Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Jacob's grandfather always told him some pretty fantastical tales, stories about a home he stayed in during World War II. All of the children had peculiar talents, like the super-strong boy, the boy with bees inside of him, and so on. And when Jacob was young, he believed his grandfather, especially since there was photographic evidence. But as Jacob grew older, he realized that the stories his grandfather was telling were made up. Fairy tales, if you will. There was no big house of peculiar children. There weren't any monsters prowling in the shadows for them. By the time he was sixteen, Jacob had left those silly tales behind him.

Until the night his grandfather died. Everyone said it had to be an animal attack, except Jacob knows he saw a monster attack his grandfather, one out of the stories he used to tell. And his grandfather's last words are strange enough to make Jacob wonder if those stories might not be true after all.

And so Jacob finds himself on a quest to find out the truth about Miss Peregrine and her collection of peculiar children, an adventure that takes him halfway around the world, through time, and will ultimately reveal who he really is.

I had heard some really positive buzz about this book when it was first published. Every time I went to the bookstore, I saw it on the shelves. Using some leftover giftcards from Christmas, I decided to pick up a copy and see what the hype was all about. Part of me is still wondering.

Don't get me wrong, the concept is kind of cool (although a bit reminiscent of the X-Men, truth be told). And the photographs, which author Ransom Riggs claims are original and (mostly) not retouched are pretty cool. They made me wonder what the true story behind some of them were. Jake, the main character, is likeable enough and I was definitely rooting for him.

But as for the rest of it . . . I don't know. I can't quite put my finger on it. The story is deftly told. The craft seems fairly strong. I just got a feeling that this story was supposed to be more . . . significant, I guess. It was an okay read, certainly interesting in its own right.

Riggs left himself open for a possible sequel, but I'm thinking this is where I get off. Not a bad book, but not a new favorite either.

Tip Tuesday: Make a Mess!

If you were paying attention last week, you'll remember that I said you should never back edit. If you make big changes to your story halfway through, just keep going. Don't go back and fix things. Instead, keep notes of your changes and fix them on your first edit.

Now some of you might object to that idea, thinking, "Wouldn't that result in a big mess?"

Of course it will. That's the point of a first draft. It's supposed to be a mess. It's supposed to be rough around the edges. It's supposed to be garbage.

The reason why is because of something that I think is a hard-and-fast rule when it comes to writing: Your first draft is between you and God! Never show your first draft to anyone, ever. Not your friends, not your family, not your critique partners, definitely not an agent or editor (unless they've specifically asked to see it). Once your first draft is done, you've got a long way to go before its ready for public consumption. So if your first draft is a mess, who cares? You're the only one who will see it.

It's not just major changes that I'm talking about here. Your first draft is the space where you can be forgetful. For example, in my current work-in-progress, Hive, I forgot a character's name halfway through the book. It wasn't a big deal; she's a background character who has maybe half a dozen lines at most. So whenever I needed her name, I just threw in a line of Xs as a placeholder. I did the same thing with a location name. The Xs were my signal to myself to find the right word for that space.

Perhaps another example will help, this one from my soon-to-be-published book, Failstate. When I first started writing, there were three pivotal scenes I knew I had to include. To avoid giving spoilers, I'll refer to them thusly: Bringing It Home, The Big Reveal, and The Last Hurrah.

When I was writing my first draft of Failstate, I included Bringing It Home rather early on. I thought it was a good way to escalate the conflict between two of the characters. But shortly after writing it, I realized that it made better dramatic sense for that particular scene to appear later in the book. Faced with this realization, I decided to move the scene. Rather than back-edit it out and fix the problem, I simply wrote a note to myself that said "Move Bringing It Home to later in the book."

Later on, I wrote in The Big Reveal. I won't go into too many details here, but in said scene, Failstate, our titular hero, figures out something big. I figured it would be great for him to have that information as he went forward. I moved on to start writing The Last Hurrah.

Funny thing, though. As I finished up The Last Hurrah, one of the supporting characters started acting funny. He was all snippy toward Failstate. I couldn't figure out what was happening. Why was he so upset?

That's when I realized what was happening. My imagination or subconscious or whatever governs my writing process was trying to tell me something: It would be more interesting if Failstate didn't have the information he learned in The Big Reveal. The story might actually turn out better if the Reveal happened after the Hurrah instead of before. I thought it over and it made sense. But rather than back edit it all together the way I was thinking, I simply stuck a note into the manuscript that said, "The Big Reveal goes here."

That left me with an odd problem. As I finished up with The Last Hurrah, I realized that I had already written the scene that came next. I didn't want to back edit, but I wasn't sure how I would transition from The Big Reveal into the rest of the story. What to do, what to do? In the end, I simply picked a spot that would definitely take place after The Big Reveal and started writing, figuring that I would smooth out any transitions in the first rewrite.

And so I kept going. When I reached Bringing It Home's new spot in the story, I simply added a note to the manuscript that said, in essence, "Put It Here!" and kept writing.

When I was done, I had a mess on my hands. Not only were three scenes in the wrong spots, the first fifty pages were written in third person POV while the rest was first person. And to top it off, the only what the chronology of the book could work was if a week has eight days in it. It was a mess, no doubt about it. It was too long, there were problems galore, and I had pretty much exhausted myself writing it.

And yet it's going to be published.

In short (I know, too late!), I guess I want to encourage those of you who stumbled across this entry to be messy in your first draft. You've always got the time to fix it later.

Odd Little Miracles

In the last year or so, I've found myself gravitating more and more toward short story anthologies. I don't know why. I can't explain it. But my continued fascination with the anthologies has been cemented a little thanks to Odd Little Miracles by Fred Warren, who, it should be noted, is a fellow contributor to Speculative Faith.

Simply put, this was fantastic. There was a wide variety of stories contained in this anthology covering a number of different genres, but the one thing they had in common was a sense of wonder. Oh, and some really funny parts too. Fred is great with the humor.

So which is my favorite? There were a lot of great ones, especially Pilgrimage, Get You Back to Mandalay, and A Taste of Honey. But the best of the best is definitely Rubes.

Let me put it this way, folks: Fred Warren is the best author to grace Splashdown Books. You can't do much better than this collection.

"Failstate" Book Trailer Contest Deadline

. . . is fast approaching! You only have a week left if you want to enter this contest to win a free copy of my debut novel when it releases and possibly have a character you created appear in a future Failstate book.

Want to know what I'm talking about? Check out this video here:

An Open Letter to the Laptop-Shooting Dad

If you don't know what this is referring to, watch this video:



Dear sir;

Before I say anything else, let me start by saying that I understand your frustration and yes, even your anger. If my kid was grounded for three months for posting a similar rant on her Facebook profile and s/he did it again, I'd be upset too. You are well within your rights to discipline your child. Parents should do that so their children grow up to be responsible adults.

That said, I question your methods, sir.

As I was watching your video, it didn't sit right with me. Something was bothering me. Like I said, I understand your frustration. I can sympathize with it. But as I watched this, I couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy about the whole situation.

And it's not about the gun. No, really, it's not, although I do wonder whether or not using a weapon of any kind to discipline your child is the best idea.

