Today, Batman turned 75 years old. The Caped Crusader’s impact on pop culture is undeniable, especially as one of the few “everyman” superheroes that can stand their ground amongst those who might otherwise seem like gods.
In honor of the Dark Knight’s birthday, I wanted to share an update on my own cape & cowl project, SUPERPOWERED. As the third Click Your Poison book, you’ll be Mercury City’s scourge or it’s redemption with your own set of super-human abilities. After a move to the Denver metro area, writing life has been a bit hectic, but I’m back chasing criminals down dark alleys and inventing new ways to take over the world. Right now I’m looking at a fall/winter release.
How about a birthday present? Below you’ll find a raw and unedited sample of SUPERPOWERED where you’re able to save a damsel in distress just like good ‘ol Bruce Wayne himself. Minor Spoilers follow, in that it reveals a bit about one of the three powers you can inherit in the book. This comes from a scene where you’re playing darts at a bar, right after you discover you’re able to affect the darts’ trajectory with the power of your mind…
…a crash from behind draws your attention back to the bar. There’s a couple deep in argument, and a broken pint glass on the floor. It’s the girl from the shuffleboard table and a man who must’ve arrived just after you.
“I said, ‘no!’” she shouts. “Leave me alone or I’m calling the cops.”
“C’mon,” the man says, just before clamping a meaty hand on her bicep.
“You’re drunk and embarrassing yourself. Shut up!” he continues, trying to pull her away. Despite his accusation, it’s he that’s slurring his words.
“Leave her alone,” you find yourself saying.
The whole bar stops to look at you.
“You—you heard what I said, and I suggest you go now if you don’t want any trouble.”
Despite the man’s imposing size and his dock worker’s strength, you’re feeling confident. The man pushes the woman off to the side, then steps towards you. It’s obvious from his body language that the time for talk has passed.
He brings a fist the size of your head in towards you and you duck in for an uppercut to his abdomen.
Here’s what would have happened before you got your powers: Your blow lands harmlessly against his barrel chest, while his own strike connects to the side of your head. He then proceeds to beat you senselessly while everyone watches, thinking, that’s why you don’t get involved. If you’re lucky, the bartender will tell him that’s enough and he’ll drag his woman from the bar, leaving you bloodied on the floor.
Now here’s what actually happens: You use the same blend of physical and psychic movements you’ve just been practicing with the darts, except now you don’t hold back. Your fist connects with his ribcage, and then your mind blasts him away, sending the hulking man over the bartop and smashing against the shelf of alcohol. You just knocked him back fifteen feet, most likely shattering his ribs and possibly collapsing a lung.
“Are you okay?” you ask the woman.
She nods, terrified. Tears and mucous stream past her tremulous lips.
You look around the rest of the bar and all the patrons shrink away from your gaze. The bartender puts a shot on the counter for you and says, “On the house.”
Like a boss, you down the alcohol, give the man a knowing nod of thanks, and leave the bar.
I know, I’m late to the party (or early if we’re talking DVD release!) but EDGE OF TOMORROW was easily my favorite big budget action-er of the summer. It was funny, exciting, creative, and thrilling. Until the last five minutes. Skip past the spoilers if you haven’t seen the film.
MASSIVE SPOILERS FOLLOW
While I wish I’d seen the movie as a Monet Experience (I mean, how much more intense would that opening 30 minutes have been if you didn’t know he was coming back after death?!), that wasn’t my main gripe. With few exceptions (CABIN IN THE WOODS comes to mind) a movie’s ending can make or break the experience.
First, a quick re-cap, just to refresh your memory. Because you’re not reading this if you haven’t seen the movie, right?
Cage (Cruise) loses the ability to “reset the day” after a blood transfusion, which he had gained via Alpha, so he and Rita (Blunt) mount a final attack against the Omega with the stakes at an all-time high. What results is a brutal, hard-wrought victory where both our heroes die. That is, until the Omega’s blood seeps into Cage’s lifeless body and the day resets before anything bad has yet happened, but somehow the Omega is still dead in the past, so Cage is able to greet Rita with a smile and offer the audience a happy ending.
Bullshit Hollywood rewrite, I thought.
So I went and read the 2010 screenplay ALL YOU NEED IS KILL by Dante Harper based on the novel of the same name by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, and…wow that was different. As in, huge changes to the plot such that the different endings had nothing to do with one another. No help there.
