Category: Ex-Heroes

February 11, 2020

FAQ XIV – The Appropriately Numbered One

Another six… okay seven months have passed us by and I promised I’d update this when there’s more news soooooooo…. Updates!

One element of almost semi-famous authordom on social media is questions. I generally like questions and interacting with folks. But a lot of these questions come up frequently You could even call them… frequently asked questions. This is less fun and cool. Sad truth is it gets exhausting (and kinda frustrating) to answer the same questions again and again and again.

(And before you panic, person who probably asked a question yesterday, no, I’m not singling you out. You just did it this one time without thinking. You’re good)

(For now)

Anyway… this is me continuing the somewhat futile practice of scribbling up answers to a dozen of the most common questions I’ve been getting lately. Then when people ask me those questions (again!) I can just say “hey, check out the FAQ pinned at the top of the page!”

Or maybe I won’t say anything, cause at this point… I mean, there’s an FAQ pinned right at the top of the page. And several dozen interviews floating around the web. Plus a bunch of books I wrote. Most of the answers are already out there.

(if your teacher’s making you ask an author a bunch of questions… just give them a link to this)

1) When are we going to see something new?

Seriously? It’s barely been two weeks since Terminuscame out. Enjoy it for a minute…

But, yeah, hopefully you’ve all found Terminus and enjoyed it. For those of you who don’t do audiobooks, for whatever reason, I should have at least an ebook version out in six months so… very early August. Possibly late July, if I’m super on the ball, but we’ll see. I think the Dead Moon ebook was a week or three past the end-of-exclusivity date.

I’m also looking at bringing one or two other things to ebook (at least) that have been kinda out of wider circulation for a bit. News on that as they get more solid/ closer.

Past that… we’re a little bit in the wild west right now. I’ve got a few things I’m working on, but nothing that’s been sold or I can really talk about right now. So the next few months might be a little quiet in that sense. I’ll try to let everyone know about things when I can and well… when I redo this later in the summer I may have a lot more to say.

2) Wait, no paper version of Dead Moon OR Terminus?
At the moment I’d have to answer that with “no.” There’s a couple of different reasons for it, and most of them involve assorted business things I’d rather not get into right now. There’s a chance both books may still become available, but for the foreseeable future Dead Moon’s just going to be ebook alongside the audio. Sorry. And I don’t know for sure about Terminus yet, but it’s looking that way.

3) Okay, can you explain the whole “Threshold” series?

Threshold is the brand name/ umbrella label for the shared universe I kinda-sorta inadvertently kicked off seven years ago with 14. There are some books that are definitely part of an overall linear story, a “series” if you will, and some that just fall under the umbrella. Lots of Stephen King books tie into the Dark Towermythology, but they’re not all part of the Dark Tower series. Does that make sense?

And, yes, this does make things a bit awkward, because I know in the past the marketing folks reeeeeaally pushed Threshold as a pure, straightforward series (Book One, Book Two, etc), even though I’ve said several times that it isn’t. This may give some people false expectations for what some books will be about, and I apologize if that’s you. I’m doing my best to make the books as great as they can be, and hopefully you won’t be too bothered that maybe you went in thinking this was going to be a fourth season of Trollhunters when it had always been a third season of 3 Below. Again, if that makes sense.

4) So how does Dead Moon fit into the Threshold series?

As it happens, I wrote a whole book explaining this called Dead Moon. Also check out #3 up above.

5) Why do you keep doing all these “Audible exclusives” ?

Well, I’ve done two. And there’s a very solid argument to be made that the majority of my fanbase is audiobook listeners. Audible knows this, too, and so when they heard about Dead Moon and Terminusthey made me an extremely generous offer for exclusive rights, meaning both of them would be audiobook only for the first six months they’re out.

Yes, I know this makes some of you grind your teeth. I’m sorry if you’re not an audiobook listener (for whatever reason) and this leaves you out of the loop for a bit. My agent and I talked about it a lot and the pros and cons of doing it. In the end, I really wanted to tell these stories and this was the best way to do it. Again, I’m sorry if this puts you in a bad spot.

6) Is Ex-Isle the last Ex book?

Not absolutely 100% sure, but for now, yeah, Ex-Tensionis going to stay on that back burner. Sorry.

The truth is, every series has a limited life. Book one always sells the best, not as many people show up for book two, even less show up for book three, and so on. Something may happen to give book one a boost (and all the other books after it) but they’re still all going to be on a near-constant downward slope heading for that red line where things aren’t profitable. None of the Ex-Heroes books ever lost money (thank you all for that), but they were on that slope and when the publisher started looking ahead to book six… that red line was pretty much unavoidable.

7) Have you considered a Kickstarter or a GoFundme?

I have and the answer’s no, sorry.

I love these books. I had tons of fun writing them. I’m still amazed there are so many fans who feel so passionately about them. But the math is pretty simple—if enough people were willing to pay for another book, the publisher would be willing to put out another book. All the numbers say that’s just not the case. Sure, some of you might be willing to pay twice as much to a Kickstarter for one more book, but I think we can all agree there’s at least as many people (probably more) who wouldn’t pay anything. Again, the math just doesn’t work out.

