The Amazing Spider-Man

You know, I used to do more on this blog than just review books and whine report on my writing endeavors. I used to talk about movies and video games and occasionally music. I have no idea why I got away from that. It's not like I stopped going to the movies or stopped playing video games. I'm thinking I should rectify that. Starting tonight. Which is appropriate since I just got back from seeing The Amazing Spider-Man.

Okay, honestly, do I have to do a plot summary? We've been there, done that. Radioactive spider, new found powers, yadda yadda yadda. The origin story is pretty much the same as the last go 'round with Tobey Maguire. As a matter of fact, I was one of the people who originally shook my head in dismay over the fact that Hollywood was rebooting the franchise so shortly after unleashing the steaming pile that was Spider-Man 3 upon the world. But then I started hearing good things about it. And, I have to admit, I'm a sucker for superheroes. Go figure.

So let's talk about what's different in this movie. We see Peter Parker's parents. They've disappeared for some reason, leaving him with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May (wonderfully played by Martin Sheen and Sally Field). Mary Jane Watson is nowhere to be seen. Instead, it's Gwen Stacy (played by Emma Stone) who causes our friendly neighborhood wall-crawler's heart to go pitter pat.

And Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man? Wow. Awesome. You can tell he gets the character.

Anyway, the plot centers around Dr. Curt Connors, a scientist at Os Corp who dreams of fixing people through interspecies genetic engineering. For example, using lizard DNA on patients who have lost limbs. Sort of like how Connors is missing an arm.

So, yeah, in some ways, the plot is a little predictable, especially if you're familiar with the characters that inhabit Spidey's world. But at the same time, the filmmakers took some great liberties with the origin story. Some things were missing (such as J. Jonah Jameson, but after the way JJ was played J. K. Simmons, no way I'd want to follow in his Hitler 'stache). The story was simply great.

The acting was awesome as well. I'd take Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy over Kirsten Dunst's MJ any day . . .

. . . that sounded a lot better in my head. I mean Emma Stone did a fantastic job as Gwen.

And may I say, this movie has almost convinced me that 3D movies are okay. I normally don't like springing for glasses for a movie that doesn't quite need 3D. Watching Spidey swing around New York in 3D is worth the extra buck or two.

All in all, this was a great movie. I'm not sure it edged out The Avengers as my favorite superhero movie to date, but it came pretty close to doing so.

I'll be throwing out more reviews as the weeks go by. But for now, go check out this movie. It's worth it.

Wordcount . . .

. . . never mind. I won't call it a "Wordcount Wednesday" two days late.

So I haven't added any new words just yet. I spent the last week or so reading Failstate #2 (I still don't have any idea what I want to call this thing). Thankfully, I've come to realize it's not the mess I thought it was. There's a fun story in there after all. I'm actually quite relieved to learn that.

I still think some stuff is missing, but I'll get to that in a moment.

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know that, when I first wrote Failstate, I hit kind of an interesting snag. For some reason, I wrote that story in such a way that the plot would only have been possible if a week had eight days in it. In this blog post, I detailed how I created a calendar and, using Post-It notes, figured out the chronology.

This time around, I realized that I didn't have an eight day week to worry about. Instead, a lot of the events happened in what you might call a temporal vacuum. With very few exceptions, I didn't ground the scenes into a discernable timeline. Days were just scattered through the story and that really didn't work. So, once again, I got out the calendar sheets and started to work.

Here's before:

If you look at that mass in the top page, that's part of what I'm talking about. A lot of scenes with no discernible anchor points. I basically wrote down chapter numbers and a brief, one or two word description of the action for reference. Like last time, I wound up with an "orphaned" chapter, one that needs to be slipped in somewhere.

After putting together the mess, I sat down and took a closer look at what I had. I tried to keep in mind some of the "missing pieces" that I noticed, stuff that needed to be put into the story to make it flow a little better. This is how the calendar looks now:

So there we have it. The purple Post-Its represent new scenes or chapters that have to be written. So all in all, not too bad.

There were a lot of victims in the process, though. I cut several scenes that just didn't do much of anything, including about 7,500 words in one gigantic axing.

The next step is to start work on the notes I've taken and see how this all gets stitched together. Onward and upward!

Wordcount Wednesday

Or Thursday, I guess. Technically. If you want to be technical.

I want to be asleep right now. I should have gone to bed a while ago, but I didn't. And I'm glad I didn't. I'll pay for it in the morning, but I am pleased to announce:

Failstate #2 is in the can.

I just put the final words to the page. The epilogue is done. And this monster weighs in at 118,247 words. For those playing at home, Failstate is about 100,000 words. So the sequel is going to need to slim and trim down a bit.

But not now. Now I plan to go to bed.

Sapphique

After reading Incarceron by Catherine Fisher, I was really looking forward to reading Sapphique. With its living prison, memorable characters, and strange, other-wordly vibe, I figured this was going to be a wild ride. And it was.

I just don't have a clue as to what actually happened here.

The story picks up where the first book left off. Finn has escaped from the living prison, Incarceron, only to find himself trapped in a different prison. Is he the lost Prince Giles, like Claudia, the daughter of Incarceron's Warden, believes? Could he really be the heir to the throne? And what about Finn's friends, Keiro and Attia, still trapped inside the Prison? What about the political machinations of Queen Sia's court, trapped forever in an illusion of a time long gone. And what of Incarceron itself? What strange plot is it hatching?