Then I found the answer I was looking for in the unlikeliest of places: an internet comment thread. Such occurrences are usually reserved for your birthday, when the planets are aligned, after you’ve just found a four-leaf clover sitting atop a head’s-up penny–so I’ll count myself lucky.
Allow me to paraphrase the new, improved version of the ending:
When Cage killed the alpha on the beach, he didn’t share its abilities, but instead (and here’s the key) he stole them. So that particular Alpha can never come back again. It’s dead. Off the timeline. No longer even existed. Which is why we don’t see it on the beach again when he resents the day time after time. That’s point #1.
Point #2. The ability sends you back roughly 24 hours, but you only awaken the last time you gained consciousness. Which, in this case, was after he got tased and woke up.
So….when Cage later loses his resetting ability, then goes and fights the Omega, it’s still the day before the beach invasion. When he steals the Omega’s ability, it gets erased from existence. He dies much earlier than he ever had, and time resets roughly 24 hours earlier — which is BEFORE he gets tased, and instead he wakes up in the helicopter.
And the Omega is gone because it ceased to exist.
RECAP: He steals the ability from two different aliens, erasing each of their existences in the process. And he dies at two different times, so the “reset” sends him back to two different times as well.
Now the happy ending makes sense. Oh and Cage is now immortal, haha.
END OF MASSIVE SPOILERS
So, what do you think? Can a disappointing ending ruin a whole movie? Are you the type that clings to story logic or will you overlook some faults if you’re given a happy ending? Did the new ending work for you? Let me know in the comments below!
Introducing the “Freebies” tab. See it up there at the top? Feel free to give it a click. Or, if that’s too much effort, here ya go: CLICK ME FOR FREEEEEEDOOOOOOMMM
There are three (well, four, kinda, you’ll see) stories for perusal free of charge. If you’re a die-hard day-one fan, you may have seen these before, but it’s my hope to periodically add something new from “the vault” and open it up for public consumption.
That’s it; blog post over, have a great day. Hope you like ’em!
While hauling my earthly goods from California to Colorado, I listened to the audiobook version of The Martian by Andy Weir. I was intrigued by the self-published success story, and decided to give it a go. You should too, it’s a fantastic book. Here’s a blurb, paraphrased from the Amazon product description:
After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, [astronaut Mark Watney] finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive…. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?”
My wife and I loved the central character so much, we started saying I was Mark Watney-ing whenever I’d creatively solve a problem around the house. It’s the new MacGyver-ing.
Now then, beyond a simple book recommendation, I have a theory about the book. Very, very minor spoilers follow. As someone who hates spoilers, trust me, you’re fine.
I originally described this book to friends as, “a near-future where we’ve started manned missions to Mars,” but upon further reflection, I’m going to update that stance. It’s not a near-future, it’s an alternate-present. All the technology for these fictional Ares missions currently exists. The only problem is that we haven’t spent billions of dollars on space travel and Mars research.
Here it is, my theory on The Martian: In the story-world, the September 11th attacks never happened. Instead, we spent all of those billions of dollars funding NASA and manned missions to Mars.
Think about it. There’s never a mention of a terrorism. There’s never a mention of 9/11. There’s never a mention of tightened regulations, security, or a slashed NASA budget. The world comes together on a cooperative level with such ease, it fits the political atmosphere of an America that hasn’t been at war for well over a decade.
The Martian takes place in a parallel universe where there is no Global War on Terror.
For those who’ve read the book, I’d love to hear what you think about my theory, or if you have any theories of your own. Do you think it’s an alternate-present where there was no recession either? And if you haven’t read the book yet, don’t forget to check back in once you do!
“Have a thick skin.” If you’re a writer, whether you’re a hobbyist or a pro, you’re probably given this piece of advice dozens of times throughout your creative lifetime. The gist of the sentiment is: “Don’t take criticism too personally.” And while this is a lovely aphorism, it’s also easier said than done.
To follow the metaphor, having a thick skin makes my professional persona armored like an elephant or a rhinoceros. But here’s the thing–those noble beasts are born thick-skinned, whereas a creative person is nearly always the opposite.
We wouldn’t need a battlecry to “toughen up” if it came naturally. We’re told to desensitize ourselves to criticism because it’s the opposite of our instinctual reaction. When someone judges a writer’s work harshly, this tends to feel like a judgement of the author on a personal level. How can it not? You pour yourself onto the page, whether it be genre writing or memoir, and dedicate months or years to perfecting the product.
