Part of a Group

There's currently a "discussion" going back, forth, and all other directions via the distribution list of my Writer's Group. Well, in my opinion, it's really more of a lesson on how defensive and pompous people can get than a discussion, but that's beside the point.

From my vantage, the situation is pretty clear. We meet every Saturday at the same time (10am) at a designated Coffee Shop in Boulder. Other "members" (people who have membership of the online group but either have not attended the Saturday meetings or have only attended a few) would like to alter this to either include additional meeting times or add procedural elements that the current meetings do not contain. To me, the best remedy for this would be to start an entirely separate group, but it seems this is not the ideal solution for some folks.

Frankly, there are a couple of forces working against humanity here. You absolutely cannot pick a meeting time that works for everyone; people have children, work jobs, live far away, and don't generally like to commit their weekend hours when they work 9 to 5 during the week. What inspires these people to join groups like mine in the first place is beyond my comprehension, but then to take it a step further and demand the group change to work around them rather than finding something more suitable for their free hours and geography is doubly so.

I'm not going to name any names or post any excerpts (though some of the emails being traded are pretty hilarious) but I would like to ask the general readership: do you attend any real-life writing or critique groups on a regular basis? What has your experience been with this kind of thing?

2008 in Review

This year has been a lot longer than it currently feels to have been; December always narrows the perception of the other eleven months, for some reason. Ultimately, I believe it's because we've now reached the 11th hour, and it's become all-too-common to have a reflective "what have we learned" moment. Well, most of us do, and some of us blog it.

In regards to reading this year, I can definitely feel accomplished. I was introduced to a slew of new-to-me authors including Joe Abercrombie, Scott Lynch, Glen Cook, George R.R. Martin, and many more. I had a life "milestone" of completing an entire read of Eye of the World, finally, and was able to shake my fist at the American publishing market after reading Dawnthief and not being able to find the rest of James Barclay's books here in the USA.

Speaking of the American publishing market, I watched during the last half of this year as even mid-list authors were "cut" from the large houses and people were laid off from places like Random House. I don't know that it's a good time to try breaking into the market, hence the next paragraph.

As far as writing is concerned, many things happened in 2008 for me. I joined one Writers Critique Group that wheezed and died shortly thereafter, then I joined another up in Boulder that has been going strong since day one. I've met some fantastic writers and have been able to get some impartial opinions about my work as well as check out how others write and deal with this "profession." I've learned a lot about self-publishing (even decided to go that route with my debut Fantasy novel due, somewhat, to the state of the market) and the difference between a writer and author. Being part of such a fantastic group, especially for an introverted writer like me, has been an invaluable experience.

On writing, itself, I have finalized one Fantasy novel and completed the first draft of a commercial fiction/religious satire.

The Ninth Avatar is in the middle of the approval process via CreateSpace. Originally planned as a trilogy, and even before that planned as a story for a roleplaying game, the final 154k word manuscript known as The Ninth Avatar ended up encompassing the entire story I wanted to tell in a single--yet somewhat large--volume. Basically, I got to the end of "part 2" and realized I didn't need another book to finish the story. Of course, that doesn't mean there's no room for one (or more) sequels...Sorry about the double negative; it was the best way to say it.

I learned so much writing [what became] The Ninth Avatar. Honestly, the second novel is constantly heralded as the "hardest" but that is actually more of a post-writing classification rather than a during-writing problem. The second novel has expectations to live up to when it goes to market. Regardless, the first novel is THE learning experience and, while you still learn things writing subsequent novels, there are a lot of difficult lessons about writing/drafting/editing that you can't get from reading someone else's book.

There's also no feeling like getting giddy-excited about what you wrote, knowing as you read it that it is fantastic.

Thomas Redpool Goes To Hell more or less solidifies my decision to be a professional, full-time author. Note, it's very difficult to talk highly of myself or my work without sounding like the quintessential jackass but, since you're all well-aware of precisely how little I "talk myself up" and how often I probably should, I'm just going to go ahead with it. The response to the Thomas Redpool book has been so positive, so surprisingly encouraging, that I just can't wait to see how the novel performs in the hands of critics, readers, agents, and editors.