Instead, it's about the overarching methodology you've chosen.

Let me break down the situation as I'm seeing it:

A daughter is unjustifiably upset by what her parents have done, and so she posts what amounts to a temper tantrum that's visible only to her friends (or at least, it was supposed to be).

Then a father is justifiably upset by what his daughter has done, and so he posts what amounts to a temper tantrum that's visible to the entire world.

Do you see the difference between those two statements? There are two: whether or not the person was justified in their anger and the size of their audience.

Again, I'm not condoning your daughter's behavior. It was reprehensible. Referring to a friend of the family as "the cleaning lady" is not cool. Whining about a short list of chores in a profanity-laced post is not, in any way, okay. And you're right, she does seem to have a gratitude problem.

But here's the ironic thing: you're upset about your daughter airing the family laundry in a semi-public forum and so, to discipline her, you air even more of the family's dirty laundry in an even more public forum.

Sir, you are supposed to be setting the example in your family. Right now, the example you're presenting is that it really is okay to post a public rant. And I'm pretty sure that's not the lesson you're trying to teach.

If you're a God-fearing man, you're probably thinking of what we Lutherans call the Fourth Commandment right now, Honor your father and your mother. And that's certainly true. But after watching your video, I couldn't help but think of a different part of Scripture, namely Ephesians 6:4. "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord"

Might I suggest an alternate approach? Instead of filming a one-sided video rant and posting it for all the world to see, maybe actually sit down and talk with your daughter and explain why you're so upset. Discipline her by all means. Take away her laptop to remove the temptation. But do so in a loving, private manner.

Oh, and if I may be so bold, I'm still not sold on using the gun. Maybe, instead of destroying the laptop, you could have deleted her personal data and given it to the woman who has been helping out around your house. I understand she's down on her luck and might be able to use it. Just a thought.

Sincerely,
A concerned fellow parent

Lord of the Rings Medley

Ummmmm . . .  Wow. I'm finding I really like Lindsey Stirlings videos.

Robopocalypse

Earlier today, I finished reading Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson. Imagine if a computer program gained sentience and then unleashed never-before-seen destruction on humanity and . . . wait, that's the plot for Terminator, isn't it?

Okay, so it's a bad joke and this book is actually pretty good. It tells the story of said computer program, Archos, that retaliates against humanity by turning smart cars and helper robots against their masters. The whole story of the "New War," as it's called, is told in a series of flashbacks, detailing how humanity managed to survive the initial blitz and then went on to defeat Archos.

In many ways, this book reminded me of World War Z. It's the same basic premise: a retrospective look at an apocalypse that nearly wipes out humanity. Except I think the zombies were better.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed this book, but Wilson's tale fell a little short. Z felt a lot more epic. When I read it, I got the feeling that the entire world was fighting the marauding zombies. With the robots, not so much.

Part of the problem, I think, was that Wilson focused his tale on just a few survivors, using them to tell the whole story. As a result, the story felt a lot smaller. Worse, the individual tales felt somewhat disconnected. I mean, I know they were all part of the larger plot. They each had a role to play. But none of them seemed as "epic" as they should have been.

And that, right there, is probably the most problematic part of the book. Wilson spent about two thirds of the book setting stuff up and then resolved it all in a rush. What should have been an epic struggle for the future of humanity never really gelled for me.

Like I said, I enjoyed the book for the most part. I just wish there could have been a bit more.

Wordcount Wednesday

So I'm resurrecting this one again. I've taken a little break, but now, it's time to get started again. Specifically, it's time to start re-writing Hive, my pregnant teenage cyborg book. Six chapters in, and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I'll need to keep working on it, though.

So no true wordcount tonight, but that's my project for the coming weeks.

Tip Tuesday: No Back Editing!

So you've done your pre-writing, you've found your rhythm, that perfect time when your imagination is supplying you with dynamite scenes and characters and setting, and things are going great. But then, as you write, you suddenly have this spectacular idea for chapter six, something that will make your story sing and zing. Problem is, you're on chapter ten. What do you do?

It's time to establish what I think is a pretty good rule when it comes to writing, and it's this: no back editing.

What's back editing, you ask? It's going back in your story, while you're still writing it, to fix some detail or another. This, folks, is a bad idea for a number of different reasons.

Remember last week, when we spoke of inertia? Nothing kills forward momentum in writing a story better than stopping it to go back and fix something you've already written. By the time you're finished, you have to pick up where you left off and get started all over again. Now granted, if it's just a few minor tweaks here and there, it may not seem like a big deal, but it adds up.

There's also the practical concern of adding a lot of unnecessary extra work to your writing. Let me give you an (admittedly exaggerated) example.

Let's say you're writing a sci-fi adventure. Your dashing hero, Zap Ramrod, has a coy and coquettish female sidekick named Naomi. You're hard at work on the first draft of Zap's epic adventure when, about a third of the way through, you have a brilliant brainstorm: Naomi should be an alien. It's sci-fi, right? You gotta have aliens!

So you go back through the first half, replacing Naomi with the newly created alien, whom we'll call Riff. You even add a few extra scenes detailing how Zap and Riff met each other. You get to the point in the story where you had your brainstorm and keep going.

But then, about two-thirds of the way through, you realize that Riff is coming off as a stereotypical alien. He's not a good fit after all. Besides, "Zap and Riff" sound a bit too close to "Zapp and Kif," and you don't want folks to think of the guys from Futurama. Riff isn't working out. But that's okay, you've got a new idea: a smart-alecky robot named RK-717.

So back you go, through the first two thirds. Out goes the scenes with Riff. In go the scenes with RK-717. And you even add two new scenes for the 'bot, one where Zap buys RK-717 at the used robot emporium and another, a haunting soliloquy from RK-717 about how his kind are treated as second-class citizens. Great stuff! And when you catch up with where you were, off you go!

Only . . . three quarters of the way through, you're sick of typing RK-717. It's not that great of a name. And besides, the 'bot isn't really working for you anymore. Brainstorm! Why not replace the 'bot with another human, a bald Pakistani boy, one who grew up on a colony populated with the descendants of folks who were abducted by aliens in the 20th century.

So once again, you go back through your story, replacing all of the robot references with the boy. And so you finish out your story, fully satisfied . . .

. . . until you actually read what you've written and realize that Zap needs a woman's influence in his life, a romantic foil, if you will. And so, when you do the first rewrite, you wind up replacing the bald Pakistani boy with . . . Naomi.

Now think about this. By back-editing, you had to recover the same territory several times, only to wind up going back to what you started with. Like I said, this is an exaggerated example, but it illustrates my point. Back editing is counter-productive. It's better to keep moving forward, even if new ideas occur to you as you write.

That's what I do while working on a new story. I keep a small notebook next to my computer. If I have an idea of how to fix a scene that I've already finished, I jot down the idea and keep on moving, incorporating it into my writing as I go.

So in my above example, if I were writing this sci-fi adventure, if one would read the hypothetical first draft, they'd find Naomi in the first half, Riff in the next part, RK-717 in the next, and the unnamed Pakistani boy in the last bit. It'd be a mess, but that's okay. That's what first drafts are for. And I'd only have to fix half of the book instead of rewriting the whole thing half a dozen times.

