Hello from the COOOOLD

Hey! The holidays are over. Whew. Is it just me or is every holiday a prolonged, agonizing trial anymore? I love Halloween, but now it starts in Sept and goes all the way through Oct with a non-stop shit storm of cutesy costumes, candy commercials and “spooky” put in front of everything on menus and billboards. And Christmas? I think it’s still going, right? Sigh. Anyway, I laid low for a spell and now I’m back.

I’ve been working on a few projects. I’ll have some new Ralph Compton westerns coming out under the Marcus Galloway pseudonym. Also my Doc Holliday series, The Accomplice, is being re-released in e-book format. On the horizon, I’m about to start in on the next Gillis Ledger book as well as another Skinners project. Of course I’ll be doing Book 8, but what would you guys feel about some stand-alone prequels? Maybe stories from Paige’s early career? That could be cool. I’m also circulating some steampunk and crime novels to various publishers and if they don’t get snatched up, I’ll be releasing them my own damn self!

In other news, my Dad called me today for tech support on his Kindle Fire. Why does this warrant a mention? About a year and a half ago, I took some work answering the phones at Amazon for Kindle support. I did fairly well in the knowledge and fixing stuff departments, but my customer service / warm fuzziness was lacking. Can you believe that? Fuck them, right? Heh. So when my Dad calls for help with a WiFi connection problem, I had all kinds of advice and steps for him to take. A real chance to impress the guy. Did I fix his Kindle? Of course I didn’t. Maybe someday I’ll find something I’m good at. Until then, take care!

Skinners #7

Things have been crazy lately! I’ve been doing a ton of work, although a lot of it isn’t exactly easy to find. A big part of most writers’ income includes work for hire which is along the lines of ghostwriting. Hey, work is work and bills gotta get paid. The main reason I’m mentioning this is because I’ve been talking about working on the next Skinners for quite a while and this is why it’s taken so long for me to get it completed. I’ve been working on a couple different projects at once for the last few years and Skinners has always been top of my list.

Of course, I’ve got other stuff in the works, but more on that some other time. This is a Skinners post! As lots of you already know, I’m publishing the next one on my own digitally. If there’s enough demand, I can look into print copies, but for now this’ll be the way to go. As of today, I’m closing in on finishing the manuscript for Book 7!!!! Woo Hooo!!!! It took me a while to gear up for this one and then a little while more to figure out where, exactly, I wanted to go after Extinction Agenda. I’ve always had a general idea, but the “exactly” part of that last sentence is the tricky part. Trust me, that extra gestation time pays off in the end. I’m REALLY happy with how this is turning out.

Another thing I’ve always said is that I always saw Skinners as an ongoing storyline with arcs that change Cole’s world in major ways. Basically, every 3 books is an arc and #6 (despite the rather final statement at the end of that one) wasn’t meant to wrap everything up. It was the end of an arc and Book 7 is the start of a new one. And hoo boy, are there some changes! Don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, but this new arc shakes everything up while fitting in very nicely with the series.

So…Book 7. Right now, it’s called Forged from Ash and I’m shooting for a release date of this summer. My personal goal is to get it out there in June, but I’ll say summer to allow for some extra editing if needed. There’s a lot to do, but it’ll get done. As for the future of the series, I’m guessing lots of you are thinking, “Cool. New Skinners! Will it take this long between EVERY freaking book in this series?”  The answer to that is NO! My goal is to put out more books per year. They’ll be a bit shorter than the last few (I’m thinking between 300 – 400 pages each) and will cost you guys a bit less. That’s another cool thing with me putting them out digitally. I can charge what I like, which will be in the neighborhood of $2.99 - $3.99 each. That may change after a while, but not for the first arc at least.

To my Facebook friends out there, I apologize for neglecting my posts lately. Truth is, I’ve been typing so much all day that the thought of typing socially hasn’t been too appealing. I check in a lot on my phone and stuff, but just get lazy and don’t post as much as I should. Honestly, I also figured I might lose a ton of you after 219 posts of, “Hey everyone! Still writing all day. Stayed up until 6am again. I miss Twinkies!”  That’s totally true, you know. I miss the HELL out of Twinkies.

2013 is gonna be the year where I really get things out there and follow through on so many of the plans I’ve been making in previous years. Hopefully this answers a lot of questions. I’ll have a lot more to say as things progress and can’t wait to see what you guys think of the next phase of Skinners! See what I did there? “phase” like phases of the moon? Werewolves? Now you see why not hearing from me all the time is a good thing. 

Almost here!!!!

I know you guys have heard me go on about ebooks for a while now. Sounds like a cool idea, right? I hope so because my first book is so close to being released that I can taste it! Since I'm responsible for putting it all together, I've been taking my time to make sure it's all ready before putting it out there. Editing is almost done, the cover is coming together and I seriously think it should be ready to be unleashed onto the ebook market by mid-May.