I finished reading this book a few days ago and I'm still stumped by it. I have a feeling that "something significant" happened in this book, that Fisher is trying to say something deep about humanity and junk, but for the life of me, I can't decode it. It was an okay book, I suppose, but everything got started so suddenly that I was left wondering if I missed something.

All in all, this book didn't recapture the magic of the first one. It was a fun read, but nothing memorable.

Wordcount Wednesday

Okay, I am in so much trouble right now.

Let me explain why. As of tonight, Failstate #2 is at 90,579 words. That means I added 11,840 words this week. That's awesome!

Except I'm supposed to be wrapping this up. And I'm pretty sure I'm nowhere near the end yet.

Buckle up, folks. This next week is going to interesting.

Wordcount Wednesday

And things were going so well, too.

This week, things kind of slowed to a crawl. I was able to write 4,865 words, bringing the grand total of Failstate #2 to 78,739 words. Wow. Not good.

But I do have some excuses. Want to hear them?

Too bad, I'm going to give them anyway.

Part of it was the long weekend. I was out of town with family and that didn't give me a whole lot of time to write.

But more importantly, I wound up hitting a wall last Wednesday. I'd gotten up to the point where I'd figured everything out and then said, "Well, now what?" And I had no idea. So I had to take a little bit of a break to figure out what needed to happen in the last several thousand words. I wrote out a list and that seems to have cleared the logjam.

So clearly, I won't be meeting my self-imposed deadline. But that's okay. Because I think the end is in sight.

Of course, that's what I said almost two years ago when I was writing the first Failstate. Hopefully I won't half-life it this time also.

Daystar

This is the end, my friends. The incredible journey that started with Firebird wraps up in Kathy Tyers' latest epic, Daystar. It's been a wild ride, so let's review:

The Firebird universe is one in which God's people were exiled from their home planet because of their illicit genetic engineering. They tried to make themselves gods by giving themselves telepathic and telekinetic abilities, to name a few. In the cataclysm that drove them from their world, the Eternal Speaker commanded them to protect the non-altered humans they found. And He also promised them that He would eventually send them a Savior through one particular family. Up until the last book, we've followed different members of that family as they try to struggle with the prophecies surrounding them.

But now the time has come. The long-promised Boh-Dabar has come. And he's come to a galaxy that desperately needs him. Non-altered humanity is turning against the Sentinels (the genetically altered people) and are threatening to wipe them out. Caught in the middle of this is Meris Cariole, a normal human who finds herself trapped on the Sentinel Sanctuary planet. She finds herself on stage for one of the greatest dramas ever. But will she see the truth that's speaking to her? Or will she hold on to her own selfish teachings.

This was a great read. I'll admit, I was a bit intimidated by the heft of the story. The book clocks in at a little over 600 pages, which had me worried. But once I got into the story, I was hooked. I had to find out what was going to happen next as evil forces conspired to destroy the Sentinels. I was particularly delighted to see the return of Firebird and Brennan. They were conspicuously absent from the previous book, Wind and Shadow, and I didn't realize how much I missed them until I saw them in this book.

I also loved the way that Tyers tied in so many little details from the previous four books, especially Wind and Shadow. That one didn't sit so well with me for some reason, but seeing how it tied into this one makes me want to go back and read it again.

I have two minor quibbles with the story, and they are minor. First of all, there were a few problems with predictability. This is basically a retelling of Jesus' story but on a galactic scale. As a result, I saw a few things coming. That's not necessarily a bad thing per se, but there you go.

The other was the odd way that the book ended. I mean, I get it, but I was surprised at how . . . compressed? . . . everything turned out to be. I get the reason why, it just struck me as odd.

But this is a great book. I know I'll have to pull out the Firebird books again and reread them all in the future. In some ways, though, it's sad that the journey is over. It would have been fun to keep traveling in this fabulous universe.

Failstate Blog Tour!

Yesterday, Team Novel Teen did a blog tour for Failstate. You know how people show you pictures of their kid? Well, I'm posting links to the blogs that participated. Because I'm egocentric like that. :D

ADDLibrarian said,"Robin, aka Failstate,  is a Fantastic character, and Otte really nails the male teen psyche in a way that can be rare in Christian fiction."

Bookworm said, "Holy Cow, what a book! Okay, there have only been a few books that pull me in as this one did to the point of ignoring those around me."

Jessica at my story shelf said, "Failstate is a great start to a series that both guys and girls will enjoy. Now, bring on the movie!"

Jill Williamson did a two-parter. She interviewed me and did a review today, in which she said, "Now, this is what has been missing from bookstore shelves! John Otte’s Failstate combines mystery, action, humor, romance, and faith all in one rip-roaring superhero tale."

 And over at Virtuous Girlhood, Miss RJ had this suggestion: "And to any moms reading this? If you have teenage children then you need to buy this book for them. I promise you that they will love it."

This was a blast! Thanks, Team Novel Teen! Thanks for all of your kind words and I'm glad you enjoyed Failstate.

Have you enjoyed it recently? ;)

Wordcount Wednesday

So here we are, ladies and gentlemen, with a little over a week left in the month, I've made it to 73,874 words, meaning that I was able to write 13,227 words this week. That's getting better, but I'm still unsure that I'll make it by the end of the month, especially with Memorial Day Weekend coming up. But that's okay. I'll make it eventually.

Provided I can find my way out of the corner I'm in now. I seem to keep finding them in this manuscript.