Plus, I already have a pretty good idea what I’m working on into 2021 at this point. Doing a crowdfunded project means I have to schedule things as if it’s going to succeed, which means neglecting a lot of those other projects.

Again, sorry.

8) Do you make more money if I buy one of your books in a certain format?

I know this sounds like an easy question, but there’s about a dozen conditionals to any answer I give. Figure a huge chunk of each contract is just all the different terms and conditions for when and if and how people get paid.

For example… format matters, sure, but so does whereyou bought the book. And when. And how many people bought it before you. And if it was on sale. And who was actually holding the sale. And all of this changes in every contract. What’s true for, say, The Fold may not be true for Paradox Bound.

TL;DR—just buy the format you like.

9) Do you have any plans to attend ########-Con?

As I write this, my con schedule for 2020 includes WonderCon, Denver Pop Culture Con, and SDCC. There still may be one or two getting added to that list over the next few weeks—we’ll all find out together.

If you want to see me at your local con, let them know! Yeah, them, not me. I’m willing to go almost anywhere I’m invited, but… if I’m not invited, there’s just not much I can do. So, email them, tweet them, post on their Instagram account. Reach out and let your voice be heard.

Also, please keep in mind, most cons finalize their guest list five or six months in advance. If your local con’s in three weeks… the odds are not in our favor. Sorry.

10) When are you going to make a movie/ TV series/ graphic novel/ video game of your books?

Okay, there’s a misunderstanding of how Hollywoodworks in this sort of question. When we see a film adaptation or TV series, it means the studio went to the writer, not the other way around. I have pretty much zero influence on Netflix making a Paradox Bound series or the Hallmark Channel doing a Lycanthrope Robinson Crusoe movie. I mean, if it was just about writers saying “hey, make this into a movie,” wouldn’t most books be adapted by now? Everybody’d be doing it.

11) Well, is there anything we can do to help?
Buying books is always a good step. Hollywoodlikes to see big sales numbers and interest. If you want to see something—anything—on the air, talk about it a lot on social media. And write reviews. Producers/ directors/ actors all hear about this stuff the same way you do. If #Terminus or #ParadoxBound start trending on Twitter tomorrow, there’ll probably be a film deal within a week.

(easy way to do this? Don’t buy books from Amazon if you can avoid it. Write reviews there, sure, absolutely, but Amazon gets iffy with sales figures, so they don’t get included in a lot of bestsellers lists. Yeah, a pre-order or purchase from your local bookstore might cost a buck or three more, but it’s a purchase Hollywood’s much more likely to see)

(Plus, now you’re one of those awesome people supporting local businesses. Be awesome)

12) Why don’t you like people talking about your books?

I’m thrilled and amazed people talk about anything I wrote. Seriously. What I can’t stand are people who blurt out spoilers that can ruin these stories for other people. It’s why I avoid those questions in interviews, ignore them on Twitter, and why—where I can—I delete posts that reveal things from a book.

And not just my stories! You shouldn’t mess up other stories, either. Movies, TV—I’m just saying, if you enjoyed it spoiler-free, why not try to give other people a chance to enjoy it the same way? I still haven’t watched the last season of Game of Thrones or Doctor Who, dammit!

13) Will you read my story and tell me what you think?

Short answer… no.

Long answer… if I say yes to some folks, in the spirit of fairness I have to say yes to everyone. Now I’m spending all my time reading and doing critiques instead of writing. I don’t want sound mercenary, but… writing is how I pay my mortgage. So when somebody asks me to read stuff, they’re asking me to give up a few hours of work. Plus, I do have this ranty writing blog sitting, yknow, right here with over a decade of advice and tips.

Also… some folks are lawsuit-crazy, and the bad ones ruin it for everyone else. Somebody shows me a piece of bland, generic fanfic and a few years from now they sue me for stealing “their ideas“. Yeah, I know that sounds stupid, but I’ve been subpoenaed and deposed for lawsuits with less behind them than that. It’s why I’m verrrry leery when I get a long message along the lines of “You know what you should really do next with the people from 14…” Heck, some writers respond with smackdowns or even cease & desist orders when they get sent stuff like this.

And if you send stuff without asking, I’ll delete it unread, just like spam mail. Sorry.

14) What’s up with yo—wait, foureen? Didn’t you say top twelve?
What are you, the number police?

15) What’s up with your Facebook page?

Ahhhhh, Facebook. Where we’re the consumer and the product. Just like Soylent Green.

Simple truth is, Facebook made it pretty much pointless for me to have a fan page there. They’ve drastically altered their algorithms over the years so my posts there have gone from 70-85% engagement to barely scraping 10-15% most of the time. Why? Well, so I’d pay to reach people who’ve already said they want to see my posts. Which I wouldn’t do because folks pretty conclusively proved years ago that paying for views on Facebook actually decreases your reach. No, seriously. It does.

And yeah, sure–it’s their site. They can do whatever they want with it and run it the way they like. And yeah they absolutely deserve to make money off it. I’m a progressive, but I still believe in (regulated) capitalism.