I also know I've been saying the next Skinners book will be coming out in ebook format. The mid-May release is not Skinners, though. There's lots of reasons for this and NONE of them involve me turning my back on that series. Honestly, it took a lot out of me to write the last three and I pretty much did them back-to-back. Rather than try to get the next one out right away before it feels like the proper time, I thought I'd let it all gestate for a while. Also, Skinners is my baby and I'd rather get comfortable with the ebook process before throwing my baby out there.

That being said, the book that's almost ready to roll isn't just something I slapped together to test the waters. It's EXACTLY the sort of thing that made me want to publish in this format for such a loooong time. I've been describing it as Indiana Jones mixed with Flash Gordon and a dash of The Untouchables thrown in for flavor. It's retro sci-fi set in an alternate version of 1935 where a hard boiled PI deals with gangsters, feds, mad scientists and inter-dimensional vortexes. The more I read through this, the more I love it. Even if it would be given a chance in traditional publishing, I like the thought of handling it myself. It's first in a series and a hell of a lot of fun. I REALLY hope you guys enjoy it.

Next on my agenda is Skinners! For those of you who read Book 6, you know the Skinners world got turned on its ear. The next steps taken from there are important and the last thing I wanted to do was rush them. I've been pondering it a lot, coming up with tons of cool stuff and am PUMPED to move on with the monsters and bad-ass hunters I love so much. The next story arcs will take place some time after Book 6. They'll be a little shorter, action packed, and will branch out in several different directions. Also, I can move forward on some other Skinner stuff I've been meaning to do. For example, I've wanted to write an anthology or perhaps shorter fiction released separately (for cheaper) focusing on pivotal moments in the history of our favorite monster hunters. This series is tentatively called Skinners: Legends  and would be set in different time periods including tales of the early hunts of Jonah Lancroft, the exploits of different Full Bloods from centuries past, and accounts of Skinner pioneers like the one responsible for their shapeshifting weapons. Stuff like that. I told ya! I'm NOT leaving Skinners behind.

So that's the big update. I cannot express how grateful I am that you have stuck around. There's still a ways to go and every time I hear from a reader about how they're looking forward to something new from me, it puts wind in my sails. Thank you so much for that. I'll let you know when the first book in that new series is out and of course I'll keep you updated on any and all things Skinners. Oh, and I'm also working on another website with two other like-minded authors venturing into ebook territory for the sole purpose of writing the cool stuff we love. It's been a long time coming, but things are about to get REAL interesting!

Odds & Ends

These last few weeks have been strange. I've been working on some older projects, some ghostwriting (a guy's gotta pay the bills) as well as some new projects. The new projects include a few steampunk offerings, two of which are with editors in NY and others are going straight to ebook format. The first draft of one series is completed and I'm liking it a lot. It's pure adventure with plenty of retro sci-fi goodness thrown in that was a ton of fun to write. Thank God for ebooks because this series would never make it past the editors wondering "How does THIS tap the marketplace that reads [insert some other currently popular series here]?" Sink or swim, I'll finally be able to write the stuff I've wanted to write. Hopefully you guys will think it's just as fun to read as it was to create. More details as they come along.

Also, I've been into some new video games. Arkham City is a big one, but I'm also well entrenched in Gears of War 3. Both are awesome games that make me wish I could chuck everything else and just play. Some of that time is taken up by reading comic books. I'm still loving most of DC's New 52. At the top of my list are Justice League, Animal Man, Aquaman and Deathstroke. Aquaman???? Yes, I'm loving Aquaman. It does a great job of making him cool while also acknowledging how un-cool he's been for so very long. "So," one reporter asks Aquaman in issue #1, "how does it feel to be NOBODY'S favorite super hero?" Niiiiice.

Tuesday, Extinction Agenda is released. Since Borders has closed up, I really don't have anywhere to go to check shelves around here on release day. You guys will have to let me know if you spot them out and about. I know I've said I gave up on checking the shelves on previous release days, but who am I kidding? I go out to have a look and everyone knows it. After some of the editing blunders that made it through the process of putting Book 5 together, I'm a little nervous about that aspect as well. I tried my damndest (as I always do) on Book 6 and even enlisted some extra help, but I'm sure there will be flubs here and there. In my own defense, my books aren't the only ones with crap like that in them. All I can say is oh well. I write to provide a fun experience for the readers and hopefully that's what they are.

This last year or two have been one hell of a roller coaster ride for a great many reasons. Many are personal, including my move out to West Virginia. That's been fun getting used to a whole new part of the country. I've always been a Midwestern boy, but am liking it out here just fine. Also, the entire publishing industry has been tossed on its ear lately. I've already mentioned ebooks, but there's also been the loss of some big name retailers along with the looming arrival of game changers like the new Kindle Fire. A Kindle with some snazzy tablet computer functionality combined?? Sign me up! This thing looks to be huge and even if it flops, ebooks aren't going anywhere anytime soon. These kinds of things have scared the shit out of most everyone in the writing / publishing industry because they represent such humongous changes. My hope is to keep getting my stories out there so they can be enjoyed. Who knows? Maybe I'll even be able to get MORE stuff out there!

Anyway, look for Extinction Agenda on shelves or online starting October 25th!! Let me know what you think and I'll let you know what's next as soon as I have some definite news to share. Trust me, I'll be sending some cool stuff your way.

