Keith Robinson's Blog, page 21

Brian Clopper: writer, teacher and foot soldier

I didn't get to finish Caleb's World before the end of January as I had planned, so I missed the submission deadline for this year's Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. But I did finish Quincy's Curse and am about to start on the editing.

But right now I'm proofreading a fab novel by author buddy Brian Clopper. I've known Brian ever since he read Island of Fog to his class and sent me lots of letters written by his fifth grade students. You might remember that post from March 2010, Letters from Jones Dairy Elementary School.

Anyway, I've been wanting to plug Brian's website (BrianClopper.com) and his work for a while now, and I think now is as good a time as any since I'm proofreading one his books. Turncoats is a zombie saga for young adults, so-named because our hero, Nathan, hangs around with a zombie girl named Trina, and so in a way both are considered "traitors" to their own kind. But, as I understand it, it's this unlikely friendship that promises to save the world against all odds.

Right now, Book 1 of the saga, Overrun, is starting to get really hairy. No, I don't mean people are turning into hirsute beasties, just that the zombie apocalypse has begun and our heroes, Nathan and Trina, are barely catching a breath never mind plotting how to save mankind. It's hard to believe I'm nearly halfway through already; now I understand why Brian complained that this first installment wouldn't quit and ended up much longer than expected. It's one of those "in the moment" types that sort of grabs you and won't let go.

Read what Brian says about the story in his blog post, Checking In With Zombies (written back in October 2011 before he was finished). And by the way, Brian Clopper is a fifth-grade teacher, hence the student comments at the foot of his blog post. I wonder if those students will be reading this young adult novel featuring brain-mashing, limb-severing zombie mayhem! Make no mistake, this book is for more mature young readers; there are no cuddly gargoyles or flying mummies in sight.

Speaking of cuddly gargoyles and flying mummies, Brian has two self-published books available right now. Graham the Gargoyle is actually a much earlier novel, formerly published with excellent illustrations (did I mention that he's a comic artist?) and now available in standard novel form (both printed and electronic)...

On the left, the recent edition of Graham the Gargoyle , available to buy in print or for Kindle and Nook. On the right, the out-of-print original edition complete with excellent illustrations.

The other book currently available is Tagalong, a fantasy in which Dylan Thadmussel gets caught up in an adventure with the class bully, Mitch. The two of them find themselves on a quest in the magical world of Myriad, aided by Grimble, their tagalong gremlin guide. In the author's own words, "Dylan is starstruck by meeting and defeating trolls, bushwhacking bigfoot and sidestepping snallygasters." Tagalong is a fun fantasy romp for younger readers.

But as good as Turncoats, Graham the Gargoyle and Tagalong are, my own personal favorite of Brian's so far is Irving Wishbutton: The Questing Academy, the story of a fictional novel character who finds himself created out of thin air and spends much of the book not quite fully developed in the author's mind. It's hard to explain in a sentence or two, and anyway I don't want to give too much away, but this novel is not available -- yet. Even though I've read it, I can't wait for it to be published in the future. Successful fantasy author Piers Anthony said it was "fabulous," and I agree. I also can't wait for Brian to get on with book 2. Come on, Brian!!

In one his recent projects, Brian wrote a chapter featuring the Wizard Robinson. This is apt considering that I'm a bit of a whiz at just about everything, and of course modesty is one of my many strong points. But Brian had the audacity to mention in the story that the wizard had a couple of citations, a direct poke at me because I was stopped by the police for speeding when the Robinsons and Cloppers met up in North Carolina last year (Brian and his wife and kids were with us in the van at the time). Anyway, as punishment I wrote him into Quincy's Curse. The plan was for him to be a lowly foot soldier named Clopper. Unfortunately he turned into a bit of a hero, which makes me mad. How DARE Brian take over my story like that!

Now I'm off to read some more Turncoat-mayhem. :-)

Quincy's Curse and Caleb's World

Just a few general things to report. The main thing is that I'm nearing completion of Quincy's Curse, a project that I started many moons ago and have been itching to finish. Even after being shelved for years, only half finished, it still reads nicely today and I've found it very easy to pick up and continue with. My target is 65,000 words and I've just reached 50,000, so not far to go now -- just four or five more chapters at most. Here's a snippet from Chapter One where Quincy, new to the village of Ramshackle Bottom, meets Megan...

