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Words of Radiance - Book 2 of The Stormlight Archive - by Brandon Sanderson
Six years ago, the Assassin in White, a hireling of the inscrutable Parshendi, assassinated the Alethi king on the very night a treaty between men and Parshendi was being celebrated. So began the Vengeance Pact among the highprinces of Alethkar and the War of Reckoning against the Parshendi.
Now the Assassin is active again, murdering rulers all over the world of Roshar, using his baffling powers to thwart every bodyguard and elude all pursuers. Among his prime targets is Highprince Dalinar, widely considered the power behind the Alethi throne. His leading role in the war would seem reason enough, but the Assassin's master has much deeper motives. Expected by his enemies to die the miserable death of a military slave, Kaladin survived to be given command of the royal bodyguards, a controversial first for a low-status "darkeyes". Now he must protect the king and Dalinar from every common peril as well as the distinctly uncommon threat of the Assassin, all while secretly struggling to master remarkable new powers that are somehow linked to his honorspren, Syl. Brilliant but troubled Shallan strives along a parallel path. Despite being broken in ways she refuses to acknowledge, she bears a terrible burden: to somehow prevent the return of the legendary Voidbringers and the civilization-ending Desolation that will follow. The secrets she needs can be found at the Shattered Plains, but just arriving there proves more difficult than she could have imagined. Meanwhile, at the heart of the Shattered Plains, the Parshendi are making an epochal decision. Hard pressed by years of Alethi attacks, their numbers ever shrinking, they are convinced by their war leader, Eshonai, to risk everything on a desperate gamble with the very supernatural forces they once fled. The possible consequences for Parshendi and humans alike, indeed, for Roshar itself, are as dangerous as they are incalculable. No Spoilers for Words of Radiance (pinky-promise)
It should come as no surprise that after I reviewed the first installment of
The Stormlight Archive
,
The Way of Kings
, I immediately went and got the second book. (And am now currently waiting for Amazon to deliver book three.) This is shaping up to be an excellent series, and I know for a fact that, as soon as I finish book three, I'm going to be a burning mass of rage and impatience while I wait for book four in 2020. (Fun fact: there are ten books planned for this series.)
While Way of Kings focused primarily on Kaladin's story, with flashbacks to him growing up and joining the military, Words of Radiance focuses on Shallan. This makes sense as, out of the three main characters in series so far (her, Kaladin, and Dalinar), she's the one who undergoes the greatest change in this book. A lot of it is her learning how to use her magical abilities, the way Kaladin learned to use is. While Kaladin's powers are about "Lashing" and strength, Shallan's powers are kind of like Loki's from the MCU. She can create illusions. The problem is she needs to be able to balance the lies she tells with what the truth is, which involves delving into some pretty nasty secrets in her own past. Also, she finally meets the other characters (after a shipwreck that delays her for half the book) and gets an arranged betrothal to Dalinar's son Adolin. Now, this little rom-sub is really cute. Adolin likes how Shallan is different from the other girls, Shallan likes how Adolin is hot and a decent human beings--unlike all the other men in her life--and they're just really adorable together. What is not cute is the hints Sanderson is throwing about a possible love triangle with Kaladin. I want to give a firm no on that for multiple reasons, the first being that love triangles are inherently lazy, and Sanderson is better than that. The other reason is that Kaladin and Shallan work amazingly well as pseudo-siblings, not a romantic couple. Kaladin's first positive thought about Shallan is that she reminds him of his brother. And him silently stewing like an older brother while Shallan and Adolin make kissy faces at each other is the funniest thing. But that's a problem for another time. As I said, Sanderson has only hinted at that, and there are eight more books in this series. Bottom line: this book is just as good as its predecessor, expanding on the world and characters. We see things from the Parshendi side for the first time, which is really fun. Kaladin has to decide whether or not they should assassinate the king--you'd think that'd be an easy answer, but while the king is no Joffrey Baratheon, he's definitely the cause of a lot of problems. Dalinar learns that running a country is similar to running a babysitting service. And Shallan goes from adorable cinnamon roll to adorable badass. It's a fun time all around.
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A little while ago I put a call out on Facebook (which is a goldmine for connecting with other authors) asking for interviews and guest posts for this blog. The response was a veritable tsunami of talented sci-fi and fantasy writers that resulted in my inbox being packed with interviews. Seriously, there's almost twenty of them there.