Daughter of Light

I almost feel silly writing a review for Daughter of Light by Morgan L. Busse. I feel like a latecomer to the party because USA Today did a review earlier this month. But hey, I've never been one to back down from a bad idea, so here goes:

Rowen Mar is a young lady in a small village in the Ryland Plains. She was left on the doorstep of a villager when she was a child and because of that, she's never fit in. But then, after a bout of sickness, Rowen finds a strange mark on her hand. Even more bizarre, when she touches the village blacksmith, she sees visions of the darkness inside him. This gets her branded as a witch and she has to leave the only home she's ever known.

Rowen soon finds herself in the White City, her country's capital, and thrust into the middle of an adventure. Her kingdom's enemies are on the march, both the armies of their southern neighbor and a restless evil as well. What will happen when Rowen learns of her destiny? How will that affect the many people around her, people she's come to love?

This was a pretty good book overall. Morgan created a sympathetic character in Rowen, strong and capable and yet messed up because of her past (a tough trick to pull off well, which she did). It's obvious that she's spent some time building her world and the characters and people are fascinating to read about. I wish she had spent a little more time setting up some of the concepts. For example, the Avonains' connection to the sea seemed to come out of nowhere and it's so fascinating, I wish she had spent a little more time examining it.

My one complaint about this book is that in many ways, this one felt like a prologue to the true story yet to come. While there is a complete story in Daughter of Light, many of the subplots were left unresolved for future books. I'm not sure what could have been done differently and maybe I'm the only one who felt that way, but there you go.

But I am looking forward to future additions to this series. It should be a fun ride.

Wordcount Wednesday

You ever experience an epiphany? I needed one, and boy, did I get one earlier this week.

As I've said, I've been working on the sequel to Failstate. It is, as of yet, untitled. I'm working on it. Well, not really. That's not important. What is important is this: I was feeling a bit stuck, a little bit blocked. I was writing a few thousand words here, a few thousand words there, but it felt very much like I was spinning my wheels and not going anywhere. I knew what the story was supposed to be. I knew what needed to happen. But for some reason, something that I couldn't put my finger on, I knew something wasn't right. I was missing something.

The maddening thing was this: I had no idea what I was missing. I had no idea if I had taken a wrong turn somewhere in the plot. I had no idea if I had made a major mistake somewhere along the line. Just this persistent feeling of "wrongness."

But then I had an epiphany. And it's thanks to, in large part, sleep deprivation.

This past Friday, our church had a youth lock-in. I didn't stay for the whole thing. Instead, I went in late, played a game called Underground Church with the kids, learned a game from them called "Ninja" (apparently quite popular in our local high school), and played another game with them called The Werewolves of Millers Hollow. I didn't get home until 2:30. My mind didn't shut off until 3:30.

Needless to say, when I got up at 7:00 the next morning, I was tired.

In that state of sleep deprivation, I tried writing. Didn't go so well at first. But then, with half of my brain shut off and desperately craving sleep, I had the epiphany. I realized what was wrong.

I was missing a bridge.

I don't want to go too much into the plot right now because, hey, I'm in the middle of my first draft and things are in flux. But for a long time, the plot of the story was feeling a bit disconnected. There are two distinct . . . well, phases to the plot. And while I thought I had found a way to link them together, I really hadn't.

On Saturday, I realized what the bridge had to be. It was right there in front of me the whole time. I just hadn't spotted it.

And that's all it took. My "muse" is humming along. I'm feeling the desperate need to write. And my wordcount shows it.

Right now, Failstate #2 is at 60,647 words, meaning that I've been able to add 11,957 words this week. Holy cow! I'm almost tempted to keep writing right now to break the 12k mark.

In spite of that, though, I'm still a little worried. My self-imposed deadline of May 31st is looming large and I have a lot of ground to cover yet. And I'm also a bit worried about different details of the plot. I'm not sure I'm doing them all justice. Oh well. Time will tell.

Maybe I'll have another epiphany along the way.

Sons of Thunder

It's been a while since I've read a book for just simple pleasure. Long story, don't ask. And to be completely honest, I didn't go into reading this book with entirely pure motives. See, every month, I review a book for our church's newsletter. But due to my tastes, a lot of the fiction I read tends to be . . . well, weird. And that's not the only kind of fiction that my parishioners want to read.

Then, a few months back, I noticed that Susan May Warren's book Sons of Thunder was free for the Kindle. I snagged it since it wasn't spec fic and also because it had just won the Carol Award for Long Historical. Well, I just realized I have to write a review of a book for this next newsletter and I figured, Well, no time like the present. I got out my Kindle and I started reading. I'm glad I did. It's easy to see why this book won the Carol. It is excellent.

The book follows the story of two Greek brothers, Markos and Dino Stavros from the island of Zante. Due to a scandal, Markos and Dino must flee their home with a young woman named Sophie. They head for America and try to start a new life in safety. But problems follow them as they try to make that life in Chicago during the time of Prohibition and then in Minneapolis at the start of World War II. It seems as though trouble will continue to follow them no matter where they go. Ultimately, they realize their need for God and the healing that only He can bring.

Like I said, this was an excellent book. Warren wove in a great deal of historical details, including references to two famous figures in the early part of the book. And while there was definite "preaching" in the book, it never got to the point of overwhelming or where it felt tacked on. It flowed naturally from what the characters were doing and experiencing. On top of that, Warren expertly created mood pieces using words, augmenting the story with her descriptions.

In short, if you want a great historical novel set in World War II, this is a good one for you.

