So here’s Redlaw, what I fully expect to be the first in a series of novels about a former policeman turned vampire wrangler. I really set out with this one to create a streamlined, plot-driven tale that doesn’t hang around and gets what needs to be done done in super-quick time. No messing about, no half measures, uncompromising — a bit like John Redlaw himself.
The setting is present-day Britain, where an influx of vampire immigrants from the east is causing civil unrest and political headaches. The vampires, known euphemistically as “Sunless”, have been corralled and caged in inner-city areas, and the job of keeping them under control has fallen to an agency called SHADE, a band of men and women dedicated to preserving peace — or at least non-aggression — between humankind and vampirekind.
This isn’t just a tale of the fanged undead, however. I’ve written it as a satire of contemporary politics and business culture. Not all bloodsuckers shun the sun and drain your veins…
Click here for a preview of the first chapter.
55 Responses to “Redlaw”
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• Filed under Books • 23/09/2011 •
Looks like I will be the first to comment on this very unorthodox vampire book. I would like to start off by saying that this is definitely a creative breakthrough and a breath of fresh air when it comes to reading about the much bastardized genre of vampires. The fact that these vampires were not all sexy, seductive, and gorgeous but grotesque, monstrous, and very dangerous was a very nice bit to be read. The character of John Redlaw was pretty bad ass and he did some things that were totally awesome. One thing in particular that I enjoyed that actually has nothing to do with the book knows that this was part 1 of a trilogy, yet this story had a completion and the ending was satisfying. I know there is a potential for much more, and that when this idea is expanded upon it will make the next two books great, but not having to sit there at the end screaming “WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?!” was honestly great. I do have some questions that I cannot post here without potentially spoiling parts of this book for others, so James should I email you directly to ask these? Overall though I recommend this book and give it an A.
After reading this very enjoyable book I decided to go read the next book in a Magic the Gathering story arc, Chainer’s Torment. I try to keep reading at all times but sometimes I need a book that is a little mindless and that I’m not going to become very involved with personally. After that I’m either going to be reading The Age of Odin, or Embedded which is a Dan Abnett novel, haven’t decided yet. I’m excited to read the Age of Odin both for the way the other “Age Of” books have been but also to see some of the actual Norse Mythology tossed around after my only real knowledge of the religion has come from Marvel Comics. Beside that no real news or updates from me. Any good plans for Halloween this year or just a stay at home quaint and quiet day?
Hope to hear from you soon and glad to hear your anniversary was enjoyable.
No plans for Halloween. We’re all partied out after last weekend, although if someone else throws a party and invites us, we’d probably go along.
I, too, first picked up on Norse mythology from the old Lee/Kirby Thor books. It’s surprising how much of the actual stuff made it into the comic. Lee was nothing if not diligent in his research, and he clearly had a great love for the material, even if he was also happy to bend and fold it to make it fit with his concept of the modern superhero. Digging further into it for Age Of Odin was fun. There was plenty to draw on, and much of it is as bleak as a snowscape and as fiery as a volcano.
I was curious about that Dan Abnett novel myself, so let me know if it’s any good.
By all means email me your questions about Redlaw. Use the Contact button on the website.
I think it is very noble of the writers of Marvel to so accurately respect the myths of Norse and even Greek mythology. Norse mythology has such an array of characters and monsters that the possibilities are endless in where one can take a story. I was always partial to Greek mythology, probably because in American schools that is what we learn the most about, but the Norse have such a deep detailed character list and story it is just wild to read anything about it.
As for Halloween here, I did…nothing! I really would like someone to have a party to allow me to go enjoy the adult side of this holiday. Halloween is so much fun as a child, and then in the teenage years to many people act like asses, and now in adulthood I hope to enjoy the parties and fun.
The Dan Abnett novel seems to be very interesting if it is about what I suspect it to be about. I hope to get to it soon. With school reading, falling behind on comic book reading, and my other odds and ends novel I can only hope to get my feelings on Embedded sooner than later.
I also am going to email you my Redlaw questions soon. I greatly look forward to your answers.
It’s true there’s more Greek mythology than Norse. Not a lot of the Norse stuff got written down and survived, whereas there’s a wealth of the Greek stories preserved via plays, poems, etc. However, the Norse stories have a dark energy all their own. They’re fanciful but in a particularly gloomy Scandinavian way. It’s all ice, death, fire, sinister creatures, the end of the world, compared with the brightness and exuberance of the other. I think of them in terms of colour. Norse: black, white, dark blue. Greek: a rainbow.
Recent Marvel comics have been even more faithful to the Norse originals than Stan and Jack. Thor is, of course, one of the company’s hot properties and it’s only right that the writers should use as much as they can of the material available in order to enhance his godliness and otherworldliness. Also, why not? It’s good stuff, worth stealing. I should know; I did it myself. Still, it’s gratifying that Marvel treats the hero’s background well and doesn’t trample all over it in the name of exploitation.
We trick-or-treated on Halloween, and #1 and #2 Sons got a pretty good haul of sweets and were pleased with that, even though they don’t actually like them much or eat them much. One household offered tangerines and walnuts instead of candy, and you should have seen the looks of disgust that evoked!
I have been trying to email you for a couple of days now, but every time I hit send I get an error message telling me to contact you in a different way. Just wanted to let you know why I haven’t sent the Redlaw questions just yet.
As far as current Marvel vs. Old Marvel in terms of mythology and how faithful they are I have to agree with you to the fullest. Previously I think they were trying to craft characters people liked and figure out what was popular enough to make into individual titles and which character should be expanded upon. Today they know who is popular and their money makers so they have more play room with the character and his mannerisms. Greek mythology is much more illuminated though than Norse or even Egyptian. The Norse found glory in dying a noble death to travel to Valhalla where as the Greeks all went to Hades. I seem to remember a much more vivid amount of sex and partying in Greek mythology where in Norse the parties seem to come after a noble battle or a just fight.
Halloween seemed quiet for you as well this year. I can only imagine how funny it must have been to see the looks on the boys’ faces when being handed fruit and nuts. I am pretty sure that was a look I used to have as well. I am not a huge candy person but Trick-or-treating was always fun, and who doesn’t love at least some candy right?
Oh just a little aside I have looked for your books in my local stores only to find “The Age Of ______” or Redlaw. I was wondering where you might suggest I go to find other stories you have written as well as what books to you suggest? I know that must be difficult to ask an author, but I didn’t know what was in a series, or if there were any you enjoyed more than others that you could pass onto me that I could hopefully find and sooner than later read. Thanks and hopefully we get that email problem fixed up.
Hi, Andrew. I’ll give a fuller reply soon, but I just wanted to say, in the meantime, that my website does seem to be having trouble forwarding email on to me. It seems to think everything is spam, so blocks it. I’m looking into solutions, and hopefully the problem will be fixed shortly.
The partying in Norse myth is pretty hardcore, with countless pints of mead or whatever being downed, and usually it all ends up in a fight or Loki pulling one of his deceptions on the drunken Thor. Whereas for the Greek gods life seems to be one long eternal party/orgy, and Zeus may well end up making off with some mortal maiden or other, normally after he’s put on a disguise. At the risk of racial stereotyping, you can see certain national characteristics coming to the fore here. Those oh-so-sober Scandinavians who nevertheless drink like there’s no tomorrow (or rather, like tomorrow is Ragnarok), and those lotus-eating Greeks — they even invented the word “hedonism” — who don’t care about tomorrow and probably don’t know it exists. Now apply that to the financial crisis in Europe, and you have an object lesson for us all.
The reason there aren’t any of my other books in bookstores is that I’ve been mainly published only in the UK (I’m guessing you’re American, yes?) and my previous publisher, before Solaris, has let my backlist go out of print. The books are out there, and available, but the best place to search is online. There’s one other series, the Clouded World books, which I wrote under the pseudonym of Jay Amory. They’re fun but, in a spirit of full disclosure, aimed at teenage readers. Otherwise, the three Age Of…‘s so far, and Redlaw, represent my currently-in-print output and are where I’m at right now. My previous novels are all good fun, but very different stuff, erring towards the abstruse and literary in places. Not to put you off. Just warning you.
That is a very good point about the Norse vs. Greek party system. I was trying to figure out the way to put that in but you hit the nail on the head. Greeks did party like they had no care and the Norse partied like Ragnorak was around the corner. I don’t think it is necessarily stereotyping a people by looking into their history and deriving an understanding of their culture. The Scandinavian people were and still are somewhat known for their heavy drinking and always seeking glory for themselves and their nations. The Greeks on the other hand can’t really be summarized any better than the way you described. I think the entire world is undergoing a financial crisis, Europe and America it is scarily applicable to both.
