The State of Monday – July 1
Welcome to July (also known as, “shit, how is it July already?”)! Last week was pretty good for the writing. I had a very useful phone conversation with my editor (the great and powerful Anne Sowards) in the middle of the week.
Maybe it’s a little bit of a power move that she insists on using this thing whenever she talks with me, but, hey, whatever works.
We talked about where I’m planning on taking Book 3. This was a pretty important phone call, since when Roc bought the three books, the purchases on #2 and #3 were based on a set of proposals, plus an over-series arc document. Iron Night is similar in most major points to its proposal, but the problem is that there are a few really BIG events that were in the Book 3 proposal that I just didn’t feel should happen yet. They needed more prep before I could get to them.
How big are these events? Well, about as big as the giant balloon that Anne Sowards does all of her business travel in. It’s slow, but she gets great mileage.
Anne agreed with me, and I had a really productive week of outlining. I’ve cleared up one of the thornier areas of the main plot, and now I’m just figuring out how some of the ongoing plots will fit in around it. The timing is going really well on this, since on Saturday I’ll be heading down to one of my favorite places in the world for a six-day solo vacation – can you guess the place?
Newport, RI. My family starting going down for a week every summer when I was about 4, and I actually lived there for a full year on my own. Newport is both one of my favorite settings in the Fortitude Scott books and a really important place in its creation. I finished the first draft of Generation V in Newport in the summer of 2011. In the summer of 2012, I’d just sold the series to Roc, and I thrashed out the full outline of Iron Night during my time there. This summer I’m hoping to get a chunk of writing done on Book 3.
Here are two pictures from last summer. Isn’t it great?
My schedule in Newport is pretty basic – I get up in the morning, eat breakfast and read on the porch. Then I come inside and write for a few hours, breaking for lunch. In the early afternoon I take a break and head down to the town – I walk all over, looking in shops, checking out what has changed, until I’m exhausted and sweaty. Early dinner at the Newport Creamery (greasy spoon diner and decent eating for a writer on a budget – plus, Awful Awfuls!), then back to the keyboard. Time out on the porch to enjoy the sunset. Work until I’m tired, then to bed. Repeat until vacation is over.
It’s wonderful – though my brother usually calls me a few times to make sure I haven’t gone all The Shining on my own.
This year I’ll be leaving Newport on a Friday – the same Friday as my first convention! I’m really excited to be attending ConnectiCon – I’m on two panels, plus I’m going to get a chance to sign copies of Generation V! Plus I also get to attend a convention – yay! If you’re planning on attending ConnectiCon, drop me a note so that we can meet up!
So that’s what’s going on with me (and why there won’t be a State of Monday next week), on to the important stuff – what’s going on with the books! Firstly, Generation V is up to 22 reviews over at Amazon. Amazon also has a new format which I’m not especially thrilled about – I find it really visually annoying, and it kind of pisses me off to have to click on something to see basic book info like where something was published. But, hey, I guess when I’m a global conglomerate with billions in assets, I can complain then, right?
Two really great reviews of Generation V – one from Kristin over at My Bookish Ways, and the other that I found over at bookistry. Also, Candace from Candace’s Book Blog is having a guest post and giveaway extravaganza, and she was nice enough to ask me to add a post. I had a lot of fun doing it, so check out My Top Ten Favorite Books So Far This Year — because, really, I’ve never been able to do a Top Ten list of favorite books of all time. I remember getting really frustrated over that once back in 8th grade, and let me tell you, I’ve read a *shit-ton* of books since then. It’s not getting any easier. But favorite books read in a six month period? That I could get a fun handle on. Oh, and you should also check out my list because Candace is running a giveaway of a signed copy of Generation V. So, free stuff!
I’ll be guest blogging tomorrow at That’s What I’m Talking About for their Urban Fantasy Summer Reading Celebration ) — they have a pretty great lineup of books to raffle off, and they’ll also be talking about some of my favorite authors.
Speaking of summer fun – check out the Blogger Summer Circus Giveaway Hop. There are a lot of great blogs involved, but start off at one I like very much – Danielle at Coffee and Characters is the ringmaster, and she also has a lineup of cover reveals, and I’m *very* flattered that she included Iron Night as one that she’s really looking forward to! Believe me, I’m *dying* to find out what people think of it, and January feels like forever and a day, but it’s with the copyeditor now, who will no doubt point out about fifty problems that I was completely unaware of. (last time favorites included the fact that the gun Fort was using held about four more bullets than I thought it did – so the final version ended up with four more shots to explain how he emptied his gun)
Speaking of the Iron Night cover….
…my own… my precious…
…it was included in the All Things Urban Fantasy Cover Art Coverage! They had 36 covers to get through (whoa!) but were nice enough to include Iron Night. The entry is worth checking out on its own (I love reading their cover art posts), but here’s what was said about Iron Night:
Chris says:
The covers for this series suck. A lot. They’re boring as all get out. That’s especially sad since this is a tremendous series.
Did you hear that? Chris says that this is a “tremendous series”! Woo!
Kristina says:
While I will always applaud sensible clothes and just plain clothes on a model this is kind of boring. He looks like he’s just taking a stroll with his gun.