But then that brings us to all of Facebook’s little side ventures. Collecting countless amounts of personal data. The spread of misinformation. Social engineering on unwitting subjects… which has led to more than a few deaths. If you think I’m exaggerating, look up articles about how Facebook shaped perceptions or spread propaganda in Myanmaror Sri Lanka. And these aren’t fringe articles—they’re from major news sites. Do you know how many Facebook fact checkers have quit—internationally—because Facebook won’t actually let them check facts? They’re told again and again to let lies and falsehoods stand because of who’s posting them.

So I’ve quit Facebook. Deleted my personal account, which means the fan page is cut loose with no administrator. I think this FAQ will be the last thing I post there.

16) What about Twitter or Instagram?

I’m @PeterClines on both. Fair warning–as some of you may have figured out, I’m progressive and I’m a bit more political on Twitter. Most Saturdays I also drink and live-tweet bad B-movies so… don’t say you didn’t know what you were getting into. I’ll also say right up front I don’t believe in Twitter high school, where I’m supposed to follow someone just because they followed me. So if that’s your approach, I’ll save you time now…

Instagram is probably the geekiest of my social medias. How is that possible, you ask? Well, there’s little toy soldiers, LEGO, classic toys. And cats. Can’t have an Instagram account without cats. Sometimes these things mix.

Yeah, I know Instagram’s also owned by Facebook, but (for the moment) they’re not being quite so reprehensible over there. So (also for the moment) I’ll still be there.

And I think that should answer about 90% of your questions, yes…?

December 2, 2019

Cyber Monday VIII: The Capitalisming

Well, it’s that time of year where ugly truths must be addressed. Artists get paid when people buy their art, which gives them the freedom to make more art.

So I’m going to ask you to buy some books.

I know, it’s weird and kinda awkward for all of us, but this is the season for giving and if you wanted to give somebody one of my books (even if that somebody is YOU) I’d really appreciate it. They might too, if my stories are there sorta thing. So here’s a list of my books and a few anthologies and collections I’ve got stories in. Put them on your wish list or get them as gifts for friends and family members.

Also, I’ve sprinkled a few Amazon links in here for the books that aren’t available anywhere else, but really you should just be going to your local bookstore and asking for a copy. They’re very cool, they could use the business, and this way you’re not one of those conformists sheeple falling for that Cyber Monday capitalist nonsense. You’ll get to brag about that until Valentine’s Day, easy.

Anyway…

Dead Moon came out back in February as an Audible exclusive (read by the always-fantastic Ray Porter) and now it’s available as an ebook as well. Alas, there is no paper version at the moment. Sorry. It’s about a woman who runs away to the Moon and finds… well, zombies on the Moon. And some other things, too. It’s spooky and fun and I’m quite proud of it.

Paradox Bound is my New York Times-bestselling story about infatuation, road trips, American history, a pretty cool train and some pretty creepy antagonists. F.Paul Wilson said it was like Doctor Who crossed with National Treasure, and if that doesn’t get you interested I don’t know what will. There’s an audiobook, ebook, paperbacks, and you might even find a hardcover here or there if you’re lucky.

At least a third of you have probably found your way here because of my odd little Lovecraftian-sci-fi-urban-horror-mystery novel–14. Alas, the paperback has gone out of print, but there’s still an ebook and a phenomenal audiobook narrated by Ray Porter. And there might be more versions in the year to come, but we’ll talk about those when we can…

Somebody once described The Fold as a horror-suspense novel disguised as a sci-fi-mystery, and I’ve always liked that. It’s available in pretty much every format you can imagine, and it’s also part of my “unconnected series” of Threshold books.

Another big bunch of you are here because of the Ex-Heroes series. Superheroes fighting zombies in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles (and a few other places). Ex-Heroes, Ex-Patriots, Ex-Communication, Ex-Purgatory, and Ex-Isle. All of these are available in a number of formats and a number of languages.

Good news! My weird-but-fantastic mashup novel, The Eerie Adventures of the Lycanthrope Robinson Crusoe, is finally available as an audiobook. Bad news… at the moment it’s only available as an audiobook. Sorry. Hoping to fix that soon, but I really think the audiobook might be a better format for this one.If you really want paper, call around to your local bookstore and you might find one still hanging our on a shelf somewhere.

You can pick up The Junkie Quatrain as either an ebook or an audiobook (still no paper, sorry). It’s my attempt at a “fast zombies” tale, a series of interconnected stories I’ve described as Rashomon meets 28 Days Later. It also features a recurring character of mine, Quilt, who keeps showing up in different stories in one way or another…

I also have a short story collection called Dead Men Can’t Complain. It’s got a bunch of stories I’ve had published over the years in various anthologies and journals, plus a few original ones. Some are scar, some are kinda funny, one or two of them might even be called heartwarming. It’s an Audible exclusive, and it’s read by Ray Porter and Ralph Lister.

Past that… okay, look. There’s a ton of anthologies out there but because some of them have limited print runs or licensing deals I’m not sure what is or isn’t available at the moment. The best I can do at this point is give you a quick list and when you’re in your friendly local bookstore… browse around for a minute or three. They might have a copy of something.