Normally, I try to do one interview or guest post a month, posting on Friday like I do every week. But given the sheer number of interviews I have sitting in my inbox until I either get rid of them or forget about them, I figured that it was time to open the blog up to twice-weekly posts. Every Friday will be the usual: a book review, a top ten list, some writer's tips, or whatever else I manage to scrape together on Thursday night. Every Wednesday will be an interview or guest post with a sci-fi/fantasy author. (This is in addition to the monthly YouTube videos every first Sunday and the monthly Bitch Shelf column on Luna Station Quarterly.) This week we're starting with Ryan J. Hodge, author of the military sci-fi Wounded Worlds , and the fantasy adventure Luck & Loose Ends . Author with Ryan J. Hodge
Can you tell us about what you're currently working on?
I’m actively working on two projects in particular at the moment. One of them is an adaptation of my first novel, Wounded Worlds: Nihil Novum , the other is a fantasy novel called Anima . The WW project is something that I’m really excited for. It’s the sort of story I always thought would be best brought to life through a visual medium and now I get to work with my artist friend to make that happen! WW’s story follows two people as they navigate the aftermath of a galactic war. They meet, they fall in love, but there’s one problem: they were on opposite sides! One is tasked with hunting down collaborators, the other must cover her tracks before she’s found out, and both leave a lot of bodies in their wake. It’s not a story about ‘good guys’ or ‘bad guys’! The best either of them can hope for is some sliver of redemption amid the unrelenting violence. Issue #1 is still in preproduction, but we’re aiming for an official release in Summer of 2019. If you can’t wait, follow the link to get the original novel! *** Anima is the sort of YA fantasy story that I wish someone would write (so, I guess I’ll have to). Oh sure, there’s a ‘Chosen One’, an ‘Army of Darkness’, and a ‘Prophesy’ but it most definitely IS NOT the sort of story that you’ve read or watched a dozen times already! This is not the archetypal ‘Hero’s Journey’, and in fact the entire point of the project is to tear those tropes down to their bones and remake them into something unique. To say anything more at this point risks spoilers, but I will mention this: Werecrocs beat Werewolves every time! Have you ever written characters that you truly despise? Why or why not? Actually, I haven’t and I’m really not sure that I could. It isn’t because I haven’t written villains or characters who’ve committed despicable acts; it’s that I find irredeemable characters… well… boring. I think the best villains--and the best heroes, for that matter--allow the audience to catch a glimmer of themselves with regard to character motivations. Perhaps an incompetent officer was simply given too much power too fast. Perhaps the cause that these otherwise good men found themselves fighting for was not as ‘noble’ as advertised. Perhaps you’ve got a character who ardently believes in himself so much that his charisma is magnetic despite his atrocities. Anyone who has seen the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Episode Duet , knows what I’m talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVHR0UPHERQ I much prefer writing characters who are hard-to-love rather than easy-to-hate. *What is your biggest pet peeve in storytelling? Oh good heavens, where to begin!? If I had to slap a single label on it, I suppose it would be ‘convenient incompetence’ or ‘when people who should know better don’t know better.’ It’s a trope so broad that I could give a dozen examples and still only scratch the surface, but I suppose the big ones are: --‘Protagonist must explain a very simple idea to supporting characters in excruciating detail because the writer thinks his audience is stupid.’ --‘Experienced professionals ignore all concepts of established method (and usually safety protocols) in order to rush a goal.’ --‘This environment is dangerous. Let’s take absolutely no precautions or establish a plan to increase survivability.’ Oh my god, stupid characters that should be smart. I know exactly what you mean. (See every horror movie ever.) Were you “born to write” or did you discover your passion for writing later in life? My talent for writing is definitely more intuitive than learned, but there was certainly an element of discovery as well. That discovery, as it happened, was quite by accident. During a freshman English class we were given an assignment to write a short story and, to be perfectly honest… I had nothing. Squat. No ideas. What I did have was a copy of Half-Life: Blue Shift and a fair amount of certainty that Mrs. Moore didn’t play video games. So, I adapted the opening levels into a written format. BAM! Easy ‘A’. Now some might find that action to be ‘academically questionable’ (to put it in the kindest terms), but here’s the thing: writing that adaptation was actually really fun! It sparked a desire to put into words what I was experiencing as a player and that turned out to be really good practice for a budding writer. To be clear: I’ve only ever published my own original work . But that discovery allowed me to devote an entire series of articles, Play/Write , to the examination of how elements of game design can actually inform the quality of a narrative. Yeah, writing fanfiction is a great