“Taking a stroll with his gun” would be the best kickoff to an animated Disney song EVER! (wait, didn’t that already happen in Pocahontas?) But, yes, I am continually relieved at Fort’s state of dress on these covers – ie, his commitment to wearing shirts. Actually, this cover got even safer, since he now has a tee *and* a long-sleeve shirt! That’s smart layering, Fort!
Jennifer says:
The V in the background is why I’m giving this cover the middle. My interest is peaked by it alone.
I’m a huge fan of that background V. Yes, it has flummoxed a few people, since the official series name is American Vampire, not Generation V, but I was seriously worried around title time that my series didn’t have themed titles, and I think that the artist did a fantastic job of using that V to tie them together. Bravo!
Fun side story – I was on the phone with my brother last night, and I asked what he thought of the new cover. Typical brother, he didn’t even know I *had* a website (right on the book! Argh!), but it turned out to be a win, since then I got to listen in realtime to his cover reaction! (once he scrolled past last week’s fluffy dog – not my cover, btw). It was hysterically funny, and I wrote it down to share with all of you:
My Brother says:
WHAT? He went from film theory geek to Die Hard! And why is he carrying a sawed-off shotgun?!
I’m going to call that a thumbs up.
That’s about it – but remember that tomorrow is the debut of Django Wexler’s The Thousand Names (#5 on my list of books I read this year, btw). According to SF Signal:
I would wholeheartedly recommend The Thousand Names, not only to fans of fantasy but also to fans of military fiction of all types. Fans of Steven Erikson, David Drake, Glen Cook, Naomi Novik, Tom Kratman, Jack Campbell, David Weber, and John Ringo take note – there’s a new military fiction cowboy in town and his name is Django.
Django Wexler. The new military fiction cowboy in town.
And if you’re buying The Thousand Names, why not take the opportunity to pick up Generation V as well?
After all, mine has more cats than Django’s does.
The State of Monday – June 24
The Iron Night edits are done! Now the manuscript is in the hands of the copyeditor. I don’t know whether it will be the same copyeditor who handled Generation V (Dan Larsen), but I’ll probably see it back in maybe 1-3 months. The good thing is that all of the major plot events are now basically locked in, so I can move forward to work on Book 3 and not worry about anything from Iron Night suddenly changing.
It was a mostly quiet week – one great interview was posted at Fantasy Book Critic – this is a great interview to check out. Mihir read and enjoyed Generation V, and he put together some absolutely fantastic questions, several of which I’d never been asked before! Lots of fun. Danielle over at Coffee and Characters did a great cover reveal for Iron Night. It’s very exciting and gratifying to know that people are looking forward to the Generation V sequel!
I also set up a Goodreads giveaway for one signed copy of Generation V — the hope there is that some people will learn about it from the Goodreads giveaway page and be interested enough to want to buy it if they don’t win the copy (or, even better, be so interested that they can’t even wait for the contest to end, and must get a hold of it immediately).
Great news from Amazon! Generation V is now up to 21 reviews! That’s really great, since it puts it past that 20 marker that I was told was really important. Thanks so much to everyone who posted a review!
Speaking of Amazon – an interesting article here is making the rounds on Twitter today. I’m certainly a fan of brick & mortars bookstores, and I actually worked for two years in a really lovely independent bookstore, so I do understand how important it is to support places other than Amazon. But at the same time I’m also very aware of how important Amazon is for my books. It’s an interesting conundrum. However, I can quite certainly do better in posting book links that aren’t solely to Amazon – so here is where you can buy Generation V from IndieBound and I’ve added that to the main book info page as well!
That’s just about all the news I’ve got, so back to work!
This is one of my reference photos from when I was writing Iron Night. Look at that adorable little Bichon Frise – it wants you to buy a copy of Generation V
Iron Night
Thanks to @AllThings_Uf, I now have a big copy of the Iron Night cover to share!
Check this out!
Fort leveled up!
The State of Monday – June 17
Somewhat quick update today – firstly, some extremely exciting news! Iron Night now has listings on Amazon.com and Goodreads! So this means that I can finally do the reveal here (in a tiny picture because I don’t have a larger one yet, sorry):
Young, broke, and lethal.
Underemployed by day. Undead by night.
Underachieving film theory graduate and vampire Fortitude Scott may be waiting tables at a snooty restaurant run by a tyrannical chef who hates him, but the other parts of his life finally seem to be stabilizing. He’s learning how to help rule the Scott family territory, hanging out more with his shapeshifting friend Suzume Hollis, and has actually found a decent roommate for once.
Until he finds his roommate’s dead body.
The Scott family cover-up machine swings into gear, but Fort is the only person trying to figure out who (or what) actually killed his friend. His hunt for a murderer leads to a creature that scares even his sociopathic family, and puts them all in deadly peril.
Keeping secrets, killing monsters, and still having to make it to work on time? Sometimes being a vampire really sucks.
Coming January 7, 2014! Very cool, right? When I saw the cover my first thought was that Fort had leveled up in attractiveness! (he went from Fortitude the Grey to Fortitude the White!) But I do love the cover – particularly the way that the artist used the background V to tie the two books together. And the architectural interest behind the model. Oh, and the gun – that’s exactly how I was picturing it. Okay, I just love the cover.