X-Files: Trust No One

Naughty or Nice

Bless Your Mechanical Heart

The World is Dead

Kaiju Rising

Mech: Age of Steel

Worth mentioning—please check those last two if you stumble across them. The books went into reprints with some contractural changes I couldn’t agree to, so my stories aren’t in the new editions. Only the older ones. So make sure you get those at a store where you can look at them.

Thus ends my shameless Cyber Monday appeal to you. Again, so very sorry we had to do this, but it really does make the marketing folks happy and they’ve always been really good to me. Also, like I have in the past, in the next day or two I’ll also do another list with some of the great books I’ve read by other, much better authors, so please check back. And please don’t forget my Black Friday offer if you happen to be one of the folks who might need it.

And now, please resume your internet shopping. Browse responsibly. Clear your history on a regular basis. Especially you, Doug. No, sweet jeebus, don’t click on that—that’s not really from PayPal.

And we’ll be back to regular writing stuff on Thursday.

14 Dead Moon Ex-Heroes Paradox Bound The Fold X-Files

July 10, 2019 / 7 Comments

FAQ the XIIIth: Jason Takes Manhattan

Another six months have passed us by and I promised I’d update this when there’s some more news soooooooo…. Updates!

For those of you just joining our show (already in progress)… One aspect of being an almost semi-famous author on social media is getting asked questions. Which is overall fun and I enjoy hearing from folks. But a lot of these questions come up frequently You could even go so far as to say they’re… frequently asked questions.

Sad truth is this can get exhausting—and a little frustrating—to answer the same questions again and again and again. Between this blog, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook… well, it adds up to a lot of people asking the same questions. And that’s with some version of this FAQ pinned to the top of all my social media pages!

(And before you panic, person who asked a question yesterday, no, I’m not singling you out. You just did it this one time without thinking. You’re good)

(I’m talking about that other guy. You know who I mean. We’re all thinking it, I’m just the one saying it…)

Anyway… rather than get testy and frustrated ‘cause someone asked the same question I already answered twice this morning in the same thread, I’ll just scribble up answers to a dozen of the most common questions I get and pin them on a lot of my social media pages. Then when people ask me the same question again anyway, I can say “check out that FAQ pinned at the top of the page!”

Or maybe I won’t say anything, cause look—there’s an FAQ pinned right at the top of the page!

1) So, hey, when are we going to see something new?

Well hopefully a lot of you checked out Dead Moonback at Valentine’s Day. It’s my kinda fun and pulpy sci-fi horror story about zombies on the Moon and some other things. It was exclusive with Audible and on August 14th it’ll be available as an ebook (with a little extra material) through most of your favorite booksellers.

Early next year (2020), will be Terminus. Exact date still pending. And possibly the title but I think we’re all 83% sure this is going to be it. It’s a Threshold book, and the story of a more-or-less regular guy named Murdoch who’s trying to deal with his childhood sweetheart, Anne, coming back into his life. He also has to deal with her Family… which is technically his Family, too. There’s a guy name Chase who’s, ironically, on the run from something. And there’s also Seth, Doug, Barnabus, Katanga, and some other names you may recognize, as well. It’s also going to be another Audible-exclusive (the final one). I’ll talk about that down below, if you care why.

I’m also talking with some folks about a sort of bonus-collector’s edition thing that may interest some of you. More news on that as it firms up.

If all goes well, by the time you read this I’ve finallysat down to start writing a new standalone book I’ve been wanting to do for about two years now. If everything goes perfect it might be out next year but… I guess we’ll see. And after that I might try something I’ve wanted to do for… wow, maybe a decade now?

And after that… who knows.

2) Wait, no paper version of Dead Moon?
Alas, not in the immediate future. There’s a couple of different reasons for it, and they involve a lot of business stuff I’d rather not get into at the moment. There’s a chance it may still become available, but for the moment it’s just going to be ebook alongside the audio. Sorry.

And I don’t know about Terminus yet, just to answer that one now. It’s still pretty far out.

3) Will there be another book set in the Threshold series?

… I just answered this question.

This is what I was talking about! You’re not even reading this, are you? Come on! I wrote all these out. You could at least do more than just skim.

Jeeeeesh…

4) Okay, explain this whole “Threshold” thing you keep talking about?

“Threshold” is the overall, umbrella label for the shared universe I kinda-sorta inadvertently kicked off eight years ago when I wrote 14. There are some books that are definitely part of an overall linear story, a “series” if you will, and some that just fall under the umbrella. Every Marvel movie is part of the MCU, but not every Marvel movie is a direct sequel to TheAvengers. Or if you prefer, lots of Stephen King books tie into the Dark Tower mythology, but they’re not all part of the Dark Tower series. Does that make sense?

And, yes, this does make things a bit awkward, because I know the marketing folks are reeeeeaally pushing Threshold as a pure, straightforward series (Book One, Book Two, etc), even though I’ve said several times that it isn’t. This may give some people false expectations for what some books will be about, and I apologize if that’s you. I’m doing my best to make the books as great as they can be, and hopefully you won’t be too bothered that maybe you went in expecting Avengers: Endgame and you ended up getting Spider-Man: Far From Home. Again, if that makes sense.