I could keep going, but you get the idea. Don't back edit. Keep the momentum going, and worry about editing after you're done with the first draft.

Firethorn

And there we go, folks. Ronie Kendig's excellent Discarded Heroes series ends with Firethorn.

The men of Nightshade are in deep. Someone has decided that they have to go. First to go is Griffin Riddel, framed for supposedly murdering a senator. Then the rest of the team is taken out in a daring daylight raid. But who would want to destroy Nightshade?

That's what Kazi Faron has to find out. She's been hired to bust Griffin out of the Supermax prison that holds him and reassemble the team. But that's not an easy order, not with the individual men scattered across the globe and held in enemy hands. Will Griffin and Kazi succeed?

I really enjoyed this book. Only there was one small problem, a minor fly in the ointment: I should have re-read the other three books before tackling this one. There are a lot of threads from the other Discarded Heroes that come together for the tapestry that is Firethorn (yeah, I was over-reaching there and I know it). As a result, I often found myself scratching my head as I read, only to realize a few pages later, "Oh, wait, that's so-and-so who did such-and-such in this-or-that." By and large I did okay, but it was a disorienting feeling. So word to the wise: read the previous three books first before this one.

There's action, romance, and redemption to be had. This is a treat that can't be beat. I can't wait to see what Ronie Kendig does next.

Tip Tuesdays: Inertia Is Your Friend

In the interest of full disclosure, this could turn into a "do as I say, not as I do" type of thing. This is a case where the advice I'm giving today is something that I've heard time and again, but it's advice that, while I know it's good and I should follow it, I have a hard time doing. And it all comes down to a scientific principle that I'm stealing and applying to writing, that of inertia.

You all know what inertia is, right? To put it simply (perhaps overly so), inertia is the principle that an object in motion tends to remain in motion and an object at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. While this principle governs the movement of objects in our physical world, I believe it also applies to what happens when we write. Simply put, a writer in motion tends to stay in motion. A writer at rest tends to remain at rest.

I've certainly seen this principle at work in my own writing life. For example, when I was writing Numb, I did pretty good for the first four chapters or so. I wrote every day, even if it was just a few words here or there. And then, I took a long break. If I remember correctly, I stopped writing for several months. I don't remember why anymore. I just know that I stopped writing. When I finally came back to it, I had a hard time getting going again. It took a few days before the juices really started flowing and I got into it again.

And here's the thing: I'm pretty sure when I took that break, I only intended to cool it for a day or two. But with each day that I didn't write, it became easier and easier to find excuses and reasons not to sit down and put words on paper (or into the file, as it were).

It's inertia at work. If I find the time to write every day, it's easier to keep writing. The words keep flowing, the pages get filled, and soon, the first draft is done. But if I don't write daily, it's easy to find other things to do.

That's why most authors will tell you to find time to write every day.

Some writers will set a time limit: write for an hour. Others set a wordcount target to shoot for. My advice is this: do either. Or both. Or just make sure that you get some words added to your story every day, even if it's a dozen or so.

The other trick here is to find the right time to write. I don't remember where I saw it, but I once read an article about how morning people and night owls feel more creative at different times of the day. Do some experimenting to see when you're at your best in terms of creativity and writing. And then chisel out the time every day to do some writing during that time.

I know it's not easy. Like I said, this is "do as I say, not as I do." I'm not the best at this. But I'm doing my best to live up to these words of advice.

Tip Tuesday: Almost W

Okay, so you've done your reading (or reading-cubed, if we're going by the formula I made up for the purposes of this series), and so we have to move on to the "W."

The "W" is obviously for writing. And so, based on this formula, it would seem that as soon as you're done doing your "Rs," it's time to dive right into the writing.

Except . . . well, not quite.

See, here's the thing. Before you do any writing, you should really do some pre-writing.

Now you might think that this is the outliner, plot-firster in me talking. Someone who plots out pretty much every move in advance is naturally going to do a lot of groundwork before he or she starts writing. But even if you're a seat-of-the-pants type of writer, even if you're a character-first writer, you're going to want to do some work in advance.

For me, the advance work is (once again) based on Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake Method. Except I don't make it through all ten steps. I usually get about two-thirds of the way in and I hit what I like to call "critical mass" and I have to start writing right now.

If you're a character-firster, maybe you could spend some time writing journal entries in the voice of your characters.

If you're a pantser . . . well, I'm not sure what to tell you.

Whatever the case, doing that work up front, whether it's world building, practicing your characters' voices or sussing out their backstory, is time well spent, because it means when it comes time to actually do the writing, you can focus on that.

Tip Tuesday: The Third R

Two "Rs" down, one to go.

For those unaware of what I'm talking about, let's review. I've been sharing my limited experience with writing, using a formula I made up:

Given what we've seen, what do you suppose the third "R" is?

Wrong. It's actually "research."

Okay, okay, we'll call it reading, because that's usually the way we conduct research. Not the only way, of course, but certainly a way.

There's an old adage that writers toss around from time to time: write what you know. Some of the best fiction comes when the author writes about a subject that they're uniquely qualified to know and understand. And there's certainly some truth to that. When an author puts together a proposal for an editor or agent, one of the things they want to know is if said author has any special qualifications to write his or her book. For example, if someone is writing a hard sci-fi book about time travel, an actual theoretical physicist will have a better chance at getting noticed than, say, a Lutheran minister.

Not that I've written a book on time travel.

. . . yet. Ahem.

Anyway, that adage is all well and good, but it can also be a bit limiting. If all we're supposed to do is write what we know, that could turn out to be rather confining. Should I only write about people who are Lutheran ministers, since that's what I know? Should my only setting be the sinking of the RMS Titanic or the USS Enterprise D since I used to research those things a lot when I was younger?

C'mon. Like you couldn't have guessed that second one.

The answer is "No." While "write what you know" is a good adage, the reverse is equally true: know what you write. If you want to write about time travel and you're not a theoretical physicist, do the research and find out what you need to know.

The reason for this is simple: no matter how obscure the subject you're writing about, someone, somewhere, will read your story and know you don't know what you're talking about. It'll either be a minor glitch that momentarily leaves the reader scratching his or her head. Or it could be so major that they'll stop reading and vow never to read your stuff again.

Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about, but not one from the literary world (exactly). Let's talk Castle.

I love this show. It's simply awesome. Nathan Fillion, playing a writer? What's not to love? However, as great as the show is, it's obvious at times that the writers don't always do their research.

How do I know? Because of Lee Lofland and his blog, The Graveyard Shift. Lofland is a retired police office and every week, he posts a "review" of the episodes, pointing out where the show got the police procedures and research wrong.

Now one might argue that this is a TV show, one designed for entertainment and not education. At the same time, though, every now and then, the writers make a doozy that really, they should have done better.

I'm not saying that these research errors make me love this show even less. But it illustrates my point. Lofland knows better. And at times, his frustration over the mistakes is very obvious. In spite of them, though, Lofland keeps watching.