Bloody Summer

This has been a very patriotic few days. That's par for the course considering the holiday and all, but my last July 4th was a lot less...well...just a lot less. Back then, I spent my holiday weekend working on a manuscript, listening for the occasional pops outside my apartment, poking my nose out to see some distant flashes and then going back to work. This year, I did the whole cookout / fireworks combo and it was a lot of fun! I also indulged in my usual Independence Day movie treat which was...you guessed it...Independence Day!! That film may be flawed in some pretty serious ways, but it's still a lot of fun. Definitely one of the ultimate mindless summer blockbusters. Love it.

I also recently watched Sucker Punch. This one had me intrigued the moment I saw previews with dragons fighting biplanes and demon Samurais weilding chain guns. At the very least, it was a prime piece of eye candy (and I mean beyond the young girls dressed in every fantasy piece of clothing from schoolgirl to warrior woman). VERY cool on Blu Ray. As far as more recent flicks, I'm anxiously awaiting Captian America and Cowboys & Aliens. After that, it's hibernation time again.

Been playing Portal 2 and even dug up a game from a few years ago called Dark Void. The latter has an Indiana Jones meets Rocketeer vibe. I'm liking it, despite the noticable lack of Jennifer Connelly in that amazing white dress. Hubba hubba!! I can still remember the day young Marcus was in a movie theater and "sat up to take notice" of that scene. Too much info? Oh well. Dark Void is cool so far and definitely enjoyable. Portal 2 is simply brilliant, however. Just about every other line of dialogue has me laughing and the game simply rocks. But...no Jennifer Connelly. What the hell is wrong with games these days??

I'm working on my installment of the Dead Man series of ebooks. After that, I'll be dipping my toe further into the ebook pond by writing an original to be released independantly. That should be a fun experiment! I get to just have an idea, write it up and put it out there to see if it flies. Lots of writers are jumping on this train and for good reason. It's very appealing to be able to get something out there without jumping through all the usual hoops. Could be an amazing venture. However it turns out, it should be exciting! I'm working with a few other writers to put together a central website hub for all of our works to be displayed. Something should be coming to fruition within the next few months, so I'll keep you posted. Hopefully, you guys will like what you read!

I'm off to donate blood now. Haven't done this for some time, mainly due to all the tattoos I've been getting. I should probably eat something and have something to drink first. Either that, or I can go in empty and enjoy that delightful swirly feeling of near-unconsciousness followed by total unconsciousness. Ok...maybe I'll have a sandwich.

Busy busy!

Putting the final tweaks on SKINNERS 6. That doesn't mean I've caught every last mistake. After all, with so much awesomeness distracting my attention, some things are bound to slip through. If you'd like to know where I got my swelled head, click here to take a look at this AMAZING article that just appeared on the Barnes & Noble Book Club page about Skinners! Many thanks to Paul for bringing a much-needed smile during a hectic time.

Book 5 seems to be doing pretty well. I've abandoned the practice of checking in on sales figures and such. If they're good, I'll hear about it eventually and if they're bad, I don't wanna know. I'll keep doing my thing, always trying to do my best no matter what. Is that healthy? I don't know. I'm the guy who eats Ramen noodles most of the time for lunch and blew my load at the very sight of Brownie Crunch Cocoa Puffs. Those are pretty good, but not as good as the normal Cocoa Puffs, in case you were wondering. Anyway, I know my "don't ask, don't check reviews" policy works well enough. When I was keeping on top of it, I nearly drove myself into a heart attack.

The next project I'm working on is an installment in the Dead Man series of ebooks. These things are great! Very reminiscent of the slam-bang, hit hard and hit fast sort of books that I read growing up. The Executioner, Remo Williams, all that great stuff. Ebooks make them a lot easier to find, buy and read. Still madly in love with my Kindle, just to be clear. Heh. Not sure when my Dead Man book will be out, but the newest one is Blood Mesa by James Reasoner. The Kindle version can be found here and the Nook version here. Check 'em out!

So there's my update. Talk to you in a bit...

The Dead Man Cometh

Remember all those times I've been talking about doing ebooks? Well it turns out I'm not the first one to come up with this idea! Heh. Obviously there are plenty of ebooks out there, just like there are plenty of real books on the shelves. The trick is to find the ones that are any good. A friend of mine (Matthew Mayo who was also in that D&D related interview I was in) told me about a new series called The Dead Man. Right away, the title caught my interest. I like dead things. Also...skull on the cover. Ok, I'm easy.

Seriously, though, I appreciated the story behind the story. Turns out that the creators, Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin, had a great idea for a kick-ass supernatural TV series but couldn't get any of the network suits to give it a go. I can definitely relate. After so many years, they decided to just do the stories themselves as short, kick-ass ebooks. I checked out the first one soon after I got my Kindle and fell in love with the concept of a hero brought back from the dead and pursued by a demonic nemesis as well as the format of shorter action-packed stories along the lines of a monthly adventure series. Here's a link so you can see it for yourselves.

