D.T. Neal's Blog, page 9
April 30, 2024
Curses
I've brooded on this before, but I'm still piqued that THE CURSED EARTH just didn't get appreciated when it came out.
It's one of my favorite novels I've written, in that it's a great pastiche of so many things I love, and it's funny and kooky. I dig that book, and poured myself into it.
I wrote that brick in 46 days, in a fever-dream of inspiration. It's probably my masterpiece of meta-horror (I hesitate to call it pure horror -- it's more horror-comedy-thriller as I've said before). When I wrote it, I remember feeling that keenly.
As ever, I have no expectations when I get books out there. I want them to do well, but the overwhelming trend is for them not to do well.
All the same, it's a bummer for me, because there's a lot in that book. There ought to be, as it's a big novel (the biggest I've written, at 480 pages. And I always feel the sneaking suspicion that this is what curses it -- it's a BIG novel.
In this world where people's attention spans are fleeting, and there are so many other things to do, reading (let alone reading a big book) is at the back of the line for most.
Maybe it's just that. Still bums me out, because it deserved an audience, and never got it. I see other people's mushroom horror (aka, sporror) books get trotted out and gushed over, but THE CURSED EARTH is never among them.
I mean, all it has is: folk horror, cosmic horror, fungus horror, gangsters, conspiracies, covens, witches & witchcraft, a killer clown, malevolent mimes, psychedelia, comedy, parody, satire, and major mayhem.
Perhaps someday readers will stumble onto it and love it as much as I did.
It's one of my favorite novels I've written, in that it's a great pastiche of so many things I love, and it's funny and kooky. I dig that book, and poured myself into it.
I wrote that brick in 46 days, in a fever-dream of inspiration. It's probably my masterpiece of meta-horror (I hesitate to call it pure horror -- it's more horror-comedy-thriller as I've said before). When I wrote it, I remember feeling that keenly.
As ever, I have no expectations when I get books out there. I want them to do well, but the overwhelming trend is for them not to do well.
All the same, it's a bummer for me, because there's a lot in that book. There ought to be, as it's a big novel (the biggest I've written, at 480 pages. And I always feel the sneaking suspicion that this is what curses it -- it's a BIG novel.
In this world where people's attention spans are fleeting, and there are so many other things to do, reading (let alone reading a big book) is at the back of the line for most.
Maybe it's just that. Still bums me out, because it deserved an audience, and never got it. I see other people's mushroom horror (aka, sporror) books get trotted out and gushed over, but THE CURSED EARTH is never among them.
I mean, all it has is: folk horror, cosmic horror, fungus horror, gangsters, conspiracies, covens, witches & witchcraft, a killer clown, malevolent mimes, psychedelia, comedy, parody, satire, and major mayhem.
Perhaps someday readers will stumble onto it and love it as much as I did.
April 29, 2024
Fantastic Fourth
I've probably groused about it before here, but seeing the latest marketing for another cinematic attempt for the FANTASTIC FOUR, I yet again think they're making a huge error by trying to make it a movie.
The FANTASTIC FOUR, to find its footing, must be a small-screen SF family drama. That's where it belongs. The FF are a family, and much of what anchors their world is that family drama.
Ergo, it needs to be a television series (with accompanying budget) to do it right. Let the stories roll out slowly. The arcs are right there for the taking, in terms of key villains:
Doctor Doom
Galactus
Mole Man (seriously!)
Annihilus
The Negative Zone (and Annihilus) is perfectly suited for a lengthy excursion for the FF.
Marvel Studios (Feige, et al.) need to look at the John Byrne FANTASTIC FOUR run and take inspiration from it.
For all of the deserved love the X-MEN earned, John Byrne's FANTASTIC FOUR run was epic and made it a compelling title again.
And for the hypothetical showrunners, there are plenty of one-off stories can be folded into the arcs. Given that some MCU television shows (Seasons 1 & 3 of DAREDEVIL, Season 1 of JESSICA JONES) were so good, it's possible for MCU to do a TV series well.
The FANTASTIC FOUR screams for a TV series, and I can't fathom why they keep trying to shoehorn it into movies. The FF needs time and space (pun intended, given how SF it is) to stretch its legs, versus some movie spectacle.
