Daniel Sherrier's Blog, page 47

The 25 best-mannered people of the past 25 years

The National League of Junior Cotillions has announced its list of the “25 Best-Mannered People of the Past 25 years.”

I came across it as a press release and thought it might be worth sharing as a reminder to start 2015 off on a kind note. (Though I do question ranking a comedian as more well-mannered than Mother Theresa, but the concept as a whole is still a nice thought.)

So, happy New Year! Behave yourselves.

Hello, Wattpad!

I joined Wattpad today. It’s a lovely website where writers can post sample chapters and work-in-progress excerpts…and readers can enjoy them for free.

Sounded like a winner to me.

I’ve posted the beginning of the upcoming, not-yet-fully-edited Earths in Space vol. 2: We Must Evolve:

Of course, if you still haven’t read Earths in Space vol. 1: Where Are the Little Green Men?, its beginning is on there, too:

And of course, my Wattpad page wouldn’t be complete without “Touch,” the first novelette in RIP vol. 1: Choices After Death:

So, yes, I hereby tease you with free book beginnings.

Super Comics: Flash #73-79 (1993)

Attention, Flash fans new and old — I’ve written a post over at Smash Cut Culture that might be of interest. Anyone else remember this storyline?

Barry Allen, like many comic book characters, used to be dead. But unlike most others, he stayed dead for over twenty years. Oh, he’s alive and well now—more so than ever, thanks to The Flash television series on the CW. Nevertheless, DC Comics once killed him off, giving him a heroic death in 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths miniseries, and he didn’t return until 2009’s Flash: Rebirth.

During that time, Wally West, the former sidekick Kid Flash, took over as the Flash. Wally was introduced in the late 1950s as the young nephew of Barry’s girlfriend Iris. (Unlike their TV counterparts, Barry and Iris were together from the Flash’s first appearance, and they did not grow up together.) When Barry and Iris eventually married, Barry became not only Wally’s mentor and idol, but his uncle as well.

Wally’s series ran for about 250 issues from 1987 to 2009, and his time as the Flash can be read as a coming-of-age story. He progressed from a self-centered, twenty-year-old kid to a family man and stalwart member of the Justice League of America.

A pivotal chapter in his growth occurred in a storyline called “The Return of Barry Allen” in 1993, which spanned issues #73 to #79 written by Mark Waid and drawn by Greg La Rocque. The story isn’t some good vs. evil struggle, but one with very personal stakes. It’s about the balance between idolizing your hero and becoming your own person, the importance of protecting a legacy, and the dreaded possibility that your role model might not live up to your expectations.

Read the rest, please.

Get to Know…Ronel van Tonder

What time is it? Time for another author interview! Please welcome sci-fi author Ronel van Tonder! And if you stick around for the Rafflecopter at the end, a $50 Amazon giftcard might be in your future.

Hello, Ronel!

Tell us about your book. 

It’s a dystopian science-fiction novel set in the not-too distant future. It takes place in South Africa, approximately the Johannesburg/Pretoria area. Sunny savannah, highveld. A hint of lions.

After a solar storm knocks out the world’s power grid, martial/military law takes over. Friendly SUN Corporation builds a few domes, shoves as many people in there as they can, and leave the rest to their fate. The people in the domes flourish with the absence of money and the influx of technology, while the people outside scrape an existence under a harsh military dictatorship.

It follows the story of two women from separate halves of this new world as they become inextricably tangled in a web of conspiracies and deceit.

But despite how I make it sound, it’s a really harrowing, roller-coaster kind of book.

What’s the book’s opening line? Why did you start there?

Okay, I’m really old-school when it comes to novel formats. I believe in prologues and epilogues. So this is the prologue:

“Eric came to a stop, listening to the girl’s terrified whimpers as he moved through the old farmhouse, floorboards protesting his weight in a series of creaks and groans.”

Since the first chapter starts at a future ‘disco’ I didn’t want potential readers to be put off by the ‘fluffy’ feeling in the first chapter. There’s some sinister stuff going on in the background. And that’s what the prologue is for. It’s a snippet from the events of “Black Sunday,” the day the world went dark.

