Lois Lane: Fallout Read-Along discussion
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Fallout
Week one: Chapters 1-4
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I really like how vulnerable Lois is about SmallvilleGuy; she can be freaking out and independent and tough one second, but the second she gets a message from SmallvilleGuy she's calmer and all that. It's really cute.
Mod
I'm so glad that comes across. I think they make each other feel that way!
I agree Paige. I thought it showed that with him she could lower her own disguise as it were. I also really liked her internal dialog starting page 1. "remember the plan". Those opening pages clued me in that this was going to be something extremely special (I had first read the ARC and then the published version). It's really interesting to read your worries Gwenda as an author. I bet it must be nerve wracking to take on such a beloved and established character like Lois Lane. The readers come to the story with their own perceptions who she is and how she'd react in any given situation.
I know I did. I admit I was worried when Keith let me borrow his ARC but the first few pages drew me in immediately. It captured Lois's personality perfect. It captured her vulnerabilities behind the bravado and gave us a really layered person who I could see growing up to be the Lois Lane I carry in my head.
Mod
I also really liked her internal dialog starting page 1. "remember the plan". Those opening pages clu..."
You and Keith were two of the very first people to read the book and I was so nervous... and then so relieved. Because I could tell you both knew the character so well, I figured if you guys were on board then I hadn't screwed up it. :-)
It's funny, because yes, so much pressure. Here was my favorite part of the final instructions I was given after the outline was approved (I hope no one minds me posting this!): "Please make sure she infuses this book with wit, humor, charm, intrigue, fabulousness, snarkiness, teen drama, and mystery." No sweat, right?
Right?? No pressure indeed. In the first couple chapters you did exactly that (re: final instructions). From Lois's first day at school to her relationships with each family member and of course SmallvilleGuy. I remember texting Keith as I was reading, so thrilled at how Lois was coming alive on page. My teenage daughter who isn't a comic book reader and knew Lois because I forced her with bed time comic book reads, animated, tv and movies, was reluctant to take my recommendation to read Fallout.
She did this past summer on a family trip because there was no internet. I'll never forget her sitting down next to me. "Mom, about that Lois book". I was scared. She then said "I love it! Is there another?"
The first chapter I think is so strong and pulls the reader in. People like my daughter who were reading this because "Mom made me" ? There are only a few pages to convince them to continue.
I think the first chapter shows right away this is a teenage Lois, not an adult. We're watching her grow in to her personality. Her desire to fit in and not make waves is something she'll grow out of and she'll accept parts of her personality as we all do when we get older.
Watching her struggle with her own personality traits was something I think resonated. And I think that was the hook for my daughter (not to speak for her, that was just my impression).
Yeah, Lois's voice grabs the reader immediately. I like the teenage Lois, and the fact that she does have to struggle with the idea of relationships. I love her open confidence with SmallvilleGuy, but also her self doubt when it comes to forming other friendships. She does have confidence, but also doesn't know how to trust others and herself with others without creating "fallout." And the fact that she can't help but pursue her curiosity and sense of justice in spite of the consequences makes relationships complex as she doesn't mind taking a fall for a good cause but doesn't want to take others with her.
Also, Gwenda, I started with the little free kindle prequels and knew I needed the book immediately. When/how did those happen?
Timothy: Yes! I agree. I loved that her sense of justice was so ingrained that she couldn't turn it off even to fit in. It speaks to the core of who she is. She can't sit back while others suffer but she also wants to protect her friends from the consequences of her actions. This illustrates why she is a hero in her own right.
I love the introduction to Perry White and The Daily Planet. The first time I read this book I remember getting so excited about the connects to Superman mythology! I also love that Perry immediately recognizes something in Lois that would make a great reporter.
Mod
After the book was announced, the publisher asked about whether I'd be willing to do a couple of short stories that we could release in the lead-up to introduce Lois to readers. Christopher, my husband, is a pro at them, but I am actually terrified of short stories! I tend to have a novelist's instincts, so these were a good challenge. Right away, I thought of having them be installments from Lois's permanent record (but what really happened). And then once I sent in story concepts and they were approved, we added some nods to them into Fallout so they could be real easter eggs. Glad they got you interested in the book!