I'm more excited for my writing future now than I have ever been, but with that excitement comes the inevitable issue of "what to write next?" I've already tried to start something but, with so many books to read and the holidays still passing, it hasn't been as easy to craft a magical hook.

I'll post more of my personal year-in-review over at Red Flag Waving. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll see more of this in the New Year. Here's to 2009! *clink*

The Ninth Avatar

Today I ordered a proof copy of The Ninth Avatar through CreateSpace (I opted to go with them as opposed to iUniverse due to the lack of having to pay anything up front). This is a huge leap forward for me and for the book since, at this moment, it is in the process of becoming something tangible.

For those of you who haven't heard anything about this project of mine, a little history. The Ninth Avatar is an epic fantasy similar in vein to George R.R. Martin and Robert Jordan (this is me namedropping). I have been pitching it to agents and publishers for most of 2008. With the economy being what it is right now and even mid-list authors being cut from big houses, I started looking into self-publishing as a possibility a few months ago and have firmly decided to go that route.

It's not the "easy way out," by any means, since self-published authors have to put in a ton of work announcing and marketing themselves to even garner a few sales, but this knowledge was factored into my decision before I made it. There are a lot of myths out there about self-published authors but rest assured I am not relegating myself only to online stores; it's only with this particular project (a 150,000 word fantasy debut book) that I've had to factor in real-life conditions on the publishing universe. Thomas Redpool Goes To Hell will go through standard publishing/agent query attempts once it passes through the ABNA gauntlet.

So, without further ceremony, I just wanted to announce that the book itself will be "released" in the next few months (after one more possible cover revision and probably a few more corrections in the text). I will post links to the online storefronts as soon as they're active and you may be receiving an invitation to the Book Release Party (probably in March).

Until then, feel free to bask in the glow of the front cover art that I created (after a couple of really rough drafts and some sound advice).


Thanks for stopping by.

Nonfiction

Smoking a cigar in public never fails to garner attention. I believe this is because smoking a cigar relays a "want" to smoke, rather than the uninteresting "need" that a cigarette addition projects. The attention, however, is not always positive.

Just over a week ago, I attended a holiday "office" party hosted by a local radio station. The music was loud, the crowd was lively, and the smoking was all relegated to the cold outside via an exit just past the copy machines. Roundabout halfway through the night, I decided to have the cigar I'd brought to take a break from the festivities and headed to the assigned section. I appreciated the area since it wasn't just "out front" - I didn't have to leave the party to smoke.

I had barely opened the tip and struck up a match when a team of half-drunk addicts came bumbling outside. One of them proceeded to harass me though, with a decent-sized cigar in my mouth and both hands occupied attempting to get the thing lit, it should have been obvious that I wouldn't be able to talk.

"Hey, man. Nice cigar. Got another one of those?"

The lack of courtesy here should be the first thing you notice. I recently reflected, at a bus stop, that no matter how much people complained about how "broke" they were, they could still afford cigarettes. This particular instance took it one step further; a woman complained to another waiting bus passenger about how broke she was, proceeded to light up, then was set upon by another waiting passenger. Without even being able to hear the conversation, I instinctively knew what question was being asked and answered when she drew another white stick from her pocket and presented it to the inquirer penalty-free.

It's one thing to ask someone for a cigarette, regardless of how expensive a pack of them is these days, and something entirely different for someone to expect to "bum" a cigar. Cigars project an air of prestige due to their lack of availability and relative expensiveness when compared one-on-one to cigarettes. This particular cigar I was attempting to light had a retail price tag equivalent to around 2 entire packs of name-brand cigarettes, so when I answered a curt "no" I didn't feel too badly. The fact that he even had the gall to ask was astounding.

Since then, on two separate occasions, I have enjoyed a cigar while waiting for my Writers Group to begin. At 8am in Boulder, during the month of December, it is cold outside, and having a cigar requires at least 30 minutes of "outside time" to finish. Again, it's not like smoking a cigarette - you can rush through those and make your way back inside before your ears go numb. During both of the above noted occasions, I "met" a homeless man walking along Pearl Street. This is Boulder, after all.