Yes you got my accent down on the first try I am an American. Border’s was the book store I found your work in and immediately became a fan. What I particularialy like about your books is that when a point comes up that usually in Hollywood or in many other author’s books the hero does something that is pushing the silly button. This isn’t saying super heroes can’t be super or that even a person isn’t allowed to do something extraordinary. The example I can give is when you are introducing a character who has some back story that involves a dead relative, that relative stays dead and isn’t secretly the bad guy all along. Your books tend to make sense in the way of what really would actually be occurring if they were non-fiction. I am 23 years old and past my teenage years for a while (but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good teen thriller now and then.) One such story of yours that sparked my interest was the Dead Brigade. The way from the description goes about changing the undead genre made me very interested in reading the book. Also just as an FYI, one of my favorite authors is Richard Matheson and a favorite novel of mine is Lev Grossman’s The Magicians. If you are familiar with either of these plus what I have enjoyed by you should let you know where I stand in how I feel about reading.
I sent you an email directly this time and it should be arriving shortly. I will keep your email in safe hands, at least on my end. One final thing; I am working with a group of friends on a podcast/website about geek related subjects. From tech, to video games, to comics, to books everything is included. My questions being: 1) would you want me to send you the link so you can check it out and read a review or two (I should be putting one up soon.) and 2) Would you mind if I reviewed any of your material for our site? I figure reading books and sci-fi is definitely a qualification for geeks. Hope to hear from you soon.
Ah, Borders. Shame they’re gone. When I lived near Chicago there was a huge out-of-town Borders not far away and I’d spend hours there, literally hours, lost among the shelves, killing time in a wonderful way. It was also a good place to pick up British magazines, a little taste of home, though an expensive one; something like $10 apiece. The chain also had shops over here but they were never as large and labyrinthine. Only to be expected on this small island, but I’d have loved at least one massive megastore. There remains just a single book retail chain in the UK, and I think things are pretty similar over there. Barnes & Noble, right? With luck, the independent booksellers will now be able to flourish a bit more, with most of the heavyweight competition gone, but it seems like the writing may be on the wall for conventional bookselling in general. The only glimmer of hope is that ebooks will take up the slack and fill the hole in the market.
Thanks for the comments about the “silly button”. It is one thing I really try to avoid. I don’t mind a bit of melodrama here and there, but plots that rely on extreme contrivances really annoy me, almost as much as plots that rely on someone simply not telling another person a crucial piece of detail, especially when it’s one that could keep the other person out of danger and potentially save their life. What’s bothered me about the whole of the Harry Potter series is that Dumbledore always knows a lot more than he lets on, but he allows Harry and pals to risk their necks repeatedly to find out the facts he could easily reveal to them himself. If Harry is so special, a kind of chosen one, surely as a responsible adult Dumbledore would do everything in his power to keep him out of harm’s way. I know there’s the whole “he must learn to look after himself if he’s going to survive” thing, and there’s also dramatic necessity to bear in mind. I’m probably overthinking the whole thing, and most readers don’t seem to notice or care. But it’s always bugged me about the whole deal, and I really wouldn’t like to fall into that trap myself. I love thrillers and that’s what I’m trying to write, a good SF or supernatural thriller, and I realise a certain suspension of disbelief is required, but only up to a point. That’s why I always ground my stories in character rather than plot alone. Twists and turns, yes, but not outright, handbrake, hairpin three-sixties.
I’d love to have the link to your site and take a look at it, and yes, by all means you may review material by me!
Borders was a great bookstore. The local one to me that I went to had the nicest. Everyone either commented positively on the books I was purchasing, telling me they read it or it looks interesting, or often at times suggest random books for me to read I didn’t even know about. I guess this could be considered good sales by the company and its employees but I always got the sense that they were genuinely interested and actually had a legitimate suggestion to make for my reading pleasure. Barnes and Noble seem to me to be a much more chain store that has very little personality to it. The employees are nice and the store is well stocked but to me it just is missing that something that makes me want to spend hours browsing and shopping. EBooks are a great little invention. They offer people countless books for fractions of the cost. To me though you lose something with an ereader. A book can offer which an ereader cannot and that to me is the magic of page turning. When reading a book and rushing to the end where you cannot stop and must finish the idea of turning pages so quickly while holding the book just offers something wonderful. There have been a few times in my life when reading a book just couldn’t be stopped and I sat either in my car after work, or up late or on my couch just finishing the book. I Am Legend, The Magicians, The Age Of Zeus were all books to me that were page turners near the end.
It must have been pretty cool to be from The UK and live in the US even if it was just for a short little stint it’s the whole experience that counts. I am hoping that I can travel away from my local area and just live elsewhere for a while. I don’t even have a location that I am looking to go just the idea of living elsewhere for any given amount of time. It can either be that place you say “I’m staying here!” or “I can’t wait to go back home!” but either way the idea is so appealing to me.
As for Harry Potter and silly there you have a new animal. I have to admit though that I have not read the Harry Potter books. When they first came out I was not attracted to them, and by the time the fourth or fifth came out I was just disgusted by the way people flocked to the bookstore or movie theatre to be first in line. From what I hear though the books are of course much better than the films, but the films are faithful to the story. That is where your point of Dumbledore really kicks into gear. He knows so much and tells Harry so little. With any new protagonist or young hero the old wise individual keeps some sort of information from them so they can learn on their own, but one would think that help would be in order. Books like Harry Potter, and movies like the Matrix series are just a couple of examples I can think have use that idea. Some wise individual knows everything but reveals nothing. It is one thing to make a character learn things on his or her own, but it is something completely different when the fate of the world is at stake. Whenever I view a piece of fiction from video game, to movie, to book, to comic I always look for ones that use realistic ideas and don’t go overboard with ridiculousness.
As for my site that I am on it is called geekasylumpodcast.com It started out as a podcast idea which we are trying to grow. The podcast element to the idea was the baby that my friend birthed to me and another two mutual friends. The website is where we are trying to filter everyone to from facebook and twitter to gain followers. As you can tell by our name it is all geek related material. For example my one friend is in charge of the TV/Movie part while my other friend heads the Video Game department. I myself am in charge of the Comic department and am working on bringing in literature into the mix, but we all contribute to one another and are all active in the geek world. Thank you for your visiting as well I hope you enjoy the articles.
Annnd I’m wondering if this comment gets through. The server currently has me blocked.
Not any more. Don’t know what’s been happening. I check my spam folder thoroughly for non-spam, and I have a complaint in with WordPress about the overzealousness of their software, which is even preventing emails coming through via the Contact button. Anyway, you’re back in the game now, Mr Sharps. Your move.
Any further joy yet, Nick? I have to say WordPress has been becoming crankier and crankier as time goes on. Some ISPs it doesn’t like at all, for no good reason, and there seems to be little I can do, as blog owner, to fix this. I’ll have a word with my webguy and see if he’s got any ideas.
Apologies for the slight delay. I lost access to my blog, for a variety of reasons, one of them being Explorer 9. I succumbed to the temptation to upgrade to that version, and within about two minutes realised I’d made a mistake. Not only did I have to reconfigure my homepage from scratch but the text had become blurry, almost to the point of unreadability. A common problem with IE9, apparently, something to do with a certain configuration of graphics card, monitor and software. Which seems ridiculous in this day and age. New versions are supposed to be improvements, aren’t they? Not mess everything up.
I’ve also been having spam filter issues, which I hope I’ve resolved now.
Anyway… I popped over to see your site and it looks great. Easy user interface and plenty of interesting content. If anyone there wishes to review my “literature”, as you so generously describe it, I’d be happy with that.
The Dumbledore Paradox, as it shall henceforth be known, is a necessary dramatic device — if you’re that kind of author and can’t think of better ways of arranging your plot. Mostly the wise old owl is there to provide exposition and move the hero on to his next adventure, rather as Yoda does. But the old “you must suffer and learn in order to grow” trope is feeble and unrealistic. Who does that in the real world? That’s my test for characterisation in SF and fantasy. Would someone in the real world act as that character does in this fictional context? If not, then the story doesn’t work, or at any rate the author isn’t doing their job properly. Consistent and credible characterisation lies at the heart of any good novel. Everyone must have a plausible, understandable motivation. I never understood Dumbledore’s. Maybe it got explained better in the later volumes (which I never did and never will read). It certainly didn’t in the movies.
I enjoyed living in the States for a while. It’s a place I think I understand, having absorbed much of its culture (mainly through comics and movies) from an early age. Also, it was an adventure living in a foreign land and figuring out how things there operated. The weather conditions in Illinois were remarkable to someone who’d spent his time up till then in temperate Britain: the ferociously hot summer and the deep-snow winter. The only thing I missed from home was decent, non-watery milk! Oh, and good Cheddar cheese.
New spam filter plugin plugged in. Confidence is high that things will work right from now on. My uber-doober webguy Paul says you may want to try something called a “hard refresh” of my site in your browser to clear out old cookies which may be gumming up the works. Failing that, the Contact function is now back in operation. Fingers crossed…
Internet Explorer is trash. I cannot stand the way that program works and it sucks that I have to keep it on my computer. I downloaded Firefox and I won’t go back to IE unless my Firefox is down and for some reason not working, which I might add is a rarity. I hope that your IE can get back to working in order better and not screw up everything on your computer or screen and that visually things make a rapid return to normal.
Thank you so much for viewing our site. It is a work in progress but even IGN started with only a few friends working toward a common goal. We have expanded into Manga and Anime to appeal to that audience as well. If you aren’t a frequent visitor to the site then I will let you know first-hand when my review of The Age Of Ra is posted and also I will be recording a comic book podcast if you’re interested in hearing my thoughts on that.
