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Dark Fiction Review – Child of the Daystar

Dragon/Human Hybrid Protagonist For The Win

I wrote a post awhile back about how I actually do judge books by their book covers. And when I saw the cover for Child of the Daystar, my money was spent. But despite the awesome cover art you can see here, it’s not just the quality of the artwork that sold me.

What actually sold me was the concept that the cover conveyed.

Lets be honest: Dragons are Cool. You know it. I know it. We all know it. So human/dragon-hybrid-warrior in a dark fantasy setting is an easy decision for me.

Of course a great cover and even a great concept are no indicator of writing quality. Thankfully, Child of the Daystar is very well written, and Bryce O’Connor is definitely on the track to win some fans over with this strong debut dark fantasy novel.

Get Readers To Care About Monster Protagonists with this ONE CRAZY TRICK

Creating monsters is easy. I do it all the time…as enemies. But creating a protagonist monster that people will love is a challenge, and this is where Bryce’s writing scores big.

The story starts with our hero RAZ I’SYUL ARRO when he’s just a child. Raz is owned as a slave by abusive handlers, who only intend to sell him for a profit. Far from a helpless whelp, he’s actually a mean little shit. When Raz’s situation changes, he ends up taken in by kind, desert nomads. Much of the first half of the book is just his relationship with them growing up, travelling in the harsh desert land. That might sound boring, but there are two very exciting things going on here: World Building and Character Building.

Conventional wisdom tells writers to start “in medias res” or “in the middle of things.” Many authors think this means to lop off the first three chapters of the story. In many stories, this is a wise move. Too many trees have been killed in the name of unnecessary backstory. But Child of the Daystar starts right where it needs to start. Raz is introduced to us mean and vulnerable. His ‘growing up’ years are used intentionally for us to get the most compassion for the protagonist and the most emotional impact out of a major turning point of the story.

That said, those looking for the main conflict are going to have to wait it out, as that plotline doesn’t begin to emerge until almost halfway through the book, when there is a major shift in the hero’s life.

The author cheats in a way, giving us two stories, and in my opinion, the best of both worlds. We get all the world/character building, and then the main plotline comes in with a cold, hard twist.

The story itself is standard fantasy fare. Medieval hand weapons mixed with a splash of magic, and a world that is just different enough, (or maybe I should say, similar enough) that I ate through the pages faster than a dragon could make a s’more. I felt like I was playing Skyrim again.

Child of the Daystar has little by way of romance, but there is a fair amount of familial bonding, which was a nice change. Doubly nice to see a family take in and care for what many would consider a dangerous, alien species. Other examples of diversity include a gay priest couple, and a kick-ass female assassin, who deserved more screen time than the pink-eyed cleric, whose damsel-in-distress subplot distracted more than it added to the story.

The ‘enemy’ in this case isn’t much of a specific nemesis as a group, and Raz’s evolving relationship to an entire criminal underworld.

Child of the Daystar feels like a combination character study and intro to a larger world. If that world involves cool, alternative protagonists like Raz, then I’m looking forward to more.

Links

Child of the Daystar on Amazon
Child of the Daystar at Barnes and Noble
Child of the Daystar at Goodreads

Twitter Reviews for Child Of The Daystar

#5Stars Child of the Daystar by Bryce O’Connor #Fantasy #ChildoftheDaystar http://bit.ly/1lRRkeN

Child of the Daystar #NewBook #DarkFIction #Fantasy #Dragon #ChildoftheDaystar http://bit.ly/1lRRkeN

#Dragon Protagonist For the Win! #ChildoftheDaystar #NewBook #DarkFiction  http://bit.ly/1lRRkeN

Awesome Book Cover, Cool Hero, Great Writing. #ChildoftheDaystar #NewBook #Fantasy #Dragon #5Stars http://bit.ly/1lRRkeN

Dark Fiction Review – Child of the Daystar originally appeared on Conrad Zero on December 16, 2015.

The post Dark Fiction Review – Child of the Daystar appeared first on Conrad Zero.

Bookplanner Simplifies Self-Publishing Project Management

Bookplanner Manages Publishing – “The Cure For Publishing Paralysis”

If you’re a self-publishing author, hopefully you’re aware of Joel Friedlander’s work at thebookdesigner.com and his must-read mailing list. Joel recently announced a new service called Bookplanner, and he calls it “The Cure For Publishing Paralysis.”

Bookplanner is project management software made specifically for publishing books (ebooks or print or both). The software guides you through each task in the book publishing process. The tasks are divided into functional areas:

Prerequisite Tasks (Social media accounts, ISBNs and such)
Editorial
Cover
Interior
Production (Print and ebooks have separate production areas. Depending on your project, you may have one or both of these.)
Post-Production/Prelaunch

Bookplanner requires very little info to get started. Pregenerated templates create the task list and due dates for you.

Templates based on different project types get you started quickly by auto-generating all the tasks required, including their start and stop dates.

Because it’s super easy to create and delete book plans, bookplanner encourages you to experiment with the different templates available. Create new book projects from the templates, then explore, tinker, and compare the plans. Keep whatever works best for you, and delete the rest. You can have an unlimited number of book projects.

Once your project is in place, the master task list leads you through the steps of creating, editing, and publishing a book.

Bookplanner Master Task List

Bookplanner at the Top Level view shows all the tasks for your book project divided into functional groups.

Listmakers rejoice! The master-task view shows all tasks in order, broken down into the groups or functional areas mentioned above. The order of the tasks cannot be changed. Completed sections can be hidden, which keeps the current active group of tasks easily available. Hidden sections of the completed task groups can be unhidden with a click.

Bookplanner Task View

The task view in bookplanner provides a description of the task at hand, and a simple text field for your notes.

Selecting a task takes you to the task view, showing a pre-generated (and uneditable) description of the task, and a giant field for entering notes. The feather-pen in the upper-right can be used to edit the duration of the task. This will adjust the deadlines for all other tasks auto-magically. The duration is the only part of the task you can edit.

The notes area is EXTREMELY simple. Text and links only. No graphics, and no html. As someone who works under a wordpress menu for hours, the notes section felt limiting to me. I hope updates to the software will allow users to add external files like graphics and manuscripts. (Although one could work around this by linking to files in google drive…)

Scroll down from the notes section to find three more task-specific resources:

Expert Guidance – Provides relevant info on the task-at-hand.
Additional Resources – Link to relevant articles, primarily on Joel’s extensive website thebookdesigner.com
Referrals/Partners – Links to bookplanner partners providing task-specific services (Editors, reviewers, etc.) who can help you check that task off the list.

Bookplanner Calendar and Gantt View

Bookplanner’s Gantt Chart view provides a top-level view of your publishing plan

The Gantt view offers a top level overview of the entire publishing process, showing only the functional groups, not the individual tasks. This is the kind of 20,000 ft view that is lacking in many project management systems, and I really appreciate that bookplanner includes it.

Calendar view shows each task on the calendar as you’d expect.The calendar gives single week or month views only. Clicking any task in the calendar views takes you right to the task! Nicely done!

Calendar View in bookplanner

You can only view the calendar or Gantt chart for one book project at a time, which is probably a good thing. Even individual projects can get pretty complicated. Both the Calendar and Gantt charts open just above the master task list, so you can easily shift between views by simply scrolling down the page.

Issues

The paint isn’t even dry on bookplanner, so some minor issues are to be expected. The software will be improved as it gets used and receives feedback. The issues below are things that directly impact the functionality of the software. I’d expect them to be fixed asap:

Edit/Delete To Do Items – Any “To Do List” items you manually add to a project cannot be renamed or removed. You also can’t set the due date or duration for them, as there’s no edit/delete button!

Task Ordering with To Do Items – The available templates are nice, but they can be limiting. If they don’t include steps that you use, you can manually add them as To Do Items within the functional area, but they are segregated from the main task list. There is no way to ‘insert’ your tasks into the chain of events.

For example, if you do a third round of edit/revisions instead of two, that is not an option included in any of the templates. Adding those tasks as To Do Items won’t affect the timeline of that section. And you have no control over the time for manually added “to do” items, as I mentioned previously. There is also no way to insert your “to do” items between other tasks.