way to get started. ;P Where did the idea of your story come from? Mainly the ideas come from what I wish I could read/see. I see a lot of stories whose tropes are so surface-level and cursory. Many people confuse this for ‘played-out’ concepts, but they’re really not… often times they just need someone to wonder about how we can reintroduce these ideas in new and daring ways. In many ways, I look at narrative the same way I look at Chess. You’ve got sixteen pieces, and everyone knows what they’re for. But there are some people out there who can literally change the way you see those pieces forever just by how they move them. Now, am I saying that I’m the Bobby Fischer of reinventing tired tropes? Yes! I am saying that! And if you want to prove me wrong, you’re going to have to buy my books! Hah! Are you an early bird writer or night owl? And do you have any must haves like coffee, chocolates, wine, music or something else required for your creative process? Total night owl. Nobody tell my wife, but I’ve snuck out of bed more than once to get a chapter in. Usually, my best ‘muse music’ are soundtracks (OST) from video games, movies, or anime. Right now, my current obsession is Nier: Automata . I’ve never played it, but its OST is legit! Do you have complete control over your characters or do they ever control you? I suppose what you mean by ‘control’ is ‘does what appears on the page sometimes feel like it’s not a conscious effort?’ To which I say: ‘not really’. This is not to say that my stories have not taken turns I didn’t expect them to. I will always agree that it’s important to ‘listen’ to your characters (for want of a better term). It sounds strange, but sometimes your characters can think of solutions to scenarios that you wouldn’t. To understand your character is to understand how they think; how they would approach a given situation absent any script. In some cases, it’s better to let your imagination run with this new solution rather than strictly adhere to the script. It will feel more authentic, and it would really speak well of your own talent as a writer. You are still in control, of course. But what you’re feeling--that sense of your fingers flying across the keys with barely any deliberation--is not a lack of ‘control’ but a lack of contrivance . It’s the best high you’ll get in this line of work. Believe that! A lot of authors are frustrated by readers who don’t understand how important reviews are. What would you say to a reader who doesn’t think his or her review matters? You’re right! Most likely, it doesn’t matter. No one f’ing cares. Let’s face it, people care about one thing: ‘is this interesting?’ They might nor even care if it’s crap –I mean, we’ve all seen Birdemic: Shock and Terror, right? Now, you might think that’s the entire point of a review… but let’s be real for a second, what’s more likely to convince you to buy something? Is it a mix of stars on Amazon, or is it someone on your Facebook feed gushing about the book they just read –or Instagram filling up with cosplays of characters you’ve never seen before? Look, I’m not saying I don’t like seeing a nice four or five-star rating showing up next to my book, but I’m willing to recognize that’s vanity on my part. It’s good for my ego and just about nothing else. I’ve never been able to track new sales against positive reviews. Those whom I owe my thanks to are the folks who went out of their way to say (and share) that they cared. A piece of fanart means more to me than a dozen perfect scores. Someone posting a selfie with a copy of one of my novels gains more interest than a well-considered four-star. I’m not saying to never post a review, but it does take a certain level of talent in order to craft one that’s actually useful. It takes no talent, however, to go on Twitter or Instagram or Facebook or… I don’t know, your local comic shop and say ‘Hey! I love this thing! Check it out if you’re curious!’ Because if I wanted you to check out In Crow’s Claws by Daniel Mattia, that’s exactly what I’d do rather than write a review. By the way, go check out In Crow’s Claws by Daniel Mattia. It’s a really interesting take on relating a narrative via epistemological story telling. What’s ‘epistemological story telling’ you might ask? Check it out , you’ll see. (No, not sponsored. I just like the guy and his story) (quickly adds In Crow's Claws to Amazon wishlist) What, in your opinion, is the worst mistake an author can make? Geez, ‘The Worst Mistake an Author Can Make’ will probably be the title of my biography. I honestly don’t know. I can’t pick just one. What I can tell you is the decision I’ve most regretted: I became more concerned with having my book become a success that I allowed myself to forget that I write because I love it. As it turns out if I don’t become rich doing this… I’m okay with that. I’d like to, of course. Rather, I wouldn’t dislike it, because who would turn down a big bag of money just to do what they love? But, and I say this with all sincerity, I’d rather have a hundred books that only a thousand people read than five books that set me up for life. So long as I can be proud of what’s in those hundred books… so long as they don’t suck … so long as most of the people who did read them were able to say ‘Wow! That’s really something!’ I will die happy. It is my biggest career regret that I ever allowed myself to forget that. 
If you could have a dinner with one fictional person, who would it be? Why?