In both instances, I got the feeling that the men would have passed me by if I had not been so obviously doing nothing. In the first case, the man actually started up a conversation about cigars which quickly turned to him telling me most of his life story (involving walking from Missouri to Colorado and seeing two separate Space Shuttle launches at Cape Canaveral). Whether I believed him or not wasn't the point, but I honestly had nowhere else to go since the cigar takes a considerable amount of time.

The more recent instance, the man mostly wanted to give me only a portion of his life story involving purchasing Lieutenant bars as a Captain or some such thing. I'll always remember how the spittle pooled on one side of his mouth as he frantically tried to convince me that what he was saying was both valid and true. For my part, I merely sipped my rapidly cooling coffee and puffed on my cigar, all the while knowing I had no cash to relinquish to whatever cause he had (and, thankfully, it turned out he didn't ask).

One might think, having survived these experiences with some need to reflect, that if smoking cigars in public garners this kind of attention that it might be best relegated to the private arena; enjoyed only on my enclosed fourth-floor patio in the cold silence of the Arvada night. However, those people aren't writers, or they don't enjoy meeting people with idiosyncratic behaviors. Part of enjoying a cigar is the time taken to smoke it, and what would life be without some additional entertainment?

Looking toward the future

I've written the 150,000 word Epic Fantasy novel (The Ninth Avatar). I'm finishing up the commercial fiction/religious satire (Thomas Redpool Goes To Hell). I thought today's post would be a good time to ask the inevitable question.

What comes next?

Well, I've been kicking around a few ideas of what to write next. Some are new, some are not. Here are some things you may see from me in the future.

* An historical fiction novel linked to my love of China's Three Kingdoms era (a la Dynasty Warriors)
* A graphic novel or animated series story about an undying murderer
* A sci-fi adventure involving the mapping of space and possibly some mechs
* A very non-traditional vampire story
* A fantasy story about a wayward lineage
* A fantasy story about a resurrected dark power with a few twists
* An historical fiction novel told from the perspective of a ghost
* A post-apocalyptic novel similar to "The Running Man" but told from a Hunter's perspective
* many, many more.

Right now, most of these are "book length" plans, but as I try and branch out a little more into the shorter fiction genre some of them may end up making their debut as short stories. I guess the point is not even I know what is going to happen next, but I do have ideas waiting for their day in the sun.

Next month, I will probably take some time to reflect on what I've accomplished in the past 3 years. Since I started writing Thomas Redpool and [what became] The Ninth Avatar at around the same time and have now [nearly] finished them both, I can't help but feel accomplished and excited about what the next few years are going to be like.

So far, I've preferred reading and writing Fantasy the most, but I can't deny that writing the TR book was an incredible amount of fun. Stay tuned, folks - this "writing thing" may just become a real career.

TR Pitch, take two

Any/all comments welcome.


Hell is no picnic, even for a shameless bastard like Thomas Redpool, but even death is no excuse for him to relinquish control of his existence. After slaying the demon Cabal, Thomas assumes the role of Sinner Lord of Hell - a position in charge of the Armageddon Office.

In a Hell where Satan is too depressed to do anything useful, natural disasters on Earth are controlled by a simple series of levers, and torments include being stuck in traffic for eternity and an unending math class, Thomas discovers he’s being goaded into starting Armageddon early. No one can be trusted in a place known for deception; not his secretary and certainly not the other Lords, but Thomas must unravel the plot to usurp his newfound authority or resign himself to a back seat for the end of the world.

In Thomas Redpool Goes To Hell, a commercial fiction work told through his own cynical and egocentric view, the title character questions everything from old world mythology to God’s divine plan, with only his own power in mind. Fans of Kevin Smith’s Dogma will be on familiar ground with this religious satire; the story respectfully questions established belief systems - and their fervor - with simplicity and humor.

DGLA Loglist Available

Happy Monday!