Furthermore, there is no way to arrange the order of your own To Do Items. If you want to see them in order in the project then you’ll need to enter them in REVERSE order, as each new item entered goes on top of the list.

Task Dependency Is Not Enforced – I was able to mark tasks as completed when they still had unfinished prerequisite tasks. For example, I was able to check off the “Final Interior Proofread” when none of the other interior tasks were complete. In some cases, I was able to ‘break’ the Gantt chart view by doing this.

It makes more sense to me for a warning or question to pop up, or perhaps auto-complete previous tasks in the dependency, or grey out the option to complete tasks which have unfinished prerequisites.

Achievements To Unlock

Here are some areas where bookplanner could improve their already awesome product.

Google Drive Integration and/or File Storage – Currently bookplanner does not have any kind of file storage. You can’t add any kind of files to the project. You can’t even graphics to the notes section. This is almost a deal-breaker for me. I want a system which manages the entire book project in one place, ideally storing all the project files, including every revision, every word doc, every version of the cover art, every updated version of the epub. Worst case, bookplanner could connect to Google Drive’s API, and save links to the files stored on google drive.

Cost Tracking – There are no tools I know of that will let you do publishing project management AND allow you to track expenses. The first person to make that tool for book publishing is going to hit gold. These are the questions it should answer: How much will this book cost me to publish? Where did I spend all that money? Where can I find areas to reduce cost on future publications?

Google Calendar Integration – Would be nice to have book project calendars sync to google calendar so I could see where I’m at in the projects without logging into bookplanner.

Personal Service Provider Database – The Partner Referrals section is nice, but not editable. I work with my own group of editors, reviewers, two different crit teams, street team, etc, and it would be ideal to be able to store these contacts within bookplanner and select them for the relevant tasks for easy access.

Edit/Crit/Reviewer Integration – Sending manuscripts out for crit, then collecting the crit, then revising the manuscript is a pain. Same with editors/artists and their revision files. Same with ARCs and beta readers. Same with reviews and bloggers. Much of that pain could be remedied by a system which allows external collaborators to upload their critiques/artwork/reviews/etc., right into the book project.

Distributor Integration – Dreaming here, but once the file integration is in place, it’s a button-press away from uploading the finished files to createspace, ingram spark, lightning source, smashwords, etc.

Community Forums – The task-specific ,expert guidance and related info sections are nice, but they won’t answer all questions. There is definitely some value in having a community resource to fall back on.

Service Provider Ratings and Reviews – There are many service providers out there. So many, that I’d like to see reviews on them, preferably by people who have used their services. The ability to add service providers manually and rate their services within Bookplanner would be very helpful.

Analytics and Reports – I’d like to see how my finished projects stack up against other metrics. Which section of the publishing process took me the longest? How fast did I publish this book compared to my previous books? Compared to other bookplanner users? Compared to the industry average? This data would become more useful/meaningful as I completed more and more projects to get more accurate baselines. With that kind of reporting, I could work on tightening my process, and make my publishing business more efficient.

Overall Review of Bookplanner

The software just went live on Monday, but I can already tell that Bookplanner will be an absolute dream for self-publishers. Bookplanner is like hiring a project manager’s assistant for your book publishing project.

Bookplanner makes creating a book publishing plan impossibly easy. Tell it what kind of project you’re working on, and when you want to start. Give it a name and push a button. Bookplanner creates a task list, expert guidance, links to related articles, links to service providers, and puts all the tasks on the calendar with due dates. You won’t find a VA to do that for you at $5.99 a month. I used to do this all myself with free project management software, but bookplanner will save me a ton of time, which makes it well worth the price to me. (Especially since I’m tracking seven book projects at once!)

Hats off to the web designers. Bookplanner works great with touchscreen or a keyboard, on tablet or smarphone. The interface is clean, responsive and intuitive. Everything is just a click or a scroll away, from big picture Gantt chart to the task details. The software is available as a web-based service only. There is no app or standalone software.

Bookplanner may not be for everyone. It will not store files of any kind, and it does not provide reporting. Some of the value of Bookplanner is in the advice and resources. If you already have a working publishing plan and don’t need advice/resources, then you’d only be using Bookplanner as a task list/calendar/gantt chart and it may not have as much value for you.

Those who want to do things differently may be frustrated by the templates (which must be used, and cannot be adjusted, with the exception of task durations) You can add your own ‘to do’ items, but you cannot make your own custom plan by choosing tasks à la carte. But, with over 35 years of publishing experience and over a thousand articles on the subject, the team behind Bookplanner know what it takes to put a book together. I personally like the fact that someone who knows the path to book publishing has provided a well-tested plan for getting there.

Bookplanner is just starting out, and I know that it will grow and improve as more author/publishers use the tool and provide feedback.

Bookplanner Charter Member Pricing Ends Dec 14th

Bookplanner was just released on Dec 7th, and they are offering charter memberships at the guaranteed lowest price of $5,99 per month until Dec 14th. (Less than that, if you pay yearly.) These reduced rates are guaranteed for life to charter members, regardless of future price increases.

For just a few bucks a month, I’d say if you plan on taking a book from the rough draft stage to published stage, bookplanner is well worth the price.

Click here to check out Bookplanner.

#Zeroism

Bookplanner really is The Cure For Publishing Paralysis @Book_Planner #WritingTips #WritingTools #SelfPub http://gvwy.io/82b2xwh

Book Project Management Solved! Check out @Book_Planner #WritingTips #WritingTools #SelfPub http://gvwy.io/82b2xwh

Self Publishers! Meet Your New VA Project Manager, @Book_Planner #WritingTips #WritingTools #SelfPub http://gvwy.io/82b2xwh

Review of @Book_Planner Software for Self-Publishers #WritingTips #WritingTools #SelfPub http://gvwy.io/82b2xwh

Bookplanner Simplifies Self-Publishing Project Management originally appeared on Conrad Zero on December 9, 2015.

The post Bookplanner Simplifies Self-Publishing Project Management appeared first on Conrad Zero.

Gen Con in Minneapolis?

Open Letter to Adrian Swartout, Owner and CEO of Gen Con, LLC

My name is Conrad Zero, and I’m a dark fiction author, lifelong RPG gamer and Gen Con fan living in Minneapolis, MN. I grew up attending Gen Con when it was held in Milwaukee, WI. I’ll never forget being surrounded by 30,000 fans of role-playing games, board games, video games, card games, fantasy, sci-fi, horror, anime, manga, writers, artists, cosplayers and furries (before they were called cosplayers and furries) and anyone who simply wanted a venue to let out their inner geek in a place where they would be accepted in all their glorious diversity.

I remember bringing walkie-talkies to stay in touch with my friends while we lost ourselves in the massive dealer space. I remember the breakout gaming sessions, the art show that took hours to browse, and the auction that ran nearly nonstop the entire weekend.

I remember hanging out with 30,000 other geeks at a convention where wearing your squee on your sleeve was not only allowed, but encouraged. You can imagine how disappointed myself and a lot of other Midwesterners were when Gen Con moved to Indianapolis in 2003.

When Gen Con left the midwest, it left behind a hole that has never been filled.

In other words – an opportunity.

When I read this letter from you, and this one, and heard that you were considering relocating Gen Con because of  Indiana Senate Bill SB101  (AKA the “Religious Freedom Restoration Act”) my first thought was, “Hey Adrian, why not hold Gen Con here in Minnesota?” But I bit my tongue, and watched. Looks like you’ve patched things up with Indiana, and the 2015 Gen Con pulled in 61,423 folks. Nice work. And I understand that you have a contract with the city of Indianapolis until 2020. So you probably aren’t interested in moving GenCon to Minneapolis. Fair enough.

But maybe you’d consider opening a division of Gen Con in Minneapolis like you did with Gen Con West. And Gen Con South. And Gen Con East. If my geography is correct, it seems like you’ve missed a spot.

I sincerely request that you consider Minneapolis as a potential location for Gen Con North.