Jesus of Nazareth. Free booze and guaranteed all-you-can-eat! Oh wait! The question was fictional person… um… you know what? I’m going to keep my answer. Because if there is a God and there was Christ… they sure as heck aren’t reflective of our limited conceptions of them. I’d personally like to iron out some of those details. Get some facts out of the fiction, as it were. I mean, I'm a Buddhist, so I'm right there with you. And on the free booze thing. If you could go to any fictional world, where would you go? Why? Star Trek’s Risa, duh. Anyone who tells you different is lying or has yet to hear of it. It’s governed by a Hedony. A Hedony ! Literally ‘our system of government is whatever gets tourists laid and wasted the most efficiently.' I dare you to tell me that you wouldn’t be guaranteed a good time! It’s also pretty much the only fictional world where you wouldn’t have to be able to cast at least a Level 1 fire spell in order to not instantly get murdered. Can you cast a fire spell? Well, technically all you need is a can of hair spray and a match... What are three things you think we can all do to make the world a better place? In the Scouts, they always told us to leave the campsite better than you found it. It was here before you came, it’ll be here long after you leave; and if everyone commits to ensuring that it’s improved with each iteration then it will always be better than it’s ever been. What an ‘improved’ world is will differ from person to person. Green energy? Space faring? Socially harmonious? There’s lots of different directions we could go (and some of them stand opposed, if we’re honest) but I think these are good ‘rules of thumb’: - Be the best version of yourself. Tired and trite, maybe, but true nonetheless and the most important thing to do first. It’s also probably the hardest and most painful thing to do. Being self-critical without being self-loathing is tough. The best advice I’ve ever heard on this topic is ‘treat yourself as if you were someone you were obliged to care for’. - Improve more lives than your own (or those whom you are obliged to care for). They say ‘teach a man to fish to feed him for a lifetime’. This is true. If you can give a stranger something valuable they don’t currently possess and can’t ever spend, lose, or destroy; that’s about the greatest gift you can ever give. - Don’t let your name die before you do. What do you want to be known for? I don’t mean ‘decent parent’ or ‘caring spouse’ or even ‘successful businessperson’, I mean if someone happened to look up your name 500 years from now; what is the one thing (or several things) you would want them to see? What’s the likelihood of that? Are you happy with those odds? What creature is better: dragons, zombies, or aliens? Aliens. First off, there are plenty of alien creatures in fiction that could answer for dragons… not to mention alien viruses that can cause Zombism. Also Risians are aliens, and I think we’ve well-covered what they’ll do for you what Zombies and Dragons won’t. 
Ryan J Hodge is an Eagle Scout, Chess Teacher, former Game Developer, and Co-operator of Jenn’s Pet TLC. When he’s not running San Jose’s premier pet care service alongside his wife, Jennifer, he writes books. He has always been enthralled with Fantasy and SciFi and he’s ready to show the world what he can do with those genres!
Connect: Twitter: @RJHodgeAuthor Instagram: rjhodgeauthor Minds: @RJHodgeAuthor Guest Post by JD Byrne
Good fantasy has to be realistic.
Wait, what? I mean, that’s pretty counterintuitive, isn’t it. The whole point of fantasy is that you can make up anything you want. Whereas its close relation science fiction has to deal with, well, science, fantasy is only limited by the imagination of its writer. So why worry about it being realistic? One reason is that it’s practical. Unless you’re writing something really avant garde and creating a different world from the ground up, even the most fantastic stories take place in a world that looks a lot like ours. Middle Earth may have hobbits, dwarves, and orcs, but it still has a world that works basically like ours - people need to eat and sleep, have to figure out ways to get from one point to another, and figure out how to get along with each other. All of those things are rooted in our experiences of our real world. After all, you can’t have a second breakfast without a concept of breakfast, right? Another reason is that details matter when it comes to the most important part of speculative fiction - suspension of disbelief. In fantasy, more so than science fiction, the author is basically asking readers to trust them, to come along with whatever weird stuff is going to happen just because. Still, there are things, little details, in any story that can kick a reader right out of a state of disbelief (I’ve written before about what I call “flying snowman” moments , after a John Scalzi blog post). Maybe your fantasy heroes are riding horses into battle after they rode 100 miles in two days without any mention of food, water, or rest. For some readers that might kick them out of the story. It’s not that you can’t have something in your fantasy world that does the job of a horse but doesn’t need rest or nutrition, but you have to build that up on its own. There’s a difference between getting a fantasy element “wrong” - if such a thing is possible - and getting mundane real world details that are still relevant to your world wrong. A two-foot tall pixie probably can’t wield a five-foot long steel sword, but who says the sword has to be made of steel? It doesn’t, but you need to lay the foundation for that. It’s sort of like the old saw about learning the rules before you can break them - you need to know why you’re doing it differently and consider whether it’s worth it. While research is necessary to write good fantasy, it doesn’t have to be a chore. In fact, sometimes doing the research can open ways to deepen your world and help make the story