A Writer's Tools

When I was in school one of my worst areas in writing was punctuation and grammar. I had o idea what I was doing so I would toss out commas and semi colon's like they were toy at Christmas, wherever they landed they landed. I just knew they were supposed to be in there and had no idea where they should go or how I should even use them. When I decided to start writing that's actually where I started. I went like an exploring searching the Amazon for Eldorado. I knew there was secrets and information out there I had to be privy to in order to write successfully. I went back beyond basics and went straight to what the rules of grammar and punctuation were and started from there. What was a hyphen and a apostrophe? How do apply all of these tools of literature? So I learned a lot, and then once I sent my manuscript for Titan: The Midnight Hour I learned a whole lot more. When I look back I'm actually embarrassed by how little I still knew and had to learn. I'm surprised they had anything nice to say about it at all. I've always been good at creating a story line and structure and pacing, but putting those pieces dw with detail and texture has been something I've had to learn and develop. I'm not saying I'm great at it either. I'm just saying I've gotten a whole better since I started writing, and I am working at continualy getting better still.

Tighten Up

I am well under way with the second draft of Titan: City Under Siege. Other than having to make some big adjustments to one for the middle chapters, everything is well on par for the May release I was hoping for. Most of everything now is just tidying and tightening up the manuscript as a whole and making sure that all the loose ends are closed up nicely. I am mostly correcting spelling and grammar and minor sentence structure changes. I also can laugh at all the ridiculous little mistakes that  I seem to make on a regular basis as I am speeding through and not looking back very much. Such as my constant knack for swapping form form from or teh for the (still not sure why my spell check never catches teh). I quite enjoy doing the later drafts as opposed to the first. The first draft is great, but it is quite a challenge starting from that blank page. It's like building a house from scratch as opposed to just doing some renovations. Plus, it does, for obvious reasons, go much faster in the subsequent drafts. This time around there is nowhere near as much changes to make. When I got to the next drafts of 'The Midnight Hour' there were some pretty big changes that had to be done the had ripple effects through the entire manuscript. As I have said before I am going from a five year production cycle to just over one year, so I am very happy with that.

1st Anniversary of Titan: The Midnight Hour

Well, it has now been just over a year since Titan: The Midnight Hour first became published as an e-book back on February 16th 2012.A lot has happened since then, and this crazy ride has taken me places I never thought that I would go. I never thought I would be doing a book signing already, especially as many as seven. nor did I ever think that it would be read in a school classroom let alone four. I also never thought I people would be able to go to a local library and take it out. I am actually doing or have done many things I always dreamt writing would allow me to accomplish, but was never sure I would. Doing it as an independent has had me doing it in a slightly different way than I may have envisioned, but it has made it all the more rewarding. I can't believe that I am at the point already where another Titan book is getting ready to come out to the world. It has been so hard to turn around another book within just over a year, and I couldn't have done it alone. Thank you to all you have supported me and read the book this past year!

Titan mini serial 2

The second Titan mini serial will be ready soon followed shortly by the second Titan novel, Titan: City Under Siege. the new mini serial will have following the lead on a pair of twin pyro's who are trying to blow up Delta City. their name's are Shock and Awe. Unlike the first mini serial which largely dealt with a Titan from centuries ago this story leads directly into the new full length Titan novel. I'm sorry to say that the mini serial will not conclude after part six this time, instead it will lead directly into the start of Titan 2 and conclude within it's first chapter.

I want each subsequent Titan book to start in the climax of a lesser Titan storyline. This will hopefully give  the impression that the Titan story does not simply start or end with any of the novels involved, but is always ongoing and we just happen to jump in at any given time during its run to see what is going on. Unlike many comic book superheroes who are always stuck in one time and of one age, I want Titan to grow up as readers follow his adventures.