I’ve gathered up the following information which you should find helpful.

Is There A Market For Gen Con In Minneapolis?

Gen Con pulls fans from all over, but it makes sense to host it in a city with an existing local fan base.

Minneapolis has two fan-run conventions that would be most like Gen Con: Con of the North and CONvergence. CONvergence is a sci-fi/fantasy con which pulls in almost 7,000 people on the 4th of July holiday.

Just in case you missed that last part, I’ll say it again: a fan-run sci-fi/fantasy con competing against the 4th of July holiday weekend pulls in 7,000 attendees. (I wasn’t able to find numbers for Con of the North online.)

RPG Gaming, card games and board games are all huge here. The Twin Cities Roleplaying Association has over 1000 members. The Minnesota Pathfinder Society has over 700 members. And there are more comic book, card game, and gaming hobby stores here than you would want to count. And they are always busy. Fantasy Flight Games (recently acquired by Asmodee) is based here in nearby Roseville, MN. Their business is growing with no signs of stopping. They have expanded their store to include a massive gaming room for holding events, including regional card game tournaments.

As one of the administrators for the Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers Group, (569 members) I can vouch for the sheer number of creatives in this town. Last I heard, we had the highest number of people working in the arts per capita of anywhere in the US. Minneapolis was recently recognized as the most literate city in the US. The AWP Conference was held here recently, and appx. 13,000 people attended.

Did I mention we love costumes here? The MN Renaissance Festival is one of the largest in the US, pulling in over 300,000 people each year. And there’s the Zombie Pub Crawl, where over 30,000 fans showed up to dress up like zombies (yes, all of them dressed as zombies.) Last year, this event made the Guinness Book of World Records for “the most people dressed as zombies gathered in one place.” I kid you not, nearby Anoka, MN is actually the Halloween Capitol of the World. And don’t even get me started on LARPs. They are all over the place. As well as the new Riddle Room and Trapped Puzzle Room.

The answer is Yes. There are not only a lot of gamers here, but there are a lot of passionate, artistic and (let’s be honest) weird fans here. They would devour a convention like Gen Con. They’re just waiting for someone to book a venue and open the doors.

Could Minneapolis Host A Large Event Like Gen Con?

I know what you’re saying. “Minneapolis is flyoverland, right? Lakes, cows, and cornfields right? Is Minneapolis large enough to handle a crowd of 60,000 hyper-caffeinated con fans?”

Do not let Minneapolis’ population of 400K fool you. You’ll want to take into account the conjoined twin of St. Paul (we call them the Twin Cities) which makes for a population of 700K, compared to Milwaukee’s 600K and Indianapolis’ 852K.

The Mall Of America brings in 40 Million visitors per year, and is currently undergoing an aggressive expansion project to increase that number.

Minneapolis hosted the World Series in 1987 where over 55,000 people attended. It hosted the Super Bowl in 1992, and over 63,000 people attended. We just built the U.S.Bank Stadium which will hold up to 73,000 fans, and you can expect it to be filled when Minneapolis hosts the Super Bowl in 2018.

Target Center just got approval for $127 Million in renovations, which will be completed in 2017.

Between the new stadium, the Super Bowl coming to town, the Target Center renovation, and the Mall of America expansion, the city of Minneapolis is up to it’s you-know-what in upgrades and new construction. You can’t parallel park here without hitting new restaurants, hotels, condos, coffee shops or craft brewpubs.

The answer is Yes. Not only does Minneapolis have the capacity to handle a Gen Con right now, it’s in a period of huge renovation and improvement, so this capacity will only increase to grow along with Gen Con.

Venues For Gen Con In Minneapolis

Does Minneapolis have venues that can handle a convention of 60,000 attendees?

The Minneapolis Convention Center has 475,000 square feet of exhibit space and 87 meeting rooms. It hosts the Minneapolis Home and Garden Show, which brought in 75,000 people just last summer.

Alternatives to the Convention Center are Target Center (Which just got approval for 127 Million in renovations and improvements) or the Xcel Energy Center.

Again, the answer is Yes. There are venues here that would be great for hosting Gen Con, and they would love to see Gen Con come to town just as much as the fans would.

Next Steps

Adrian, feel free to contact me anytime.

zero at conradzero dot com
twitter @conradzero

I’ll pick you up at the airport and we’ll tour the Convention Center and have lunch. Perhaps the mayor will join us if she’s interested in $50+ million in revenue, which is what Gen Con currently brings to Indianapolis.

I think you’ll find that Minneapolis would make a great home for Gen Con North.

Thanks much for your consideration.

Gen Con in Minneapolis? originally appeared on Conrad Zero on December 7, 2015.

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Dark Fiction Review – Joy To The Worlds

Joy to the Worlds is a delightful collection of eight Holiday-Season-Themed  Speculative Fiction stories written by four authors.

Maia Chance, Janine A. Southard, Raven Oak and G. Clemans serve up an entertaining variety of dark fiction, science fiction, mystery and fantasy stories to spice up your holiday season!

From The Publisher

What do you get when you mix mystery and speculative fiction, then toss in the holidays for good measure? A mobster Santa, genetic hanky-panky, Victorian villages, time-travelling detectives, Krampus, eerie bell spirits, and more–this collection of short cross-genre fiction is the perfect counterpoint to traditional holiday reading!

This collection stars four authors, each with their own distinct style. National bestselling author Maia Chance, who is famous for her cozy mysteries, dazzles with humor and folklore. IPPY award-winning science fiction author Janine A. Southard beguiles with unexpected time-travel science. Science fiction & fantasy bestseller Raven Oak offers a look into the gothic past. And for a whole new perspective, debut fiction author and art expert G. Clemans dives into the intersections of creativity and mystery.

Joy to the Worlds brings together eight short works that explore mysteries across time and space. Ranging from dark dystopian worlds to comedic retro-futures, four diverse writers find new ways to combine these disparate worlds.

Review of Joy to the Worlds
Wild Hunt by Janine A. Southard

An undead detective solves a supernatural murder mystery in this western-flavored dark fantasy. Would have loved some illustrations with this, the world was as interesting as the story itself.

Escape From Old Yorktown by G. Clemans

A quaint Victorian village is not what it seems in Escape From Old Yorktown.  This Y/A dystopian tale, blends M Night Shalalyan’s The Village with The Hunger Games and The Twilight Zone. Revolution! Secret Societies! Hidden knowledge uncovered by those darned kids! Great reveals at the end make this story worth the read.

Odysseus Flax and the Krampus by Maia Chance

Yes, that Krampus. Now that Hollywood has discovered Krampus, it’s safe for Americans to recognize that KRAMPUS IS A THING, but I digress. Odysseus Flax and the Krampus has it all – great writing, a snappy pace, great characters, and small-but-clever twists. It’s like your favorite Holiday Cookie – short and sweet, and leaves you wanting more.

Ol’ St. Nick by Raven Oak

Holiday murder mystery… in space! Think Santa Claus vs the Martians crossed with Firefly and a dash of The Sopranos. The pace was like my ex, a little too fast and loose, but still enjoyable.

Bevel and Turn by G. Clemans

A time-traveling Christmas toy and a terrible family curse are at the center of Bevel and Turn. I really enjoyed the awkward, Y/A protagonist, and the relationship angle was well done.

Death Node by Janine A. Southard

This time-traveling cop adventure left me feeling a bit disjointed, but I imagine that’s what time travel does. Would do. Could have done. Ahem. Death Node was smartly written, showing the repeating effects of changing things in the past. Reminded me of The Butterfly Effect, but in a good way.

The Ringers by Raven Oak

A young magician and her family pass through a dead forest and get trapped in an even deader town in The Ringers. Although our hero’s fledgling magical abilities are no match for an evil necromancer, she won’t stop until the town is free from the “Ringers,” bell-ringing horrors who are anything but jolly as they search the town for a different kind of Christmas spirit.

I loved the ideas in this story. Raven Oak really managed to turn holiday traditions on their heads.