Megan shook his hand hard, and when she let go he gazed dumbly at it as if something had just stung him.
      After a while he lifted his brown eyes to her. "Pleased to meet you. But . . . I'm not used to having friends . . ."
      "We'll soon change that," Megan assured him. Then she shrugged. "That is, if you want to be friends."
      "You might not want to know me," Quincy said seriously. "I can bring bad luck. And good luck, too, but it's pretty random. If you hang around with me, you might find a gold coin but accidentally drop it in the river. Or you'll smash a priceless vase, like my aunt just did. Or . . . well, much worse can happen. That's how my parents died."
      Megan's eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth. "How did it happen?"
      "One night," Quincy said softly, "when I was six months old, our house caught fire. My father was away at another village at the time. My mother was overtaken by smoke and never woke up. By the time the neighbors knew of the fire, the whole house was burning. One of the neighbors heard a baby crying -- me -- and rushed in to save me." Quincy spoke in a dull monotone, as if reciting the words from a well-memorized script.
      "That's awful!" Megan cried.
      "Two years later, my father died in a freak accident. It was a bad winter, and he left the house one morning and stood just outside under the eaves. Of all the places to stand, he picked the place where a large icicle was hanging."
      "It . . . it fell on him?" Megan whispered in horror.
      Quincy shook his head. "No, it missed. But it startled him so much he leapt back out of the way and slipped on an icy patch. He fell and banged his head."
      "And that killed him?"
      "No," Quincy said, shaking his head again. "He lay there a while, dazed. Then a hungry wolf came out of the woods and smelled the blood that was trickling from his head. It came over, and . . ."
      Megan clasped both hands to the sides of her face. "It ate him?"
      "What?" Quincy frowned. "No, no, nothing like that. It wanted to, but my father struggled to his feet and made it inside safely. Later that day, he told the neighbors all about his narrow escape, which is how I know all this today." He sighed and shrugged. "My father's story worried some of the villagers because we weren't used to having wolves stray so close to our homes. So a group of men went out and headed up to the woods beyond where I used to live to hunt down this wolf."
      Now Megan was confused. "So . . . how did . . . ?"
      "How did my father die?" Quincy sighed. "A stray bullet caught him. It was intended for the wolf, but it missed and kept on going. It missed all the trees, shot out of the forest, punched through the living room window, and got my father in the head."
      "Oh!"
      "When my father died, I went to live with my Aunt Josephine and Uncle Gilderoy. I was still just a toddler and it was hard for them to take me in with everything they had going on -- both working and trying to make ends meet and all that -- but they were good people and they tried. Life was hard for them. They suffered all sorts of bad fortune with me around -- years and years of it. I was with them for eight years and they never once blamed me openly, but I think they saw me as a curse, the root of all their misfortune. My uncle worked the horses on a farm until he broke his ankle and suffered for months with gangrene. They eventually took his foot."
      Megan frowned. "The horses took his foot?"
      "No, the doctors did. Because of the gangrene. They couldn't save it."
      "What? Why would anyone want to save gangrene?"
      Quincy stared hard at her. "Are you trying to be funny?"
      "No! I'm just -- I'm confused. You have a funny way of explaining things."
      There was a long moment of silence, during which Quincy frowned and Megan shifted uncomfortably.
      "Anyway," he eventually continued, "they died in a freak accident at the market when I was ten."
      Megan stared at him. "The doctors?"
      "No, my aunt and uncle!"
      "I'm so sorry," Megan gasped.

It's not intended as a comedy but I do go off on some tangents occasionally. This smacks of the Airplane! movies a little. Also, I think some Monty Python crept in during another scene. But while there are some light moments, there are also some dark, creepy scenes, like those with the Red-Legged Scissor-Man that I mentioned in my previous post.

I'm expecting to finish the first draft by the end of January, which is certainly doable. There's no great hurry on this one, but I want to see it through before I write the final chapter of Caleb's World, which I kind of got stuck on and had to take a step back from. That won't take long at all once I figure it out. Then I'll have two complete novels, both around 65,000 words, ready to print and proof.

After that, I'm itching to start on Book 5 of Island of Fog. Much of the story is already written in my head. If only I could just lean forward, open my forehead, and let the thoughts tumble onto the page. Oh well, I suppose I'll just have to type the words as usual.

Did I mention that Whitt Brantley is representing the Fog series again? The Sundance Film Festival starts soon and so the next two weeks will be slow in terms of pitching the story to TV/film producers (because they'll all be away at the festival) so Whitt will be submitting my books to publishers instead. I still cling to the hope that one day they'll be snapped up and I'll become massively famous and rich. My books are, after all, already on the book shelf next to J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series at the Barnes & Noble store in Chattanooga...

