David Wood Online

The Morning Wood- Looking Back and Looking Ahead

2011-12-31T01:55:00.003-05:00

2011 has been one crazy, awesome year for me and, no matter what the Mayans say, I have high hopes for 2012.

Looking back:

I published four books this year:
Quest (Dane Maddock #3)
The Zombie-Driven Life
Callsign: Queen (with Jeremy Robinson)
Icefall (Dane Maddock #4)

Quest and Icefall both hit #1 on the Men's Adventure "Hot New Release" sales chart.

My Dane and Bones short story, Dark Entry, was published in the anthology The Game.

I re-published my short story, "Balance," as an ebook single.

I contracted for all the Dane Maddock adventures to be produced as audiobooks. Quest and Cibola are already out.

I was interviewed on several sites, including one of my favorite podcasts- Dead Robots' Society!

My partner in crime, Alan Baxter, and I produced 25 episodes of our ThrillerCast podcast, and got to meet and chat with a number of our favorite authors.

And the most fun of all for me- I made the transition to full-time author!

Looking ahead:

I plan to publish one full-length Dane Maddock adventure and at least one novella. I love writing Dane and Bones, and have more stories in my mind than I'll be able to write in my lifetime, so the more books the better!

I'm working on another dark/ speculative fiction Young Adult book. More details to come.

I hope to do another Callsign: Queen novella and possibly a horror novel.

Dourado will be out in audiobook in early January with Icefall to follow early in the year.

I plan to keep up with the "Morning Wood" and "World According to Dave" posts, and I'll keep everyone posted on my progress and new plans.

Thank you to everyone for your support and I wish you all the best in the coming year.

David

The World According to Dave: News and Notes

2011-12-24T13:36:00.000-05:00

Season's Greetings! Just a few updates about what's happening with me and my writing:

I'm interviewed on The Creative Penn discussing novels and novellas.

Cibola is now out in audio form on Audible.

Quest has been out for a few weeks and is doing well.

Dourado will be out in a few weeks with Icefall to follow.

Icefall is the #3 Hot New Release on the Men's Adventure chart. Thanks to everyone who has already bought it. If you haven't, here are a few quick links:
Kindle
Nook
Paperback

Like fantasy? My novel, The Silver Serpent, (written as David Debord) is finally available on Audible!

Want free books? My ThrillerCast podcast is giving away a ton of free ebooks as well as some print books. You can get books by me, James Rollins, Jeremy Robinson, David Golemon, and many others. Click here for lots of freebies!

On the subject of giving, if you want to do something for your favorite authors (aside from buying their books) there are several quick and easy things you can do:

-Leave positive reviews of their books on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other sites.
-Click the "Helpful" button on positive Amazon reviews of their books.
-Make an "Amazon Listmania" or "So You'd Like to..." list and include their book(s).
-Post something positive about one or more of their books on a social networking site and include links.
-Email the author to tell her/him that you enjoy his or her books.

Hope everyone has a blessed and safe holiday season.

Dave

The Morning Wood- Ranking the Christmas Movies

2011-12-21T13:52:00.000-05:00

I know, I know. This has nothing to do with writing or with my books. Who wants to read the same old junk day after day anyway? Here's my top five.

1- Christmas Vacation

There's so much to love about this movie: Clark's struggle to make the perfect family Christmas, annoying relatives led by Cousin Eddie, the annoying neighbors, and all those Christmas lights! The only thing that stops this movie from being even more quotable is the fact that most of the best lines can't be quoted in most publications.

"Sh*tter was full!"

"Hallelujah! Holy sh*t! Where's the Tylenol?"

A classic!

2- Elf

I usually don't like physical comedy, but Will Ferrell's leap into the Christmas tree, his slam into the shower room locker, and collision with a car crack me up. I love the duet with Zooey Deschanel (though I prefer her sister), and who how can you not love Will Ferrell getting beaten up by Tyrion Lannister?

"You feeling strong my friend? Call me elf one more time.'

"He's an angry elf."

3- A Christmas Story

The older I get, the more this one grows on me. The main character is from my parent's generation, not my own, but it's still a nostalgic experience, and the first-person narration sets it apart. Great lines in this one too.

"My father worked in profanity the way other artists worked in oils or clay..."

"My little brother had not eaten voluntarily in over three years."

4- It's a Wonderful Life

Another one that grew on me over time. My stepmother loved this movie and we used to give her a hard time about always making a point to watch it back in the days before DVDs, VCRs, and on-demand movies. In the end she proved to be correct. A simple, uplifting message, and Jimmy Stewart rocks!

5- A Charlie Brown Christmas

This one is all about the music. I still watch the movie every Christmas, but the soundtrack is really all I need. It's hard to believe it's almost fifty years since it premiered and Vince Guaraldi's music has held up nicely. Honorable mention for Sally's letter to Santa asking for "Cash. Tens and Twenties." Wonder what that would be in 2011 dollars?

Honorable Mention-

A Muppet Family Christmas

Christmas is a time for fond memories, and this cheesy old Christmas special unites the Muppets, the Sesame Street gang, and the Fraggles. Weighed on its own merits, it's not that great, but it's good, clean sentimental fun. Best part- The cleaver-wielding Swedish Chef, looking for the escaped turkey intended for dinner, lays eyes on Big Bird.

The Morning Wood- Lessons Learned from My Latest Release

2011-12-15T10:14:00.002-05:00

My new novella, Icefall, has just come out. *Fist pump* I had a great time writing it and I learned some things about myself along the way soI thought I'd share them with you.

1- Sometimes it's okay to go with the flow.

I was almost finished with research and planning for a new Dane Maddock novel when the idea to write a Christmas-themed Maddock short story hit me. It would be about 5,000 words-- sort of a Christmas card to loyal readers. I immediately liked the idea but decided to give it a day before diving in just to make sure it wasn't one of those things that seems like a good idea at the time. By the next day, like had grown into love, so I dove in. The story wrote itself quickly and I had a rocking time along the way. [Note: I'm not giving you permission to habitually abandon your work-in-progress whenever you feel bored, discouraged, or challenged. That's a career-killing habit.] It was a heady experience to take an idea and carry it to completion so quickly.

2- I love novellas!

I hate the middle of just about anything (donuts being an obvious exception). In college, I hated the second year of degree programs so much that I changed my major five times just to try and escape. As a teacher I hated January and February. As a writer, I hate the middle of a novel. I hit 30,000 words and I'm miserable until I hit 50,000. A novella is a book that typically runs in the 20,000-50,000 word range. What that means for me is I'm bringing the story to a close right about the point where I'd normally grow bored and whiny. The novella makes for a great writing experience and my readers get new, lower-priced content at a faster rate than they would if waiting for a novel. (Don't worry. I'll still write plenty of novels.)

"Novella? You said 5,000 word short story." True. That leads me to my next bit of self-discovery.

3- I don't have a clue how to write a short story.

This isn't to say that my few short stories are bad. I've actually gotten good feedback on them. The problem is, my brain is wired to write a longer story. I might accidentally crank out a piece of short fiction now and then, but it's purely by accident. When I decided to write Icefall, I followed my normal process- come up with a MacGuffin (the cool thing they're searching for), a setting, and a creepy creature. I did that fairly easily, and started writing. 5,000 words later I already knew it was a much longer story. Oh well. What are you going to do?

4- I like Scrivener!

I doubt this will be of much interest to anyone who isn't a writer so I'll keep it brief. I've never seen much value in writing software. Microsoft Word has served me well for many years and the few writing programs I tried actually slowed the process. Scrivener is different. I tried it on a whim and it truly did streamline the process of writing my book. There are no earth-shaking features, just lots of little features that help keep chapters, scenes, and characters organized and available at a single click, plus a few more goodies. If you're a writer, check out the trial version!

That's all for the moment. Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season!

David

A Dane Maddock Christmas!