Okay, when I started FALLOUT I had already read the pre-Lois short stories Gwenda had written about the character, so I was really craving for more SkepticGirl1/SmallvilleGuy chats. You have to know, Gwenda, how many fans of yours could just read a book full only of their online chats, right? So my fav first dreamy part of the book was this– I have to quote from Chapter 3 page 39-40.
SKepticGirl1: Okay, sap, because I have to go eat dinner. Spaghetti. You ready to tell me who you are IRL yet?
I always asked, though I didn't expect an answer any more... SmallvilleGuy: I wish I could. You know I do... SkepticGirl1: But you can't. Even though... ... ... Even though if you did, then we could see each other. For real. I closed my eyes... ... SmallvilleGuy: Now I really wish I could. More than you know. ... ... No one else would ever know I could also be a sap. SkepticGirl1: I'll keep it in mind. Later, mystery boy.
This chat gives me always a perfect sap, romantic, moment and I can't get over that... but really, how can it be different... I can't wait to read DOUBLE DOWN
SKepticGirl1: Okay, sap, because I have to go eat dinner. Spaghetti. You ready to tell me who you are IRL yet?
I always asked, though I didn't expect an answer any more... SmallvilleGuy: I wish I could. You know I do... SkepticGirl1: But you can't. Even though... ... ... Even though if you did, then we could see each other. For real. I closed my eyes... ... SmallvilleGuy: Now I really wish I could. More than you know. ... ... No one else would ever know I could also be a sap. SkepticGirl1: I'll keep it in mind. Later, mystery boy.
This chat gives me always a perfect sap, romantic, moment and I can't get over that... but really, how can it be different... I can't wait to read DOUBLE DOWN
Claudia, I completely agree! That was definitely my favorite chat between them, and my heart hurt for Lois. I also loved the part when she gets mad at him and just logs off. I feel like it was so Lois, and then her feeling badly afterwards was the icing on the cake!
Mod
Aw, you guys! I LOVE writing the chats. In fact, I'm usually worried I've overdone it and hold back, so my editor has to tell me to put in more in revisions. Lois calling SG a sap is one of my favorite little moments too.
Reading this book really makes me wish they would make a tv show about a young Lois. Maybe someday, a girl can dream anyway :)I'm loving the world she lives in. It's easy to think that she lives in the real world and then you have things like the holosets and shout outs to places like Coast City and I remember, oh yeah they live in this fantasy world where there's magic and people who can fly, haha.
I'm curious if DC had a lot of restrictions with how their characters were portrayed or were they pretty open about letting you do what you wanted? I'm glad they seem to be ok with playing up the Lois/Clark romance in movies and such even though he's dating Wonder Woman in the comics. I always get nervous about that. (Remember when the wanted the Lois and Clark wedding to align with the comics) Don't get me wrong, I love WW, and I'm not completely opposed to them dating, but Lois is his true love!
Mod
A TV show would be so great. We can dream!
I have been allowed a lot of freedom with this project. My only real question when I was approached about whether I'd be interested was if there was already a very set concept or if I'd have freedom to make it what I wanted. Most horror stories I've heard from friends who've worked with other people's characters come when the relationship is VERY dictatorial. Luckily, everyone was very much on board with that and I was encouraged to make it my own.
Now, if I'd taken it in a super-weird direction, I'm sure they've have told me to rein it in... And thank you! I wanted the world to be recognizable, but to have room for the science fiction elements that make the Superman world so much fun to play around in.
I think the Lois and Clark/Superman relationship is enduring in pop culture for a good reason, and I don't think it's going anywhere (despite being out in the comics at the moment). Personally I'm not a fan of the Wonder Woman and Superman relationship, because I believe it undercuts what's great about both characters and somehow lessens each of them. Whereas Lois and Clark elevate each other, they make each other better heroes; and particularly on Lois's part, by being yet another strong connection that Clark has to humanity. I LOVE Wonder Woman though, don't get me wrong on that.
I completely agree Gwenda and Alycia! I love that a superhero as strong physically as Superman has the strongest romantic relationship with a women with no superpowers. I love that even without superpowers Lois Lane attracts the attention of Superman and she humanize a him and brings attention to his identity as Clark Kent. To me it shows that we don't have to have superpowers to have strength and that that strength is beautiful.
I also love when she calls him a sap! It's perfect! I think you've captured so much about the nature of their relationship in spite of setting it in their teen years. I love that you've made this story something fans can really love while also being able to do your own thing!