Now that my shameless advertising is over I agree 100% with the Dumbledore Paradox. It is something that literature, film, television, and comic books do way too often and it becomes boring and eventually repetitive. When I read a book I like certain elements in the story. If there is a hero or chosen one, I respect that there is probably some elder who knows a lot but forces the young one to learn on his/her own in order for them to become a fully developed hero. I also get that the age old concept of someone in the hero’s past is the eventual bad guy, but enough is enough already. I find it too convenient that the one who happens to be the chosen one has a parent or relative thought dead who happens to be the biggest bad guy of them all. Also dead loved ones are just that, dead loved ones. Not everyone faked their own death, or arranged it, and not everyone can come back to life. Sometimes in a true fully fledged fantasy story yea that can happen, but it is not something that is common.
To me I like it knowing that sometimes there is a crazy connection between two characters as in Ra. But I also like it when the past is just that, the past. It cannot be altered, it is what it is and authors too often feel the need for everything to travel in a full circle. Sometimes an oval, straight line or even hexagon is all enjoyable plot twists that eventually lead to the end climax. I guess to summarize that clichés are just overdone nowadays.
As for living here and missing England I think that is what leaving home is all about, if you didn’t miss it, it wasn’t worth leaving. At the same time though the experienced gained from leaving is irreplaceable. I’m not fully aware of Illinois weather but I can only assume that compared to the rain of England it must have been different. What do you mean you didn’t like our milk or cheese?! I think skim milk is good and hate it when I drink whole it is just too much like drinking cream. Cheddar though you have me stumped I didn’t know it was that different from country to country.
Just as an aside, my article review of The Age of Ra has been posted to my website, and we have pictures up of the covers of all three of the Pantheon series (I will be doing a review of them all once I have each finished) Also my podcast about comics is going up soon if you want to hear any of that. Just figured you would be interested in reading a review on one of your books.
And here, folks, is the link to said review. And very lovely and smashing it is, too. Thank you, Andrew. And yes, “pseudo-trilogy” is as good a description for the Pantheon series as any. I suppose, given that there are likely to be three more, we could call it the first pseudo-trilogy, with the next three being the second. And that’s not forgetting the potential mini pseudo-trilogy of novellas.
I don’t have strong feelings either way about a piece of software. Unless it fails to work, in which case I have very strong feelings indeed, and they tend to be strongly worded and accompanied by some very strong thumping of desk, floor, wall or occasionally keyboard. IE9 just seemed to be crap from the outset, one of those retrograde upgrades, like Word for Vista. There’s a lot to be said for leaving something well alone if it works. Microsoft, in particular, seem to like to fiddle and tinker for no good reason other than that’s what’s expected of them. I don’t mind if there’s an improvement that makes my computer work faster, but if an innovation slows me down because it’s over-complicated or counterintuitive, then it’s not an innovation at all. It’s, at best, a novelty.
Without wishing the alienate the entire US dairy industry, American milk just tastes a bit odd. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something thin and bitter about it. I imagine it may be down to a cause as simply as different breeds of cow or different types of cattle feed. But finding “proper” Cheddar in the States was incredibly difficult, I thought. Not the bendy yellow stuff in the supermarkets but crumbly, aged Cheddar with a tang to it. In the event, an organic supermarket (and what a novelty that was to me in the mid-1990s) was able to meet my Cheddar needs, but like imported magazines it came at huge expense. Something like seven bucks per quarter pound, maybe even more. But hey, I didn’t have children at the time, so I could afford little luxuries like that. And there were compensations for the dairy product issues, things I’d never eaten before and could never have found in the UK, not least stuffed Chicago pizzas and the strawberry-and-rhubarb pie at a local pie shop. Oh yes, and cinnamon rolls. God, I could have guzzled down a thousand of those.
AHHHH I feel like my head is going to explode this week and the feeling has been alive since last week too. I am working on a final paper for a class I’m taking and unfortunately I am more of a fiction/story teller in my writing as opposed to straight facts and no back story which has really thrown me off with this report. This is why I have been absent in writing back to you sir and my apologies but after this week things should be turning around for a least a month.
I called The Age Of books a pseudo-trilogy because they do technically form a trilogy of books all taking part in one series of story. But to me a trilogy is usually centered around the same characters, storyline, plot, villain and other similarities. I wanted people to know that reading these books in any order will work, and that each one on their own is just as good as the last, yet if someone has no interest in one mythology type they weren’t required to read it just to understand the story. One thing I think you will like is that after my group read the review several of them desire to buy The Age of Ra which is a compliment to me for writing the review, and a compliment to you because others have now taken interest in your literature.
As for things like a program, I don’t usually have disdain or hatred for one or another. To me after working in Staples for five years and seeing issues with some programs constantly it becomes quite frustrating. With IE they constantly update because it is Microsoft’s way. I understand updating only helps us in the long haul but maybe better testing before a world wide release would actually prove productive to them once in a while.
I have to agree at least from here in the States there are certain places which make outstanding food compared to others which just cannot hold a candle. Pizza and bagels in New York is just a couple of examples of great food. I don’t like drinking whole milk really, to me it is just too creamy and skim milk overall is just a little healthier. Cheddar that crumbles in your hand is probably something I will need to take an adventure to England to experience it in true form. It must be expensive importing these foods from one country or another just like your magazines that you liked reading while in Chicago. Anyway, do you have any plans for the Holiday season? Christmas plans or just the usual spending time with family?
I’m glad your head has stopped exploding. At least, I assume it has. I understand your pain, though. At school my biology class was once set an essay to discuss whether a car is a living thing or not. I went into great metaphysical depth exploring what constitutes sentience, soul, and so on. What I failed to realise was that we were being asked to prove or disprove the argument using the seven indications for life (which I can’t remember in full now, but they’re things like respiration, locomotion and the like). So, clearly, I was not destined to be a scientist. In fact, we sat various tests in our last year of school that were supposed to be able to determine what career each of us was best suited for. The teacher looked at my results and suggested I wasn’t suited to be anything. Which, I guess, is how I came to turn my hand to writing.
Anyway, your absence was noted but is forgiven. I myself am meant to be on holiday now, it being nearly Christmas and all, but an opportunity came up to pitch a couple of ideas to a publisher for a specific series, so I’ve been working on that. Nearly done it, too, and then I really am going to take a break and try and get into the festive mood.
The Pantheon books — we have to call them a series now — are thematically linked, of course. They’re all about gods and gods’ relationships with people and vice versa. But aside from that, they’re as different from one another as I can make them. Part of the fun for me, and I hope for readers, is embracing those differences and considering them. It would be a bit boring — certainly for me — if each book was the same as the others and even if they featured recurring characters. The nature of each pantheon determines the nature of the book it features in. To me, that’s been the most surprising and enjoyable thing about writing them. I never know quite what I’m going to get until I actually start researching the stories and shaping the plot.
Christmas this year sees a large contingent of my family descending on our house for the day itself. It was supposed to be just my mother, but it kind of spiralled out of control and now we’re going to be nine at the table, which my wife is delighted about (not very). It should be fun, though, and I expect my fingers will be red raw from assembling various Lego sets. What about you? What are you up to?
Well the holiday season is over with the exception of the New Year which isn’t too busy. That is pretty funny about you figuring out if a car is alive or not. I can fully grasp how you would use all sorts of logic and figure out the answer then just be told that you did it completely wrong and it was easier to answer just by using the principles that were learned in class. My absence again is unforgivable but my excuse is that I was shopping, finishing up everything and preparing for Christmas.
The Pantheon series I think has a much cooler ring to it and makes it sound complete as a whole. I agree the fun for you and for the me is reading a completely different story then the previous one. I always loved Gods, Goddesses and creatures, my original forte was Greek but since then I have branched out into the world of Norse, Egyptian and more. That is one reason I really am looking forward to the short stories, novellas and other stories that center and focus on other types of deity. I know you won’t fail to entertain me to say the very least.
Christmas this year to me was different. For the first time in years I wasn’t fully able to predict what my parents, friends, or girlfriend was going to be buying me as a present. I liked not knowing what I was going to be opening. Of course splitting the holiday between me and my girlfriend’s family was a pain in the rear but what can I do about it? Nothing really so can’t find myself complaining all that much. I ended up getting some books, video games, statues, and other random assorted gifts from everybody. Overall the day was quite enjoyable and I hope the Christmases to follow are just the same enjoyment. Hopefully your fingers aren’t too red from assembling Lego mania and that Mrs. Lovegrove didn’t have to cook too much even though 9 guests are quite a bit.
Probably the biggest piece of news that really got me down was about school. I got good grades, an A and an A minus, but my one professor told me to take a writing class for graduate level work. I guess my research ability, and writing to appeal to the graduate level work professionally wasn’t up to par. It got me down though because in high school and undergraduate level work my writing was always my strong suit. I was able to save a bad grade or finalize a good grade with my writing ability and to be told that it wasn’t professional graduate writing was depressing. In all honesty though I think my problem is two-fold, I love story telling and ideally I would love to be a fiction writer sharing ideas, and influencing people with my ideas and stories the way authors have done for me. That I think is the reason I use too many details telling a story instead of writing a strict Homeland Security paper with facts only. I hope that I can learn technique better for graduate school, obtain free time to pursue my dreams, and be able to write both ways without sacrificing one or the other.
