Hey everybody. Summer's racing away and I wanted to give a quick update on some of the exciting news about ANOM: Awakening and my writing career in general. ANOM: Awakening Continues to Perform: For the last couple of weeks ANOM: Awakening has been entrenched as a Top Ten Book on Amazon's Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Superhero list. We are typically hovering between numbers 5 and 7 in the rankings. On the one hand, you could argue that my category is a fairly narrow niche. At the same time, not that long ago, I was thrilled just to crack the top 100. Listen to ANOM in Your Car: ANOM: Awakening is currently in the process of being adapted as an audio book that will soon be available through Audible. We've partnered with the very talented Owen McCuen to do the voice recording for the novel, and I can't wait for you all to hear it. We first met Mr. Owen through the Little Gym of Washington Township. He sent in a brief sample of Jeremy talking as his audition - and maybe it's because he's a local guy so he knows that Philly/ South Jersey dialect - but he nailed it! Very exciting!!! Questions and Answers: Next week I'm going to devote my blog post to answering any of your questions about ANOM: Awakening and my writing in general. If you have questions, please submit them through my contact page on my website. I've done a couple of these before the launch of the book, and I'm excited to see what questions people have now that they've actually read the story. One word of warning - this will probably be the last Q&A for ANOM: Awakening for a while! A Change of Focus: While ANOM: Awakening is undoubtedly a major personal accomplishment, the focus of my webpage will be slowly shifting over the coming months. I have a brand new middle-grade novel that is nearing completion. If everything goes according to plan, it will be available through Amazon in late fall/early winter. So, starting in September, I'm going to begin focusing on the promotion of this new project. I can't wait to tell you about these new characters and the inspiration for this newest story. BONUS: The sequel to ANOM: Awakening is well underway. I've written the first 9 chapters of ANOM: Legacy, and as soon as this gets posted, I'm diving back in to Chapter 10! There are new characters, familiar faces, drama, intrigue, and action... lots and lots of action. This summer has been amazing! Two months ago we launched ANOM: Awakening, my debut novel. Today, we currently rank #6 among Amazon's superhero e-books. But that's not all! This summer has been busy. I had the chance to go on vacation to Oak Island, NC and before that, Vanessa and I spent two days earning our F-licence to coach Youth Soccer. We've also run the kids back and forth to various summer camps and swimming pools more times than I can count. And best of all, this summer I put some serious time into my writing. I finished up my second draft of a middle-grade fantasy novel (more on that at a later date) and I've written the first eight chapters of the second book of the ANOM series. But as September looms on the horizon, a middle-aged man's heart turns to thoughts of football. This Saturday is my fantasy football league's annual draft, and it got me to thinking: How is writing like fantasy football? HAVE A PLAN When you're getting ready for a fantasy football draft, it's important to have a plan. You want to have an idea about what players you want to target and when you want to draft certain positions. This will help you avoid obvious mistakes like drafting your kicker in the second round (and for those of you uninitiated to fantasy football, that's a big no-no). The same is true of writing. Before I started working on the ANOM sequel, I sat down and sketched out a rough plan of the major events of the novel. This gives me a direction when I'm writing because I know where I ultimately want to go. I do the same planning for each chapter. Before I begin, I take time to think about what events should happen by the end of the passage. I don't always know how I'm going to get there, but at least I have a point of reference to guide my writing. GO WITH THE FLOW As important as it is to have a plan, it's also possible to over-plan for a fantasy football draft. This is the only way to capitalize on the mistakes of your opponents. If you've already decided what position you're going to take in the first round of your draft (let's say you're locked into taking a running back with your first pick), than you can miss out on serious value if you don't draft a wide receiver like Antonio Brown (the experts' pick for best fantasy player in 2016) when he falls into your lap. Just like fantasy football, if you over-plan your novel you can miss out on golden opportunities in your writing. In fact, one of my favorite things about writing are these "surprises". Case in point, when I started ANOM: Awakening I had no plans to write about a character named Major Stuart Ellison. But then, in the second chapter of my book, I wanted to show events in the story that my main character was not present to witness. That's when the character of Ellison was born. He started out as a narrative necessity, but by the time ANOM was finished, Ellison transformed into the co-main character of the entire book! IT TAKES TIME In 2014 the Chicago Tribune reported that American