M.L.S. Weech's Blog, page 98

Book Announcement and Writing Week in Review: 11/25-12/2

One of the bloggers I follow, Kristen Twardowski, over at A Writer’s Workshop, is about to publish her novel. I’m so excited for her, I thought to share her announcement with my followers. Please help me in congratulating her for this achievement. It’s scheduled for release Dec. 16.

Kristen Twardowski

Once, Alex Gardinier was a successful physical therapist and a happy wife. Now she is trapped in a crumbling hospital room. Seven years ago Alex’s ex-husband, Nathan, was convicted of murdering five girls, and he has been rotting in prison ever since. Except the doctors say that Nathan isn’t in prison. In fact, they don’t believe that he is a criminal at all. According to them, Nathan is a devoted husband who visits her every week. But Alex can’t recall ever seeing him at the hospital, and the last time they met he was holding her hostage on a boat.

Maybe the doctors are right – maybe these memories of his crimes are her own personal delusions – but if they are wrong, then Nathan somehow escaped from prison. If they are wrong, he has trapped Alex in a psychiatric ward.

If they are wrong, he is hunting her sister.

—  …

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Fun and Games are coming!

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Angela B. Chrysler
C.L. Schneider
Matthew W. Harrill
Adam Dreece
Chess DeSalls
Kylie Jude
T.H. Morris
MLS Weech
J.K. Norry

The Influence of Life on Art

One of the more common questions I get is “Which of your characters is most like you?”  I’ve heard other authors talk about this with varying degrees of frustration.  I’m not exactly sure, exactly, what the consensus feeling is, but some authors don’t like the idea that the characters they create are based on someone (or at least just one person).  I’ve discussed how I develop characters, and it’s absolutely true that they all have some pieces of lots of people I know, but no one character is simply a representation of any one person.  I’m frankly too afraid of appropriation lawsuits.

A lot of my friends mention that reading my book was odd because they saw so much of me in my books.  I don’t mind that so much, but that’s because I always give my characters some part of myself.

There’s a common phrase in the world of writing:  Write what you know.  Now, in Fantasy, this seems much more difficult when you consider ancient worlds and other races. Still, the simple fact is the life you live has an impact on the worlds you create.  While I normally like to do case studies, I just don’t have enough knowledge on other authors to speak.  At best, I have a few vague recollections.  I believe this to be true about most authors, and to show it, I’ll talk about how my life has effected my art.

In The Journals of Bob Drifter, the most direct things I pulled from my life are locations and occupations.  Patience is a photographer because I’m a photographer.  I understood the field, and it worked for the story.  Bob is a substitute teacher.  The trick he used when he first met David is the same trick I used to gain my classes’ attention as a substitute. The fact that Bob looks a lot like me is coincidental.  I had a buzz-cut hairstyle pretty much the last 15 years of my life.  I grew it out recently.  I was at an event when someone showed me the cover and said, “Is that you?”  No.  While Bob has my background in education, the similarities in hair are about all we have in common.  I have family near Surprise, Arizona.  I was stationed in San Diego and Syracuse while I served in the Navy.  I took these locations because they were familiar.  It made it easier for me to write since I could actually remember some of these locations.

I want to be clear about my role in the Navy.  I served as a combat photographer.  While some of my friends saw combat, and even earned recognition for their actions in combat, I didn’t see any.  However, I certainly trained a lot.  That training was put to use in Caught while writing the scenes involving Oneiros.  None of this is stuff you couldn’t learn by watching Act of Valor, but it helped me have something to draw from.

While stationed in San Diego, I did a lot of volunteer work.  I did some work with the homeless, and was shocked to hear that, as of 2010, there were 1,200 homeless veterans in the city of San Diego alone.  This became the inspiration for another book.

Now for the other side of the coin.

I took this image while serving in Afghanistan. It was shot as part of my official duties and, as such, is public domain.