So when do you do the research, before, during, or after? That's up to you. Like I said last week, writing is about finding a method that works best for you. Some folks have to do extensive research before they put one word on the page. Others wait until after the first draft is done. Figure out what works best for you and stick with that.

Just make sure you do it. You don't want to lose any readers because you didn't do your legwork.

"Failstate" Book Trailer Contest

Before you keep reading, be sure you watch this video:



Ummmmm . . . I'm not sure what else I have to say. Any questions?

Tip Tuesday: The Second R

Last week, I started this column to pass along writer tips that I've picked up as I traveled the road to publication. I stated that while it's difficult to come up with a one-size-fits-all roadmap for people, there are some general principles that I think can be quantified into a (hopefully) easy to remember formula:

And, as the little red line indicates, last week we talked about how writers are readers. We devour books, both in our respective genres and out of them.

So what, pray tell, does the second "R" in the formula stand for? Why, reading, of course. More specifically, reading about writing.

Let's be honest, unless you were born with a supernatural amount of writing talent, there's a lot that you have to learn. And I'm saying that, not as someone who has learned it all, but as someone who knows darn well that I still have a lot to learn too! Writing fiction is never as easy as it seems. There are a lot of tips and tricks to pick up, lots of ideas and concepts to master, techniques to squirrel away until you need them.

To learn all of this stuff, you could just surf the web and hope someone is doing weekly writing tip columns on his blog (ahem). Actually, there are a lot of websites out there that offer advice (better than mine, that's for sure), such as Randy Ingermanson's and Jeff Gerke's.

Or you can always go to a bookstore and find the reference section. There's usually a ton of how-to-write books that cover a wide range of topics. You can usually find good ones published by Writer's Digest (although they can also be a mixed bag; some good, some not so good).

Of course, one of the best ways to "read" about writing is by joining a writer's group. For example, my membership in American Christian Fiction Writers has been invaluable, not only because of what I've learned on the e-mail loops, at local chapter meetings, and at the national conference, but also because of the networking I've been able to do.

So there's a lot of advice out there for you to find. Gather it, read it, assimilate it, use it. But do so with a little bit of caution, because there's a trap you can fall into all too easily.

Let me give you a personal example. A number of years ago, I started "getting serious" about my writing (I've done that a lot; seems to be a every-other-year type of thing) and I started gathering books about writing to learn more.

One of the books I got was On Writing by Stephen King. I figured if anyone could tell me about how to write a page-turning spellbinder, it'd be Uncle Stevie. And by and large, this was a great book. I'd recommend it to just about anyone.

But as I read it, I got a little nervous. See, King stated emphatically that the only true way to write a thrilling, unpredictable book was to go into the story with no idea how it'll end. He said that if you figured out the plot step-by-step, it'd be too predictable and boring. So he instructed his readers that the only good way to write was to make it up as we went along.

That freaked me out, because I tend to do outlining before I write. At the time, I thought, That's why my books aren't selling! I've been too predictable! I have to make it up as I go along.

Shortly after finishing King's book, I moved on to read The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth by James N. Frey. Again, a good book with some great ideas and advice. Only there was something that confused me. Frey said that if you wanted to write a best-seller (which many of his students have gone on to do), you have to come up with an outline first! And not just one, several!

I was so confused. I had Stephen King saying, "Make it up!" on one side, James N. Frey saying, "Outline that sucker!" on the other. So who should I listen to?

In my case, it turns out that I should have listened to Frey. See, here's the thing, folks. Oftentimes, a writer, when giving advice, will try to codify the way they do things as "the only way it works." I think that's what King did. When he writes, he makes it up as he goes along. He has no idea of how his story will end. And that's great! Good for him! But it doesn't work that way for everyone. By suggesting that it does, King is trying to force a round peg into a square hole. It just doesn't work.

Again, that's why I'm a bit hesitant to give out too much advice. I know what works for me, but I'd be foolish to suggest that it's what would work for everyone. For example, I love Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake Method. I've used this several times and I think it's helped me write some strong stories (Failstate, my upcoming novel, is one such example). But is it for everyone? No, not really.

That's why you should always take advice from others with a little grain of salt. Yes, there are some universal, set-in-stone kind of rules. Spelling, grammar, punctuation. But al;ways be cautious when someone tells you that their way is the only way. It works for them. It may even work for you. But if it doesn't, don't worry about it.

Schrödinger's Cat

Ever hear of Schrödinger's Cat? This video will explain it for you. Consider it a quick lesson in physics on a Friday:

Replication

I've been looking forward to this one for a while now. I mean, I've been a huge fan of Jill Williamson ever since I discovered her Blood of Kings trilogy. When I heard she was moving into the realm of science fiction, I knew I had to check it out. Her latest book is Replication, published by Zondervan. In the interest of fairness, I'll confess . . . reveal . . . state that I received a copy of this book for free. It's funny. I actually pre-ordered a copy but that's okay. This book was good enough to warrant two copies.

Now normally, I'd spend some time summing up the plot, but in this case, I don't have to, because Williamson has done the heavy lifting for me:



So there we go: clones, a secret facility, nefarious purposes, and a very good lesson about faith, one that actually snuck up on me when I wasn't looking.

I suppose I could leave it at that, but let's dig a little deeper. This book is shorter than I expected, which helps make it a fast read. Williamson did a great job creating unique voices for both Abby and Martyr. I especially liked Martyr. He kept me smiling the entire time I was reading, especially some of the "logical leaps" he makes with incomplete information about the outside world. One in particular caused me to chuckle for a few minutes. The plot has a lot of great twists and turns to it, plus a lot of excitement to keep you turning the pages.

In short, if you're looking for a great read, you can't go wrong with Replication. Jill Williamson has done it again!

Tip Tuesday: The Equation for a Story

As of this posting, there are 88 days until the release of my debut novel, Failstate. This has been a long road to walk, one that I talked about in a column over at Speculative Faith. But it's a road that I didn't walk alone. There are a lot of people who have walked the publication road before me. There are a lot who are following behind. And there are some who are just getting started, who have caught the dream and want to see a story that they created and wrote appear in print, for people to read and enjoy.

Only here's the thing. A lot of people have a distorted view of what it takes to be a writer. For instance:



Okay, granted, that's a joke, but the sad thing is, everything the ignorant bear said has been uttered or at least thought by would-be writers.

Now I'm hoping that no one that's reading this currently holds any of those ideas (if you have in the past, well, that's another story that you can keep to yourself). But maybe you're just getting started and you don't have any idea of what to do.

That's where this column will come in. Every week (hopefully), I'll be sharing some writing tips that I've picked up over the past decade or so. Now understand, I'm no expert. What I'm sharing is stuff that's worked for me in the past or advice that others have given me that makes a lot of sense. If any other writers want to contradict me, please do so. I'm always open to correction. If nothing else, consider this friendly advice from someone on the road.

In some ways, I'm a little nervous about writing articles like this. I don't want anyone to think that there's a magic formula to getting published. There's no "one size fits all" way of doing it. If you were to poll a hundred published writers, you would hear one hundred different stories of how they got where they got and what they thought was important. Simply put, if anyone tells you that there's one way and only one way to write good stories, they're either deluded or lying.

