Matt Forbeck's Blog, page 48

Carpathia Picked

The folks at Fantasy Faction asked the editors at many of the top genre fiction publishers to pick the top five books they're most excited about bringing out in 2012. Angry Robot skirted the issue of having to pick favorites by choosing five of its novels with interesting stories about them. They highlighted Adam Christopher's Empire State, Chuck Wendig's Blackbirds, Anne Lyle's The Alchemist of Souls, Mike Shevdon's Strangeness & Charm, and my Carpathia. 

About Carpathia, Angry Robot wrote:

April 2012 sees the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic, and the subsequent rescue of the survivors on the RMS Carpathia. Interestingly, the Carpathian mountains are the ones that surround Transylvania. Forbeck's book posits the question – what if the survivors of the Titanic were rescued by the Carpathia only to find it is inhabited by blood-sucking fiends? (Vampires, in this case, not bankers). Pure B-Movie thrills, where the lucky ones went down with the ship…

Look for Carpathia on shelves in March, just ahead of the 100th anniversary of the loss of the Titanic.

BNW Trilogy Kickstarter is Live!

I just launched the first Kickstarter drive for my 12 for '12 project! This is for the trilogy of novels I plan to write set in the same world as my Brave New World Roleplaying Game.

Kickstarter is a fantastic crowdfunding service that helps creators (like me) take pre-orders for new projects from readers (like you!). The best part about it is that you can pledge as much as you like, but you only get charged if we hit the minimum goal. Even then, you only get charged once the drive ends.

In this case, I chose to end the drive on December 12 at noon. Sharp eyes might notice that this is 12/4 12:00.

I have to thank everyone who's given me so much advice about this project over the past few weeks. You really did me a world of good. Special thanks goes out to Darren Orange for cutting the video together and doing such a great job with it. Speaking of the video:



I hope that whet your appetite. Be sure to head over to the Kickstarter page to check it out, and don't be shy about spreading the word. I'm grateful for your support!

The BNW Kickstarter Rewards

I was all set to launch the Kickstarter for the first of the 12 for '12 trilogies today, but I've been sidetracked by delays in Amazon Payments verifying my bank account. I love my small-town bank (1st National Bank of Beloit), but there are times that it would be easier to be one with one of the nationals instead. With luck, it should be a short delay, maybe a day.

In the meantime, since I have the extra time, I thought I'd run the reward for the first Kickstarter past you. These are for the trilogy based on my Brave New World Roleplaying Game, a dystopian world packed with stunning superheroes, powerful themes, and political intrigue.

This is all subject to change until I post the Kickstarter page. Here's your chance to comment on the particulars before I launch the project, so don't be shy. Let me know what you think.

The Game Plan

I'm hoping to line up about $5k worth of pledges for each 12 for '12 book before I write it. Because I'm so eager to start the first book, though, I'm setting the goal for this Kickstarter project at only $3k. Once we reach that, I'll get ready to start writing the first book on January 1, 2012. After that, though, we have a few other goals to shoot for too:

$8k: The second book in the trilogy is unlocked! This gets added to the ebook and print omnibus editions rewards for free!
$12k: An ebook edition of "Goblintown Justice," a short story set in the Shotguns & Sorcery setting of the second trilogy is unlocked and added on to all reward levels for free!
$15k: The third book in the trilogy is unlocked! This gets added to the ebook and print omnibus editions rewards for free!

I want to thank you in advance for your support. Please pledge whatever you like or can, but also don't forget to spread the word far and wide about this project. Tell your friends, family, and neighbors and even strangers if they'll listen. It's going to be an amazing year, and I really can't wait to have you along for the ride.

Rewards






PLEDGE $5 OR MORE

Extra: An ebook edition of the first Brave New World novel (delivered in both ePub and Kindle formats).

PLEDGE $25 OR MORE

Player: A personalized and autographed ebook edition of the first BNW novel (delivered in both ePub and Kindle formats). If books 2 and 3 are unlocked, you'll get copies of those too. Plus, an MP3 of Makeshift Prodigy's "Revolution," to go along with the book. Plus, you'll be credited as a Player in the ebook editions.

PLEDGE $50 OR MORE

Citizen: A limited edition hardcover of the first BNW novel, as well as the eBook edition. Please add $10 for international shipping.

