient person I, or anyone who knows me, know.  I hate editing.  I write a book so that I can write another book, and then another.  So any time anyone so much as recommends a tweak, I’m already grumpy.  This time around, I’ve done a much better job of being patient.  Rushing a low-quality book to you all is just going to disappoint you, so I made the commitment to make those revisions and a few others.

Once I reached the half-way point and got the main character to where he needs to be, I wanted to get a few opinions on it.  Quintessential Editor was more than happy to take a look and provide feedback.  So what I’ve been doing for the past few weeks is going over the first half of the book and addressing whatever notes my betas brought up.  I’ve just finished those tweaks, and now I can move on to the second half of the book knowing I’ve made these corrections, and these corrections have made the book more compelling and more satisfying.

Example of a character arc.

Now that I’ve finished with the adjustment of the main character, I think edits will go by more quickly.  There’s still a bit more I have to address which will slow me down at times. I may also have to add a chapter or two, but I think I can realistically expect to release Caught this fall as promised.  I’m still aiming for September, but I won’t rush.

I thought this gave an opportunity for me to talk about revisions and keep you all in the loop because this process has always been fascinating to me.  Our work is an extension of ourselves.  Pouring our heart and soul into what we’re doing makes us very sensitive to anyone saying something wasn’t quite right or satisfying.  What matters is the story though.  It’s up to me as an artist to tell the story accurately in the best way possible.  By accurate, I mean true to the character.

That’s what made these revisions so challenging because I was concerned that the character would be forced to go in a direction he wouldn’t go.  I’ve very careful about not making  a change just because someone says it would make the book more successful.  If the character wouldn’t do something, I wouldn’t have him do something just because someone said it would help the book sell.

We don’t see strength through victory; we see it through overcoming adversity.

For this main character, it wasn’t so much about making him do something he wouldn’t, it was allowing him to feel and react to what he’d been going through.  Adversity shapes us, and it shapes our characters, so when Sal was put in this awful position, I needed to give him the chance to react and grow.  Ultimately I feel you all will be pleased with the final product.

I’m still impatient.  I hate the idea of delays.  I’m not done with Caught, I haven’t started Sojourn in Despair, and I’m stuck half-way through the discovery draft of Images of Truth.  When you’re an accomplishment driven individual, a bunch of half-finished projects is pretty much hell.  The way I get through this is to remember how much I hate poorly done projects.  I’m crafting the best book I can, and I’ll release it as soon as possible.  You deserve that much.

So I’ll keep you in the loop as I finish revisions.  I have a bit more to do with artwork before I can begin the publishing process.   Until then, as always…

Thanks for reading

Matt

Narrative: The pros and cons of 1st person narrative

I noticed Corey  do a blog about The Power of POV, and that got me thinking about it.  Now some people use POV (Point of View) and a few other terms.  The most classic term used is narrative.  Once I read his blog, I thought  I’d dig a little deeper.

As I’ve learned about writing over the years, I’ve become familiar with the more commonly used types of narrative.  Now most people talk about what they are, but I don’t know that anyone’s taken the time to explain what they do well and what they don’t do so well.

I experienced this writing my fifth book, The Nick of Time, which is the story of a little girl who finds herself tracking down a legendary artifact in an effort to help her father save the world before it’s scheduled to end.  When I sit down to work out that story, I’m going to end up switching the narrative because the one I chose wasn’t working.  It’s a solid idea, but the narrative you use to write a story changes how effective it is.

So a quick google shows varying results when you search “types of narrative in fiction.”  I’m going to stick to three, because, like Corey said, those three are the ones with which most people write, and they’re also the ones with which I’m most familiar.  They would be First Person, Third Person, and Third Person limited (which I call POV).  As I started typing this post, I immediately realized there’s too much to cover in one blog, so this will be the first in a series of three.

First Person:  Confession.  This is my least favorite type of narrative, but don’t let that fool you.  It’s not my least favorite because it’s just bad.  Narrative is a tool.  I don’t like it because I see it done badly the most.  That doesn’t mean there aren’t great examples of first person narrative.  Let’s check out a few.