I’m finishing up the primary edits on Iron Night this week, and after that it will be turned over to the copyeditor (which will be, you know, delightful). But I’m really excited about where the book goes, and I can’t wait until it gets released.
But, returning to the book currently making its way (hopefully) onto shelves and into hearts – some new stuff for Generation V as well! Reviews this past week went up at Coffee and Characters and Ladybug Literature, and I did an interview with the Little Red Reviewer. That last one has a giveaway attached to it as well, for anyone interested.
So if you haven’t read Generation V yet, the countdown is now on!
Remember to get one for each of the kids!
The State of Monday – June 10
Kind of a mixed week. Didn’t get nearly as much writing done as I’d been hoping. About halfway through the week I came up with a fantastic idea for a completely *different* urban fantasy world, and spent a few days hashing out a basic world outline and primary character. Which was all very well and good, and I would love to someday have two series going at once, but seriously, FUCK. That was basically anti-progress on Book Three! And now I have to keep straight exactly which world has the egg-layers… grumble, grumble…
So unfortunately the writing goal this week is basically the same as last week – get a solid outline going for Book Three. I need to make some pretty hefty character decisions, figure out exactly how this Mystery Plot A is going to fit together in a way that brings in all the elements I need it to, and keep doing my research on bears.
Yes, that’s right, bears.
Bears are critical to the plot in Book Three. Because someone took their pic-i-nic baskets.
Other stuff went a bit better. Generation V is up to sixteen reviews on Amazon.com (only four more and I’m at twenty!), plus a very nice 5-raven review just went up today at The Bibliophilic Book Blog. Mihir at Fantasy Book Critic also did a great mini-review of Generation V that you can read here, so it was a good week for the book in terms of press as Generation V hit its one-month birthday.
Also fun – my post last week about A Modest Proposal About Firefly was hands-down my most-viewed post ever, so that was great. Even better was when Brian Taylor at A Descent Into Slushland wrote Another Modest Proposal About Firefly, which you should absolutely check out. I talked to a few other people about possibly doing a few more of these as guest posts – it’s a lot of fun to put together, and I love seeing what other people imagine. If anyone reading this is interested in putting a Modest Firefly Proposal together, just drop me a note.
My membership at the SFWA was approved – right in the middle of the absolute Chernobyl-level meltdown over the frothing misogyny displayed in the most recent Bulletin edition. Now, I’ll never see that edition (which I’m sorry to miss out on only because there was an article by the great Jim Hines in it), since my membership kicks in with copies now. But it was certainly an interesting experience to have already paid my dues money, but be unable to participate on the forums or speak as a member. The dust is settling now, and a number of absolutely wonderful responses and articles have already been written (the benefit of an incident happening in an organization of *writers*), many of which I already linked the crap out of on my Facebook and Twitter feeds. I’ll restrict myself to linking to only two items of interest on this entry – the presidential statement by John Scalzi, which I think best exemplifies why I still really want to be involved in this organization, crazy glaring flaws and all, and Chuck Wendig’s marvelous blog post about sexism.
Now, here’s a palate-cleanser link for everyone who just got flashbacks from even that short paragraph – Kickstarter for All-Female Gaming Miniatures Reaches Goal in 30 Seconds!
Last item of note – I just got my copies of the Ace/Roc sampler in Science Fiction and Fantasy (New Classics and New Voices). This is extremely cool – one cover is of a steam-powered ship going into a wormhole and has samples from Jack Campbell, Ilona Andrews, Faith Hunter, Taylor Anderson, Mike Shepherd, and Anne Bishop – but then you flip the book over and there’s a second cover of an empty helmet on a snowy battlefield, and this side has samples from debut authors, the first of which is me! My sample is the first chapter of Generation V, which my brother recently told me was his favorite chapter of the entire book (it ought to be – this was the bait on my fishing hook to get published, and I cannot even say how many times I smoothed and rewrote this fucker). The sampler will be available for free at the Ace/Roc booth at conventions all this summer, so check it out! Also, I’ll be at ConnectiCon and WorldCon this summer with a backpack full of the sampler, which I’ll be happy to sign and give to anyone who wants one!
The other debut authors featured are Stella Gemmell (the cover on the New Voices sampler is actually from her debut The City!), Luke Scull, Alan Averill, Anthony Ryan, and Django Wexler.
Okay, here’s a pair of fun facts – I loved the crap out of Django Wexler’s debut, and think that everyone should buy it and read it. Admittedly, everyone should buy and read Generation V first, but right after that, check out The Thousand Names.
The second fun fact is that Django and I not only went to the same college, but we were in the same program, and actually once took the same writing workshop with Hilary Masters.
In case you weren’t already pre-ordering The Thousand Names, here’s another reason why you should buy it:
Because it comes recommended from Django’s adorable cat, Tomoes.
But, seriously, no buying his book until you already own mine.
Hairless Cape Cat commands that you buy Generation V before The Thousand Names. Do not risk Hairless Cape Cat’s displeasure.
A Modest Proposal About Firefly
*sniffle*
Very recently, a friend of mine was going through a pretty painful and sucky breakup, so she came over to my house and we spent the day getting her mind off of it. We did what I assume everyone does in this kind of situation — I popped a bowl of popcorn, and broke out my Firefly DVDs. We watched the two-hour premiere, then “The Train Job.”