Oh, and speaking of which: When you set up your books for print-on-demand publishing, you kind of have to offer a 50% discount and return option for book stores, otherwise they won't ever run the risk of buying them. So when I did a book signing at Barnes & Noble last year, and the regional manager bought 20 copies of the first three books, I was over the moon. But 60 books is a lot for a store to keep in stock; normally they keep only a couple of each for "unknowns." Anyway, I suppose it was inevitable that a bunch ended up being returned to Lightning Source, and thus back to me at my own cost. It's like I just bought 31 books at half the retail price (which is more that what I would normally pay) and also paid a fee for the privilege. Sigh. I'm not sure I like handling printed copies in this way.

But never mind. Keep moving forward, that's what I always say. Otherwise you end up moving backwards, sideways, or not at all. It's common sense, really.

What does 2012 have in store?

If I were to make a few New Year's resolutions, they would include writing more, promoting more, and submitting more. As much as I like writing, I look back on the latter half of 2011 and can't help being annoyed at how little writing I've got done. Apart from a couple of interviews/featured spots, I've hardly promoted my Island of Fog books at all. And as for submitting to publishers... well, I think I've submitted to a grand total of two.

Well, something got me focused the other day. It was an email from Amazon about ABNA, the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition. I entered Island of Fog into this competition in January 2010 and made it through to the quarterfinals (read about it here), and now I'm wondering if I might have any luck with Caleb's World (formerly The Impossible World). I guess it can't hurt to try.

With that in mind, I aim to finish its last chapter shortly and give it another read-through. The rest is fairly well polished, having been read and edited numerous times.

Meanwhile, I dusted off an older piece that I've been wanting to finish for a long time. Quincy's Curse is half-complete at nearly 36,000 words (target is 65,000) and I really, really like this one. It's a traditional fantasy setting with knights and dragons and all manner of other creatures, and is intended as a lighter read than the Fog series. Having said that, it gets darker as it goes on, and one of the characters is a nasty brute known as the Red-Legged Scissor-Man.

This fiend is largely unknown but could be compared with some of the darker nursery tales like Hansel and Gretel (which, let's face it, is about cannibalism!). If you have a young child who sucks his thumb, warn him that the Red-Legged Scissor-Man will come along one night and snip his thumbs off with his scissors! Or rather, don't warn him, as you're liable to scare him half to death. Check out this excellent short animation (but don't let your kids watch!)...

Like the popularized tales of the Brothers Grimm, this freaky Scissor-Man goes back to nineteenth century Germany, published as one of a collection of scary stories for children. The full book is printed online if you want to see it, and of course includes The Story of Little Suck-a-Thumb. I'm not entirely certain about copyright laws here, but I think the pages of the book are in the public domain in this country. But in any case, the character of the Red-Legged Scissor-Man himself is certainly public domain, the same way that Humpty Dumpty and Cinderella are.

In Quincy's Curse, the Red-Legged Scissor-Man doesn't show up and snip off the thumbs of small children, but he is a fearsome man with a tendency to slash and snip with his razor-sharp blades. Still, the story is about Quincy himself, and the predicament he is in. I don't want to say too much more because, frankly, I like the idea of it too much to give away here! This novel is one I intend submitting to publishers, so I'll be keeping it close to my chest for the foreseeable future.

After I've polished Caleb's World and finished at least the first draft of Quincy's Curse, I'll be starting on Book 5 of the Island of Fog series -- which, by the way, STILL doesn't have a title.

Happy New Year!

On the subject of Santa Claus

As Christmas draws near, two separate readers of Island of Fog -- one in North Carolina and the other over in England -- have expressed concern over something that Robbie says to Hal and Abigail. It's a simple line of dialog that made sense when I wrote it and makes sense now... but it's something I might need to remove.

To all young readers out there, either stop reading now or bear with me while I explain! Here's the bit of dialog in question:

      Abigail didn't appear surprised. She pulled the scarf from her mouth. "What about the sea serpent?"
      "There is no sea serpent," Robbie retorted. "And there's no Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy either, in case you're wondering."

Readers, it's important to note that this is simply Robbie's personal opinion about Santa and the Tooth Fairy, not necessarily a statement of fact. Notice that neither Hal nor Abigail respond; it's just something Robbie blurts out, something he believes.

Let's face it, if you grew up on a secluded foggy island cut off from the internet and TV and everything else we take for granted, then your knowledge of the world would probably be a little different. In that situation, would your belief in Santa Claus be stronger or weaker? If, like Hal and his friends, you believed you were among the few remaining survivors on the planet, would Santa still be around to visit at Christmas? Or, assuming he was still merrily delivering parcels to whomever was left to receive them, would he in fact be able to devote more time and attention to those poor children on the island?

In terms of the story, I don't think Robbie's statement is unexpected. He's twelve years old and questioning the way of the world. But at least two adults I know of have chosen to skip the sentence when reading to younger children. One has suggested I remove the sentence from the next printed edition.