Beyond that dreary news any plans for new years? I am having a few friends over and every year we vote on what we consider “song of the year” but with us the songs don’t have to be released in that calendar year. It is more or less what was most meaningful and what we listened to the most in the year that makes song significant then we listen to them in a countdown to find out what was number 1.
For what it’s worth, I had a similar problem at school. When it came to writing factual essays, I either fumbled the ball or ended up writing something that was closer to fiction (or a magazine article) than an essay. One English teacher had to tell me off for putting too many gags into a piece on Oscar Wilde. I thought it was appropriate, Wilde being no slouch in the joke department himself, but apparently it wasn’t acceptable. I think some of the problem was that the same teacher was in charge of the school magazine, which I was editing (and writing most of) at the time, so I got my wires crossed. What he would have wanted in one context, he didn’t want in the other.
I also remember doing a biology essay in which we were asked to say whether a car was a living creature or not. I went into a whole, lengthy philosophical debate about consciousness and sentience and what constituted life, artificial intelligence, and so forth, when in fact all that was required was to apply the seven criteria for life, as defined by scientists, to a car and see which applied and which didn’t (things such as locomotion, respiration, etc.). So I flunked that one pretty badly.
It ought not to hold you back, however. Writing factually is a technique that can be learned. I’ve managed to, with my journalism, almost “on the job” as it were. It’s a kind of storytelling, but it just happens to use a slightly different set of brain muscles.
Legomania is still in full swing at Lovegrove Towers. The Death Star is yet to be complete. It would have been, but it turns out a crucial piece of floor is missing on the top section. The good news is that there’s a Lego shop in a city nearby where I happen to be going today, and there they sell individual pieces, so I may be able to resolve the problem and finish building the thing.
No plans for the New Year except to resume work (tomorrow, as it happens) and try and secure a couple of contracts that I’ve been pitching for. No info on those yet, as it’s still early days, but it would be great if I could get a deal as it’s something I’ve have a hankering to write ever since I was a kid…
Actually it is worth a lot hearing those words of advice from you. I usually hear things from people here, but family and friend wise I’m the first in graduate school and nobody I think fully grasps the difficulties I’m having and hearing someone who is an author having gone through similar problems just lets me know I’m not alone.
I really appreciate hearing those war stories from someone who has gone through something similar with their writing and that it is obvious you overcame it and became successful. No matter what I do with a career in life I want to be able to fully devote myself, enjoy what I do, and make enough money to take care of my future family.
Legomania sounds like a grand ol’ time especially for you. I myself never was into Legos too much as a child. I always found the finished pieces difficult to play with and sometimes the construction was just to involved and I couldn’t be bothered. From what I hear it sounds like Daddy has to do the construction, I hope that Jr. is also an active participant. So often I have heard of kids wanting Lego pieces, or other models and the parents end up putting them together, which is actually quite ironic.
Of course you know my interest is in fully swing after finishing a post like your last one. It makes me think with a vivid imagination what deal you would want that could be something you wanted to write since childhood. I would guess it is something that isn’t creator owned because from my knowledge those don’t really require a deal. So hopefully you can provide a minor spoiler so I can be just as excited to read it as you are to write it.
I hope you and your family have a great 2012, write a lot of books, make lots of money, and enjoy the year. I’m certainly hoping 12 brings more joy then 11, and especially 09 but only time will tell on that front. Every new year I write a list of goals down that I want to accomplish by years end and then at the end of December I review it to see how far I’ve come. Last year out of 22 goals I achieved about 7. This year I want to do all of them.
I had to complete a Lego Technic set that number #1 son got for Christmas, but it’s far above his age, and even I found it tricky. The Death Star was much easier but just took a long time, and any help from my junior assistants seemed to be pretty much on their terms. Usually it involved simply putting the character figures in different places. I was grateful for their enthusiasm nonetheless. Now I feel I’m pretty much Legoed out for the next few months… although I have been eyeing up that Millennium Falcon set…
The potential new project(s): not creator-owned, you’re right. Work for hire on a very well-known property. I would hope to bring something new to it (otherwise what’s the point?) while remaining respectful to the original and its tradition. I can’t really say much more, not because I’m being discreet, but because I don’t want to jinx it. I should find out in a week or so if my pitch(es) have been successful.
I don’t bother with to-do lists but only because I get so disappointed when I fail to tick off all the boxes. I think my needs and wants for 2012 are pretty simple. Gain the abovementioned deal. Write at least two whole books and a couple of other smaller projects. Earn more money (this isn’t a want, it’s an essential). Try and have a bit more fun. Do more music on my keyboard (I slacked off on that front during the second half of 2011, but really it’s a valuable, mind-cleansing recreation). Get fitter. That’s just about it.
Glad I was able to help with my “wise words”. Honestly, academic achievement isn’t that big a deal in the long run, and a creative, open mind will get you a lot further in life than a retentive, closed one.
I’m sorry again, thought that I had replied already to this most recent post of yours but I discover that that I have not. So I’ll reply now.
Lego has always been crazy to me, feels like millions of small pieces that all look alike but sometimes have different coloration. The Death star I would think isn’t too terrible but a lot of it must be circular pieces and a plastic screen for the one part of the star. Unless of course I’m totally off base and what I’m thinking isn’t the actual Death Star.
Being that I have waited over a week to even reply any more news on that special project that you are going to be working on or hope to be working on? I hope for your sake you got it then you can write what you always wanted to write and if it is up my alley then I can read it and give an opinion on it, although I’m sure you will be a good unique spin on anything subject matter.
With my and my “To-do-Lists” I view them more as a goal for the year. I do feel depressed when I look down at them and see holy crap I didn’t do half of this nonsense. But what I do like is seeing what I did actually accomplish. It also shows to me in December what I felt was important the previous January. I think it is funny that somethings of importance can change at a moments notice. Twelve months can open up eyes in a way I didn’t ever suspect.
I’m going to use your words of wisdom going into this school year. I begin classes in two days on Tuesday the 17th and plan on working my rear end off to keep the grades I got the first semester. I got an A and an A- for the semester and have a 3.8 GPA and I can tell you I want to keep that grade point average up.
I’ve started reading the Dan Abnett book First and Only of the Gaunt’s Ghosts story line. It is hard to get into right away because the book is so thick and the universe has already been created but he is getting me into the story quickly and teaching about the universe well. I still plan on reading your Age of Odin which will be right after this book and then I know you have others coming out so I’ll keep them on my radar.
The Lego Death Star is more of a cutaway type of affair, with three levels and four rooms on each level. So there’s the trash compactor, for instance, and a hangar for Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter, and the power core room where Obi-Wan disables the tractor beam, and so on. It’s a quite brilliant bit of design. I can’t imagine how long it took to devise. I do know that it took me 20 hours or thereabouts to build. The dividing sections between levels were a bit boring to build, but otherwise it was entertaining and rather soothing, in a strange way. I’d sit there with the radio on in the background and just follow the instructions and it all got pretty Zen after a while. For which reason, and the fact that I enjoyed it so much, I’m eyeing up the similarly complex Millennium Falcon as this year’s birthday/Christmas gift.
Still no news about the special project yet. I’ve nudged the editor a couple of times, and she assures me she’s going to get back to me, but I know for a fact that she’s very busy and I’m not at the top of her list of priorities. I just have to be a bit patient. Either she’ll snap up my proposals or she won’t. Bothering her isn’t going to help, and neither is me fretting about it.
I haven’t yet read a Dan Abnett prose story, but I’ve read plenty of his comics and like them. He has a good grasp of character and a way with witty dialogue, so I imagine I’d enjoy one of his novels. In fact, I think I have a couple lying around the house somewhere. I may get round to reading them. Then again, I may get round to reading lots of the books that I have cluttering up the place. If only I could find the time…
Being British I don’t know much about Grade Point Averages but my understanding is that 3.8 is really pretty damn good. Isn’t a 4.0 a perfect result or something like that? In which case, being just .2 off a 4.0 would seem excellent going.
A 3.8 is the average of grades given in a semester. An a is 4.0. B is 3.0 C is 2.0…a C+ is 2.5. B+ is 3.5 So if someone got four A’s and a B+it would be 19.5 /5 so it would average to 3.9. That simple. GPA 3.9.
Read Redlaw. Very much enjoyed it. Can’t wait to read some of your other work.
Oh and I would strongly disagree that the Norse gods were less well developed as characters then the Greco Roman gods. The Norse gods had personality. Loki was a prety good description of a high functioning, genius psychopath. Thor was simple, suspicious and straight forward. Kind of like a cop or something. Odin was somewhat all knowing, but really the kind of leader that kept things to himself. Also, the Norse gods were benevolent. They kept mankind safe from the Frost Giants. The Greeks gods were completely selfish. They cared nothing for anything, including their own family members. As far as sexuality, it was mostly rape. Zues raped too many mortal women to count, and then Hera in her jealousy would punish these same mortal women. But besides being lazy, hedonistic and selfish they had no personality to speak of.