2011-12-13T16:33:00.002-05:00

Okay, nothing that cheesy, but Icefall, the brand new Dane Maddock adventure, is out today! (It's a novella- about the same length as Zombie-Driven Life and Callsign: Queen.) Icefall brings back a couple of familiar faces and finally introduces someone readers have heard about but haven't met. Don't wait until after Christmas to enjoy this rollicking adventure- set in Germany in the middle of the Christmas season, it's got the bones of the Three Wise Men, cathedrals, Christmas-related legends (Christian and Pagan), lots of snow and... you'll have to read it and find out.

Joanna Penn, author Pentecost and Prophecy, says-

“If you're after a fast-paced read, David Wood's wise-cracking heroes Maddock and Bones will take you on a winter romp through snow-covered cathedrals, ice caves, pagan temples and Christian myth in search of the skulls of the Magi. Icefall packs in the fist fights, cipher cracking and ancient secrets that all action adventure lovers will enjoy.”

Here's the synopsis:

When the bones of the Magi are stolen from their resting place in a German cathedral, a dying priest's whispered clue launches Dane and Bones into the middle of a deadly race to solve a centuries-old conspiracy. Danger lurks at every turn and no one knows where the clues will lead... or what they will uncover. From ancient cathedrals, to hidden temples, to icy mountain peaks, Dane and Bones must outrun and outwit their enemies in the thrilling adventure- Icefall!

It's already out on Kindle, Nook and Smashwords, with Print, iTunes, and other e-stributors soon to follow.

Kindle
Kindle UK
Smashwords
Nook
Print

The World According to Dave- News and Notes

2011-12-06T09:40:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season. I want to take a moment to say thank you for all the support you've given me. It's been an awesome year so far. Quest has been a great success- an Amazon "#1 Hot New Release" and an "Editor's Choce" in audio. Now some awesome news- it's time for a new Dane Maddock adventure!

Icefall- A Dane Maddock Novella

The bones of the Magi have been stolen from their resting place in a German cathedral. When a dying priest whispers a cryptic clue, Dane and Bones find themselves in the midst of a deadly race to solve a centuries-old conspiracy. Danger lurks at every turn and no one knows where the clues will lead... or what they will uncover. From ancient cathedrals, to hidden temples, to icy mountain peaks, Dane and Bones must outrun and outwit their enemies in the thrilling adventure- Icefall!

Icefall was originally conceived as a short story- a Christmas Card, if you will, to Dane Maddock fans. But, as usual, Dane and Bones refused to be contained. This new release as a novella- shorter than a typical Maddock adventure, but a far cry from a short story. Look for it on Tuesday, December 13! (Just in time for Christmas!)

And, in other news...

The audiobook version of Quest is now available on Audible and in the iTunes store!

Audible

If that's not enough audio goodness for you, the Cibola audiobook is coming soon!

If you've never read my short story "Balance" (originally published in the "You Don't Know What You've Got..." anthology), you can now buy it as an ebook-single for only 99 cents!

Kindle

Nook

Smashwords

That's all for now. I wish everyone a holiday season filled with joy and peace.

-David

The Morning Wood- An Author Gives Thanks

2011-11-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

I'm not much for the daily thanks on Facebook memes or other things of that ilk, but I do find that making the occasional list of things I'm grateful for is therapeutic. I've been whiny of late, mostly in my personal life, to the point that I've seriously considered kicking my own ass. I suspect my legs are too short for that, but what are you going to do. To that end, I'm taking time to remind myself of how lucky I am. This blog is about writing in general, and my writing in particular, so I'm focusing on writing-related thanks. I'm certainly blessed with an amazing family and lots of wonderful friends, but I don't want to give any of them the big head so that's all the praise they're going to get. While this is my list, I hope some of it will ring true to other writers and to my readers.

-I'm thankful that my work allows me to create something lasting. New readers discover my work every day, and hopefully will continue to do so for years to come. I love the idea that I can pass down the Dane Maddock Adventures and all my other creative efforts to my children, grandchildren, and beyond. Who knows, maybe one of them will even want to carry on one or more of the series.

-I'm thankful that I get paid to do something I would have done (and was doing) for free and for fun. Living the dream is a tired cliche, but it's also 100% true in my case. If I ever become one of those writers who complains about how "hard" it is, please smack me around.

-I'm thankful to know that, in some small way, the stories in my head, once put to paper (or pixels), bring happiness to people, even if it's only for the time it takes to read one of my books.

-I'm thankful for all the other authors I'm sharing this journey with and for the supportive network I've found myself lucky enough to be a part of. Writing is, at its core, a solitary endeavor, and having a support system is critical.

-I'm thankful for all the emails I get from readers who have enjoyed my work. I can't express what a lift it is to get a simple, "I just read ______ and loved it!" Thank you from the bottom of my heart. (On that note, it's soon to be the Christmas season. Aside from buying (dozens of) your favorite author's books for friends and family, consider dropping her or him a quick email letting them know that their writing has brightened your day. It's a bigger gift than you know.

-I'm thankful for people who inspire and/or encourage me. Some are personal friends, but others are people whom I've never met, but still give me a lift or a kick in the pants with their blogs, tweets, or podcasts. I started to list them, but there are a ton and I'd wind up leaving people out. Besides, you came to read a blog post, not my Oscar acceptance speech. Suffice it to say, the write words at the right time can make a difference in someone's life, and that's true for every one in every walk of life.

Happy Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it) and enjoy your tryptothan buzz.

David

The Morning Wood- Should You Bother With Character Descriptions?

2011-11-15T09:39:00.001-05:00

In his book, On Writing, Stephen King advocates minimal character description, preferring to let the reader create her or his own mental images of the characters in his books. I've heard discussion on both sides of the issue, and I've read and enjoyed works by authors on either side of the fence. A discussion arose yesterday that got me thinking about character description and whether it even makes much of a difference in the mind of the average reader.

Like many people, I'm looking forward to the movie based on Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games. The first full movie trailer just came out (it's awesome) and spawned a lot of discussion, particularly about casting. In any adaptation of a beloved movie, there will inevitably be some casting choices that don't resonate with readers/viewers, usually because the actor does not "look the part" or, as in the case of The Hunger Games, is a reasonable match for the book description but does not fit the reader's mental image.

The characters most discussed in regard to The Hunger Games movie are Rue and Cinna, both of whom are being portrayed by African-American actors. In the book, Rue is described as having dark brown skin and golden brown eyes, while Cinna is described as having skin "darker than" that of the main character, dark brown hair, and gold-flecked eyes. The ensuing discussions of "I didn't picture him/her as..." has already spawned numerous haughty posts, snidely questioning the reading comprehension skills of those taking part in the discussion, and in some cases insinuating latent racism. I have a few jumbled thoughts on this topic, so bear with me.

1- Minimal description in a fast-paced book is very likely to be overlooked by all but the most careful readers.

Suzanne Collins, if memory serves, devotes a whopping two brief sentences to her physical description of Rue, and a single sentence to Cinna. In any book, many readers might overlook such details, but it's particularly likely to happen in a book that moves along at a fast pace, or in which the plot is so absorbing that the details seem insignificant. Back when I had a "day job" I taught middle school, and The Hunger Games was perhaps the favorite novel we read as a class, so my students and I followed the developments of the onscreen version with interest, and whenever a new character was cast, I would put IMDB up on the screen and let my students see the actor's photo and read her/his bio. When Rue was cast, almost every student exclaimed, "I didn't know she was black!" By the way, the student body at my school was approximately 80% African American. I'm going to hazard a guess that they weren't being racist.

2- If we, as authors, don't adequately convey our vision to the reader, it's not necessarily the fault of the reader.