Wordcount Wednesday

So I'm starting to make good progress. Failstate #2 (great working title, huh?) is now at 48,690 words. That's an additional 7,801 words. I'm almost at the halfway point. And I'm even feeling a bit better about the story.

But I'm also running out of time, I think. I need to get this done by the end of May. Will I? At this point, I have no idea. Keep watching, true believers. The next few weeks are going to be interesting.

Wordcount Wednesday

So here we are, a week later, and Failstate #2 is weighing in at 40,889 words, meaning that in the past week, I've added 6,513 words. That's good. I've managed to eke out a little more. Not quite as many as I had hoped, but it's a step in the right direction.

My problem is this: I'm not feeling great about what's happening in the story. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something feels off right now. I don't know if I'm suffering from a tiny bit of writers' block or if my subconscious is trying to tell me something. Hard to say. I guess the only thing I can do is keep working and hope that I'll break through it soon.

Until next week, then!

Video Book Review of Failstate

Have you seen this yet?



Wow. Five Bible Man masks. That's a bit humbling.

Wordcount Wednesday

Again, not a lot of forward progress. Right now, my WIP is at 34,376 words. That means that over the past week, I've added 5,238 words to the manuscript. That's a little better than last week, but not good enough. Hopefully once things have slowed down a bit in summer, I'll be able to do better.

So what am I working on? Glad you asked. I know I've been keeping mum on what this WIP is for a while, but the news kind of broke on Facebook earlier today. My extremely wonderful agent, Amanda Luedeke, reported this little tidbit:

John Otte's books 2 and 3 FAILSTATE series, in which the teenage superhero battles a horde of superhero zombies (book 2) and uncovers the mystery behind the reappearance of fellow superhero Lux (book 3), to Jeff Gerke at Marcher Lord Press, in a nice deal, for publication in 2013, by Amanda Luedeke at MacGregor Literary.

That's right, my current WIP is book #2 about Failstate. And that's right. Superpowered zombies. This is going to be fun.

Wordcount Wednesday

So I'm doing a little better. Over the last week, I've added 5,051 words, bringing my grand total to 29,138 words. Like I said, a little better, but not good enough. I think part of my problem is that I was writing a chapter that didn't quite feel right. It bogged me down.

I still can't reveal much about what the story is, but it's still proving to be fun. Hopefully I'll be able to do better this coming week.

Mass Effect 3 Ending: Choices and Theme

A few weeks ago, I posted a video here about the controversy surrounding the Mass Effect 3 ending. Well, it looked like so much fun, I decided to make one of my own.

Wordcount Wednesday

Okay, so I seem to be a little lost right now.

Or maybe a better metaphor is I've hit a wall. A big one.

My current WIP feels a bit stalled out. I know where I need to get to, but I'm not sure what path to take. Add to that Holy Week, and I haven't been making much progress. Since the last time I've checked in, I've written 3,318 words, bringing the grand total up to 24,087 words. That's . . . not good.

Someone want to hand me a chisel? Or at least a well-worn rock hammer? I need to kick this in gear and get moving.

Books!

Holy cow! This has been an exciting week.

For starters, Failstate has released! It actually became available for purchase this past Saturday, which was technically a day early, but that's still cool! As of right now, there's really only one way to order the book, which is directly from the publisher. So if you want to get your hands on my debut novel, head on over to Marcher Lord Press and get your copy now! If you need any extra persuasion to do so, check out what Publishers Weekly had to say about it. It's the first starred review a Marcher Lord Press book has ever received. For those of you with e-readers, the ebook version will release soon, but for now, you can get my debut novel shipped to you in a few days!

But that's not all the publishing news that I have. Far from it.

Today also marks the start of the Memory Eater Kickstarter campaign. A few months back, I saw a notice saying that someone was putting together a short story anthology that centered around a device that could erase memories. That sparked my imagination and I set to work on two short stories for it. One didn't make it in, but "Satisfaction Guaranteed" did!

After the editor had put together the anthology, he shopped it around to a few houses. In the end, he chose to use the Kickstarter website to finance the anthology's release. For those of you unfamiliar with Kickstarter, it's a way for artists, authors, filmmakers, game developers, and others to find financing for their projects. You can contribute as much or as little as you want and you usually get cool rewards for doing so.

So if you want, please head over to the Memory Eater Kickstarter page and consider contributing some money to the project. If you contribute enough, you can get a physical copy of the book. I've already thrown in my support, please join me!

And finally, let's not forget about the Spirited anthology! Quite a while ago, a friend of mine sent me word about this YA short story anthology, a collection of spooky stories. I wrote one entitled "The Night Queen," a story about a wrecked spaceship and the folks who try to salvage it. It was my first attempt at "spooky."

Anyway, all the proceeds go to 826 National, a literacy charity. You can purchase this one for your Nook or Kindle. Or you can order a physical copy of the book if you want. No matter what, the proceeds go to a worthy cause.

Mass Effect 3 Ending: Tasteful, Understated Nerdrage

Sometimes on Friday, I dump in silly little videos that have amused me in some way, shape, or form. Other times, they're videos that have gotten me thinking.

This time, it's a video about a video game.

If you read my review about Mass Effect 3, you know that I'm not entirely pleased with that game's ending. Neither are a lot of the fans. People have been trying to explain why and how to fix things for a while now. Well, I found a video this week that does just that.