better. Let me share a couple of examples where that’s happened to me. In my novel The Water Road a pair of characters are out in the woods searching for a mythical city in the trees when they’re set upon by bandits. One of them, Rurek, takes an arrow in the leg from the bandit leader, Spider. I never intended the wound to be fatal, so once it was in Rurek’s leg I had to figure out how to get it out. I’m so glad I did some research rather than just going with my gut. Turns out how to deal with an arrow wound is largely dependent on the kind of arrowhead is involved and there are some really nasty ones out there, ones designed to inflict maximum damage if taken out incorrectly. That made me think - what kind of arrow would a guy like Spider use? It made me drill deeper into the character than I had initially. He only shows up for this scene, after all, and was hardly that important in the grand scheme of things. But using an arrow designed to do maximum harm, particularly to someone who would react as I had (pull the damned thing out!), is precisely the kind of guy he was. The research allowed me to complicate Rurek’s situation even further (and allow a new, important character, to show some knowledge and skill) and give some idea of just what an evil person Spider was. In my short story “The Destiny Engine” (which you can only get by signing up for my mailing list ), the main character has a massive steampunk contraption that, he says, can see a person’s other possible futures. He has to input data into the machine at some point, so I initially had him sitting down at a typewriter-style keyboard. A beta reader wondered whether such keyboards were in wide use in late 19th-century Wyoming where the story was set. I looked into it and, as it turns out, keyboards were a thing back then, but they hadn’t standardized into anything like we know today. Instead, there was a wide range of size, design, and functionality. I found a picture of one that was basically a brass globe with keys sticking out the top on long stalks, so typing on it looked kind of like giving a robot a scalp massage. So while it wouldn’t have been wrong to put my main character in that story in front of something that looked like a typewriter, how much cooler was it to have him manipulating a brass robot skull! Since research is important for writing fantasy, what’s the best way to go about it? There are several options, depending on what it is you need to know. First, you can draw on your own knowledge of whatever area it is you need to research. That’s kind of cheating, but a knowledge base is a knowledge base, regardless of where it comes from. When it came time to write the battle scenes in The Endless Hills (the second part of The Water Road trilogy) I fell back on the reading I’d done my entire life about battles from various conflicts in the 18th and 19th centuries. I looked up a couple of things, but it was to confirm more than learn from scratch. This is as good a place as any to amplify a piece of advice I’ve heard almost every writer give - that to be a good writer, you need to be a serious reader. I’d expand that to say it’s important for writers of fiction to read a lot of nonfiction, too, to learn about the world around them. Not only do you broaden that internal knowledge base you can use while writing, sometimes history or science or whatever can provide some pretty good fuel for future stories. A second good place to go for research is other writers. Writers each bring their own experience and knowledge to the table, which can be a powerful resource to tap into. The example I gave above of needing to know how to get an arrow out? When I went to Google to find the answer the first result it returned to was to a subsection of a writers’ forum where people shared their expertise. Writers tend to be a helpful bunch, so make the most of what those around you know. Third, you can take advantage of the knowledge of experts in whatever field you’re looking into. Sci-fi writers routinely consult with physicists, rocket scientists, and the like in order to get the science in their stories right (or at least plausible). Fantasy writers can do the same. Setting a story in a world that’s based on feudal Japan? Find the nearest college or university that teaches Japanese history and reach out to the professor. They might be happy to talk to someone about their subject who is writing a novel about it. Finally, when it comes to research, there’s always the option to hit the books, whether literally or electronically. Google is great, but be skeptical of sources and weigh competing information carefully. Books are even better, if you’ve got access to a good library somewhere close. You can even go and spent time in places that inspire the world you’re building. Want to set a story in a castle - go visit one! It’s easier said than done, of course, but it can be done. Research sounds a lot like work and sometimes it is. Sometimes you’ll find out things that torpedo an idea or a particular story element. More often, you’ll shore up your own world, deepen you characters, and maybe even find something to spark your creativity even further. It’s worth the effort and your readers will thank you. 
JD Byrne was born and raised around Charleston, West Virginia, before spending seven years in Morgantown getting degrees in history and law from West Virginia University. He's practiced law for more than 15 years, writing briefs where he has to stick to real facts and real law. In his fiction, he gets to make up the facts, take or leave the law, and let his imagination run wild. He lives outside Charleston with his wife and the two cutest Chihuahuas the world has ever seen.
There's no "real" blog post this week, and for that I apologize. It's more of a "here's what I've been doing recently, tune in next week for the regularly scheduled bullshit." It's also the answer to the "hey, why isn't there a new video on the YouTube channel this month" question.