workers spend two hours a week on fantasy sports while on the job. That time "away from work" cost America $13 billion in lost productivity. Just like fantasy sports, writing takes time! No matter what you're working on (a short story, your first novel, your collective memoirs) it's not getting written by talking about it or even thinking about it. You need to carve out the time to sit in front of you computer (or notebook) and WRITE! Trust me. If writing is important to you (like it is to me) that time will be worth it! This weekend the newest Jason Bourne opened in theaters. I LOVE the Bourne movies (some more than others. I'm looking at you, Jeremy Renner) and I rank The Bourne Identity as one of my top 5 movies ever! One of the reasons I'm drawn to Jason Bourne is because of the action. I geek-out over the fight choreography which feels to me like equal parts grace and power. Not to mention the improvisation! Who knew a pen, a rolled-up magazine, or a BOOK could be so dangerous? I've always been drawn to action in movies. It's probably a by-product of growing up in the '80's and '90's and watching too many Steven Seagal movies (Hard to Kill = Awesome; Marked for Death = Not So Much). But I'm not a movie star or even a fight choreographer. I'm a writer . . . so how do I incorporate action into my writing? When I was in middle school I read the novelization of another '80s/90's classic -- Willow! I loved the movie, but when I read the book, I walked away disappointed -- mostly because the epic sword fights in the movie were simply glossed over in the novel with barely a sentence or two of description. In ANOM: Awakening I wanted the action to feel like a Bourne movie -- filled with power and grace. But how do I write that without droning on about every punch, kick, and bruise? In the end, I tried to write my action scenes like a play-by-play sportscaster on the radio - creating a clear picture with my words, but not getting bogged down in too much detail because something else is already happening. I'll leave it to you, my readers, to judge the end results for yourselves, but when I read reviews that talk about the visual nature of my book, I think I must be onto something. The other element that really helped me create action scenes was my recent involvement with Kenpo Karate. My wife and I started taking karate classes a couple of years ago, and as we've learned different self-defense moves and "basics" in class, it's become easier and easier for me to visualize my way through a fight. After all, if I can't see the fight in my own imagination, how will I ever describe it for the reader? After Vanessa read my book she described it as "Captain America meets Jason Bourne." I hope that's true. And I hope that the new Bourne movie lives up to its reputation. And I hope one day I can see my fights from ANOM choreographed out on the big screen. Until then, I'll just have to settle for Bourne. Hey everybody! Today marks exactly one month since my incredible launch party at Alaura Kitchen and Candy. A number of you have asked how things are going with the book, and I wanted to take just a couple of minutes to give you all an update. It's hard to tell exactly "how things are going" because I've never done anything like this before. I can say it feels like ANOM: Awakening is starting to build momentum. Yesterday, we sold the most units ever and we matched it with the most Kindle Edition Normalized Pages read in a day (KENP is how Amazon tracks pages read through Kindle Unlimited). The book is currently hovering around the top 50 of Amazon superhero e-books (and reached as high as #40 yesterday). Of course none of this would be possible without all of your support! Thank you!!! Here's what some of you had to say about ANOM: Awakening . . . "The story telling is well balanced and engaging with interesting characters and an exciting plot." -- Not So New Mom "It's never boring! Every chapter some questions are answered while new ones are raised." -- Kristel C. "The author is a wonderful storyteller and provides such a vivid picture that you feel as though you're watching the action unfold in front of you." -- Allison "This novel grabbed my attention on page 1 and left me wanting more!" -- Amazon Customer "The author has a thoroughly delightful manner of describing action that paints a vivid image in the mind and yet somehow still leaves enough up to the imagination." -- Curtis So it finally happened . . . I got my first bad review! A part of me understands that this was inevitable. There's the old maxim about "You can't please all of the people all of the time." Then there are the stories about mega-successful artists facing rejection (see: Beatles, Dick Rowe). And finally, most importantly, it's part of the job! Writers get criticized. I know that. But then there's another part of me. This part doesn't care about your maxims or your history lessons or your advice. This part hates logic. And this part takes criticism very, VERY personally. I wasn't expecting this second reaction - this vitriol I now feel for my new critic. Maybe that was me just being naive. When you see professional artists (famous people) being criticized, it's easy to dismiss their reactions. After all, they're famous! Surely they must know that a majority of people find their art amazing!!! Why would they ever care