Barry Lyga's Blog: The BLog, page 41

The Fourth I Hunt Killers Book

Apologies for the potentially misleading title of this post. Let me state right up front: There is no fourth I Hunt Killers book.

But there could have been.

I figure now that Blood of My Blood has been out for a couple of weeks, I might as well go ahead and tell the story of what-might-have-been. If you’re interested in behind-the-scenes nitty-gritty, you may find this interesting.

Oh, and of course: Spoilers below for Blood of My Blood!

So, some background: I first proposed I Hunt Killers to my publisher way back in 2009. In the proposal, I wrote — towards the end — the following:

The book can end two ways. If it’s a standalone, then Jazz — with his intimate knowledge of his father’s secrets — catches him before he can get out of town and returns him to jail.

But I think the story is actually a trilogy.

It went on from there to explain how a trilogy would build on the first book.

Why did I propose two possibilities? Well, because here’s a secret for y’all: If you are the sort of author who lives on the bestseller lists and gets big, fat movie deals and has readers voluntarily sacrificing puppies in your honor, then a publisher would be thrilled to buy a trilogy from you on the basis of just a proposal.

I am not that sort of author. I am a run-of-the-mill dude who writes books. I didn’t want the publisher to see plans for a trilogy and think, Sounds good, but risky. What if the first book tanks? Then we’re on the hook for two more! So I gave them an out: Look, I want to do a trilogy, but trust me — I can do one book, if I have to.

One book or three books. Easy, right?

Well, the publisher came back and said… Two books.

Of course.

What was I going to do? Yes, if I had to, I could tell a truncated version of the story in one book, cross my fingers and hope that it did well enough to warrant returning to it someday. Or I could tell the whole thing in three.

But two?

I gambled; I wrote that first book as if I would have three, not two, hoping that when the publisher saw the final product, they would be thrilled enough to want more.

Time went by and they agreed to a third book just before I started writing Game. Whew!1

But then I had a thought: What if I did four books?

As I worked on Game, I started to see new possibilities. Sending Jazz to New York opened up whole new worlds to him, something I hadn’t considered originally. I started thinking about it and realized that going to four books could be really dramatic.

My publisher had just agreed to a third book…and the first one wasn’t even on sale yet! I knew it was risky (and borderline egomaniacal) to insist on a  fourth, but I did it anyway.

They said… “Let us think about it.” And then gave me a date by which they would give me their decision.

Fine. I finished Game. I Hunt Killers hit shelves. Things were moving along.

Except…

Except I couldn’t start on the third book because I didn’t know if it would be the last one!2 So I waited and I waited, and I kept thinking of how I would structure the two final books. And let me tell you something — if you hated the Game cliffhangers, you would have lost your mind over what I had planned for the ending of the third book!

Decision day loomed and something funny happened. I sat down and I looked at my plan for Books 3 and 4, and I thought to myself, “I don’t know if I want to do it this way after all. I think three books might be the way to go.”

My agent called me. “I’m pretty confident they’re going to let you do the fourth book,” she said, “but we’ll know tomorrow.”

I told my wife that night: “If they want a fourth book, I’ll do it, but I’m not sure it’s the right way to go any more. I feel like an idiot for even pushing for it.”

And the next day, my agent’s gut proved wrong. The publisher came back and said, “We really think this should be three books.”

I have never in my life been so relieved not to sell a book!3

If you’re curious, this is how Books 3 and 4 broke down in the alternate universe where I Hunt Killers is a tetralogy, not a trilogy:

Book 3 (The Crow King) would have picked up with the cliffhangers from Game and proceeded much the same…at first. But Billy doesn’t kill Hat. Instead, it turns out Hat is one step ahead of everyone. New York goes insane — there are at least two serial killers on the loose, one of whom just blew up an apartment building to cover his tracks. Jazz escapes from the hospital to track down Billy and find his mom, realizing that catching Hat is the shortest way to get to Billy. He’s hunted by Hughes while he hunts Hat. When he catches Hat, Hat explains — in a crazy babble — about the Crows and warns Jazz of the Crow King. He and Hat fight; Hughes barges in and kills Hat. Jazz manages to escape and, now aware of the Jack Dawes alias, tracks down Billy. Mom Skypes in. Jazz and Billy fight, Jazz stabs Billy in the back, turns to the iPad and says, “You’re next.”

Boom. End of Book 3. Commence a year of people screaming things like, “Is Billy actually dead? Is Jazz’s mom really Ugly J? How could you end another book on a cliffhanger?”