It'll take a miracle for the new FF movie to not flop hard. I've been wrong before, but I can't see it with this latest effort, regardless of the casting.
Yes, THE INCREDIBLES rocked the FF vibe with its cinematic efforts, but it was also animated. Different rules for animated shows.
For live action, the FF would thrive in a TV series. So much character-driven story to be had -- the tragic plight of the Thing, Reed Richards being the inventive asshat he is, Sue Richards balancing motherhood and superheroism (and putting up with Reed, which seems like it would test any woman's mettle), Johnny Storm being the superpowered playboy mimbo that he is.
And there'd be opportunities for cameos from other MCU characters, given how central the FF are to that universe. Maybe that would blow up the budget, however it would be cool.
The FANTASTIC FOUR, to find its footing, must be a small-screen SF family drama. That's where it belongs. The FF are a family, and much of what anchors their world is that family drama.
Ergo, it needs to be a television series (with accompanying budget) to do it right. Let the stories roll out slowly. The arcs are right there for the taking, in terms of key villains:
Doctor Doom
Galactus
Mole Man (seriously!)
Annihilus
The Negative Zone (and Annihilus) is perfectly suited for a lengthy excursion for the FF.
Marvel Studios (Feige, et al.) need to look at the John Byrne FANTASTIC FOUR run and take inspiration from it.
For all of the deserved love the X-MEN earned, John Byrne's FANTASTIC FOUR run was epic and made it a compelling title again.
And for the hypothetical showrunners, there are plenty of one-off stories can be folded into the arcs. Given that some MCU television shows (Seasons 1 & 3 of DAREDEVIL, Season 1 of JESSICA JONES) were so good, it's possible for MCU to do a TV series well.
The FANTASTIC FOUR screams for a TV series, and I can't fathom why they keep trying to shoehorn it into movies. The FF needs time and space (pun intended, given how SF it is) to stretch its legs, versus some movie spectacle.
It'll take a miracle for the new FF movie to not flop hard. I've been wrong before, but I can't see it with this latest effort, regardless of the casting.
Yes, THE INCREDIBLES rocked the FF vibe with its cinematic efforts, but it was also animated. Different rules for animated shows.
For live action, the FF would thrive in a TV series. So much character-driven story to be had -- the tragic plight of the Thing, Reed Richards being the inventive asshat he is, Sue Richards balancing motherhood and superheroism (and putting up with Reed, which seems like it would test any woman's mettle), Johnny Storm being the superpowered playboy mimbo that he is.
And there'd be opportunities for cameos from other MCU characters, given how central the FF are to that universe. Maybe that would blow up the budget, however it would be cool.
April 28, 2024
Five Starlets
This'd get me pilloried in the indie circuit, but who cares? I'm saying it, anyway:
The only five-star reviews that matter are ones you get from strangers. Those are the only honest (aka, objective) five stars; all of the others are tarnished by association. The five stars you're getting from friends, allies, family, and acolytes (FAFA, for short)? They're not for real, and are piled on simply to con unwary readers into thinking a book is worth their time.
I often see it when indie works pile up the five stars from FAFA, and then objective outsiders read the work in question and they slag it, usually commenting that they can't understand why XYZ book had all of those five stars. FAFA in action.
It's perhaps ego-gratifying for someone to pile up those five stars based on their FAFA network, and it's likely the main point of those efforts (beyond conning readers into thinking that publishing pyrite is true gold). It's dishonest, and that's what bugs me.
The indie publishing pool is a sea of five stars -- absolutely everything is earth-shatteringly fantastic, with the FAFA choruses singing praises to the heavens. Which (spoiler warning) diminishes the actual value of a five-star review.
It's hard enough to get readers to buy, rate, and review books to begin with, versus the FAFA set filling the room with false positives. Each time a reader gets burned by FAFA fakery, they're probably less likely to take the "risk" of buying books from readers they don't know.
Maybe I'm in a minority opinion here, but I'd rather have an honest three-star review than a bogus FAFA five-star review. Even if I had a reliable FAFA network, I'd still put more value on an objective stranger's five-star review than a review from anyone who knows me.