I got a nice invitation via Wonderlands regarding the David Gemmell Legend Award (DGLA). There are prizes involved for voting (though it doesn't begin until Boxing Day) though you don't have to be a member of the site to do so. Check it out.

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The final Longlist for the DGLA 2008 is available as a downloadable PDF from the website: http://GemmellAward.com
so you can print it off in order to consider your vote (Or, just add more books to your xmas list!)

Once the poll opens, the first 100 voters (who are site Members) will receive a special 'thank-you' gift from us at the DGLA - one of our strictly limited edition 'LEGEND' wristbands! See the site for details of how to claim, soon.

Also, don't forget that one lucky voter, chosen at random, will receive SIGNED COPIES OF ALL 5 SHORTLISTED NOVELS!

It's all happening soon, so now would be a good time to join in!
Good luck!

Possible Pitch for "Thomas Redpool"

Thomas Redpool was never a very nice person, but, being dead, this is the least of his problems. Upon slaying the demon Cabal, he assumes the role of Sinner Lord of Hell - a position in charge of the Armageddon Office.

In a Hell where Satan is too depressed to do anything useful, natural disasters on Earth are controlled by a simple series of levers, and torments range from being stuck in traffic for eternity to an unending math class, Thomas may be responsible for Armageddon but he certainly won’t be goaded into starting it early.

While dodging assassination attempts from Heaven’s Avenger and foiling escapes, Thomas must find out who is forcing his hand and stop them before it’s too late.

Thomas Redpool Goes To Hell (working title), an 80,000-word work of commercial fiction wrapped in religious satire, both challenges and pokes fun at established dogma to create a narrative commentary on the foibles of the Christian faith.

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Any thoughts?

Query Holiday

Another quick note for a Thursday.

The beginning of next week brings us the opening of "Query Holiday" from Firebrand Literary Agency. I've seen a lot of discussion lately, both on blogs and on SFFworld/other forums, about Query Letters and their pros and cons. Firebrand seems willing to cut them out completely for a month, receiving submissions that will stand or fall entirely on the merit of the writing.

This could be interesting, and I think I might submit the Ninth Avatar opening for their perusal while I continue to work on Thomas Redpool for the ABNA. Might as well, right? There aren't any commitments to self-publishing just yet (especially since I received a caution about the company I wanted to go with and an alternative to said company).

If anyone has read the "samples" and wants to comment, again feel free to either email me directly or post in response to any of the threads here. I appreciate it!

Positive feedback, positive reinforcement

After getting some great feedback (great in the sense that it was valuable, not in the sense that it was shiny praise) yesterday, I am starting to feel even better about the Thomas Redpool book. I have less than three weeks, though, to "beef up" the word count until I try to edit through January and I haven't written a thing. Mostly, I've been waiting for some feedback to know where the story is weak (and I've been working on identifying that, myself). Not only do I now know a few parts where the story itself is weak but also where the word count needs to be enhanced... and in one instance they coincide. So, here's to writing over the holidays and working on religious satire during the Christmas season. *clink*

New Samples Posted

Well, sort of.

In advance of my presentation on Saturday, I have posted the essay on Subplots & Minor Characters to my Mediafire storage area. I also added the Plot & Conflict essay used in my last presentation. Both of these are available for download at the links below. Any questions or comments, feel free to email me.

Plot & Conflict
http://www.mediafire.com/file/iwgzghjjqmq/

Subplots & Minor Characters
http://www.mediafire.com/file/evm2oid5m0y/

Todd Presenting "Subplots & Minor Characters"

At my Writer's Group, the structure goes down like this. For the first hour, a topic is presented by a group member and discussed. The presenter volunteers at the prior meeting so they have a week to collect materials and formulate their approach, usually resulting in a "one sheeter" that is passed out with notes and, if necessary, URLs. After a short break, the second hour is spent critiquing two pieces of writing (again, volunteered at the previous meeting but uploaded to the Meetup website during the week) while the "author" is unable to speak/respond until everyone has had a turn commenting.