Okay, so what inspired this newest bout of self-reflection (and/or pity)? A negative review, of course.
A thoughtful, honest, and thorough skewering of MURDERED appeared on Amazon yesterday in the form of a 3-star review and it’s been eating at me (read the review here). And before you say, “3-stars isn’t negative,” allow me to direct your attention here:
Exhibit A: See the titles? “Most Helpful Critical Review.” The defense rests its case.
While the reviewer has some lovely things to say about the book and its author (he said in third-person), there’s quite a bit in there that I can only describe as “scathing.”
But I digress. The point of this blog post is for me to expand on how it is that I’m able to have a thick skin. How I “take a licking and keep on ticking.” Sure, I allow myself a moment of self-pity (and by “allow” I mean I accept the fact that I will experience these emotions and resign myself to it). But then I move on. What’s my secret?
My thick skin doesn’t come naturally, it’s formed from callouses.
That is to say, it’s built up as a defense against injury and assault. Each affront, no matter how small, toughens me up. Now, I’m able to look past the surface review and ask myself, “Okay, what did the reviewer really not like?”
The reviewer in my personal example compares MURDERED to a Rubik’s Cube, in a negative way. Their impression is that the book is nothing more than a simple curiosity; fun for a few minutes until the novelty wears off. And yet when I was writing the book, I actually told several friends I felt like I was creating a “literary Rubik’s Cube!” I naturally meant this as a positive–as a challenge. As a game that is fun to pick up and play with from time to time, but actually difficult and time-consuming to solve in full.
Not everyone loves a Rubik’s Cube. Then again, there are whole clubs and competitions formed by those who do. Not everyone will love my books, and some of those people will review them, but there are others who enjoy what I do and I’ll keep writing for that audience. The negative reviews still sting, but with my callouses I’m able to move past them more quickly.
Soon, I’ll be charging forward and there’ll be no stopping me.
Yesterday was Star Wars Day (May the 4th Be With You!) and I announced my intent to rewrite Episodes I-III. One aspect I was saving for today — More Maul. In this re-imagined version, the Sith Lord lives on beyond Episode I a significant antagonist in the trilogy.
As part of this ongoing project, there is now a visual companion in this process, a Tumblr called Reboot the Prequels. Check it out and follow along as we build a vision of the new prequel world.
Writer/Director/Producer J.J Abrams (top center right) at the cast read-through of Star Wars Episode VII at Pinewood Studios with (clockwise from right) Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Producer Bryan Burk, Lucasfilm President and Producer Kathleen Kennedy, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Andy Serkis, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Adam Driver and Writer Lawrence Kasdan. Copyright and Photo Credit: David James.
With this week’s cast announcement (pictured above) for Star Wars: Episode VII, and today being Star Wars Day, I thought it a fitting time for my own announcement from a galaxy far, far away… It’s been almost a decade now that I’ve been complaining about the Star Wars prequels. How they could have been great, should have been great. Well, now I’m going to put my powers to good and finally stop talking. I’m re-writing the prequels. I’m giving us, the fans, the Episodes I, II, and III we deserve. No Jar-Jar, no poop jokes, no politics and trade disputes, no Yoda lightsaber fights, no seeing our favorite characters as plucky children, no so-many-lightsabers-your-eyes-bleed fights. I’m not starting from scratch, I’m taking Lucas’ ideas and reforging them into What the Prequels Should Have Been. I’ve outlined Episodes I and II. Stay tuned for more details, and enjoy this small teaser. The Opening Crawl to Star Wars, Episode I: A New Menace: http://starwars.com/play/online-activities/crawl-creator/?cs=g6qakvkhua (click to view or to create your own floating text!)
[Click to view full scroll] PS — Those eagerly awaiting CYP#3, don’t worry, SUPERPOWERED is still on it’s way!
Instantly recognizable, right? Those are the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, one of the original gamebook series.
For Click Your Poison, several readers have suggested that my covers should have a similar “connected” look. Or, at the very least, something on the cover that lets you know it’s “Interactive Fiction” or a “Text-based Adventure.”
I must say, it makes sense. I love my covers for INFECTED and MURDERED, but they don’t really look connected to one another in any way. I could still keep the images, but maybe in a different design scheme.
One fan suggested a design reference to the old InfoCom games, a callback to when all video games were essentially text-based adventures. The original company is defunct, but they certainly had that “connected” feel. And there it is, all the info you need, right on the cover.