Well, for starters, I got sick. Yay. It's nothing serious. There hasn't even been vomit involved. But it's sucking the life and energy out of me like a vampire. Part of it is likely the weather. In Minnesota, it's finally stopped snowing and started raining. It's that chilly, almost-hail type of rain, too, the kind that almost guarantees spending the day inside with kleenex and blankets. Also that rain is going to be freezing, melting, and re-freezing a few times over the weekend, and the snow created massive potholes that we now have to avoid, which is going to turn driving into a hellish level of Mario Kart. The other part of the illness probably has something to do with the fact that I've taken to working seven days a week every other week thanks to two of my three jobs. Or it could just be something one of my roommates coughed on me. They've been sick a lot recently, as well. In short, it's just been a good time all around. All right, enough about that illness and rain nonsense. Let's get to the fun stuff. What I've been writing:
There's some other stuff, too. A paranormal novella for Less Than Three Press that got rejected and needs editing. My own novel involving wolves with wings and telepathy on another planet that's just been outlined. A novella series involving vampires that's being pushed on the backburner. But right now
Green Snake
and
Homestead
are the important ones.
What I'm reading:
The next book review will be
Words of Radiance
, the second book of
The Stormlight Archive
series
by Brandon Sanderson. (You can read my review of the first book,
Way of Kings
,
here
.)
Could I have chosen to read one of the other books on my shelf that are all less than 1200 pages? Yes, absolutely. Was I able to resist buying Words of Radiance when I saw it in the bookstore and started reading it right away? Of course not.
So that's about it. I've got a bunch of guest posts and interviews with a bunch of very talented writers lined up for you guys, as well. But if there's a particular topic you want me to cover, then please let me know in the comments, or you can
contact me
directly.
The next YouTube channel will be Dynamic Duos and literary foils. Right now I'm going to take a nap, because--joy!--it's raining again, and I'm still a little sick. See you next week!
Today we'll be interviewing the Canadian science fiction novelist Zachry Wheeler, author of
Transient
. According to Amazon, it's basically about vampire spies in the future. (Paranormal sci-fi?) I have not had the opportunity to read any of his works yet, but after this interview, I'm thinking I need to change that.
What cool and exciting things have been happening in your life recently?
I was recently invited to give a presentation on Writing From Book to Film at the annual Dublin Writers Conference in Ireland. I am a regular on the convention circuit where I give presentations on numerous topics, but this will be the first time that I cross an ocean to give a talk. I have visited Dublin many times and love the city, so I am very excited to return on a business trip. The reason I am giving the presentation ties directly into another exciting thing that happened. My novel Transient is currently in development with Voltage Pictures ( The Hurt Locker , Dallas Buyers Club ) to become a feature film. I have been very active in the process, which is quite rare from an author perspective. I have even edited the script, which gives me a screenwriting credit on the movie. The whole experience has opened numerous doors in the industry where I now serve as a script doctor for other projects. As a result, my other series Max and the Multiverse is in the beginning stages of being adapted for television. Wow! Living the author's dream of seeing their work go on the big screen! (Well, it's a dream for some of others. For others, it's a nightmare, but it looks like you'll be making sure the abomination of the Percy Jackson movies doesn't happen to Transient .) Is your recent book part of a series? If so, can you tell us a bit about where the story is heading? My most recently published book would be Max and the Banjo Ferret , which is Book Three of my Max and the Multiverse sci-fi comedy series. I have also published a short story since then entitled The Item of Monumental Importance , which takes place between the first two books. As far as the series arch goes, I have managed to reach a resting point with the completion of the third book. There is still plenty more story to tell and I plan to continue the series for many books to come, but I am no longer leaving readers on a cliffhanger ending. Aw, but cliffhangers are so fun! They're the best way to torture readers. Can you tell us about what you're currently working on? I had started a spin-off series for Max and the Multiverse and wrote a large chunk of the initial draft, but the project ended up sidelined in favor of the Transient sequel. This was mostly due to the first book getting selected for the Prime Reading program at Amazon. The spike in popularity has renewed interest in the sequel, hence the refocus. I had already outlined the next two books, so it was just a matter of getting to work. I am finishing up the first draft and hope to be editing very soon. What did you edit out of your book? When I wrote the initial drafts of Transient , much of it read like a technical manual about vampire biology. The material was interesting to me, but it significantly bogged down the story. It was my first book and I had no idea what I was doing, but after years of editing and revising, I learned that most