Collins seems to be treading a fine line of trying to cast her novel with a breadth of races (or at least degrees of pigmentation) while acting as if race and ethnicity do not exist in her world. Through a few allusions to 'history' it's made clear that her world of Panem is a future, post-global warming, post-melted polar ice caps, North America, but there is no indication that any awareness of our ethnic differences has been retained. If Collins wants to write her story that way, that's certainly her prerogative. The lesson we, as writers, should take from this is- if you want to skirt around racial, ethnic, and cultural differences, don't be surprised when readers fill in those gaps on their own, and often do it in a way we did not envision. (I'll add that I haven't heard anything negative from Ms. Collins regarding readers' differing interpretations of her characters. It seems mostly to be bloggers who are taking the holier than thou road on the subject.)

3- Sometimes readers will imagine a character in a certain way no matter how the author describes him/her.

Maybe this is mostly about me, but I doubt I'm the only one who mentally casts book characters however I darn well please. Sometimes a mental image of a character leaps to mind the moment we see a name. The moment I saw the name Haymitch in The Hunger Games, he became Samuel L. Jackson. I know Dirk Pitt has dark, wavy hair but, in my mind, he is Rick Rossovich. (I don't know, maybe I'd just seen Top Gun when I read my first Dirk Pitt novel.) I love Robert Jordan's books (except for Crossroads of Twilight) and he loved him some description. I know what Rand, Egwene, Tam and Lan are supposed to look like, yet they are Keanu Reeves, Tiffani Amber Thiessen, Sean Connery and Arnold Schwarzenegger in my mind. (Don't ask me why. They just are.)

4. The reader is ~~never~~ seldom wrong.

The reader's understanding of the story and vision of the characters might be inconsistent with the author's intent, but that doesn't make the reader "wrong." (At least, not most of the time.) This is true in a lot of areas- reviews being chief among them. Wait a minute! I know. I've been there. I've seen reviews of my books in which I'm sure the reader just "didn't get it." But even if that's the case, isn't that my fault? Obviously my words did not convey my vision. Blame that on me, the writer. Yes, there are exceptions, but I think if we're honest with ourselves, true exceptions are rare. One of the many great things about the reading experience is that a novel does not box in the reader's imagination the way a movie or graphic novel does.

The reader is free to let her or his imagination construct the world and characters in a way that (s)he finds most pleasing, and if a reader says, "That's not how I imagined the character..." that reader isn't necessarily lacking in reading comprehension skills, nor is (s)he wrong. That reader is just doing what readers do.

So what's the lesson for writers? More and more I find myself moving deeper into the "limited description" camp. Let the reader fill in the blanks- it's probably going to happen anyway.

The Morning Wood: The Odds Are In Your Favor

2011-11-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

I remember the first time I confided in someone that I someday wanted to be a writer. I was a teenager and I shared it with an adult whom I respected. He told me that was great, then added, "But you know everybody in the world thinks they want to write a book."

I let that bother me for a long time. I figured that was way too much competition for a kid like me. After that I took notice of how many movie characters either wanted to be a writer, were a writer, or solved all their problems by becoming a writer by movie's end. This only served to reinforce the idea that the odds were hopelessly stacked against me.

Somewhere along the way, many years later, I decided to give it a shot anyway. The urge to write was too strong, and I got the right kind of encouragement at the right time from a friend and from my wife. Still suspecting I was hopelessly outnumbered, I got involved in an online writing workshop, started learning the ropes, and reading up about all things writing and publishing. A funny thing happened along the way. The more I learned about the realities of the publishing world, the more convinced I became that time, determination, and the willingness to learn and grow would inevitably stack the odds in my favor. Here's what I mean:

For argument's sake, let's assume "everybody" is at least entertaining the idea of writing a novel:
- The vast majority of those people will never do anything more than think about it. They'll never put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard).
- Most of the people who sit down to write a novel will never finish. They won't even come close.

See? We've already weeded out a ton of the competition and we've only just completed the first draft. It gets better. Most completed novels will suck for one of a several reasons:
-The writer didn't bother to learn the basics. (Point-of-view, passive voice, adverb abuse, show vs. tell...)
-The writer was aware of the basics but did not adhere to them because (s)he wanted to write the book (s)he wanted to write.
-The writer completed the first draft, but didn't put the novel through adequate subsequent revisions.
-The writer didn't use beta readers, or used and ignored beta readers.
-The completed novel was not adequately copyedited.
-The writer did all of the above but the book still sucks because storytelling is a gift most people don't have.

So let's suppose you've cleared all those hurdles. You look around and realize you've left almost everyone behind. That doesn't mean stiff competition does not remain. Fortunately, there are still ways to distance yourself from what remains of the pack.

Suppose you're going the traditional route and are ready to begin your agent search. More writers will weed themselves out by:
-Not researching how to write an effective query letter.
-Not researching agencies and directing their query to a specific agent who would make a good match.
-Not reading/following an agency's guidelines for querying.

Or perhaps you plan on independently publishing your book. There are plenty of chances to get ahead. Other writers will sabotage themselves by:
-Choosing a cover that is designed to "expresses the content of the book" rather than "designed to sell to readers in the genre."
-Choosing a cover that is just plain ugly.
-Not putting time and effort into crafting effective back cover/content page text.
-Not soliciting blurbs and reviews.
-Bad formatting (print and ebook.)
-Poor pricing decisions.
-Pouring too much time and effort into pushing their one book and never getting around to writing other books.
-Not learning everything they can about what's happening and what's working in independent publishing.
-Doing it "my way" at the expense of doing it in a way that pleases readers.
-Having no plan for building a brand and an audience.
-Being impatient and refusing to stay in for the long haul.

There you have it. So, next time someone tries to tell you that the odds are stacked against you in the publishing game, just think of all the people you're leaving behind every step of the way.

The Morning Wood- NaNoWriMo- What's the use?

2011-10-31T07:00:00.000-04:00

Today is a special day. To much of the world it is Halloween, or All Hallows' Eve, with tomorrow being All Hallows' Day or All Saints' Day. To those of us in the writing community, today is NaNo's Eve, and tomorrow the kickoff of NaNoWriMo. For those of you unfamiliar, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month- the very shorthand is lots of people around the world take up the challenge of writing a short novel -50,000 words- in the month of November. There's a central site where you sign up, track your progress, interact with other participants and have a good time, with proceeds going to charity. To learn more, check it out at nanowrimo.org.

An annual topic surrounding NaNo is whether or not it is a worthwhile pursuit. Let's take a look at some of the most common objections:

"I'd rather write slowly and write well than write fast and produce junk."- This is the most common objection I hear, and though it certainly might be true for some people, let me make a couple of related points.

- High word count is more about time spent with butt in seat, fingers on keyboard, web browser closed than it has to with writing at a rapid pace. Dean Wesley Smith breaks it down nicely in this post. Rachel Aaron cranks out awesome word counts, not because she's just vomiting words onto the keyboard, but because she plans well and works like crazy.

- Writing slowly does not necessarily mean producing better quality work. Sometimes we over-revise to the point that we lose our voice, and the result is stiff prose that is technically correct but soulless. Besides, no matter what we do on the first draft, we're going to revise the heck out of it on subsequent drafts (or at least we should.)When I wrote The Silver Serpent (under my David Debord pseudonym), I tried to make each chapter the very best it could be before moving on. I was active in an online writing workshop, and I'd get critiques on each chapter, revise it, then re-post it for more crits before revising again and moving on. The earliest chapters went through five or six revisions, but when I wrote the second draft, I scrapped the first three chapters and significantly rewrote the next several. It happens. We're all different, but for me, plowing through that first draft is critical so I don't get bogged down.

"50,000 words is too short to be a real novel."

Fine, but who says you have to stop at 50k? That's just the bare minimum, a manageable number that seems attainable, yet is big enough to make the writer feel he or she has accomplished something. I suspect most writers keep going after 50,000 words, whether it's during November or in the following months.

"Every year, writers produce sloppy, hurried first drafts, think they've written a book, and submit it all over the place. Slush piles are clogged with junk."