I have one problem with Redlaw universe. There is one strong constant in nature; A predator has to be faster, stronger, and most importantly SMARTER then the prey. Natural or supernatural, that has to hold true. The way you have described it we have a creature that has one, and only one natural sustenance, and no actual way of getting it. A puma that is more stupid and slightly stronger then a deer would NOT EAT. It may be trite; but it only makes sense a vampire to be stronger, faster, more graceful and a good deal more intelligent then a human. It would also make sense that they be attractive. A vampire that is beautiful would simply feed more regularly. Survive longer, and it is THEIR strand of vampirism that would go on. Also, a long lived creature with the mentality of a human would by itself be a formidable thing. Yet none of these vampires seem to be any more then English speaking canines. Even the striga isn’t a match for humans. Why? Why would she not at least have invested dome money to collect in fifty years time at a substantial increase? Why not fight politics with politics? Surely creatures that live to be a few centuries would know how. Why are they so desperately helpless? This is not how the world works.
James
That Death Star sounds a ton more intricate then I originally thought. It seems like these giant Lego projects are a gift to both son and father in the grand scheme of things. I now fully can grasp why and how these Lego sets cost so much money in addition to taking hours upon hours to construct. I do tend to agree that any sort of hobby that is soothing, relaxing, and makes you an overall happier person due to your down time is always an excellent addition to life.
All I can say at this point is good luck with that side project. I truly hope that you get it and have my fingers crossed. I know there is no use sweating over it and fussing or worrying will only up your stress and anticipation levels so no use thinking and harping on it over and over again.
Dan Abnett. I really love him and his work. I too began reading his and Andy Lanning comic books (cosmic stuff like Annihilation, and Annihilation Conquest) and they have grown on me to be one of my favorite writers in all of Marvel. There are a few authors whose work I’ll buy just because of who they are and those two fit the bill. Just a bit of information on the Warhammer 40K stuff it is complex. This is the first I’m jumping into when it comes to Warhammer readings and learning the schematics of an entire universe is quite daunting. I am enjoying the small differences in American to British English in the writings. Certain words, spellings, and other small humorous bits. Overall though I must say he is worth a read, if you ever get the chance to get to it of course.
As for GPA Maria seemed to cover the basics of it. It averages out to mathematical numbers corresponding to the letters of grades and working itself out. So I need not explain that little bit. Thank you though for the compliment and I hope later this semester I can deliver more good news in terms of my grades. School just started and will horrifically impact my reading, writing, and hobbies but that is what school is for isn’t it?
Maria
I feel that even though this is James’ site some of your comments have opened up the floor for open discussion and even parts of it touch upon things I have said so I will reply to you as well. First thank you for explaining the GPA system so accurately and easy to understand. The big things are the next two posts pertaining to the Gods and Redlaw. I do not remember when or if it was I who said that Norse gods were less developed. I think that each set of mythology has been imbued with such humanistic characteristics it is only natural to see the roles of society take place within the pantheon. Thor – Cop, Odin – Dad, Loki – Trickster annoying sibling. Zeus – celebrity who gets away with everything, Hera – Evil Step-Mom etc. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all created God in a sense of being above man, something superior that humans should seek to achieve whereas in mythology these were seen as powerful, supreme beings that were exactly like humans. It gave reason to commit adultery, I mean if Zeus does it why can’t I? Norse gods were created as Viking heroes who fought to save weaker people. Asgardians fighting to save Midgard from the evil Frost Giants. The synonym is for Vikings protecting women from whoever they saw fit.
The biggest discussion point I think is about Redlaw though. James can best answer all of your questions as he is the author but I also read the book and can share my thoughts with you to hopefully clarify some points. Look at percentages of kills that lions get on gazelle or zebra. The ratio of success to failure is astounding. They fail (I’m not sure on numbers) but more than half of the time they seek out a hunt. That speaks volumes when it comes to predator prey. Now let’s factor in intelligence, organization, and the fact vampires are supernatural in nature. Humans are very intelligent, have ways of killing a vampire, better at organizing, and fully capable of genocide and cruel treatment of people (if the example in the book of the prisoner isn’t enough look at Nazi Germany, for one example of cruelty.) That being said the ratio of prey to predator is very much skewed in favor of the very intelligent, weaponized, prey. Also from what we have seen and it is possible that Redlaw: Red Eye will explain this, but are vampires truly natural in nature? Are they a species that is supposed to exist or is it by failure in the gene pool that these creatures exist? Any natural selection enthusiast will know that in order for a species to survive they must procreate, and do vampires produce offspring? That is why they being supernatural, a mistake of genetics are possible. Illyria is one of many shitriga (sorry for spelling) but how do we know that there isn’t a duke, prince, or underground network of these creatures running whole governments? There is easily one or more who might be filthy rich. All of these questions might be answered in the next two books of the series. This was a taste of what is to come. Sorry James if I stole any thunder or misexplained any of your stand points, but from a reader’s perspective this was what I thought.
Also one last thing survival of the fittest. Only the strongest survive. Strength like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Strength physically and in speed is only one area of expertise. A weaker species can suppress a stronger one by sheer numbers and force. Think about that in how the world works.
Andrew, you and Maria are welcome to discuss on my site as much as you want, as long as you both remain polite, which I’m sure you will. I’m just gratified that you both take my books seriously enough to dissect them so intelligently.
For me, the idea behind Redlaw is to get away from both the sleek, aristocratic vampire of Anne Rice’s novels and (by all means possible) the sparkly teen vampires of Twilight. As with any of the great horror-monster tropes, the vampire is protean and can be tweaked and altered to represent any kind of point. It all depends on the author’s inclination and choice of subtext. At the same time, internal logic has to be maintained. This is tricky if you want your vampires, as I do, to be supernatural creatures and not, say, scientifically explicable like the vamps in Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend (which, don’t get me wrong, is a terrific book). “Supernatural” is like “magical”: it covers a multitude of sins. But if we take it as read that my vampires are possessed of needs and abilities beyond mortal ken, it means also that they don’t necessarily accord to the normal rules of predator/prey relationships or human society.
In fact, they’re a feral, chaotic species, pack animals but more like hyenas than, say, lions, scavengers, fearful of their one natural enemy, the human, who is often better armed and certainly better organised. I don’t want to give too much away about Redlaw: Red Eye, because it’s not finished yet, but it’s this aspect of them that I explore and develop in that book. I’ll be expanding the world even further in the third book, when I get round to writing one, but I’m pretty sure what there won’t be is some force or entity who underpins the entire vampire population. That’s been done rather well both in Buffy and The Strain, and isn’t really where I want to go with the series. I’m approaching it more from the angle that vampires are a social problem which we humans are trying to deal with in different ways, not always effectively and definitely without much kindness or compassion. Redlaw stands between us and the vampires, and the major plot arc is how he acts and reacts to the situation, and why.
As for the gods, it may have been me who said the Norse gods are less developed than the Greek, and I stand by that remark. Largely it’s because there’s less Norse-god material available, fewer stories. Generally they’re a rough and ready lot, while the Greek pantheon is epicene and sophisticated. I love both pantheons equally, however.
Still no joy yet on the “secret project” front. I’m doing my best, as my own agent, badgering the editor concerned, but she’s a busy lady and I’m sure she’ll get round to giving me an answer soon enough.
Speaking of the subtle differences between American English and British English, it amazes me that The Age Of Odin has done so well in the States, given that there’s so much British slang and idiom in it, not to mention British references. I know you get a lot of our cultural output over there, things like Spooks and Doctor Who, but we’re a tiny wee island and the two-way traffic is definitely greater coming from your direction than ours.
Having said that, I would argue that the best writers of US comics are British, Mr Abnett among them. Not to denigrate people like Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Fraction, Bill Willingham et al, all of whom do sterling work, but we have Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and Grant Morrison to our credit, along with our Irish next-door neighbours such as Garth Ennis. In that field we really do seem to punch above our weight. I’m pretty proud of that.
Starting off I will always do my best to remain respectful, proper and appropriate on your website when addressing other people commenting if for nothing else than respect for you. As far as Redlaw or any other book might be concerned I understand Maria’s points made, there were loose ends and were some things that could be tightened up. I also know it is a trilogy and by that I expect some of those curiosities, history lessons, details, or whatever else needs wrapping up to be taken care of in books two and three. If you gave all of that information in book 1 the story would be overshadowed, the book would be about two hundred more pages, and it would really limit your ability for the middle and end of the series. I asked questions about the book though for clarity too, and I can safely say if by the end of book 3 there are still loose ends I’ll definitely come knocking with some Q hoping for some A.
As for that secret project I’m still waiting on my end to hear the final answer from you. My anticipation is lower of course than your’s but I’m still quite curious. Good luck on tag teaming as agent and writer but I’m sure you can get it done.