As a name, Threshold fits in a few different ways. It’s part of a doorway, and doorways figure big into most of this series. It also refers to reaching a certain critical level—another recurring issue in these stories. And, finally, it’s also a reference to an old H.P. Lovecraft short story. Which has absolutely nothing to do with anything, but I thought it was cool…

5) How does Dead Moon fit into the Threshold series?

As it happens, I wrote a whole book explaining this. Check out #1 up above.

(also, please read this)

6) Why do you keep doing these “Audible exclusives” ?

Well, first off, I’ve only done two, and that’s counting Terminus coming out this fall. Second, there’s a very solid argument to be made that the majority of my fanbase is audiobook listeners. Odd, I know, but there it is. Audible knows this, too, and because of this they made me an extremely generous offer for exclusive rights to Dead Moon and Terminus, meaning both of them would be audiobook only for the first six months they’re out. As I mentioned above, for Dead Moon that exclusivity ends on August 14th. For Terminus, it should be next summer (I can’t say exactly because we don’t have a release date nailed down).

And, yeah, I know this makes some of you grind your teeth. I’m sorry if you’re not an audiobook listener and this leaves you out of the loop for a bit. My agent and I talked about it a lot, believe me (even with that generous offer). Every other day on the phone for about six weeks. In the end, I really wanted to tell these stories and this was the best way I’d get to do it. Again, I’m sorry if this puts you in a bad spot.

7) Is Ex-Isle the last Ex book?

Not absolutely 100% sure, but… yeah, it looks that way.

The truth is, every series has a limited life. Very few people start on book three—they go back and start at book one. So book one of a series always sells the best, not as many people show up for book two, even less show up for book three, and so on (I just learned that in comics they call this “standard attrition”). It’s a near-constant downward slope heading for that red line where things aren’t profitable. None of the Ex-Heroes books have ever lost the publisher money (thank you all for that), but the margin kept shrinking and things didn’t look great for book six as far as that red line’s concerned.

Again, not 100% sure, but we’re in the high 90s. A number of things could make the series surge in popularity and get the publisher interested in putting out another book or two. But for now, Ex-Tensionis going to stay on that back burner. Sorry.

8) Have you considered a Kickstarter or a GoFund me to continue the Ex series?

I have and the answer’s no, sorry. I love these books. Hopefully you all know that. St. George, Stealth, and the other folks at the Mount (and your love for them) got me where I am today. I’m still amazed there are so many fans who feel so passionately about them. I had tons of fun writing them.

But… the simple truth is, if there were enough people willing to pay for another book, the publisher would be willing to put out another book. All the numbers say that’s just not the case. Sure, some folks might pay twice as much into a Kickstarter for one more book, but I think we can all agree experience says three or four times as many people wouldn’t pay anything. There’s pretty much no way this works out. Again… that downward slope I mentioned in #7.

Plus, my schedule’s set up months in advance. As I hinted at above, I already have a pretty good idea what projects I’m going to be working on until sometime in 2021 at this point. Doing a crowdfunded project means I haveto plan on said crowdfunding succeeding and work it into my schedule… which then means a gaping hole in my schedule when it doesn’t succeed.

Again, sorry.

9) Do you make more money if I buy your books in a certain format?

For example… format matters, sure, but so does whereyou bought the book. And when you bought it. And how many people bought it before you. And if it was on sale. And who was holding the sale. And all of this changes in every contract. What’s true for, say, The Fold may not be true for Paradox Bound.

TL;DR—just buy the format you like.

10) Do you have any plans to attend ########-Con?

To be honest, last year was such a mad jumble with working on books and going to cons and moving that… well, I didn’t make a hell of a lot of plans for this year. At the moment, the only thing on my schedule for the rest of the year is SDCC next week. Absolutely nothing else.

I am cautiously hoping next year will get me to a couple cons across the country. Maybe ECCC, Phoenix, DragonCon, and possibly Denver or NYCC. I’d love to do something out in New England. If any of these sound good to you, or you want to see me at your local con, please let them know. Yeah, them, not me. I’m willing to go almost anywhere I’m invited, but if I’m not invited… well, there’s just not much I can do. So, email them, tweet them, post on their Instagram account. Reach out and let your voice be heard.

And keep in mind, too, that most cons finalize their guest list at least four or five months in advance, so if your local con’s in three weeks… the odds are not in our favor. Sorry.

11) When are you going to make a movie/ TV series/ cartoon/ graphic novel/video game of your books?

Okay, there’s a misunderstanding of how Hollywoodworks in this sort of question. When you see a film adaptation or TV series, it means the studio went to the writer, not the other way around. I mean, if it was just about writers saying “hey, make this into a movie,” wouldn’t most books be adapted by now? Everybody’d be doing it.

Alas, I have zero say in whether or not SyFy wants to do an Ex-Heroesseries or Lifetime does a Lycanthrope Robinson Crusoe movie. They look for things that have piqued a certain level of interest, and so far these stories of mine haven’t quite scraped that threshold.