The thing is, Island of Fog is fiction and features all manner of strange creatures. Without wanting to spoil the story for those who haven't read it, a Tooth Fairy is actually perfectly feasible given that Abigail turns out to be a faerie herself! Of course, Robbie is unaware of this fact at the time, but you have to wonder if he reconsiders the existence of the Tooth Fairy later on in the story. Hal could just have easily have said "Dragons aren't real!" only to eat his own hat halfway through the story.

The answer is simple: Santa Claus, like the Tooth Fairy and all other fantastic creatures, DO exist. They just reside in another realm. Just because Robbie thinks he knows everything doesn't mean he's right.

So now I face a dilemma. Should I leave Robbie's statement alone, or remove it? Is it a point of interest worth discussing in a classroom or at bedtime, or does it just complicate life for parents?

More to the point, I wonder how many younger readers have simply ignored the statement in the knowledge that Robbie is clearly wrong about the whole thing. If so, is this a case where "enlightened" adults needlessly worry and fret over a throwaway line of dialog?

Would parents be as worried if Abigail openly disputed the claim that sucking one's thumb makes it smaller? -- or that if you make a rude face and the wind changes, your face will stay like that?

In my stories, all these things are probably true. But I'm just a writer and I can't control what Hal and his friends believe. I can't help it if they blurt out ridiculous claims; I just have to trust that the reader will have the sense to know what's real and what's not. I mean, we all know that dragons and unicorns aren't real. But Santa Claus? Well, duh! Who else is going to bring your Christmas presents?

Robbie can be such a doofus.

Lake of Spirits review by Piers Anthony

A little while ago I sent Lake of Spirits to Piers Anthony, who some of you will know as a hugely successful fantasy author and New York Times bestseller a couple of dozen times over. He enjoyed the first three books in the series and I hoped he'd like the fourth installment. His review popped up at the top of his November newsletter, and I can't help feeling a surge of pride at his words. I don't mean to brag, honest I don't, but I'm going to anyway...

I read Lake of Spirits by Keith Robinson. The is the fourth novel in the author's Island of Fog series, intended for young readers; the nine major characters are twelve years old. Don't let that fool you; as with the others, this is a hard-hitting story that may actually be more suitable for adults than children. This time the children are joined by a shape changer who is one of the miengu water spirits, Jolie. She is seventeen and absolutely gorgeous; all the boys are instantly in her thrall. So far so good. But as the cover summary says, "This is a tale of paranoia, betrayal, and impending doom." Yes it is. Jolie leads them into a series of misadventures which are not necessarily innocent. For example, she gets one shy boy to read his not-very-good poetry aloud to villagers, who promptly laugh him offstage, as it were. He is humiliated. Was it an accident, or is there a broad mean streak in Jolie? The girls see her as ugly and don't like her at all. Then one critical girl disappears. Jolie pretends innocence, but they suspect her, as it turns out with good reason. I don't think it is giving away anything to say that Jolie is not at all what she appears. But what she is, is the point of the novel. It's tense, ugly, and makes absolute sense. You won't completely enjoy reading it, but this is another good one, well worth your attention. If I may lapse into a broader discussion (and who can stop me?) I suggest that this whole series is the kind of thing traditional publishers have foolishly shut out. Thank fate for new options, such as self publishing and electronic publishing, notably Kindle, that enables some excellent writers to bypass the closed shop that is Parnassus and reach their readers directly. There's a revolution occurring in publishing, and I'm glad to see it.

This review can also be read on Piers' website here.

I appreciate the notion that my series is one that publishers have foolishly shut out, but the truth is that it's only been seen by a handful to date. The lure of self-publishing was too great back in 2009! Since then, I've obtained an agent, Whitt Brantley (who is back on board and representing the series after a short hiatus); he's submitted the first book to a few major publishers, who have rejected it after a full review, but there are plenty of publishers who haven't seen it yet, so I think there's hope.

One problem might lie in the length of the books, which are each 100,000 words. For MG (middle grade), the books should ideally be more like 60,000 words. This wouldn't be a problem for established authors, but for newbies it seems to be an automatic turn-off as far as some publishers are concerned. And if it's not the length that's putting them off, then maybe it's simply that my writing isn't good enough for them, or that the series is just not what they're looking for. There are a ton of reasons for rejection.