The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss:  Rothfuss is probably the biggest name in the game right now.  took the fantasy world by storm and fans will devour the next book when it comes.

The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher:  Butcher’s Dresden Files have been a great staple in urban fantasy for almost 20 years now.  It was even a series for one season, which I wish they’d go back to and work on again.

Wastelander, by Corey Truax:  You’re darn right I’m talking about this story before it’s even done drafting.  I’ve read it.  It’s a perfect reason to use first person done by a compelling character.  You won’t have to take my word for it.  Just read the first chapter when the book is released; you’ll thank me later.

These are perfect examples of first person narrative done well, so let’s look at what it does for writers:

Pros:

Intensifies relationship between the main character and the reader:  Readers connect to characters, and none of these narratives do so better than first person.  The narrator is the main character, and he’s talking to me (the reader).  It’s only natural to grow closer to someone you talk to on a regular basis.  I wasn’t hooked on Dresden after book one, but I kept reading because Harry was a cool guy to listen to.  When the story intensified, I was all the more invested because Harry was sharing his story with me.

Comedy and breaking the fourth wall:  First person breaks the fourth wall regardless of which effect you intend, but it’s magical when you use this for comedy.  Deadpool and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off are wonderful examples of using first person narrative and breaking the fourth wall for comedic effect.  This technique makes every joke an inside joke.

Cons:

Limited scope:  I see first person narrative done most often in mysteries, and there’s a reason for that.  It’s just so darn easy to keep readers in the dark when they only know what your main character knows.  Beware using first person for other types of stories.  It can frustrate readers to not know what’s going on.  Mystery readers expect to not know; readers of other genres can get antsy when they’re kept in the dark.

Baffling perspective:  There’s really no other way to describe it.  During my writers’ group meeting a few weeks back, we had a huge discussion about when the main character is telling his or her story.  Consider Dresden talking about horrible events after they happened.  Wouldn’t that affect his ability to discuss painful memories?  Isn’t it more likely that people put a positive spin on things in hind sight?  I know I never told my parents exactly how stuff was broken in the house.  This creates a paradox that I don’t like trying to puzzle out.  Dean Koontz handled it well in Odd Thomas.  I just struggle with the idea of someone writing a story after it’s happened.

Isn’t the point of a story for the main character to progress?  Won’t the person tell the story inherently be very different than the person he or she was before his or her journey started. (In case you haven’t noticed, I’m one of those jerks that refuse to use “they” as a singular personal pronoun.)

Summary:  For my taste, first person narrative is most effective for stories that are limited in scope.  They should have incredibly sympathetic characters.  Mysteries are a bonus, but so long as the reader doesn’t need to know anything more than the main character, the story won’t suffer.

Did I miss a well told first person narrative?  I know I left a lot out.  I just don’t have the time an energy to post that many links to that many stories, but they’re out there.  (Well, I have to at least mention the John Cleaver series by Dan Wells.  Anyone who hasn’t read his stuff is missing out.)

Feel free to comment below.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Dolor and Shadow by Angela B. Chrysler

Dolor and Shadow is the first book in the Tales of the Drui series.  Like most first books in a series, it’s got a fairly steep learning curve and some development points that need to be established for future books.

The main characters Kallan and Rune, steal the show.  The rest of the cast is interesting, but not quite built on.  Luckily the character of Kallan stands on her own.  She’s a compelling person with an interesting internal conflict.  Rune is a solid counter to her.  I was most happy with the book when they were in the thick of the plot.

I gave this book 5-stars because it is a great start to a series, but, like I said, it has a lot in common with other great starts to books.  I absolutely love Eye of the World and Dragonflight, but those books start slow and sometimes drag a bit.  My brother asked me to read the first one hundred pages of Eye of the World before I said anything, and I’ve never been happier to listen to him.

Dolor isn’t much different in terms of the amount of set up it requires.  This is a deep world with a lot of backstory to it that requires a few viewpoint shifts and early chapters that can slow a reader down, but don’t stop because the reward is a great “cat-and-mouse” plot that drives the story quickly once everything is established.