No, me (or you) writing the screenplay won’t make a difference, unless your name happens to be Shane Black, James Gunn, or David Koepp—and even then it’s not a sure thing. Because in case you forgot…

12) Didn’t you have a series deal?
Yeah, in theory. I struck a deal a few years back with Team Downey, the production company of that guy we all know from Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Turned out he’s a fan of 14and he wanted to do something with it.

Alas, there are no sure things when it comes to Hollywood. It’s a big game of if. If a pilot gets greenlit, if it gets shot, if it turns out okay, if the assorted executives like it, if it gets picked up. And a lot of these ifs are happening on a time limit. In the end… time just ran out. Which all kinda goes with what I said up above in #11. Robert Downey, Jr. had signed on as an executive producer and that still wasn’t enough to get the show made. But I get to say he liked one of my books.

And who knows what could happen in the future.

13) So, is there anything we can do to help?

Well, buying books is always a good step. Hollywood likes to see big sales numbers and interest. If you want to see something—anything—on the air, talk about it a lot on social media. Write reviews on websites. Producers/ directors/ actors all hear about this stuff the same way you do. If #ParadoxBoundor #DeadMoon start trending on Twitter tomorrow, there’ll probably be a film deal within a week.

(true fact—an easy way to help do this? Don’t buy books from Amazon. Write reviews there, sure, absolutely, but Amazon gets iffy with sales figures, so they don’t get included in a lot of bestsellers lists. Yeah, a purchase from your local bookstore might cost a buck or three more, but it’s a purchase Hollywoodis more likely to notice)

(Plus, now you’re one of those cool people supporting local businesses. So be cool.)

14) Why don’t you like people talking about your books?

To be honest, I’m still thrilled people talk about anything I wrote. Seriously. What I can’t stand are spoilers. That’s why I avoid those questions and/or comments in interviews, ignore them on Twitter, and why I try to delete any posts that reveal information from the back half of a book (yep, that’s probably what happened to your post). And not just my stories! You shouldn’t mess up other stories, either. Movies, TV—if you enjoyed it, try to give other people a chance to enjoy it the same way. I still haven’t watched the last season of Game of Thrones or Doctor Who, dammit!

15) Will you read my story and tell me what you think?

Short answer… no.

Part of this is a time issue. If I say yes to some folks, in the spirit of fairness I have to say yes to everyone. Now I’m spending all my time reading and doing critiques instead of writing. I don’t want sound mercenary, but… writing is how I pay my mortgage. So when someone asks me to read stuff, they’re asking me to give up a few hours of work. Plus, I do have this ranty writing blog sitting right, y’know, here with over a decade of advice and tips.

It’s also a legal thing. Some folks are lawsuit-crazy, and the bad ones ruin it for everyone else. Say Wakko gives me a piece of fanfic to read where he has Harry and Eli showing up at a certain post-apocalyptic film studio. A few years from now, I decide to do a big crossover book. And then Wakko sues me for stealing his ideas.

Yeah, I know that sounds stupid, but seriously, I’ve been subpoenaed and deposed over a case with less behind it than that. This is why I’m verrrry leery when I get a long message along the lines of “You know what you should really do next with the people from 14…” It’s why some writers respond with smackdowns or even legal action when they get sent stuff like this.

So, the long answer is also… no. And if you send stuff without asking, I’ll delete it unread, just like spam mail. Sorry.

16) What’s up with–wait, sixteen? You said top twelve. Wasn’t this supposed to be over by now?
Jeeeeez, do you have any idea how often I get that question…?

It’s bonus material. You got the deluxe BluRay version. Just be happy about it.

17) What’s up with your Facebook page?

Man. Facebook. What a mess, huh?

Simple truth is, Facebook’s made it pretty much pointless to have a fan page. They’ve tweaked their algorithms so my posts there have gone from 70-85% engagement to barely scraping 15-20% most of the time. Why? Well, so I’ll pay to reach people who’ve already said they want to see my posts.

But then that brings us to all Facebook’s little side ventures. Which all seem to boil down to the buying and selling of… well, us, at the core. As many folks have pointed out, Facebook’s real product is us. Their real customers are the people buying as much about us as they possibly can. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but when someone talks casually about buying and selling people… it makes me uncomfortable.

So I’ve scaled way, way back on Facebook. Personally and professionally. I have no plans to change this in the near future. Sorry.

18) What about Twitter or Instagram?

I’m @PeterClines on Twitter. Fair warning–as some of you may have figured out, I’m progressive and I’m a bit more political there. On Saturdays I also drink a lot and live-tweet bad B-movies so… don’t say you didn’t know what you were getting into

Instagram (also @PeterClines) is probably the geekiest of my social medias. How is that possible, you ask? Well, there’s little toy soldiers, LEGO, classic toys. And cats. Can’t have an Instagram account without cats. Sometimes these things mix.

Yeah, I know Instagram’s also owned by Facebook, but (for the moment) they’re not being quite so reprehensible over there. So (also for the moment) I’ll still be there.

And I think that should answer about 90% of your questions, yes…?