Back in May 2011, Whitt sent the first book to Trident Media Group, who replied:

Thanks so much for the chance to consider Island of Fog. This is such an inventive concept, and Mr. Robinson clearly has a formidable franchise, but I regret that ultimately I didn't connect with the writing in quite the way I'd need to in order to pursue this. I also worry that the length is a bit on the longer side for the current MG and YA market, but then again, I'm not the biggest sci-fi reader, and I'm sure you'll find the perfect co-partner for the project. Thanks again for reaching out to me, and I hope you'll think to do so again if more projects in this genre come your way.

I've since decided to work on shorter books of 60,000 words and try my luck with those, in the hope that getting my foot in the door with something that "follows the basic guidelines" will eventually open another door as far as Island of Fog is concerned.

I've not been posting as much on this blog lately, and to be honest I haven't been writing a whole lot either. But that's about to change. Time to get back in the saddle! I'm nearly finished with edits to Caleb's World (formerly The Impossible World) and then I'm going to start on something completely new and fresh. Meanwhile, Book 5 of the Fog series is screaming to be written and I can't stifle it for much longer...

Stop typing for a second, please!

Last week I had some well-earned time off while family visited from England. But usually I'm so busy with website work and writing that I can't find enough time in the day, as my 7-year-old girl will testify.

It's often when I'm in the middle of writing a quote for a job, or knee-deep in programming code, that Lily Beth comes and asks me to play. I can't count the number of times I've held up my hand and said, "Hold on just a second while I finish this." Out of the corner of my eye, I see her sitting down at her own desk in my office and getting her pens and paper out. She usually ends up drawing pictures, but sometimes she writes notes like this one:

I can't help laughing, but at the same time I feel terrible for shushing her in a moment of don't-interrupt-me concentration. This is the trouble with working from home; when she's back from school at 3.15pm, as far as she's concerned it's the end of my work day as well. If only!

When it comes to writing, I don't even bother trying when she (or anyone else) is in the house with me. There's always some kind of distraction, however small. Some authors can apparently block out noise, but I'm one of those cranky types who needs QUIET. I'm fine with a general continuous buzz of noise (like the neighbor's lawn mower) but most other sounds are distracting; I find that the lyrics of songs end up on my page, and SpongeBob SquarePants tends to ruin the atmosphere with his annoying laugh. You've seen The Shining, right? Remember the bit where Jack Nicholson patiently and sarcastically explains the situation to his wife?

"Wendy, let me explain something to you. Whenever you come in here and interrupt me, you're breaking my CONCENTRATION. You're DISTRACTING me. And it will then take me time to get back to where I was. You understand? Now, we're going to make a new rule. When you come in here and you hear me typing"--clack-clack-clack--"or whether you DON'T hear me typing, or whatever the #%$@ you hear me doing; when I'm in here, it means that I am WORKING. That means DON'T COME IN. Now, do you think you can handle that? Good. Now why don't you start right now and get the #%$@ out of here? Hm?

Hopefully I'm nothing like the psychotic Jack in the movie. My wife is certainly nothing like the clueless Wendy; she already understands that writing requires solitude, especially after hearing the same kind of complaints from authors like Terry Brooks at the last Dragon*Con in Atlanta. But for certain cranky authors, a spouse can never be quiet enough no matter how much she tiptoes around. And a child doesn't know how to tiptoe. So the cranky author's best bet is to do one of the following:

Wait until he is alone in the house;
Wait until everyone has gone to bed;
Give up writing.

Since I'm a website designer working out of my home office, I'm able to write in the daytime if I choose -- either when work is a little slow or just because I feel like writing. I can always do bits and pieces of work when Wife and/or Child are in the house: replying to emails, working on designs, and so on. For those things, noise doesn't matter. But I prefer solitude for complex programming or writing. That's when I'm cranky when disturbed. It's also when time flies by the quickest, and that's why small tasks like going outside to put a letter in the mailbox, making a quick phone call, or emptying the dishwasher don't get done until much, much later (if at all).

My poor wife. How does she put up with me? And my poor little girl! Obviously we do play together, but in her mind there's never enough playtime. She'll probably look back on her childhood and remember only the times I continued to stare at the screen, held up my hand, and said, "Hang on a minute..."

Where did Miss Simone come from?

I was watching TV the other day when I came across a movie that I haven't seen in a long time. It's a bit of a silly movie, but interesting all the same, and it's kind of "special" to me. See if you can guess why from the title:

Watch the Movie Trailer

Yes. Back in 2002 when this was released, I was busy writing Island of Fog. I actually started the book in February that year, but I saw this movie on TV, and it was while watching it that my character of Miss Simone came to fruition. I can only assume that I didn't write her scenes until later that year when the movie ended up on TV.