That's true for some people, but not all. I've read plenty of submissions that a writer bled over for years and it was still crap. Is that an indictment of slow writing? Of course not. Every manuscript, regardless of the pace at which the first draft was written, needs multiple passes to polish it up. (Yes, there are a couple pros who say their first draft is their final draft, but they're the exception, and the book is still cleaned up by an editor.) The fact that some people make bad choices with their NaNo manuscript doesn't make the concept a bad one.

Now let's take it in the opposite direction. What is a good reason to take part in NaNoWriMo? I believe the person who really needs NaNoWriMo falls into one of two categories:

-Those who are aching to write but never sit down and do it.

-Those who start something but never finish.

To a writer in one of the above categories, NaNo offers a manageable word count, a tight time frame with an obvious ending in sight that isn't far away, a sense of community, and the excitement of taking part in a "big event." After years of procrastination, I started my first book, Dourado, as a NaNo novel. I passed the 50k minimum in November, and the sense of accomplishment gave me the boost I needed to see the book through to completion.

Is NaNo for everyone? No. If your'e a slow, steady writer who actually finishes what you start in a reasonable time frame, you don't need it. If you are someone who gets distracted by the social aspects of writing-related events, you shouldn't do it. But if you're like I was, someone who never quite gets around to finishing a manuscript, it just might be what you need.

Guest Post- Jeremy Robinson Blog Tour and Kindle Giveaway

2011-10-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

Today I'm playing host to a familiar face- thriller author Jeremy Robinson. As a part of his promotional blog tour, he's giving away a Kindle. Check out the post and Q&A to learn a little more about his writing and the Kindle giveaway.

Welcome to Jeremy Robinson’s Great Kindle Giveaway and Blog Tour.

“Hurray for free Kindles!” you say, but who the hell is Jeremy Robinson? Allow me to introduce myself. I’m the author of eleven mixed genre novels, published in ten languages, including the popular fantasy YA series, THE LAST HUNTER, and the fast-paced Jack Sigler series (also known as Chess Team—not nearly as nerdy as it sounds), PULSE, INSTINCT and THRESHOLD from Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press. I’m the co-author of an expanding series of novellas deemed the Chesspocalypse, which take place in the Chess Team universe. If that doesn’t wet your whistle, I’m also known as Jeremy Bishop, the #1 Amazon.com horror author of THE SENTINEL and the controversial novel, TORMENT. For more about me, or my books, visit www.jeremyrobinsononline.com.

I have watched for years as my fellow authors held online events called blog tours. Some would visit ten blogs. Others, as many as ninety. And every day they would bring something different, waxing eloquent about a multitude of topics. When I finally decided to have a blog tour of my own, and settled on doing each and every weekday in October, my first thought was, “This will be cool,” which was immediately followed up by, “Holy crap, I can’t think of something interesting to say twenty times in one month!” I can barely think of something worthwhile for my own blog just once a month. The solution is what follows; each blog participating in the tour could ask me ANY three questions. That means, if the subject matter bores you, I’m not to blame! Huzzah!

But fear not. There are other rewards for sloughing through the questions and answers. I’ll be giving away two Kindles to two randomly selected readers who sign up for my newsletter. Details on the giveaway can be found below. On to the Q&A!

1. You put a lot of crazy creatures in your books. Do you have a favorite cryptid or monster out of myth/legend?

Wow, that’s hard. As a kid, my favorite cryptid was Nessie without a doubt. I would take out books on the subject from the library and researches the subject like I was going to the loch to search for the beast myself. But now? It’s hard to say. I think I’d lean towards the ones that have the greatest chance of being real. I recently read that there is an expedition going in search of the Yeti, which is awesome, but I think the subject of my book, KRONOS, is my current top pick. The New England Sea Serpent is not only local, but it’s also possible. We still find new, and large, species in the ocean so it’s possible we’ll find more. In New England alone there are hundreds of different reported sightings made my thousands of people (picture a full beach of people seeing something all at once). That the same creatures are seen all over the world means that they, like other large sea creatures, can migrate for food. AND, some sightings include more than once creature, which means there is a population, not just a single, seemingly immortal plesiosaur trapped in a lake (sorry childhood).

In terms of mythical creatures, I think I’d have to pick the subject of several of my novels—ANTARKTOS RISING and THE LAST HUNTER series—the Nephilim. These half-human, half-demon giants are not only recorded in the Bible, but also in the ancient stories from cultures all around the world (just like the flood story is). Which, in my mind, puts them at the border of myth and closer to reality. And that is both fascinating, and frightening.

2. You've been doing a lot of collaborating lately. Aside from yours truly, if you could collaborate with any author, living or dead, who would it be and why?

This year at Thrillerfest, I was talking to James Rollins and he mentioned he was working on a project with a collaborator. It took all of my effort to not devolve into a Neanderthal and shout, “Me next! Me next! Pick me next!” It’s no secret that Jim has been a big influence on my writing and career and working with him would not only be great fun, but also expose my name to a larger audience that I have yet to tap. In fact, many years ago when Jim read and blurbed my novel RAISING THE PAST, he said something like, “I don’t know why you haven’t been signed by a big New York publisher yet.” To which I replied, “Well if you ever need a Clive Cussler-like co-author, I’m your man.” So this isn’t the first time I thought about it.

3. What music inspires you?

I listen to soundtracks when I write my novels and just hearing that music puts me back in the book. I listen to the Book of Eli soundtrack when I write THE LAST HUNTER books. I’m on my third Hunter book now, so the music is really a part of the experience and I encourage fans to listen to that music while reading the book. The moment I put that soundtrack on and the first song starts, I have this profound emotional experience. It’s like hearing a song from childhood and having memories triggered, except in this case, the memories are a story about which I feel deeply. It’s really strange. I put on that music and suddenly I’m back underground, alone and surrounded by monsters.

4. What are you reading right now outside the thriller genre?

I don’t get a ton of time to read as I work a lot and have three kids. So my reading time is basically 11pm – 12:30pm and recently, that’s been taken up by edits of my upcoming hardcover, SECONDWORLD, as well as reading the upcoming Callsign titles: King 2, Bishop and Knight. So I’m pretty much reading my own books right now. I think the last book I read that’s not technically a thriller (it’s in the Sci-Fi section of B&N) was Robopocalypse. It’s really an awesome and uniquely told story about the rise of an AI and the near destruction of the human race, and the people who fight back. Really great story.

Hope that was as good for you as it was for me. Now how about that kindle giveaway?
Here’s the deal: to be entered to win one of two free kindles all you have to do is visit my website—www.jeremyrobinsononline.com—and sign up for the newsletter. That’s it. The first kindle will go to a randomly chosen newsletter signup on October 31. For the second kindle, there’s a catch. The second giveaway will only be triggered if one of my kindle books hits the Amazon.com bestseller list (top 100). So pick up some books (most are just $2.99 a pop) and spread the word! If one of the books squeaks up to #100 for just a single hour, the second kindle will be given away to another randomly chosen newsletter sign up on October 31.

*When you sign up for the newsletter, be sure to include the name of the blog that referred you in the field provided. I’ll be giving away two $50 Amazon.com gift certificates to the blog that refers the most sign-ups and another to the blog who referred the first kindle winner.

** I will announce winners via Twitter, Facebook, my blog, and newsletter (which you will be signed up for!) but I’ll also e-mail the winners directly—I’ll need to know where to ship those kindles!

Thanks for spending some time with me today. Hope you enjoyed the Q&A, and good luck with the kindle giveaway!

-- Jeremy Robinson

The Morning Wood- The Myth of Finding Books in a Bookstore

2011-10-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my new column, The Morning Wood. Every week, and sometimes more often, I'll say something freakin' awesome about something seriously cool. Mark your calendars!