Dead Moon Ex-Heroes FAQ marketing spoilers Threshold

April 11, 2019

POV

Well, it was fun taking March off, but now I’m back to work on a new project. Working on a new outline. And buffing a few rough edges off the thing I turned in back in February.

Of course, I’m still making time for the ranty blog. And for drunken movie critiques on Saturdays. It’s all an important part of the process. Trust me.

Speaking of seeing things my way, I realized I haven’t talked about points of view in a while. I’ve mentioned it here and there, but I don’t think I’ve focused on it in… a couple of years? It’s about time to bring it up again.

Point of view is one of those things we all learned about in seventh or eighth grade and kind of memory-dumped once we passed that test. It’s really important if you’re a writer (or a high school English teacher), but for everyone else it’s…

Well, it’s kinda irrelevant, to be honest. I think most non-writer/schoolteacher folks have only the barest idea of how point of view works. And there’s a pile of evidence that says they don’t really care if it doesn’t. Yeah, sad but true. All too many people won’t notice if my book has some major POV issues.

BUT…

That doesn’t mean we, as professional and aspiring writers, shouldn’t care about getting it right. I mean, most people can’t tell you the difference between an alligator and a crocodile. Doesn’t mean the difference isn’t there. And if I want to be taken seriously as a herpetologist—especially in the overall herpetology industry and community—I should probably learn what that difference is. And what using them means for my story.

Points of view. Not crocodiles. Using crocodiles in my story… well, okay, it really depends on the context and the genre.

Anyway…

If I’m going to take this whole being-a-writer thing seriously, I need to understand how the different points of view work so I can use them without confusing (or frustrating) my readers. A lot of otherwise good stories I see get derailed by an irregular point of view… or by a complete lack of one. They’ll just jump from character X to character Y to an omniscient point of view to Z’s journal. Which means, as a reader, I’m constantly getting knocked out of the story as I try to figure out what angle I’m seeing things from.

So let’s talk about these a bit…

First person is when the narrator is a character in the story. Usually (but not always) they’re the main character. Everything I see or read in the story is filtered through this character. I see what she sees, hear what she hears, feel what she feels, know what she knows.

On the plus side, first person can feel very easy and freeing to write. I just get myself in character and go. It’s great for lots of little train-of-thought sidebars and segues. It’s also easier to build a connection with the reader, because I’m speaking directly to them with/through this character.

On the downside… well, it’s all filtered through my character. I don’t know what’s going on in that other room or Meanwhile, back in Washington or any of that. Everything rests on this one character. They’re our window into the story, and if they’re not a very clear or open window… well…

That makes me think of another point that’s probably worth mentioning. In a first person story I’m getting access to all the narrator’s thoughts. I know what they know, realize what they realize, and so on. I mention it because this means I have to be very careful with any sort of reveal or twist. About how I structure a lot of stuff in my story, really. If I’m going to bring readers inside my character’s head, my character can’t suddenly decide notto think about something just because it makes things more dramatic. Sure, if you ask me a question I can give you a vague answer out loud, but I guarantee you that in my head I’m thinking of the exact, precise answer. When I see a giant crocodile in a clown suit, I don’t think “but then I saw something far beyond my wildest nightmares, which I will detail after the chapter break.” I just think “oh holy $@#% crocodile clown!! RUN!!”

First person’s become fairly popular over the past decade or so, especially in YA fiction. I’m just pulling numbers out of the air here, but I’d guess anywhere from a third to maybe even half of the books you’ll stumble across these days use a first person POV.

Second person is very rarely used, but I’ve seen it done once or thrice so I think it’s worth touching on. This point of view makes you, the reader, the main character and the writer projects all the action and emotion onto you. “You walk across the parking lot and a feeling of unease begins to creep up your spine. You hear a sudden noise and bolt for the shop door!”

Plus side, second person is immediately personal for the reader. I’ve dragged the reader into the story and made them part of it. These things are happening to you, which makes it a bit easier to get invested.

Down side is that I’ve dragged the reader into the story and made them part of it. I’m taking control of them, which means I’ve robbed my protagonist of their agency. You’re going to do these things and feel like this and react like this. If you’ve ever played D&D (or any RPG) where the dungeon master just takes control of the whole game, it’s a lot like that.

Second person requires an incredible level of empathy. I need to know exactly how my readers are going to react as the story progresses so it will feel natural for them. If I can pull it off, though, it can make for a truly amazing experience. I highly recommend the Welcome to Night Vale episode “A Story About You” if you want a great example.

And this brings us to third person. It’s an independent, non-involved telling of the events of the story. In a third person story, the reader (and the narrator) are just spectators. Think of a television show or movie—we’re “there” but we’re also outside of the events, looking in at them.

Now, third person breaks down a couple different ways. You may have heard of third person omniscient. This is when I, as the writer, give the readers access to everything. We see everyone’s actions. We hear everyone’s thoughts. We get everyone’s reactions, even the hidden, internal ones. We can start here in the diner booth, going back and forth between the young couple on their first date, then leap into the server’s head to see his horrified reaction to their awkward displays of affection, and then drift over to the short order cook who’s secretly a serial killer and is debating which one of them he’s going to murder first.