If you haven't seen this movie, basically it's about a director who isn't recognized for his work. A huge fan devises a computer program and gives the director the software just before dying of a terminal illness. With this software, the director creates a movie using a computer-generated woman who is so realistic that she passes as a real actress. Spellbound audiences demand to know where this unknown star came from, but the director keeps her "private" and goes on to make several more movies. Other actors in his movies understand that they'll never actually meet the actress, that they're only to work with a green screen (so what's new these days?) against which Simone (or Simulation One) will be added later. The actress becomes a mega-star and the director has to figure out how to allow her to do live satellite interviews and somehow show up in public, even resorting to using a mannequin in the driver's seat of a car...

Of course there are some giant implausibilities and silliness in the movie, and even so-called advanced computers and graphics from 2002 look supremely dated nowadays. But it's fun nevertheless.

Miss Simone is nothing like S1m0ne except that she has the same name and looks nice. The idea of this utterly realistic computer-generated woman who wows everyone kind of crossed over into my books in the form of magical enchantment. However, unlike Simone in the movie, my own Miss Simone is a real woman. (Well, apart from the fact that she's a mermaid.)

So if you want to envision Miss Simone, then you can't go too far wrong with the image above. It was, after all, my original inspiration.

Although, quite honestly, she's evolved a little since then and is probably now more like Rebecca Romijn (Mystique from X-Men). If a movie of Island of Fog were ever made, I'd let Rebecca play the part. Honest. I wouldn't mind too much.

Are prologues necessary?

This is a subject many writers seem to ponder over and argue about. I personally like prologues and always read them, but I've heard (albeit only from other writers) that a lot of readers skip or skim over them. Why? Because, writers say, prologues are usually massive info-dumps about the world we're about to enter. The argument is that a prologue, more often than not, is totally unnecessary and the novel is better without it.

*Shakes head violently*

Okay, it's probably true that the privilege of adding a prologue is sometimes abused by the writer. I suspect epic fantasy and science fiction writers are the biggest culprits when it comes to annoying prologues; often they contain gigantic narratives about which king is ruling what land, why his brother has been angered and is seeking to usurp the throne, and what magical stone was lost in the river for four thousand years. Those prologues are all TELL and not SHOW and are, I agree, boring. When you hear such narratives on a movie, at least we have something to look at on the screen -- knights in battle and so on. In a novel, the reader can't help thinking, "Come on, come on, introduce me to the characters and get on with the story!"

Other prologues are thrown in deliberately to trick the reader. You see this on TV shows in the form of teasers: well-known character Kate supposedly shoots another well-known character Rick, and since both characters are best friends and colleagues, the audience thinks, "Oh! What the heck? Why did she do that?" And thus, the audience is hooked for an hour. Later on, towards the end, events unfold and the reason for the shooting becomes clear: because there's an axe-wielding maniac approaching Rick from behind, and Kate is forced to shoot over Rick's shoulder to stop said maniac. This teaser isn't necessary, but it certainly hooks the viewer.

And then there's a really good prologue that offers a tantalizing glimpse of what's to come later, or contains a scene from the past that sets the tone and makes you think, "Ooh, what was all that about? How does that tie in with the story?"

As far as I'm aware, everyone I know likes prologues. And yet an alarming number of writers seem to be of the opinion that prologues are the subject of "lazy writers who can't be bothered to drop the material into the book where it belongs."

Not so! -- at least as far I'm concerned. Whether my prologues are any good is up to the reader, but my own personal reason for writing them is far from being lazy. In fact, the opposite is true; it takes a lot of extra work to do the prologue, and if I simply dropped it and added the material into the book later, it would normally have to be in the form of verbal exposition -- which is far quicker and easier to write, but in my opinion not half as interesting.

As you know, the Island of Fog books follow Hal throughout, and writing prologues gives me a chance to go back in time and view a scene from someone else's point of view. Island of Fog's prologue is very short -- less than a page -- and takes place 12-13 years before the story starts on Chapter One. Is it necessary? Well, it's certainly not crucial; the story would survive without it. I've had one or two writer types tell me it's unnecessary, that readers will probably skip it, but I've had more than a few readers tell me they were "hooked" by that short page. And hooking the reader is the aim, right?

Labyrinth of Fire's prologue is probably the least necessary of the four I've done. In retrospect I admit that it's sort of an info-dump, and takes place in the present day, too. In fact, I could easily have transplanted that entire scene into a later chapter without even changing the wording.

In contrast, the prologue for Mountain of Whispers is probably the most important of the lot, containing what I believe is a strong and effective flashback scene. Is it necessary? I think so. Essential? Absolutely vital? Well, yes. Maybe.