Might put me in the category of being an honest fool, but there it is. I'd rather be that than a charlatan and/or a manipulative fraud trying to game the system by means of FAFA.
Then again, from a deeply cynical/opportunistic perspective, if a reader is fooled into buying a book that's been rating-inflated through FAFA five stars, what does it matter if they're disappointed when they find that the book wasn't as good as they were led to believe it was? I suppose there's always the threat of returns. I don't know. The whole thing seems sketchy -- everybody jerking everyone else around.
All I care about is getting my books out there, and hoping readers find them fairly and enjoy them. Maybe that accounts for why I'm out in the weeds, versus maneuvering FAFA five stars to my advantage.
The only five-star reviews that matter are ones you get from strangers. Those are the only honest (aka, objective) five stars; all of the others are tarnished by association. The five stars you're getting from friends, allies, family, and acolytes (FAFA, for short)? They're not for real, and are piled on simply to con unwary readers into thinking a book is worth their time.
I often see it when indie works pile up the five stars from FAFA, and then objective outsiders read the work in question and they slag it, usually commenting that they can't understand why XYZ book had all of those five stars. FAFA in action.
It's perhaps ego-gratifying for someone to pile up those five stars based on their FAFA network, and it's likely the main point of those efforts (beyond conning readers into thinking that publishing pyrite is true gold). It's dishonest, and that's what bugs me.
The indie publishing pool is a sea of five stars -- absolutely everything is earth-shatteringly fantastic, with the FAFA choruses singing praises to the heavens. Which (spoiler warning) diminishes the actual value of a five-star review.
It's hard enough to get readers to buy, rate, and review books to begin with, versus the FAFA set filling the room with false positives. Each time a reader gets burned by FAFA fakery, they're probably less likely to take the "risk" of buying books from readers they don't know.
Maybe I'm in a minority opinion here, but I'd rather have an honest three-star review than a bogus FAFA five-star review. Even if I had a reliable FAFA network, I'd still put more value on an objective stranger's five-star review than a review from anyone who knows me.
Might put me in the category of being an honest fool, but there it is. I'd rather be that than a charlatan and/or a manipulative fraud trying to game the system by means of FAFA.
Then again, from a deeply cynical/opportunistic perspective, if a reader is fooled into buying a book that's been rating-inflated through FAFA five stars, what does it matter if they're disappointed when they find that the book wasn't as good as they were led to believe it was? I suppose there's always the threat of returns. I don't know. The whole thing seems sketchy -- everybody jerking everyone else around.
All I care about is getting my books out there, and hoping readers find them fairly and enjoy them. Maybe that accounts for why I'm out in the weeds, versus maneuvering FAFA five stars to my advantage.
April 26, 2024
(Gen) X Marks the Spot
Beyond the travails that seem to afflict every writer these days (and they seem manifold), I think being a Gen Xer hasn't been good for me as a writer, in terms of finding audience.
When I was 18-19 and first sending stories out (and when there were still ample GOOD short fiction venues), I was too young, too inexperienced as a writer to make a dent.
And further, the Boomer writers were sucking the air out of the room, and it was very difficult to get in. I used to collect all of my hard-copy rejection slips, which I carried with me for years until I think they were either lost and/or thrown out by my ex).
And now that I'm a 50-something, with those good venues all gone and everyone younger than me struggling to be seen (a numerous horde of hopeless hopefuls), my Gen X self feels even more out in the weeds.
I'm a true Gen X writer in all the best/worst ways -- I write what I know, and what I know is being a Gen Xer. As a kid, I used to say that punk was an attitude (and it is), but Gen X is both a demographic destiny and an attitude. I write like an Xer. And as a member of that smaller demographic, sandwiched between the dying-off Boomers and the Millennials and Zoomers (way more numerous), I'm the proverbial ghost departing a seance.
Write what you know? Okay, whatever. I am. X marks the spot.
When I was 18-19 and first sending stories out (and when there were still ample GOOD short fiction venues), I was too young, too inexperienced as a writer to make a dent.
And further, the Boomer writers were sucking the air out of the room, and it was very difficult to get in. I used to collect all of my hard-copy rejection slips, which I carried with me for years until I think they were either lost and/or thrown out by my ex).