That said, I think there are some general, universal principles that can be codified into an easy to remember formula:

We'll spend the next few weeks expanding what each of those symbols mean, starting with the first "R." The first "R" stands for "reading." Or, to be more specific, reading fictional books.

I honestly don't know any successful writers who aren't also avid readers. A love of the written word means that we not only produce them, we devour them as well. When filling out the "Interests" section on Facebook, writers will usually include "Reading" somewhere toward the top of the list. To be blunt, if you don't read, you're not going to write. Imagine a person who claims to love doing needlepoint but doesn't own a single hoop thing. Imagine a self-professed car nut who doesn't spend any time in his or her garage. The same principle is at work here. If you're going to write, you're going to read as much as you possibly can.

Take me, for instance. I like to joke that my family was the terror of our local library when my siblings and I were children. We would check out two or three crates worth of books every couple of weeks, doubling or even tripling the staff's workload when we visited. And while we didn't read all of them, we read the majority. My first job was at said local library, and I usually left work with numerous books I found out in the stacks. When I was in school, I carried a novel with me wherever I went to read between classes.

Nowadays it's no different. This is my current to-be-read stack:

This is actually pretty deceptive. I forgot to include three library books we have in our basement. And on the very top of the left stack is my Kindle, which currently contains 34 books I've picked up over the last year or so. Yes, I've got a lot of reading to do, and I can't wait to tear through most of this.

So why do writers read? Well, there are three primary reasons. I've touched on the first: because we love stories and are driven to consume them.

Secondly, I think that reading stories help us produce more. It's sort of a "you are what you eat" type of thing. I don't know about other writers, but there have been periods where I haven't been able to read as much as I would like. When that happens, I notice it's more difficult to write new stories. I need a constant input of ideas and words and images to keep my own imagination flowing. As a matter of fact, I'll often try to juice my imagination before I begin a writing project by reading a bunch of books that I know I'll enjoy, just to give myself a high octane boost.

Thirdly, and most importantly, I think it's good for writers to read because it's a great way to learn what to do and not to do.

One thing I've noticed over the last few years is that when I read, I'm not just reading for enjoyment anymore. Oh, sure, I still love a good story, but I've been asking myself questions like, "Why did I enjoy this scene so much? What did the author do?" or "What made this book a flop to me and how can I avoid the same thing?" We can pick up techniques and ideas along the way, stuff that we can use in our own writing to improve our books.

For example, in Neil Gaiman's book Neverwhere, we're introduced to Richard Mayhew, a somewhat wimpy man with an over-domineering girlfriend named Jessica. Now Gaiman could have just told us that (sort of like I just did), but over one chapter, he paints such a clear picture of both Richard and Jessica that I wound up clearly on Richard's side and wanted nothing more than to see Jessica kicked to the curb.

Now I could have read a book about showing vs. telling (and there is one available. Take a look in the above picture). But by reading Gaiman's book, I found such a great example of that principle in action that it's stuck with me even though I read the book years ago.

The same thing can happen for you as well. Pay attention to what successful authors do. If you found something you really like, ask yourself how the author achieved that effect. If the story doesn't work, consider why it doesn't and ask yourself how to avoid a similar pitfall.

Now you might rightly ask yourself how to find the time to read. Well, it's all a matter of priorities. If writing matters to you, not only do you have to find time to do that, you should also find time to do the reading too. And there's plenty of time to read if you know where to look for it. Let me ask you this: when you go get your oil changed or see the doctor, what do you do in the waiting room? Do you read the moldy oldy magazines? Do you watch TV (if there is one)? Do you pull out a smart phone and commit avian acts of aggression against non-kosher enemies? Why not bring a book with you and spend the time there?

To put it simply, writers read. If you want to be a writer, you also have to be a reader.

Thanks for joining us. Next week, we'll take a look at the second "R" in the equation. Until then, happy writing!

Portal: No Escape

So it's been a while since I posted a Portal related video. But this is one as worth the wait:

Merry Sith-mas?

Okay, so maybe I should be a little more pious on the day before Christmas Eve, but I just can't help myself.

Freeheads

And thus Kerry Nietz's DarkTrench Saga ends with Freeheads.

Sandfly and HardCandy are returning to Earth after their encounter with the jinn on the planet Jannah. Only when they arrive on DarkTrench, their ship, they discover a planet that has changed and not for the better. They're strangers now, complete outsiders, worse than they've ever been.

But Sandfly's mission hasn't changed. He has a message for the people of Earth, one that could set them free. Will anyone listen? Or will the message of A~A^3 die with him?

I really liked this series overall. The premise, if you're not familiar with it, is a future world where Islam has pretty much conquered the globe. Sandfly and HardCandy are debuggers, humans implanted with a device that allows them to connect to technology wirelessly. It's a fascinating idea and a bit chilling. And while Freeheads wraps everything up nicely, I think it's probably best if you've read all of the books in the series recently. It took me a few chapters to get back into the groove, so to speak, and there were a few characters I couldn't remember from the first book.

The only other thing that I noticed, and this isn't a really big deal, is that the first half of the book struck as . . . well, a little slow. I'm not sure how to describe it, exactly. I got a feeling that something big was lurking under the surface (pun intended?) that never really revealed itself. I don't know if Nietz was trying to intentionally misdirect me, but there you go. Like I said, it's not a big deal and it didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book at all. Just a weird, nagging feeling I got.

It'll be interesting to see what Neitz does next. Given what I've seen from this trilogy, I'll be first in line.

Vader, Did You Know?

Oh my . . .

Cello Wars

You may have seen this floating around the Internet recently, but it's worth sharing anyway.

Pencils Up!

Okay, so not many people stopped by to play my game of "Retell the Fable." That's okay. I know I've been away from the Blog Tour scene for a while.

So the assignment was to take one of Aesop's Fables, chosen by me at random, and find within it the basis of a story. The fable chosen was The Stag at the Pool, which has a listed moral of What is worth most is often valued least.

Before I share my idea, I'll name Blog Tour Overlord Rebecca LuElla Miller as the winner. Just because. Although Christian Miles definitely deserves runner up too!

So what did I come up with? Well, after reading the fable, I couldn't help but notice a distinct parallel between the foolish stag and an Old Testament character. The Stag, while fleeing the lion, winds up getting his antlers caught in a tree. While fleeing an enemy, the main character winds up getting his head caught in . . .

Hello there, Absalom.

So what is it that Absalom overlooked, something that's worth a lot more than he valued it? And how can we take the story of the Stag, merge it with Absalom's story, and come up with something different?

This is what I came up with:

In a far off kingdom, there's a king who has two sons. The younger is a strong warrior type, brash and out-going, a real ladies' man, whose personal livery bears the symbol of a stag. The older is a bookish sort, not very out-going but prone to charitable actions. Younger brother constantly mocks older brother and his ways, especially since the older brother's symbol is that of a lion ("More like a mewling kitten," is a constant jibe). Instead, the youngster is always going out on adventures and garnering glory for himself.

