Vampires and Sex

Author Neil Gaiman has some interesting thoughts on the subject in this EW interview.

Caine Black Knife - Mini Review

"Caine Black Knife" is the third in the series of books centered on the adventures of actor/unstoppable assassin, Hari Michaelson, and is a must read for fans of talented author Matthew Stover. However...

Lacking the "big story" component of the first two books (fate of two worlds hanging in the balance, etc), CBK is also a bit of a jumble -- mixing a present day mini-adventure with a series of flashbacks about how Hari made his bones and became the mega star, Caine.

Personally, I would have preferred it if Mr. Stover had stuck to one story or the other as, for me, this style of back and forth storytelling tends to be more distracting than enjoyable -- just not my thing. And because of these flashbacks CBK has the same sort of mild "oh, that's why" feel that you get from reading the appendixes in LOTR -- enjoyable enough for what they reveal, but not as satisfying as the master's main work.

Overall, Mr. Stover's skill as a writer is evident in CBK and while Caine is still the charismatic rogue that made me love the character in the first books, I guess what I really would have liked was one, fully expanded story with much higher stakes. "

Should We Even Bother Trying to Get Published?

The answer is yes according to this inspirational post from Evil Editor. He says it's well worth putting in the effort at a time when publishers aren't buying anything.

My Day Job

I'm very happy to report that I recently completed a script for the new "Scooby Doo -- Mystery Inc." The half-hour series is being produced by Warner Brothers Animation and will air on Cartoon Network (not sure when, but I'll let you know as soon as I find out).

This gig is extra cool for me because, well come on, it's Scooby! It's also most excellent to be working (aka getting paid) in what happens to be my favorite broadcast medium -- television animation. For me, it doesn't get much better than that.

And it's Scooby!!!

Twitter Me This

A succinct and funny summation of why I probably* won't be joining the Tweet Nation.

(Legal Disclaimer: Use of the qualifier "probably" frees this blogger to begin tweeting at some future date should his blissfully dull life become interesting enough to share with close personal friends, family members, and total strangers. Not valid in Delaware.)

Myth of the Tortured Writer

Here's a great post from sf author John Scalzi about "What You Have to Give Up to Write".

(hint: not much if you apply a little discipline)

Gearing Up for November in July

Just to give you all a heads up...

The National Novel Writing Month challenge starts in a little over 90 days so if you're interested in giving it a try, now might be a good time to start noodling around some ideas of what you want to write.

My method of being ready to rock on Nov. 1st is crude, but effective:

1. Go to the site (linked above) and sign up. It's free and there are no obligations of any sort -- even to participate in November.
   
2. Come up with an idea or two or three. Pick the one that interests/excites you the most.
3. Describe that idea in a sentence or two.
4. Expand those sentences into short paragraphs.
5. Expand those paragraphs into a two or three page synopsis. This is all "what might happen" kind of stuff.
   
6. Start breaking down the synopsis and converting it into an outline organized by chapters. You can be fairly arbitrary at this point. Write "Chapter One" and group all the info in your synopsis that you think might go in your first chapter. You don't have to be rigid, it'll change as you start writing. Do this for "Chapter Two" and so on until the end. My outlines tend to be anywhere from 25 to 40+ chapters and five to ten pages long.
   
7. As Nov. 1st approaches continue to go through your outline as often as you can, adding whatever you can think of in terms of story, setting, and character. Divide chapters that you suspect are too large, add new ones. Jot down character revealing snippets of possible dialogue, etc.
   

If you do this, I can guarantee that you'll be well-placed and eager to start writing when the bell sounds on the big day. Just to be clear, you are not writing your novel yet as that would be against the rules, you're getting ready to write.

Think about it. Yes, it's challenging but it's also very satisfying and well worth any effort you'll put into it.