And now that I'm a 50-something, with those good venues all gone and everyone younger than me struggling to be seen (a numerous horde of hopeless hopefuls), my Gen X self feels even more out in the weeds.
I'm a true Gen X writer in all the best/worst ways -- I write what I know, and what I know is being a Gen Xer. As a kid, I used to say that punk was an attitude (and it is), but Gen X is both a demographic destiny and an attitude. I write like an Xer. And as a member of that smaller demographic, sandwiched between the dying-off Boomers and the Millennials and Zoomers (way more numerous), I'm the proverbial ghost departing a seance.
Write what you know? Okay, whatever. I am. X marks the spot.
April 24, 2024
Berating
I'm bummed that I've only received like 233 ratings on the Goodreads. Even though my average is like 4.1 stars -- basically what that tells me is the rare souls who read my work seem to like my work.
But only 233 ratings? Argh! And that's stretched out over a pile of novels, a smattering of novellas, and a smidgen of short story collections.
Major marketing fail. Hard to wrap my mind around that. The audiences that are out there just aren't drawn to my books. Can't figure that out.
I suppose I'm feeling that failure with my Horror work because my WIP Super-Series is an entirely different genre, so I'm wondering whether that will carry through in this new series, or whether it'll find its audience.
All I know from the numbers to date is that my Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery has utterly failed to find its audience.
Again, it's like being in an auditorium filled with screaming people (aka, every other author out there) and trying to be heard, and not having a Greek Chorus to sing my praises.
The few brave/adventurous souls who actually do read my books seem to enjoy them. But most either don't see them or won't go near them and/or aren't compelled to pick them up.
Strange | Wire
But only 233 ratings? Argh! And that's stretched out over a pile of novels, a smattering of novellas, and a smidgen of short story collections.
Major marketing fail. Hard to wrap my mind around that. The audiences that are out there just aren't drawn to my books. Can't figure that out.
I suppose I'm feeling that failure with my Horror work because my WIP Super-Series is an entirely different genre, so I'm wondering whether that will carry through in this new series, or whether it'll find its audience.
All I know from the numbers to date is that my Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery has utterly failed to find its audience.
Again, it's like being in an auditorium filled with screaming people (aka, every other author out there) and trying to be heard, and not having a Greek Chorus to sing my praises.
The few brave/adventurous souls who actually do read my books seem to enjoy them. But most either don't see them or won't go near them and/or aren't compelled to pick them up.
Strange | Wire
April 22, 2024
Chock Full (of It)
Interesting watching the latest indie writer maelstrom occur, as people who seemingly postured as being great turned out to be doing a lot of behind-the-scenes badness that caught up with them.
These moral outrages occur with a degree of clockwork regularity -- used to be every six months or so; now they seem to occur about every three months.
Watching the "community" members gnash their teeth is always a bemusing spectacle. As one who is very isolated from the "community" I can watch with a degree of objectivity.
I don't enjoy the support networks others do (whatever those are even worth). Nobody knows me well enough to take umbrage at who I am. I'm simply ignored, which might be a good thing, judging from how it goes with the various bookish bounders out there.
Of course, besides my isolation, I also pursue a policy of NOT being an asshole, which I think is always a safe way to go.
The writing world is full of desperate souls trying to get themselves seen and read and loved.
For some, it amounts to constant ass-kissing and overhyping others' works, giving away books for free (and/or Kindle Unlimiting in hopes that people will see them), but behind (apparently) many of them is a ruthless and relentless nature that is borderline abusive.
Seeing these latest tempests blast through, I'm more grateful than ever to be so remote from it all. My only advice for writers out there is to read lots of books, work on your craft, remember to revise, and don't be an asshole.
The performative posturing rampant in various indie circles is both exhausting and exasperating.
And when "friends" keep ladling out those five stars to each other -- every time I see a sea of five stars on works coming from friends, allies, and confidantes, I jokingly say "BEST book of the 21st century. Or not." They're ALL five stars, yeah?
Sure. Sure they are. Assholes.
These moral outrages occur with a degree of clockwork regularity -- used to be every six months or so; now they seem to occur about every three months.
