Here's the tentative cover for Freak! Enjoy!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Character Profile #1 - Lerin Atwood
Lerin Atwood. Shy, quiet, telepath.
Wyvern. Powerful dragon-winged girl, a force to be reckoned with.
How are the two connected? Time. As their mutations continue to change and become more powerful, those affected change, both physically and mentally. Lerin is no exception.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
And here... we... GO.
Welcome to the Freakiverse, the official blog for the upcoming novel, Freak. After nearly 9 months working on this project, I felt it was time to start a blog for those of you who've been following my novel to read, share, comment, and, in general, find out what has been happening.
So what's the novel about? you ask. With a name like "Freak", it'll have to be weird or interesting or SOMETHING. I can answer that for you in a short summary... I hope.
***
Freak is the story of four young people who would normally never meet... until a government test missile 'misfires' in the middle of their city. The weapon of Genetic destruction is dispersed, mutating those who come in contact to unfiltered air within the first two minutes of the explosion. Lerin, Ronnie, Kyle and Griff are four of those who are exposed to the chemical. Within a week, they start to notice changes. Within a month, the media has noticed the changes. Another month passes, and these four - vet student, runaway, campus kid and mechanic - find themselves at the top of the government's most wanted list. It's not that they did anything wrong... but when you've got wings, can't be hurt, can control radio waves, and manipulate metal, well... people will want to take a closer look.
The only problem? They're not the only ones with powers. A band of so-called supervillains team up and decide to take the law (and everything else they can grab) into their own hands. Now it's up to our heroes to stop them... if they can... before they get stopped themselves.
***
Freak's been nine months in the making. I came up with the idea after a summer of watching every Batman, Justice League, and Teen Titans episode I could, at the prompting of Livey. I'd seen them as a kid, but it was fun to refresh my memory and watch them again. They just don't make cartoons like that anymore.
So I was thinking to myself as NaNoWriMo came around - how many Superhero novels are there? Not many, in fact. I found that strange - there have been a TON of superhero movies come out recently - X-men, another Superman, three Spiderman movies... plus Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Hulk (again...)- you get the idea. But there are only a few superhero novels that I could find.
In case you want to read them, I'll do a bit of promoting... Chance Fortune and the Outlaws is a good YA novel. It's got a sequel that wasn't as good. Soon I Will Be Invincible was amazing. Adult novel, a bit of language, but very good.
But that was it. I heard there were a couple more, but there really aren't that many. An online friend of mine, Randy Belaire, saw the same problem. He's written (and published!) Shadow Chaser, with plans for a series.
Still, with how popular the superhero movies are, why are there only a handful of PROSE novels on the subject? Well, as it's been said, "If there's a book you want to read, and you can't find it, write it." (my paraphrase!) So I sat down with Livey and hashed out some ideas. I created powers, matched them to characters... I wish I still had a picture of my wardrobe - it became my 'plot wall'. Paper literally covered the doors - nearly 6x6 feet of paper, plot, notes, ideas, characters, powers, details, backstories... I think I still have those notes somewhere.
November 1 rolled around. Gotta love NaNoWriMo. Write 50,000 words in 30 days. I'd done it last year, and I knew I was setting a higher goal for myself. I wanted to do 75k.
God has other ideas. The day before Thanksgiving, my house caught fire. My novel was sitting in my computer, my computer was sitting in the living room, the fire was above the living room. Praise God, I'd closed my laptop out of habit when I ran out of the house with my family. My novel was safe, but it was nearly a week before I could get back to writing. I finished the month of November with exactly 60,000 words (and included a fire in my novel. I had to).
By February, my novel had been expanded and the first edit was complete. Now at 75 chapters and 72,000 words, I passed it along to my coauthor and best friend, Livey. She took it and expanded it, refined it, and berated me for some of the silly NaNo dares I'd implemented into the story.
When she was done, the characters had more life, the chapters made more sense, and the story was at 71 chapters (the four missing chapters will go in book 2!) and 69,000 words.
By this time, word had spread among my online friends that I was writing a novel. Several of them asked to be involved in the process. At the beginning of June, I sent out several digital copies to my trusted friends, who are, as I write this, proofreading it for me.