My last "turn" at presenting was some time ago, when we were still meeting at the Trident (we meet at Espressoria, currently), and it was on Plot & Conflict. I talked about archetypes and whatnot because, frankly, they're some of my favorite things in the writing world. I love how Shakespearean plays share commonalities with Clint Eastwood westerns and that things can be "boiled down" in such a way to identify those.

This coming meeting, I will be presenting on Subplots & Minor Characters (which we should have had a presentation on recently but the presentor switched topics to the Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing with POD). I'm looking forward to it and already attempting to start the "collect" phase.

If you have any suggestions about good websites or resource books to check out, I'd definitely be open to them.

Mindmapping with Freemind

I just found an amazing tool called Freemind that might actually help me be organized with my next novel project (the first two I'm too far gone on to put in the time). It's fun so far, though figuring out the interface was a little bit tough.

Simon over at Hal Spacejock linked it in his article about plotting (found here) and gives a fantastic small render of where to begin if you're doing a novel project.

This could definitely occupy my time for the next ... few months.

Check out the homepage wiki for it - here.

Fantasy covers, best and worst

Spurred on my James' posting series of the same nature over at Speculative Horizons, I'd like to share my picks for some of the best and worst Fantasy cover art. If you've already gone through his posts, you'll notice some similarities. (Unfortunately, I'm at work at the moment and can't peruse the shelf for more).

First, the good.

Ysabel (by Guy Gavriel Kay) recently won a pretty hefty World Fantasy Award, but it's the cover art that wins with me. I remember seeing this for the first time in the bookstore and literally being drawn to the cover. Unfortunately, I haven't picked up the book yet, but with Christmas coming up there's a possibility I might get it (should the right people be reading this).

What I like about this cover is what I usually like about art - there's so much going on. With the words displayed over what could be a statue, the interesting mix of the flaws and the flawless, and the important part not marred with text, it just screams to me that the publisher did their job well on this one. This is the US cover art, however; the other versions were not as eye-catching.




While it may sound "mean" to use the word "obligatory," I am making an obligatory reference to the novel that pretty much started it all for me. When I first read the title of this book at the Library (yes, all the way back in Gridley, California) and took my first look at the cover I was totally hooked. Michael Whelan was suddenly a god to me and C.S. Friedman was the only thing I can say that I read for a number of years following (because I had fallen out of the habit of reading, not because I had developed a spontaneous case of book-snobbery).

The amount that I revered the depiction of Gerald Tarrant in this cover art, and the novel itself, actually served to shape my immature life at that time. Though it is kind of juvenile, the way I "handled" my online personality and the trouble it got me into, I still feel connected to Black Sun Rising because of that history. Hence the obligatory reference, but I also the Coldfire sword is just damn cool.


Honestly, the entire re-release (is it a re-release?) of Barclay's Raven novels with these silhouette covers deserves the recognition and not just Shadowheart. This one, however, is red, so it is the one I am putting up. This is actually a cover style that I would like to mimic for the cover of The Ninth Avatar, though not completely, because it is just so elegant.

While silhouettes don't automatically garner you "best cover ever" in my book, the fact that Shadowheart a departure from standard Fantasy book covers (where Princess Breastley holds the quested-for McGuffin Artifact of Doom on a cliff face overlooking Cliché Castle) and because it works so well is why it deserves an entry here.

What I love the most about a silhouette like this is that even with only two colors there is still a lot to look at.



Another great departure from the "Healthy Heroine and Swordy Bigpecs" covers is Joe Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy. Aside from the fact that the novels are amazing, and would be amazing if you bound them inside old newspaper stained with blue Kool-Aid, the cover art truly makes them stand out against the numerous other entries in the Fantasy genre. These covers, like Last Argument of Kings here, scream to the general peruser that there is something new and different about this novel - there is something alive here that you want to see before you miss your chance.

He's also a pretty entertaining guy outside the written page, if you get a chance to read his blog or his posts at SFFworld.



There are, of course, many covers and other books I could mention, but these are the ones that have stuck with me recently.

And now... the bad.

Though it makes me truly sad to admit it, I do quite loathe the cover of When True Night Falls, sequel to the aforementioned Black Sun Rising. This cover art was also by Michael Whelan but I'm not quite sure what anyone saw in it that made the piece worthwhile.