This week I'd like to talk about one of the most misguided objections to the ebook revolution- the idea that the decline of bookstores means desperate readers treading water in a vast ocean of e-ink, at a complete loss as to how to discover new authors. No more browsing the shelves to find those little-known treasures. No more hand-selling. I call bull, and here's why:

1- Browsing the shelves of the modern bookstore is not conducive to discovering new authors.

I visited my local large chain bookstore last night and attempted to do some browsing. You know what I saw? Spines. Lots and lots of spines facing out, giving me no hint of what the book was about. That's particularly a problem when multiple genres are lumped into one section and packed into too small a place. The only hope I have of discovering a new action-adventure author is to go along and pull out every book until I find what I'm looking for. It's like that carnival game with the floating ducks, where you don't know what you've won until you flip it over and check the number on the bottom.

"Congratulations! You've chosen a lovely, literary memoir about a middle-aged woman's love for her pink sweater." Retch.

2- Bookstores seldom have a good selection of new authors.

I suppose it's good business to stock what sells, especially with limited shelf space, but that means you'll find an overabundance of big names and a shortage of authors who have not yet proven themselves. I saw more copies of Clive Cussler's most recent book than I saw of the entire catalogs of newer action-adventure authors like Andy McDermott and Jeremy Robinson combined. That's not an issue online, whether you're shopping for print or e-books.

3- Hand-selling is only possible if the salesperson has in-depth knowledge of your favorite genre.

In the last three years I've only had two salespeople try to hand-sell me a book. One person tried to foist Sarah Palin's book on me. Yeah, that's going to happen. The other person at least tried to base his recommendation on what I was actually buying. I came to the counter with The Wise Man's Fear and he tried to sell me on Terry Goodkind. I politely replied that I enjoyed Goodkind's first few books, but there was only so many times you could recycle the same plot before it grew stale. He was so offended that he not only never tried to hand-sell me a book again, but was cold to me on future visits. Oh darn.

4- Amazon in particular provides a superior browsing experience and and better ways to find authors in your preferred genre.

Confession- I've been using Amazon to discover new authors for more than a decade. (I think that's accurate. I know it's been a long, long time.) I've been late to the party on every technological advance, so I wish I could remember how I even discovered Amazon, but many years ago I started using Listmanias to scout out new authors before ever making a trip to the bookstore or library. To have lists of recommendations from people who liked the books I liked was a thousand times better than wandering the aisles of my local bookstore or library, trying to sift a shiny new action-adventure author or two out of the general fiction dross. Once Amazon added the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought," its victory was complete.

Nowadays, if I want to find an author like James Rollins, for example, I have two choices:

Go to my local bookstore, wait impatiently while the clerk scratches his chin and screws up his face in concentration before leading me to the Dan Brown section, then wander through the fiction section pulling out book after book and hope I find something good.

Go to the Amazon page for Rollins' latest and scroll through the "Also Bought" section, knowing that these books were purchased by people who like Rollins' work, and therefore probably have reading tastes similar to mine. There's the added bonus of knowing every book I see there will be in stock, which is not the case in the bookstore or library.

5- Shopping online provides you with superior feedback on a book's content and quality.

Even if I do manage to discover a new author in the bookstore, what information do I have to inform my buying decision? The book flap or back cover synopsis, the cover blurbs, and skimming the early chapters. In an online store, I have all of that, plus customer feedback.

I love bookstores and believe they will survive the ebook revolution. Should they go under, however, we're not losing the ability to discover new authors. If anything, we're better off having online stores like Amazon to guide us to new (or new to us) authors than we are in a bookstore. Bemoan the struggles of bookstores if you wish, but find a different reason for your sadness.

It's Going to Be a Great Year!

2011-09-06T22:06:00.004-04:00

I turned 44 on Friday. I share that not because I'm begging for gifts and birthday wishes (though I won't turn them down) but because I've decided this is going to be my best year ever. Growing up, I always considered 44 to be my lucky number. I wish the reason was something cool, like my admiration for Hank Aaron, but actually it's because my best electric football player (Remember the little plastic dudes who ran in circles on the vibrating board?) was number 44, and I got it in my head that the number had some special mojo for me. That's the superstitious reason, but I have more down-to-earth considerations as well.

I finally fulfilled my life-long dream of being a full-time author. I can't begin to express the gratitude I feel every day when I walk my daughter to school, hop in the car, and head to the coffee shop for a day of sitting in a chair and making things up. I love it and haven't take it for granted for one second.

Quest has been received with greater enthusiasm and stronger sales figures than I ever dreamed. It spent some time as the #1 'Hot New Release' in Men's Adventure, and keeps hitting #2 in that category (but not quite #1). I recently signed a deal for it, and all the Dane Maddock Adventures, to be produced as audiobooks. I'm also looking forward to the release of Callsign: Queen, co-authored with Jeremy Robinson, later this month. And, as they say, there's much more to come.

Some of my more detail-oriented friends might point out that, although I'm 44, last year was my 44th year of life. (Phil, are you reading this?) I'll point out that last year, after a terrible preceding year in which I lost my dad and had a very challenging year professionally, was the beginning of my upturn. My 44th year saw the me publish two novels: Quest, and Keeper of the Mists under my David Debord pseudonym; a novella, The Zombie-Driven Life; and the Dane and Bones short story "Dark Entry" as a part of the anthology The Game. It also saw the launch of my and Alan Baxter's podcast, ThrillerCast, as well as the continued upsurge in my book sales and changes in the publishing industry that allowed me to make the leap into full-time writing.

A few of cool things since my last update:

Click here to check out this preview of the forthcoming audiobook version of Quest, voiced by the incomparable Jeffrey Kafer.

Check out this interview with Joanna Penn, author of Pentecost and host of The Creative Penn.

The Zombie-Driven Life is on sale! The ebook is only 99 cents on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords, and Barnes and Noble has marked the print version down to $6.29.

I have a new Facebook author page. Feel free to "Like" it!

I'm excited about the prospects for the coming year, and truly appreciate you, the greatest readers in the world!

Best wishes,

David

PS- If you do want to give me a gift, feel free to make a Listmania on Amazon including my books; write a [positive] review of one or more of my books on a site like Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, or your personal site or blog; or buy one [or many more] of my books for a friend. I also like Starbucks gift cards. (Insert humorous icon.)

The Friday Update

2011-07-22T20:54:00.006-04:00

It's been another great week! Quest has been well-received so far, and I appreciate all the positive feedback. If you haven't picked up your copy of this brand-new Dane Maddock adventure, you can get it in print, for Kindle, Nook, or in multiple e-formats.

Rick Chesler, author of the thrillers Wired Kingdom and KiDNApped, recently gave Quest this endorsement:

"The escapades of Wood's serial character, Dane Mad

dock, continue in high style with Quest, and all-out blitzkrieg of a globe-trotting mystery-adventure that breaks from the action just long enough for a couple of laughs."

If that's not enough Dane and Bones for you, we now have an official release date for The Game, the anthology in which my Dane and Bones short story, "Dark Entry," will appear. Look for it on August 16.

I was pleased to be a guest this week on the Dead Robots Society podcast. We discussed my publishing background, the Dane Maddock

Adventures, The Zombie-Driven Life, and my recent blog post on good and bad writing days. Dead Robots is a top-notch podcast, and it was a pleasure to spend time talking with them. You can click here to listen to the episode. Speaking of podcasts, Alan Baxter and I recently interviewed thriller author Sean Sweeney. You can listen to that interview on ThrillerCast.

I'm actually getting in some good reading time of late, and I'm enjoying A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin. Even if you're not a fantasy reader, if you enjoy gritty medieval historical fiction, Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series just might be your gateway drug. I can't recommend it enough. In the thriller genre, I recently read 2012: The Fifth World by Edward G. Talbot. Lots of fun!