of the backstory was superfluous. I ended up trimming a novella’s worth of material from the final draft. And for those who have read the book, that’s where the “recon” sections came from. They allowed me to maintain pace while doling out important details. So, basically, editing the exposition. The bane of so many authors. Are you an early bird writer or night owl? And do you have any must haves like coffee, chocolates, wine, music or something else required for your creative process? Definitely a night owl, but my writing times are largely sporadic. I write at all hours, usually after I work through the current narrative arch, no matter what time that may be. As far as necessities go, I need coffee and silence. I don’t see how writers keep their concentration with music playing. I can get yanked out of the process by a car horn off in the distance. Funny! I just started a habit of playing classical music on my laptop while working. Now I can't live without that white noise. (Probably because it tunes out all the annoying car horns.) Do you have complete control over your characters or do they ever control you? I would say a little bit of both. For the most part, I can steer my characters in the directions I need them to go. But every now and then, the narrative will shift course because someone needed something that I hadn’t foreseen. A lot of authors are frustrated by readers who don’t understand how important reviews are. What would you say to a reader who doesn’t think his or her review matters? It pains me to admit that ratings and reviews are absolutely critical to the success of every writer, especially indie authors. It helps to view ratings as reputation currency, the cred we use in order to get seen and promoted. I will often soften the request by saying that reviews don’t need to be complicated, just a sentence or two is perfectly fine. It’s the ratings that are most important. Good advice. I sometimes hear, "You shouldn't write for reviews. You should write for your heart and soul." Okay, but I need to eat... Do you have any advice for new authors? (Deer in headlights.) Holy hell, where to start. If I had to boil it down to a single bit of wisdom, it would be to temper your expectations. Writing is the easy part. Getting it polished, published, and promoted is where the real work begins. I would say that publishing a book is 10% writing and 90% other crap you never wanted to do. If you could have a dinner with one fictional person, who would it be? Why? Rust Cohle from True Detective . My worldview is largely misanthropic, but not in a debilitative way. No other fictional character has ever captured my intrigue like Rust, who mirrored my own views on life, the universe, and everything. I would love to pick his brain over a dinner conversation. If you could go to any fictional world, where would you go? Why? Pretty much any world in which humans have colonized space. My one enduring dream to leave this planet and explore the cosmos. You know those “I don’t want to live on this planet anymore” memes? Yeah, that’s me every day. Hey, you might get your wish! According to scientists, this planet is toast unless we get our act together. What might we be surprised to know about you? I spent a decade in the music industry before I started writing as my primary outlet. I fronted several rock bands in the past and released four studio albums. I have always pursued some sort of creative endeavor, but never thought that it would be writing, which fits my personality much better these days. I just don’t have the energy to jump around the stage anymore. And for anyone interested, you can check out my old acts online: The Mayhematic and Sydewynder . You're getting old, Zach. ;P Thank you for coming onto my blog!
Brainstorming new blog post ideas
For serious bloggers, the general rule of thumb is to have your blog posts planned out at least a month in advance. (Others will argue at least six months, but those tend to be the full-timers.) This limits the amount of frenzied writing, sloppy editing, and hair-fraying panic that can accompany writing. This is great in theory. But life has a bad habit of cluttering our schedules, and before you know it, that glorious time period where all of your posts are planned out, written ahead of time, and scheduled in advance has run out, and we're left scrambling to throw together a last-minute blog post to satisfy our readers.
Or maybe you're new to blogging, haven't even set up the website yet, and are frozen in terror because, what ? You're supposed to do this every week if you want a following? More? Where do you even start ? Worry not, friends! Like so many other bloggers online, I am writing this post to help you answer that very question. When you're staring down the white screen of death, dreading the impending deadline, how do you come up with a juicy topic that will satisfy your readers? I actually struggled with this question myself. Minutes before writing this very post. And several more times throughout my blogging career. Procrastination is a fine art, lovelies, one that I have mastered. As such, there are several tips that you can use. Tip #1: Keep an Ongoing List
Earlier this week, I looked at my calendar with despair. At the end of 2018, I had planned out three months of blog posts. Three! And not just posts for this blog, but also for my monthly column
The Bitch Shelf
at Luna Station Quarterly, as well as my
YouTube channel
. I'd even been writing book reviews and writing tutorials weeks in advance to buy more time to work on the videos and stories.