British and American humor are interesting. Movies like Snatch, and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels are hysterical. I also enjoy Monty Python a lot. One good example that initially confused me was the use of the word caffeine. People were having a cup of caffeine in the morning. Now I wasn’t sure if this was English as reference to coffee, or if it was a Warhammer term. That’s where I was getting screwed up. And being that I have not read The Age of Odin yet I cannot say why or why not it was popular in the states. I haven’t really heard of Spooks, and I’m not a Doctor Who fan but I know it is widely popular.
Speaking of comics though I can say that many great writers are not American. Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore are all fantastic writers. A personal favorite is a Scotsman Mark Millar. Also Garth Ennis from Ireland is a great addition to the whole of the comic world. Us American’s are getting back into some though with guys like Matt Fraction, Jonathan Hickman, Geoff Johns, and even Brian Bendis. I myself think Bendis was overused by Marvel and his talents really began to lack due to the overwhelming amount of work he had to do. Overall English comic writers are much more abundant then I would have ever though and their skill is top notch kudos to England.
I myself am going through rough times with school. Just the quantity of reading is immense and homework really limits my comic/novel reading ability. Not to mention that my job is 35 mins away and I just put in for full time, so the little weekend I have on Wed/Thurs will disappear. Stress is to the max with this but it will only happen for the next two years until I graduate with that degree. Until then I’ll try my best to stay current on readings so we can continue to use that as a topic of conversation.
I think the “caffeine” comment is simply a British-ironic way of saying “coffee”. No Warhammer reference detectable or intended. Sometimes, just for fun, we like to make things more complicated than they are or need to be. Like with our Frenchified spellings. It’s just our way. Ignore it.
I have to say that I didn’t think there were that many unanswered questions in Redlaw. I think with vampires you have to take a certain amount as read. For instance, in Buffy, it’s a given that the vampires burn up in daylight, turn to ash when Buffy stakes them, and have snarly, scowly faces when they’re being full vamp. Likewise, in 30 Days Of Night, they’re foreigners and have snaggly teeth and cam leap tall buildings and prowl like predators. You start out at a base level and develop from there according to your own tastes and the needs of the work you’re creating. Nobody in editorial at Solaris asked for any explication of the situation during the editing process. They seemed happy to go with the book as it is.
What I am definitely intending to do, though, is expand the original premise with each book and work towards an overall arc, even though the individual volumes will be self-contained adventures. Redlaw is more about exploring certain themes — blood, evil, capitalism, victimisation — than it is about the vampire mythos as such. I may have said this before, but what’s especially cool about vampires is that they can be tailored to fit almost any requirements. They’re protean and plastic. They mean whatever the author wants them to mean. Same with zombies and even werewolves. That’s why different people can keep turning to these types, again and again over the decades, and making something new and original out of them.
Bendis has definitely overstretched himself, and I think he knows it. At the same time, he’s a working Joe and he can’t turn down a job offer. Neither would I, in his situation. He also loves the Marvel characters, especially the Avengers, and while his individual issues seem to be either a lot of people standing around talking or a lot of people racing around fighting, his affection always shows through. And there’s always at least one killer line of dialogue per comic.
I don’t envy you holding down a job and doing college at the same time. That’s really burning the candle at both ends. Can’t leave much time for socialising or reading. Then again, when you’re a graduate all the hard work will pay off and you can go bounding out into that great wide-open jobs market where people are queueing up to employ you… Oh wait. That was when we had an economy.
Just kidding. Stick with it, get through it, it’ll be worth it.
Well at first when I was reading I saw caffeine and was like “what is this?” but after a little bit I finally figured out it was slang for coffee. After reading enough books by English writers I’m used to colour, and the like so that isn’t really going to be effecting me anymore like it once did.
What I mean by unanswered Redlaw questions isn’t something that can come in that story. The board of secret directors like the three men from around the world, just as example was something that in a one shot story you seem to just understand is a pseudo illuminati that exists in that new world. Knowing that this was a series I expect that you will be indulging more into those characters, their purpose and their back story. One of the beautiful things about zombies, vampires, and werewolves is what they represent. They can be straight forward and just a monster with varying intelligence, and abilities that each writer is utilizing. They can also represent anything from biblical references, to political, to social, to racial issues existing in countries. Each of these can exemplify what an economic crisis is, or how people are too judgmental of physical beauty. I saw some of what you were doing with it, but also liked how that wasn’t the overwhelming theme to a good vampire story. Just to talk about myself for a second, I have stories that involve all three of the aforementioned monsters. My werewolf story is just about a monster and hidden secrets would be of a struggle that an individual has to deal with an inner monster. The vampire/werewolf story I got is about just the monsters and is supposed to only be about monsters. Zombie story is also just about zombies. If I think hard about it though I’m sure I can find ways that I have hidden secrets and messages into the stories. To me Redlaw is a story about a man, John Redlaw and what he deals with as a police officer. I think there is more to the man then meets the eye at this point but only the later stories will prove that.
With the comic industry I think sometimes that Marvel and DC stretch their writers too much and overwork their great ones. To add to this topic it also is the storylines and how many issues they put into miniseries. The new one Marvel is doing is Avengers vs. X-Men. It is written by Avengers great Bendis, and X-Men writer Jason Aaron. Marvel sometimes has books that are too long. This series is 12 parts, but it seems like they learned their lesson and now the story will have only one unique tie-in where the rest are tie ins that are based in the Avengers or X-Men titles. These writers have to have good unique titles, where they don’t make a series too many titles long, too many issues deep, and half the issues are just crappy filler. I’m hoping this is a good big surge Marvel has been missing with some of their major cross-over events and that Bendis can borrow from Scottish great Mark Millar and his Civil War story to make this a very enjoyable title.
I appreciate the words of wisdom. It is very hard working 30 hours a week in a job that is outside of my major, training on site, and takes me 45 mins. to get there in the morning. I think I might be putting in for a transfer to move closer to my house so I can actually shorten my drive time and make life a little bit easier. I also have to say I don’t envy how hard it must have been to be able to call yourself “a professional writer.” I have a hard time balancing my work/school/hobbies/social life I don’t even know how I would find time to sit and write (which really bothers me that I don’t have or make time to do that.) Sometimes I feel like there is just not enough time in the day to get everything I want done. I’ll try to heed your advice and work hard towards graduating so I can get a job work normal 40 hours, then dedicate time to writing.
You’re spot-on about the three “illuminati”, although I’d call them the opposite, “unilluminati”, as they’re self-centred, greedy and about as unenlightened as can be. Since one of vampirism’s many aspects is as a metaphor for capitalism, that’s where I’m going with Redlaw. Each of the first three books features a different baddie, one of the three, and each of the men represents capitalism at its worst: destructive, rapacious, without conscience. Redlaw himself embodies a kind of suffering nobility and commonsense goodness. What is clear to him, but may not be to everyone around him, is that there are human monsters worse than vampires who need to be stopped. For me it’s important that the books are character-led. They’re about John Redlaw, his struggles with his enemies and his faith, the people he meets along the way who help and/or harm him, the places he has to go both geographically and inwardly. I’ve been thinking about the series in a new light, as I near the end of writing Book 2, and it seems to me it’s crime fiction with vampires thrown in. There are crooks and femmes fatales and stooges and victims
I have reasonably high hopes for Avengers vs. X-Men, although I suspect that like all these massive crossovers it won’t change much in the Marvel Universe and the status quo will more or less be restored at the end. It’s certainly a fanboy-pleasing idea, and they’ve got good creators on it, and it ought to make more sense than last year’s Fear Itself event, which was classily executed but somewhat vague and pointless. Jason Aaron’s work I don’t really know. I have an omnibus collection of his run on Wolverine but I haven’t got round to reading it yet. I’ve just finished a collection of the first few issues of an old Abnett/Lanning series, Resurrection Man, which is pretty good. They were still finding their way as writers at the time, but it hangs together well and there are some great twists and turns.
I sit and write every day because I have to, both mentally and financially. It’s taken me a good 20 years of doing this to get to the point where I can comfortably call myself a professional writer, and there’ve been some lean times along the way and some very dark nights of the soul. I still sometimes feel it could all collapse and disappear tomorrow and that I’m just one failed novel away from disaster and penury, but then that’s just my natural doom-and-gloom mindset. On good, upbeat days, there’s not a better job in the world. A better-paid job, yes. In fact, there are many better-paid jobs. But few better ones.
I have high hopes for Redlaw 2, and 3. I think that these books while capturing the essence of vampires will also be similar to a film noir detective book. Instead of a mob boss it is a corrupt politician, or businessman of a very high stature. Instead of villains who wish to shoot, stab and kill you it will be monsters who want to rip your throat out and eat you alive. To me I went into Redlaw one thinking in terms of vampires and not the other elements and then after our discussions I have understood where you were going with it, and know what to expect more during reads through the next two to the series. After reading the first two Ages of books, I know action, monsters, and mayhem are not something you shy away from, which is what keeps me so engrossed, so I anticipate good all ways around.