A few caveats: there are spoilers aplenty. The video is over a half hour long. And there's some salty language in here. But after watching this video, I'm pretty much in agreement with just about everything this guy says. He breaks down the problems cleanly and points to how it could be so much better.

I doubt anyone from BioWare will find my little corner of the Internet. But if they do, watch this, please. And think about it.

Incarceron

The Prison is alive.

Claudia is a young girl about to be forced into an arranged marriage for political reasons. She's only in that position, though, because her father is the Warden of Incarceron, a massive yet secret prison that no one has seen in centuries.

Finn is a prisoner in Incarceron, and yet he's convinced that he came from Outside. No one believes him; no one has come from Outside in years. And yet he has memories, dreams, and visions of the stars.

When both Claudia and Finn find objects in their worlds that allow them to speak to one another, they realize that they are exactly what the other one needs: a way to escape their individual confinement.

The only problem is, Finn's prison is alive and it does not want to give up what it believes is its own.

Incarceron, by Catherine Fisher, was a fun read. She did a fantastic job of worldbuilding. On the one hand, we have the interior of Incarceron, a living machine that is intent on keeping its prisoners in check. On the other hand, we have Outside, a world ruled by Protocol and trapped in an Era gone by, where high technology is forbidden (but everyone uses it anyway). The characters were memorable as well, especially Finn and Claudia.

The only downside is that Fisher telegraphed one of the reveals very early, so I had put together some of the pieces before the characters did. But that actually wasn't all that bad. The characters caught up with me quickly and the entire story was a fun, imaginative romp.

What really intrigued me was the almost Christian overtones to parts of this book, stuff that centered around the mysterious Sapphique, the only person to ever escape from Incarceron (at least, that's what the Prisoners believe). I don't know how that plotline will develop in the future, but I'm willing to read the next book to find out. I don't have it yet, but hopefully I will soon.

Wordcount Wednesday

Okay, so I still don't have any forward momentum to report. This week has been spent getting ready for the release of Failstate. Doing edits, looking over galleys, freaking out and curling up in a corner . . .

Um, I mean . . . doing manly things. Yes, that's what I've been doing.

Oh, well. It releases soon, people! And here's the last of the book trailers to whet your appetite.

CSFF Blog Tour: Happy Trails

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while know that I usually try to post all three days of a blog tour. And I wish I could say that I had some dynamite content for the third day of the Night of the Living Dead Christian blog tour. Unfortunately, I don't have any such content (dynamite or otherwise) for this month.

Instead, I'm posting to say good-bye, farewell, amen.

No, I'm not shutting down my blog. I'll still continue to share stuff about my writing and the books that I'm reading. But in recent months, it seems like I'm being stretched more and more thin. I've come to the sad realization that something has to give and, after a lot of consideration, I've come to the conclusion that the first thing to give is my participation in this blog tour.

I want to make this clear: I've loved my time with all of you. I've been exposed to some phenomenal fiction because I've participated. I would not change anything that's happened for the world.

But this is the end, my friends. I hope all of you continue to help share the good word about the good books that populate the Christian speculative fiction genre. God's richest blessings to all of you!

CSFF Blog Tour: "Night of the Living Dead Christian" Day Two

Part of the reason why I love Matt Mikilatos's books, such as Night of the Living Dead Christian, so much is because of how profoundly uncomfortable they can make me. The same thing happened while I was reading Imaginary Jesus, which examined the false idols we construct for ourselves and then try to dress up as Jesus Himself.

In this book, though, Mikilatos tackled the uncomfortable topic of what the Christian life is supposed to look like. According to the Bible, we're supposed to have new life in Christ, but do we really? Using the imagery of horror movie monsters, Mikilatos unpacks a number of ways that Christians fall short of the life we could have.

Maybe we're zombies, mindlessly shuffling along while we follow a supposedly wise leader. Or we could be werewolves, people who succumb to based instincts that should be under control. Or vampires, folks who live only to gratify their own selfish thirsts. Whatever the case, Mikilatos takes the time to show us what each of these monsters look like in real life. He holds a mirror to our faces and asks us what monster we are.

This is especially true in the epilogue, where Mikilatos lists off a number of different monsters (some in the book and some not), along with defining characteristics. When I read through them, I recognized myself as being a number of different monsters. For example, I'm pretty sure I'm a Gargantuan (and not just because of my height). I can be something of a glory hog, even if I pretend not to be.

So what about you, folks? What kind of monster are you? Admitting to your monsterhood is the first step in being fixed.

Go check out what the other tourists have to say.

Gillian Adams Julie Bihn Red Bissell Thomas Clayton Booher Thomas Fletcher Booher Keanan Brand Beckie Burnham Morgan L. Busse Theresa Dunlap Amber French Tori Greene Nikole Hahn Ryan Heart Bruce Hennigan Janeen Ippolito Becky Jesse Jason Joyner Carol Keen Leighton Shannon McDermott Rebecca LuElla Miller Nissa Joan Nienhuis Crista Richey Sarah Sawyer Chawna Schroeder Rachel Starr Thomson Steve Trower Fred Warren Shane Werlinger Nicole White Dave Wilson

CSFF Blog Tour: Night of the Living Dead Christian Day One

I've been looking forward to this one for a while now, ever since Matt Mikalatos hinted at it back during the Imaginary Jesus blog tour. He had me at "Lutheran werewolf." I couldn't wait to find out what this new story would be about.

It turns out that Night of the Living Dead Christian is an excellent theological romp through a horror movie parody. My goodness, that's an odd way to describe a book, isn't it? And yet it fits.