The prologue for Lake of Spirits is not vital to the story. If I removed it, the story would quite happily start at Chapter One. But I like the scene, as it offers a view of Simone as a young lass. How else could I do that from Hal's point of view? It's not essential to the plot as those plot details can be dropped in later -- but it does add what I think is an interesting layer. And stories are layered, right? They're not all about plot. They're about character- and world-building. Often the author throws in details that are totally irrelevant to the plot (such as what the characters are wearing) but those details help to build a picture in the reader's mind.

The prologue for Book 5 (coming in 2012) will show what happened on the mainland all those years ago. We already know what happened, but everything has been told secondhand. Wouldn't it be nice to drop back in time and actually see it unfold? I can't achieve that so well without a prologue. A prologue like this allows me to SHOW and not TELL. And although some writers insist you can just call it "Chapter One," I totally disagree; the point of view and the timeline is too vastly different to simply be included in the main narrative of Hal's story.

So I think prologues do have their place in novels. However, I do agree that some writers abuse the privilege and include them for the sake of it. Heck, maybe that includes me; readers should be the judge of that. But for writers to insist that prologues are unnecessary, that we should always just start with Chapter One, seems daft to me. I've heard the arguments and the only one that gives me pause me is the suggestion that "agents and editors don't like prologues and will skip your manuscript if you have one" -- but I've yet to find overwhelming evidence supporting this. And clearly there are plenty of prologues in published novels, otherwise this wouldn't even be a discussion!

Here are some comments on a forum:

I know more than a few readers, myself include, barely even read the prologue.
I read them on the off chance I might miss something important. However, I can't recall a prologue I've read yet that did have something so vital that couldn't have been included in the main part of the novel.
I generally call them 'Chapter One', to make sure they are read.
Whether you personally always read prologues or never read them, be aware that most readers skip them.
If it is critical, the best way to make them read it is to title it Chapter 1 (chapters can also have time gaps and/or be nonlinear...)
Mostly prologues strike me as being lazy. There's information that the writer needs the reader to know, and instead of imparting it in the main text they just put it in a prologue.
I have been told countless times that editor or publishers do not like prologues. Try to put it in your first chapter.
I skip prologues primarily because I see it as kind of spoiler. Also when a book has a prologue, I imagine this to be a weakness of the writing approach

On the same forum, there are an equal number of opposite opinions like "Who told you agents don't like prologues?" and "I personally read them and so do all my friends" and "I can't call it Chapter One because it happened hundreds of years before the story starts."

Personally, I'll keep writing prologues until I'm 100% convinced that I shouldn't. What about you, writers and readers? Thoughts?

What's your general impression of prologues? Like? Dislike? Ever skip them?
What about MY prologues? (Honestly, please.)

Lake of Spirits now available in print

Today, UPS delivered my first batch of Lake of Spirits (only a few of which are shown in this picture). They look great and I'm glad (again) that I use Lightning Source to print my books, because they're always top quality. And when I say top quality, I mean that there are no scuffs or dents, no dust, no misaligned spines, no excess glue... everything looks professional. So this batch is ready to send out to those on my list of pre-orders.

I have a feeling this batch will run short very quickly, though, so I'll be putting in another order in the next week or so. If you want a signed copy, order now. Alternatively, get a copy from Amazon USA or Amazon UK.

As always, I'm nervous about the reaction to the latest addition to the series. Is it on par with the others? Better? Worse? Only readers can judge, so please let me know. There's a nice review on Amazon from a reader who bought the Kindle or Nook edition:

"I was thoroughly excited when I found this book, I am glad that Mr. Robinson finished another book. This is probably one of my favorite series, I have read the other three books at least 3x each. But I was disappointed with the ending, I wish that it was soooo much longer. I hope the next book is released soon!" —Shannon

The next book is planned for 2012, but I can say no more than that because I'm not sure of my schedule yet. I'm editing The Impossible World at the moment, and after that I'd really like to start on something new... but we'll see.

On the subject of new books, writing buddy Roger Eschbacher has a brand new fantasy novel for young readers: Dragonfriend (Leonard The Great, Book One) is on its way to me by mail, equally hot off the press. So hot, in fact, that it's not even released yet. I have the pleasure of proofing it for him, although I doubt I'll pick up much since my proofreading brother Darren has already had his hands on it. See Roger's website here.