My friend never watched Firefly when it was actually airing – she first saw it a few years ago in one DVD marathon session. So we were talking, and she mentioned that she couldn’t understand why it had never gotten enough of a following to keep going. Here’s how that conversation went (roughly, I wasn’t taking notes):
Me: You know that 2-hour premiere that introduced all the characters, and the world, and the girl in the box?
Her: Yeah?
Me: That aired last.
Her: Wait, what? How? What? What aired first?
Me: “The Train Job.”
Her: That makes no sense! How would anyone know what was going on?
Exactly.
I was a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, so I actually did watch the Firefly premiere. “The Train Job” is a great second episode, and it tried mightily to function as an introduction to a series, but I remember seeing the screen go to black and being all, “Um? Huh? What’s going on here?” Now, I kept watching because the actors were good, the gunfights were fun, and there were a lot of amazing lines. But it was kind of a struggle – it was a few episodes before I actually figured out what the hell was up with Simon and River (several subsequent episodes also been aired out of order did not help with this problem), Book’s whole hidden badass side was way more hidden than Whedon had originally intended, Mal and Inara’s whole arc was all whaaa?, and so on and so on.
As that last paragraph shows, I don’t think I’ve ever quite recovered from my frustration over how Firefly was so completely shafted and mismanaged by the network – it had an incredible world, intricate character relationships, and at least enough potential storylines to fuel four seasons before it started to limp. Instead it gets put down halfway through the season, and Ghost Whisperer got five? Where is the justice.
I learned nothing from the experience, either, since then I went and fell in love with Dollhouse. Damnit! At least Whedon got to resolve that one – though the second season packed in about three seasons worth of arc. Even Vampire Diaries would’ve been all, “Hey, slow it down a little!” (I’m almost terrified to watch SHIELD when it comes out.)
If the above didn’t give it away yet, I’m also one of those people who became committed to the idea that at some point the stars would align, all the actors would be available, there would be some kind of bloody coup at Fox, and Firefly would come back. (damn SciFi for not taking it – really, SciFi? No number of Stargate spinoffs can redeem you in my sight!) Now, there was the movie – and it was an awesome movie, which I saw in the theater, and I own the DVD. And after the movie I *completely* believed that the show would get picked up again… which of course it did not.
The ten-year anniversary of the cancellation was last year. There were a lot of cool events, and it was nice to gather ‘round, watch the show again, curse the sudden (yet inevitable) betrayal of Fox, and dream of what could still be…
And that’s when I really did finally get it – this ain’t coming back.
Even if there was the will, and the money, and a network, and an opening on Whedon’s calendar, it just won’t happen. The actors are ten years older. You can’t just start up the show and be all “this picks up three months after the events of Serenity.” Ten years shows. Nathan Fillion is not getting back into those tight pants. Summer Glau cannot pass as a teenager anymore. Alan Tudyk’s character was killed, so I don’t have to think of a reason for him.
But ten years would also impact storylines – as an audience member, I can buy space cowboy. (Because it’s *awesome*) But I can’t buy that ten years would go by without Mal and Inara finally settling the relationship one way or the other. And losing Wash was horrible for Zoe, but she would’ve had ten years to grieve and move forward. River at 26 would be an incredible, slightly-crazy badass, but I doubt she would have anything but full control at that part. Her brother is incredibly smart – ten years and he’d have her brain super-glued back together.
Also, ten years later? Simon and Kaylee would have a spunky eight-year-old helping out in the engine room, and I’m sorry guys, but I just cannot watch a show with a precocious child on it. Not even for Whedon.
Jayne, I grant you, could probably pick up his arc exactly where it left off and have it be believable.
So, I have to accept that where the characters are at the end of the film will have to be my ultimate resolution with them.
BUT.
That intricate, amazing, fascinating space-cowboy world with its fascinating underpinnings of the overlap of corporations and government, haves and haves not, the right to misbehave, a ruling system out of control, cows on spaceships, religious variations, and what the fuck was Blue Sun anyway?
Oh, no. That I will *not* give up on. Because here’s the thing – the world can be returned to, props can be rebuilt, and the effects budget would probably go a bit further nowadays. Yes, Whedon is busy with SHIELD (for the year and a half that it will run, and then shatter all of our hearts *again*), but this is a guy who had Buffy, Angel, *and* Firefly running simultaneously. He can multitask. Plus, all of the amazing writers who were on staff are still around, and the thing about writers is that they just get better with age (well, to a certain point – after about seventy they start getting weird). The *world* of Firefly can still sound, look, and feel the same. It just needs to be populated with a new crew.
This brings me to my modest proposal – a game for Firefly fans to fill in a little time before the next Whedon-esque heartbreak. Think of it like a cross between Mad Libs and paper dolls.
Here are your set parameters:
The time: Five years after the conclusion of Serenity.
The place: A Firefly-class starship.
Now here’s where you get to start filling in.