Just as in his first book, Mikilatos is the star of his story. It starts with Mikilatos on patrol as part of his neighborhood watch. He discovers a mad scientist and his android companion rigging up some sort of experiment to a streetlight. When activated, this brings a swarm of zombies into the neighborhood. They're being chased by a werewolf. Soon Matt finds himself caught up in a quest to help the werewolf (who turns out to be his neighbor, Luther Martin) become fully human and fully alive. Along the way, they encounter more zombies, a recovering vampire, and enough silly scenes to keep me laughing the whole way through. But at the same time, it left me thinking. In short, it's a great book because it not only entertains, but it makes you wonder: how alive am I in the faith?

Truth be told, I was both worried and delighted that one of the main characters would be a Lutheran. We're an underrepresented bunch in Christian fiction and I always love it when we show up in some way, shape, or form. But at the same time, I wondered what would happen with this Lutheran werewolf. Would Mikilatos get the theology right?

For the most part, I think he did. I did wince at the description of Luther's interactions with his father. I know it was hyperbole, but let me assure you, most Lutherans aren't quite as fanatical as Luther's descriptions of his dear old dad. Some, maybe, but that's another subject for another day. And, for the most part, Mikilatos nailed the theology pretty much spot on (although I did have a little quibble with something that happened in the epilogue, but it's so minor that it's really not worth mentioning).

On the back cover, Relevant Magazine described Matt Mikilatos's writings as "Monty Python meets C. S. Lewis." I think that's an apt description. It's a fun read, but just as deep as anything Lewis might have concocted. After reading two of Mikilatos's books, I'm a devoted fan. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

Go check out what the other tourists have to say:

Gillian Adams Julie Bihn Red Bissell Thomas Clayton Booher Thomas Fletcher Booher Keanan Brand Beckie Burnham Morgan L. Busse Theresa Dunlap Amber French Tori Greene Nikole Hahn Ryan Heart Bruce Hennigan Janeen Ippolito Becky Jesse Jason Joyner Carol Keen Leighton Shannon McDermott Rebecca LuElla Miller Nissa Joan Nienhuis  Crista Richey Sarah Sawyer Chawna Schroeder Rachel Starr Thomson Steve Trower Fred Warren Shane Werlinger Nicole White Dave Wilson

Wordcount Wednesday

Whereas last week was productive, this week hasn't been. Well, not as far as my WIP is concerned. As of right now, the WIP is weighing in at 20,769 words, which means that I was able to write 4,016 new words.

But I'm not too worried. I've been working on edits for Failstate. Speaking of which, did you see this starred review from Publisher's Weekly for Failstate?

Oh, and did you also see the latest book trailer?

Mass Effect 3

So this is it. The final chapter. The time for all of your choices to come home to roost. Mass Effect 3 launched last week and I've been stealing an hour here, an hour there, to play through what is easily one of my most favorite game franchises ever. But last night, when I finished my first playthrough, I was left feeling a bit upset. But more on that in a bit. Since this is a BioWare game, we have to talk story first.

The story of this game is a culmination of the previous two installments. The Reapers, gigantic living machines, have invaded Earth. They're slaughtering everyone. As Commander Shepard, the player must rally the forces of the galaxy to his or her side to fight off the Reapers and save Earth. But things are not going to be easy. For example, there is the on-going tension between the krogan, the turians, and the salarians due to the "sterility plague" that the latter two inflicted on the former. The quarians have chosen this time to go to war with the geth. Shepard has a political and diplomatic minefield to negotiate if s/he wants to bring the full force of the galaxy against the Reaper threat.

But more problematic is the involvement of Cerberus, the rabidly pro-human organization that Shepard worked for/with in Mass Effect 2. They keep interfering in the situation because their leader, the Illusive Man, has his own plans for the Reapers.

Can Commander Shepard drive off the Reapers? And if s/he can, what's the price that will have to be paid and by whom?

 In terms of gameplay, this was a lot of fun. BioWare found a happy medium between the sheer depth and breadth of weapon and armor choices that they loaded into the first game and the minimalist design they used in the second. It seemed as though I was constantly finding new guns, most of which I wished I could try but never got the opportunity. I also liked the way they allowed players to design their own weapons loadout. It allowed me to tailor Shepard to my playstyle and gave me a lot of options. I'm already looking forward to going back just so I can try out those weapons.

As usual, the vocal talent was simply amazing. I have no idea how BioWare lands such big names for their casts, but once again, they did a great job. The graphics, too, were stellar.

An odd inclusion (at least, I thought it was odd at first) was the multiplayer co-op mode. I didn't think I'd like that, but I'm a believer now. I've been playing many matches with my engineer (who I've nicknamed "Scotty"). I kind of like the way that this feeds into the single player experience, but I'm not the biggest fan of being forced to do something like that if I don't want to.

So that leaves us the story. In many ways, I really liked the story up until the ending. A lot of threads that had been woven into the previous two games were resolved and I really appreciated the way that they handled those stories. In particular, I loved the return to Tuchanka to deal with the genophage and I really liked the way that they included a resolution to the quarian/geth conflict. Both of those had a lot of emotional heft in the previous installments. Again, while I chose the "paragon" route for those plots this time around, I am curious to go back in and take the "renegade" route and see how things can go off the rails.

But then there's the ending. There are a lot of fans who are extremely upset with BioWare because of the ending and, quite frankly, I can understand why. I'm upset by it too. I don't want to get into spoilers here, so I'll try to speak in overall generalities.