I’m a fan of the setting and the magic system.  I’m a big fan of epic landscapes and solid magic systems.  This is still fairly soft, but the magic system is a plot solution device, it is, in fact, a source of conflict from my point of view.

Fans of heroic women will enjoy this story.  Kallan isn’t a normal heroine.  She may be one of the first “broken” female heroes I’ve seen.  I don’t know that I’d go so far as to call her an antihero, but she isn’t the “pluckly lass” from down the road.  She’s a queen and a young woman nearly broken by stress.  Her journey alone makes the book worth reading.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Idle Voyages: Writing with Friends

 

One of the best things about being a writer is having the opportunity to work and collaborate with other authors.  It’s especially fun when those authors are your friends.

Idle Voyages is the working title of an anthology of short stories (20,000 words or less)  in which I’ve been invited to contribute.  It’s a collection of stories from members of what we affectionately refer to as the HMS Slush Brain.  Angela B. Chrysler  is not only the captain of the crew, she’s also spearheading the project.

We’re in the rough stages of development for now, but here is a list of people who are contributing.

Angela B. Chrysler:  Her project is a steampunk fantasy set in a dystopian-desert planet.

Bio:  Angela B. Chrysler is a writer, logician, philosopher, and die-hard nerd who studies theology, historical linguistics, music composition, and medieval European history in New York with a dry sense of humor and an unusual sense of sarcasm. She lives in a garden with her family and cats.

While writing, Ms. Chrysler fuzzies her cats and survives on coffee, Guinness, and the writings of Edgar Allan Poe who strongly influences her style to this day. When she is not writing, she enables her addictions to all things nerdy, and reads everything she can get her hands on no matter the genre. Occasionally, she finds time to garden, mother her three children, and debate with her life-long friend who she eventually married

C.L. Schneider:  The author of the Crown of Stones trilogy is bringing Ian back for a brief side story.  Ian is a great character, and I’ll be glad to see him again even if it’s only for a short time (No spoilers…I haven’t finished reading the other two books in Crown of Stones yet).

Bio:  C. L. Schneider was born in a small Kansas town on the Missouri River.  Growing up in a family of readers, all with diverse interests, she developed an early and avid love for the written word. Her fascination with science fiction stories and anything supernatural, as well as a keen interest in the Middle Ages, drew her to fantasy. At the age of sixteen, she wrote her first, full-length novel on a typewriter in her parent’s living room.

 Her first published work, The Crown of Stones: Magic-Price, is an epic fantasy. The first in a trilogy, Magic-Price is a gripping account of one man’s struggle to accept who and what he is. It’s the journey of a flawed hero, a fallen race, and a land at war. A page-turning tale of prejudice, betrayal, secrets and lies.

“The Crown of Stones evolved from the creation of my protagonist, Ian Troy. I wanted to construct not just a character, but a person that I, as a reader, would want to get lost in. One that would embody the characters I’d come to love from the stories I read in my childhood home, so many years ago. My goal was to develop a character that was capable of being both a cowboy and an outlaw, a detective when he needs to be, a monster when he can’t help it, and a hero even when he tries not to be.”

C. L. Schneider lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with her husband and two sons.  With the Crown of Stones Trilogy complete, her current work in progress is an urban fantasy due out winter 2016/2017.

M.L.S. Weech (that’s me) I’ll be working on a story called Sojourn in Despair.  Sojourn features a character from my seventh book, Images of Truth from my Perception of War series.  The fighter to the left is actually the design for one of the fighters in Images of Truth.  Concept art for Elele is still underway, but I’m easily distracted and haven’t gotten back to my amazing friend and concept artist.

Elele is a character that I fell in love with while writing Images.  She comes from an alien race loosely based on Jewish cultures in a space opera setting which combines WWII with the War on Terror.  Elele will eventually have her own book in the series, but when Angela asked who was interested in participating in this project, Elele essentially threatened to scream in my imaginary ear until I agreed to participate.