The "trees" theme is carried over from the first book and, while these trees are important to the plot of WTNF, putting a person in one and making them as unattractive as possible was not the best idea.

Again, I do feel bad, and I love the novel on the inside, but the cover is just ugly.


And the worst-of-the-worst award goes to...

I don't know how in all the universe this cover actually got approved. Honestly, it's a lot like imagining Xena: Warrior Princess being aired during prime time (though I do have a special appreciation for the show, everyone knows how campy it is and how niche the audience is, come on).

Frankly, this is just the kind of "Jugsy McMostlynude" nonsense I was referencing above - LOOK AT THOSE THINGS, PUT SOME FREAKING CLOTHES ON. Frankly, it's good that she uses a bow because those rags wouldn't give her much protection in a real fight... she'd be the Queen of Bloody Wounds should Swordy Heroguy ever actually show up.

Hideous. Unworthly. Stereotype-promoting. This cover says that all Fantasy readers are post-adolescent bodied (while still-adolescent minded) boys who only care about one thing: BOOBS. I mean, they're right there in the very center (focal point) of the picture. Give us more credit, please.


Well, there you have it. Some of my most and least favorite covers.

As a side note, I spotted Queen of Stone in a Borders recently (after having read about it on James' blog and thinking it had to be some kind of ARC joke). I hurriedly showed it to my wife, who likewise vomited and demanded I put it back on the shelf before anyone saw me holding the book. These things are REAL, people. And, while I'm sure a lot of time and money got put into making all of the bad covers we see, it still falls to us to make the final decision about whether we want to buy it or not. I feel bad damning someone else's work but, hey, I'm a consumer, too.

Yuck.

Attempting to spark up a little more traffic

Me again. You know I have almost 150 posts here on Initial Draft? Lunacy. I get visitors from all over the globe and I'm always looking for more.

A post over at Fantasy Debut suggested numerous things to generate traffic to a new author's website/blog, including signing up for a Twitter account, which I went ahead and did (though I'm still not 100% certain what Twitter is for).

I'm also getting somewhat involved over at the boards on SFFworld (a good thing to do since a lot of posters in the Writers forum give people like me the opportunity to critique their budding work). It's fun, and reading 2 year old topics like this one on Self-Publishing provide a little bit of drama in the usually stale world of words-on-the-screen. I spent most of yesterday afternoon checking out the posts in that topic and I'm still not done.

I came up with an interesting idea to promote the Thomas Redpool book, namely in creating a couple of banner ads (like Princesse Ecossaise uses) and possibly a couple of t-shirts with a caption like "Who is Thomas Redpool?" I haven't actually ventured to do this yet, since the novel isn't quite close to done yet, though I think it might give the people who saw the Sarah Marshall ad campaign a new reason to cringe.

So pass the word along, otherwise you might wake up to find a creepy email in your inbox saying "Todd Newton wrote a book and he's not going to shut up until you read it."

Seriously.

First Draft ...done

Last night I wrote through the ending of the Thomas Redpool novel, completing the initial draft at 59,151 words. Woo hoo!

While the initial count is lower than I wanted (or expected), I have to console myself with the fact that this is just the first draft and I did pace through it pretty fast. I try to keep a log in my Book Journal of where I end my "writing sessions," listing the date and time and the word count. It's pretty amazing to think on October 10th, I was only at 21,129 words and in less than two months I wrote almost 40k. Looking back at my progress now, I feel accomplished.

But, there's a lot more work to do. As a writer, I know I tend to focus more on the action and events rather than pushing a lot of the description of the folks and their surroundings (which is, I'm sorry to say, where I think a lot of word count comes from). This isn't a "bad" thing, as I view it, but I think my mind prefers to give more of a skeleton and either flesh out the meat later or allow the reader's imagination to take over (though, with the latter, I wonder if I'm giving my subconscious more credit than it deserves).

So, with exactly 2 months left before the entry deadline begins for the ABNA, the second draft begins now.