PLEDGE $100 OR MORE

Guide: A personalized and autographed limited edition hardcover of the first BNW novel, as well as the eBook edition. If books 2 and 3 are unlocked, you'll get copies of those too as part of an exclusive omnibus edition. Plus, an MP3 of Makeshift Prodigy's "Revolution," to go along with the book. You'll be credited as a Guide in the hardcover and ebook editions. Please add $10 for international shipping.

PLEDGE $150 OR MORE

Sidekick: All the benefits of being a Guide, plus you'll have the chance to read the book as it is being written, delivered in weekly installments in all its to-be-polished glory. You'll be credited as a Sidekick in the hardcover and ebook editions.

PLEDGE $250 OR MORE

Hero: All the benefits of being a Sidekick, plus I'll name a character in the book after you. You'll be credited as a Hero in the hardcover and ebook editions.

PLEDGE $500 OR MORE
Limited Reward: 10 of 10

Delta: All the benefits of being a Sidekick, plus I'll work with you to create a superhero or villain (a Delta) as a character in the book. You'll be credited as a Guide in the hardcover and ebook editions.

PLEDGE $1,000 OR MORE
Limited Reward: 5 of 5 remaining

Alpha: All the benefits being a Sidekick, plus I'll work with you to create a major superhero or villain (an Alpha) for use in the series. You'll be credited as an Alpha in the hardcover and ebook editions.

PLEDGE $2,500 OR MORE
Limited Reward: 1 of 1 remaining

Omega: All the benefits of being a Sidekick, plus I'll fly to an agreed-upon location in the United States with 25 copies of the hardcover (or the omnibus hardcover edition if books 2 and 3 are unlocked) for a reading and a signing with you and your friends. This comes with a copy of the ebook edition and an MP3 of Makeshift Prodigy's "Revolution," to go along with the book. You'll be credited as an Omega in the hardcover and ebook editions.

PLEDGE $5,000 OR MORE
Crossroads Omega: All the benefits of being a Sidekick, plus I'll fly to an agreed-upon location anywhere in the world with 50 copies of the hardcover (or the omnibus hardcover edition if books 2 and 3 are unlocked) for a reading and a signing with you and your friends. This comes with a copy of the ebook edition and an MP3 of Makeshift Prodigy's "Revolution," to go along with the book. You'll be credited as a Crossroads Omega in the hardcover and ebook editions.

Dorkland Raves over Amortals

Over at Dorkland, reviewer Chris Helton loved Amortals. He starts out calling it a "a cross between Robert Heinlein and Rudy Rucker," and he winds up saying:

If Matt Forbeck's Amortals had come out in 1986, I would have been grouping it along side of some of the greats of the cyberpunk movement. I think this is a book that can stand beside Gibson's Neuromancer, Sterling's Islands in the Net, Rucker's Ware novels, or Williams' Hardwired.

Those are some heavy names to toss around when discussing any book, but Chris justifies it with his excellent review. Be sure to check out the whole thing.

First 12 for '12 Trilogy: Brave New World

I've been wrestling with how I want to run 12 for '12, and I've decided that the best way is to set it up as four groups of books. At least three of these will be trilogies, while the fourth might be a set of standalone books instead. Like most writers, I have loads of ideas for books, so the next question becomes, which trilogy do I want to tackle first.

I want to start things off with a bang, so I decided to return to one of my most personal works: the Brave New World Roleplaying Game I created back in 1999. For those of you who don't know, Brave New World* is a dystopian setting in which you play superpowered rebels working to take back America after all superpowered people are ordered to either work for the government or go to jail. This all starts when the entire city of Chicago is destroyed in 1976, and the entire nation has been under martial law ever since.

The game's slogan reads, "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what it can do to you."

I wrote Brave New World more than two years before 9/11, but the themes it raised then seem prescient now. There's a lot of intriguing ground to cover there, and it's only gotten more fertile over the past 12 years. I can come up with at least a trilogy worth of stories there, easy.

To top it off, I've been working with an independent film house, Reactor 88 Studios, to get a Brave New World feature film in the works. We have an awesome proof-of-concept piece we shot a couple years ago — see below for that — and the setting's been on my mind ever since. I sold the game to AEG years ago, but they've kindly licensed it back to me for this project. (Many thanks to my pal John Zinser for that!)

Better yet, the Reactor 88 guys have offered to pitch in on the production of the novels and the Kickstarter video, so it's a damn fine match and should make for an excellent Kickstarter kickoff.