Book 4 (Killswitch) picks up ten seconds later. We learn that Jazz paralyzed Billy rather than killing him.4 Jazz begins the hunt for his mother, first digging up his grandfather to find Billy’s “memoir,” which spells out more of the Crows, leading him to the Crow King. There’s a nationwide manhunt for Jazz, who should turn himself in, but instead holes up in the Nod to immerse himself in Billy’s memoir. He breaks into G. William’s house — “You’re the only man who’s ever stopped one of them; tell me how.” — and G. William explains to him the events of Lucky Day. With his newfound knowledge of the Dawes identity, he starts hunting Crows, tracking them down one by one, interrogating them for information about the Crow King, then leaving them for the cops. Eventually, he tracks down Ugly J, and things proceed as they do in Blood of My Blood.

Whew! As you can see, the emotional arc of the story is the same, but the scope would have been much broader. I’m glad, though, to have only the three books. I think it’s a tighter, stronger story this way. And, quite honestly, I’m glad not to have another year of people complaining about cliffhangers.

What would I have done if I’d had to wrap things up in two books? I honestly don’t know. I could have gotten to the ending in two books, but it would have felt emotionally truncated and I don’t think anyone would have been happy with it.This, in case you’re wondering, is why there were 18 months between Books 2 and 3. No one’s fault — we just didn’t think it through when that decision date was set.And by the way, this is the origin of Lucky Day. Originally, it was intended to be an extended flashback in Book 3 or Book 4, but now there was no room for it. At the same time, I wanted to offer something for cliffhanger-suffering readers to read while they waited for the final book, so it worked out nicely.My one regret in the three-book solution is that you guys found out Jazz wasn’t a murderer after just a few pages.

My Absolute Favorite Reaction to Blood of My Blood So Far

@barrylyga you magnificent bastard, I read your book!

— Cassandra Clare (@cassieclare) September 11, 2014

If you’ve never seen Patton, here’s your reference:

Interview: Interviewing Authors

Tim Knox of Interviewing Authors spent close to an hour on the phone with me and the result is an interview that sprawls pretty much over my entire career. You either read the transcript or listen to the podcast. (I would say listen because you get all of the inflections and nuances that way. But to each his or her own.)

See/hear me say stuff like:

“In young adult, I don’t think anything’s off limits. “

“I think there must be some point in time… I don’t know when it happens, maybe around 30, where they slip some sort of pill into the adult’s breakfast and we all forget how smart we were as kids.”

“Obviously I’ve never been a 16 year old girl”

Enjoy, y’all!

“Blood Boy” Now on iBooks!

Just like the headline says: “Blood Boy” is now available for purchase from iBooks. Make with the clicking, people!

As I mentioned when I announced “Blood Boy,” this story supports the Adam Lynch Award and the Hemophilia Association of New York. Please read the information at the link and consider buying the story to help this very worthy cause.

Interview: The Big Thrill (Guest Post)

The International Thriller Writers have a monthly publication called The Big Thrill, and for the September issue, I’ve written a little piece about my initial fears and concerns writing Blood of My Blood.

My editor was leery of Game’s cliffhangers. She was worried readers would be upset and, sure enough, when the book hit, my email inbox and Twitter timeline clogged with readers ranting, imploring, and wheedling. It was just the passionate reaction I was looking for: If readers don’t feel invested in your characters and in your story, all the cliffhangers in the world won’t get a reaction out of them.

“How could you do this to me?” they screamed at me.

And stuff like that. Go read it.

Buy “Blood Boy” and Help HANY

As newsletter subscribers and my followers on Twitter know, I’ve been working on a Howie prequel story to go along with the Jazz and Connie stories. It’s finished and it’s ready for you. And this time, I’m trying something a little different.

When I first created Howie, I didn’t know much about hemophilia. In the five years I’ve been writing him, I’ve been fortunate enough to hear from people in the hemophilia community, who tell me how much Howie means to them.

And, of course, people in the broader readership seem to love him, too! Which is great.

For Howie’s prequel — “Blood Boy” — I wanted to give something back to the community that inspired him.

So, here’s the deal with the story: The story is available for sale in all the usual e-places, and I’m hoping maybe you’ll consider buying a copy. I’m charging more than I do for the other stories, but that’s because I’m donating every last penny I make on the story this year to charity.

When you buy “Blood Boy,” you’ll get a funny, touching Howie story, yes. But you’ll also be helping me to help the Hemophilia Association of New York (HANY) and the Adam Lynch Award.

HANY has been around since 1952 and provides information, education, advocacy, and direct assistance to persons with hemophilia and related congenital blood clotting disorders. The organization encourages and supports scientific research to improve medical treatments and to seek cures. It serves all five boroughs in New York City, as well as surrounding counties.