Then an enemy something-or-other (wizard maybe? Then it could be a fantasy) does something bad. Really bad. And when the King doesn't seem ready to do anything about it, the younger son takes matters into his own hands and . . .

Wait a minute, that's the beginning of Thor, isn't it?

Well, you get the idea. Something happens between the younger son and his dad, something that drives a wedge between them. It prompts the Stag to rebel against the King. The King tries to fight back, but the Stag proves too much for him. He steals the throne and expels the King. He ignore the Lion completely, figuring that his brother can do little to stop him.

The King tries to reclaim his throne, only to lose badly. The Stag proves too much for him. The King is either killed or exiled (depending on how dark I feel like going). The Stag consolidates his power, or at least tries to. But then his brother stands up against him. The Stag scoffs at the Lion's threat, until the entire kingdom rises up with the Lion. It turns out that the Lion's actions, caring for his subjects, has won their support. Faced with a revolt, the Stag flees, only to wind up being taken down by his subjects and made to pay for what he's done.

The spiritual payload would be something from John 13, maybe. The idea that the greatest in the kingdom is a servant. That sort of thing.

At least, that's the idea I came up with in 48 hours. Not much, but there you go.

Wordcount Wednesday

Well, that's the end of that. Project Disappointed Viper has been shelved. I didn't make it much past 5,000 words, but I have to call it quits. Too long of a story. Don't worry about it.

So I'm not sure what I'll do next. I've got some revision work to start on Failstate. And there is a major holiday coming up quickly. Oh well. There's always something.

CSSF Blog Tour: "Corus the Champion" Day 3

So here we are, wrapping up the tour for Corus the Champion by D. Barkley Briggs and it occurs to me, it's something of a miracle that we're even having this tour in the first place. After all the first book was published back in 2009 and then the original publisher (the name of which escapes me) canceled before published Corus. But then Living Ink Books stepped in and re-released the first book and has been publishing the rest. And fans of well-written

Now I'm not saying this to knock the aforementioned anonymous-by-way-of-forgetfulness publishing house. Instead, I think this is a great lesson for writers when it comes to patience.

I've never met Briggs nor spoken to him, but I can only imagine what he was going through when his series died. It must have hurt. And who knows how long he waited before Living Ink stepped in and performed a little resurrection. But I'm sure those intervening months or even years were tense. Maybe Briggs wanted to throw in the towel and move on to something different. But he didn't. He hung in there. And the result is a fabulous book that makes me want to read more.

So for all of you pre-published authors, don't despair. Remain patient. Your time could be coming soon too.

Go check out what the other tourists have to say:

Gillian Adams Noah Arsenault Beckie Burnham Morgan L. Busse CSFF Blog Tour Carol Bruce Collett Theresa Dunlap April Erwin Victor Gentile Nikole Hahn Ryan Heart Bruce Hennigan Christopher Hopper Jason Joyner Julie Carol Keen Krystine Kercher Marzabeth Shannon McDermott Rebecca LuElla Miller Eve Nielsen Sarah Sawyer Kathleen Smith Donna Swanson Rachel Starr Thomson Steve Trower Fred Warren Phyllis Wheeler Nicole White Rachel Wyant

CSFF Blog Tour: "Corus the Champion" Day 2

Okay, so I've got nothing. Perhaps I've been out of practice too long.

See, after reading Corus the Champion by D. Barkley Briggs, I couldn't help but think how really cool it was that Briggs was able to take the Arthurian legends and twist them in a new an unique way. It's always fun to see a classic myth twisted in a new and unique way (hence why I'm rooting for my friend Christian Miles to get his book published. Post-apocalyptic Arthur FTW!).

Except as I started trying to organize my thoughts, I realized deja vu. And on the second day too!

But maybe it bears repeating. As many Christians have pointed out in the past, most myths contain within them a kernel of truth, echoes and reflections of deeper spiritual principles that God has woven into the very fabric of reality, principles that haunt us and have to be expressed in some way. It's our fallen nature that wraps those echoes in non-Christian images and themes. Folks like Briggs or C. S. Lewis simply peel away the garbage until the truth remains.

Shall we have some fun, folks? Almost three years ago, I reminisced about an assignment that was given out by a friend of mine on a previous blog tour. Mirtika challenged us to take a myth or fable and find a way to baptize it and make it Christian.

Let's try it again. I have in front of me a copy of Aesop's Fables and I'm going to pick one at random. What I want you, dear reader, is think on the themes and images of said fable, search for Scriptures that parallel it, and come up with a germ of an idea for a story.

And I'll put my money where my mouth is. I'll post my idea on Thursday.

So here we go. Drum roll please.

I'll trust that you're creating a drum roll somehow.

The Stag at the Pool.

So have at it. Come back and share what you come up with. The person with the best story idea gets . . . I don't know. Bragging rights. My eternal admiration.

In the meantime, go see what the other tourists are up to:

Gillian Adams Noah Arsenault Beckie Burnham Morgan L. Busse CSFF Blog Tour Carol Bruce Collett Theresa Dunlap April Erwin Victor Gentile Nikole Hahn Ryan Heart Bruce Hennigan Christopher Hopper Jason Joyner Julie Carol Keen Krystine Kercher Marzabeth Shannon McDermott Rebecca LuElla Miller Eve Nielsen Sarah Sawyer Kathleen Smith Donna Swanson Rachel Starr Thomson Steve Trower Fred Warren Phyllis Wheeler Nicole White Rachel Wyant

CSFF Blog Tour: "Corus the Champion" Day 1

You know, I'd like to bill this as my triumphant return to the Blog Tour. But I'm not exactly sure what I'm triumphant over. Certainly not the calendar, as I originally posted this three weeks early. And, truth be told, I suspect that the blog tour has done just fine without me. So hey, everyone, I'm back.

What brought me back was Corus the Champion by D. Barkley Briggs. When I heard that we were going back to Karac Tor, I signed up immediately. Yes, I'm selfish like that. I couldn't wait to read this book (which, in the interest of fairness, was provided to me for free by the publisher).

The Barlow boys are still in Karac Tor. They've defeated the witch named Nemesia but things are not going well. For the Horned Lord is out to break Corus the Champion and then the rest of the Hidden Lands. Each of the boys have a role to play in trying to bring him down, but it's going to cost them, some of them dearly, as they seek a way to stop their enemy.

I have to be honest, I had a really hard time getting into this story. I think it has something to do with the fact that I read the first book almost three years ago. I remembered bits and pieces of it: one of the brothers has magical music, there was an adventurer named Creed who had a magic sword that didn't like it when he lied, and that's about it. For the first third of the book, I was trying desperately to play catch-up. It made for slow going. I seriously thought I wouldn't be able to participate in the tour because I'd still be reading. But once I got past the midway point, things picked up and I obviously finished in time.

That said, this book felt a little muddy to me. I enjoyed it; the storyline involving Ewan engaged me the most. The other plots seemed too connected to the overall plot (which I have largely forgotten) and for the most part, the book felt like the middle chapters of a larger epic and I felt more than a little lost. Maybe it would have helped if I read the first book again; alas, it has since disappeared from my house!