The reason I bring this up is twofold. First of all, I believe ebooks can help writers get stuff out there that wouldn't normally get a chance. The only drawback is that a lot of crap will surface as well so you need to know where to spend your dough. For what it's worth to any of you, I recommend The Dead Man. It's cool, full of violent goodness and (most importantly) FUN. Also, the first book in the series, Face of Evil, is currently only 99 cents on Amazon.com. The second reason I'm bringing it up is because I got in touch with Lee and will be writing one of the upcoming Dead Man books! My friend Matt Mayo will as well, so keep your eyes on the series in the months to come. The second book, Ring of Knives by James Daniels, just came out. I'll be working on mine this summer and it will be released soon after. Ok....commercial over.

In the last several months, ebooks have reminded me why it's fun to be a reader. They hearken back to the pulp days where stories were out there because they were entertaining, new and fresh. There's a place for the big publishers, but there should also be a place for the fun stuff. Pulp has its place. Without it, there'd be no Conan, Tarzan, hard boiled PIs, or treasure hunting adventurers. You know....the candy aisle of the bookstores. It doesn't all have to be drama or romance. Readers have always known this. Unfortunately, publishers are always looking for a sure thing before they commit to any project. There is no sure thing. This is something writers have always known. By its nature, our job is a gamble and putting out our own projects in a forum as widespread and accessible as ebooks allows us to place a few bets.

As I scroll through the ebook store on my Kindle, I'm finding stuff that I can't find on the shelves. It's the kind of material I wanted to write when I'd scribbled my first story. Even though Skinners is definitely something I've always wanted to write, there are SO many other projects that haven't seen the light of day because they weren't close enough to some other trend or just didn't hit the right editor on the right day. The idea of being able to get those other projects out there to be read really gets my blood racing. Are ebooks the way it's all headed? Are they just a prolonged novelty? I don't know. Right now they've hit a powerful stride and if good writers keep putting out good stuff, I'm all for it.

Damn My Eyes!!!

Last time I went to Best Buy, I got a chance to try out the new Nintendo 3DS. Very cool, but it was bolted down to a stand, locked up with chains and guarded by three drooling hellbeasts so I couldn't hold it the way I normally would. That resulted in me hunkering down to play some dopey little flying game on a bright pink toy. Not very manly. The 3D effects were cool, but my eyes started to hurt pretty quickly. Was that because of the angle, the 3D technology or the fact that my eyes are worse than someone who's gotten theirs yanked out and scrubbed with a brillo pad after staring at the sun? Who knows? I'm still excited about the 3DS, but that's after a downgrade from "really pumped".

Also, I'm set to watch Skyline. This is one of those movies that looked awesome on the previews, but I never got around to seeing it. So far, the reviews and word of mouth pretty much hover in the vicinity of "awesome effects / horrible plot". Since I like to riff on movies MST3K style anyway, this sounds like a fun time.

I put together a proposal and a few chapters for one of those steampunk projects I mentioned earlier. I'm VERY happy with the whole thing so now it's up to the publishers. Another one of my babies out making the rounds in the big bad world. This part sucks. Of course, as I've also mentioned earlier, I'm excited about the whole ebook thing. That means if New York doesn't want to play my reindeer games, I'll write it anyway and take my chances. Exciting times!

Round 2...FIGHT!!

Ok, so the Valentine's griping is out of the way for another year. Sorry about that everyone. Today I was greeted with the news of Borders declaring bankruptcy and closing about 200 stores nationwide. At first, that seems like a really bad thing. If you're Borders, it is. Then again, a lot of people (including plenty of folks in the publishing / writing biz as well as Borders themselves) saw this one coming from a long ways out. Being in tough financial situations is nothing new to writers. Unlike the publishing houses and big booksellers, we're not used to seeing huge, juicy profits for everything out there. You need to be one of those few big-name authors, a cable semi-celebrity or a Kardashian to get the big literary bucks. Bazinga!!!

Anyway, in true Rocky fashion, these hard times have charged me up. I'm already working on proposals, so I've got renewed steam for that. More importantly, I'm taking steps in some new directions to get other projects going. More details later, but I'm really excited about it and that's a much-needed boost. Whew.

In other news, I picked up Marvel vs. Capcom 3. (Traded in some games and bought at a colossal discount. Hard times, remember?) I love fighting games, but am not very good at them. I used to kick some major league ass at Mortal Kombat 1 and 2. Even won a local tournament back in the day. Now I can't believe I memorized all those moves and multiple fatalities. The new MK is coming out soon which will be awesome, but MvC3 is pretty sweet as well. Amazing graphics. Very cool fighting. Pretty flashing lights (which they warn you about in the opening) and all around nerd-vana. I mean...being able to pit Doctor Doom against Dante from Devil May Cry?? YEAH!!! I tried going online, but was having trouble with the hosts. Probably got it all squared away by now. Most importantly, there are easy difficulty settings on Arcade mode to provide me hours of fun. Hopefully Webmaster Steve picks up a copy and we can throw down. We're at about the same skill level. Ok, he's better than me, but doesn't rub it in too badly when he wins.