The Adam Lynch Award is a new initiative from HANY, in honor of Adam Lynch, a young man with a bleeding disorder who succumbed to a traumatic bleed while attending college. The Fund will provide scholarships for college-bound students with hemophilia interested in pursuing secondary studies in the Arts and/or Media.

How perfect is that? What an excellent match!

“The Hemophilia Association of New York is so excited to be part of Barry’s project,” says executive director Linda Mugford. “This year it is so apropos because we are looking into ways to connect with adolescents with bleeding disorders.”

“People with hemophilia must be creative in how they navigate their pursuit of a fulfilling and sustainable career path,” says Patrick James Lynch, Adam’s brother (and a hemophiliac). “Adam knew this, I know this, and HANY knows this. I’m thrilled that his name is attached to a scholarship program specifically for community members who want to make utilizing their creativity a prominent part of their future.”

So, please buy “Blood Boy” and spread the word. I won’t make a dime off of it, you’ll get a fun glimpse into Howie’s life pre-I Hunt Killers, and the Adam Lynch Award will help some folks like Howie get a little closer to their dreams.

Here’s where you can buy “Blood Boy,” if you’d like to help:

Amazon (Kindle)
Barnes & Noble (Nook)
Kobo

(iBooks, as per usual, will come later.)

Starred Review for Blood of My Blood

The psyched woman flashing the hook ‘em horns is my editor, Alvina Ling. And she is psyched for the same reason I am: Booklist just gave Blood of My Blood its first starred review!

Check it out:

Lyga’s burial of the I Hunt Killers trilogy cements it

as one of the most ambitious thriller series in YA history, and the absolute best cliff from which teen readers can dive into the grueling world of adult crime procedurals. Given the violence of Game (2013), it’s no shocker that Jazz, Connie, and Howie begin laid up in the hospital. But there’s no rest for the wicked: in short order—this novel’s time frame is brutally truncated—Jazz busts out, determined to do away with, once and for all, his serial killer pop, Billy Dent. First, though, he’ll need to divine the truth behind “the Crows,” which appears to be a cult of murderers in thrall to the elder Dent. Jazz’s central conflict of using his dad’s sociopathic tricks without himself sliding into sociopathy is writ large here, with Jazz’s every evasive move against encroaching cops more morally questionable than the previous. You can’t stop reading, though—as before, Lyga’s strength is a plot that rockets with blood-slicked assurance and with the intercut speed (and splatter) of Thomas Harris’ The Silence of the Lambs (1988). Will Jazz end up a Crow or just another “prospect”? Here’s hoping the Edgar Awards retroactively presents Lyga a trio of statuettes for his chilling three-book answer.

A comparison to The Silence of the Lambs, the ur-text for the modern serial killer novel? Yeah, I’ll take it.

Teen Author Reading Night: Fall 2014

Here is the schedule for this coming autumn’s Teen Author Reading Night series, hosted and conceived by David Levithan. Note that, ahem, someone special will be there on September 10, reading from Blood of My Blood…

(All readings take place at 6pm at the Jefferson Market Branch of the NYPL in Manhattan.)

September 10

Isabel Gillies, Starry Night
Avery Hastings, Feuds
Barry Lyga, Blood of My Blood
Micol Ostow, Amity
Len Vlahos, The Scar Boys
Scott Westerfeld, Afterworlds

October 1

Lisa Amowitz, Vision
Laurie Crompton, Adrenaline Crush
Timothy Decker, Lies in the Dust
Heather Demetrios, Exquisite Captive
Jaclyn Dolamore, Dark Metropolis
Amelia Kahaney, The Invisible
Gordon Korman, Memory Maze
Rachel Vail, Unfriended

November 5

A. R. Kahler, Martyr
Elizabeth Kiem, Hider, Seeker, Secret Keeper
Lois Metzger, A Trick of the Light
Kass Morgan, Day 21
S. Chris Shirley, Playing by the Book
Alecia Whitaker, Wildflower

December 3

Anna Carey, Blackbird
Sarah Beth Durst, Chasing Power
Margaret Gurevich, Making the Cut
Daphne Grab, The Angel Tree
Claire Legrand, Winterspell
Kieran Scott, Complete Nothing
Rebecca Serle, Famous in Love

Interview: YA Highway Guest Blog

YA Highway posted a guest blog from yours truly last week and I somehow missed it. The topic is “What Do You Feel Right Now?” and I write about what it’s like to wrap up the I Hunt Killers series. Check it out and see what I have to say, including:

I very, very much want it to shock the hell out of them. I want readers to feel a wide range of emotions when reading Blood of My Blood, but most of all, I want it to shock them, and I hope it does.

Want the Blood of My Blood Case Cover?

Here are all three of the case covers (the ones that lurk under the dust jackets) for you…