Things are still coming together for the project, but we’ve all promised to try and get our work to Angela by December.  From there, the captain will work on finalizing everything.  It’s simply an honor to have the chance to take part in such a project.  I’m excited to write something new and have my name beside these other fantastic authors.  I’ll work to keep you posted until then.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

My Journey So Far

On social media, I’ve announced the release of Andrew Hiller’s multimedia project about me and Julie Milillo.  I added the video below.  It touches on how self-publishing helped me stand behind a project I was proud of.  I’m a nostalgic person at heart, so watching that made me remember how I got to this point in my career as an author.

It starts with rejection.  About two years ago, I made the decision that The Journals of Bob Drifter (JOBD) was ready for the world, so I started looking for agents.  I think I sent a total of 50 queries.  Now I don’t really know if that’s a lot or a little in comparison to others, but I got some 15 replies back.  One went so far as to say, “I found your story un-intriguing” or something to that effect.  That particular email required some emotional support, massive Doctor Who, chocolate chip cookies, and a few days of moping.

I sent it to whatever slush pile I could get it to.  They all said no or ignored me.  In some of my old notes, I came across Balticon 2014 (I think…the years blend together).  I was speaking to one of the guests, whose name I will not mention because I refuse to use other people to sell my work, especially without their consent.  He told me about a few other options.  He told me that self publishing was a path I could choose.  He told me there are several successful self-published authors.  To say that conversation was memorable is an epic understatement.  Most importantly, it made me fell like if I believed in my work, I could stand behind it.

I love JOBD.  I think it’s a great story with compelling characters and an interesting twist on an old conflict.  I thought I deserved a chance to put myself out there.  More importantly, I thought Bob deserved a chance.

No one likes bad reviews.  No one likes to think his or her work isn’t loved by all.  Bob has had a few bad reviews, but he has had more positive reviews.  I spoke about that in the interview above.  As cool as that fact is, that’s not actually my point.  The story deserved to be seen.

I made mistakes.  I was impatient with the editing process.  I’ll go over the long list in great detail here and there.  Those are mistakes I’ve made and mistakes I must learn from, but I wouldn’t change the fact that I have a book for anything.

I have a book.  It sits on my rickety old wine-rack converted trophy case.  The cover was drawn by my best friend in junior high school.  It’s dedicated to my dad and a certain horrifically overweight cocker spaniel.    I can’t tell you what that feels like.  If I wrote a million words and used every synonym for the word “euphoric” in every language known to man, I wouldn’t be doing the feeling justice.  I’m as self-loathing as the next artist, but no one can take that book away from me.

For those devastated by rejection letters and lack of responses, this is my advice.  No one can tell you you’re ready.  No one can tell you your book is ready.  Those who have access are barriers. They’re well-trained professionals seeking product they already know they can sell.  That’s their job.  They’re not evil.  They’re evaluators.  I’d listen to what they have to say and learn from it, but I clearly didn’t let it stop me.   You have to make the choice.  Do you believe in yourself or not?

I’m results oriented.  Every sale I make is a victory.  Every day I don’t make a sale (and man are there plenty of them!) is a defeat.  Every 5-star review is heaven.  Every 2-star review is hell.  I take it all.   I learn from it.  I AM an author.  However Bob does over time is the right of readers to judge, but that book deserved to be judged by readers.

So if you have a project you believe in, if you’d bet everything on it, and it’s the best project you could develop, stand beside it.  It matters LESS how it sells than that it’s out there.  Trust me.  I KNOW how if feels to think you’re not successful.  I struggle every day with marketing, publicizing, working on the next book, making the next book even better, and reading reviews and comments.  When I’m at my lowest, I remember two things.

One:  I’m a writer.  I’ve written 1,000 words a day (give or take) since I was 26 years old (11 years now).  I didn’t get paid for one of those days, and I don’t care.   God put me on earth to write.  He didn’t promise me sales or awards or anything.   I feel happy when I write.  I feel at peace. Even as I write this, I’m smiling, because I’m doing what I’m meant to do.  Sure, I’d like to be well paid for that one day, but I won’t stop regardless.