So, energized and full of flashing light-induced brain trauma, I soldier on. What's my prediction for this fight? PAIN!!

Oy

Finally done with the first draft of Skinners #6! Whew!!!! Now I can take a few days off and collect myself before editing. There's a lot going on in this one, which I can't really talk about since Book 5 isn't even out yet. Oh well. Take my word for it. It's cool.

Looking forward to watching some movies over the weekend. Probably just some mindless special effects festivals like Prince of Persia or The A-Team. A-Team looks perfect for me right now. Lots of stuff blowin' up and things gettin' shot. Sign me up for that.

Christmas is almost here. To be honest, I'm looking forward to when it's all over. Just fast forward me to January 10th or so, let me know if anything cool happened in those previous weeks and get on with 2011. Remember those other prospects I mentioned earlier? Still nothing about them, which isn't a huge surprise. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but no news is better than bad news, so I'll take it. Not that I wouldn't mind some good news right about now. Don't want to jinx anything.

Speaking of good news, Skinners made the Barnes & Noble list of Best Paranormal Fantasy releases for 2010!! Here's the link: http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Explorations-The-BN-SciFi-and/The-Best-Paranormal-Fantasy-Releases-of-2010/ba-p/760466. YAY!!!!! Thanks B&N!!!

I'm off to plop in front of the TV for...ohh...about two or three days. Later.

Fa la la la....aw forget it

Should be wrapping up draft 1 of Skinners 6 today. This one's been a long haul, mostly because of rescheduling conflicts, the holidays, and various other wrenches tossed into the works. As far as first drafts go, I'm pretty happy with this one. There is a TON of editing to do, lots of which is hacking and slashing. The good part of that is that I'm just holding off on those plot lines so I can insert those pages directly into another book. The bad part is that I'll be working my butt off throughout Christmas and the New Year.

New Year has never been a big deal to me. I've always got goals/resolutions in mind and have submissions or proposals in the works to see them through. I'm not a huge drinker and am firmly of the belief that if you want to party and get trashed so badly, you shouldn't need a sanctioned excuse from Hallmark or the calendar to do so. My tradition has always been to stay home, cook up a bunch of snacks/appetizers, watch movies and have a toast at midnight. To all of you party people out there, have fun!

Still pumped about Tron Legacy. I'll be seeing this one in a theater and will actually be my second mainstream 3D movie in modern days. By that I mean it wasn't at an amusement park and the glasses won't be the red & blue numbers. Remember when they showed classic 3D movies on TV and you had to go to a 7-11 to get glasses? I saw Creature from the Black Lagoon on our Creature Feature that way. Also saw a bunch of the old goodies at a theater on retro night, but Tron in 2D should blow those away.

The Log Jam at the End of the Ride

It's been a while since my last post. Sorry about that. Mainly this is because I've been tying up the first draft of Skinners #6. It should be finished this week, just in time for me to be editing through the holidays. Yippee. The good news is that I know where I'm headed and am getting there fairly nicely. The bad news is that this is only because I've been slaving over the keyboard trying to get everything just right for several weeks.

I had to come to a painful realization that I just can't address EVERYthing I want to in every book. My whole purpose has been to make Skinners something that broadens in scope with every book. Naturally, one side effect of this is that the scope is pretty freaking broad by half a dozen books. That's fine. I can just set some stuff aside and get to it later. After all, not every character will be doing something in every book. That just leaves me with a bunch of stuff I thought I would address when I started writing this one that now needs to be taken out and smoothed over during editing. Yes, loyal blog readers. It's almost time for the "bitching about editing" section of the process. Heh.

In distraction news, I picked up Disney's Epic Mickey for the Wii and it is very cool! I'm also 97% sure I'll be heading out to theaters to see Tron Legacy in 3D (maybe even 3D IMAX!). Nerd-gasm alert.

Yo, World Fantasy....I made it!!!

Heard back from the World Fantasy Convention and I'm gonna be on a panel!!! Woo hoo!! The theme of the con is "whimsical fantasy" so Skinners should fit in just fine!! Heh. Seriously, I'm happy to be included at all in such a big con. My panel will be at 1PM on Friday the 29th and is about "Humor and Horror". I think I'm a pretty good fit for this one, so I just hope I don't freeze up and sit there like a smiling lump with what are surely going to be much more notable speakers on either side of me. There's also a signing on that same night at 8 or 8:30 so if you're in Columbus, OH the last weekend of this month and feel like getting a world class fantasy fix, come on down and see me. There's bound to be some other pretty good authors and stuff there too.

This will be the first time I've ever been to Columbus, OH so if anyone has any good dining suggestions I'd like to hear them. Thank God I've got my GPS because otherwise I'd have to drive out there with a notebook full of Google maps. This will be an exciting con. Also, it should be the one that puts me over the top for a while in the "outside with other people" department. Most folks don't get just how rough it can be going from sitting in front of my computer all day every day to being surrounded by LOTS of people. At least at cons, lots of those people are in costumes so it makes it easier for me to handle.