Chapter List 2.0

The following is the final chapter list of Vol. 2 Titan: City Under Siege:

Chapter1:Shock and Awe
Chapter 2:Warnings and Threats
Chapter 3: Apologies
Chapter 4: Sonic
Chapter 5: Vince
Chapter 6: Hawk
Chapter 7: Aerial Attack
Chapter 8: City Under Siege
Chapter 9: Pieces of the Puzzle
Chapter 10: Hammerhead
Chapter 11: Passage of Doom
Chapter 12: Double Down
Chapter 13: Dr. Melodian
Chapter 14: Death From Below
Chapter 15: One Hundred Feet of Terror
Chapter 16: Picking Up the Pieces

There were a few changes after the first draft but this should still end up being the final list until release date.

Novel Vs. Comic

The Titan universe, even though they are books, is designed to feel more like the monthly comic book superheroes that I grew up with. The first book, The Midnight Hour, is paced much more like a novel. The second book, City Under Siege, still has more of a novel approach but also starts to have the pacing change a little bit. By the third book, Shadow Games, the pacing will feel much more like a comic book. Each chapter will come to feel like a monthly issue of the ongoing saga of our hero, Titan. The series will get inundated with characters and side stories that either fit in between or within and around the main stories the novels are telling. It is then my job to maintain a healthy balance with all of that.

Since I am no artist and knew no comic artists this was the only way I knew to get my own superhero world out there to the masses. I have tried to keep the covers for the books as close to comic book style as I can. I have even tried to keep the interior artwork as close to the interior panelled art of comics. I hope to be able to get more art in the coming books, but as I can only do what my budget allows as I am paying freelance artists we will see. I wanted at least double the art in The Midnight Hour, but had to settle to to budget. I should be able to get double in City Under Siege and who knows from there.

Strong Female Characters

One thing I quickly realised when I was laying all the framework for the Titan series was that I wanted to make sure that I had some strong female characters in the series, something  I think is lacking overall throughout the history of comics.

Carly, as I believe I have already stated here, I did not want to be the typical damsel in distress but something more of a partner for Michael/Titan. She does start out as the damsel in 'The Midnight Hour', but by the end of the book she is right by his side.

I also want to have the character of Vicki the reporter who I want to have as a strong character throughout the Delta City and use her and her actions in that world to show a strong professional woman.

I do have a stable of female villains as well. We already met Kaizen in 'The Midnight Hour' and there is Awe in 'City Under Siege' and there is still the Ice Queen in 'Shadown Games', and Serpentine in 'Trinity of Evil plus several more to come as well. I have always had  a fondness for the female villains and there are so few of them.

Part of the reason to have some good strong female characters that go a little beyond the usual cliche is for sales and the hope of luring in female readers, but its also as my wife pointed to me that there are so few great ones in the genre. My females may not be great but hopefully they add a little something positive into the superhero culture.

Action Vs. Drama

Now that the building blocks of the foundation for the Titan series have been laid I want to make every Titan book bigger and bigger but at the same time balance very carefully the development of the characters. As I lay out all seven books I am trying to make the action, villains and plots bigger and more exciting than the last. I also have a very clear vision for our hero Michael and where I want him to go by the end of the series. You see in a lot of movies or even comics that the stories get so big and there are too may characters that many of the key elements get lost and end up not working because the world created as a whole is just too busy. I think Titan 2 is a pretty good example of this and I think people may agree once they get a chance to read it. The story moves at a very fast pace and there are still plenty of character moments even though the film boasts six villains throughout (not to mention some of the mechanical menaces that the principle baddie, Dr. Melodian, unleashes on Delta City and Titan.). through all this action Michael still has plenty of drama with Vince, Grandpa Dale, Carly, Dave, and teachers at school. In the end only all of you out there who may read the book will be able to tell me if I have struck this balance correctly.

Titan Trinity

In Titan: City Under Siege, Michael will find out that not only does he have Carly in his corner he will now have one of his best friends, Perminder. Perminder spends most of book 2 processing all that he has learned about his friend. By book 3 he will be ready to leap head first into the fray to help Michael in his role as Titan. Book 3 will form the brain trust of the Titan  being Michael, Carly, and Perminder. There will also be Azure guiding Michael's actions through it all. By the end of book 2 we will see that these three friends will be going forward more together with Titan than ever before. The questions of course will linger as to what the roles of Carly and Perminder will be exactly, but we will have to wait and see for now.