Book Trailer Easter Egg

The official book trailer for SUPERPOWERED launched last week. It’s an interactive trailer, where you choose your viewing experience. I’ve also added a sample decision-point for the book on its sub-pages.

And I’ve hidden an Easter egg.

If you’ve read any of my Click Your Poison titles, you know I love hiding things in my books. Well, I did the same thing for my new trailer. Through some ninja-like coding, the team at PixelTwister Studios has made the trailer more interactive. You can watch both the Hero and Villain perspectives simultaneously with something we’ve called DoubleTube.

Be a hero, be a villain, or be both?
Be a hero, be a villain, or be both?

Click the picture above, or the hyperlink here, to watch the video. Then, choose either Hero or Villain. Once the stream starts playing, you can press the V key on your desktop keyboard to cycle from the Hero video into the Villain stream, or press H while watching the Villain video to peek over at Hero side. This will only work through this Easter egg link, and will not work on the regular YouTube site.

I hope you enjoy this hidden gem as much as we did creating it! And don’t forget, SUPERPOWERED is still on pre-order for only $0.99. It’ll be here in a month!


Add your opinion in the comments below. And don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!

SUPERPOWERED now on Pre-order for only $0.99!

If you’re subscribed to my new release mailing list, then you got word this morning. SUPERPOWERED is now available on pre-order! And it’s only $0.99 until release day, when it’ll fly back up to $3.99. Go to Amazon now and Get SUPERPOWERED!

Official release date: 5/10/15
Official release date: 5/10/15

Excelsior! 1st Draft of SUPERPOWERED: Complete.

So, I broke the news on Twitter last week, but now I’m making it official.

Cover? Check.

First draft? CHECK.

It took a year, literally. The document creation time-stamp shows 16 January 2014. Almost poetic if I hadn’t originally planned on finishing last summer, but this book has taken on a life of its own. I’ve lived in Mercury City for a year! And I can’t wait to share that place with you.

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Here’s the setup: You’re in an experiment with two other volunteers, and you get one of three superpowers. That means the three paths are the powers (you “play” each one). You can be a hero or you can be villain, and you can win each way with each power. That means SUPERPOWERED will be the first Click Your Poison book to have six “Good Endings” (in quotes because half of those are, you know, Evil Endings).

What’s next? Editing. The first draft came in at 138,000 words, and I’d like to trim that down to under 120k. Sheesh. Drinking before noon is rarely acceptable, but when you’re editing, it’s required! Kidding. Mostly.

After that, it’ll go off to my trusted Beta Readers (other writers and friends well-versed in story). Then my professional editor, my formatting team, and finally on sale. I’m also working on a book trailer.

Plenty to keep me busy, but the end is in sight! After beta, I’ll have a release date. Stay tuned!


So, what do YOU think? About damn time?

Feel free to comment, like, share, and subscribe (top right)!

SUPERPOWERED Cover Reveal

Artist Brian Silveira delivered the goods on the SUPERPOWERED cover. And it’s Bam! Pow! Incredible.

Superpowered Final
Click me. See my stunning details.

Yes, this means we’re getting closer to having a book. No firm release date yet, but I’m nearing the end! Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, Brian is working on a landscape promo graphic (all the better to social media with, my dear), and happy to return to his graphic novel (Bun). I’ll totally post info on that when he releases it. Oh! And we may collaborate on future projects. An interactive graphic novel, perhaps?


So, what do YOU think? Intrigued? Dig the cover? Tired of waiting for the book?

Feel free to comment, like, share, and subscribe!

Behind the Scenes: SUPERPOWERED Cover

This week I cracked the 100k word milestone on the third Click Your Poison book, SUPERPOWERED. It’s happening, and soon, but every book needs a cover first.

I’m happy to announce a partnership with Brian Silveira. He’s an extremely talented comic artist, and he’s gracious enough to take a break from working on an original graphic novel to jump in and work for me. I’m crazy excited. Care to see why?

Check out our current development

Welcome to Mercury City, the metropolis where you live and work. Your home.

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Here you’ll get 1 of 3 superpowers when you’re in an experiment gone awry. The other two test-subjects — will they be your allies or your sworn enemies?

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Brian and I decided to give the cover a comic-book feel, even though it’s an illustration-free interactive novel.

How about some character detail?

Diamond — One of the other test subjects, Catherine Woodall, once she receives miraculous super-strength and near-indestructible levels of damage resistance.

