D.T. Neal's Blog, page 11
March 13, 2024
Dreaming is Free
While my life situation is still as sucky as ever, I'm sort of bemused/amused by my brain's consistency in the dreams I keep having.
Clearly my subconscious is in some place where it's continuing to drive home the same messages and themes, night after night, because my dreams are startlingly consistent and vivid in ways I haven't had in years, typically mixes of the following:
Apocalyptic Game Show
Apocalyptic Road Trip
Apocalyptic City Life
Anxiety Dream City Life
Anxiety Dream Workplace Setting
Anxiety Dream Home Life
Glam Weird Dream
Glam War Setting
Glam City Life
I tend to be a lucid dreamer (have been for the past 20 years), so my brain typically lucid dreams if a nightmare tries to appear, where it'll automatically ramp down the fear (usually) and make it comic in some fashion.
But the above are the dreams I'll have (sometimes mix-and-matching motifs), even my lucid dreaming doesn't entirely tamp them down.
I wonder if that's common for people in stress, like for particular "dream themes" to occur.
Clearly my subconscious is in some place where it's continuing to drive home the same messages and themes, night after night, because my dreams are startlingly consistent and vivid in ways I haven't had in years, typically mixes of the following:
Apocalyptic Game Show
Apocalyptic Road Trip
Apocalyptic City Life
Anxiety Dream City Life
Anxiety Dream Workplace Setting
Anxiety Dream Home Life
Glam Weird Dream
Glam War Setting
Glam City Life
I tend to be a lucid dreamer (have been for the past 20 years), so my brain typically lucid dreams if a nightmare tries to appear, where it'll automatically ramp down the fear (usually) and make it comic in some fashion.
But the above are the dreams I'll have (sometimes mix-and-matching motifs), even my lucid dreaming doesn't entirely tamp them down.
I wonder if that's common for people in stress, like for particular "dream themes" to occur.
March 9, 2024
New Series
I'm heavily into revision & rewriting for Book 3 of the WIP series I'm writing, and am already piqued because while I was working to wrap it up, the characters basically threw themselves into a Book 4 situation -- in that I couldn't wrap up everything in Book 3, there's a necessary cliffhanger, ergo, Book 4. Okay, I get it.
This series would ideally be graphic novels, versus print novels, but I can't pretend to be able to draw a graphic novel, so it just all goes into novel format.
Maybe if it's enough of a success (dare to dream, right?) it can one day live as a graphic novel series, if the right artist came around. Until then...
But I do laugh about Book 4 basically willing itself into existence. Well-played, Book 4. Although I'm still going to make sure the first three are all buttoned up tightly before I dive into Book 4.
This series would ideally be graphic novels, versus print novels, but I can't pretend to be able to draw a graphic novel, so it just all goes into novel format.
Maybe if it's enough of a success (dare to dream, right?) it can one day live as a graphic novel series, if the right artist came around. Until then...
But I do laugh about Book 4 basically willing itself into existence. Well-played, Book 4. Although I'm still going to make sure the first three are all buttoned up tightly before I dive into Book 4.
March 5, 2024
Themes, Motifs, etc.
Certain themes and motifs occur in my books, almost regardless of the genre (slight pass given to the Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery for some of these, for what should be obvious reasons):
Humor: Always apparent in varying degrees
Satire: Abundantly present
Smartassery: Very present
Desire for justice: It's there
Strong female characters: Always present
Cynical male characters: Often present
Romanticism: There, even if darkly rendered
Consumer culture critique: Always present
Conspiracies: Very often there
Media culture: Often present
Mockery of media culture: Very often present
Criticism of fascism: Always present
Paranoia: Almost always there
Politics: Always present in some fashion
Meta-merch/culture: So often present
Puns: Whenever I can get away with them
Dialogue: Probably too abundant
Exposition: There, but spare
Twists: Sometimes there*
Flowery language: Rare; I prefer lean prose**
Tropes: I usually try to spin them around
Genre mashups: Often; I like to blur
Character romance: Sometimes, if right
There are probably more, but that's good for now.