When Firefly came out in 2002, the big run-up to the show was based around a kind of formulaic presentation of the characters (the better for the rest of us to wrap our heads around). These were the categories:
The Captain (Mal Reynolds)
The Soldier (Zoe)
The Pilot (Wash)
The Mechanic (Kaylee)
The Mercenary (Jayne)
The Ambassador (Inara)
The Shepherd (Book)
The Fugitive (River – though technically she and Simon were *both* fugitives, but she didn’t have much else to do during the first few episodes. Though later she became spooky and badass)
The Doctor (Simon)
I was trying to find the article that I originally read that list in (it also had a reporter asking Nathan Fillion to free-associate phrases, and one of them was “space hooker” – Nathan’s response was “Poor Morena.”), but failed. I did, however, find it used in (of all things) an OK Cupid Firefly-themed personality test. Huh.
That’s nine parts that need to be cast. I’m going to add one more: The Villain. In the original series this was Two By Two, Hands Of Blue (also known as Those Guys With Blue Gloves On).
Ten categories to fill, and the need to establish the basic storylines that a pilot would start with. I’ll go first!
The Captain
The Captain – Cassidy Freeman
About the character: This Captain would, like Mal, be a Browncoat combat veteran. The same financial and ethical pressures that pushed Mal into the fringes would’ve done the same to this former sergeant once Unification occurred. Though often alone, the Captain harbors an unresolved love interest in the Ambassador.
About my casting choice: Cassidy Freeman played the vampire Sage on Vampire Diaries, and before her death (pretty much every character on that show dies), she did a great job of giving a nuanced and very strong performance. I also saw her on the second season of Once Upon A Time, where she played Jacqueline (otherwise known as Jack and the Beanstalk), and she did a good job killing giants. In action scenes, she has a good physical presence. I think she could be an awesome Captain.
The Soldier
The Soldier – Enver Gjokaj
About the character: Like Zoe, this Soldier served under the Captain during the war, forming a close and unbreakably loyal bond. Even when he disagrees with the Captain, once an order is given, the Soldier will follow it.
About my casting choice: Enver Gjokaj played Victor in Dollhouse. Over the course of the show, during which time Enver showed the ability to play *a lot* of different characters, it was revealed that Victor’s original personality had been a soldier. I thought he really sold it during those scenes. Plus, we know Joss Whedon likes him – he played one of the NYC cops in The Avengers who have a brief exchange with Captain America.
The Pilot
The Pilot – Felicia Day
About the character: Unlike Wash, this Pilot is also a veteran of the war. Flying for the browncoats in some of the worse battles of the war, the Pilot was shot down and spent almost several months in an Alliance prison camp. When the war ended, the prisoners were freed, but the Pilot has been left with PTSD. A brilliant pilot, but with a lot of demons and a poor attitude, eventually the only job she could find where she wouldn’t get fired was flying her sister’s Firefly. Yup, this is my use of the sibling connection – the Captain and the Pilot are siblings. (plus, how else to explain the presence of two gingers on a spaceship?)
About my casting choice: Penny on Dr. Horrible, Charlie on Supernatural, plus Codex on The Guild – Felicia Day is a lot of fun on the screen. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her play a character as dark as the Pilot, but I absolutely think that she could. Plus, this would be her third Joss Whedon thing – the first time I saw her was on Buffy.
The Mechanic
The Mechanic – Wil Wheaton (center, in the kilt — which you already knew, because DUH Wil Wheaton!)
About the character: Like Kaylee this character is brilliant at keeping a Firefly running on a shoestring budget and salvaged parts. This Mechanic is somewhat less effervescent and idealistic than Kaylee, but instead shares more personality traits and worldview with Wash. Far less jaded than the Captain, the Soldier, the Mercenary, or the Pilot, but better suited to life on the edge than the Ambassador or the Shepherd.
About my casting choice: He spent how many years recalibrating phase polarity as an ensign on the Enterprise? It’s about time that Wil Wheaton had a ship’s engine entirely to himself.
The Mercenary
The Once And Future Mercenary – Adam Baldwin
About the character: Jayne is probably the one character who would actually be believably in a similar situation and in an emotionally similar state as he was originally. He got off Serenity when he found a farm owned by an attractive and wealthy widow, figuring that he’d be set up for life. Six months later they were divorced after the widow discovered he was a jerk, and he was left with nothing except his hat and his favorite gun Vera. With Serenity on the other side of the ‘verse and in need of a job, he hired on with this crew. Amoral, aggressive, and kind of a lummox, Jayne as the Mercenary is perfect in every way.
About my casting choice: Adam Baldwin might actually fit into his old Blue Sun tee-shirts. Plus, who better?
The Ambassador
The Ambassador – Dichen Lachman
About the character: Even by the middle of Season 1, it was getting old to see Inara spending half her time under some dude of the week (yes, it wasn’t just dudes, but when it’s only one woman and how many guys? I’m calling trend). Yes, fan-service is fun, but I wonder how long we really would’ve stayed interested in companions. Plus, their place in society was fairly problematic, despite Whedon’s efforts. So this Ambassador isn’t a companion, but instead is a galaxy-trotting cultural anthropologist from a hugely wealthy family on Osiris. It’s kind of like if a Kennedy black sheep when road-tripping. All these different planets with various sub-cultures that can range to individuals juggling goslings for fun? A traveling anthropologist would have a field day. She’s gathering information for what she hopes will be a ground-breaking book on cultures in the outer planets, and how better to get into all these lawless places than renting a shuttle on a scruffy Firefly? Of course, things have gotten a bit more complicated since she arrived, now that she and the Captain are avoiding talking about their attraction – and given that they fundamentally disagree and come from such different worlds, the path to true love will *not* run smoothly. As a scion of one of the preeminent families of her world, the Ambassador has a lot of connections, and she is much more politically aware and informed than anyone else on the ship. Bonus: If she and the Captain ever got things better settled than Mal and Inara, Adam Baldwin could say “I’ll be in my bunk” again.