I expect most authors pull from what they know.  It adds realism and makes world-building easier, but there is a line.  It’s poorly defined and depends more on the author than any actual rules.  I’ve been to Afghanistan.  I know what the weather is like.  I know the road conditions.  But I didn’t take actual locations.  First off, my memory (while, in my opinion is pretty darn good, isn’t good enough to remember any one of the dozens of locations I visited in the six months I was there.

I mentioned Kirkuk Iraq in another book, but only as a location.  Appropriation is a real privacy rights violation and something I take seriously.  Locations are one thing, people are far more important.  Yes, I usually take a TRAIT or two from people I know, but I have not (well..not since I was 13 and clueless) nor will not ever simply take someone I know and make them into a character.  The closest I came was an old chief of mine.  I spoke to him about it.  While they look nothing alike and their situations in life are not even remotely similar, the trait I gave this character is what most would know my old chief for.    The point is, I felt so strongly that I approached him and discussed the matter with him.

The balance between writing what you know and creating what you can create is an art in and of itself.  Let me end with a few dos and don’ts.

I captured this image while serving in Kirkuk, Iraq. This image is also public domain.

Do:  Use what you know to draw from.  Your careers, hobbies, and interests can make for wonderful world building tools.  Don’t be afraid to put them to use.

Do:  Use locations and cultures with which you are familiar.  It’s important to build a life-like world or use real-world locations in ways that help the reader gain a more visceral experience.

Don’t: Use real people without their expressed written permission.  If that sounds like the end of a football game, it should.  Now, some people enter contests specifically to be put in books.  The very act of entering said contest waves a persons right to having their likeness used fictitiously.

Don’t: Use real scenes.  This is debatable.  The point is it’s close to the line, and I tend to avoid things like that.  If I write about a restaurant in San Diego, I make sure I’m using that fictitiously, and it’s not fictionalized in an unflattering way.  (At least I make every effort to do that).  If I can make up a place, I do.  There may indeed be a restaurant in San Diego at the location I offer, but if there is, I didn’t know it was there.    So long as the location is simply used as a setting, I’m not OVERLY worried, but if I have any other way to do it, I will, especially if I’m looking for a “seedy” location or something of the sort.  If I write information that’s accurately portraying the location, I’m safe, but accuracy becomes my friend.  At the end of the day, if you’re worried about it, if you feel a little weird about it, don’t do it.

If you’re an author, and you want to provide your thoughts, please feel free to do so in the comments section.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Deus Ex Machina: When Magic Solving Problems Causes Problems

Possibly the biggest opponent to fantasy and science fiction is the concept of Deus Ex Machina.  literarydevices.net gave a description of the term, but I’d like to add to that.  When something arises that the reader isn’t prepared for to resolve the conflict, the reader will be unsatisfied with the ending.  Let’s be honest, as readers, we WANT to believe the ending is plausible.  We’ll take some pretty hanky explanations as background or foreshadowing.

Image from The Two Towers used for educational use and review under Fair Use Doctrine. 

In The Two Towers, Gandalf basically said, Just hold off for three days and I’ll come kill whatever bad guys are left.  They fought for three days. Gandalf saved the day. No one batted an eyelash.

I’ve been speaking with Quintessential Editor about his book, editing mine, and outlining Sojourn in Despair.  That means I’ve been talking about magic systems like crazy.  Corey and I were talking about it, and I’d mentioned Sanderson’s Laws of Magic. I’m telling you, if you haven’t read these, and you write fantasy, stop writing and read this. It’s a solid group of guidelines.   Sanderson’s First Law is, “An author’s ability to solve conflict with magic is directly proportional to how well the reader understands said magic.”

I love fantasy. I love Sanderson’s work in particular.  The reason I love it though is because it has a sense of wonder. Bad fantasy destroys that sense of wonder with a sense of impossibility.    So when I read that law, I translate that to mean, “The better the reader understands the magic of the world, the more likely he’s going to accept that magic solved the problem.”