Watching the "community" members gnash their teeth is always a bemusing spectacle. As one who is very isolated from the "community" I can watch with a degree of objectivity.
I don't enjoy the support networks others do (whatever those are even worth). Nobody knows me well enough to take umbrage at who I am. I'm simply ignored, which might be a good thing, judging from how it goes with the various bookish bounders out there.
Of course, besides my isolation, I also pursue a policy of NOT being an asshole, which I think is always a safe way to go.
The writing world is full of desperate souls trying to get themselves seen and read and loved.
For some, it amounts to constant ass-kissing and overhyping others' works, giving away books for free (and/or Kindle Unlimiting in hopes that people will see them), but behind (apparently) many of them is a ruthless and relentless nature that is borderline abusive.
Seeing these latest tempests blast through, I'm more grateful than ever to be so remote from it all. My only advice for writers out there is to read lots of books, work on your craft, remember to revise, and don't be an asshole.
The performative posturing rampant in various indie circles is both exhausting and exasperating.
And when "friends" keep ladling out those five stars to each other -- every time I see a sea of five stars on works coming from friends, allies, and confidantes, I jokingly say "BEST book of the 21st century. Or not." They're ALL five stars, yeah?
Sure. Sure they are. Assholes.
April 13, 2024
Worldbuilding
I may have already posted about it, but I genuinely love worldbuilding. In fact, I can't fathom the mindset of writers who are averse to it. Worldbuilding's a blast.
My WIP Super-Series has been a massive worldbuilding lift, and I'm just loving it. There are new characters clamoring to find spots for themselves in Books 4 - 7, or Books 1 - 5 or Books 1 - 3 of the two series spinoffs I have in mind.
I've had a half-dozen new characters conjured up in my cranium over the past month, and they're jonesing to get themselves into the books, as I just wrote above. I enjoy that, and more so, I am glad I have built a world that'll accommodate them. It makes me happy!
I want to talk more about it, but I'm keeping (mostly) mum until the marketing for it.
Super-Series: Urban fantasy/parody/fun
Spinoff Series 1: Supernatural urban fantasy
Spinoff Series 2; Thriller urban fantasy
It'll become clearer once the marketing's out there, but it's good stuff. I'm swimming in the midst of the maelstrom I've created, but I'm enjoying the ride.
What's funny for me is that both THE CURSED EARTH and THE THING IN YELLOW offer glimpses into my love of worldbuilding, as does my SAGAS OF IRTH fantasy/sword & sorcery series (pen name, Dane Vale).
Worldbuilding is my wheelhouse, and makes me happiest as a writer, for sure. That's fueled my effort with the Super-Series so far (that, and, well, being unemployed, which has gifted me the time to propel myself through them).
I'll very likely start working on Book 4 next weekend, as the characters in my head are too impatient to wait much longer. They're stomping around...
The Runaways | Cherry Bomb
My WIP Super-Series has been a massive worldbuilding lift, and I'm just loving it. There are new characters clamoring to find spots for themselves in Books 4 - 7, or Books 1 - 5 or Books 1 - 3 of the two series spinoffs I have in mind.
I've had a half-dozen new characters conjured up in my cranium over the past month, and they're jonesing to get themselves into the books, as I just wrote above. I enjoy that, and more so, I am glad I have built a world that'll accommodate them. It makes me happy!
I want to talk more about it, but I'm keeping (mostly) mum until the marketing for it.
Super-Series: Urban fantasy/parody/fun
Spinoff Series 1: Supernatural urban fantasy
Spinoff Series 2; Thriller urban fantasy
It'll become clearer once the marketing's out there, but it's good stuff. I'm swimming in the midst of the maelstrom I've created, but I'm enjoying the ride.
What's funny for me is that both THE CURSED EARTH and THE THING IN YELLOW offer glimpses into my love of worldbuilding, as does my SAGAS OF IRTH fantasy/sword & sorcery series (pen name, Dane Vale).
Worldbuilding is my wheelhouse, and makes me happiest as a writer, for sure. That's fueled my effort with the Super-Series so far (that, and, well, being unemployed, which has gifted me the time to propel myself through them).
I'll very likely start working on Book 4 next weekend, as the characters in my head are too impatient to wait much longer. They're stomping around...