About my casting choice: Dichen Lachman did some interesting stuff as Sierra on Dollhouse, and I bet that she could do some great intellectually curious yet privileged rich girl stuff. Plus, she’s a Whedon alum.
The Shepherd
The Shepherd – Ashley Williams
About the character: Book was awesome, plus he had a hidden past that slowly came out. What was also great was how he could add in to a lot of moral discussions – his viewpoints were usually extremely black & white, which added contrast and conflict with the extremely morally gray approach of Mal, Zoe, and Jayne. Losing a person of the cloth would be a loss to the show and the places where it could go. So, this Shepherd (like Book) was originally just a passenger who got on in the pilot, but due to those events became a member of the crew. She is a missionary who was heading to the outer planets to preach the holy word, and her outlook is very stark – there are good actions and evil actions. She comes to view her purpose as encouraging the Captain toward making morally good decisions (similar to Book). In outlook, she emotionally ends up filling Kaylee’s role – effervescent, relentlessly optimistic, and a buoyant personality. What events in her life led to the Shepherd choosing missionary work – well, it’s called a *hidden* past for a reason. (maybe she dropped out of companion-school?)
About my casting choice: It’s probably my most out-there – the only thing I’ve ever seen Ashley Williams do was Victoria on How I Met Your Mother – but she was really good, has nice comic timing, and she has the most glorious smile.
The Fugitive
The Fugitive – Tahmoh Penikett
About the character: Remember the operative from Serenity? That guy was amazing, and when his intense faith in the ultimate rightness of the people he served was broken, it absolutely shattered him. Wouldn’t that guy be a cool crew member? The Fugitive was an operative of the Parliament who was sent out to retrieve a scientist who had gone on the run, taking all of her highly classified research with her. The Fugitive caught her, because he is a motherfucking operative and he does not mess around. But where he caught her was tiny moon in the middle of nowhere, and the defenses she’d set up around her lab were able to completely disable his ship. So instead of knocking her out and throwing her in cold-storage for the trip home, he needed her mobile. He got her to the one ship in the area – a scrappy Firefly with a motley crew. He flashed his badge and said that he was from the government and was requisitioning the ship to fly him back to a military outpost, for which he would pay them an obscene amount of money. But that gave the scientist the chance to talk with him, and tell him about exactly what the Parliament had wanted her to create with her research. And the truth of that broke his faith, and broke him. Now the only thing he wants to do is protect the scientist, and the crew of the Firefly are willing to let the two of them hide on the ship… for now. The Fugitive is repulsed by the kinds of jobs that the Captain and her crew take, and everything about them run contrary to the rigid rules of law that he believed in and upheld for so many years. But on the occasions that he participates, the Fugitive can kick ass.
About my casting choice: He was Helo on Battlestar Galactica, and Paul Ballard on Dollhouse. He can work tortured man of honor like there is no tomorrow, he’s a Whedon alumni, and he does crazy good fight work. He would totally bring it.
The Doctor
The Doctor – Nichelle Nichols
About the character: Simon had two jobs on Firefly – one was to protect someone else (River). The other was to be able to sew people up well enough that Whedon could end most episodes with one or more members of the crew suffering from gunshot wounds. With the level of violence usually seen on a Firefly, a doctor is necessary. This Doctor is also hiding from the government, but she takes up River’s role as the focus of the government desire – she is the object that they want to recover. The role of protector is shifted over to the Fugitive (and his devotion to her protection is not from a sibling desire, but because it is the only reason he can think of right now not to commit suicide). The Doctor was a top-level scientist in the Alliance government, and after the events of Serenity and the massive exposure suffered by the Parliament, she was assigned the task of researching what about the Pax turned normal people into Reavers. She believed that she was given this job in the hopes of being able to reverse the process (the was also the Parliament’s publicity campaign after the origins of the Reavers were revealed), but when she started making real progress on the task, she discovered that the Parliament actually had no intention of fixing the Reavers – they want a fool-proof way of *creating more* Reavers, as the ultimate nuclear option to threaten or unsettle rebelling worlds. She ran, the Fugitive was dispatched and caught her, but now she has him protecting her and the Captain harboring them. She destroyed all records of her work and progress, but she is the only person who could recreate it, which is why she’s running.
About my casting choice: Uhura! And Nichelle Nichols was good recently on Heroes, so I’d personally like to see her in a role that had some meat on it.