In The Journals of Bob Drifter, I took great care easing the reader into the magic system.  Some say I took too much care. But I take a great amount of satisfaction from the fact that no one has (as of yet) complained that the ending was too easy.  I spent some 110,000 words building up a villain that seemed unstoppable.  But as Grimm was doing dastardly things, I was explaining through a few characters how his power worked while also explaining how Bob’s power worked.  I feel if I hadn’t have done both, people would have called me out.  Actually, I was more concerned the reader would discover the trick too soon.  If that’s happened, no one said so yet. If you’ve read the book feel free to comment below regarding your thoughts.

I’m wracking my brain trying to determine a book that really failed at this. I’m sure it’s out there, and I’m sure I’ve read it, but I can’t honestly recall. But how do you prevent it?  Should you?

Should you?  Well, not necessarily.  (OK, you should TOTALLY prevent Deus Ex Machina, but you don’t always need a magic system which requires a degree in physics to understand).  Refer to the rule.  “An author’s ability to SOLVE conflict….”

What if you wanted to CAUSE it? Children’s, and young reader fantasy stories do this a lot.  No one sweeps in and saves the day with magic, but quite often magic is the cause of the problem.  I’d argue this is the case with Lord of the Rings.  Magic is far more responsible problems than it is solutions (Gandalf’s rescue included).  So…if you’re working on a story where magic is getting thrown around like crazy and all it does is make life miserable for the characters, GO FOR IT!  I don’t care how the magic system works.  It’s magic!

But what if the man is going to rely on magic?  Well then, the degree with which that magic is going to be relied upon must be that understood by the reader.  Here are a few things I try to do to avoid the problem.

One:  If Three is Good Enough for Tolkien, it’s good enough for me:  I consider this the LEAST an author can do.  I use this with foreshadowing and magic plot devices.  I make sure to mention the “trick” at least three times.  (Free autographed copy of my book if you can name the three instances I did this in The Journals of Bob Drifter.)

Two: The Mentor Magic Learning Montage:  I’m less and less a fan of this every time I see it and use it.  In 1,200, I took the mentor away JUST to avoid this.  Inevitably in most fantasy sagas, there’s the “mentor” who appears JUST as the guy develops his power.  How handy he shows up just in time to teach the guy how to become the hero.  It’s a common thing and not really a “sin” in writing. I’ve just personally grown tired of it.  (Though I did use a mentor archetype in New Utopia.  Even then, I added a twist just to be different.)  What this mentor can do is teach the user, and through him the reader, how the magic system works.  In these types of stories, there’s usually a “hint” (see above) at how something thought impossible could happen.  Or at least they do this next trick.

Three: Hang a Lantern:  When the character does something impossible, and another character goes, “How could that be!” The reader gets a clue that this is an intentional thing.  Then calmly waits for the explanation on how that should happen.  If you use this, you NEED to explain that later in the story.

Four:  Internal Dialogue:  This is the last one I use.  I used it most in 1,200, but I like it because it’s different.   The author can use conflict and internal dialogue to express learned experiences and ideas.  You can use the point of view of another character as well.  In New Utopia, one of my upcoming books, the hero, Wilum, does something impressive.  His mentor character (mentioned above) notices, then considers how it was done.  You actually see this quite a lot in Anime.

How do you avoid Deus Ex Machina?  Do you have a trick I don’t know about?  Please share it.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Proofing of Caught is finished!

So when I wasn’t moving or drafting Sojourn in Despair, I received the digital proof of Caught. This gave me the chance to read it over yet again and catch any last minutes errors.  This was important for me because I wish I’d taken one more read with The Journals of Bob Drifter. I did look at the digital proof of Bob, but I rushed, and I was impatient.

Not so this time. I read the book two more times, making corrections and tweaks as I found them. No book is ever perfect, but I’m very confident this book is better written than Bob. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the book. It’s still an awesome story, but I want every book I write to be better than the last book. One way I knew I could do that was to take an extra pass of the digital proof.

I finished that process Monday night, and I’m waiting to make sure everything is in order. Ben (my brother in law) is working to put all those wonderful review quotes on the cover so we can upload that to CreateSpace. Then it’s all over but the waiting.