If you want to know more about the game and the setting, the Wikipedia entry is an excellent place to start. Be warned, though, that it's chock full of spoilers.

I hope to get the Kickstarter video shot this week and have the Reactor 88 folks (especially director Darren Orange) slap it into shape over the weekend. If that works out, expect to see the Kickstarter project launch early next week!

[* Yes, I know it shares a title with Aldous Huxley's novel. It comes from the quote in Shakespeare's The Tempest. When Miranda, the daughter of the wizard Prospero, sees another person besides her father for the first time — a handsome man who becomes her love interest — she remarks, "O brave new world that has such people in't." I couldn't think of a better phrase to capture a game about superheroes in a dystopian land, so it stuck. To make the difference between my work and Huxley's crystal clear, the Reactor 88 folks took to calling it Matt Forbeck's Brave New World, and despite how silly that might make me feel, I'll probably wind up going with that for the exact same reason.]

 

New 12 for '12 Logo

[image error]My pal Jim Pinto of Postworld Games saw my post about 12 for '12 the other day and got so excited about it that he went and made me a new logo for it. I think it's pretty sharp, so I'm going to make good use of it. Thanks, Jim!

Jim also created the card art and graphics for Gorilla Games' current Kickstarter project, World Conquerors. Designer Jeff Siadek always puts a lot of heart and fun into his games, so I'd love to see this one get funded. They only have four days left, and they're about halfway there.

I'm going to shoot the video for the first 12 for '12 Kickstarter project soon. At the moment, I'm planning to break the whole thing up into four different projects to make it easier for people to get on board. Each project should feature either a linked trilogy or a collection of singleton books.

Of course, all of that's subject to change as bigger and better ideas come along, but that's part of the beauty of doing it this way. When a better notion comes along — whether from me or from one of you! — I can jump on it and make it part of the project right away.

More Magic Covers

Over the past week, IDW released two more covers for the Magic: The Gathering comic book series I'm writing for them. The first is by Christopher Moeller, whose artwork I've loved for years. It features our hero, Dack Fayden, running for his life.

This is, I believe, the third cover for the Magic: The Gathering #1. Like many publishers, IDW gives out copies of its comics with rare variant covers to retailers who buy lots of copies of the book. This one is the rarest of the lot, and like the regular versions it should be in stores and on e-readers in December.

Believe it or not, Martín Cóccolo's interiors are just as fantastic as the covers. Martín's a master of both perspective and anatomy, and he breathes real life into the characters he draws. It's been wonderful watching him turn my script into an actual comic, and I cannot wait for you all to see the finished book when it comes out.

IDW also released the cover for Magic: The Gathering #2, which comes out one month later, in January 2012. This again features Dack, but this time he's just burst through a window, which means he's entering a scene rather than leaving.

Karl Kopinski created the art for this one. Karl's done a lot of great work for Games Workshop (for which I've written many things) and for Osprey Publishing, which owns Angry Robot, the publisher of my original novels. You can see here just how talented he is. I recently turned in the second draft of the script for issue #2, and Karl's image captures one of the early scenes in it perfectly.

Announcing 12 for '12

Earlier this year, I had this insane idea, and I've been trying to talk myself out of it ever since. I call it "12 for '12."

It's a year-long project in which I plan to write a novel every month in 2012.

Yeah, I know. It's nuts, but I can't get it out of my head.

It may not be as insane as it sounds. By novel, I mean a work of fiction that's at least 50,000 words. The Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards each define a novel as anything over 40,000 words, but I want to be a bit more ambitious.

Fifty thousand words may seem like a lot, but most of my novels range from 80–100,000 words, so that makes these substantially shorter, more in line with the size of novels that used to get published before the publishing industry made the push for doorstop-sized tomes we see on shelves now that take years to write and months to read.

That's also, not coincidentally, the number of words writers shoot for during National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo happens in November every year, which means it's just around the corner. Last year, over 200,000 people gave it a shot, and 37,500 actually crossed the finish line on time. Of course, I'm hoping to take on not a month-long sprint but a year-long marathon.

I'm a full-time writer — this is my day job — and disasters aside, I write fast, often between 3,000 to 5,000 words per day. That makes 50,000 per month eminently doable. Toss in the other freelance gigs I don't plan to give up, though, like writing the Magic: The Gathering comic for IDW, and that makes it a bit more of a press.