The Villain
George Takei
Alexis Denisof
Reed Diamond
Ruthless Yet Honorable Head Villain
About the character: The defection of an operative is kind of a big deal, plus the research into weaponizing Reavers is drydocked without the Doctor, so a crack team has been dispatched to find the Fugitive and the Doctor – though they only need her to be alive. In charge is Ruthless Yet Honorable Head Villain – he’s an older version of the Fugitive, really, but with an even more powerful belief in the overall rightness of the system. He wants to capture the Fugitive alive, since he believes that the Fugitive can be brought back into the fold. RYHHV has the power and authority in this mission, so he’ll mostly be coordinating efforts from whatever Alliance ship is currently their headquarters.
About my casting choice: George Takei rocked on Heroes, so the guy has still got it.
Sneaky Untrustworthy Vice-Villain
About the character: Sneaky Untrustworthy Vice-Villain is the second-banana in this hunt. He isn’t an operative himself, instead he is a political aide to one of the members of Parliament. He is present to observe the hunt for his masters and make sure that their interests are taken care of. Unlike RYHHV, SUVV is slimy and underhanded, and will go back on his word and stab people in the back. He would prefer to kill the Fugitive and anyone who harbored them, then torture information out of the Doctor. Will probably kill RYHHV at some climactic season end episode.
About my casting choice: Alexis Denisof is a Whedon veteran of Buffy, Angel, Dollhouse, and now Much Ado About Nothing. It just completes everything to have him be on Firefly as well.
Gopher #1
About the character: Yes, RYHHV and SUVV might be masterminding things and giving orders, but that leaves one guy who actually has to go do stuff. And that guy is Gopher #1.
About my casting choice: Reed Diamond was fantastic as Mr. Dominic on Dollhouse. He can be serious, he can be funny, and he can also do a fight scene.
So, overall, I’ve shown that I have put much too much thought into this. However, there it is, and my questions to you are:
What characters would you re-cast in my version?
If you made your own version, what would it be?
Comment and share – come on, let’s have a little fun!
The State of Monday
Things are going pretty well right now. I finished making adjustments to Iron Night based on the edits that my editor sent me, and sent it to her on Friday. These were mostly big-picture elements – character motivations, pacing, building up some elements and toning down others. What happens now (based on my experience with Generation V) is that she’ll take the manuscript and start working on it line-by-line – does this wording sound right? Is there too much repetition in one paragraph? Is a particular idea or piece of information established thoroughly enough?
That’s where Iron Night is right now. I’m really excited about this book – for one thing, I got to take Fort deeper into the supernatural world that he’d been fighting to avoid. I got to revisit and expand some tertiary characters from Book One, as well as introduce some new ones. The world gets more complicated – and also longer! Generation V went to publication at around 85,000 words, but right now Iron Night is beating that by 23K. Given that my word-count goal going in was just to hit 90K, that was kind of surprising, but fun at the same time.
I’ve also gotten a peek at the Iron Night cover – and it is amazing! I’m under strict orders not to share it yet, but as soon as that gets lifted I’m going to put it up. Stylistically it’s similar to the Generation V cover, but I think it’s more dynamic and atmospheric. Can’t wait to hear everyone’s reaction to it!
This week I’m working on Book Three stuff – solidifying plans, doing some background research, that kind of thing. My hope is that at the end of the week I’ll have a working outline of the book. Right now I have a broad idea of major events and where I want a lot of the characters to be at the end of the book, but I’m still working on finer details.
There have been a few changes on the website since the last time I posted an entry – I now have a full character list page. Don’t look through that unless you’ve finished Generation V – it’s spoiler-heavy. I made it to help me with Iron Night (making sure I didn’t use the same names for background characters, being sure that I was consistent on birth years for my vampire characters, that kind of thing), so it establishes where everyone is at the end of the first book. (including, for several characters, deaths and who killed them). When writing Iron Night I found myself constantly flipping open a copy of Generation V to fact-check, and somehow I think that that will just be getting worse when I start Book Three, so I figured that it was definitely time to establish a separate series bible to avoid continuity flubs.
I also have the Reviews & Interviews page – links to all the reviews, interviews, guest posts, or media mentions that I know of. In the last two weeks what has been very exciting is seeing the occasional review pop up that I had no prior knowledge of – a blog review by someone who hadn’t been sent the book by either me or Roc. That’s been very neat, and I’m happy to say that the reviews have overall been really positive.
A few recent ones include:
Fang-tastic Fiction, That’s What I’m Talking About, Urban Fantasy Investigations, Owlcat Mountain, and Fangs For The Fantasy: The Latest In Urban Fantasy From A Social Justice Perspective. There’s a wide variety of responses and writing in here – I love seeing how every reader responds differently to various elements.
My most recent interview was over at Book Lovers Inc.. I also had the wonderful opportunity to write for SF Signal about deeper meaning in speculative fiction writing, which gave me the chance to write about two of my favorite books: Neuromancer by William Gibson and Singer From The Sea by Sheri S. Tepper. Check it out: The Veneer of Escapism.
So that’s where things are. I’m hoping to do that parasite post sometime this week, but I have a few things on my To-Do list, plus a job interview on Wednesday, and Tuesday is the publication for the latest Nalini Singh *and* Cassie Alexander’s latest Edie Spence book, so there will be some rather significant distractions. I’m also trying to introduce my three cats to the CatGenie (litter pan whose cleaning is controlled by TECHNOLOGY!), and it is Not Going Well.