I really appreciated that he gave as good as he got. I loved that message when he teased her saying he expected to hear she'd been kicked out the first day at Metropolis High but instead not only didn't that happen but she got a job. This shows the level of comfort they have with each other.
I also like the scene with Lucy where she bugs Lucy to show her the Unicorn game she's playing so she can better understand the virtual world. I think it showcased the sister bond while also highlighting their different personalities.
As others have mentioned, I really like the chats. Chatting was an important part of my dating relationship (now happily married, so it worked!) and has an important place in my heart. You've captured the unique trust, uncertainty, and anticipation that a chat relationship holds. I will admit that I struggled a little with Lois's voice in the first few chapters--in trying to capture a teenage voice, the style is sometimes harder to read. I found myself rereading sentences to make sure I understood them. But that difficulty ebbed after the first 30 pages or so and I was fully immersed in the story.
I'm not extremely knowledgeable about Superman/Lois canon/lore, but seeing some of the pieces referenced is really neat. :) But I like that Lois is building other strong relationships and not just with SmallvilleGuy. Sometimes the non-superheroes/side characters are seen in nothing but their relationship with the superhero/main character. I like Lois has her own story and a world beyond Superman here.
I bet it must be nerve wracking to take on such a beloved and established character like Lois Lane. The readers come to the story with their own perceptions who she is and how she'd react in any given situation. My abiding memory of reading the little teaser snippets and then the opening chapters was the relief and then the excitement that the character was so clearly in such safe hands, and I don’t think I can adequately express or articulate how much of a big deal that was/is. Current comics!Lois notwithstanding I feel like my generation of Lois fans are the luckiest out there- in chronological order, either having access to or brought up on Kidder in the Movie-verse, LnC, the Timmverse, the comics marriage, then Smallville, then the movies. I think that also makes us (…me, anyway :D) that much harder to please and in the post-Smallville post-Nu52 Superman landscape it has, at times, felt like a black hole of nothingness where Lois used to be. To have this version of Lois brought to life is a total joy.
Within that general feeling of happiness and gratitude I get simply looking at my book it’s hard to pick out favourite things. In no particular order:
- like everyone’s already said- Lois’s voice. Just on a technical level, to take on a (literary?) icon, write her in the first person, and absolutely nail the characterisation is so impressive, and it’s in the little things; the evidence of her high emotional intelligence and being able to read people, the underlying snark and comic timing; None of them spoke. Oh-kay. “Thanks for the warm welcome.” (lols), and all of that undercut by the side of her personality only we (and SmallvilleGuy) sees.
-The fact that Lois’s mother is still alive!!! And, related to that, a believable Lane-family dynamic. I loooved the reveal of Lucy’s own little Lane streak of rebellion within the Unicorn game!
-Everything about Perry, the Daily Planet, and the Scoopy gang. Perry sounds kind of hot! I’m sorry notsorry.
-SmallvilleGuy, and their chats. Swoonage. And such a clever way of dealing with the Lois-big secret-Clark love trifecta. And speaking of love triangles, despite my deep-seated belief that one of the charms of the Lois and Clark pre-reveal love story IS the fact you don’t need a third person; Devin! Lois thinks he’s cute. I think I could stand to see some gratuitously jealous SmallvilleGuy. X).
I guess it all adds up to a world, as Alycia comments above, that you just want to spend time in. *prayer circle for that tv show*
Everything Helen said ^^^
Hmm. The internet's dog ate my post. :(Well, this is my 3rd reading. I initially read the uncorrected proof (ARC) in a giveaway from the publisher. How could I not be excited about a book devoted to Lois Lane? She'd been treated badly in comics for years.
Anyway, I devoured the book. Gwenda, you had me from the first page. Lois doesn't get in trouble because she's irresponsible or disrespectful or rebellious or just unlucky - she gets in trouble because she simply can't see something wrong and NOT help. And that's confirmed from the start as she was compelled to stand up for Anavi.
I love how the Lanes are a close family. San may not understand his eldest daughter, but he loves her and wants to protect her. Lois (and Lucy as well) is coming into her own and this causes conflict but not alienation. Great characterization. "The General" is all too often portrayed in a 2 dimensional, stereotypical manner.
When I first reread the final hardcover edition, I was startled to see nicks and tucks and changes throughout. I'd always thought proofs were finished books, just needing a final check for errors and formatting. So that makes this a fascinating window into the whole process. (I look forward to examining the changed in Double Down!)