I'm not saying that this is a bad book. Far from it. Briggs did a fantastic job building a believable world and some very fun characters. Creed is still a favorite. And it was enough to make me want to keep traveling in Karac Tor when I get a chance to read The Song of Unmaking. Hopefully it won't take three years again.

Go and see what the other tourists have to say:

Gillian Adams Noah Arsenault Beckie Burnham Morgan L. Busse CSFF Blog Tour Carol Bruce Collett Theresa Dunlap April Erwin Victor Gentile Nikole Hahn Ryan Heart Bruce Hennigan Christopher Hopper Jason Joyner Julie Carol Keen Krystine Kercher Marzabeth Shannon McDermott Rebecca LuElla Miller Eve Nielsen Sarah Sawyer Kathleen Smith Donna Swanson Rachel Starr Thomson Steve Trower Fred Warren Phyllis Wheeler Nicole White Rachel Wyant

Broken Sight

I've finally been able to dig into my pile of Marcher Lord Press's most recent releases (see my previous book review). Now I've polished off Steve Rzasa's Broken Sight.

The book is a continuation of Rzasa's earlier books with Marcher Lord. In this world, religion had been pretty much outlawed. More specifically, it had been illegal to own the printed word (e-books were perfectly fine, because the government could monitor and censor the contents). But then, in the previous books, that situation changed. Want books? Get them! Want to publicly practice your religion? Go for it!

This is the situation facing Lieutenant Commander Brian Gaudette, the skipper of the Rescue Ops ship Weskeag. He's got a crew of Christians, Muslims, agnostics, and former sympathizers of Kesek, the fallen and disgraced secret police of the Realm, all mixed in one ship. That's a problem, because he finds himself heading out to answer a distress call, one that's fraught with danger.

Because Kesek hasn't disappeared. Not even close. And this mission could easily kill them all.

I checked my reviews from the previous books. Apparently I was a bit cool toward the second. That's not the case here at all. I loved this book. Once again, Rzasa's story world simply shone. You can tell he did a lot of work figuring out the "physics" of interstellar travel.

I loved the characters, the adventure, all of it. The only thing that threw me even a little was the sheer amount of foreign phraseology peppered throughout the book. I mean, it added to the verisimilitude, but there were a few times where I was scratching my head.

But overall, this was a great book, and I'm hoping that it won't be the last time we see Rescue Ops in action!

Wind and Shadow

I've been waiting for this one for a long time. A long time. I'm talking about Wind and Shadow by Kathy Tyers.

True confession time: Tyers is the reason why I stuck with writing Christian speculative fiction. I still remember browsing the CBD website for Christian sci-fi (back before the Web 2.0 revolution) and stumbling across her Firebird books. And I remember staring at her name, thinking, Why is that name so familiar? And then I looked up at my Star Wars books and saw The Truce at Bakura and I knew I had to get Firebird. And I did, and it was awesome, and that inspired me to keep working on my own books and I . . .

I'm gushing, aren't I? Sorry. Ahem. Dignified.

Seriously, I loved Firebird. Those three books were a lot of fun and after reading them the first time, I kept hoping that some day, Tyers would return to that universe. That day has come.

Wind and Shadow follows the children of Firebird's man characters. Kiel Caldwell has become a priest, Kinnor a Sentinel like his father. Kiel is called to the barren world of Mikuhr, the former home of the Sentinels' enemies, the Shuhr, by a diplomat named Wind Haworth. But as soon as he steps off the ship, Kiel disappears.

Once his disappearance is reported, the Sentinels send in his twin brother, Kinnor, to investigate his disappearance. But little does either brother realize that they have stepped into a larger conflict, both in terms of the Whorl and in terms of the spiritual realm, one that could easily end the life of everyone they know.

I really enjoyed this book. I did. Tyers has a flair for creating rich worlds and layering in some great sci-fi details. The characters are great. The action is top-notch.

But here's the thing (and I hesitate to say this, because I think it's more my fault than anything else). I felt a little lost in the early going. I don't know why that is. I got what was going on, for the most part, but every now and then, I got the feeling that I was missing something important, that while all of the pieces seemed to fit together, I was overlooking something.

I don't quite know how to explain it. That sense of "missing pieces" dragged on my enjoyment just a little in the earliest chapters. But once I got past that, I had a blast.

Like I said, it's probably just me. Life has been a bit crazy today and I can't say that I've been able to read as much as I like to with as much focus as I normally would bring to bear on a book. But if you're a fan of Christian sci-fi, be sure to check this one out. Totally worth it!

Wordcount Wednesday

Project Disappointed Viper is going slowly right now, folks. As of right now, it's at 5,719 words. I hope to do better, but I know, I say that in every Wordcount Wednesday post.

On a more exciting note, I got the Advance Reader Copies for Failstate via UPS today. So tonight, I stuffed press releases and info sheets into them and then stuffed them all into padded envelopes to go off to various media outlets. I have no idea if I'll get reviewed in any of them, but here's hoping!

Aren't they pretty?

The Muppets

Thanks to the good folks at 365 Twin Cities, I got to attend a sneak preview of The Muppets tonight. I've been looking forward to this movie for a while now; the trailers that they've been releasing have been absolutely genius, such as the Green Lantern parody or the Dragon Tattoo parody. I hoped that the same silly genius would carry over to the movie itself. Truth be told, I'm not sure what I think of what I saw tonight. It was okay.

My problem, I think, came from the first part of the movie. Kermit the Frog said it best this past weekend on SNL when Jason Segel hosted: "When people go to a Muppet movie, they say, 'Gee, I can't wait to see the human!'" Except what Kermit said sarcastically, I think the writers took seriously. Let me put it this way: recently I watched The Muppet Movie and The Muppets Take Manhattan with my son. Both of those movies started with Kermit. Not this movie. Instead, it started with Walter and his human brother, Gary (played by Jason Segel). Kermit and company didn't show up until much further in.

In some ways, I get it. It made sense, given the overall plot: Walter, Gary, and Gary's long-time girlfriend, Mary (Amy Adams) go to LA ostensibly for Gary and Mary's "we've-been-dating-for-10-years" anniversary. But once there, Walter learns that a rich oil baron is going to destroy the old Muppet studios (including the iconic theater) to drill for oil. Horrified, Walter convinces his brother and his girlfriend to round up the old Muppet gang, starting with Kermit, so they can save the studio.

But even with that decent premise, the film lurched in the early going. I blame the humans, personally. We don't go to a Muppet movie for human-related drama. Instead, we go to see anthropomorphic animals made out of felt have relationship drama. And boy, do they pack in some rather . . . well, I don't want to say "adult themes." Let's just say there was some stuff put in there that was meant for the adults. I can honestly say I don't think I've seen anything quite so heavy in previous Muppet movies. And the ending . . . well, wow.

There were some bright spots. Some of the cameos were genius (one in particular). And there were some great "breaking the fourth wall" moments, plus nods to previous movies.

I don't know. I'm not sure what I was expecting when I went into this movie. I'm pretty sure that this wasn't it. Not totally. But I hope this doesn't sink the Muppets, because if there's one thing that I realized as I was watching this: I missed them.