But now that time was gone, and I hadn't refreshed the buffer zone. I now had to come up with a completely new topic, and I had to do it now if I wanted time to actually write the damn thing. Luckily, I plan for such emergencies. I also have the habit of writing down every thought that goes through my head. Which is why I keep an ongoing list of potential blog posts in my journal. For me, this list is divided in two parts: topics on how to write, and commentary on the SFF genre. Obviously I also do book reviews, too, but as I write those down as soon as I close the book and then schedule them as needed, they don't need to be listed. Some topics never leave the list, because they can be written over and over again. My "Top Ten Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books" or "Favorite Horror Movies for Halloween" are constantly changing as I consume more media. I can bust those out every few months and they'll never grow old. Lists are an old favorite of bloggers for this very reason. Other topics can really only be done once or twice (like "How to Come Up with Your Next Blog Post") before your audience gets bored, so it's important to keep this list up to date! Keep your journal handy wherever you go, especially if you're browsing your chosen topic online. If you're writing a blog about fishing, and you see a YouTuber give bad tackling advice to their audience, write down what that topic is so you can write a post about it later. Or if you read a post that brushes on a particular subject but doesn't really get into it as deeply as it should, write that down and come back to it later. Ideas can come out of nowhere: random conversations with friends and family, reading a fantasy book and thinking Man, this author doesn't know shit about characterization , or even just going for a walk outside and suddenly getting hit with an idea while listening to Imagine Dragons. Keep a list. Keep it close. And when you're in a bind and need a blog idea fast , you'll have a bunch of options to choose from. Tip #2: Ask!
Even if you don't have an established audience, you can always find people to
just ask for ideas, or better yet, ask them what they
want
to read about
. Facebook groups are my personal favorite.
Never be afraid to tell your readers that you've been hit with writer's block and need their help. In fact, readers love it. I know I do. Some of my favorite YouTubers are constantly putting up surveys asking "Which video do you want me to do next" with a variety of topics to choose from. It's great for the audience, because we get to actively participate and feel like we're being heard and cared about by someone we look up to. And it's great for the creator, because they get an insight into what their audience wants them to talk about. You can also ask your readers at the end of each post something along the lines of "Let me know what other topics you'd like me to cover" or "Feel free to ask me any questions you have about XYZ!" This will be another source of potential blog posts that you know you readers will want to read about, because they're literally asking for it! Tip #3: Interviews & Guest Posts
Interviews and guest posts with other bloggers
(or authors if you're a book blogger, or parents if you're a parenting blogger, or whatever niche you're in) are helpful for a variety of reasons. One is simply sharing audiences. Guest posts can be key to building your audience, as you're basically using someone else's established blog as a springboard. You can go on their site with their regular traffic and talk about your blog, or you can invite them on your blog for a spike of traffic in the hopes that the new readers will stick around long enough to sign up for your newsletter. (This happened after I interviewed my mother,
Maryjanice Davidson
.)
But there's another reason that interviews and guest posts are a good idea, and that is strategic laziness. Once you've secured an interview/guest post to appear on your blog, your work is pretty much done. The other writer is the one who has to do all the heavy lifting! Once they send it to you, it's just a matter of minor editing, copy, and paste. If you run a weekly blog like I do, this means that you get a whole other week to figure out what the next post is going to be, or in my case, quickly finish reading a book so I can review it in time. And like the ongoing list of blog post ideas, if you collect enough interviews and guest posts, you can store them away for emergencies or schedule them for busier weeks, thus giving you some breathing room while also keeping your readers satisfied. Plus you get a network connection and you're promoting a fellow blogger. Everyone wins! Tip #4: If All Else Fails: Re-Publish
Republishing old blog posts
is an underrated skill that a lot of bloggers forget about. So long as the post is old enough--at least four months
minimum
--then chances are your readers don't remember it and/or didn't even read it because of all the other stuff cluttering their email and social media feed. (That sounded pessimistic and vaguely insulting. Sorry.) It's perfectly acceptable to take an old post, dust it off with some minor updates and edits, and re-publish it.
As a matter of fact, I had planned on doing just that for the most recent Bitch Shelf article "Superhero Movies that Fight Toxic Masculinity." Originally, I was going to give them one of my first posts on this site, "Toxic Masculinity in Superhero Movies." But the thing is, LSQ has a pretty strict word count with its columnists, and my old post proved to be too long. I couldn't cut it down to size without losing vital information, so instead I focused on one part of the post: the ending. I had ended that post with a handful of superhero movies that, at the time, were the only ones I knew that actively fought or defied toxic masculinity. This was before Black Panther , Incredibles 2 , and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse came out. So now I had a much more positive, better idea for an article that was better suited to the word count and got new information that hadn't been available two years ago. It took about fifteen minutes to write and send to LSQ--along with a second, panicked email a while later, because I had originally forgotten that Spider-Verse was a thing. But other Bitch Shelf articles, especially the earlier ones, are copied almost directly from older posts. And that's totally fine! You can do that so long as you're careful with it.
What are some ways that you (or a friend of yours) come up with blog post ideas at the last minute? Let me know in the comments!
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What's This?The first Dragons, Zombies and Aliens blog was started in 2015. Somewhere between college coursework, paying rent with door-to-door sales, and keeping up with my sorority sisters, I wrote reviews, rants and commentaries on books, TV shows, and movies. Now, this blog has moved, improved, and the sky's the limit! Categories
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