Cross-Genre Fiction And Skipping The Prologue
Right now I'm at Bouchercon, the annual crime/mystery convention, which is being held in Toronto this year. So why am I bringing up cross-genre fiction while I'm attending a mystery con?
Right now I'm at Bouchercon, the annual crime/mystery convention, which is being held in Toronto this year. So why am I bringing up cross-genre fiction while I'm attending a mystery con?
So, I was chatting with David Morrell (his first novel was First Blood, and he's written so many great books!) after he signed a book for me, and he brought up how he likes to write in multiple genres as well as mixing genres in one book. And that got me thinking about how audiences used to a certain style from a writer would react to something different, or to multiple genres in one book.
So I thought Iron Angels, the book I co-wrote with Eric Flint.
Iron Angels is a cross-genre novel, but at its heart an FBI procedural which happens to contain elements of horror and the fantastic. And that means there may be portions of the book that may not appeal to certain readers. How can this be remedied? How would a reader who doesn't necessarily care for science fiction get into the book?
For mystery/crime readers: skip the prologue in Iron Angels.
Yep. Go ahead and skip it. Why? It's aliens/demons speaking in a crazy made-up language. It's not a long prologue, but for that type of reader, they may get kicked out of the book before it even begins!
So...
Just go to Chapter 1--my knowledge of FBI procedure kicks in with the first sentence and continues for most of the book. Once you're hooked with the FBI ERT crime scene and investigative procedures, go back and read the prologue if you feel like it, but it isn't necessary to understand the plot.
Science fiction and (urban)fantasy readers, or those who enjoy horror can read the prologue and be happy. I do believe though, that anyone who has been curious about FBI procedure will learn a lot from the book even with the fantastic elements.
There may be sections in cross-genre novels that readers won't like, but I think if a story is entertaining enough, engaging enough with interesting characters, it won't matter as the reader will be pulled along regardless of the cross-genre content.
Just a few thoughts. And for the record--when I read I usually skip the prologue and then end up reading it later. I think most readers do that, right?
Links To Recent Interviews/Q&As/Newsletters, etc.
Eric Flint and I participated in a couple of interviews as well as a Reddit AMA in September supporting the September 5th release of Iron Angels--the urban fantasy detective novel we co-wrote.
The Baen Free Radio Hour, September 15, 2017: Podcast-- Eric Flint and Alistair Kimble discuss their new urban fantasy novel Iron Angels, in which a team of FBI agents are hot on the trail of a mysterious cult that performs human sacrifices, a second cult that opposes the first, and an ancient evil from another dimension; and part seventeen of the complete audiobook serialization of Liaden Universe® novel Alliance of Equals by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.
Reddit Author AMA, September 28, 2017: Eric Flint is a NY Times bestseller and former labor union activist. Alistair Kimble is an FBI Special Agent and prior enlisted U.S. Navy Aircrewman. Somehow they managed to write Iron Angels together. Ask us anything!
MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape, September 14, 2017: Online interview of Alistair Kimble on Iron Angels and co-writing with Eric Flint.
Baen Books Monthly Newsletter for September: Baen's monthly newsletter mentioning Iron Angels.
Iron Angels is available in most places books and ebooks are sold. Below are some links to purchase unsigned and signed copies of Iron Angels.
Links for purchasing unsigned copies of Iron Angels.
Signed copies of Iron Angels:
The Missing Volume (signed by Eric Flint & Alistair Kimble)
The BookBar (signed by Alistair Kimble)
Fan Of Genre Since 1975
Thank you Granny for introducing me to genre (and horrible beer)!
I was five years old in March of '75. Yes, I've been a fan since then, only I didn't come to that conclusion until recently. I'd always thought '77 was the year I became I fan. Do I need to spell out what franchise debuted in 1977? Didn't think so.
What made me think of writing this was an author interview I participated in over on the mylifemybooksmyescape blog. I brought up Kolchak: The Night Stalker as one of the influences for the novel Iron Angels, which I co-wrote with the wonderful Eric Flint.
The more obvious influence was The X-Files, but to anyone who reads Iron Angels that should be somewhat obvious. Kolchak, for the uninitiated, stars Darren McGavin (you know, the dad from A Christmas Story) as a reporter who finds himself embroiled in the fantastic and unbelievable. The show only aired for one season (there were also two TV movies that aired earlier that were highly rated) but this show was cited as an inspiration for The X-Files. I remember my great-grandmother babysitting me watching Kolchak while sipping a Pabst Blue Ribbon. The show scared me to death (there are plenty of horror elements), but it stuck with me.
Two more shows I remember from my childhood are Quincy and Columbo. Both of those are genre, too--you didn't think I only meant science fiction/fantasy/horror, did you?
The shows all have something in common, solving a mystery. Investigating. It doesn't matter if it's fantastic or based more on what we believe is reality, what obviously stuck with me was the mystery.
Let's take it even further! Another show I adored as a child was Scooby Doo. More mystery! More monsters! More investigation! Scooby Doo was my absolute favorite cartoon back then, and I still enjoy it--which is why I bought the full DVD collection housed in The Mystery Machine! And now I'm reading Meddling Kids, by Edgar Cantero.