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She wears a tight, midriff-exposing black t-shirt emblazoned with a playing-card-suit red diamond logo, fingerless gloves, and black yoga pants tucked into crimson-red boots. Her face is concealed behind a red domino mask, but as she smashes through the security doors and rushes into the bank, there can be little doubt in your mind as to who this superpowered woman truly is.”

Dorian White — Subject Nick Dorian, imbued with techno-genius, Nick makes his own mechanized armor.

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Computer, boot up White Ranger sequence. Prepare for Stark battle-mode.” “Dorian White voice recognition accepted. Beginning Techno-zord protocol,” a disembodied voice with a filtered, British accent replies. A panel behind one of the walls opens to reveal an enormous, ten-foot tall mechanized suit. It’s glittering white, with the sheen of a brand new sports car. Nick climbs inside and the armored computer closes around him, booting up. The limbs move as part of a systems check, and two more arms swing out over the shoulders—though these prove to be more cannons and less appendages. “All systems online,” a flitered, robo-Nick says. “Let’s go kick some ass.”

DinoSkin Mark IV — next generation bodyarmor. When you’re the flying-telekinetic, you can find this suit.

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“Too expensive to be put into combat on a mass scale, but nothing else comes close. Lightweight, breathable, and incredibly durable. The scaling provides multilayer protection against gunshots or knife attack. Go ahead, touch it.” The material stretches when you tug at it, but it’s coarse to the touch. Droakam raps his knuckles against the mannequin’s torso. “A reinforced plate on the chest and spine provide added shock protection against explosives. But the best part? You should still be able to fly around in this thing because it’s so lightweight.” “Maybe your superhero name could be Terror-dactyl,” Nick snarks.

 What’s next?

 

There are dozens of variations on costumed characters/personas in the book, so this is just a sampling for the cover. And, as you can see, the cover art is still a work in progress. I’ll definitely post more updates as Brian continues to work, so don’t forget to subscribe! (little box over there on the left, where you’ll never find any spam).

What do YOU think? Are you getting excited? Ready to save the world? Or perhaps enslave it…? Let me know in the comments at the bottom!

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Your Life as a Comic Book

I’ve had STAR WARS on the brain a lot lately. In fact, tonight I’m going to watch the three-prequels-in-one film, Turn to the Dark Side that I managed to download off vimeo before it was yanked down. But enough about that for now.

With this blog post, I’d like to assure my die-hard Click Your Poison readers (you do exist, right?) that I’m still hard at work on CYP#3 — SUPERPOWERED — the title that asks if you’d be a hero or a villain if you had fantastic skills. Well, I am still hard at work. And as part of my process, I found this hilarious collection of faux-comics featuring “real life” supervillians. Check it out, they’re great:

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(Originally found via College Humor)

CYP#3: Origin Story

I’m happy to announce that I’m hard at work on book #3 in the Click Your Poison series, which should be out mid to late summer 2014. I know I said in the past that this would be a time-travel project, but I’m not quite ready to crack that one open. The ideas are still gestating. But, since it’s time-travel, the when is irrelevant, right?

This guy knows what’s up

So what’s CYP#3 all about? Tentatively titled SUPERPOWERED, this book is set to be a superhero adventure. Unless, of course, you choose to play the role of villain.

I’ve always loved the idea of superpowers and as a kid I would create my own costumes (usually out of roller-blade pads, soccer guards, and brightly colored sweats from the 80s) and say things like, “Dad, I need to join karate and gymnastics as soon as possible.”

While I’ve read a few comics, that’s not my main area of expertise. I never missed an episode of the 90s cartoon edition of X-men, Spiderman, or Batman. I’ve seen just about every superhero movie. I’ve read quite a few superhero novelizations.

Hello weekend!
Hello weekend!

So, I’m not going to provide a lifetime bibliography of all things super, but instead I thought I might share some of what I’ve been absorbing as inspiration for the new book:

Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman
Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Virtual War by Gloria Skurzynski
Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines
I Wear the Black Hat by Chuck Klosterman
Irredeemable by Mark Waid and Peter Krause
Amped by Daniel H. Wilson
Wearing the Cape by Marion G. Harmon
Masked edited by Lou Anders
The Boys by Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson
Meta by Tom Reynolds
Confessions of a D-List Supervillain by Jim Bernheimer
Hancock
Heroes
(TV)
Necessary Evil: Villains of DC Comics
Super
Wilder Napalm
Arrow
(TV)
Chronicle
Megamind

More? Maybe. Probably. If I’ve missed something, feel free to let me know in the comments. In the meantime, I’ll be hiding in plain sight as a mild-mannered writer and using my superpower of Rapid Idea Generation to come up with 3 Unique Storylines and Over 50 Possible Endings!