Mr. and Mrs. Mistletoe by Maia Chance

My favorite of the stories, Mr. and Mrs. Mistletoe is a hilarious cross between Fido and The Jetsons. This pseudo sci-fi mystery sends a prudish town librarian out of her routine life to solve the disappearance of the town’s prized scepter. (For medicinal purposes, natch.) Quality writing and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, mixed with some clever jabs at society -isms. Not nearly long enough.

Twitter-Sized Reviews

#JoytotheWorlds Holiday-themed #SpecFic @maiachance @jani_s @raven_oak @gayleclemans http://bit.ly/1NJB0Zz

Krampus! Dystopia! Time Travel! Santa in space? #JoytotheWorlds #SpecFic http://bit.ly/1NJB0Zz

Happy Speculative Holidays! Check out #JoytotheWorlds #SpecFic http://bit.ly/1NJB0Zz

#5Stars #JoytotheWorlds #SpecFic by @maiachance @jani_s @raven_oak @gayleclemans http://bit.ly/1NJB0Zz

Links

Joy to the Worlds on Goodreads
Joy to the Worlds on Amazon
Joy to the Worlds at Barnes and Noble

Thanks to Grey Sun Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an open and honest review.

Dark Fiction Review – Joy To The Worlds originally appeared on Conrad Zero on December 3, 2015.

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6 Common Author Traps And How To Avoid Them

In the Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers Group, we often discuss our current projects. Can’t tell you how often I hear of people getting hung up in author traps. They’ve been working on their first manuscript for years, (sometimes decades) determined to “get it right the first time.”

Translating from Author to English, this means, “writing which goes through an endless series of revisions, but never gets finished.”

Sound familiar? Maybe you’ve been there yourself. Ever get stuck in author traps like these?

Reading books about writing process, then applying your new-found knowledge to your old-and-never-released manuscript…
Sending your story in for critique, then taking all the feedback and revising your manuscript again. And again. And again…
Buying a new software tool, and porting your work into the new system, hoping it will help you finish…
Revising your story to make it more like that hot, new bestseller, so you can cash in on the rising trend…
Revising your story to make it less like that hot, new bestseller, so you don’t get accused of plagiarizing ideas…

I’ve been to every one of these places, and every one of them will slow your author journey to a crawl.

The good news is that just knowing about the traps might prevent you from getting stuck in the first place. Here’s the author traps I’m aware of and how to avoid/escape them.

Author Trap #1 – Your Publishing Virginity

Horror stories abound of authors who wrote their first story, got their first publishing contract, and then… their book didn’t earn out.

The bad sales and bad reviews were chiseled into the internet, AND THEY NEVER GOT ANOTHER BOOK DEAL, NEVER, EVER, FOREVER! They had to change their name, get reconstructive plastic surgery, learn a new language, and go into the author-relocation-program if they ever hoped to submit another story.

I’ve often joked that all new writers should “Take the first novel you write, put it a box, and burn it. The second one, too.” It’s true that all authors have to pay their dues. I threw away over 350,000 words before I felt my writing was submittable. But this becomes a trap if you believe that your first publication has to be Neil-Gaiman-Awesome, or you shouldn’t even bother.

Keep in mind that your first ANYTHING is not going to be as awesome as you think. Remember the first mixed drink you made? The one that tasted like cherry-mint-lime-black licorice Nyquil? Remember your first sexual encounter?

Well, your first story isn’t going to be your best, either. And that’s OK. You still need to publish it, or it can’t be your first, and you can’t be an author. You have to leave the safety net of rough-draft revisions. Set that bar. Break that publishing virginity.

But how do you know when your work is good enough? How do you escape the author trap of getting your first work published?

Slush Vs Submittable Vs Publishable

The difference between utter crap (slush) and the best effort of someone who’s learned the basics (submittable) and the finished product (publishable) is subtle but important. Publishers have a hard job, picking through the slush pile, looking for things they can work with. They have pro editors on speed-dial to make sure the submissions they accept get polished up from ‘submittable’ quality to ‘publishable’ quality. Even Hemingway’s work was edited before it was published.

Your goal can be to write a manuscript that reads like the book-on-the-shelf, but in reality, what you need to give the publisher is something better than the slush. Something the publisher can work with, even if that publisher is yourself. Very similar to the music industry, the song has to be tight, and it has to kick ass, but the producer can add the mixing and mastering polish that pushes that song further up the charts.

So don’t get trapped by the belief that your work has to be PERFECT before it can be submitted for publication. But your goal is to get your great idea into a great story structure with great writing. As great as you can possibly get it with the skills you have right now. But it will not be perfect. Then a publisher or editor can help you to take it up that next step to super-awesome-bestseller quality.

Make Healthy Comparisons

When you are first starting out, looking at professionally-published, bestselling authors as role models is normal. Aiming at that level of storytelling and writing quality is admirable. But expecting your first novel to stand against The Ocean at the End of the Lane is not realistic or healthy.

Realize where you are. Look for local authors in your genre who are at the same place in their writing career as yourself. Read what they are currently working on. Join their beta readers list, or invite them to start a crit group, and get a look at their rough drafts. That’s the level of quality you need to compete with. That’s the bar.

As you gain experience, you can start raising the bar by comparing your work to that of authors with similar experience, not to mention your own previous works. After publishing for a decade or two, you can work at knocking Neil Gaiman off the bestseller list.

You Might Want Some Help With That…

Deciding when your work is ready for publication is more art than science.  Regardless of whether you seek traditional or self-publishing, you still need an external reference that is chock-full of experience and objectivity. You’ll want to put together a solid team of crit group, editor, proofreaders and beta readers.

These people will do more than just help improve your writing. They will help you decide when your work is truly ready for publication. It helps if they know your writing style, and care more about the quality of your work than your ego. If your work is not of sufficient quality, they should not let it pass. Ask them straight up, “Is this submittable? Is this publishable?”

This goes double/triple/quadruple if you are self-publishing. Self-publishing is like taking your own virginity. You might want some help with that. Agents and traditional publishers have experience to filter out content that is not ready, and editors to patch up the rest. Self-publishers need to find weapons-grade editors and crit teams to make sure their work isn’t just submittable, but salable.

Author Trap #2 – The Infinite Feedback Loop

Feedback – from critiquers, editors and proofreaders – is essential to quality stories. But it can also trap you in an endless series of revisions. Often, this doesn’t feel like a trap. You’re improving the story, right? Making it better, right?

Not necessarily. If you keep asking for input, and revising but never finishing… you’re trapped.

Decide On Your Writing Process Before You Start

One round of crit is almost a necessity. Two sounds better. But where to stop? Three? Four? Ten? If you’re handing out your novel to each person you know, one at a time… it will never be finished.

Decide on your workflow up front. If you’re not sure, ask others how many rounds of crit they go through before editing/proofreading. (I use a round of crit/revision with three different crit groups.) Pick a plan and stick to it to get out of this author trap.

You Can’t Please Everyone

Change the story to please one critic, and two more will point out that it was better the way it was. There is always going to be someone who is put off by something in your story. Or doesn’t like the ending. If you keep handing it out until it comes back “Perfect!” … it will never be finished.

I find it helpful to get a story as far as I possibly can on my own before seeking any outside opinion. I try to get the story to a point where I see no mistakes to fix and no more polish to add. Then I send it to crit group #1.

When crit group #1 sends me their feedback, I review/process all of their critiques at the same time. I look for trends and consensus in the feedback before making any revisions. As a rule, I don’t even have the manuscript open while processing crit feedback. This helps prevent changing something for one critiquer, only to change it back five minutes later. For example, if three people say the story was too slow, and another three say the story was too fast, then it was probably just right.

I make a list of the changes to be made (in Evernote), then start revising. Once all revisions are complete, I hand the story to crit group #2 and repeat the process. After three crit/revision cycles, it’s off to a pro editor for a final coat of polish.

No doubt there will be things in the finished product that will not sit well with everyone. Midi-chloreans, for example. Do your best, but remember that you can’t please everyone.

Author Trap #3 – Fear of Completion

Some people take advantage of the Infinite Feedback Loop I mentioned above, and use it as a way to AVOID publishing their work. Why would they do this? Plenty of reasons. Fear of failure. Fear of success. Fear of putting their work out there in the cold, cold, world where it can be Judged.