about what some no-name critic has to say? If it were me, I wouldn't care about the critics!!! But then it happens, and I DO care. The criticism may not be personal, but my writing (the target of this criticism) is incredibly personal. How can I not care? I tried to go through the critique line by line and evaluate for myself if I think the criticism is legitimate. A bland main character? I happen to think Jeremy Cross is compelling. Over describes useless details? I thought I was putting you right in the action. Shifts the timeline back and forth for no material reason? IT'S ONLY THE KEY TO THE WHOLE DAMN STORY! Got about halfway through this one before I gave up. Seriously?!? Finally I realized, it doesn't matter if I think his criticism is legitimate. I don't have to agree. It's enough to say he didn't like my book. And that's okay. I'll survive. I'll live to write another day. And maybe that's the real lesson. It's not about ignoring your critics or hardening your skin so you don't care anymore. Instead, acknowledge your critics, weigh their words for yourself, and ultimately, keep doing what makes you happy I started re-watching Chuck this week on Netflix with the kids, and I almost forgot what an incredible show it was! I'm not sure it technically qualifies as a "creative influence" when it comes to my own writing, but there are definitely motifs running throughout the show that I see repeated in ANOM: Awakening. First, a quick review. . . If you've never seen an episode of Chuck, do yourself a favor and go binge-watch the entire first season. I can wait. For the rest of you, I'm sure you remember that Chuck is a show about a normal guy (Chuck Bartowski) who gets the contents of a top-secret government computer downloaded into his brain. Mayhem ensues as Chuck helps the CIA and the NSA keep the world safe from evil . . . all while maintaining his cover of hapless, mega-computer store, "Nerd Herd" employee. Needless to say, the magic of Chuck lies almost entirely with its titular hero. Watching Zachary Levi (in the role of Chuck Bartowski) straddle these two disparate worlds makes the show fun to watch. He is "us", with all of his flaws, insecurities, and mistakes. He can't save the world with his Kung-Fu, but he can save the world thanks to his best friend's intricate knowledge of Call of Duty. Chuck is a normal guy making use of his limited skills to do the best he can. . . and that theme is universal. That's all of us, everyday! So how does that translate to my book? There is no "Superman" in ANOM: Awakening. There is no Swiss Army Knife kind of hero capable of doing everything on his own like a James Bond super-spy. Everyone in my book has weaknesses -- sometimes dramatic weaknesses. Weaknesses that stop them from being the heroes (and sometimes even the people) they hope to be. They're just normal people making use of their limited skills, trying to do the best they can. Just like the rest of us. Just like Chuck. It finally happened. June 25th. It was the day I had been waiting for since I launched my website back in January. June 25th -- the day I had been waiting for since I started writing my novel ANOM: Awakening three years ago in August 2013. June 25... in some ways it's the day I've been waiting for all my life. So now what? As the clock struck midnight and June 25, 2016 rolled away never to be seen again, that question felt all-consuming. June 25th, the day I launched my first novel ANOM: Awakening into the world was supposed to be my turning-point, a watershed moment that would change everything forever. It had come and gone, and everything felt pretty much the same. So now what? My launch party was awesome. I don't want to take away from that at all. Everything I always pictured... that's what it was and more. The turnout, the support, people lining up for my autograph in my book . . . the ice cream!!! It was incredible. I couldn't ask for a better day. But June 26th... that was a disappointment. I understand that it makes no logical sense to expect your life to flip upside down overnight. There was no way my book would become an overnight sensation. I know that any success at this writing game will take time - lots of time. But talking about your life's dream has a way of defying logic. I realize that what I'm waiting for -- what I'm searching for -- is external validation. The metaphorical pat-on-the-back from the hand of authority to say, "You made it." But isn't that what we're all hoping to find? The Wizard of Oz realized that much. The Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman, and the Cowardly Lion solved all their problems through external validation. The Scarecrow wanted a brain. He got a diploma. "You made it." Problem solved. So what would external validation look like for a writer? A big-time Hollywood movie deal optioning my novel to become the next Hunger Games? Not a bad start. Breaking into the top 100 novels selling on Amazon? That might work. Signing my very own novel at my very own launch party? That sounds pretty good too. And so I realize... that external validation I'm looking for may never come. Maybe it's a chimera -- the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow always moving farther way the closer we get. I'm reminded of a line from Cool Runnings. Near the end of the movie, before the last race, John