*I have a weird thing with twists. Since they're so integral to reader expectations, I sometimes avoid them, joking that the lack of a twist IS the twist. Sometimes a twist will rise up in the narrative, and I'll welcome it if it fits; however I don't arbitrarily plan for a twist in the story. Sometimes what's going on IS TOTALLY what's going on, and I'm more interested in the downstream effects of that versus Character X actually being a villain or whatever. Twists can be useful for surprising the reader, but I also feel that they're at the risk of being gimmicky and overused.
**I willfully write leanly. Yes, there are moments and scenes where I might wax lyrical, but I follow a very journalistic writing style, owing to a heavy Salinger influence in my writerly youth. I like getting to the point in my prose, versus devoting pages to narrative navel-gazing. I *can* write more voluminous prose (shows up more in my Fantasy writing), but I generally lean toward the lean.
Humor: Always apparent in varying degrees
Satire: Abundantly present
Smartassery: Very present
Desire for justice: It's there
Strong female characters: Always present
Cynical male characters: Often present
Romanticism: There, even if darkly rendered
Consumer culture critique: Always present
Conspiracies: Very often there
Media culture: Often present
Mockery of media culture: Very often present
Criticism of fascism: Always present
Paranoia: Almost always there
Politics: Always present in some fashion
Meta-merch/culture: So often present
Puns: Whenever I can get away with them
Dialogue: Probably too abundant
Exposition: There, but spare
Twists: Sometimes there*
Flowery language: Rare; I prefer lean prose**
Tropes: I usually try to spin them around
Genre mashups: Often; I like to blur
Character romance: Sometimes, if right
There are probably more, but that's good for now.
*I have a weird thing with twists. Since they're so integral to reader expectations, I sometimes avoid them, joking that the lack of a twist IS the twist. Sometimes a twist will rise up in the narrative, and I'll welcome it if it fits; however I don't arbitrarily plan for a twist in the story. Sometimes what's going on IS TOTALLY what's going on, and I'm more interested in the downstream effects of that versus Character X actually being a villain or whatever. Twists can be useful for surprising the reader, but I also feel that they're at the risk of being gimmicky and overused.
**I willfully write leanly. Yes, there are moments and scenes where I might wax lyrical, but I follow a very journalistic writing style, owing to a heavy Salinger influence in my writerly youth. I like getting to the point in my prose, versus devoting pages to narrative navel-gazing. I *can* write more voluminous prose (shows up more in my Fantasy writing), but I generally lean toward the lean.
March 4, 2024
Clowning Around
Saw this article about clowns...
The Origins of Stephen King's Pennywise are Pure Nightmare Fuel
...and had to weigh in, since I've actually created not one, but THREE fictional clowns, so I feel like I've got plenty of greasepaint in the game when it comes to writing clowns.
Not that anybody's read them, sadly (well, two are in books I've written but which aren't published, yet, so you'll see them eventually), but I've made good additions to creepy clowns.
In fact, because I don't want to wait until these books come out to talk about them, and because it's topical to this post, I'll break my usual pre-production silence to talk about them a bit here:
Fun Gus, the Laughing Clown
Fun Gus appears in THE CURSED EARTH, and he's a favorite of mine, and some of my readers.
Fun Gus is probably more darkly funny than scary, but I love that character.
My partner has said that she thinks Fun Gus is the purest bit of self-expression I've ever put in any of my books -- she says "Fun Gus is SO. YOU." What more can I say to that?
Fun Gus lives up to his name. He's the most upbeat killer clown you'll ever know!
Stabbo the Cyberclown
Stabbo's a creation who'll be appearing in a cyberpunk book I've written as Dean Vale, entitled SIGHTSEER. That book'll most likely appear in '25, if all goes well in terms of production.
Stabbo's another one near and dear to my heart, although I won't throw out too much in the way of spoilers regarding him, just because that book's not out, yet (finished writing that one a year ago this month, in fact!)
That character amuses me as he's entirely emblematic of the cyberpunk world he occupies, at least how I envision it. You'll see...