What brought Scooby Doo back around to me was when I came across the most awesome cosplay at Dragon Con (annual multi-media convention held in Atlanta with around 80,000 attendees!). Not only did they have the Scooby Doo gang there, but the monsters was almost every episode! It was like I was in the cartoon!
When I got a little older, I used to watch all the classic mystery films and suspense films such as those from Hitchcock, which also influenced me and my choice of career. These are all genre, and I love to watch and read across the different genres.
Now that I'm looking back at my formative years, prodded by these recent rediscoveries I mentioned above, I think it's safe to say that genre, and in particular anything that involved mysteries and investigation led me to my career in law enforcement.
I could go on and on about television and film that influenced me, but for now, this is a good start! Thank you Granny for introducing me to genre (and horrible beer).
Publishers Weekly Top 10 SF, Fantasy & Horror for Fall of 2017
Iron Angels, the urban fantasy/police procedural I wrote with Eric Flint has been chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of its top 10 picks for fall 2017 in the Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror category! Iron Angels will be released as a hardcover on 9/5/2017 from Baen Books.
Iron Angels, the urban fantasy/police procedural I wrote with Eric Flint has been chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of its top 10 picks for fall 2017 in the Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror category! Iron Angels will be released as a hardcover on 9/5/2017 from Baen Books.
Here is a link to the web-based article:
In the digital and print editions of Publishers Weekly they printed a little more information, and my wonderful publisher, Baen, also ran a full page color ad for its fall releases!
Its available for pre-order now at all the usual spots, to include: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powells, as well as Tattered Cover (since I live in Colorado!). In addition, there is an eARC available on Baen's website: http://www.baen.com/iron-angels-earc.html. An eARC is an advanced reading copy of the novel, which Baen offers, warts and all, to the public to purchase if they want to get their hands on a book right away!
Iron Angels: A bizarre kidnapping case leads FBI Special Agent Jasper Wilde into the mysterious world of a strange religious cult and even stranger criminals.
The Streak
The streak isn't a new concept. Streaks are ever-present and are tracked in sports, the stock market, and gambling for starters. But what about writing? The idea of the streak in writing isn't new at all. I didn't see writing as something capable of a streak, like Joe DiMaggio's streak of hitting safely in 56 consecutive baseball games. Writers typically just try to sit down each day and get some new words down.
The streak isn't a new concept. Streaks are ever-present and are tracked in sports, the stock market, and gambling for starters. We may not think about streaks when it comes to our daily lives with things such as fitness or abstaining from alcohol or whichever vice(s) one may have, but they're there. They may not even be healthy streaks.
But what about writing? The idea of the streak in writing isn't new at all. I didn't see writing as something capable of a streak, like Joe DiMaggio's streak of hitting safely in 56 consecutive baseball games or the stock market rose seven days in a row. The headline would read, and oh it's so exciting, Kimble Hits 30th Consecutive Day Of New Fiction. Writers typically just try to sit down each day and get some new words down. Move forward on a project in some way.
When I began using a word tracker the streak became more obvious to me. There it was in a spreadsheet--my daily word counts. At first it was just enough to say I'd written each day, got at least some words down, say 250 words or more. But then I became a little more bold and began stringing together 1,000 word days--1,000 new words of fiction (not world building, not blogging, not emailing, not outlining, but new fiction) being the minimum.
But, like Joe DiMaggio's, the streak has to end at some point (for the record, Joe's ended in Cleveland--I could crack a joke here, but since I grew up in New Jersey I'll refrain). For me, right now, in the middle of a great streak (if you're interested: 25 consecutive days with at least 1,000 words, and the average daily word count is roughly 1,500 with a total of 38,000 words), I can't imagine the streak ending, but it will. Real life and other responsibilities have the power to destroy a streak, but then, there is no reason why I can't embark on a brand new streak. And by the way: one of the major components of the streak was turning off the critical part of my brain and just allowing the words to flow, but that's an entirely different post on writing.
The 1,000 words a day streak wasn't a conscious thing at first, and at one time that many words would have felt like a lot of pressure to get done every single day while working full time and trying to be a good and engaging husband. No, I simply wanted to write daily and gain momentum on a first draft I wanted to finish by March.
The streak began on the day I had oral surgery--I was numb and on pain meds (I haven't gone back and read that day's work, and for all I know it's some surrealistic nightmare love child of David Lynch, Dali, and Bunuel--mixed with High Plains Drifter and The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly which I watched that day). I even had a nice bacterial infection afterward which was quite painful and required two rounds of antibiotic to eradicate--the point is that I didn't allow any of that to get in my way or slow me down. The streak continued. It would have been easy to sit around watch film after film or binge-watch a series I hadn't gotten around to seeing yet (there's simply too much great programming these days to keep up).
If the idea of a streak interests you, then I say start small and allow it to build. Keep track if that helps you. Maybe keeping track or thinking about a streak stresses you out, then it isn't for you. In the end, every writer has their own method or little thing that helps them, like turning off the internet or shutting a door or writing at the same time every day.
The streak works for me.