Two:  I’d have zero reviews if I never took a chance.  People can say whatever they want about my book.  They can say whatever they want about Caught when it comes out.  The reason they can talk about them is because they’re out there.  To me, the purpose of art is to be consumed  (not literally, JOBD is 400-plus pages). The point is I created something I’m proud of.

Of course it hurts when someone speaks ill of it.   Of course it hurts that I’m not number one on the best seller list every week ever.  But if I focus on those two things I remember…

…I’m out there, and I never would have been if I didn’t try.

Thanks for reading.

Matt

Caught: Deleted Scene

One of the issues I had with the last draft of Caught was the scope was too big for the size of the book.  Like most writers, my story tends to grow in the telling.  I fall in love with characters, so I want to give them more air time.  The problem this creates is the reader then wants more time.  Dom and Kira are, quite frankly, awesome.  They’ll be featured in Caught’s sequel, which I plan to begin writing some time next year.  The problem is, as awesome as they are, it’s not their book.  They’re secondary characters in this portion of the trilogy.

Just because a scene isn’t right for a book doesn’t mean it’s not great content though.  This is cannon. It may be a little rough, as it’s from a draft of the book, it did happen.  I just had to pull this out to limit the viewpoints in the book and help the book flow better.

This used to be in Chapter 8.  A special operations team is about to assault a rouge military compound.  Kira and Dom are the other half of the team.  There’s a scene break here, which jumps forward in time.  The other two members of the team are doing cool stuff.  That part is still (probably) going to make it into the book.  There aren’t any real spoilers here, so no worries.  It just allows me to present to you some part of the book I’m still hoping to put out in a few months.

Caught Deleted Scene

From her and Dom’s position to the south of the warehouse, Kira took slow, regular breaths.  Looking through the night-vision scope of her PSG-1 sniper rifle, she had the north tower’s look-out lined up.  Dom, working as her spotter, helped her set up.  She knew her M-4 would be just to her left.  Dom was good like that.  Once you told him how you wanted a weapon to work and how you wanted it placed, Dom made it that way every time.  Now it was just the minor miracle of hitting her target just before the EMP went off.

“Fifteen seconds,”Dom whispered.  “Four knots, coming west.”

She gave her target a little room to the left to account for the wind.  Focusing her thoughts, she lightly squeezed the trigger.  Five seconds.  Press…press…press..pr-POP!  She saw the spray of red mist flow out from her target just as she heard the rifle fire.

“Hit,”Dom said matter of factly as he flipped off his scope

“Go dark,”she whispered over the radio, turning off her scope.

She only just managed to turn it off before a blue light blossomed from the north.  It wasn’t overly large.  From her vantage point, it looked about the size of a basketball.  That gave her about one minute to take down one more target.  No pressure.

They had worked out her targets ahead of time, and Dom was already giving her wind velocity.  “Three knots coming west.”

She turned her scope back on and scanned east to her nearest target, who was already making his way down the steps.  He reacted quickly, which was smart.  Leading her target and adjusting for wind, she put him down before he could reach the platform between his tower and the ground.

“Hit,”Dom said again.  He had a way of making the most impressive feat sound like something any cross-eyed 2-year-old could do.

The compound exploded with activity.  There were no alarms, which meant Brandon’s little toy had worked, but that didn’t keep the company guarding the place from reacting.  They’d planned for it.  The general was nothing if not prepared.  Too much to hope they’d have an easy time of it.

They scurried toward exits, probably trying to mobilize the Humvees parked a few hundred yards from the compound.

“Go,”She said.

“Moving,”Dom barked as he grabbed up his gear, his own M-4 and her PSG-1, and ran east.

Kira switched over to her M-4 and used short, controlled, bursts to provide Dom enough cover fire to move to his secondary position.  It was up to Steve and Brandon to infiltrate the perimeter.  She and Dom would do what they could from their positions.

*  *  *

Something, in Dom’s opinion, was wrong.  Oh sure there were plenty of decently trained corrupted traitors dying in the team’s containment zone, but not enough.  Not that Dom was anxious to kill.  He had switched over to the PSG-1, and one man trying to reach the east tower died in Dom’s sights a moment before the bastard could climb behind a M-240-B machine gun.