For starters, I didn't like the lack of resolution for some of the larger storylines. Shepard resolves the Reaper conflict, but we're not told what the aftermath is for the larger galaxy. Do the alliances that you forged last? What happened in the aftermath to your teammates?  I would have been satisfied with a "Where Are They Now?" montage at the end of the game. BioWare has done something like that in previous games, most notably Dragon Age: Origins. Given that we've invested so much time in these characters and races, it'd be nice to know, for example, what happened to the krogan or the rachni or the quarians. What happened to Liara T'Soni or Garrus?

Second, and this is what really rankles, is the fact that instead of providing us with multiple endings, BioWare essentially gave players one. I did a little digging last night and found out that your choices, which were so central to the gameplay, ultimately don't matter. You basically get the same ending; they just change minor details within the ending (such as the color of the final explosion; really!?!). I seem to recall reading in prerelease interviews that the design team were promising players radically different endings. They didn't deliver. If I choose option A, the ending should be very different from the ending that arises from option B, and so on. BioWare touted this game series as one where your choices matter. With this ending, their message is basically, "LOL! Not really."

So does this mean that I won't be coming back to this game? Not at all. While the ending is farcical and a mess, the overall game is good. And I have a lot of saved characters to import into the final installment. I want to see how their stories wind up too. I just wish their endings could be different.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Last night, I "finished" reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. I find it ironic that on the first page of the book, Taylor says this: "Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well." It's ironic because, as far as I'm concerned, that's a pretty apt summary for this book. It did not end well at all.

Karou is a young lady living in Prague who is a bit unusual. She has bright blue hair. She has eyes tattooed on the palms of her hands. She is fluent in close to two dozen languages. She is a master martial artist.

And oh yeah, she was raised by a hulking monster named Brimstone who sends her out on errands to collect teeth.

It turns out that Brimstone actually raised Karou from his magical shop, a place where human beings can come and barter teeth (animal and human) for wishes. Brimstone is a secretive sort of individual. He doesn't tell Karou why he needs the teeth or what he does with them. He won't tell her much about her background.

Then one day, while Karou is out on an errand for Brimstone in Marakesh, she's attacked by an angel. Soon Karou is drawn into a very real war being fought in another world, one that will upend everything she knows about herself and her rather unusual family.

I really wanted to like this book. Taylor did a great job creating Karou and her world. I was fascinated by Brimstone and the mysteries that surrounded him. But yet, as I finished this book, I became less and less satisfied with it.

You might think it's because of how Taylor rewrote a war between angels and demons. It's not that. While I had a little difficulty wrapping my head around that at first (blame it on my Christian mindset), I was able to adjust my thinking and appreciate the story as a good fantasy tale.

No, what undid this book for me was the ridiculously huge flashback at the end of the book. The last fifth of the book or so is one gigantic and, in my not-so-humble opinion, unnecessary flashback. The story of Karou ground to a halt so that Taylor could tell a story that, by that point, I had figured out for the most part. Yes, that story did fill in some of the details (like why Brimstone needs teeth), but I got bored reading it. I started skimming the chapters, not really caring what was happening and just wanting to find out what happened to Karou.

The book ends with the words, "To be continued." But this is where I get off. The story was interesting and engaging, but it went off the rails with the flashback. Pity. Could have been fun.

Wordcount Wednesday

Well, I guess there is one upside to being sick. The past two days, I've been down and out thanks to a cold that's been bugging me for the past week and a half. Because of that, I've had a little more time to work on my current WIP (no more details to share about it right now, but soon, I promise!).

Thanks to my extended writing sessions, the WIP weighs in at 16,753 words. That means that over the last week, I've added 10,672 words. Not bad, but I'll have to do better in the weeks ahead.

"Failstate" Book Trailer: Lux & Veritas Audition Tape

Here it is, folks, the next trailer for Failstate! This one introduces you to some of the characters you're going to meet when the book releases in a few short week.



I want to thank Professor Mark Rosenwinkel of the Concordia University Theatre Department for allowing us the use of the E. M. Pearson Theater for this video.

Wordcount Wednesday

That's right, it's back! I've started a new WIP this week. So with any luck, I'll keep updating all y'all on how I'm doing.

So after a few days of writing, my new project (unnamed for now; maybe I'll be able to reveal more in coming weeks) is a healthy 6,081 words. Hopefully we'll see this balloon over the coming weeks.

"Failstate" Book Trailer: Crimson Skull Audition Tape

So what do you think? Does this guy stand a chance?



 Don't forget the book is releasing in less than a month!

Cinder

Take the classic story of Cinderella, add in some interplanetary political intrigue, a global pandemic, a little bit of magic. And oh yeah. Cyborgs. Gotta have the cyborgs. That odd combination will result in Cinder by Marissa Meyer.

It's the story of Cinder, a cyborg mechanic (as in a mechanic who is a cyborg, not a mechanic who works on cyborgs). Her family forces her to work in the market so they can live off of her earnings. Her stepmother is lazy and wicked, as is one of her stepsisters. The other, not so much.

Then one day, the crown prince, Kai, stops by her booth with a tutor android, one that he needs fixed. The android has vital information that needs to be retrieved. But even stranger, it seems as though Kai might actually be attracted to Cinder.

But a lot can get in the way of a fairytale romance. There's the aforementioned pandemic that rips through the populace. There's the political tension between the Eastern Commonwealth (Kai's kingdom) and the inhabitants of the moon. And yet, in spite of it all, Kai seems determined to get Cinder to the ball.