On a personal note, life is about to get wild and crazy for the Wood family. My wife recently accepted a crime lab position in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It's a great career move for her, and will be a great adventure for the family. I'll be working to get the house ready to sell, so let's hope real life doesn't bleed into my writing too heavily. No one wants to read about Bones hanging sheetrock or Dane replacing carpet. (Both are fun in their own way, but don't make for nail-biting thriller plots.)

Finally, I am, as usual, writing. I'm in the home stretch on Callsign: Queen, and am in the planning stages for two other projects, including the next Dane and Bones adventure. Hope everyone has a great weekend, and don't forget to like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

All the best,

David

Good and Bad Writing Days

2011-07-18T18:22:00.004-04:00

Until just a few short weeks ago, my writing days were mostly the same: come home from work, attend to 'real life,' and once the kids were in bed, settle in and do a little writing. A good writing day meant that I got in 250-500 words. A bad writing day meant I struggled and usually failed to accomplish much of anything. Now that writing is my day job, I've gained added perspective on what constitutes a good or bad writing day.

My good days look something like this:

-Get up early.

-Have a quick workout while my coffee is brewing.

-Turn on some upbeat music and start writing.

-Take a break at about 1,500 words, spend a little time online, get back to work.

-Meet or exceed my daily minimum (3,000 words). Feel awesome!

-Work on something promo/marketing related.

-Enjoy the rest of my day. Get in bed early and enjoy some guilt-free reading time because I've met my daily word count and I feel good! I'm going to own the publishing world some day.

A bad writing day looks like this:

-Sleep in.

-Get online while I have my first cup of coffee. I don't have time to work out because I slept late, and I'm already off-schedule, so what's the big deal if I spend a little time on the web?

-Check Facebook, check my iGoogle page, read all the interesting articles I see there, check Twitter, follow the interesting links, check Facebook again, go back to iGoogle because I didn't pay close attention to my email.

-Get another cup of coffee because my mind is now muddled and I can't seem to get focused on writing.

-Check my sales rankings while I'm having my second cup of coffee. Agonize over the lowest-ranking title while taking for granted the higher-ranking titles.

-Obsess over the poor quality of my work-in-progress while letting my mind drift to all the great ideas I could be putting to paper if I wasn't stuck in the middle of this mediocre project.

-Check Facebook again. Maybe there's someone out there who's having a worse day than me.

-Someone is having a worse day than me. Now I feel bad for sort-of wishing it on him or her.

-Remind myself I can always go back to teaching, which finally motivates me to get writing.

-Turn on YouTube and find something slow and meditative to listen to because I'm so stressed.

-Grind slowly through 250 words because I'm sluggish from no workout and the relaxing music.

-Obsess over all the errands I have to run, and remind myself I should already be done with them, but I slept late and didn't get started on my writing.

-Contemplate carving "FML" into my forehead.

-Go ahead and run my errands, vowing to write tonight, just like I used to.

-Sit in my chair with my laptop, watch reruns of The Office, visit all the sites I visited this morning while reminding myself that I really should have gotten up early and had a regular writing day today.

-Either give up and go to bed early, or stay up late, trying to make myself write.

I've heard many writers say the biggest decision regarding productivity is whether or not to get online. I agree that time spent online is, for me, the biggest time waster, but I've found the decision about what time to go to bed is the most critical to my writing success. I don't know if I'm a night owl by nature, or if I've just convinced myself of that after seven years of doing my writing at night. What I have discovered, however, is that if I can make myself go to bed at a reasonable hour, I make better decisions the next day. If I wake up well-rested, I'm in a better frame of mind, and not inclined to procrastinate online or in any other way. My writing day is more productive, and I tend to enjoy the rest of my day without beating myself up over the writing I didn't do.

What's the biggest decision you make in a day?

Lots of News!

2011-07-15T00:27:00.006-04:00

Things have been busy and continue to be. The first bit of great news is that Quest, the third Dane Maddock Adventure, is finally out! Dane and Bones do a bit of globetrotting, ending up in the Amazon on the trail of Percy Fawcett's final expedition but, as usual, there's much more to the story. This is the best Dane and Bones story yet, so don't miss it.

Here's what author Sean Ellis had to say:

"Dane and Bones are back! Packed solid with action and witty dialogue, this rousing adventure takes a fresh look at one of the most enduring mysteries of the 20th century, David Wood delivers again with QUEST."--Sean Ellis, author of INTO THE BLACK and DARK TRINITY: ASCENDANT

Here's where you can buy your copy of Quest:

In other news, the long-awaited The Game anthology will be released in August. Each contributing author put his own twist on the classic short story "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell. Pick up your copy and see what happens when someone is foolish enough to try and turn Dane and Bones into human prey.

The Zombie-Driven Life has been well-received, and I appreciate all the positive feedback I've gotten.

I've added a dedicated author page on Facebook. "Like" me here to keep up with all my publishing-related news and notes.

Finally, I am now hard at work on Callsign: Queen, the adventure/thriller I'm co-authoring with Jeremy Robinson. Dane Maddock fans are going to love it!

As always, thank you for your support. Every day I am thankful that wonderful people out there actually enjoy reading the products of my twisted mind.

Until next time,

David

The Apocalypse Arrives.... A Few Weeks Late

2011-06-17T09:22:00.010-04:00

Okay, so I know we all spent the week leading up to May 21 getting ready for the apocalypse. Personally, I prepared by putting off mowing my lawn and getting my hair cut, thinking I could take care of them if the foretold day of doom did not arrive. Sure enough, the 21st came and went, and my lawn and hair continued to grow (though, at my age, the back hair is catching up, but that's an overshare.) The good news is, the apocalypse arrived after all... the zombie apocalypse!

My new novella, The Zombie-Driven Life, is a darkly humorous story of Kenan, a cynical, nobody of a teenager who finds himself to be a reasonably competent zombie slayer... or so he believes. He is also coming to grips with the fact that his days follow a consistent pattern: find food, kill/run away from zombies, eat, sleep, repeat. He wonders if life is really worth all the hard work he's putting into staying alive.

His world changes in a flash when his dream girl, Katy, comes walking down the street. The two of them set off in search of a safe place, but their journey takes unexpected twists. The Zombie-Driven Life is filled with action, mystery, romance, heartbreak, betrayal, revenge, humor, and zombies... lots of zombies! Oh, and sarcasm. Fans of the Dane Maddock adventures- imagine Bones wrote a young adult zombie book, and you'll get the picture.

The book is a bit of a send-up of The Purpose-Driven Life, with the chapter titles parodying those of P.D.L., such as, "You Just Might Be an Accident," and "Formed for Zombie Food," but Kenan's struggle with the meaning of his life is a serious one. Someone who reads only the first few pages might think I have it in for organized religion, but this is the story of a young man who, like many teens (adults too) I have known, is bitter, cynical, and struggling to reconcile the things he's been taught in his life with the tragic reality of the world. So, you can read it on one level as a character study, or you can just read it as a fun and entertaining zombie story.

If you're looking for something to tide you over until the release of Quest on the 28th, The Zombie-Driven Life is currently available in ebook format on Kindle, Nook, multi-format at Smashwords, and in print. Oh, and the ebook's only 99 cents! What a bargain!

Upcoming Appearance

2011-05-30T22:19:00.003-04:00

I'll be a guest at ConCarolinas in Charlotte, NC this weekend. I'll be signing books, and appearing on the following panels:

Friday:
5:00 Avoiding the Plotholes
7:00 The Art of War
8:00 Self Publishing: Discussion and Workshop

Saturday:
2:00 Playing with the Toys of Others

Sunday:
11:00 Podcasters Toolkit
3:00 The Future of Fantastic Fiction

Hope to see you there!

An Exciting New Writing Project on the Horizon!