Avengers vs. X-Men is that title that we know won’t have huge staying power, these titles never do. What I want to see is some good battles, good fights, and an eventual ending that leaves us saying “woah..” Those titles have staying power even if the content doesn’t. Those are the comics I really love rushing to the store to just buy and read before I even leave the parking lot. Resurrection Man is having a new run at DC being penned by the loveable Abnett and Lanning again, which is starting off pretty strong. I never even heard of the character but the writers dragged me in. I won’t complain, good reading, is good reading.
I can truly appreciate how hard writing must be with the fear of “the next one will be my undoing!” logic, but like you said yourself, best job in the world. I would feel so accomplished if I could write a book, have it published and find it in a Barnes and Noble or something like that. To me just finding it in the store would be so awesome. Not even a career, just saying “yea that was me, I did that!” I really hope I can, and with hard work I’m going to go for it.
Oh as a slight aside here. I gave my girlfriend The Age of Zeus to read, and she started it slowly. Taking forever she barely progressed in the story, but now she is really moving forward. She came up to me after the Olympians countered by going after landmarks asks “does it get more intense and have more action?” My only reply was to say that from that point forward I don’t remember the action stopping for more than a short chapter at a time. She loves it so far and I will give feed back at the end when she completes it.
Sorry for the delay. I’ve been on holiday, followed by a long, heavy game of catch-up with work and jetlag. I’m still pretty snowed under even now. There are a couple of online interviews I haven’t responded to yet, and the end of Redlaw: Red Eye is looming so that’s consuming a lot of my energies, and giving me a few sleepless nights as well. This often happens when finishing a book. It becomes a time of fretting and stress as I try to bring all the elements together and tie it all off. I think I’ve got about a week to go, maybe a week and a half. Then I’m going to relax, catch up on reading, and start the research process for Age Of Voodoo. What’s surprised me about Red Eye is that the ending is not what I expected it was going to be at all. The way things are headed, it’s opening up a whole new vista for the third book. The bad guy in that book is going to be the one I planned on using all along, but the nature of his scheme, and Redlaw’s approach to it, are going to be very different from what I originally envisaged. Such are the mysteries (and joyous frustrations) of fiction writing.
I’ll doubtless check out the new Resurrection Man when its trade-paperbacked. Not so long ago I read all the New 52 issue #1′s in an omnibus edition (and that was a strange experience, let me tell you) and some were terrific and some were merely just great. If nothing else the omnibus was a good taster for the relaunch, and I know I’ll be getting the collections of RM, Animal Man, Swamp Thing and Batwoman, plus maybe a couple of others.
I appreciate you inducting your girlfriend into the world of the Pantheon series. Let’s hope she finishes Zeus wanting more. My wife won’t read my books any more. She says she hates finding little snippets of our lives buried in there. I try not to do that but sometimes they just slip in, unconsciously. Also, she isn’t into all the military stuff. However, she did read and enjoy Redlaw and so did her best friend, who also liked Age Of Zeus a lot and is currently reading an advance copy of Age Of Aztec. One of my aims is to make these books female-reader-friendly, mainly by having strong female, credible characters in leading roles.
No worries my friend, I am at the point in the semester where I have to do a research paper, and if last semester is any clue, it isn’t going so well. My rough draft was torn to pieces and I really feel defeated. I’m trying though and I’m determined, I guess that is what counts right? As for other news I’m glad you got to take a little vacation there. Go anywhere special, and I hope Mrs. Lovegrove and the kids enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to Red Eye and eager to see where you made the changes. I know as amateur of a writer I am that when I make an outline, create a story line and plot then start writing my fingers flow on the keyboard and the words that come down often contradict my outline. I guess the main point is that the finished product makes you happy then who cares if you followed the outline, it is your work after all. As a reader if I am to give any advice on the completion of a second book. Don’t leave a huge cliffhanger!! Those are killers to readers like me. You get so close to a revelation then are hit with the one-two punch of a cliffhanger and the knowledge that book 3 is still a year away. I get so frustrated reading it and then thinking “oh no I have to wait years to read the end of this!!!
I have been the WORST comic fan this semester. I’m literally weeks behind on my comic reading I feel like such a phony reader sometimes. My stack is like 50 books deep and I’m not close to being ready to read it. I have though read the entire Hunger Games series in less than two weeks. I don’t know if you read those things but I send them with a high recommendation. The story line, plot development, and twists are not for the weak of heart. I know they are young adult books, but there are elements that are very adult. I enjoyed reading a book by a female author about a girl who is 16/17 told from first person that isn’t written like the Twilight drab. It was a relief knowing first person books about girls can be very entertaining. I did recently begin the next novel in my conquest of book reading. I think you might be familiar with it, The Age of Odin…haha. I am enjoying the satire humor so far and knowing your writing I now that once I get to a certain point I will have to finish it. It happened with the Age of Ra, the Age of Zeus, and Redlaw. Read half the book over a week or so, then the last half in 7 hours. It is truly a compliment to you that you get me so wrapped up in the plot I have to finish it.
The Age of Voodoo, that is interesting, and I can only imagine what the cover of that will look like. I’m nervous about the Age of Aztecs. I know the whole December 2012 thing is a hoax, but the idea of knowing when you meet your ultimate demise is a scary thought. I don’t want to read that in mid-September see you threw some of 2012 hype in and get myself all worked up. I must sound like a big baby, 24 years old and getting worked up about a silly prophecy.
Finally two points. One is my girlfriend finished the Age of Zeus. She loved it. Thought everything in it was awesome and really liked the action as well as the twists and turns. I asked her if she felt a bigger connection due to a female being the lead, and she didn’t have a yes or no either way. To me females or males can make a great main character, it is the author who has to convince you this character is worthy of being the star of the show. I know what you mean by putting elements of your life into your writing, I tend to find myself creating characters with combined names of family members or friends. Making a personality based on my father or mother. I can see why it would annoy your Mrs. The last point of my long message is that if you don’t see my presence it is not that I’m leaving our chats. They really help with my week, I enjoy reading your posts and replying, but school is heinous and gets in the way of all the fun. So if I end up disappearing for a bit it is school not my abandonment.
Sorry for the lack of spacing, I thought I spaced it out better
I may have used something of the “2012 phenomenon” in Age Of Aztec. But rest assured, it’s there for a reason. I’m not simply trying to cash in on the whole hoo-hah (which, IMHO, is just one of those nonsense things that people get worked up about from time to time). It’s not the whole sum-and-purpose of the book but it is relevant to the plot and adds to the apocalyptic air I was trying to create with it. See what you think, at any rate. And don’t be scared. I grew up convinced the world was going to end in an atomic ash cloud every single day of my childhood. It didn’t happen, and probably never will.
If you glance at my latest blog entry, you’ll see that I’m going to be doing a couple of Sherlock Holmes novels in the near future. This was the “mystery project” I was hinting at a while back. It’s taken a while to come to fruition, and nothing’s been signed yet so it’s far from a done deal, but I am terrifically excited about it and intend to do the very best I can. If the books turn out as I hope they’re going to, they’ll please both diehard Holmesians and people who like my work.
I, too, am being remiss with my comics reading. My bedside stack has now reached nearly 100 issues, and that’s not counting the graphic novels. There just doesn’t seem to be any spare time at the moment. I’ve got B.P.R.D.‘s backing up almost to 2010, and about eight Fables‘s too. I never buy anything I don’t want to read. It’s actually getting round to reading them that’s the problem.
Redlaw: Red Eye, which I have just finished, does not end on a cliffhanger, you’ll be pleased to hear. I plan to make each book a self-contained adventure, but the ending of this one definitely leaves things open for the next, and all three in the series are telling one larger story, in instalments. However, there may be some delay before I start work on Redlaw 3 (subtitle: Red Sun) as I’ve had to rejig my schedule to accommodate the Holmes books while keeping up the one-a-year rate on the Pantheon books and accompanying novellas. Something had to give, and it’s Redlaw 3.
The funniest part of the 2012 phenomenon for me is not the fact we are living in “fear of the unknown” it is more of “why is there a date attached to this that we have to look forward to now?” But I’m glad you avoided the cash in on the current affair, but didn’t shy away from using it in the story. I look forward to it. A little over 150 pages into Age of Odin and I really like it, it is making me look at Marvel and shake my head at them which is just plain funny.
Congrats on obtaining the Holmes license. I have the entire collection of Sherlock by Doyle, but when reading the first he changed direction so quickly from the plot to something in the desert he lost me. I plan on reading more when I can but I love the character of Sherlock and Watson. I’ll ask a question I don’t know if you will answer though. Are you going classical Sherlock during the time period of Doyle or working some sci-fi magic in and moving him more current? Just curiosity I’m sure I’ll be checking it out anyway.
With Redlaw: Red Eye I appreciate your construct. Trilogies are three stories that tell one overall tale, not a book 1. Then book 2 which is good but book 3 is vital to concluding it. I hate when that happens. And with the Pantheon books, and Holmes I can wait for Redlaw 3. Whatever you can do in quality not quantity is what I enjoy.
Summer is rapidly approaching me, school winding down, and I’m fingers crossed on that full time job I’m gunning for. Comics are on the back burner, but I was so behind on book reading they can wait a bit I guess. I always look forward to summer, but it is funny now. In school it was that 3 months of time off. Then in high school it was 3 months off, with little working to make money. College it was the same as HS. Now working almost full time and doing grad school it has become that time off from school even though I’m working. It still feels like a vacation even at age 24. I guess that is what helps keep you young.