And I have another book to proofread, namely Brian Clopper's Flame and Fortune, again for young readers (see Brian's website here). I'm a slow reader, so I really need to carve out some more reading time. Yes, I'll cut back on my sleep, maybe use the hours of 3-4am for reading. Setting my alarm clock now... :-)

Dragon*Con 2011

My wife and I spent the weekend in Atlanta at Dragon*Con. For those who don't know, Dragon*Con is an annual convention for fans of anything sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and downright weird. On September 2nd-5th, fifty thousand people descended on a few blocks around the Peachtree Center, swarming the Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, Sheraton and Westin hotels. There were zombies, stormtroopers, Whovians, Trekkies, and just about everything else you can think of, plus lots of scantily clad Wonder Women. Or should that be Wonder Womans? And in case you're wondering why my wife allowed me to stare at Wonder Woman, it's because she was too busy gazing at muscle-bound gladiators to notice.

But apart from people-watching and costume-admiring, we spent a lot of time sitting in on panels where actors, writers, or otherwise professional types discussed things and answered questions. Does this sound nerdy and boring? Well, it wasn't, so there. And if it was... well, deal with it.

On the TV and movie front, we sat in with some of the cast from Battlestar Galactic including Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama), Michael Hogan (Colonel Saul Tigh), Tricia Helfer (Cylon Number Six), Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek, and also Apollo from the original 1970s series), and Tahmoh Penikett (Captain Karl 'Helo' Agathon).

Then onto a Torchwood panel with Nana Visitor (best known as Major Kira in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), and a Walking Dead panel with Jon Bernthal (Shane Walsh, the cop's so-called best friend), and Laurie Holden (Andrea, the one who shot her zombie sister in the head).

The True Blood panel included the author Charlaine Harris herself along with Kristin Bauer (Vampire Pam), Joe Manganiello (Werewolf Alcide), Jim Parrack (Human Hoyt), and Denis O'Hare (Russell Edgington, the late Vampire King of Mississippi). I can't think why Joe got so many cheers from adoring females. What IS it about him?

We also sat in on a V panel with Joel Gretsch (Father Jack Landry) and Laura Vandervoort (Lisa). Being the daughter of the alien queen Anna, Laura said she spent most of her time on the mothership, so was in an empty room with green screens. Joel said he spent most his time on the fathership.

I walked right past Sylvester McCoy, the 6th Doctor. And in the Saturday morning costume parade we saw the original Scotty from Star Trek dressed as..., well, Scotty from Star Trek. I just missed seeing Martin Landau, which was a shame, because I loved that old Space 1999 series.

The second biggest audience was for Tom Felton, aka Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies. He was really good, but then, he's English. :-)

But the biggest audience, not surprisingly, was for Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia from Star Wars, in case you live under a rock). She's just not very princess-like, though. Or maybe having her home planet of Alderaan blown up by the Death Star has made her cynical and irreverent. But she was a lot of fun.

On the author front, we saw Charlaine Harris again on one of a few author panels, as well as the legendary Terry Brooks, Jonathen Maberry, Mercedes Lackey, Timothy Zahn, Elizabeth Donald, Kevin J Anderson, S M Stirling, Scott Sigler, and Michael Z Williams.

Author panels are different to actor panels. With actors, it's fun to see them in the flesh and see what they're like in real life, but I find the audience questions very same-y; I've lost count of the number of times actors have said how much they liked working together on set and how they felt like one big family... but there were some funny stories as well, and you come away wanting to see them on TV again so you can say, "I met him/her!" Okay, "met" isn't really the right word. The only big actor I've really "met" is Edward James Olmos at last year's convention; he was washing his hands at the next sink along in the restroom, and we talked for a minute. You see how I mingle with the stars?

With authors, it's interesting to learn how they do things and how they got where they are today. Sci-fi writer Kevin J Anderson writes his novels using a digital recorder as he takes walks through the woods. Terry Brooks' classic Sword of Shannara was a massive bestseller, but the sequel was rejected by his editor, who tore it apart and suggested Brooks rewrite 400 pages (which he eventually did). Unlike most authors, Mercedes Lackey had no rejections at all for her novels. But then again, she "knew" people.

By the way, it turns out that Terry Brooks' Shannara series is pronounced "SHANNER-rah" and not "Sha-NAR-rah" as I thought. But I'm not the only one. Many, many people in the audience were muttering, "Is that how Terry pronounces it? Really?" I think the general consensus is that the author is wrong.

I've come away from all these panels with a new (or maybe just a more solidified) direction. I'll continue self-publishing my Island of Fog books and not bother trying to submit it to publishers or agents. But I won't self-publish anything else until I've tried and tried to find a publisher. I've heard this before, but it's always a nice reminder to hear when super-famous authors are rejected numerous times before striking it lucky. I've only had a few rejections for Island of Fog, and I self-published even before those; I really didn't give it a chance with traditional publishers at all.

So, as they say in all the good sci-fi shows: Never give up, never surrender, so say we all, and long live the Doctor!