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As I've been rolling around ideas for the next book, I've been meditating more, and I cannot recommend it enough. The difference in mind and mood is sort of subtle but also dramatic somehow. It's like getting a breath of fresh air for your mind. I've been doing it on and off for years, but for some reason can never seem to make a real habit of it. If you've never tried it, you really don't have to do anything. It's more like the opposite - the goal is to be present and aware without actively thinking. Twenty or so minutes a day has also proven to be really great for creativity. The ideas just start to flow.
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And so book two is in whatever the writing version of 'the can' is. It's been another long journey. In all, it took just under half as much time to complete as the first book. At this rate, by book six I'll be cranking out one a month (ha). It was a pain and a pleasure to write, and I'm happy with how it turned out. I hope it's a joy to read. I've got a lot of ideas percolating for the next one, and sooner than later I'll get to work on it. But for now, for a long moment, I'm going to lean back and bask in the present.
I had a moment to breathe recently, so I took the opportunity to finally watch Phantasm: Ravager. Frankly, I had a great time with it. It definitely would have benefited from a larger budget, but in general, I think people have been too hard on it. I was particularly impressed with some of the creative choices and with how well the story stuck to the logic established in the previous films. It was as ambitious in its handling of the material as I could have hoped, though perhaps occasionally to its detriment (again mostly due to the budget). Still, I was impressed with the final result, and it's evident that those working on it were invested in the series. There are some ideas and visuals that I really love and couldn't have predicted, while feeling like an organic evolution of what came before. As to be expected, Reggie Bannister and Angus Scrimm, as 'Reggie' and the 'The Tall Man' respectively. steal the show. Also, longtime fans will be tickled by the brief return of another familiar face.
I'm left even more impressed after viewing the making-of documentary. They accomplished so much with so little, it's the type of filmmaking that is hopefully being taught in classrooms. If I were an aspiring filmmaker, I would study the Phantasm and Evil Dead series above all else for how to make a great film with few resources. With the passing of Scrimm, Ravager is likely to be the final Phantasm, at least in the original series. And it was a satisfying note to end on. I will forever be fascinated by the Phantasm movies and will no doubt revisit them often, given the time. For me, they're dream horror at it its best. Without a doubt the biggest 'mistake' I made from a sales and reception standpoint was including characters with a 'space hick' speech pattern in the first chapter. I'm sure that I've lost a bunch of readers right off the bat and have received poor ratings for this point alone. Even though it makes up less than 7% of the entire book, it's a big ask for readers to trust that this type of thing will pay off, especially for an author they don't know. I'm positive that pretty much anyone you ask would advise against taking such a risk, including me in most cases.
The question you have to ask yourself about something like this is, how important is whatever crazy thing you want to try? In my case, I had a few major reasons why I included it - to immediately set up the type of story this is going to be, a way to create the illusion of an alien language, and as a way to differentiate between superficially similar characters. I'm happy with my decision, as I think the book would have suffered without it, and that's the main point. If you can do without, it's probably wise to eliminate anything that could be a hurdle for a new reader. On the other hand, I'm all about serving the story, so if your wild idea is important to the story, I would be reluctant to sacrifice it for something like 'commercial viability.' I used a lot of quotes in this post, but I stand by them. When it comes to publishing, there are really only two things you should have to worry about not being able to do yourself - editing and cover art. Editing is the tough one, but I think even if you've gotten really good at revising your own work, it still helps to get an outside perspective. Ideally, you know of someone in your circle (friends, schoolmates, what have you) who can do a somewhat informed job. I haven't worked with any editing services, and I would be reluctant to plunk down the kind of money they want. The other option is to find someone to trade work with, either in real life or on a message board. But the bottom line is that you want to find someone knowledgeable and trustworthy.
The cover is a little easier. There are plenty of services available for reasonable prices, and this is the only thing for which I would consider spending any significant money. It's worth it for something eye-catching that really fits your book. If you do choose a service or someone who specializes in covers, you're going to get something that looks comparable to the current popular designs. Alternately, I would suggest searching for some artists whose work you like and contacting them to see if they will work with you and to get their rates. A lot of artists work on commissions and will be eager to try something they haven't done before. Everything else, you can learn to do yourself. A website is probably the next most difficult thing that you should have. But you can build a simple author website through a service (I use Weebly) that costs less than $100 a year. That's not nothing, but it's worth it if you're taking writing seriously. I think it turned out pretty decent, especially compared to most author sites, and really all I had to work with was my book cover. Everything costs either time or money, but if you're determined, you can get things done well at a minimal cost while greatly improving your skills along the way. I've just finished the third draft of what will end up being my second self-published book, and I was just thinking over the publishing options again and why, to me, self publishing is the only sensible route for 99% of new authors. When I completed a much earlier draft of Space Junk than the one that exists now, I shopped it around to agents and publishers in hopes of hitting that lucky break most first time authors dream of. But as time has passed, I'm grateful none of them accepted it.
