Things you need to know about this book: The Crashers

I’ve been getting some questions online lately about my current project. Probing, hard-hitting questions such as “What the hell is she talking about?” and “This doesn’t sound entirely awful, so how may I procure this piece of literature?” All fine lines of questioning, mind you, and I appreciate every bit of it. So, in the spirit of fairness and open, transparent dialogue (On the internet? Do go on!), I thought I would make a post to answer any and all questions you guys may have.

What the hell are you talking about?

The Crashers is a five part superhero fiction novel series. It follows the exploits of five very well-intentioned but ultimately unwitting heroes who are thrust into the realm of superpowers and immortality by a domestic terrorist attack in a made-up city. It starts off with a crash and ends in a war. They are a product of our modern society, for all of our fears and failings, hopes and prejudices, based on superhero archetypes of comics and literary fiction. A little Watchmen, a little Earth X, and a whole hell of a lot of Misfits, this book series is both my love letter to and dissection of the mythic nature of the genre itself.

The Crashers is a story about heroes who aren’t so super, and supers who aren’t so heroic. There are no radioactive Ubermensch or square-jawed slices of Grade A all-American justice. These are just people who were in the wrong place at the right time. Morality is situational, ethics are up to debate, and the ultimate question lies in the mythology itself: If you can only become a hero through the tradition of the heroic sacrifice, what happens when you can’t die? Does life lose its meaning in the face of immortality, or can you still find something profound as you stare into the abyss?

Also, there will be Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave references. So many Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave references.

Why do you call it The Crashers?

It started off as an offhand remark from the first book, in that all of this stemmed from a subway crash. After it a while it became the working title, then it just kind of stuck.  I wish I had a deeper reason other than a half-joke one of my characters makes because he’s kind of a dick, but that’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

Okay, so if it’s a superhero story, why aren’t you writing a comic?

That’s a good question. The answer is simple: I don’t know. On one hand, it would function very fluidly as a comic book. It would also make more sense to draw this junk than kill myself trying to find elegant cinematic ways to explain it you people. On the other, if I’m writing a story about comic books as a medium, and superhero comics as a genre, it feels a little too on-the-nose to write it as a comic, you know? Watchmen already did that, and I want to go in a different direction. It’s one part critique, one part impersonation, one part homage. I want to treat the book like a comic book read as novel, if that makes sense. (Gon’ get literary up in this bitch.)

Also, this is a story that’s all about people and the connections that they make, and I fear some of that emotional resonance might be lost in the translation from prose to comic. Who knows? I guess we’ll see.

So who is this book about?

It’s about a lot of people, with different ethnic backgrounds, economic classes, religions, sexual orientations and gender expressions. There’s Kyle, the disgraced cop. He’s a tattooed detective who lives in the attic. He keeps to himself and watches the entire city spiral out of control. He can’t die — he won’t even bleed — and he happens to have a network of connections in the local police department to help keep their asses out of jail. So, yeah, he’s in charge. Then there’s Clara, a genius who moves faster than a speeding bullet. She also talks faster than a hyper ten-year-old whacked out on Mountain Dew, and isn’t afraid to pants any and all astrophysicists willing to go toe-to-toe on her best day. Living forever is exciting for somebody who wants to watch the seas scorch and the sun explode in the next five billion years.

After that there’s Adam, an Afghanistan war veteran with a heart of gold. He was discharged after trying to eat a gun. Now he has superhuman strength, endurance and flexibility. He carries the team’s weight on his shoulders because nobody else is strong enough to try. Then comes Norah, a single-mother to a special needs child, who happens to wield total control over the base forces of the universe. For now she’s an elementary school teacher who’s home by six o’clock for dinner, homework and bedtime stories. And if she has time, she might put on a black hoodie and help Clara take the piss out of some thugs. Or, you know, whatever. And of course there’s Bridger, who used to sail the high seas of financial piracy and now sees a broken future. Unable to die of the cancer eating his body, he can only hope to hang on long enough to stop what’s coming down the line. In the meantime he’s tumbling in and out of feverish visions of a coming war and trying to make sense of his dream about fire and water. Oh, and he’s started collecting guns. (Shhh, don’t tell Adam.)

Then there are others out there, in the dark. Like Charlie Seven, the self-proclaimed moral authority who has the strength of seven men. And Libertine, the psychic leech who hollows people out for fun. And Idris, the homeless time-traveler who sees all the threads that Bridger can’t. And Bosie, the special forces veteran and pyrokinetic who finds himself on the wrong side of the fight. And Socha, the mute technopath who sees the entire world from a tiny white room. And Maya, the weather witch who trades her powers for a golden ticket out of her small Mexican border-town. And finally there’s Luther Kind, the ancient philosopher-king with whom Kyle is bartering for the fate of the city.

So how do you plan to publish this?

Very carefully? Actually, that’s a good question, since I don’t think anybody out there really even publishes superhero fiction? Not from what I’ve seen, anyway. I would love to get some funds together (Kickstarter anybody? No? Okay, fine then) and publish it as a free-to-read serial in order to maintain complete control over the series. I feel like the format lends itself to be being treated like a serialized comic, and it would be neat to play around with that. Maybe put some covers together once a month and such. That’s a while down the line, though.

Have you written any of this yet? If so, can I read it?

I have some general materials floating around on my Tumblr right now – character biographies, flash fiction, playlists, etc. – for public consumption. If you’re curious, have at. Basically I’m posting every little snippet that pops into my head in order to indoctrinate readers into my cult of followers, because I want people to write me dirty fanfiction in the night and slide it under my door. Which I realize is an oddly specific goal, but I like to aim high.

So, that’s what this is about. That’s what’s going on. Coming soon to a desktop computer, laptop, smart phone or tablet near you.