No, it wasn’t that he wasn’t killing enough.  It was the fact that there weren’t enough men reacting to the assault to account for an entire company. “East side clear,”he barked into his headset.

“South side clear,”Kira said.

“Go,”he replied.

Switching back to his M-4, Dom kept his scope to his eye scanning the area.  He heard Kira’s footsteps as she passed him.  He started laying short controlled bursts of fire anywhere he saw potential threats.  Kira dove behind a barrel.  She raised up a hand, four slender fingers straight up.  He stayed in position and continued his cover as she reloaded.  She started shooting in the blink of an eye.  The woman worked weapons faster than anyone on the team, except for himself of course.  He couldn’t actually see her blue eyes, but he felt her wink at him.  She’d tease a man in the middle of armageddon.

He reloaded his own M-4 and moved to her position.  The large thirty-gallon barrel looked fairly small, unless you needed it for cover.  Filled with rocks, it made as good a place to hunker down behind as any.

“I know.  There’s not enough man power-out there,”Kira said.

Dom opened his mouth to suggest she see where the rest of the enemy company was, but she cut him off.

“Steve said no Delta Techs.”

That was the end of that.  Nothing to do but continue the plan.  Step three:  Infiltrate the east side and flank the enemy.  “Moving!”Dom shouted.  He heard her resume her cover fire moments before bringing his rifle to his shoulder and charging to the base of the large metal swinging gate that marked the compound’s entrance.  Suddenly, a rumble erupted from the largest building in the compound.  It had a lot of square footage, but it was too low to the ground to be a hangar in Dom’s opinion.  Flames burst out of what few windows the building had.

Dom reacted on instinct, ripping off his ocular to keep the night vision from blinding him in the blast.  He instinctively stepped to the side to cover Kira.  She shoved him back.

“I’m fine,”she barked.  Oh she didn’t like the idea of any man protecting her, even with actual bullets flying and the possibility that she might be blinded by the explosion.  “My eye is closed, Breach.  I’ll switch the damn thing off in a moment.”

Dom began laying fire down.  The rest of what Dom was sure comprised the enemy company began charging out of every exit in the building.  Go to work!  he told himself.  Everyone had their skills, but Dom was, in fact, the best at this.  He literally put every one of the team’s weapons together, and he could use every one better than any other team member.

Dom put a .556 round into one asshole’s forehead before thumbing his selector lever to Full using fully-automatic fire to keep the bastards suppressed.  It was horrible.  The plan was perfect for any normal company.  But what asshole would order his company to burn the building down before they could secure their exit?  What morons would actually follow that insane order?

* * *

Caught is anticipated to be released in the fall of 2016.

* * *

If you enjoyed this scene, I think you’ll love the book.  If you’re interested in learning more about me or my work, feel free to contact me.

Film Adaptations and Cinematic Universes

We all know about the MCU and DCEU.  Screenrant recently released an article about other cinematic universes currently under development, and that got me thinking about fantasy fiction and what books I’d like to see as a cinematic universe:

The Dragonriders of Pern, by Anne McCaffrey:

To begin with, this is my favorite all time fantasy series.  The characters are amazing.  The world is unique, and, well, dragons.  Every time I see a movie that discusses dragons or even creatures that maybe, in the right light with enough alcoholic assistance could be dragons, I’m baffled that this hasn’t happened.  Someone more knowledgable than me might know why, but I’d be the first guy in line to see this world come to life in the form of a cinematic universe.  Like MCU and Star Wars, this world has a lot of great characters that beg for independent films.  It sits atop my list of dream movies.

Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere:

First off, this is already a multimedia universe.  His stories span graphic novels, RPGs and even a video game.  This universe is so deep and trawling, the potential for movies is endless.  There’s even potential for other media-related products.  Knowing Sanderson’s work, he’s probably finished a novella while I was working on this blog.  He’s already given us 10 years of glorious storytelling, and we can only hope we receive many years more.