I simply can’t tell you how excited I am for this book. I’ll be celebrating it’s release with the HMS Slush Brain Book Bash. I’ll also be all over this blog, Twitter, and my own Facebook accounts. A lot of work and effort goes into every book, and I’m proud of this result. Once I hear about an official release date, I’ll be sure to announce that. I’ll also be dropping a few chapters on this blog just to teas you all a bit.

Thank you all for taking this journey with me. I hope you find Caught worth the wait!

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Wonderful reviews!

First thing is a big thank you all for your patience. I have a LOT of followers (at least I think so) who stop by my page. I simply haven’t had the connectivity to like pages or post. I’m back to full power now, and I’ll be resuming my visits to your pages and replying to your comments. I promise I didn’t fall off the face of the earth, I just had to get all my stuff in my new place and get the internet installed, which was actually pretty hard to do.

Now, onto some big news! First, I’ve mentioned C.L. Schneider a few times in reviews of her Crown of Stones Trilogy. She’s become a dear friend.  She recently posted a 5-star review of The Journals of Bob Drifter. Her review was simply amazing and too kind. It’s always nice to have someone review your work and think well of it, but I genuinely respect Cindy, and for her to think this highly of the book really gives me a boost of morale. She’s been a huge source of support and encouragement since I’ve met her.

Thank you, Cindy, for the kind review!

I’ve already mentioned that I sent Caught to Kirkus and Red City Review. You saw how highly Kirkus thought of it. Not too long ago, Red City Review gave Caught 4 stars! What’s even more awesome is what they said about the book. I think Caught is gaining a ton of momentum, and I can’t wait for it to go live!

That’s all for now.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

 

 

 

 

 

The New Digs

So I’ve been working on getting a new place for a while now. I’m happy to say I closed last Monday!

I’ve lived most of my life in apartments. So when I knew I was going to buy a place of my own, I felt getting a condo was right for me. I looked at about 30 places before talking to my relator, a very helpful and patient woman named Shannon. I sent a list in order of my favorites. We looked around. I updated the list. I put an offer on one place. Those owners made me wait a week before I heard anything, so I moved on to put an offer on another place.

What did I think of this? I that email I sent Shannon, I said, “This is by far my favorite place.” It has that roll top desk you see above and a swinging chair on the porch where I intend to sit, read, grow old, and yell at “those punk kids,” when I’m retired and even more grumpy.

It’s a beautiful place with a ton of space, included a room that will become my office and library. Consider these images the “before” pictures as I continue to work on making this condo my home bot connotatively and denotatively.

I also hope this explains where I’ve been the last few weeks.  I’ve been doing a ton just getting moved. I’ve done all of this while making progress on Sojourn in Despair and performing the final proofread for Caught. I haven’t had a reliable internet connection for about three weeks. I spent a few days with some friends, which let me keep my head above water in the social media world, but the biggest area I suffered in was here with you all. It was all I could do just to keep the posts coming and jumping from site to site. I’ve found posts I was happy to “like” and even comment on. Just yesterday my phone ran out of data, so I’ll be even harder pressed to be active on these pages until my internet is installed.

This home is worth all of that. I look forward to updating your tours (I promise the library will be something to see.)

Until then, thanks for reading,

Matt

 

The Kirkus Review for Caught

I sat down today (Tuesday for those reading this) and saw an email from Kirkus Reviews. As I’ve mentioned, I sent Caught to both Kirkus and Red City Review so I could add book blurbs to my cover. This only worked if they actually liked the book.

So when I saw the email notifying me my review was ready, I said a prayer, texted those near and dear to me asking for the same, and then clicked the link.

WOW! Look, an author works on a book hoping it was well written and reviewers will have something positive to say. This review is nothing short of glowing! Kirkus isn’t obligated to offer my book kind words. They’re an independent review company that has an Indi-author review program. They also review best sellers. I’ve seen kind reviews, polite reviews, positive reviews and even a few that we’re so kind. When I sent them Caught, I was nervous. This really motivates me. It makes me think I have a lot of positive momentum, and I hope that continues as other reviews come in.