One of them has reported that the book is 'an interesting read' and 'flowed well'. I've been told by another that it's 'fun' and a 'good story'. :) Now if only they'd be honest and show me where the major plot holes are...
***
And just a shoutout ... All my Superhero City friends, Wyvern is in this novel. This is just before she comes to SHC... the story of how she got her powers and became a superheroine.
So what's the novel about? you ask. With a name like "Freak", it'll have to be weird or interesting or SOMETHING. I can answer that for you in a short summary... I hope.
***
Freak is the story of four young people who would normally never meet... until a government test missile 'misfires' in the middle of their city. The weapon of Genetic destruction is dispersed, mutating those who come in contact to unfiltered air within the first two minutes of the explosion. Lerin, Ronnie, Kyle and Griff are four of those who are exposed to the chemical. Within a week, they start to notice changes. Within a month, the media has noticed the changes. Another month passes, and these four - vet student, runaway, campus kid and mechanic - find themselves at the top of the government's most wanted list. It's not that they did anything wrong... but when you've got wings, can't be hurt, can control radio waves, and manipulate metal, well... people will want to take a closer look.
The only problem? They're not the only ones with powers. A band of so-called supervillains team up and decide to take the law (and everything else they can grab) into their own hands. Now it's up to our heroes to stop them... if they can... before they get stopped themselves.
***
Freak's been nine months in the making. I came up with the idea after a summer of watching every Batman, Justice League, and Teen Titans episode I could, at the prompting of Livey. I'd seen them as a kid, but it was fun to refresh my memory and watch them again. They just don't make cartoons like that anymore.
So I was thinking to myself as NaNoWriMo came around - how many Superhero novels are there? Not many, in fact. I found that strange - there have been a TON of superhero movies come out recently - X-men, another Superman, three Spiderman movies... plus Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Hulk (again...)- you get the idea. But there are only a few superhero novels that I could find.
In case you want to read them, I'll do a bit of promoting... Chance Fortune and the Outlaws is a good YA novel. It's got a sequel that wasn't as good. Soon I Will Be Invincible was amazing. Adult novel, a bit of language, but very good.
But that was it. I heard there were a couple more, but there really aren't that many. An online friend of mine, Randy Belaire, saw the same problem. He's written (and published!) Shadow Chaser, with plans for a series.
Still, with how popular the superhero movies are, why are there only a handful of PROSE novels on the subject? Well, as it's been said, "If there's a book you want to read, and you can't find it, write it." (my paraphrase!) So I sat down with Livey and hashed out some ideas. I created powers, matched them to characters... I wish I still had a picture of my wardrobe - it became my 'plot wall'. Paper literally covered the doors - nearly 6x6 feet of paper, plot, notes, ideas, characters, powers, details, backstories... I think I still have those notes somewhere.
November 1 rolled around. Gotta love NaNoWriMo. Write 50,000 words in 30 days. I'd done it last year, and I knew I was setting a higher goal for myself. I wanted to do 75k.
God has other ideas. The day before Thanksgiving, my house caught fire. My novel was sitting in my computer, my computer was sitting in the living room, the fire was above the living room. Praise God, I'd closed my laptop out of habit when I ran out of the house with my family. My novel was safe, but it was nearly a week before I could get back to writing. I finished the month of November with exactly 60,000 words (and included a fire in my novel. I had to).
By February, my novel had been expanded and the first edit was complete. Now at 75 chapters and 72,000 words, I passed it along to my coauthor and best friend, Livey. She took it and expanded it, refined it, and berated me for some of the silly NaNo dares I'd implemented into the story.
When she was done, the characters had more life, the chapters made more sense, and the story was at 71 chapters (the four missing chapters will go in book 2!) and 69,000 words.
By this time, word had spread among my online friends that I was writing a novel. Several of them asked to be involved in the process. At the beginning of June, I sent out several digital copies to my trusted friends, who are, as I write this, proofreading it for me.
One of them has reported that the book is 'an interesting read' and 'flowed well'. I've been told by another that it's 'fun' and a 'good story'. :) Now if only they'd be honest and show me where the major plot holes are...
***
And just a shoutout ... All my Superhero City friends, Wyvern is in this novel. This is just before she comes to SHC... the story of how she got her powers and became a superheroine.
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