My Holmes books are definitely going to be in the correct period (one in the late 1880s, the other in the run-up to the First World War) but there are going to be steampunk and/or supernatural elements in both of them, and they’re going to be adventure stories as well as straightforward detective stories. This is the kind of Holmes tale that Titan are going for and the kind that I happen to like quite a lot. There’s no point me trying to compete directly with Conan Doyle and mimicking his style and content, because there’s only one person who’s going to come off worse by comparison, and I’ll give you a clue: it won’t be Conan Doyle. So these’ll be Holmes pastiches with a little extra on the side, and the emphasis will be on pace and action more than on deduction, although there’ll definitely be plenty of that too. I wouldn’t want to do a modern-day Holmes because the BBC TV series is doing that excellently and it would be foolish to go over the same territory.
It’s funny with Odin because I wouldn’t have known half as much about Norse mythology as I did (before writing the book) if I hadn’t read the old Lee/Kirby Thor comics, and yet you’re not the first person who’s suggested that The Age Of Odin would have made a much more enjoyable movie than the Thor movie they did make. Although, actually, I quite liked the Thor movie. It seemed to get everything right, and if it was a little ponderous in places, that’s okay. In that respect it was at least true to the source material.
Spring has sprung here in the UK, and I know that for a fact because our cat is spending more time outdoors than indoors. In cold weather he rarely budges from the house, but the moment there’s any warmth you barely see him; he’s always in a garden, either ours or a neighbour’s.
Steampunk and similar genre are epic topics. I would love to live or experience that “era” of fake history. The concept of just old times with future technology has this mouth-watering appeal to it that makes it oh so sweet. Holmes as a detective, addict, and nut are just a brilliant addition. Detective books are one of those stories that make me so very happy when written in Holmes style.
I have about 200 pages left in Odin. I’m hoping I can polish off that one soon, preferably by the end of the week. My complete knowledge of the Norse Pantheon came from the Marvel comics, and I know by reading your book I’m giving myself a better education. I do really enjoy knowing how certain things work, and that I have a solid understanding of the story itself such as about Balder. I honestly think any of your books could be a movie. They read like a film and your knowledge of weaponry and war sounds like I’m talking to a veteran. I always myself pictured Mickey Rourke (younger but still gruff) as Redlaw. Odin though could be good to figure out and I see you and Austin have locked down a decent cast Zeus.
Glad to hear about your weather and hopefully your little cat doesn’t get himself into too much trouble. Cats are such mischievous creatures those silly little Basts.
I’m so upset with myself for not realizing that Aztec is out. I have to get this right away or I would be upset with myself. I’ll make it a thing to read it right after I finish Odin. I can’t even believe that I didn’t realize it was out.
Aztec has literally only just been published, so don’t go browbeating yourself. In fact, the publication caught me somewhat by surprise. It always seems to be happening at some far-off date in the future, and then suddenly, unexpectedly, it arrives. There’s been a flurry of review-type activity, and I’ve a few more Q&A-type things to be doing in the near future. That’s when it really comes home that I have a new book out. And of course, there’s the whole staggered-release aspect, with the Uk edition trailing the US edition by a couple of weeks. Anyway, yes, it’s here, it’s in the shops, it’s waiting…
I’ve got a Holmes short story to write in the near future, which I’m treating as a warm-up exercise for the first novel (which I won’t be starting until the autumn). I’m planning on doing the short story “straight”, no genre elements, just because I think that’ll be fun. But adding steampunk to Holmes, although it’s been done before, strikes me as a fun thing to do and a pretty good fit.
Much of the pleasure in writing Odin stemmed from rediscovering and reinterpreting the original myths. Trying to think of contemporary updates of the characters and monsters was tricky, but I like creative challenges like that, and respond well to them.
I don’t think Mickey Rourke would need to be younger to be Redlaw. Grizzled as he is, all you’d need to do is put a white wig on him and try and get him to do a British accent, and there’s your movie. But if you’d prefer an authentic Brit in the role, Ray Winstone or Clive Owen could do a good job of it. Michael Caine maybe too, except he’s really too old now for the character.
I have to begin my post with a very gracious thank you. I picked up Aztec the other day and was just skimming the back and saw that in the acknowledgments page my name was included. I’m flattered that I could fall into that category with whoever else those people are, but just to be thought of in that manner was very meaningful. I’ve showed everyone from my parents, to girlfriend, to co-workers all of who are very impressed. So again thanks for the kind words.
As far as Aztec goes I haven’t started reading it yet, but I felt like I was so out of the loop when I saw Anansi in the back as another title. When I learned it was an ebook I got a little depressed. I do have a Nook so I’ll have to dust it off and go read that trickster book. Aztec has been softly calling to me to pick it up but only time will tell when. I’m hoping soon that is truly for sure.
I did just finish Odin though. Trying to figure out which of the Pantheon is my favorite book I’m completely torn. Ra was the true “God” book where as Zeus was the super charged war sci-fi story. Odin falls in the middle somewhere. Gods are obtainable and exist where you can interact as an equal, but they are still gods. When I was approaching the end and a certain something happened I was yelling NO! NO don’t do that to me! But you wrapped it up beautifully and made me a very happy camper. I have no negativites about the book, only some questions which might merit an email to avoid spoilers.
As far as casting Redlaw I can’t agree more about Ray Winstone. He is a true bad ass Brit that could play Redlaw so well. Clive Owen to me is too much action star and not old enough. Michael Caine can play Lambourne as an older evil individual with a personal motive for everything even if it is just money. Slocock is a hard one though. A physically fit guy who can pass as a politician. That is one to kick around for a bit.
I reckon Slocock could be one of the new young actors who’ve been making a name for themselves recently. They all seemed to have gone to Eton (foremost public school in the land, what you’d call a prep school) and they’re charismatic and at the same time a little too slick. Eddie Redmayne is one of them. I forget the names of the others, but there are at least two or three more. Any of them could be a good Giles Slocock. I never thought of Caine as Lambourne, but that’s a good one. Either him or Ben Kingsley — sorry, Sir Ben Kingsley — in his best smarmy-villain mode.
As I may have said, Anansi is an ebook-only deal for now. There’s a reason for that. Solaris are using it to test the waters with selling their own e-titles directly from their website, as well as via Amazon and other outlets. So far it seems to be working, and if it continues to do so, and if two more Pantheon e-novellas are commissioned, then at some point in the near (but not that near) future there will be a paper omnibus edition of all three. I’m thinking it should be called The Godpunk Trilogy or The Godpunk Anthology, but chances are we’d probably end up with something like The Pantheon Collection. But if you’re able to obtain and read Anansi now, why not give it a whirl?
Glad you liked the way Odin worked out. In my view the ending wasn’t a copout at all, even though some might see it that way. I’d planned it all along, and seeded clues throughout the narrative as signposts hinting at the general direction things were taking, and Gid’s conversation with Bragi about poetry and myth is a big pointer in itself. See, it’s a story about stories, as much as anything.
I am trying to do something different with the gods in each book. I hope I don’t run out of variations on the theme before I run out of pantheons, that’s all.
Or Tom Hiddleston for Slocock. Or Benedict Cumberbatch.
Anansi will sure be a pick up for me in the near future. I read the quick little synopsis for it online and like where the story plans on going. Very interesting little way to take the spider. What is your saving grace for the gods is that each set were precreated with their own personalities. You are reworking them into modern day myth modifying their origin, their purpose, if they are liked, disliked, loved, feared, real, fake, imaginary, dreams, stories, or impostors. Keep that with a vivid imagination like you have surely shown and that is all working towards a very long run with gods of varying Pantheons.
You see I never thought Odin was a copout. When it was mentioned about Odin’s hero army all I thought was if you reverse the roles of the living and the dead and run with it from that point forward the book makes complete sense. Gid and what is about to happen to him before the story makes a big change. The idea of when we sleep and dream what are we seeing, Gid seeing the truth in a way. The fact that no matter Merc or army someone would be suspicious after the President built those machines. If anything it wasn’t a copout but a way to tie the story together completely. The part I really enjoyed was knowing. If you left it where we had to guess that would be frustrating but just that little sneak tells you yep it is all true.
Redlaw casting I’m liking so far. I think Tom Hiddleston is a good actor but so far in America I have only seen him as Loki, that snarky smarmy little worm which fits half of Slocock to the T but I’m unsure of his physical prowess. Benedict Cumberbatch I haven’t seen act but he looks perfect for the role. I can see Caine playing the Lambourne who is in it for the money, but Kingsley playing the evil Lambourne who does the sadistic crap the character does. What about Illyria? She could be interesting to cast. And I don’t know about you, but I think we need to fit Hugo Weaving into a “movie” version of one of your books. He is just too awesome to not have involved in some aspect.
Quick question about Aztec. I barely got started on it still only in the first chapter, but I’m getting a sense from the Conquistador the same feeling I got from V from V for Vendetta. Was that a deliberate correlation?