Hey, these things happen.

Third person omniscient is great because it lets me dump everything. I get to show every action, reaction, motivation, reflective character moment, all of it. It lets me cover every base and round out every character.

The downside to third person omniscient is… well, I’m showing everything to my readers. And one of the major aspects of storytelling is concealing things from them. Deciding exactly when this gets revealed, that gets seen, this gets realized. If I’m inherently showing everything, then it’s going to be clear—maybe awkwardly clear—when I’m deciding not to show something. It’s like trying to do a striptease when you’re already naked. It can still be fun and sexy, but it’s also going to be painfully apparent what your hands are blocking.

Now, there’s also third person limited. This is when my story keeps the reader as a spectator but I’m much more selective about what they see. I may decide we’re only going to focus on Yakko and his thoughts. Think of it as seeing over his shoulder. Or perhaps I’ll only let the reader see actions but not get access to what any of the characters are thinking.

Third person limited can strike a nice balance between getting my readers invested, because I can get very close to a character, but still restricting what I’m showing them. It works well for almost any kind of story or genre. To the best of my knowledge, it’s still the most common point of view for fiction, even with the rise of first person stories that I mentioned up above.

The trick with third person limited is I can see these certain things very clearly, but not other things. It’s a little bit like first person in that sense. I’ve chosen to limit things to this one character, whether I’m inside their head or outside of it. So my story needs to depend a lot on what they experience, not what’s happening to other people in other places.

Hopefully it’s clear that point of view is a big part of storytelling. It’s going to affect how my narrative unfolds. It’ll also determine which things I can tell you or explain during the course of the story. If I have an inconsistent point of view, it’s going to be jarring and break the flow of my story. If I’ve chosen the wrong point of view, things may come crashing down around me right from the start.

Whoa, whoa, WHOA! The wrong point of view, you say. How can there be a wrongpoint of view? Sure, it may change the story a bit one way or another, but how can the point of view be wrong? It’s just an arbitrary decision I make about how I’m going to tell my story, right?

Well… consider this.

Let’s say I’ve decided to write a mystery novel in third person omniscient. In fact, let’s say it’s that little diner scene I mentioned up above. So here’s our first chapter with Dot and Phoebe out on their date. Dot’s thinking about first kisses, Phoebe’s thinking of morning-afters. Here’s their server who was raised a bit too conservative and can’t stop himself from inwardly cringing at two women clearly out on a date, even though he’s trying to be more open and accepting. And over there, looking out from the kitchen, is Wakko the short order cook, who’s thinking about Phoebe and Dot and—

No, wait. Hang on. We can’t see what he’s thinking. That’ll kinda kill the mystery aspect of this, won’t it?

Okay, so we’ll just never peek inside Wakko’s head. Of course, any mystery fan is going to wonder why we’re seeing inside everyone’s head except his, and they’re probably going to assume (pretty quickly) it’s because he’s the killer. And they’ll be right. In which case my mystery has faceplanted pretty early on.

Of course, I could just decide to see inside Wakko’s head from the start, but now this isn’t a mystery. If we know he’s the killer from the start, this is more of a thriller. And it’s a tricky one, because now the investigators searching for Dot’s killer (yeah, sorry, he went after Dot) are going to be playing catch-up with the readers for the whole book. We’ve know it’s Wakko since chapter one, after all.

So, choosing the right point of view is important in a story. At best, the wrong one can mean a lot of extra work. At worst… it means I might do a lot of work and then discover I’ve written myself into a corner.

Another important thing to remember is that my point of view needs to be consistent. If ninety-five percent of my book is focused on Phoebe and her thoughts and her actions and what she sees, it’s going to be very jarring on page 324 when the narrative suddenly jumps into Wakko’s head for a few paragraphs. If I switch viewpoints five or six times in the same chapter, it can get confusing real fast. Likewise, we can’t start over Wakko’s shoulder and then driiiiiiiiiiiiiift over so we’re suddenly looking over Dot’s.

Now, this isn’t to say we can’t change point of view in a story. It’s cool to switch POV and there’s nothing wrong with it. My Ex-Heroesseries regularly switches between third person points of view in the present, and goes into first person for flashback chapters. But I’m also very, very clear when I’m doing this.

Think of it this way. Whatever POV I choose, it’s kinda like looking through a pair of binoculars. I can see this. But if I suddenly whip the binoculars over to look at that… well, it takes a couple of minutes. I need to find that, focus on it. And if I didn’t know that shift was coming—or that it even happened—imagine how disorienting it would be. What am I looking at now? Am I seeing it from a different angle? Is this even the same pair of binoculars? I need to make it clear to my readers this shift has happened. If they abruptly start seeing things from new angles or hearing new pronouns, they’re going to go back to figure out when things changed. Which means they’re not moving forward with the story anymore.

And that’s never a good thing.

And this concludes my not-so-quick overview of different viewpoints.

Next time, I’d like to talk about Guido a bit. No, not downtown Guido. The guy from X-Factor.

Until then, go write.

Ex-Heroes first mystery point of view structure

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