Mod
How much a book changes between the ARC and the final version can vary widely, I've learned, depending on the publisher and the speed track of the project, etc. I will tell you I was somewhat terrified that the ARC for Fallout was done from the not-final draft (the ARC for my new circus book, Girl in the Shadows, was done pre-copyedits and I added about 10K during those so I can't even bring myself to give people the copies!). I think most authors would burn all ARCs once the book's published if we could. I would say that the changes for Fallout were mostly minor-ish tweaks in retrospect, and Double Down's the same -- less so even, because we had a little more time and I'd done all my main revising before it went to print (but there were still changes; there are always changes!). I LOVE revising and go back through the whole thing as many times as I can manage before it gets finalized. And with these books, I have two editors, so two sets of notes -- the first, main notes from my editor at Capstone and then anything else that my editor at Warner Bros. has. They are both lovely!
Well, I love the ARC of Double Down; I'm so excited to make comparisons! It'll give me something to do while waiting for book 3! Already dying to read #3!
So beginnings are always hardest for me, but I went back to the outline and surprisingly these first four chapters are pretty close to what I said they would be. Miracle! Obviously, there was a lot of pressure on this beginning. Many, MANY people were going to judge this take on Lois from these first chapters. If they didn't do their job, then my worst fear of becoming known as the "writer who wrote the terrible YA Lois Lane" would be realized.
But the outline has all the main ingredients in place, despite the fact I'd never done an outline like this before: Lois having a troubled past and wanting to fly under the radar in Metropolis, the encounter with a student being bullied and the idea of it being tied to a VR game (although, fun fact, I changed the gender of the student once I started writing because the character wasn't clicking and so Anavi came into the story), the job offer at The Daily Scoop (coming up with the right name = hard!), her colleagues at the Scoop (my very own Scooby gang!), SmallvilleGuy (again, coming up with the right screen name = hard!), the way Lois and SmallvilleGuy met on the message board after she and her dad "saw something mysterious in the night sky in rural Kansas" (vague much, past self?). For the curious, it offered an overview of the book, then a chapter by chapter break-down. You guys might like this little excerpt, from my description of chapter three: "This belief is how she met the ‘friend’ she now goes to her room for her nightly check-in chat with, another high schooler who’s interested in tracking reports of certain types of strange phenomena online, who she knows only as SmallvilleGuy. He’s waiting when she logs on. Funny banter, in which we establish this is the one relationship where Lois feels safe enough to be vulnerable (go ahead: sigh dreamily)—even if SmallvilleGuy won’t tell her his real name." I can't believe I was cheeky enough to put the sigh dreamily part, but oh well... ;-)
Things did evolve in edits, of course; all bow before my fabulous editors Beth at Capstone and Ben at Warner Brothers. The first chapter in particular got massaged so Lois encountered the Warheads earlier, and I added Lois and SmallvilleGuy chatting a little in chapter two in the very last round of revisions. Lois also didn't have a screen name of her own until draft two. Now I can't imagine her not being SkepticGirl1. Another addition in revisions was the scene with Lucy and the bad unicorns in chapter four. Odd feeling as a writer, though, which you guys are free to disagree with -- there's not much I'd change now. Lois's voice was there from the beginning. Obviously, if I'd known Captain America was going to make "Hail Hydra" a thing, I'd probably have gone with a different name for Project Hydra. But hey, mythology is for all of us to steal from. And there is a joke that's in the initial ARC/draft that Perry makes about the 'kitten beat' because Lois's subway train was delayed because of kittens on the tracks that I miss. RIP, kitten beat joke. You had to die for pacing reasons.
One of my favorite things in these chapters, the moment when I knew I really had cracked the book, was right after I'd changed the gender of the bullied character and invented Anavi and redone the first couple chapters, and I remember this because it was Christmas Eve. Which meant my husband Christopher and I were driving home from seeing his family on a certain interstate and I had my laptop open and was writing, working on chapter three, because my deadline for the first draft of the book was terrifyingly short and I didn't want to screw it up. And that was when I came up with and wrote what actually happened that night in Kansas, what Lois and her dad had seen. It gave me chills when I read it out loud to Christopher. After that, I was writing like the wind was at my back.
Questions? Your favorite parts? Conspiracy theories?