Deathclown
Deathclown will be appearing in Book Two of my WIP Series, entitled INFERNA. That novel's effectively done, apart from some revision and rewrites, and the Deathclown scene is epic!
He's another endearing clown character for me, a willfully evil adversary for the heroes who hearkens back to Violator of SPAWN fame, although I think Deathclown's got more pizzazz and sense of showmanship, personally.
The net result is that '25 will be my Year of the Clown, where there should be two books out by me with killer clowns in them. I didn't plan it this way; the clowns just showed up and were too much fun for me not to include them.
Sidenote: If you ever get to know me, as in having an actual conversation, ask me about Typo the Clown, and I'll tell you one helluva story. It slays people every time! *honkahonk*
Also, I wouldn't be me if I didn't play this...
Deadbolt | Patches the Clown
The Origins of Stephen King's Pennywise are Pure Nightmare Fuel
...and had to weigh in, since I've actually created not one, but THREE fictional clowns, so I feel like I've got plenty of greasepaint in the game when it comes to writing clowns.
Not that anybody's read them, sadly (well, two are in books I've written but which aren't published, yet, so you'll see them eventually), but I've made good additions to creepy clowns.
In fact, because I don't want to wait until these books come out to talk about them, and because it's topical to this post, I'll break my usual pre-production silence to talk about them a bit here:
Fun Gus, the Laughing Clown
Fun Gus appears in THE CURSED EARTH, and he's a favorite of mine, and some of my readers.
Fun Gus is probably more darkly funny than scary, but I love that character.
My partner has said that she thinks Fun Gus is the purest bit of self-expression I've ever put in any of my books -- she says "Fun Gus is SO. YOU." What more can I say to that?
Fun Gus lives up to his name. He's the most upbeat killer clown you'll ever know!
Stabbo the Cyberclown
Stabbo's a creation who'll be appearing in a cyberpunk book I've written as Dean Vale, entitled SIGHTSEER. That book'll most likely appear in '25, if all goes well in terms of production.
Stabbo's another one near and dear to my heart, although I won't throw out too much in the way of spoilers regarding him, just because that book's not out, yet (finished writing that one a year ago this month, in fact!)
That character amuses me as he's entirely emblematic of the cyberpunk world he occupies, at least how I envision it. You'll see...
Deathclown
Deathclown will be appearing in Book Two of my WIP Series, entitled INFERNA. That novel's effectively done, apart from some revision and rewrites, and the Deathclown scene is epic!
He's another endearing clown character for me, a willfully evil adversary for the heroes who hearkens back to Violator of SPAWN fame, although I think Deathclown's got more pizzazz and sense of showmanship, personally.
The net result is that '25 will be my Year of the Clown, where there should be two books out by me with killer clowns in them. I didn't plan it this way; the clowns just showed up and were too much fun for me not to include them.
Sidenote: If you ever get to know me, as in having an actual conversation, ask me about Typo the Clown, and I'll tell you one helluva story. It slays people every time! *honkahonk*
Also, I wouldn't be me if I didn't play this...
Deadbolt | Patches the Clown
March 3, 2024
Places to Go
This new series will be under my real name.
I just think that's the best place for these types of stories, versus...
D.T. Neal - Horror/Weird/Dark Fantasy: 11 books
Dane Vale - Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery: 6 books
Dean Vale - Science Fiction: 2 books
I've got several books coming out for SF in the next few years (aka, Dean books), and about three more in Fantasy (aka, Dane books -- they'll be getting new covers in the next year). Those are ones that are written and will be rolled out in the coming years.
But right now, my main focus is on this new series I'm writing, which'll be under my own name, just because there it is. It's weird to work under multiple pen names, since they're all me; they're just different lenses through which I tell stories in genres I enjoy. This current batch of books will be as:
Dave Neal - Superheroic Urban Fantasy: 12 books (TBD)
Once I start marketing and talking about them in detail, you'll see where they're at, where I'm going with them, and whether or not that's a place where readers might want to travel with me.