Work in progress is immune to criticism. “It’s not finished yet.” works great as a “get out of judgement free” card. But once you proclaim a work as Complete, it’s open season on your art and soul, and the critics have some heavy artillery…

To overcome this trap, you need to overcome your own fear. No easy task, but the following thoughts should help:

Realize That Published Count Trumps Word Count

Do you have a passion for word count? Do you love to get chapters finished? Do you get a sense of accomplishment when you hit each 10K mark?

If so, can you convert that passion for writing into a passion for publishing? Instead of getting excited about hitting that next 10K mark, how about the next book release? Get as excited about your PUBLISHED COUNT as you are about your word count, and start applying yourself to finishing books the way you finish scenes.

Let Others Help You

If you simply can’t stop tweaking on your story, then ask your crit group: Would they consider this publishable as it is? Listen to what they say and trust their opinion. If you don’t have knowledgeable people you can trust… then find some.

Unfortunately, your friends won’t be much help here. As Benjamin Wallace says in 5 Reasons to Have a Nemesis, “Friends and family can’t be trusted. They think you still have feelings.”

Author Trap #4 – The Never-Ending Story

You’re a writer. I mean, you write. Every day. You put in the hours, revising and hitting that word count. Awesome right?

Not necessarily.

If you measure your authorness by the amount of time you spend writing, you can feel pretty good about yourself. I’m tempted to call this the “Writing is Fun!” trap, because you feel like you are making progress. But are you actually finishing anything with that word count? Are you actually improving the story with those revisions?

You could spend an entire year adding onto and improving this story. Or you could submit it and spend that same year working on a new project. One of these is a way to finish stories. The other is an author trap.

Writing Is Not Publishing

The public doesn’t see you slaving away on the next bestselling work of staggering genius, and they don’t care. They don’t give a damn about word count, either. They measure your authorness by a different metric:

How many stories did you publish last year? How many stories will you publish THIS year?

This is how authorness is measured. This should help you to get busy, get finished, and get those stories out the door.

Target Story Word Count

How many words (give or take 10K) is your story going to be? If you know the target story word count, then it should be obvious if you are making progress, or over/under budget.

If you don’t know, then you should probably stop writing and find out. If your novel is at 238,000 words and the ending isn’t in sight yet, then you have a problem. You might even need to stop writing and start cutting to get your story where it needs to be.

Enlist Social Pressure

Announce to your friends, family and followers on social media that you’ll be finished by a certain date. Put those dates on the calendar: rough draft date, revision date, final draft date, submission/publication by… Your fans and followers won’t let you forget.

A great example of this came up when I was hosting this year’s Local Author Showcase – Kate Bitters pledged in front of the entire audience that she would write a story every week for 52 weeks. Her fans are watching, and I bet that added social pressure helps motivate her writing!

Do An ROI (Return on Investment) Of Your Time

You can ALWAYS continue to edit and enhance the story. FOREVER. But that’s not a very efficient plan. You need to stop somewhere, or you’ll be trapped in one of Zeno’s paradoxes, constantly moving toward your goal in smaller and smaller increments, until it’s impossible to tell if you’re making any progress at all.

Is your time is better spent writing a new story, or going back for another round of “how many adverbs can I eliminate?” Remember that an editor will help put the finishing touches on your story, so if you’re fussing over the exact color blue of your heroine’s eyes, you’re wasting time by changing things that no one else will notice. Your time is better spent somewhere else.

I’m not suggesting you compromise quality for quantity. What I’m suggesting is that you try writing ten Appetite For Destructions every decade instead of one Chinese Democracy.

Author Trap #5 – Newer, Better, Even More Awesomer!

You just downloaded the new Mega Novel Creator Software Platinum Plus software. And you just read the latest tips on how to outline your story! And then you heard the latest super author bestselling genre is… Steampunk! The steampunk craze is back and hotter than EVER!!!

You can’t revise that manuscript fast enough. Port it into your new software program. Run it through the new outlining method. Give your protagonist a mechanical arm, a pair of goggles and a dirigible…

…what you’re NOT doing is finishing your story. Welcome to the author trap.

One Genre Shift Per Story

If you want to chase the market, fine. But promise me you won’t do this more than once per novel. Otherwise, you’re doing something wrong. You don’t want to rewrite your novel every three years just to keep on top of the latest market trends. If this sounds familiar, maybe you’re falling into one of the previously mentioned traps, like fear of completion.

Likewise, one software tool shift per story. Go ahead and transfer the work in progress over to y-writer or scrivener. Once. Then, finish your novel and stop letting new tools, techniques and trends trap you.

Save The New Cool Thing For Your Next Story

All of your work is inspired by things you’ve read, seen or experienced. Adding to that knowledge base is great… unless its keeping you from finishing. Are you reworking your manuscript after every movie you see and every book you read? Your manuscript should not just be a catch-all for every cool new idea that comes your way. If you try to do ALL THE THINGS, you’ll be stuck in an author trap.

Instead of putting that new tool/technique/idea into THIS story, how about using it to motivate you to get this story published as is, and use that new cool thing in your NEXT story instead? I write down new ideas in Evernote, so I don’t lose them.

Author Trap #6 – The Quest for Originality

It never fails. You’re watching a popular book or movie that was made ages ago, and there’s a scene/character/idea that’s JUST LIKE THE ONE IN YOUR MANUSCRIPT!

You can’t have people thinking you plagarized that idea! Or were writing fan fic! Gaa!

You can’t open that manuscript soon enough, and start changing things. Change your heroine’s name and eye color. And the model of your antagonist’s getaway vehicle. Get rid of that double-crossing character who’s too much like Cypher from The Matrix.

If you worry at every movie you see and every book you read that there might be similarities to your current project, you’ve fallen into the author trap.

You are not original!

Just when you think there’s something new under the sun, think again. I thought The Matrix (1999) was original until I rewatched Total Recall (1990).

This is why you need to know your genre, so you can avoid all the tropes and elements that fans of the genre have long known. But you also can’t let this trap you. You can’t hold off publication until you’ve read the entire #DarkFiction section.

Do the best you can with what you have right now, and realize that no matter how hard you try, it’s all been done before.

You are original!

You can’t write like J.K. Rowling. No matter how hard you try. Guess what? J.K.Rowling can’t write like you, no matter how hard she tries. Even if you have the same ideas. Even if both of your heroines have the same name, and the same color eyes. Even if you both have a double-crossing character that is just like Cypher from The Matrix.

Only you can write like you. So write your story, because only you can write it.

Beyond the Author Traps

There you have it. Hopefully these tips will help you to recognize, escape, and/or avoid the author traps that can keep you from achieving success.

Did I miss anything? Feel free to add your thoughts to the comments below. Best of luck on your writing!

6 Common Author Traps And How To Avoid Them originally appeared on Conrad Zero on December 1, 2015.

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How Does Your ‘Artistic Diet’ Affect Your Writing?

My friend Saveau has a great saying. “You Deserve The Gods You Worship.”

Likewise, I’ve long said that you deserve your social media streams, email inbox and many other areas of your life that you forget that you control. But let’s focus on one of these input streams in particular – your artistic diet.

The art on your walls
The music on your playlists
The books on your shelf
The background on your desktop
That thing dangling from your rear-view mirror
The colors and embellishments in any personal spaces you alone control

Essentially, all the art in your life that you consume on a regular basis.

“What kind of dining set defines me as a person?”

These things say something about you, in the same way the lines in your skin speak to a palm reader. It reminds me of what the main character of Fight Club says,”What kind of dining set defines me as a person?”

But is this Nature or Nurture? Prescriptive or Descriptive? Do you define your artistic choices, or do they define you? And how can you use this to make your writing better?

How Artistic Input Affects Artistic Output

At the 2015 4th Street Fantasy Writers Convention, Marissa Lingen brought up the concept of ‘story beats.’  I asked her if she had any sources of wisdom on the subject. Where can one learn about timing and story beats in fiction? How can one get better at them in their own writing?