No matter what angle I attack this from, though, it's going to consume a lot of time. Much as I'd love to, I can't feed my kids if I take the better part of my year off to write a dozen novels. That's where you can help.

I'm planning to launch a Kickstarter project on November 1 — right along with NaNoWriMo— to line up preorders for the books. This is a crowd funding system in which you can pledge a certain amount of money toward a goal that I establish. If we meet the goal, your credit card gets charged, and I get to work. If it falls short, you don't get charged, and I go on my merry way.

This isn't a charity, though, in any sense. In exchange for your hard-earned bucks, you can pick from a variety of rewards, including ebooks, softcovers, hardcovers, your name as a character, and so on.

For an excellent example, check out Tobias Buckell's The Apocalypse Ocean novel, which just got funded last night. Or Jeremy Keller's Technoir RPG. Or Gareth-Michael Skarka's Far West RPG, for which I promised to write a short story as part of the campaign.

I'm still wrestling with the format of the project at the moment, and with the types of rewards I hope to offer. I might set it up as a series of four trilogies rather than as a single, massive challenge. I might offer the chance to look over my virtual shoulder as I write. In the end, though, the idea remains the same.

I'd like to write a dozen novels next year, and I want you to dare me to do it.

 

Magic #1 Card

IDW recently released this image of the card that will accompany the first issue of the Magic: The Gathering comic I wrote for them. Like all the cards for the series, it's an older card with gorgeous new art, which makes it collectible and fun but not something anyone should feel forced to buy so they can use it in their game. It features the series' hero doing what he does best: taking something that's not his.

The first issue is due to hit stores in December. I cannot wait for you all to read it!

Back from GDC Online

I spent most of this week in Austin, Texas, at GDC Online (which isn't really online much at all, despite the title). I'd never been to Austin before, but the city welcomed me in and treated me like an old friend: it fed me well and kept me up drinking and chatting all night.

I got in late Sunday morning and wandered around town until my room was ready. That evening, I met up with a bunch of folks from the IGDA Writers SIG, plus longtime tabletop industry friends Jesse Scoble (now with Kings Isle in Austin), Thomas Reid, and Scott Haring. (It's free to join the Writers SIG mailing list, by the way, and a great means of networking with other video game writers.) Afterward, I had dinner with the other speakers in for the Game Narrative Summit, followed by a pilgrimage to the Ginger Man.

GDCO is large enough to support several groups of people involved in video games, but the writers have been wise enough to establish the Ginger Man as the default hangout. Go wander off and have lunch and dinner where you like. Hit a few of the parties in the evenings. But wind up your night there, and you know you're among friends.

I didn't have any duties on Monday, so I hung out with Jesse Scoble and hit a number of the seminars, including watching Nolan Bushell (founder of Atari) give the keynote. One of the many highlights of the day was meeting many of the great people at Blizzard and attending their party later that evening.

The next day, I gave a talk called "Building a Transmedia Property." This sandwiched me in between Geoff Long and Aaron Linde, each of whom gave stellar presentations of their own on the subject, making for a Transmedia Tuesday Triple Threat. I had forgotten the dongle to connect my laptop to the AV system in the room, but I had copied it onto a USB stick in case of disaster. Aaron kindly let me transfer it to his computer for the talk.

The downside was that when the Keynote file opened up, it had lost my custom settings, which would have shown my notes I'd written to go along with the slides. That meant I had to wing it, using the slides as my only mnemonics. I think this worked better, as it kept me from consulting notes and forced me to talk directly to the audience the entire time. Many people complimented the speech, and no one walked out, so I count it as a win.

That night, I hit the WGA West mixer and the GDCO Speakers Party, then had an excellent dinner with many new friends before hoofing it to the Ginger Man once more. Wednesday was a bit more of the same, leading up to heading out for the airport that afternoon. At one point, we had thirty-some people lined up for an impromptu lunch, but we wound up MIRVing off into smaller groups. Mine included Thomas Reid, Sheri Graner Ray, Chris Clark (of Magnificent Egos fame), Brian BlankingOnTheLastName, and Ryan Dancey.

I'd list off all the wonderful people I met, but I'm sure I'd forget more than a few of them. I do want to shout out a special thanks to the Game Narrative Summit Advisory board, including Tom Abernathy and Lev Chapelsky and especially my old pal Richard Dansky, who encouraged me to submit a talk and come out in the first place.

 

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