Wordcount Wednesday

Last week, I started the pre-writing process for a new novel. Personally, I use Randall Ingerman's Snowflake Method. I have for the past couple of novels I've written and it works well for me. I don't use the whole thing. Usually about 2/3s of the way through, I hit what I call "critical mass" where I have to start writing.

I hit that point Monday on with my new project. I still don't want to say anything about it, so we'll have to call it . . . shoot, I don't know. Blue Harvest? Rory's First Kiss? Incident on 57th Street? Okay, I've got it. My project will henceforth be known as Project Disappointed Viper. Why? Because that's what the random codename generator gave me.

Anyway, Project Disappointed Viper is currently weighing in at 1,086 words. A meager start, but I know it'll grow. I'm pretty excited about this one.

The People vs. George Lucas

My goodness, that was an interesting hour and a half. I just got done watching the documentary film, The People vs. George Lucas. And I have to say, it gave me some food for thought, both as a fan and as a writer.

Basically this movie details the love/hate relationship that fans have with George Lucas and a certain galaxy far, far away, mostly focusing on the late '90s re-edits and the prequels. There are interviews with fans, famous personalities (I see you there, Neil Gaiman!), and a few "Star Wars insiders." While they cover a lot of territory, from fan films to the way many Star Wars fans' love has been twisted into hate, there were some interesting focal points. For example, who shot first, Han or Greedo? What do you think of Jar-Jar Binks? And who does Star Wars belong to at this point, George Lucas or the fans?

Like I said, this was a thought-provoking movie to watch. True confession time: I've been a Star Wars geek for most of my life. I've read the Extended Universe novels, played the videogames, bought all the soundtracks. One of the things I was looking forward to most about being a parent was seeing my son's reaction to the classic moment in Empire Strikes Back where we get a peek at the Skywalker family tree. And yes, I have been disappointed by the prequels. It took me a while to see how bad Episode I really is, and I've even gotten into arguments with my youth about which trilogy is better. I suspect that in the future, there's going to be a Jar-Jar line. A lot of what the fans said in this movie resonated with me, such as their pleas for Lucas to release a version of the original trilogy in its unenhanced form. You know, one in which HAN SHOT FIRST.

But at the same time, I also found myself wondering how I would react if I were in Lucas's flannel. Suppose one of my creations takes off and becomes a cultural institution that . . . What's so funny? Why are you laughing?

Okay, fine, I'll wait until you're done.

Seriously, though, if Star Wars is George Lucas's creation, if he is the owner of it still (and thanks to U.S. Copyright Law, he will be for a long, long time), then technically, he does have the right to go back and touch things up as he sees fit.

I know. I feel icky just for writing that.

But it's still the truth, as much as we may disagree. It's his story, his universe, and we're invited to come along if we want. Yes, I have an idea of how I would have told the prequel stories, but that's not my story to tell.

I guess what's really interesting about this movie is the sheer amount of rancor (pun possibly intended) that Star Wars can create amongst its fans. The fact that people are willing to invest so much vitriol and ire for a movie trilogy is a testament to what a cultural touchstone it's become.

And the one thing that made me smile was the ending of this movie. A lot of the vocal critics admitted that the reason why they do what they do is because Lucas inspired them. Whether we agree with what Lucas did in recent years or not, he shaped a lot of our childhoods. And I, for one, am still grateful.

So thank you, George. Now, if it isn't too much of a bother, can you please release the original trilogy?

Falling Back

True confession time: Daylight Savings Time ending is one of my favorite holidays of the year. An extra hour of sleep, y'all! But do we really understand all the intricacies of DST? Here's a handy video that helps explain it all and, quite possibly, will make you question whether springing forward and falling back is such a great idea.

It's a miracle I survived my childhood . . .

. . . with as little psychological trauma as I have, seeing as this was considered educational TV:

Orcs Must Die!

Every now and then, I'll spot a game on Steam that catches my attention for some reason or another. When I saw the title of Orcs Must Die!, I had a feeling that this was my kind of game, so I downloaded the demo and sure enough, I liked what I saw well enough that I pre-ordered the full. Just last night, I finished the first play-through, but I'm definitely not done with this fun and funny game.

The basic premise is this: the player is an apprentice warmage, one charged with protecting magical rifts from wave after wave of invading orcs, kobolds, ogres, and so on. You have a few special magical talismans that shoot fire or ice or electricity. You also are given a wide variety of traps and helpers to defend the rift(s). There are arrows that shoot out of the wall, giant springboards that can toss the orcs through the air, or swinging pendulums that . . . well, the less said about those the better.

This is basically a tower defense game with wall and floor traps. There isn't much of a plot, but what little is there is funny and engaging.

Like I said, I finished the game, switching from the medium difficulty to the easiest. Now I'm going back to try to get perfect scores on each of the levels. Doing so gives me "skulls," which I can spend to make the traps more deadly. And then there's the "nightmare" mode. I'm actually kind of looking forward to that one.

So if you have a few bucks sitting around, this one is definitely a keeper. Have fun (stopping them from) storming the castle!

Wordcount Wednesday

Stick a fork in Hive. It's done.

Well, not really. True, earlier this week, I finished the first draft of this monster project. The final wordcount for the first go-round? 85,504 words, which isn't all that bad, considering I set my goal at 80k when I started this . . . geez, when did I start this one? Hang on a sec.

Back in February, apparently. That actually isn't as bad as I thought it'd be.

In some ways, this has been a weird journey. Rather than pouring onto the page, this one was created in fits and starts. I seem to have taken Lent off, then took a two or three month hiatus after our second son joined our family (writers can claim paternity leave, right?).

But back to the wordcount. I'm actually impressed that I brought this one in so close to target. Granted, that total is going to fluctuate. The introduction I wrote back in February is getting axed. One of the main characters is going to be introduced earlier in the book, which means I have to add some extra stuff somewhere. And the ending, while bringing everything to a close, totally stinks. I mean, no symmetry, weak resolution, it's just "blah."

Funny thing is, I seem to recall I said the same thing about a certain other manuscript I finished about a year and a half ago. And look how that one wound up. So while I'm a little daunted at the prospect of wading back into Hive, I know I can make it better.

So what's next for me? Well, Hive goes up on a shelf for now. I've learned this the hard way: I need emotional and intellectual distance from my writing projects to do a better job editing when the time comes. In the meantime, I might take a crack at a short story that's been rattling around in the ol' brain pan for close to a year now. I mean, I've had this Post-It note:

 . . . stuck to my desk for who knows how long, waiting for the day when I could finally use this information in said short story. Maybe now's the time to do so.

I've also begun the "pre-writing" a new novel. Won't say anything more about it for now. Yes, it's kind of secret. Maybe I'll be able to explain more about it in the future. Probably. Most likely. For now, though, consider it Project X. Only without Matthew Broderick. Or Helen Hunt. Or the monkeys.

You know what, let's just forget that part, okay?

Bye, Ron!

Here's something fun: J. K. Rowling once considered killing one of her main characters halfway through the Harry Potter series. The last book turned into a total Joss fest, but this would have shifted things pretty radically, right?

Happy Reformation Day!