After a bit of discussion, we determined that experience within your specific writing genre was a better teacher than any book on the subject. The main problem is that each genre has its own norms and audience expectations. The pacing and story beats of a high fantasy written today may be different than a horror story, or even a high fantasy written thirty years ago. The more you read within a genre, (paranormal romance novels, for example) the more you will develop a ‘spider sense’ or intuition about how a paranormal romance novel is supposed to be paced. You will be able to identify when the story sections are too long, too short, or just right.

This effect is more obvious in fixed-time media. The pace of movies and music are locked by the artist. Text is different, because the reader can effectively change the novel pacing, for example, by slowing down their reading speed – immersing themselves in the romancy bits and skimming over the fighty bits, or vice-versa.

This has certainly been my experience. In fact, I’ve seen enough horror movies now that I’ve developed a keen intuition of when things have sat too long, and I have a handy phrase for this phenomenon. “Someone needs to die now.”

Score one for nurture. It’s safe to say that what you put in is what you get out. So, fill your artistic diet with your own genre until your inner editor develops a database of timing and story beat references. Then apply them to your own writing. Yet another good reason you need to read within your own genre.

Now, let’s take this concept up a notch, but first, a revelation…

Advanced Artistic Diet Tactics For Authors

…I hate Diet Pepsi.

Growing up, when there was pop (Here in the midwestern US, we call it pop, not soda.) in the fridge, it was whatever happened to be on sale. So I had a wide variety of experience in this area. (Remember Tab? Ugh. Liquid Aluminum. Remember Tab Clear?) My mom said they were all sugar water, but my taste buds don’t lie. Eventually I migrated to diet pop and now I like Diet Coke and I don’t like Diet Pepsi.

However, on rare occasions, I will intentionally drink a Diet Pepsi. (And even more rarely, a Tab. Thankfully, they don’t make Tab Clear anymore.)  I do this to remind myself why I drink Diet Coke. When I experience that difference, it reminds me where my palate sits.

Likewise, you should read things outside of your genre. Yes, even if you don’t like them. Maybe especially if you don’t like them. Why would you do this?

Writing ‘rules’ such as timing, pacing and story beats are not really rules at all. They are norms, or best practices. They can be bent, broken and otherwise played with. But you can only do that (intentionally) if you understand them. Earlier, I told you to read within your genre to build up your understanding of timing within your genre. Once you have that skill established, I’m suggesting that you read outside of your normal genre to advance that skill.

For example, let’s pretend you write horror fiction:

Read a bunch of horror stories, and you’ll get a feel for the timing within your genre. You’re learning the rules.
Pick a new and different genre to research: cozy mysteries, action/adventure, noir fiction, or hard-boiled pulp. Read deeply and widely within that genre. Understand how that genre ticks, literally. You’ll walk away with a new set of timings, pacings and story beats to work with. You just learned some new rules.
Go back to reading horror stories. You’ll FEEL the way they are the same and more importantly, the way they are different. Now you can break the rules.

This is an awesome way to fuck up a perfectly good story. Mess with the norms too much and you’ll hear about it in your book reviews. This is an advanced tactic that I’d recommend using sparingly, like a spice. Once you can bake a good quality quiche, then you can start adding unexpected flavors like cayenne pepper, or peanut butter. Just make sure you have a grip on your own recipe first. Then experiment to make your writing stand out in a good way.

This technique can be used for more than just pacing. You could apply it to structure, characters or other aspects. This is the mad scientist lab where mashups like Seth Grahame-Smith’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter were hatched.

Twitter Summary

What you eat affects your body. What you read affects your writing. #WritingTips

Reading within your genre will help you get a feel for story beats. #WritingTips

Learn the rules… so you can break them. #WritingTips

The post How Does Your ‘Artistic Diet’ Affect Your Writing? appeared first on Conrad Zero.

Tripping the Dark Fantastic – Arcana 2015

2015 marks the 45th Arcana, Convention of the Dark Fantastic. This three-day convention was held at the Best Western hotel at Bandana Square in St. Paul, MN.

The con is intended for fans and creators of dark fiction, dark fantasy, dark sci-fi…

…let’s be honest, “Dark Fantastic” sums it up quite well.

Guests of Honor this year were Catherine Lundoff and Benjamin Percy. 

Here’s just some of the programming panels:

Small-Town Horror
Post-Apocalyptic Fiction
Wolves, Werewolves, and Wolfen in Fact, Folklore, Fiction, and Film (Arcana’s “Monster of the Year” for 2015 was the Werewolf.)
Women and Victorian Horror
Literary Horror vs. Lowbrow Horror
Penny Dreadful and Penny Dreadfuls
Discussions of HP Lovecraft, Sir Christopher Lee, Clive Barker, Tanith Lee and Angela Carter
Readings and signings by Catherine Lundoff and Benjamin Percy
Discussions of “What are you Reading?” and “What are you Watching?”

There were also showings of classic films, a dealers room, and an auction of things not only dark and beautiful, but Rare… Lots of out-of-print and hard to find things.

The dealers room included the artists collectively known as ‘Fastner and Larson.’ I got to meet Steve Fastner and watch him work. Pretty amazing stuff. Check out their gallery of amazing illustrations.

Was thrilled to meet and schmooze with some great authors, agents, fans and other folks who love dark fiction. It was nice to see familiar faces from MNSpec – Jason Wittman, Michael Merriam, Mike Schoenberg, and a ton of other cool people.

Overall the convention is small and relaxed. The tastes run the range from horror to weird, psychologial to distopia. If you read, write, watch or otherwise appreciate dark fiction then you should check out Arcana.

#OverheardAtArcana

“This is my gamehole face.” #OverheardAtArcana
“Maybe I should go home and write spider-erotica.” #OverheardAtArcana
“No one promises me a radioactive armadillo story and doesn’t deliver.” @clundoff #RadioactiveArmadillo #OverheardAtArcana

Links to Arcana, A Convention of the Dark Fantastic

Arcanacon.com
Arcana on Facebook

 

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Dark Fiction Review – Blade of the Destroyer (The Last Bucelarii Book 1) by Andy Peloquin

Blade of the Destroyer by Andy Peloquin is an exciting new novel in the Grimdark genre. Spectacular fight scenes, wonderful world-building, and an interesting plot all add up to a dark fantasy story you won’t want to miss!

From the Publisher:

The Hunter of Voramis is the perfect assassin: ruthless, unrelenting, immortal. Yet he is haunted by lost memories, bonded to a cursed dagger that feeds him power yet denies him peace of mind. Within him rages an unquenchable need for blood and death.

When he accepts a contract to avenge the stolen innocence of a girl, the Hunter becomes the prey. The death of a seemingly random target sends him hurtling toward destruction, yet could his path also lead to the truth of his buried past?

Characters

The protagonist (I hesitate to call him a ‘hero.’ He’s an anti-hero if there ever was one!) is an immortal and shadowy figure haunting the city of Voramis. Known only as The Hunter, he is an assassin par excellence, plying his trade tactics of disguise, deception and assassination throughout the city. He has a prestige for his wicked abilities, and is rightly feared by those who know him. Think Dexter crossed with James Bond, ritually bound to a cursed dagger that steals peoples souls, and drives the Hunter to kill.

Sadly, the story lacks any positive female characters. The majority of the female characters are either bedded or sold. The only potential female ‘lead’ in the story was back-stabbing in one scene, and used as a human shield in the next.  And there is a tender moment near the end of the story that was beyond the pale for me. I’d have found all this more acceptable if she kicked ass somewhere in the story. Thankfully, the story focuses on the Hunter as the primary character, and double-thankfully written in third-person point of view, although we do get inside the Hunter’s head plenty in the story.

Story

An interesting aspect of the story is the theme of good and evil. There are no clear-cut good or evil characters in the story, and the best example of this is The Hunter himself. His actions show that he is definitely torn between a love for, and hatred of, humanity. His cursed dagger drives him to carry out his ‘job’ as an assassin with a disturbingly detached remorselessness. But he also cares about people, going out of his way to provide food and shelter for some of the more fragile members of society.