The stark contrast between that prologue and the opening chapter where we meet protagonist number one, Peppermint, should be sufficient to give an idea of the ensuing discordancy found throughout the rest of the book. The second chapter then heads over to Jinx, the second (diametric) protagonist.

What do you most enjoy about writing?

It’s like a strange superman(woman) moment.

Take (1x dull and dreary website designer) + (keyboard) x (imagination) = creator of fantastical worlds.

I love my life, so it’s not about escape. But I feel like after I’ve written something that it was a story that had to be told. A character that had to die/feel pain/love/live/experience. A plot that had to be unraveled. And an ending that had to be ended.

Please share a writing tip you’ve found helpful.

Write every day. Every day. No exception. Every single day. Even if it’s one sentence.

Write every day.

What interests you about science fiction?

I’m a tech geek. I love PC games and anything to do with technology, so I suppose science-fiction is a natural genre for me to dabble in. I just… get it. Not the hectic “insert formula for plasma rifle here” kind of stuff, just the more techy stuff. Like, I was easily able to imagine where technology was headed, and did my best to do it realistically. Hopefully it shows.

What distinguishes your book from the other sci-fi stories out there?

There’s so much geekery in it, you can technically be classified as a geek just by finishing it.

I put a lot of time and effort into creating the tech, the world, and the characters. So they’re mine. Wholly, completely, mine. I suppose that would be the epitome of unique.

Why is this story structured as a trilogy?

It’s how the story wanted to be written. I’m usually powerless to resist such explicit instructions.

I could envision three different covers, three different titles, and three different (epic) endings to each book.

What’s your day job? Does it influence your writing in any way?

Website designer.

Yes… and no. The tech and software et cetera that I’ve been exposed to during my working hours has definitely made research minimal. But it in no way influenced any of the story points or characters.

What’s the best book you’ve ever read?

Mirror, Graham Masterton. Man that’s one creepy-ass book. Think Alice in Wonderland with some demons and cherubic (yet ghastly evil) children. It’s a really great book.

Who is your favorite fictional character? (Any medium)

Darth Vader = Force choke/Light sabers. Need I say more?

If you could have one super-power, what would it be and why?

Max Payne’s Bullet Time. I could finish an entire novel in a weekend. Awesome.

What’s next for you?

Completing the series. Then starting a new series (also sci-fi – space opera). Then starting a paranormal series. Then two horrors and a book about a talking dog. Don’t laugh.

Where can people learn more about your work?

My website! Everything’s on there. Including some of my favourite memes, chapter reveals and competitions.

Oh, and all my social media links:

http://www.twitter.com/RonelVanTonder

http://www.facebook.com/Ronel.Van.Tonder.Author

http://za.linkedin.com/in/ronelvantonder/

http://www.wattpad.com/user/ronelvantonderza

https://www.google.com/+RonelvantonderCoZa

http://www.pinterest.com/ronel1014/

https://www.goodreads.com/ronelvantonder

Tell us one fun fact about yourself.

I cross-dress on Tuesdays. Ha, ha, ha – no, I don’t.

Okay, I do.

No, really, I don’t.

Thank you, Ronel!

Ronel is also running a giveaway for a $50 Amazon giftcard. So you might want to take a look at this:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Let us look now…to the future!

I made a bunch of progress today on my next book, the one that will come out after Earths in Space vol. 2.

What is it? Well, we have to keep some of the mystery alive, now don’t we?

But here’s one little tidbit: It’s a concept and characters I’ve written first as stage plays, then years later as a television pilot script, and recently as comic book scripts. Now all that work spanning eleven years and multiple media comes together in a novel.

And then after this unannounced project…more RIP! I shan’t neglect the ghost fights for too much longer.

Super Comics: The Avengers #19-22 (1999)

Over at Smash Cut Culture, I’ve started a series looking back at the comic books that inspired the films and TV shows. And where better to start than a great Avengers storyline featuring the titular villain of the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron film?