Candy's character Irv says, "A gold medal is a wonderful thing. But if you're not enough without one, you'll never be enough with one." And my question is the same one asked in the movie, "How will I know if I'm enough?" Irv answers, "When you cross that finish line tomorrow, you'll know." I'm afraid life doesn't wrap-up its loose ends quite as neat as a Disney movie. There is no finish line waiting for me tomorrow. And so I'm left waiting, but the answer will come and I only hope that when it does, it's the right one. I love to write -- I've been saying that for a long time now -- and I hope that's enough. If my validation never gets here, I hope that passion is enough. And if I get my movie deal someday, I hope my love of writing is still enough. Only time will tell. One week. We are exactly one week away from the "official" launch of ANOM: Awakening. That makes today's entry my final post before launch day... it also means this could be the most important post I've ever written. So many people have asked what they can do to help me or support me as I begin this long-awaited journey into the literary world. My default answer, in the past, would have been a quick and final, "nothing." I would tell people, "There is nothing you can do to help." That answer was a lie. I HATE asking for help. I'm not sure if it's one of the faults of being "male" or if it's a peculiar quirk of my own personality, but it is a fact . . . I would rather suffer alone, than dare inconvenience anyone else. But, as my wife Vanessa has pointed out so many times, this book is too important to let pride or personality quirks get in the way. I NEED YOUR HELP! So what can you do? There are two important ways you can help my novel become a success. 1. Sharing Is Caring: There's an old adage that everyone in the world is separated by a mere six degrees. According to the New York Times, Facebook has lowered that number to three and half. The best and biggest thing you can do to help is to share my information. Share this post through social media. Share my Facebook page with your friends. Please (PLEASE!) tell people about my book. Our mantra has been that it just takes the "right" person to read my book... according to Facebook that person is three and a half "shares" away. 2. Be My Critic: I hope you buy my book through Amazon! I hope you read it. I hope you enjoy it, but even if you don't, please take the time to rate and review my book on Amazon. These ratings and reviews play a major part in other people finding (and ultimately purchasing) my book. I'm not asking for a "good" review. But I am asking for an HONEST review -- tell people about the good and the bad, and then let them make up their minds for themselves. If you would like to leave a review after you've read my book, you can read about Amazon's review policy here. Thank you all so much for your support. The real ride begins on Saturday, and maybe things will fizzle out as quickly as they begin, but no matter what happens, I'm sure none of this would have been possible without all of you and your help along the way. See you Saturday! Two weeks from LAUNCH DAY and I think it's only fitting that I acknowledge one of my major creative influences, the Amazing Spider-Man. When people ask me to describe ANOM: Awakening I tell them it's like a comic book for adults, only much longer and without any pictures. And honestly, that's exactly what I tried to create. I wanted to write the kind of novel that I would enjoy reading myself. I love comic books! I love superheroes! And my hands-down, absolute favorite is your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. I fell in love with Spider-Man during the fourth grade (and even though that's not 100% accurate. I was a big fan of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends -- the cartoon with Spidey, Iceman, and Firestar -- but I digress). But in fourth grade my parents got me a subscription to The Amazing Spider-Man, and I never looked back. My first issue, all those years ago, featured a forgettable character named Cardiac (well-respected surgeon by day/vigilante at night capable of tapping into the electricity of his own pace-maker). Then, just yesterday, I picked up my latest issue, Civil War 2: Amazing Spider-Man #1 from our local comic shop, Crossroads Comics. So how have 25 years of Spider-Man influenced my writing and my novel? To answer that question, I need to start by explaining why I love Spider-Man in the first place. For me, the story of Spider-Man has always revolved around the concept of self-sacrifice. We're all familiar with the Spider-Man mantra, "With great power there must also come great responsibility." But do we ever stop and ask ourselves, "a great responsibility to what?" When we see the question, I think the answer becomes obvious. Spider-Man feels an overwhelming responsibility to serve the greater good, often at the price of tremendous self-sacrifice. This altruism by Peter Parker is present in a way that's missing from the other two BIG superheroes. Batman seems to be motivated by a near-psychotic need to avenge his murdered family. And Superman is more "Superman" than Clark Kent. In other words, they exist at polar ends of the same spectrum. Batman is meeting his own selfish need for vengeance and Superman is so perfect that of course he's fighting for