I'm plugging away at Skinners #6. I like to think of the series as being told in arcs and Book 6 will be the end of this particular arc. Not the end of the road, but ties up some loose ends. I will tell you that not everything will be wrapped up all perfect and happy by the last page. I mean, what fun is that? I've also been getting tons of ideas for other stuff. A few that I'm really excited about are in the Steampunk genre. More than anything, that genre seems to embody raw creativity at its fun-loving best. All too often, I hear people griping about the more practical aspects of stuff that's just supposed to be entertaining. My favorite will always be the conservation of mass in shapeshifters. Ok, I realize a physical object can't create more bulk than it already has but people really can't change into were-leopards either. Lighten up!! As long as the story is good, the characters are likable and the world is consistent, I'm always willing to go along for the ride. Since Steampunk subscribes to stuff like alien tech, clockwork robots and supernatural science fiction wrapped in a historical setting, that's a ride I want to take! I'm sure they get their gripers too. "But...but....that technology didn't EXIST in the 1800's!!" SHUT IT, ass clown!!!

I can breathe clearly now, the snot is gone

Well, for the most part anyway. There's still a residual haze in my brain from all the medication, but I'm able to function better than I have for almost a week. I don't get sick that often but when I do, it can kick my ass. Oh well. Now I can really sink my teeth into Skinners #6. You heard me. Book 5 was just sent in and Book 6 is on the way! Great things are brewing in the Skinners-verse. With the way 5 ended, going right into 6 was pretty easy. In fact, I had to cut a lot out of 5 so it could be plugged into 6 anyway. Can't really say much about specifics since 4 isn't even on the shelves yet. Ugh. The dizziness is coming back.

In other news, Sons of Anarchy is back on the air and I'm loving it! I like the Irish storyline, but am having some trouble understanding some of those guys when they grumble in their accent. I'm just losing a word or two here and there, which could very well be my fault since my ears (as well as my entire head) have been plugged up recently. Not a gripe. The show still rules.

Archon is coming up. Wow, that kind of snuck up on me. Three weeks from now, I'll be in St. Louis for the convention. That one's always fun, so come see me if you're in the area. I'll bring along a few Shimmy's passes and bookmarks to give away to lucky readers. Don't know how I'll determine which are the lucky ones. Probably the first ones who ask for 'em. Complex system, huh?

Arguing with the Demons

My brain has been on overdrive lately. That's the thing with writing as a profession. Lots of the hardest work is done when I'm just sitting there, seemingly watching TV or something while I'm thinking about elements or characters or any number of things that need to be worked out in a manuscript. My brain never stops during these times. NEVER. When I can't come up with what I need, half of my brain is chugging away at the problem and the other half is yelling at me for not being able to figure it out. Yes, I have voices in my head and they're fighting!

Today I'll be submitting another project I've just completed. It's a western ghost writing thing and now that it's done, I can focus on Skinners 5. All the while, my brain's been working out all the parts of Skinners that need to be edited, how they'll be edited, what to keep, what to throw out, which characters go, which stay, what makes sense and what doesn't. The list goes on and on and ON and it's always cycling through my puzzler no matter what I'm doing. When I sleep, I don't get the cool "I just dreamt the BEST story and I should jump out of bed and write it down" sort of dreams. I get the crazy "my brain is busy and frustrated so it's sending me disjointed chaos during my sleepy-time hours" sort of dreams. Is it any wonder why so many writers are alcoholics? Not that I'm spending all this time drunk, but it is almost obscene how good it feels to take a shot of Jim Beam every now and then. Can't drink too much, though, because I've got more work to do.

And don't worry. Despite all of this, Skinners is coming along nicely. Actually, this is more or less my "process" so the book is coming along nicely BECAUSE of this. Really? Why do some writers get a muse and I get psychotic mental ramblings about werewolves and monster hunters? Sure, sometimes those ramblings are pretty cool. That being said, a nice, gentle muse or a million dollar dream would be a pleasant change of pace.

Road Bumps N' Revelations

I hate to use the phrase Writer's Block, but sometimes it's mildly appropriate. To me, Writer's Block seems more like an excuse. Kind of like saying my addiction to buying DVDs instead of renting them is "an illness". Every now and then, no matter how much I like writing, it's less a labor a love and more like pulling my toenails off with a pair of needle nose pliers. The last few days have been rough, simply because I don't have every last thing worked out as far as the details for Skinners. I know my general direction, but sometimes the characters wind up in sticky situations. That's good for the story, but bad when I don't know how they're gonna get out of those situations. Maybe they DON'T get out. Great. More choices.

Anyway, I was driving to the bank when it occurred to me. Maybe hitting all these freaking potholes shook something loose. I thought of what's going to happen next, how it can work into the larger plot, where to go from there and I earn my Basic Writing badge for the day. All right, so it's not exactly a revelation, but that was a good term to use that started with R. Seemed like a cool title for the blog. Hmm. Maybe that's why I never get to use my own ideas for titles on the books.

In other news, Wil Wheaton made his return to The Big Bang Theory last night. I love that show and sometimes I'm convinced that I AM Sheldon. WHEATON!!!!!!!!!