I reiterate, this is my opinion, and I expect some people have had a lot of luck with traditional publishers. But unless you're an established entity with a built-in following, I can't see how it makes any sense to follow that route. From what I understand (based on what author accounts I've found), even in the unlikely event that you get signed by a publisher as an unknown author, what you can expect is a couple thousand dollars advance (to be paid back through sales), editing, cover art, and placement in book stores. But the things you're giving up are far more valuable - creative control over content and cover, publishing rights and the ability to ensure your book stays in print, and the lion's share of any profit made (I've been led to understand that a new author will make less than 10% on an ebook sale through a traditional publisher vs. upwards of 60% self-publishing on Amazon or other online platforms). What about marketing, you might ask. Again, from what I gather, publishers will provide virtually zero marketing for an unknown author. So, the hardest part for most writers is still up to them. You have to do some work to find an editor and cover artist, but it's worth some money and internet sleuthing to have your book turn out the way you want, rather than what some executive thinks is going to sell (in other words, an inferior version of whatever the top seller currently happens to be). You will also miss out on getting in book stores, but in a world in which most sales are already made online, it's a small price to pay to keep ownership over your work. Remember, by publishing yourself, you can reap the benefits directly for as long as you decide to make your book available. Even if you're only selling a tiny amount, it will always have a chance to find its audience. Maybe I'm missing something important to this equation and will be severely corrected. But I'm just calling it like I sees it... Reflecting back on Space Junk a little over a year after publishing, I still feel good about it. It's the first thing I've written that I've been 99% happy with. But at this point, the book feels like its own entity, entirely separate from me. It reminds me of that Carl Jung quote, "People don't have ideas. Ideas have people." It really feels that way, like ideas have a will of their own. In my experience, finding them is a matter of being receptive, and being more receptive is a matter of practice. Writing fiction then is the process of translating those ideas in a coherent and hopefully satisfying way. That's how I sometimes see it, anyway. Experiences may vary.
It's a new year, change is in the air, and I've finished most of my real life early year tasks. Nearing the end of the arduous, though also at times fun and rewarding, journey of this book, I'm faced with all the little changes and additions I put off during early revisions. When writing, I highly recommend keeping a file of edits of random ideas that pop into your head that have nothing to do with whatever part of the story you're immediately working on. You can always go back and add them later, but you don't want to lose good ideas. This is the first point where it really starts to feel like things are coming together, and it's pretty relieving. All the rest of the way feels like I may never pull all the threads together. The end is still somewhere off in the distance, but it's in sight.
Just in time for the new year, I've finished the second draft of my next book, and I'm exhausted but feeling positive. With another difficult year behind us, I'm thankful at least to have an excuse to stay in with the Twilight Zone marathon. A lot of these episodes feel like they're only becoming more relevant with age. Or maybe the real world is more closely resembling the show. At any rate, I still consider it to be some of the all-time great storytelling. One I caught this morning that I haven't seen in a while is "I Shot An Arrow Into the Air," in which a few astronauts crash land on a deserted planet. It features a recurring trope involving one member of a stranded group losing his mind and turning against the others. I love the always over-the-top insanity displayed by the mad man. I notice the episodes have been airing pretty much in order so far, with more iconic ones presumably being saved for prime time, at which time they're often shown uncut.
I'm optimistic about what's to come, for all of us, this year and wish anyone reading this a Happy New Year! A few more weeks into revising, and things are coming together nicely, I think. Incidentally, I caught Christmas Vacation on TV this holiday season, as I'm wont to do, and I stand firm in my contention that it is the single best Christmas movie ever made. It achieves the thing that all art is striving for, which is a perfect illusion. Everything that happens, every character, every tiny detail feels absolutely authentic (with the possible exception of Eddie kidnapping Clark's boss, even if the sentiment is familiar). I find myself at least chuckling at almost every scene. The flow of the story, and the sequencing is such that I become totally convinced of its reality. It feels more like a time capsule of actual events rather than fiction. It's one of two Christmas movies that don't feel contrived in some way, the other being A Christmas Story. There are a few other gems out there (Scrooged), but it's hard to make a holiday movie that could be considered good at any time of year. So far, no film has pulled it off as well as this 1989 classic. Little did anyone know how true Clark's famous last words would prove to be - "I did it."
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