The Night Angel Trilogy, by Brent Weeks:

Don’t close this browser!  The Lightbringer series is wonderful, but the key to great cinematic universes is a diverse range of characters that can hold their own in a movie.  I won’t deny there are a handful of powerful, interesting characters in Lightbringer, I simply think this trilogy is more suited for the big screen universe than Lightbringer (which I’d LOVE to see Netflix or HBO take on).   The thing that drew me to the Night Angel Trilogy was that this book honestly felt like pretty much every character could be his or her own main character in a book.  That’s why I’d choose this one.

Age of Fire, by E.E. Knight

This might be a reach in comparison to the others, which have much deeper worlds and larger casts, but the right mind behind this universe can take advantage of some of the characters and cultures and simply have fun with it.  Others may clamor for the Vampire Earth saga, but that seemed to taper off for me.  I can’t argue it has more scope and more powerful characters, but this is the more complete story at this moment.

Discworld, by Terry Pratchett”

I’ve read a few of these.  The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky are simply beautiful.  I don’t care for whom they were written.  This has the sort of scope Sanderson’s Cosmere has, but I don’t think people see it.  I’d be first in line for a Tiffany Aching saga, let alone the whole Discworld library.

I absolutely want you to comment below on what you think I’ve missed out.  I won’t lie, I left some out for simple bias and others because I felt they’d be better suited for the small screen.  I could clog the internet with all the sagas I think would be great cinematic universes.  These are just the first five I could think of.  (Shout out to Peter V. Brett’s Demon Cycle!)  My point is, as production companies are beating down the door for potential cinematic universe fodder, why not look at the genre that’s inherently designed for such a purpose?

As for my books?  First off, if anyone wanted to produce anything based on my books, feel free to shoot me an email!  I’ve been asked how I feel about adaptations.  I’ve always felt The Journals of Bob Drifter would be better suited for series.  There’s a balance between what would make for a good series and what would make for a good cinematic universe.  You haven’t seen the last of Harmony and Kyle, but I still think I’d prefer to see that as a series than a cinematic universe.  I was ecstatic to hear Wheel of Time was tagged for a series.  I think that’s the right call.  I feel the same way about Bob.

Caught is the first in a trilogy, and each character, I feel, could hold his or her own in a movie.  For those reasons, I’d feel this project would be better suited for the big screen.  I have other books, deeper and more expansive in scope as I grow in skill, that would be even better suited, but this is what’s out there (or scheduled to be out there) for now.

Did I miss something?  Do you have ideas on project managers or cast members for any of the series I mentioned above?  Feel free to make a comment below and share your thoughts.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Film Adaptations and Cinematic Universes

We all know about the MCU and DCEU.  Screenrant recently released an article about other cinematic universes currently under development, and that got me thinking about fantasy fiction and what books I’d like to see as a cinematic universe:

The Dragonriders of Pern, by Anne McCaffrey:

To begin with, this is my favorite all time fantasy series.  The characters are amazing.  The world is unique, and, well, dragons.  Every time I see a movie that discusses dragons or even creatures that maybe, in the right light with enough alcoholic assistance could be dragons, I’m baffled that this hasn’t happened.  Someone more knowledgable than me might know why, but I’d be the first guy in line to see this world come to life in the form of a cinematic universe.  Like MCU and Star Wars, this world has a lot of great characters that beg for independent films.  It sits atop my list of dream movies.

Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere:

First off, this is already a multimedia universe.  His stories span graphic novels, RPGs and even a video game.  This universe is so deep and trawling, the potential for movies is endless.  There’s even potential for other media-related products.  Knowing Sanderson’s work, he’s probably finished a novella while I was working on this blog.  He’s already given us 10 years of glorious storytelling, and we can only hope we receive many years more.

The Night Angel Trilogy, by Brent Weeks:

Don’t close this browser!  The Lightbringer series is wonderful, but the key to great cinematic universes is a diverse range of characters that can hold their own in a movie.  I won’t deny there are a handful of powerful, interesting characters in Lightbringer, I simply think this trilogy is more suited for the big screen universe than Lightbringer (which I’d LOVE to see Netflix or HBO take on).   The thing that drew me to the Night Angel Trilogy was that this book honestly felt like pretty much every character could be his or her own main character in a book.  That’s why I’d choose this one.