2011-04-28T23:50:00.003-04:00

I posted a teaser on Facebook a few days ago, but now I can finally announce an exciting project I'll be tackling this summer upon completion of Quest, the latest Dane Maddock adventure. I have been asked to co-author a novella in Jeremy Robinson's Jack Sigler universe! Jack Sigler, call sign 'King,' leads his squad in a series of globe-trotting adventures filled with the sorts of exotic locales, dastardly villains, and creepy creatures that Dane Maddock fans love. Jeremy is one of my favorite thriller authors, and I'm honored and excited to be working with him. I won't give away any plot details, but if you haven't checked out his novels Pulse, Instinct, and Threshold, start reading now so you'll be ready! You can learn more about Jeremy and his work at www.jeremyrobinsononline.com.

Video Review of Dourado from Mystery Thriller TV and Joanna Penn!

2011-03-17T22:13:00.002-04:00

Joanna Penn, author of Pentecost, has posted an awesome video review of Dourado. Check it out:

A big thank you to Jo for the great review!

Review- The List by J.A. Konrath

2011-03-05T21:27:00.006-05:00

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I've finally been seduced by the dark side- I have made the jump to an e-reader. I never thought I'd be that guy, but I am thoroughly enjoying my new Nook. Another thing I thoroughly enjoy is J.A. Konrath's blog, so when he cut the price of his thriller, The List, to .99, it seemed like a match made in heaven.

The List is a riveting mystery-thriller with a sprinkled with a generous dose of humor. When police office Tom Mankowski investigates the scene of a grisly murder, he discovers that he and the victim have something unique in common. As he digs deeper into the mystery, he encounters deadly killers, a heretofore unexpected miracle of science, and history come to life.

It's difficult to say much more without spoiling the story. Suffice it to say, The List kept me up late for a few nights running. Konrath's humor comes through very naturally, and adds to the characterization without detracting from the story or diminishing the intensity of the deadly situation in which the characters find themselves.

A word of caution- this book is not for the faint of heart. Many Dane Maddock fans have written to thank me for keeping the language fairly tame and the sex minimal and "off-screen." The List contains a smattering of graphic language and violence, and some of the humor is far from politically-correct. Personally, I didn't take offense at the content- I choose to write "PG" books, but I don't mind reading books that are the equivalent of an "R"-rated movie. If you're looking for an exciting thriller told at a blistering pace, check out The List.

Book Review- Pentecost by Joanna Penn

2011-02-22T18:57:00.005-05:00

Pentecost is Joanna Penn's debut novel. It's a fun action-adventure story in which the main character, Morgan Sierra, is on a quest to recover the Pentecost Stones- stones collected by the disciples from the empty tomb of Jesus Christ. Morgan is joined by members of the covert group ARKANE, and hounded by the sinister group Thanatos, in a race against the clock to recover the stones and save her hostage sister before Pentecost.

Pentecost is a light read, and very fast-paced, with shades of Dan Brown and James Rollins' influences evident. My favorite element is the concept of the Pentecost Stones. I love a good MacGuffin, particularly one that has a Biblical tie-in. The stones are purely of Penn's creation, yet entirely believable. Penn also includes jaunts to fascinating locations, another "must" for me in a good adventure story. I did find myself wishing for more, especially in the first half of the book. There were many places in which I wanted greater detail, deeper exploration, or a few more bumps in the road. In all, Pentecost is a thrill ride for adventure fans. I'll definitely give Joanna Penn's next book a try.

Learn more about Joanna and her work at www.thecreativepenn.com

Updates on the New Dane Maddock Book and More!

2011-02-07T22:08:00.005-05:00

It's already February! Where does the time go? 2011 has already been an interesting year. Atlanta witnessed a snowstorm for the ages (at least by our standards) which I loved because it gave me plenty of time for writing!

Dane Maddock 3 is coming along nicely, and is tentatively titled The Quest. The only clue I'll give about the plot is that The Quest is so-titled not simply because our heroes are going on a quest, but it's also the name of a ship. Also, you can look forward to the return of a favorite character from Dourado! That's the closest to spoilers I'm going to share at the moment, but you can look for a preview chapter to be posted sometime in the near future.

I've mentioned the anthology to which I've contributed a Dane and Bones short story. Here's the slick-looking cover, complete with a list of the authors who will be contributing. You'll notice some very talented writers here, and they saved the best for last. The Maddock story is titled, "Dark Entry," and finds our heroes searching for a treasure lost by one of Bones' ancestors. As you might expect, things don't go as planned for our heroes.

I'd also like to recommend a couple of books by two talented authors whom I am privileged to number among my friends. Sean Ellis has released Into the Black, and Jeremy Robinson's Instinct has just come out in paperback. Both are excellent books, and I think Maddock fans will find them to their liking.

As always, a special thank you to those of you who have taken the time to drop me a line. Your letters keep me going when the words don't want to flow. I am truly blessed.

David

Guest Post- Ten Crime Cliches to Avoid by William Meikle

2011-01-07T07:36:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I've hosted a fellow author on the site, and I'm pleased to share this guest post from William Meikle. You can read more about him and his work at the end of this post, but I'll share that two of my favorites among his works are the novel Berserker, and the story Abominable, both of which are highly entertaining. Best of all- if you post a comment on this post between now and the end of February you'll be entered in a draw to win a free Kindle loaded with all the books William has published with Generation Next Publications

TEN CRIME CLICHES TO AVOID

by William Meikle

Crime fiction is big business at the moment, but there are certain situations that have been overplayed so much that they have become genre cliches and everybody knows what to expect next. Here are ten cliches you should try to avoid and thoughts on how to subvert the cliches if you do decide to use them.

Cops and Doctors

You can find this perennial favourite in both crime and historical fiction. You'll see it in ER, NYPD Blue and in cross -genre shows like the X Files. The doctor says "OK but only for a minute" or "It's touch and go. The next few hours will be crucial" or "It could be minutes, it could be days... you never know with coma cases" The policemen usually say nothing. They just stand around and chew the scenery in frustration.

Mulder and Scully actually spend a lot of their time hanging around in hospitals but you don't notice so much because the patients aren't your run of the mill criminals or witnesses.

And that's the way to get around this one. Get a new twist and add some tension. Maybe the patient is related to either the cop or the doctor. Or maybe the doctor is an amateur detective and knows better than the cop? But beware of the "Dick Van Dyke" syndrome... that leads you into a whole new area of cliche

The New Partner

In this scenario a veteran cop has to get a new partner after the death of his old one. The rookie is either keen as mustard and eager to please, or burned out from personal problems. It's probably best known in modern times from the Lethal Weapon movies. Screenwriters tried to add some tension early in the series by having Mel Gibson as a borderline suicide case, and that gave the first film an edge; but it was lost in later instalments. By the time the fourth movie came came along they had fallen so deeply into a buddy movie relationship that all drama was lost in favour of light comedy.

You need to do some serious subverting if you want to use this situation. People have tried having a dog as the buddy in K9, having their Mom as the buddy in Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, and having foreigners as the buddy in big Arnie's Red Heat.

Outside the strictly police procedural we've also had the robot buddy in Robocop, the ghost buddy in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), the alien buddy in Alien Nation, the magician buddy in Jonathan Creek, the ex-serviceman buddy in both Sherlock Holmes and Poirot. The list just goes on and on.

However you do it, filling in the blanks is easy in this scenario. What you need is something new. How about having the cop being given a politician doing a meet-the-people stint. Or, on a completely tasteless but might be funny level, how about the multiple-personality cop who is his own buddy? Oh wait -- "Shattered" is doing that right now.

The Rookie in the Morgue

Once only the province of young students in Quincy, this one now turns up on TV in the CSI franchise or Crossing Jordan and in print in the Kay Scarpetta books. There are usually two ways this one can proceed. Either the young cop rushes out, hand at mouth, or he stands still, icily cold and detached, as the autopsy proceeds.

Inspector Morse tried to subvert this situation by having the old timer as the squeamish one, but how about having the rookie as the pathologist?