They're easily my most fun/smartassed books ever, which is why I've laughed and cried while writing them. They're funny and heartfelt, and are, weirdly, deeply personal, which I suppose is why I'm going to be releasing them under my name.
I just think that's the best place for these types of stories, versus...
D.T. Neal - Horror/Weird/Dark Fantasy: 11 books
Dane Vale - Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery: 6 books
Dean Vale - Science Fiction: 2 books
I've got several books coming out for SF in the next few years (aka, Dean books), and about three more in Fantasy (aka, Dane books -- they'll be getting new covers in the next year). Those are ones that are written and will be rolled out in the coming years.
But right now, my main focus is on this new series I'm writing, which'll be under my own name, just because there it is. It's weird to work under multiple pen names, since they're all me; they're just different lenses through which I tell stories in genres I enjoy. This current batch of books will be as:
Dave Neal - Superheroic Urban Fantasy: 12 books (TBD)
Once I start marketing and talking about them in detail, you'll see where they're at, where I'm going with them, and whether or not that's a place where readers might want to travel with me.
They're easily my most fun/smartassed books ever, which is why I've laughed and cried while writing them. They're funny and heartfelt, and are, weirdly, deeply personal, which I suppose is why I'm going to be releasing them under my name.
March 2, 2024
Three's a Crowd
Had a thought while continuing to work on Book 3 -- even though I have been referring to it as a trilogy, and it is as far as the overall story arc goes, it's not really a trilogy, versus being the first three books in an ongoing series. I'd mentioned before how I had seven books in mind for the main series. That still holds true.
It's just that I realized while working that there were some characters and storylines that likely won't wrap up in Book 3. Rather than orphaning those elements, I'll just keep following them beyond Book 3.
Ideally, there'll be enough interest in the series that readers'll be up for those!
It's just that I realized while working that there were some characters and storylines that likely won't wrap up in Book 3. Rather than orphaning those elements, I'll just keep following them beyond Book 3.
Ideally, there'll be enough interest in the series that readers'll be up for those!
February 29, 2024
Official Leap Day Post
60K words reached on Book 3 of WIP trilogy. Pretty brain-fried at the moment, but felt the need to write a blog post since it's Leap Day, and I won't get another chance for four years, so there it is.
Making progress -- wrote 2.75 novels this month; couldn't quite get Book 3 wrapped by end of the month, but it's close. Another few days and the first draft should be done.
Anyway, Leap Day. Yay!
Making progress -- wrote 2.75 novels this month; couldn't quite get Book 3 wrapped by end of the month, but it's close. Another few days and the first draft should be done.
Anyway, Leap Day. Yay!
February 26, 2024
Engendered
One thing I'm proud of in all the years I've been writing is that I really try to create strong female characters (gay, bisexual, or straight) who are credible in the stories they're in.
I seek to strike a balance between male and female characters, versus letting one group commandeer a story. I try to be objective about the characters I create for stories (and I love my characters, but I always make sure they pull their weight in any story -- nobody is ever in one of my books "just because").
Some readers might dismiss me outright because I'm (now) a middle-aged white male writer, but while they're unlikely to ever listen to me, I'd recommend they read some of my books to see for themselves that I'm not afraid of strong female characters, characters who are gay, characters who are villains and assholes, characters who feel real, etc. I always take care to round out any characters in my stories.
The characters I decide to lead my stories (aka, the protagonists) are exactly who they need to be, versus part of any agenda I might have as a writer -- or, more directly, my agenda as a writer is only to have the best story I can possibly write, and the protagonist(s) I make are the ones best-suited for the story I'm writing.
I'm thinking about this because the WIP trilogy I'm working on has a host of characters I love, and I was doing a breakdown on them:
Key male characters: 4
Key female characters: 4
I didn't set out to have that balance, but it turned out that way. In both cases, there are two protagonists with three supporting characters each.
Around that "character core" are a bunch of other characters running the gamut from saintly sorts to outright villains. As I wrote elsewhere in another post, some of these characters have been stuck in my head for over 28 years (!!) -- and I'm legitimately happy I've found homes for them. Giving them life in these books makes me feel like I've not let them down as a writer. They'll get to live beyond my brain.