Avengers stories are at their best when the stakes are both huge and personal, and that’s what we get in the “Ultron Unlimited” storyline that ran in The Avengers (vol. 3) #19-22 in 1999, written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by George Perez—two top, veteran talents in the comics industry.

The cast includes a few Avengers moviegoers have already met—Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor—as well as some they’re about to meet—the Scarlet Witch and Vision—and even a couple whom they might meet versions of in the upcoming Ant-Man movie—Hank Pym and the Wasp. The Black Panther, who’s got a film in the works, rejoins the team for this adventure. And then there’s Wonder Man, who filmmakers will probably get around to eventually if the super-hero trend keeps up long enough; Firestar, who ‘80s kids might remember from the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends cartoon; and Justice, who…well, they can’t all be in the pictures, can they?

In this storyline, Ultron is taking another shot at his usual goal of replacing organic life with robotic life. But this time includes some twists. He actually does destroy an entire small country as his opening salvo, which gives tremendous gravity to the proceedings. And he kidnaps his “family” so that he can use their brainwaves to generate unique personalities for the robotic life he wants to take over the world.

Read the rest, please.

 

The scientific process vs. a preschooler’s imagination

I was babysitting my 4-year-old niece the other weekend, and she posed a deep philosophical question.

“Uncle Danny,” she asked, seriously, “do toys come to life at night?”

That immediately created different philosophical questions within my own mind—What’s the right age to take away that magic? And do I want to be the one to pull the trigger?

Normally for this type of inquiry, my response would be, “Let’s see what Mommy thinks.” But my sister was working, so the buck could not be passed. The kid was looking to me to fill her in on the secret lives of toys, because naturally Uncle Danny is an expert in such matters.

I initially tried to hedge a bit: “That sort of thing might just happen in our imaginations.”

“But I think they do come to life,” she insisted.

With only a moment to settle on a response I decided, you know what, this query about the alleged animus of toys might be an opportunity to begin introducing a young mind to the scientific process.

I told her we could figure this out by performing an experiment. We’d set a toy in a particular spot that night and remember that spot. Then in the morning, she would look to see if the toy had moved.

If it remained in the same spot, then that would serve as evidence to suggest it did not come to life and did not spend the night frolicking through the home under its own will. If the toy ended up in a different spot by the morning, then maybe it did have itself a little nocturnal adventure.

Only through careful observation of our environment can we learn what actually happens.

So of course I told her she needed to sleep the entire night in her own bed for the experiment to be valid.

She selected a Mickey Mouse doll and sat him against the base of her dresser. “I think Mickey will move,” she hypothesized.

I was starting to feel a little guilty, because obviously in the morning she’d find Mickey in that same exact spot, and the world would become less magical.

But I needn’t have worried. The next day, she excitedly called to tell me that Mickey had moved.

She called me on a plastic toy phone. (My mother relayed the message.)

That’s probably fine for a 4-year-old. She’ll figure out the truth about the same time she begins to apply critical thinking to the concept of the Easter Bunny.

The scientific process apparently can’t compete with the imagination of a preschooler.

Get to Know…Nathaniel Danes

It’s been a while, but it’s author interview time! Joining us today is Nathaniel Danes, author of The Last Hero. Welcome, Nathaniel!

Tell us about your book.

It’s a space opera/military sci-fi novel that takes place a couple hundred years in the future, not long after first contact with a race of pacifists conveniences mankind to disarm. After Earth’s first colony is destroyed by a third race humanity starts a crash remobilization, forcing my main character out of an uneventful, though, fulfilling civilian life.

The book is far more than just about the struggle of war. In addition to a healthy dose of combat, the book has a strong emotional core surrounding the main character’s detachment from his daughter because of the time effects of near the speed of light travel.

What’s the book’s opening line? Why did you start there?

It starts off with Trent Maxwell, the last Medal of Honor recipient, performing a boring task at work before slipping off into a day dream of when he was a war hero. He’s content with his family life but misses the thrill of combat and the glory his brought him.