Whatever you do, try not to give the pathologist a chance to be smug and patronizing while explaining large chunks of the plot. In the UK, this is overdone in Silent Witness and Waking the Dead, and is just a lazy way to advance the story.

The Cantankerous Lieutenant Chews Out The Cop

In films and television shows this happens to every protagonist, and Clint Eastwood for one must be tired of it. In the Dirty Harry series he was rarely out of his boss's office.

It usually ends up with the lieutenant and the cop snarling at each other, so how about having one of them being completely calm and laid back? Or how about having one of them being deaf?

And if you must write this scene, please don't use lines like "I'll have your badge for that", or "I'm not covering for you this time"

The Slimy Defence Lawyer

This one was a hot favourite on NYPD Blue and was guaranteed to get right up Sipowitz's nose. Once you've introduced the sharp suit, the slick hairstyle and the briefcase, this guy will inevitably say, "My client has no further comment," or "You had no right to talk to him without me there." Everybody knows the rest.

Again, serious though is needed to bring a new twist to this situation. Your lawyer could be an ex-cop who knows all the moves, or a relative or lover of one of the cops? How about a lawyer defending himself? Or a counter-culture lawyer covered with tattoos and piercings?

Whatever you do try to come up with some creative invective. Slimeball, sleazeball, reptile and shyster have all been overused.

The Car Chase

Bullit and The French Connection set the standard, and Gone in 60 Seconds brought it into the 21st Century, but this situation has mostly become tired. There are only so many little old ladies to avoid, so many road signs to hit, and so many police cars to trash before your audience becomes jaded.

Over the years the Bond movies have used up just about all the possible permutations, so you'll struggle to come up with something new. It would be better to add tension in another way.

In a bid to appear fresh, the chase element has sometimes been dropped altogether in favour of the race against time as in Speed or Die Hard With a Vengeance. To succeed you'll need a good reason for the journey to take place, a disastrous outcome if it's not successful, and some good near misses on the way.

But beware. Too much carnage and your readers will start thinking of The Blues Brothers. And please, don't have your protagonist drive the wrong way down a one-way street.. it's been done far too often.

The Shoot Out

Raymond Chandler's advice to crime writers still holds. "If your plot is flagging, have a man come in with a gun." You've got to be careful though. Too many people still transfer scenes from old cowboy movies almost verbatim into modern cop scenes.

Probably the best recent shoot out was in Michael Mann's Heat. You cared who lived or died, and there was excitement and tension. Therein lies the trick. Make your readers have an opinion, not just about your hero, but about the other characters as well. At the end of LA Confidential, we knew all of the people involved in the climax, and it made it more satisfying to watch who lived or died. Lining one-dimensional people up just as cannon fodder might work in a Saturday night popcorn movie, but we should be aiming higher than that.

Shoot outs work well on film, but they can be a drag in print. Some writers tend to slow things down, especially to have a close look at the wounds. Unless you're careful it can read like a medical textbook.

And, please, don't have heads "exploding like ripe watermelons."

The Cop in The Cafe

This was used in Chips in every episode, giving them an excuse to show a motorbike speeding from a car park with loose gravel flying.

It's also a favourite in most of the aforementioned buddy movies, and especially in Starsky and Hutch. They'll be in a cafe, musing over the chewing out they've had from their boss, when a call comes through. The radio buzzes, giving them a chance to attach a flashing light to the roof of their car and head off to a car chase, closely followed by a shoot out. See how it's possible to run one cliche into another? Pretty soon you'd have a whole plot, but would anybody buy it?

One way of changing this scene might be to have an alternative means of the cops getting the message. You could have them hearing something on the Television? Or how about on a cell-phone or laptop... there are multiple opportunities for foul ups, misunderstandings or criminal actions there, and they haven't been overdone... yet.

Good Cop / Bad Cop

The good cop / bad cop interview became a cliche almost as soon as crime fiction began. A fine example, more than seventy years old, can be seen in The Maltese Falcon. By now everybody knows the moves, and your readers will be bored long before the interview is over. Unless you're being self-referential and ironic, as in LA Confidential you'll never pull it off.

Cracker tried to subvert the interview situation altogether by having it performed by a psychiatrist who played both cops in one. In The Rock, Sean Connery as the prisoner told Nicholas Cage which questions he should be asking. You'll need to find something similarly innovative if you're going to make it work.

How about having two good cops? Or two bad cops? Or maybe there is a new computer system designed by psychologists to ask the right questions in the right order? How would your cops and your prisoner handle that?

The Estranged Wife

Why do all fictional cops have relationship problems? This scene always goes the same way. The wife says, "You never see the children anymore." The cop doesn't say anything, because his mobile phone interrupts. You know the rest.

Cracker is again a good case in point as he went through this scene in almost every episode. Pacino played a variation of it with his girlfriend in Heat.

Not only does Cracker have a failed marriage, but he's also a gambler and a drinker. In recent years people have been giving cops more and more problems to overcome, culminating in Denzel Washington's paraplegic investigator in The Bone Collector. I wouldn't even try to top that.

Why not be original. Make your cop a healthy, stable, happily married man. Now there's a challenge.

The next time you read or watch a police drama, notice how many of the above are still in use. All of them can occur in any one story, and frequently do... just shuffle the paragraphs, add a murder or two and you have an instant plot.

--

William Meikle is a Scottish writer with ten novels published in the genre press and over 200 short story credits in thirteen countries. He is the author of the ongoing Midnight Eye series among others, and his work appears in a number of professional anthologies. His ebook THE INVASION has been as high as #2 in the Kindle SF charts. He lives in a remote corner of Newfoundland with icebergs, whales and bald eagles for company. In the winters he gets warm vicariously through the lives of others in cyberspace, so please check him out at http://www.williammeikle.com/

The Year in Review

2010-12-31T22:38:00.006-05:00

2010 was an eventful year. Some of it was good, some of it not so good. I was pleased to kick off the year with the release of Into the Woods, the historical fiction adventure I co-authored with my father, David S. Wood. It was bittersweet, however, because a few short months later, my dad lost his battle with brain cancer. I am thankful he lived to see the book in print, and was able to enjoy the early praise it garnered.

Because, toward the end of his life, Dad's tumor rendered him unable to decode text, I had taken to recording chapters of the book and emailing them to him for his feedback. This inspired me to make my first serious foray into podcasting. I published Into the Woods through Podiobooks. It was a great experience, and has connected me with a new set of book-lovers.

Aside from Into the Woods, I had another piece of literary unfinished business that required my attention. I devoted the middle portion of 2010 completing the second book of my fantasy series, The Absent Gods. If you are interested, you can learn more about my speculative fiction work at www.daviddebord.com.

In the past couple of months, I've received many emails asking some variation of "When can we expect the next Dane Maddock book?" First, let me say how much I appreciate every piece of mail I get. It means the world to me, and it never gets old. I'm pleased to say that I'm back in the "thriller writer" saddle, and you can expect two new Maddock stories in 2011! I was honored to be asked to contribute to an anthology of stories based on the well-known short story "The Most Dangerous Game." I'll be joining a group of talented authors including Steven Savile, William Meikle, Alan Baxter, Sean Ellis, and Rick Chesler, to name a few. (I'm forgetting some names- sorry guys!) What's cool about this anthology is that each author's story places his signature character(s) in a situation based on the "Most Dangerous Game" story, so Dane and Bones star in my contribution. Look for this anthology, as well as a full-length Maddock novel in early to mid- 2011.

Looking ahead, I'm excited about the future of ThrillerCast, the podcast I co-host with friend and author Alan Baxter. I'll also be bringing back the Authors' Roundtable feature here on the blog. On the writing side, I have a few tricks up my sleeve, but we'll keep them under wraps for the moment.

Thank you, as always, for your support. It never ceases to both amaze and humble me that people actually want to read the stories that pour forth from my mind. Wishing you all a joyous, prosperous, and safe new year.

David