The Runaways | Cherry Bomb
Tally Ho!
So, I've final-edited Books 1 & 2 of my burgeoning super-series, and I did a tally of the characters (primary, major, minor/supporting) in the first two books, and I've tallied 196 characters (!!!) so far!
Only a fraction of those characters are in the main character space, but I'm still amused that I'd made so many.
I know that number will climb when I finalize Book 3 (and start writing Book 4), but 196 characters is a lot! My brain was surging while working on those books.
Only a fraction of those characters are in the main character space, but I'm still amused that I'd made so many.
I know that number will climb when I finalize Book 3 (and start writing Book 4), but 196 characters is a lot! My brain was surging while working on those books.
April 9, 2024
Update
I've finalized Books 1 & 2 of the WIP Super-Series, and am working on finalizing Book 3, while part of my brain is driving me to get rolling on Book 4.
Also, my birthday (54th -- argggh) is next week (April 16), so my birthday present to myself is likely to NOT start working on Book 4 until after my birthday.
I feel like I deserve a bit of a break since I wrote three frickin' novels from February through March.
Still, Book 4 is beckoning, so there it is.
Once the marketing for the Super-Series rolls out, I'll be able to talk about it more, beyond the teases I've put here.
I just hope people dig the Super-Series, as I've got a ton of ideas for it and the spinoffs, and I just hope readers enjoy BRIGHTEYES (Book 1) as much as I did writing it.
June's not that far away!
Also, my birthday (54th -- argggh) is next week (April 16), so my birthday present to myself is likely to NOT start working on Book 4 until after my birthday.
I feel like I deserve a bit of a break since I wrote three frickin' novels from February through March.
Still, Book 4 is beckoning, so there it is.
Once the marketing for the Super-Series rolls out, I'll be able to talk about it more, beyond the teases I've put here.
I just hope people dig the Super-Series, as I've got a ton of ideas for it and the spinoffs, and I just hope readers enjoy BRIGHTEYES (Book 1) as much as I did writing it.
June's not that far away!
April 3, 2024
Surfer's Up
Okay, that's kind of weird. I was just musing about Galactus and the Heralds yesterday and then I saw this story break today:
Julia Garner Cast as Silver Surfer
Not to be a grumbler, but why the hell would they do that to the Silver Surfer and make Norrin Radd become Shalla Bal? Come on, MCU, that's just lame gender-pandering.
It just bugs me. I love the Surfer. He's one of the more interesting Marvel Comics characters. Sensitive, forlorn, brooding, all of that. That was part of Norrin Radd's charm -- he's the hopeless romantic of the spaceways. That's always been his thing. Not that Shalla Bal can't be that way, too, but it's just such a contrived alternate universe switcheroo, it'll be hard to take seriously, even by comics standards.
It seems like such a cheap ploy on Marvel-Disney's part, riffing on alt-universe stuff. And whatever they're hoping to gain from it, I can't think the majority of Marvel fans will be okay with it. It'll probably be another Marvel flop and the powers-that-be will be simply scratching their heads.
Or maybe because I don't particularly like it, it'll be a huge hit (that seems to be how it so often goes). But I doubt it.
Julia Garner Cast as Silver Surfer
Not to be a grumbler, but why the hell would they do that to the Silver Surfer and make Norrin Radd become Shalla Bal? Come on, MCU, that's just lame gender-pandering.
It just bugs me. I love the Surfer. He's one of the more interesting Marvel Comics characters. Sensitive, forlorn, brooding, all of that. That was part of Norrin Radd's charm -- he's the hopeless romantic of the spaceways. That's always been his thing. Not that Shalla Bal can't be that way, too, but it's just such a contrived alternate universe switcheroo, it'll be hard to take seriously, even by comics standards.
It seems like such a cheap ploy on Marvel-Disney's part, riffing on alt-universe stuff. And whatever they're hoping to gain from it, I can't think the majority of Marvel fans will be okay with it. It'll probably be another Marvel flop and the powers-that-be will be simply scratching their heads.
Or maybe because I don't particularly like it, it'll be a huge hit (that seems to be how it so often goes). But I doubt it.