The End, Love Marcus

I'm getting near the end of Skinners 4, which is always tricky for any book. There are many questions to answer such as should there be a huge fight? Should there be more of a subtle foreboding sort of thing? Should there be loose ends? How many loose ends? Should I leave the reader with questions? Unfortunately, the answer to a lot of these is...sorta.

It's all part of the process and the good news is that the process is chugging along. I'm really enjoying this book, but won't know how it all gels until I start the first round of edits. Plus, there are all the other things to do with life in general. Some of that stuff gets pretty daunting. As always, I will forge ahead. Skinners 3 comes out in a few months. Things are all just fine.

Right?

Sure. Whatever gets me through the day.

Fourth-Date Jitters

After taking a few days off, I'm putting my nose back to the grindstone and getting to work on another project. The last few have been westerns, but the next one is SKINNERS 4!! The good news is that there's going to be a Skinners 4! Hmmm. Maybe I should have led with that one. Anyway, I didn't want to talk a lot about it before because my focus has been on the release of Book 2 and editing Book 3. There is gonna be a Book 4 and I'm pumped to start in on it.

Of course, this is the scary time. I've got my plans. I've been making notes and thinking about what events will follow the ones I've already written. Things are in motion and I know (pretty much) where they're headed. When I'm staring at a blank screen, however, I start to think that now's the time to make changes. I haven't written anything yet. I could COMPLETELY overhaul my ideas!! So that would mean I'm at Square 1. Yippee.

No. Not yippee.

Stick to the plan and overhaul when appropriate. Now for that first scene. First line, even! We all know how crucial and pivotal the first line can be. So DO IT! And make it good!!

No pressure.

I write chocolate

I was putzing around online and came across this video of a debate between several huge names in the science fiction genre including J. Michael Straczynski (who will always be a favorite of mine for the AMAZING Babylon 5 as well as his many great writing stints on comics like Spider-Man and, more recently, Thor. He also wrote episodes of everything from The Real Ghostbusters to He-Man. This guy is connected somehow to just about everything I hold dear in one way or another) and Harlan Ellison, just to name a few. It’s a debate about “Science Fiction” vs. “Sci-Fi”. While this showed up on the SciFi Channel’s website as a way to draw attention to their name change to SyFy (which was probably based on marketing or some other commercial reason…I don’t know. I didn’t check), I’m not addressing that whole thing at all.

Mainly, this stems from several conversations I’ve had with my agent. I’ve never hidden the fact that I write in other genres. Mostly, I’ve written a ton of westerns and have also done some mystery. I’d really love to do something in the science fiction arena and have put together several proposals that are being shopped around. When I speak of this to my agent, I say “sci-fi” merely as a way to cut down on syllables or typing. That’s all I’ve ever viewed it as. Just a simple shortening of a term for convenience sake. “Oh no,” my agent said. “You really should say science fiction. Nobody in that field likes the term sci- fi.” Me being me, I asked, “Why?” She told me about how Harlan Ellison once said at a convention or somewhere that calling it sci-fi was like lumping your wife and mother in with diseased hookers and street trash. No offense to diseased street trash, by the way. Anyway, I’m paraphrasing here, but that was the gist of it. To anyone who knows who Harlan Ellison is, this is well within the range of things he might say. I don’t know him personally, but I do know he’s famous for being very outspoken about a great many things. He’s passionate about his craft and I can appreciate that. Still, I thought this was a little extreme for me just trying to shorten a phrase down to a very common abbreviation.

For a few years, I’ve wondered if this is really a touchy subject in the genre as a whole or if it’s just touchy with Harlan Ellison. I’ve never seen the appeal of being in groups and debating topics like this. I do what I do and don’t want to argue about it afterward. My guess was that “science fiction” has more of an emphasis on science and “sci-fi” is more of a whiz-bang-explosion sort of thing. Turns out I was partially correct. Here’s the interview.



Ok. So I watched this and came away with mixed emotions. First of all, I understand the difference between the two terms and think these people do have a very valid point. Science fiction and sci-fi ARE two separate things. I get that. Second, I didn’t appreciate how arrogant and condescending the literary folks were being. They want to make it two separate sub-genres? Fine. That sort of division is necessary and I can see how a writer striving (and in several of the panelists’ cases, succeeding) to create genuinely intellectual stories that examine the human condition wouldn’t want to be lumped in with stories about giant space stations blowing shit up just to watch the pretty lights. But that doesn’t give them the right to look at the other sub-genres and call them shit. You want to know what’s really limiting this, or any, genre? The assumption that it has only one flavor.

The way I see it, consuming anything whether it’s books, movies, games or photography is like consuming food. The literary side of the argument in this video came off as vegetarians pounding the table, swearing that ALL FOOD SHOULD BE VEGETABLES!!!! Or worse yet, since vegetarians are basically the genre with several other sub-genres therein, they’re saying all food should be TOFU!! “Hey! Tofu is good for you! It makes you a better person. Eating any of that other shit is demeaning us as a species and rotting us from the inside out! EAT TOFU AND LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!” You want to be a vegetarian? Fine. Don’t yell at me for eating what I want. You’re coming off as an elitist dick. Just crank it down a notch.