They've been patient, and the world I've built for them has been something they've been all too eager to fill, which I think has been a big reason I've been able to blast through this trilogy. They were finally ready to live on the page, and are stampeding to get there.
As a diehard "pantser" (hate that stupid term, but it applies in terms of my process -- I never outline, which just doesn't feel organic enough to me), I go where the characters want to go -- while it's absurd, since I'm writing them and creating them, I don't lord it over my characters, saying "THIS is where I want you to go."
Rather, I create them and follow where they take me (again, I get that this seems strange). I trust my characters to take the story where it needs to go, and it doesn't matter to me whether they're male, female, or anything else.
There may be a story I want to tell, but the mechanics of the story are grounded in those characters, and their desire to express themselves in the story the way that fits them as characters.
I'm over 20K words into Book 3 of this WIP trilogy, and the characters are taking me on a fun journey, and I love them all for it, even when they take me to painful places and bring me to tears! I'm not one of those guys who's afraid to cry.
I seek to strike a balance between male and female characters, versus letting one group commandeer a story. I try to be objective about the characters I create for stories (and I love my characters, but I always make sure they pull their weight in any story -- nobody is ever in one of my books "just because").
Some readers might dismiss me outright because I'm (now) a middle-aged white male writer, but while they're unlikely to ever listen to me, I'd recommend they read some of my books to see for themselves that I'm not afraid of strong female characters, characters who are gay, characters who are villains and assholes, characters who feel real, etc. I always take care to round out any characters in my stories.
The characters I decide to lead my stories (aka, the protagonists) are exactly who they need to be, versus part of any agenda I might have as a writer -- or, more directly, my agenda as a writer is only to have the best story I can possibly write, and the protagonist(s) I make are the ones best-suited for the story I'm writing.
I'm thinking about this because the WIP trilogy I'm working on has a host of characters I love, and I was doing a breakdown on them:
Key male characters: 4
Key female characters: 4
I didn't set out to have that balance, but it turned out that way. In both cases, there are two protagonists with three supporting characters each.
Around that "character core" are a bunch of other characters running the gamut from saintly sorts to outright villains. As I wrote elsewhere in another post, some of these characters have been stuck in my head for over 28 years (!!) -- and I'm legitimately happy I've found homes for them. Giving them life in these books makes me feel like I've not let them down as a writer. They'll get to live beyond my brain.
They've been patient, and the world I've built for them has been something they've been all too eager to fill, which I think has been a big reason I've been able to blast through this trilogy. They were finally ready to live on the page, and are stampeding to get there.
As a diehard "pantser" (hate that stupid term, but it applies in terms of my process -- I never outline, which just doesn't feel organic enough to me), I go where the characters want to go -- while it's absurd, since I'm writing them and creating them, I don't lord it over my characters, saying "THIS is where I want you to go."
Rather, I create them and follow where they take me (again, I get that this seems strange). I trust my characters to take the story where it needs to go, and it doesn't matter to me whether they're male, female, or anything else.
There may be a story I want to tell, but the mechanics of the story are grounded in those characters, and their desire to express themselves in the story the way that fits them as characters.
I'm over 20K words into Book 3 of this WIP trilogy, and the characters are taking me on a fun journey, and I love them all for it, even when they take me to painful places and bring me to tears! I'm not one of those guys who's afraid to cry.
February 25, 2024
Bookshelving
Not like anybody actually cares (you know?) but I'd originally planned to get two novels out this year (one I'd written last year, the other I've just written; there was also another one, but I already bumped it), but with BRIGHTEYES looming large in June, I decided it was best to bump the other novel to next year.
With the past year and this year being so fraught (personally, professionally, politically), I think it works best to run with one novel release from me. That way, BRIGHTEYES has room to breathe and hopefully find her audience.
The others, which I'd written under pen names, are science fiction books, so they can wait until the future, appropriately enough.
Ride | Vapour Trail
With the past year and this year being so fraught (personally, professionally, politically), I think it works best to run with one novel release from me. That way, BRIGHTEYES has room to breathe and hopefully find her audience.