I think a call-back to old games could work pretty well. Maybe not something exactly like this, but a “cartridge” design might not be a bad look for a “gamebook.”
So, what do you think? Whether you’re a casual reader or a student of design, I’d love to get your thoughts!
When entertainment-news giant Variety posted “Scarlett Johansson Goes Superhuman in ‘Lucy’ Trailer” I knew I had to check it out. I’ve been inhaling superhero stories ever since I decided to make Click Your Poison #3 a superpowered tale. Check out the trailer below, then get back to me.
Looks pretty cool, and I’m excited for it to hit theaters, but I did get a chuckle out of the “It is estimated most human beings only use 10% of the brain’s capacity” line. Yeah, that’s not really a thing. This myth even has it’s own Snopes article and a page on Wikipedia listing examples (where ‘Lucy’ will undoubtedly end up one day).
What’s the point? Well, the point is…Science! But beyond that, there’s a reason it made me personally chuckle. Let me explain:
I strive to make all my works as accurate as possible, while still keeping the fiction fun. Whether it’s genetic manipulation to make zombies in INFECTED, the oxygen-annihilating bomb in MURDERED, or the incredible feats in SUPERPOWERED, I go for fact when and where I can. I even poke fun at the 10% myth in the 3rd book’s opener. And, since I promised I’d do so, I’ll now show you that very sample. It’s unedited, a rough cut, and I’m the sole owner so don’t steal my words, blah blah blah.
I know you’ve all been thinking, “Man, I wish James would blog more often…” Here’s the reward for your patience:
SUPERPOWERED
The air hums with static and there’s a burning wire scent just beneath the haze of ozone. An electromagnetic field crackles harmlessly between your teeth, leaving a sweet, lemony aftertaste. Your skin is titillated with gooseflesh and your hair almost floats towards the machinery. Something inside you feels as if you could simply take off and run a marathon. It’s a contagious sort of power that, although clearly artificial, feels oddly healthy and natural. You could get used to this.
At the wall of hardware—the source of all this delicious energy—a man finishes adjusting a dial, then turns to address you. He is handsome in his lab coat and wears a reassuring smile; that of a doctor featured in an infomercial, complete with stylish thin-rimmed glasses that sink into graying-at-the-temples hair. After powering up a tripod-mounted camcorder, he readies a clipboard to aide in further documentation.
“Please state your full name and reason for participating in the experiment,” he says. As he speaks, his voice takes on the electronic reverberation of the room.
You turn to look at your two companions. Both strangers you’ve never seen before today. The first is a woman in her mid-thirties, classically attractive in a blue-collar sort of way, though there’s weariness in her saltwater eyes. She’s dressed in a tight-fitting tank top despite a softness about the waist, wears blue jeans, and green, reptilian cowboy boots. Alligator, maybe?
“Catherine Amanda Woodall,” she says. “Why I’m here? The five-hundred bucks. I do all the ads in the paper—hand creams, shampoos, weight loss pills. You name it, I’ve tried it.”
She holds up her left arm to reveal a rash on the forearm, evident proof of her past experiences in clinical trials. The doctor nods, jotting a note onto his clipboard. How many lotion swabs does one have to endure to afford alligator boots? Maybe there’s a “frequent tester” punch card…
The other candidate is a young man, perhaps not even twenty years old. He has coarse, black hair and thick eyebrows that rise slightly when he glances your way. You gesture for him to go first and he nods.
Looking back to the man in the lab coat, he tugs at his backpack strap, slung over just his right shoulder, then clears his throat.
“Nick—Nicolai—Dorian. No middle name. I, uhh, saw the pamphlet pinned to the campus message board. Say, does participation count for any credit hours?”
The scientist looks up from the clipboard, presses his glasses further up his nose. “I’m sorry, no. But that is a good point to bring up. Participation in this experiment—which is completely voluntary—is not a sanctioned event and neither Mercury University nor its staff should be held responsible for any… unintended outcomes. Human Infinite Technologies is the sole proprietor of this lab for the purposes of the test, despite being a rented location on campus grounds. Mercury City and the City Council have no foreknowledge of the activities listed on…”
He consults the clipboard, then adds, “Ah, good. I have each of your signed waivers already.”
“Okay, then I’m just here for book money,” Nick Dorian says.
All three turn your way, waiting for you to speak. You introduce yourself, but then hesitate to explain why you’re here. Was it the money? Simple curiosity? The “Unlock Your Potential” advertisement? A dare? As the hidden, electric majesty reaches out to you, it’s hard to remember why you stepped through those doors in the first place.