What struck me here is that these authors seemed to come at this from a perspective that science fiction readers only want to (or should) read one sort of thing. People generally read a lot of different stuff. Just like any other consumption, it boils down to your classic bell curve. You’ll tend to focus on one spot, but you’ll still hit other spots on either side. All of the science fiction fans I know may enjoy the intellectual stuff more than the explosion-oriented fare or vice versa, but they still dabble in the other stuff too. Moviegoers like to watch stuff blow up, but they also like to watch thought provoking drama and see the occasional pie-in-the-face comedy. And speaking of movies, the authors in that video threw out the “giant ant” movies as the shit that supposedly drags down quality science fiction. Are you telling me those guys don’t enjoy the occasional giant ant or explosion fest? Are you telling me they weren’t raised on that stuff? But now that they’re older and THEIR tastes have changed, everyone else’s should too. Most of these guys write comic books! Even there, you’ve got comics about teen suicide and ones about superheroes. They’re just different. What’s the debate??

On one hand, I find the fact that there is a debate at all to be sad. I realize this is an old video, but the sentiment can still be found in a lot of places regarding plenty of topics. Isn’t it obvious that there are different flavors in any genre and that’s what makes the whole thing so rich? It doesn’t all have to be purely intellectual literature. Every now and then, let’s see some cool aliens blow shit up. The fact that one end of the genre says the other end is “debasing and stupefying the public” just seems pathetic. This video was about sci-fi (yeah, I said it) but it could just as easily be about horror. Trust me, Skinners is new in the field, but I still deal with people thinking everything’s gotta be something else. “Is this like Twilight? No? Oh, so it’s about a monster hunter like Anita Blake? Not quite? Something other than those two things?? Is that possible???”

A writer needs to be passionate about what they do. Without that, they won’t have the steam to make it in this business. And a writer can’t write in every style. There are intellectuals, there are visionaries, there are technical experts, there are entertainers and plenty of others. Any one artist will excel in one or two categories and dabble in others with varying degrees of success like the ol’ bell curve. Isn’t this all common sense?? It seems pretty basic, but then I see a debate about it and hear that I can’t refer to one without upsetting the other.

This really got under my skin because if I was to get my proposal written and published, it would fall squarely into the “sci-fi” category. According to these guys, I write shit and only those who strive to be Phillip K Dick or Isaac Asimov are worth reading. Going back to the food analogy, health food can taste good and is good for you, but the junk food makes you happy you have taste buds. The crappy, unhealthy, not-so-intellectual stuff is what makes life fun. Hey, there’s a word that got completely lost in this debate FUN!!

So, I write chocolate. I realize I’m not in the same league as a fully decorated Master of Horror, but I’m not trying to be. They deserve their awards for examining the human condition. I’m writing the stuff I like, just like they’re writing the stuff they like. We’re all getting readers and many of them are the SAME readers who are pulling from different spots of the same buffet. I’m also not pounding the table and saying that all of that intellectual bullshit is ruining MY genre and how dare they lump me in with those other stuffed shirts!!!! I’m coming from the camp of writers who like watching stuff blow up and enjoy writing about cool monsters who do cool things. You know what life would be like without chocolate? It’d be just as boring, drab and mind-numbing as life with only one flavor of science fiction and only one educational television show. If I have to eat nothing but sprouts (no matter how many different ways you cook ‘em) to live a long life, then maybe it’d be worth indulging in some junk food every now and then just to check out of that gray f’ing world a little sooner.

Monday and I'm ok with it

Had a very nice stretch of time off, but it's over now. This weekend, Webmaster Steve came by for a visit and we didn't talk about anything remotely to do with mastering webs. I've gotten him hooked on Magic: The Gathering on XBox Live, so it was time for the real deal. Always ready to drag out my custom decks and life counters, I introduced him to the crack cocaine that is tabletop Magic. Holding those cards, savoring the art, flipping enchantments onto someone else's creatures, it all just feels so much better when you've got real cards instead of a controller in your hands. Very geeky, I know, but still very fun. Needless to say, Steve went home with some decks and the intent to teach his wife to play the game. Let's see how that works out. If she's anything like Megan, she'll be grateful he's not engaging in a seedier hobby and just indulge him for a few hands every now and then. Otherwise, she's in for a lot of whining and begging to appease him. Sound familiar Steve? Ba-zinga!! I can kid because I'm speaking from personal experience. Ahh, the trials that accompany the addiction that is Magic.

Today I start on a new manuscript. Nothing Skinners related. It's one of my Galloway westerns. Those are always a welcome change of pace. There's just something pure and elemental about a western. Gritty fun.

Played the demo for Batman: Arkham Asylum. All I can say is WOW! The fighting mechanics were simple and fluid, but had enough going on to keep it fun. Swinging around in the rafters, swooping down to kick thugs in the head, tossing the Batarangs, it just all felt like Batman! There have been so many crappy Bat games, but this one feels like a winner. Either that, or they just put all their effort into an awesome demo and let the retail version crap out. That would just be cruel.