truth, justice, and the American way. In other words, in a real sense, Batman and Superman are both doing EXACTLY what they want to do. Spidey is different. For as much fun as he seems to be having web-swinging through the city, there always exists within Spider-Man the tension between what Peter Parker "wants" to do, and what Spider-Man "has" to do. So what does this mean for my novel, ANOM: Awakening? After 25 years with Spider-Man, my idea of heroism has become inextricably linked to the idea of sacrifice and that theme comes up again and again in my writing. Spider-Man books are full of action, and action is great! Hopefully you read some of the action sequences in my book and think they're awesome. But action, by itself, is hollow. It's the choice -- the decision to act in the face of great personal sacrifice -- that makes any action heroic. In ANOM: Awakening characters are faced with these choices again and again, and just like in real life, they don't always get it right. But when they do . . . that's heroic. And hopefully that's worth reading about. I read an interesting article earlier in the week involving Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead. For those of you who faithfully follow my blog, you will know that these are the first two creative influences I mentioned in my series (aptly titled) Creative Influences. Not one to ignore a good coincidence, it's only right that I comment on the article and my response. THE PREMISE: For those of you unaware, the HBO series Game of Thrones is based on a series of novels by George R. R. Martin. The problem is that the book series is still incomplete. Beginning this season, the television show has outstripped the novels. Viewers are now seeing parts of the story that the readers have yet to experience. Meanwhile, over on AMC, The Walking Dead continues its reign of popularity. Just like Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead is based on source material, a comic book series created by Robert Kirkman. In the article, Kirkman is asked if he would ever make the same decision as Martin. Would he share details of his future story ideas so that AMC could continue the show without the source material (you can read the original interview with Kirkman here)? This is Kirkman's response, "I would never do that. That's the one thing I'm disappointed in George R.R. Martin for doing. He should have just been like, Fuck you. You make it up now, I'll get to mine when I'm ready." THE QUESTION(S): After reading the quote from Robert Kirkman you may be left with a number of questions. For starters, did George R. R. Martin really make a mistake by sharing the broad strokes of his story with HBO? Is Kirkman's solution of turning the reigns over to HBO with zero guidance really a better answer? And finally, why does Kirkman seem to care so much? MY ANSWER: To understand the vitriol of Kirkman's response, we have to draw a hazy line between "art" and "entertainment". While these two terms will often overlap, they may, in fact, also be mutually exclusive. So let's start by defining "entertainment". I would like to posit that "entertainment" is a public display intended for the enjoyment of the audience. In the other corner, I would define "art" as a display intended to evoke emotion and introspection in the audience. Can these two rivals, "entertainment" and "art," coexist? Absolutely! Think of your favorite song and undoubtedly there is enjoyment, emotion, and introspection all blended perfectly together at the same time. However, "entertainment" and "art" can also stand at odds. For example, when I was dating my wife Vanessa in high school we went on a date to see Saving Private Ryan. When the movie ended and we left the theater (still in shock from the D-Day scene at the beginning of the movie) we drove home in complete silence... Worst. Date. Ever. I would argue Saving Private Ryan was much closer to "art" than "entertainment" (and a terrible date movie. What were we thinking?). SO WHAT: What does this mean for Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead? I would argue that when Martin revealed his story to HBO, allowing them to preempt his upcoming novels, he was effectively sacrificing his "art" for the sake of "entertainment" (and in this case, making his choice to earn a tidy sum of money). To put it another way, he was "selling out." MY NOVEL: Finally, what does any of this have to do with my novel ANOM: Awakening? It serves as a reminder that when "entertainment" and "art" exist in conflict, a writer must always choose to take the side of "art." There is certainly a temptation to make the audience happy - it's part of human nature, after all, to want to be liked - but there is a greater obligation on the writer to create emotion and introspection . . . even when that emotion may be unpleasant or the introspection may prove difficult. I hope that ANOM: Awakening is both art and entertainment! But if I had to choose only one, I hope that I would choose "art." Entertainment is fleeting. It distracts us for a moment and is soon enough forgotten. Art is different. It forces us to change and grow. It becomes a part of us, and in so doing, it stays with us forever. That kind of "art" is priceless. If you don't believe me, just ask Robert Kirkman. |
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