The others, which I'd written under pen names, are science fiction books, so they can wait until the future, appropriately enough.
Ride | Vapour Trail
February 24, 2024
Zzzooom!
I'm already 12K into Book 3, which is just humming along! I've already got a seven-book series in mind with these characters (and, crazily enough, I'll have the first three books for it soon), and there's also a five-book spinoff series that I'm going to write, too, because the characters just want that.
I'm actually going to do something utterly crazy, which is:
1) Write the trilogy (2/3 of the way there)
2) Write the first book of the spinoff series
3) Write the next book in the main series (and then alternate with a spinoff book)
I'm going to plow through the entire series until I exhaust myself or whatever. In terms of release, If I'm able to keep at this pace, I *should* be able to get them all written by end of May.
I've already mentioned:
BRIGHTEYES (Book 1): June 2024
Book 2: 2025
Book 3: 2026
However, I'm also thinking maybe (if it goes well -- that is, if I can get them all written and can actually draw audience)...
BRIGHTEYES (Book 1): June 2024
Book 2: 2025
Spinoff Book 1: 2025
Book 3: 2026
Spinoff Book 2: 2026
Book 4: 2027
Spinoff Book 3: 2027
And so on, until I get through all 12 books I've envisioned. But what's so crazy about it is I'll write through the dozen books this year, so I can just vault them and get two of them out a year from 2025 onward (btw, I have titles for the seven books in the main series, but I don't like to put titles out there too early).
In writing novels doggedly for over 20 years, I've never barreled through a series the way I'm doing with these books. If the approach works, though, I'm in.
Because of the differing nature of the series and the spinoff series I have in mind, they shouldn't be competing with each other for audience. If anything, they're complementary.
If that's too ambitious in terms of actual release, I'll at least have written all of the books, so they'll be ready for release when the time comes. I believe in this series, in the stories, and the characters.
It's a funny, smartassed-yet-heartfelt super-series of action adventure thrillers. I'm willfully embracing my quirky sense of humor with these, and it's making a big difference in terms of output.
I'm way stoked! We'll see how I roll through end of May, but that's my target. It's possible I'll get worn out, but right now, I'm jazzed.
Letters to Cleo | Fast Way
I'm actually going to do something utterly crazy, which is:
1) Write the trilogy (2/3 of the way there)
2) Write the first book of the spinoff series
3) Write the next book in the main series (and then alternate with a spinoff book)
I'm going to plow through the entire series until I exhaust myself or whatever. In terms of release, If I'm able to keep at this pace, I *should* be able to get them all written by end of May.
I've already mentioned:
BRIGHTEYES (Book 1): June 2024
Book 2: 2025
Book 3: 2026
However, I'm also thinking maybe (if it goes well -- that is, if I can get them all written and can actually draw audience)...
BRIGHTEYES (Book 1): June 2024
Book 2: 2025
Spinoff Book 1: 2025
Book 3: 2026
Spinoff Book 2: 2026
Book 4: 2027
Spinoff Book 3: 2027
And so on, until I get through all 12 books I've envisioned. But what's so crazy about it is I'll write through the dozen books this year, so I can just vault them and get two of them out a year from 2025 onward (btw, I have titles for the seven books in the main series, but I don't like to put titles out there too early).
In writing novels doggedly for over 20 years, I've never barreled through a series the way I'm doing with these books. If the approach works, though, I'm in.
Because of the differing nature of the series and the spinoff series I have in mind, they shouldn't be competing with each other for audience. If anything, they're complementary.
If that's too ambitious in terms of actual release, I'll at least have written all of the books, so they'll be ready for release when the time comes. I believe in this series, in the stories, and the characters.
It's a funny, smartassed-yet-heartfelt super-series of action adventure thrillers. I'm willfully embracing my quirky sense of humor with these, and it's making a big difference in terms of output.
I'm way stoked! We'll see how I roll through end of May, but that's my target. It's possible I'll get worn out, but right now, I'm jazzed.
Letters to Cleo | Fast Way