I got the sense that his very dualistic mind is sated by both taking care of people and killing them. That nature made him feel very real on the page to me, and that duality is a major plot thread sparking an ending that will make you want to read more in this ongoing series.It’s refreshing to see a hero who isn’t looking to do “good” or “evil” for the sake of either, but looking to find some kind of balance or peace in between. The best part is the writing does not hit you over the head with this. This aspect is felt or experienced rather than spelled out in the story, the mark of a mature author.

The fight scenes are another highlight of Andy’s writing. I’ve read few stories where the action scenes are described with just the right amount of detail. Not enough detail, and I feel cheated out of some swashbuckling. Too much detail, and the story bogs down like a D&D battle against an Undead Tessearact.  The fight scenes in Blade of the Destroyer are a good balance of detail and really well done. This is a good thing for the book, as there are many fight scenes here!

Invulnerable characters always make me wary of a feeling I call The Superman Effect. I never really cared about Superman because I never worried that he would get hurt. So when I started reading Blade of the Destroyer, I was curious if this would be the case, seeing as the Hunter was immortal, healing from any non-mortal wound a’la Wolverine. I was pleased to discover that the author used some clever tricks to get around The Superman Effect. I won’t spoil the story here, but safe to say there are very real threats the Hunter faces, some worse than death.

Worldbuilding

Blade of the Destroyer follows our hero through the depths of the dank and beautiful city of Voramis, a dark fantasy amalgamation of places, some similar to old England, with many fantasy embellishments thrown in.

I liked how the Hunter’s “job” kept him moving through the entire city. Sometimes he would be in disguise, spying on the locals at the tavern, or attending fancy dinner parties. Later, he would don his assassin’s garb and travel from his safe house in the slums, sneaking into the homes of rich targets, and dashing across the rooftops a’la Assassin’s Creed. This allowed the experience of the whole city to be conveyed, not just the Hunter’s neighborhood.

Voramis itself is richly detailed. The oppressiveness of the city is delivered to you via all of your senses. Beyond just the sights, sounds and smells of the city, you experience everything from the tiles on the rooftops to the trash in the lowest alleyway gutter. The writing really fills your senses with the town, steeped in what seemed a stark contrast of rich beauty and abject poverty.

There is very little of the world mentioned outside of Voramis itself, but the ending does imply travel to other areas in future novels in the series. Because Andy was able to do so much worldbuilding with just a single city, I’m excited to read about the wide world the Hunter lives in.

Darkness

Graphic fight scenes abound. Slavery, child slavery, and graphic child deaths are all here. Make no mistake, this is grim, and this is dark. This is Grimdark, not Disney!

The darkness surrounding the Hunter himself is a mystery, and the ending of this story sounds like only the beginning of the Hunters quest for an inner resolution.

Between the world, the main character and the plot, there is plenty of grim darkness in Blade of the Destroyer to appease any fan of the genre.

Judgement

Blade of the Destroyer is an excellent Grimdark novel for those who like their worlds richly dark and fantastic, their stories packed with action, and their heroes anti.

Twitter Review

Check out the new Grimdark novel, Blade of the Destroyer by Andy Peloquin! http://amzn.com/B012EI9M4A

(Simply highlight the text above to share on twitter or facebook)

Links

Blade of the Destroyer on Goodreads
Blade of the Destroyer on Amazon
Andy Peloquin on Facebook
Andy Peloquin on Twitter
Author website – andypeloquin.com

The post Dark Fiction Review – Blade of the Destroyer (The Last Bucelarii Book 1) by Andy Peloquin appeared first on Conrad Zero.

Marvel’s Ant-Man Makes Interesting Promises (and Apologies?) Regarding Female Superheroes

For such a small movie, Ant-Man carries a lot of weight.

As someone who grew up on a steady diet of Marvel comics in my younger years, it’s hard not to be a fan of the Marvel series of movies. The latest entry, Ant-Man, did not disappoint. In fact, it had all the light-hearted, actiony fun of Guardians of the Galaxy. Disney would be proud.

But as someone who enjoys (and writes) kick-ass heroines in my fiction, it’s hard not to be ticked off at Marvel (and DC, and Hollywood in general) for leaving the ladies on the back burner. Sure, Black Widow, Rogue, Storm, Gamora, Scarlet Witch, et al. are definitely included, and they do kick ass, but by now it’s blatantly obvious they are in supporting-roles-only, and they don’t get their own movies.

Fans have been begging DC for a Wonder Woman movie for over a decade now. Instead Warner Bros coughed up Catwoman. And Marvel isn’t helping.

Hey Marvel, where’s Dazzler?

Hey Marvel, where’s Zatanna?

And WHY DO YOU KEEP MAKING HULK MOVIES? WTF?

Don’t even tell me it can’t be done. I have space for some awesome female superhero movies on my shelf right next to Underworld, Resident Evil and Silver Hawk. Take my fucking money already.

“It’s about damn time.”

Ant-Man takes all of my fan frustration and embodies it in the character of Hope van Dyne (played by .) Despite her awesome fighting abilities and her powers, she is kept on the sidelines by her father, Dr Hank Pym (played by .)  Hope is willing to put on the suit, to sacrifice, and to be the superhero she clearly is. She’s also genuinely pissed that she’s being held back.

Hope’s final line in the movie is this: “It’s about damn time.” That climactic scene is a release to all the tensions built up by decades of super-dudes and mega-guys. It is a promise to fans that Marvel is done treating women as second-class superheroes.

All Apologies?

Yay, right? But what seems to be overlooked in all the celebration is a small but important scene in the middle of the movie. A frustrated Hope gets in her car to leave, and Scott Lang (aka Ant-Man, played by ) jumps into the passenger seat to talk her into staying.

I don’t remember the conversation verbatim, but Scott explains to Hope that the reason her father is willing to put him in the suit but keep her out of it is “obvious.” He is expendable. She is not. “It’s proof that he loves you,” Scott says.

Think about that for a moment.

Could this be an explanation by Marvel as to why female superheroes have been kept off the front lines for so long? Could it be that Stan Lee & Co didn’t want to see women get beaten to a bloody pulp, like The Punisher? Maybe. 

Is it a good rationale? Of course not.

But in light of the ending of Ant-Man, is it an acceptable apology?

You Bring This Up NOW?

Back when I had less-than-no money, I used to write inside birthday cards, “I would have put some money in this card, but I’ve already sealed the envelope!” Likewise, it’s a joke to wait till the end of the movie and then hear, “Yeppers, It’s about damn time, amirite?” and then… roll credits.

Let me get this straight, you knew this was a problem when you were writing the script? But you didn’t actually change the script? You didn’t think that maybe Hope could hero up in the movie climax and help save the day? Better yet, change the movie concept to be Wasp instead of Ant-Man, because it’s about damn time, amirite?

Is Marvel really that stupid? Or are they just greedy and marketing told them that a Ant-Man movie will pull in more $$$ than a Wasp movie? Either way is difficult for me to swallow.

But, if Ant-Man really is Marvel Inc saying they are sorry for not having superhero movies with a female lead, I have some wisdom for them:

“Don’t be sorry. Just don’t do it again.”

Don’t get me wrong, Ant-Man is great. Go see it. But Marvel admitting that they have a problem is only calling attention to the fact that they aren’t really fixing it. “It’s about damn time.” is a weak promise, hastily tacked onto the END of the movie which, if you ask me, is about three movies too late and still leaves the problem unresolved.

But now that they’ve essentially called themselves out, every movie Marvel releases that doesn’t deliver on the promise only makes them look worse. From the looks of things, we’ll have to wait until 2018 when Captain Marvel comes out.

Hey Marvel, you can’t have a Secret Invasion without a Spider Woman. Just sayin.

And that space on my shelf is getting dusty…

The post Marvel’s Ant-Man Makes Interesting Promises (and Apologies?) Regarding Female Superheroes appeared first on Conrad Zero.

Reflections on 4th Street Fantasy Convention 2015

Photo by Sean Berry

I’ve attended the 4th Street Fantasy Convention several times over the last five years, and I have to say, this year was the best year yet.