I began there to start setting up the reader for the internal struggle Trent battles with throughout the book. His warrior’s soul desperately wants to get in the fight, but his father’s heart pushes back. 

What do you most enjoy about writing?

Creating exciting universes and situations. I’m going blind from a genetic disorder, and writing worlds where I don’t have any limitations is kind of an escape for me.

Please share a writing tip you’ve found helpful.

Whenever I find myself stuck on how to work out a scene or plot line, I find it helpful to just stop thinking so hard about it. Go do something else, like read a book, go for a walk or grab a drink at the bar. Let your mind drift and many times you’ll find it landing on a solution by itself.

What interests you about science fiction?

I love to imagine what the future holds for our species. The universe is so huge and holds so many possibilities, it’s kind of frustrating to live in a time when we aren’t likely to see any of the really cool stuff. So, we have to use our imagination to leap forward.

What distinguishes your book’s alien threat from the other alien threats we’ve seen and read about?

Can’t say without giving too much away.

Why is this story structured as a trilogy?

I like trilogies. One book is too short to really get a deep story finished and sometimes it’s a drag to get sucked into a series that runs a dozen books before you get resolution. Three is the sweet spot. There’s a beginning, middle, and end.

What’s your day job? Does it influence your writing in any way?

I’m a federal lobbyist in Washington, DC. The only influence is the help my work has had on my writing. In government relations, you have to write a lot, and all that work over the years sharpened my pen.

What’s the best book you’ve ever read?

I’m going to say The Forever War because that is the book that got me hooked on reading sci-fi. Reading isn’t easy for me, so I usually got my sci-fi fix via TV and movies. But, one day I happened upon The Forever War and gave it a try. WOW!

Who is your favorite fictional character? (Any medium)

Daredevil, come on…of course I’m going to love a blind superhero.

If you could have one super-power, what would it be and why?

The ability to heal any injury or disease. Won’t it be great to be able to make a positive difference in so many lives.

What’s next for you?

I am editing book two of The Last Hero series now. Once that series is finished, I have already written the drafts of the first two books in another series and am working on another one in my head. Stay tuned for more great adventures!

Where can people learn more about your work?

Please visit my website, www.NathanielDanes.com. There you can learn more about me and read the first three chapters of The Last Hero for free.

Tell us one fun fact about yourself.

I am the youngest of 9 children.

Thank you, Nathaniel!

The pre-order page is live for Earths in Space: We Must Evolve

What’s this? A Kindle pre-order page for Earths in Space: We Must Evolve?

Why, yes, it is! And the pre-order page will turn into an order page on January 30, 2015.

Since it’s a pre-order page, preview content isn’t yet available. However, if you explore the hashtag #EIS2 on Twitter, you’ll find all sorts of mini-snippets I tweeted during the editing process. Additionally, I had posted a handful of work-in-progress excerpts on this website. You can find them by clicking on the “Earths in Space” category. I’ll be sure to add more over the next few months.

Meanwhile, the 116,000-word manuscript is currently in the hands (or at least computer) of editor Todd Barselow, who will no doubt help me find those all-important last-minute tweaks to take the book to the next level before its launch.

Evolution is a slow process, but it’s finally coming. Until then, you’ve got some time to catch up on Volume 1. (Many thanks to all who’ve read it!)

I’ll be at the Ladysmith Library this Wednesday!

I’ll be at the Ladysmith branch of Caroline Library, Inc., in Virginia this Wednesday, Nov. 5, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

So what’s in store? Perhaps some reading. Perhaps some Q&A. Paperbacks will definitely be available, and I will sign my name to them if so desired. It all depends on who shows up and what they want. I don’t like to give speeches, so we’ll keep it informal.

The Ladysmith Library is located at 7199 Clara Smith Drive, Ruther Glen, VA 22546.

By the way, I’ve donated one paperback each of RIP and Earths in Space to Caroline Library. A copy of RIP is also available in Henrico Public Library in Henrico County, Virginia. If you’re in those areas, please check them out so they’ll remain available.

Hope to see lots of nice people this Wednesday.