Age of Fire, by E.E. Knight

This might be a reach in comparison to the others, which have much deeper worlds and larger casts, but the right mind behind this universe can take advantage of some of the characters and cultures and simply have fun with it.  Others may clamor for the Vampire Earth saga, but that seemed to taper off for me.  I can’t argue it has more scope and more powerful characters, but this is the more complete story at this moment.

Discworld, by Terry Pratchett”

I’ve read a few of these.  The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky are simply beautiful.  I don’t care for whom they were written.  This has the sort of scope Sanderson’s Cosmere has, but I don’t think people see it.  I’d be first in line for a Tiffany Aching saga, let alone the whole Discworld library.

I absolutely want you to comment below on what you think I’ve missed out.  I won’t lie, I left some out for simple bias and others because I felt they’d be better suited for the small screen.  I could clog the internet with all the sagas I think would be great cinematic universes.  These are just the first five I could think of.  (Shout out to Peter V. Brett’s Demon Cycle!)  My point is, as production companies are beating down the door for potential cinematic universe fodder, why not look at the genre that’s inherently designed for such a purpose?

As for my books?  First off, if anyone wanted to produce anything based on my books, feel free to shoot me an email!  I’ve been asked how I feel about adaptations.  I’ve always felt The Journals of Bob Drifter would be better suited for series.  There’s a balance between what would make for a good series and what would make for a good cinematic universe.  You haven’t seen the last of Harmony and Kyle, but I still think I’d prefer to see that as a series than a cinematic universe.  I was ecstatic to hear Wheel of Time was tagged for a series.  I think that’s the right call.  I feel the same way about Bob.

Caught is the first in a trilogy, and each character, I feel, could hold his or her own in a movie.  For those reasons, I’d feel this project would be better suited for the big screen.  I have other books, deeper and more expansive in scope as I grow in skill, that would be even better suited, but this is what’s out there (or scheduled to be out there) for now.

Did I miss something?  Do you have ideas on project managers or cast members for any of the series I mentioned above?  Feel free to make a comment below and share your thoughts.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

The post Film Adaptations and Cinematic Universes appeared first on M. L. S. Weech.

Book Blast Promo for Angela B. Chrysler

Angela is a friend of mine and the Captain of the HMS Slush Brain.  She’s also a great author.  Her book Fire and Lies is out today, and I wanted to help get the word out.  Here’s a summary of the book.

Blood waters the fields of Alfheim. War rips across the land of elves and usurped kings. The Fae gods draw near, and Queen Kallan’s strength is tested as she follows King Rune into Alfheim. But the Shadow Beast caged within Rune’s body writhes in hunger, and Kallan’s newest companion, Bergen the legendary Berserk, is determined to end the conflict with her life. As the witch, the king, and the berserk come together, the truth buried within the past resurfaces. Now, Kallan must master a dormant power or watch her kingdom fall to the Fae who will stop at nothing to keep their lies. Fire and Lies (Tales of the Drui Book #2) picks up right where Dolor and Shadow left off, concluding one chapter of Kallan’s life as the next chapter begins.

She’s got a lot of information out about her book on her blog.  There’s a great video trailer there as well.  I read the first book on of the Tales of the Drui, Dolor and Shadow.  

You can find my review for that book here.

Here’s a short bio about Angela:

Angela B. Chrysler is a writer, logician, philosopher, and die-hard nerd who studies theology, historical linguistics, music composition, and medieval European history in New York with a dry sense of humor and an unusual sense of sarcasm. She lives in a garden with her family and cats.

While writing, Ms. Chrysler fuzzies her cats and survives on coffee, Guinness, and the writings of Edgar Allan Poe who strongly influences her style to this day. When she is not writing, she enables her addictions to all things nerdy, and reads everything she can get her hands on no matter the genre. Occasionally, she finds time to garden, mother her three children, and debate with her life-long friend who she eventually married.

Thanks for reading

Matt

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