Oh, last thing! Shiloh Walker wrote a great article here about how important Amazon and B&N reviews are for the success of a book. Generation V has twelve reviews at Amazon, and one review at Barnes & Noble. So if you read the book and enjoyed it, please post a review on either website, or both!
And if you haven’t read Generation V… well, wouldn’t you like to give it a try?
Choosy bat mothers choose Generation V for their adorable clinging bat babies!
Weekend notes
Hitting the road this weekend for a trip up the New Hampshire. Limited internet access, and hopefully a chance to put in some solid work on the Iron Night edits.
Hope everyone has a great few days, and a few last links:
There’s an interview posted today over at SciFiChick.com along with a chance to win a signed copy of Generation V.
Plus a very nice review over at All Things Urban Fantasy — four out of five bats can’t be wrong, people!
So if you’ll have any free time over the weekend, wouldn’t you like to curl up and meet this Fortitude Scott guy that everyone in my links is talking about? Of course you would.
Baby black panther thinks you should buy Generation V. Who can argue with baby black panther?
Generation V out in the world
Ever since Generation V was bought by Roc last year, most of my time (when not focused on work, or during the time when I was writing and polishing the initial draft of Iron Night) and focus was on how to best work on promoting the book before it was published. And now… the book is out. I can visit it any time in the bookstore, and now when I talk to people about it, they can actually order copies on their phones, and have e-copies pretty much immediately.
Which is incredible and amazing… but now I can’t help but wonder, now what?
Oh, don’t get me wrong – I know what I need to be doing. The classes I’m teaching are just going into finals, so there’s a lot of hand-holding and correcting going on there. Plus I received edits back from Anne for Iron Night, and those need to be worked on and finished before June 1. Plus I have the third Fortitude Scott book to plan and write. And I really should mop the floors of my house, because that totally got pushed to the back-burner for a few months when I was crazy busy.
But in a larger sense, regarding Generation V, now what? Worrying about how well it’s selling, or doing research and sending emails to try to get more people to talk about it – that has occupied the majority of my days this week. And I know that with my to-do list of actual writing, that’s going to have to change really soon. Maybe I’ll be able to spend a few hours a week thinking about and working on publicity stuff, but that’s probably it.
I’ve made a deal with myself – I’ll keep focusing on Generation V until the end of the week, but then the shift to Iron Night has to happen. So this is an interesting transition time.
So until the rest of the week to keep obsessing about how awesome Generation V looks on a bookshelf at Barnes & Noble.
It’s like a baby picture that I can’t stop flashing!
Stuff To Check Out!
One of my favorite interviews ever at Yummy Men & Kick Ass Chicks – fantastic and thoughtful questions!
Another great Interview at The Qwillery.
I’m guest posting at Guest post at Michael J. Martinez’s blog & at Smexy Books.
The Supernatural Smackdown is still going on at Dark Faerie Tales, and Fort gets a speed date over at the Book Swarm.
Finally, another really strong review of Generation V by Tori over at Smexy Books. Very thoughtful and great stuff.
And in closing, my usual appeal – wouldn’t you love to own your very own copy of Generation V?
Three out of four baby otters approve of you buying Generation V. The fourth would have approved it, but was too busy snoozing adorably.
Generation V debut — interviews & celebration plans
Here’s the big question everyone is asking me on the release day of my debut book – are you having a big party?
The answer is… sort of.
Firstly, today is a Tuesday. So most people I know are actually at work for most of the day, and then they’ll have to get up tomorrow and go to work again on Wednesday. That cuts out most of the crazy partying options. I’ve actually spent a good part of the morning correcting final essays and submitting college grades – interesting fact, having a book debuting today made me a much more forgiving grader than usual! (example: Oh, student who still can’t figure out the difference between “it’s” and “its” – normally your complete inability to just write the rule down on a post-it and follow accordingly would drive me into a frothing rage, but today I just find it cute. Enjoy your B.)
Oh, and I have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon. Yes, what better way to celebrate my success than a trip to the dermatologist? You can see that I truly am living the dream.
But I do have some great plans – after the dermatologist, I’m driving up to meet some friends, and we are heading out to a Barnes & Noble to admire Generation V on the shelf and exchange high fives of congratulation! And then there might be lattes! WOO!
First Season Riker rolls his eyes at me. Sorry, Beardless Riker, we can’t all have orgies on Risa!
There is a lot of other exciting stuff going on today, though, that everyone should check out:
A fantastic interview and review of Generation V on Candace’s Book Blog.
Amazing 5+ star review of Generation V by Julie at Yummy Men & Kick Ass Chicks.
An interview with the Bibliophilic Book Blog.
Interview and giveaway at My Bookish Ways.
And an entry in the Dark Faerie Tales Supernatural Smackdown event. This one is very funny – a lot of other writers are involved, everyone did a guest post from the POV of their main character, and there are even voting buttons so that readers can decide who won the “fight.”
Anyway, thanks to everyone who helped out so much to make this debut day so exciting! Why not buy a copy of Generation V to celebrate?
Sleeping sea otters holding hands think that you should buy a copy of Generation V! Are you going to tell those sleeping sea otters holding hands that they are wrong?
M. L. Brennan 