Topping the list of what makes 4th Street awesome is Janet Grouchy, (who actually only gets grouchy if you don’t pick up after yourself.) With several hundred people attending 4th Street, I don’t know how she manages to make me feel special every time I go, but she does. 4th Street is lucky to have such an awesome dose of Southern Hospitality in human form.

But there are many other things which make the 4th Street Fantasy Convention a must-go for writers of all types.

4th Street Writing Topics

This year’s panel topics were the best yet. I’m usually able to glance at the list of topics and pick off the ones that make for a good bar run or break time. But this year there were plenty of Weapons Grade Topics for Authors:

Misdirection, Dirty Tricks, and False Fumbles
The Romance of the Breakdown
Surviving Yourself: Self-Care for Creative Types
Lento, Allegro, Chapter Break: Understanding Plot and Pacing Through Music
The Phantasmagorical Cross-Cultural Sexual Cogitation Panel
Hoisting the Lightning Rod Twice
How Do You Play the Cards You Ain’t Been Dealt?
Crossing the Genre Streams
The Consequences of Communication

It’s a 4th Street Fantasy Thing. You probably wouldn’t understand. I sure as hell don’t understand.

As an admin for the Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers Group, I occasionally choose and host the topics for our monthly discussions. So why should I even go to 4th street? Why don’t I simply swipe the 4th Street panel topic ideas and discuss them at MNSpec?

I attend 4th street because the panel discussions at MNSpec are like associate’s degree courses, while the discussions at 4th Street are at a Bachelor’s or even Master’s level. The presenting panelists have a proven track record of sales to traditional market publishers. Not to say that MNSpec members aren’t talented, but MNSpec has very few professional career writers, and fewer still who are making a living from their writing.

In a word, wisdom.

Writers go to 4th Street Fantasy Convention to psychically suck the wisdom out of professional authors. – [Click to Tweet This!]

Despite this level of professionalism, there is also a reasonable diversity among the panelists. That probably was more difficult to pull off than one might think. Someone remarked that it was refreshing to see panels that weren’t made up of all ‘white guys’. LOL.

Authors, Authors, And Even Mohr Authors

Between the panels, the majority of the Scribblies were generally hanging around: Emma Bull, Steven Brust, Pamela Dean, Will Shetterly and Patricia Wrede. Add to this list Elise Matthesen, Elizabeth Bear, Scott Lynch and many more local author superstars. Best of all, when you hang out with them for the whole weekend in the same place, you’re bound to rub elbows with them at least once. Let’s just hope that greatness is contagious.

But almost everyone who attends 4th street is a writer, so opportunities abound for discussions with people going through the same challenges you are. Some of the best discussions I had last weekend were expanding on the panel discussions in post-panel, ad hoc groups. I saw a lot of new faces this year and spoke with at least a dozen people I’d never met before. I made plenty of new connections. (Check out my related article over on wordsfromtheherd.com: Connection As Currency.)

Bonus Points

Love is all you mead. A variety of  home-brewed Writing Lubricants courtesy of Michael, Sherry and Kevin at 4th Street Fantasy Convention, 2015.

The con suite was well stocked with plenty of nosh, healthy and otherwise. There was plenty of pop, coffee and cold water, and a dozen ways to get your sugar fix, and all included in the con admission price. After hours, there were plenty of ‘writing lubricant’ floating around. Some friends brought a selection of homebrew mead which was delightful and very popular. We had to tackle Emma Bull who tried to sneak off with a bottle of honey-cherry mead.

You might not understand the yarn swap until you sit down at a panel discussion and see how many people are knitting in the audience. The book swap was a table covered with well-worn fantasy and sci-fi. Have a novel, leave one. Need a novel, take one. Gamemaster/Larpster Kevin McIntyre brought a massive collection of games to fill the spaces between programs and into the late hours. And there was also afternoon tea, and the post panel music event.

Achievements To Unlock

As I said, this year’s 4th street convention was the best ever for me, but there’s always room for improvement, isn’t there? Truth is, the items below are nitpicks, none of which involve the real reason people go to 4th street in the first place. But consider the items below as bonus points and not rants.

Musical Chairs

Emma Bull – The Queen Of Urban Folk

It should be no surprise that many authors are also musically inclined, and so the convention hall late-night, post-panel, space-time has evolved into an open mic music night. Previously, this ‘jam’ has gone round-robin, but this year there was a set list posted that covered from 9pm till midnight. It wasn’t clear to me how anyone got onto that list. To be fair, I arrived after work on Friday, so maybe there was a signup sheet and I missed it? Anyway, the space was released for open music jams at midnight. Same with Saturday night.

The result was a great show each night. I got to watch Emma Bull and friends belt out “Home on the Range.” And it was great. True story.

Unfortunately, people like myself who brought music gear but left before midnight didn’t get a chance to participate.  Talking with others after the event, there was a bit of dissent about this change. I see this as a result of supply-and-demand. 4th street has a large number of very talented musicians to pick from. And it seems that they did.

The structured version of the music night seems to use the same method they use to pick and schedule panelists, which sounds reasonable. But I think that the application process should have been more open and obvious. (And if people were hand-chosen, add ‘egalitarian’ to that list.) Half hour sets might have been better, giving more people an opportunity to play. Trust me, there wouldn’t be any trouble filling the evening with music. Coulda also got Cats Laughing to play a song or two. Jus’ sayin.

Where’s The Merch Booth?

Years ago, 4th street had a dealers room, which came in very handy. I remember after a panel about killing off characters, I dashed over, bought Scott Lynch’s book, The Lies of Locke Lamora, then zoomed back to the post-panel hubbub and asked him to sign it for me. But the dealers room is long gone. Strangely, they are still holding an auction after some of the panels (not every one, thankfully) with the goal of cutting expenses for the con. Seemith to me that a dealers table would help, especially when the authors are there to sign the merch! Not sure why this isn’t happening, but seriously, bands have been doing this for decades. Anyone else care to see a 4th Street Merch Booth?

If there was a vendor/merch booth, the auction items could be listed/shown there. The auction itself could then be held there too, (blind auction, perhaps?) This might make more money than a live auction, and eliminate the panel interruption…. which reminds me of another improvement that could be made…

Auctionitis

The auctioning of items is kept quick and entertaining, and they try to cut the panels down to fit the auctioning in, so it doesn’t bother me too much. But I still don’t like that many of the items being auctioned seem like stuff they scrounged up the night before the con. Scott Lynch’s used fireman’s helmet comes to mind. As does a handful of plastic tentacles signed by the Scribblies. This year, a nearly-undamaged out-of-print, signed hardback of Dune was offered. Meh.

What really got the crowds interest was a hardcopy manuscript for Mary Robinette-Kowal’s upcoming book! It pulled in around $200. Previously, they have auctioned off a manuscript critique from Emma Bull and Will Shetterly. Now that is something that readers/writers will open their wallets for. Other ideas off the top:

How about lunch with Emma Bull? (lunch with each of the Scribblies auctioned separately would cover an entire con, btw)
Writing critique by Pamela Dean?
Advanced reader copy, or the opportunity to proofread Steven Brust’s next novel before it’s released?
Appear as a character in Elizabeth Bear’s next novel?
A book blurb from Scott Lynch?
Book Club visit by Patricia Wrede?
A ticket to the (now sold out) viable paradise?
A con poster signed by all the Scribblies?

If a group of smart people sat around and thought about it, they could come up with better things to auction, and I think they’d make a lot more money at the auction, selling things writers really love, and can’t get anywhere else.

Want even more moneys? Share the list of things up for auction in advance of the con. I’d save up some coin for some of these things, and I know other writers would too. These things shouldn’t be impulse buys. They would also give people more reasons to go to the con besides the programming.

Links for 4th Street Fantasy Convention

If you’re a speculative fiction writer, then get your ass to 4th street. I’ll see you there next year. Janet promised me Louisiana Coffee.

4th Street Official Website (2015)
Fourth Street on Facebook
Twitter Conversation Hashtag: #4thstfantasy

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