“I’m not sure,” you finally say. “Can you tell me what it is we’re about to do here?”
“Yes, of course,” the scientist replies, and that reassuring grin returns.
He walks past the three of you to the other side of the room, stepping over thick, black cables that snake their way from the electrical rack to the platform he approaches. There’s a gymnasium-sized tarp draped over three pillar-shaped objects. Suspended above each are what look like the giant electromagnets they use to lower cars into compactors at the junkyard, but these are only the size of a manhole cover.
“The oft-perpetuated myth about using only 10% of our brains, while unfounded, is an intriguing concept. I believe this to be true—not for the mind, per se, but for that of human DNA. So many of the genes we carry are turned off. Dormant. Waiting for us to evolve. The purpose of this experiment is to ‘supercharge’ your humanity and see if we can’t extend human potential. I will guide you through these new changes as both mentor and scientific observer.”
He pauses, his eyes wide and manic. In a grandiose gesture, the scientist pulls at the tarp to reveal three identical pods: glass with metal bases, each the size of an old telephone booth.
In pulling the tarp, he unintentionally reveals an emblazoned “Ex” hidden beneath the lab coat; the symbol ornamented to look like an element in the periodic table.
“So you may call me…” he stalls, turning back to you, then cries out, “The Experi-Mentor!”
Nick Dorian stifles a laugh, but the abrupt shift from assuring doctor to mad scientist leaves you unsettled. It’s hard to read the woman with the alligator boots’ reaction, but from the silence you can tell you’re not the only one on edge.
“Is it safe?” she asks after a time.
“Absolutely, one-hundred-percent,” he reassures, his smile positively radiating.
“But you’ve never done this before on people, right?” the college student asks.
“Also true.”
Another silence. You look to your fellow testees, then back to this ‘Experi-Mentor’ character.
“What do you need us to do?” you ask.
“Just step into one of these three pods. Each pod is calibrated slightly different from the others, but you may pick any of the three.”
You look again to the other two test subjects.
Nick shrugs. “Rock, Paper, Scissors?”
“Works for me,” Catherine answers. “On three?”
“There are three of us. How will we know who wins?” you ask.
“Huh, I guess that’s why it’s not a three player game,” Nick says. “We could set up a bracketed tournament. Single or double elimination…”
“Or draw straws?” Catherine suggests.
“No, just—Rock, take the left. Paper, center. And Scissors on my right,” the scientist directs.
“Yeah…that’s not how the game works,” Nick says.
The scientist waves him away and goes back to the machines. He punches a series of commands into a control console and the glass pods open, each rotating on its metal base and revealing a seamless door you’d have never noticed on your own.
If you follow this blog, you know I’m running an online Oscar pool. As per the rules, here are my picks (you have until showtime to submit your own choices).
This is based solely on my opinion. I’ve seen all the Best Picture nominees (except Captain Phillips and Philomena) and I’ve consulted no outside source. These are just what I think deserves the award, not what it most likely to win (thus, you might find it easy to beat me if you enter).
Okay, here goes:
Best Picture (3 pts): 12 Years a Slave
Directing (2 pts): Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón)
Original Screenplay (2 pts): Her (Spike Jonze)
Adapted Screenplay (2 pts): The Wolf of Wall Street (Terence Winter)
Leading Actor (2 pts): Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
Leading Actress (2 pts): Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Supporting Actor (2 pts): Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)
Supporting Actress (2 pts): Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
Production Design (1 pt): Her
Documentary Feature (1 pt): The Act of Killing
Documentary Short(1 pt): The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
Animated Short(1 pt): Feral
Live Action Short Film (1 pt): Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasnt Me)
Foreign Language Film (1 pt): Omar (Palestine)
Animated Feature (1 pt): Frozen
Film Editing (1 pt): Gravity
Sound Editing (1 pt): Gravity
Sound Mixing (1 pt): Gravity
Cinematography (1 pt): Gravity
Visual Effects (1 pt): Gravity
Costume Design (1 pt): The Great Gatsby
Makeup and Hairstyling (1 pt): Dallas Buyers Club
Original Score (1 pt): Her (William Butler
Original Song (1 pt): Let It Go (Frozen)
Good luck to all those who entered! Now, a little more fun– Kids tell you everything you need to know about the Best Picture nominees:
Author James Schannep 