This was a really engrossing book. I absolutely devoured it in the past two days. Meyer did a fantastic job of taking an old fairytale and giving it a futuristic zing. Cinder especially shines. The plot was a little predictable (I figured out a big chunk of it in the first two or three chapters), but that didn't lessen my enjoyment at all.

This is obviously the first book in a series and I can't wait to see what Cinder will be up to in the next book.

Kill the Penny!

Some food for thought:

Wordcount Wednesday

Well, I've finished my first pass through Hive, my pregnant teenage cyborg book. When I finished the first draft, it clocked in at 85,504 words. Now, though, it's at 81,976 words. So I was able to trim it down a little, jettison some unnecessary stuff and reshuffle some scenes. I don't think it's quite done yet (obviously) but I'm ready to show it to a select few people. We'll see what happens.

In the meantime, I'll be starting the pre-writing for a new book. More details to come on that, I promise.

Tip Tagged Tuesday

Rather than give you guys another tip, I'm taking a break (like I suggested last week). Instead, I've been tagged by Fred Warren in some sort of blog-hopping question thing. Here are the rules:

The Tag rules: 1. You must post the rules! 2. Answer the questions and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged. 3. Tag seven (because it’s a magical number) people and link to them. 4. Let them know you’ve tagged them.

So here we go. The eleven questions that Fred asked me:

1. Ginger, or Mary Ann? (For the ladies: Archie, or Jughead?)
Ginger, although when I told my wife my answer, she was surprised. I have no idea why. But if I have to choose, I'd pick Ginger.

2. Justify your existence in fifty words or less.
I am a baptized child of God. There. I did it in five words.

3. Name your favorite Doctor.
The holographic one. Wait, we're not talking about Star Trek, are we? I've never watched Doctor Who.
 
4. Share one item from your bucket list.
Take special trips with my sons. A few years ago, my wife and I were in Australia and we met a father and son duo who had been taking special vacations together for years. Their goal was to hit every continent. While I'm not that ambitious, I'd like to at least take one trip with each of my boys, just the two of us.
 
5. If your writing was a dessert, what sort of dessert would it be?
I have no idea. A good one?

6. State your position on extraterrestrial life, sasquatch, or Atlantis. Your choice.
My position on extraterrestrial life is this: there's nothing in Scripture that precludes alien life and the universe is a vast place. There could easily be alien life out there. As for Bigfoot and Atlantis, no way.

7. Name an author you simultaneously admire and detest. If you can provide a rationale, so much the better.
Dan Brown. I admire the fact that he somehow managed to sneak onto the bestseller list. I detest him because his craft is weak and his "research" is non-existent.

8. What most inspires you to write?
My wife. At least, that's what she tells me. In reality, it's because a story will take up residence in my brain and won't get out. Plus, I've always wanted to be an author for as long as I can remember.

9. Name the entree of your last restaurant meal.
Fast food or otherwise? If not fast food, then a dozen mild Buffalo wings and a regular order of "Buffalo Chips." Not that kind. Gross.

10. Offer a memorable quote from one of your novels, short stories, essays, or blog posts.
Boy, that's a tough question.  What's memorable for me won't necessarily be one for readers. And nothing is leaping immediately to mind. Sorry.

11. What’s the next book on your “to read” list?
Cinder by Marissa Meyer.

Okay, so now I'm supposed to pick . . . seven other bloggers? Really? No way. Instead, I'm going to do like Fred and only pick three: Jill Williamson, Christian Miles, and Jacob Parker.

And eleven more questions? My goodness. Let's see here:

1) What is your name?
2) What is your quest?
3) What is your favorite color?
4) What one writer would you want to "sit at the feet of," either living or dead?
5) What unusual writing habits have you developed over your career?
6) Star Wars or Star Trek?
7) If you could include on fictional character you didn't create in a story, who would it be and why?
8) What was the last book that you read simply for enjoyment?
9) Who is your favorite musician?
10)  What's the next movie you're looking forward to seeing/
11) Be honest: did you recognize the first three questions?

Failstate: Living Legends

This past weekend, I uploaded the first book trailer for "Failstate." Hope you enjoy it (and if you did, please consider sharing it with your friends to help get the word out!).

Tip Tuesday: Take a Break!

So you've been writing consistently, you've been careful not to back-edit, and you've made it all the way through your first draft. Now what?

Now . . . take a break.

I know the temptation is to dive right into rewrites and edits. You want to keep going. Inertia, right?

Only here's the thing: once you're done writing your story, you're going to be on something of a high (I know, I've been there). Or a low (I know, I've been there). Or both (I know, I . . . oh, never mind). To put it bluntly, you're going to be convinced that you created the greatest literary feat ever. Or the worst. Or both at the same time. Going into your story in that state of mind is counterproductive. You'll make mistakes. You'll miss things.

It's helpful to gain some emotional distance from your story. That way, when you start working on it again, you'll have fresh eyes. You won't be sucked in by your own genius or lack thereof.

This is definitely something that I both preach and practice. After I'm done with a new book, I put it on the shelf for at least a month, sometimes longer. That way, when I come back to it, I can more easily recognize the good stuff and axe the bad stuff.

So when you're done, take a break from that project. Work on editing an old one. Do research for a new one. But take a break. Your writing will benefit from it.

Battle of the Action Figures

If only it were a fair fight . . .

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.