I’m about 25 percent through the final proof of Caught and another thing I’ll let you all read about tomorrow. I hope you all decide to give Caught a chance, and I also hope you think as highly of it as this review shows.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Book Review: Entrepurpose by Rusty Pang and Brian Laprath

(NOTE:  This is a nonfiction book, so I’ll be reacting to it much like I did with The Problem of Pain.)

I found this book immensely reaffirming. For me, I held a lot of the concepts in this book true without any terms or explanations.

The first thing I read that really resonated with was the concept that time is a valued currency. I’ve said for a long time (I even wrote it in my own personal Code) that the only two true forms of currency are love and time. This book speaks to that belief and supports it with both relevant anecdotal evidence as well as research.  If you only buy this book to read Chapter 8, it would be worth the money.

This isn’t just true of someone who likes self-help, non-fiction books.  This chapter is specifically for all those people who “say” they want to be an author.  This chapter forces a person to look at their life and truly understand what they do establishes their priorities.

This book speaks to sticking to your purpose and pushing, never giving up. That’s pretty much me in a nutshell.

There were parts that truly got me thinking. The big conundrum to authors is the idea of supply and demand. Great businesses tap into what’s going to happen. They jump the market. They give people what they want. This is very hard to do as an author. At the end of the day, people want to read good stories. So how does one of a huge number of authors prove his stories are good or better than the other books out there?  How does an author earn the time of readers? This is a mystery I’m trying to solve, and the answer will make whatever author learns it very successful.

This book speaks to mentorship. It challenges people to seek out people more successful than you.  I’ve done that over the last year or so, finding the Slush Brain and other people that I can speak to and learn from. Writers WANT to be part of a group of successful authors. Just look at history and you’ll see what tends to happen to talented individuals who share that sort of energy.

This book challenges readers to look at what they’re doing and why. It gives readers courses of action that can help them drive in on what they want. I’d have like a bit more time in terms of identifying purpose. While I have my purpose, I find that most people don’t, and I felt if any part could have more, or rather if I wanted any more of one segment, that would be what I’d wish. I tell my students pretty much daily that I don’t care what they want; I just want them to WANT SOMETHING. So more information on finding that, and if I’m being honest, helping others find that, would have made this product even stronger.

Entrepurpose isn’t good because a friend of mine wrote it; it’s good because it’s useful. It’s good because it does what I think non-fiction should do. It calls you out, offers you tools, and forces you to admit you’re the one who has to move. I’m so very glad for Rusty and Brian. I recommend this book most specifically for people who know what they want, but are afraid or unsure if they should go for it.

 

I’m just Saying I Told You So

Cover and feature image taken from TOR.com for reporting of a newsworthy event under Fair Use Doctrine.

My first post on this website was one where I discussed books I felt would make a great Cinematic Universes.  I was elated a few weeks ago when I learned that DMG Entertainment made a licensing and film deal for Brandon Sanderson’s Comere Universe.  Here’s a link to TOR’s announcement.

The team has already selected screenwriters for The Way of Kings. It also appears as if The Final Empire is on the horizon.

My reaction:

First off, I’m totally geeked out about it. I didn’t just select this book because I thought it’d make a good universe; I selected it because I WANT to see these movies. If I ruled the world, I’d rather see the Mistborn movies first, but I trust Sanderson as a creator. He wouldn’t just hand his work to anyone for any reason. Everything this man does is done with purpose and the desire to tell the best story possible.

So that’s it for today.  I just wanted to be a smug SOB for a moment and celebrate the news. No, I don’t think my blog had anything to do with it, but it doesn’t devalue the idea.

So now that we know what movie is coming up first, any dream casting? Who would you cast as Kalidin or Syl? Do you think they made the right call going with Stormlight first?

Thanks for reading

Matt