Posts made in November, 2012

• On the Dangers of Making Things Up

  The story of the book

  I am not a science fiction writer. My exposure to science is limited to an overabundance of calculus before I knew better and a couple of quarters of dabbling in chemistry before I ran off into the comforting embrace of literature. I did qualify for a Bachelor’s of Science, but I still cannot say, “Yes, I have a B.S. in the Arts and Letters” with a straight face.

  It was entirely true though. I made up a lot of stories during my formative years, which makes me a speculatist, at best.

  Do you know the difference between fabulists and speculatists? When asked about world-building, fabulists shrug and perform a sleight-of-hand trick that distracts you. Speculatists will drag out an enormous tome, filled with hundreds of pages of hand-written notes that no one can read. “Here,” they say, “What do you want to know?”

  Earth Thirst has vampires in it. That makes it urban fantasy. There’s a thread running through it about catastrophic environmental collapse–it’s coming, kids–which is why I like to call it an eco-thriller. There’s a strong whiff of looking at something like the International Energy Agency’s latest World Energy Outlook and positing a couple what if? scenarios. That sounds a lot like science fiction.

  The last was brought to my attention by Vlad Verano at Third Place Press. I laughed at first, citing my bibliography as sign enough that I didn’t write science fiction, but isn’t that the basis of imagining what our world will be like in a generation or two?

  I didn’t set out to write a cautionary tale of our future, but when the IEA puts out their yearly summary and it contains cautionary discussion of the likelihood of a 3° global temperature increase in our lifetimes, suddenly the Arcadian Conflict becomes something less than pure fiction and more of a metaphor.

  

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• Library Journal reviews Terminal Island!

  Member News

  Hey, my first-ever review from Library Journal!  Check it out:

  http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2012/11/books/genre-fiction/xpress-reviews-fiction-first-look-at-new-books-november-30-2012/

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• To Be or Not To Be, that is the question

  Say my name! Talking Pseudonyms.

  There are good reasons for an author to use a fake name.

  If you write something so scandalous that it might get you arrested, or sued, or attacked by angry mobs, then you are probably wise to consider using a pseudonym.  Or maybe if you’re already so famous and prolific that you’ve saturated the market, and your only satisfaction now will come from seeing if you can repeat your success with a false identity…in which case you should probably be killed.

  But beyond those circumstances, it’s hard to understand why an author wouldn’t want to use his or her own real name.  I mean, you will only live so long; why not grab what little credit you can in this life? Presumably you’ve poured hard work into your book, long months or years of effort that you will never get back.  Hopefully you are proud of it.  So why would you allow a fake name to be attached to it instead of your own?

  Good question…and it’s one I should be ideally qualified to answer, since I recently did it myself.

  I’ve spent the last year or so inhabiting the identity of one “W.G. Marshall,” fake author of the novel Enormity.  My actual name is Walter Greatshell, genuine author of a number of books, including Enormity.  My latest work, Terminal Island, is being published under my own name, and I have to say I prefer it that way.

  So why did I use a pen name for Enormity?

  I guess it goes back to something someone told me around ten years ago, when I signed the contract for my first novel, Xombies.  I was asked if I wanted to use a pseudonym, and when I said no, the person replied, “Just remember: if you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.”

  I didn’t really get it at the time.  It sounded vaguely insulting, though to whom I wasn’t sure.  But its meaning became more clear to me once I realized that my name was likely to be linked with the words “zombie author” for the rest of my life.

  Now, zombies are great, don’t get me wrong, but I like a lot of other things just as much, and the idea that I had struggled for twenty years to become a published author only to be permanently relegated to some zombie ghetto was ridiculous—especially since my book was never intended to be a Zombie Novel at all. No such genre existed when I wrote it; it was just a novel, a tribute to books I loved as a kid, like Earth Abides and Ice Station Zebra and True Grit.  Little did I know that zombie fever would soon sweep the nation, rendering my intentions moot.  Like it or not, I was a zombie guy…probably forever.

  Aha!  Now I understood perfectly what that advice had meant.  Fleas indeed—when I wrote my third book, Mad Skills, one review site dismissed it as “a new book by the author of a couple of zombie novels.”  Ouch.

  I wanted no such prejudices interfering with my book Enormity, so when Night Shade proposed the use of a pseudonym, I jumped at it.  And I think it worked—the book was treated totally objectively and favorably, without a hint of zombie prejudice.  The only problem was I got no credit for it, so there was no crossover between fans of Enormity and fans of my other work.  Also, I had to maintain two identities, which meant I spent twice as much time networking, half of which felt like a waste since I was promoting the career of a nonexistent person.

  In short, I didn’t like it.  So with Terminal Island I gladly dispensed with the nom de plume.  Not that it makes much difference, since I’m hardly a household name.

  But if I’m ever going to be, that name will be Walter Greatshell.

  Thanks for reading!

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• Mark Teppo introduction

  Introductions

  My bio for my latest book from Night Shade, Earth Thirst, says that my favorite Tarot card is The Moon. Why The Moon? Because it is, as Aleister Crowley mentions in his The Book of Thoth, the card is the threshold of life and death, doubt and wisdom. The drunkenness of sense after the mind has been abolished. This is, in fact, where the writer finds their true magic.

  I wrote two books for Night Shade a few years ago, the opening duology of The Codex of Souls, a series of urban fantasy novels that dismiss all of the usual tropes of urban fantasy for diving deep into the drunken madness of Western esoteric thought. And a not inconsequential part of the decision to go in that direction was because I couldn’t fathom how to write a book about vampires without snickering.

  Vampires (and all the modern monster tropes of UF), you see, didn’t make sense to me. The world-building fell apart very quickly. As Stoker invented them–and I’m talking the nuts and bolts part–the vampire is a series of rules and structures that were nothing more than commentary on 19th century existence and a heavy reliance on scary folklore bits. All of which fail to have the same resonance with a 21st century audience.

  And we’ve seen what 21st century audiences want with hoary old 19th century vampires. They want to be mesmerized, hypnotized, seduced, fondled, sucked, slurped, and otherwise had bad things done to them. Which, to me, doesn’t seem very frightening. It seems more indicative of us wanting to have forbidden sex.

  This has bothered me for a few years (the vampire mythology bit, not the forbidden sex bit; I got that figured out) as there has been no end of fascination with vampire culture, but I couldn’t figure out why we didn’t seem to be updating the monstrous part of the mythology. And finally, I asked myself: why not think of them as a reflection of the time? What is it about living in the 21st century that would create a monster such as that?

  That’s how Earth Thirst came about. It’s a story about vampires, truly 21st century vampires. It’s not entirely urban fantasy as there is very little magic in it; it isn’t entirely science fiction because it takes place right now and speaks to our current existence. It’s an eco-thriller, but only in the sense that what is at stake is our way of life. Earth Thirst looks at the modern world and asks: Who is the real monster?.

  It’s also a love story because, yes, we desire that which is truly dangerous. It is, after all, how we know we’re still alive.

  My name is Mark Teppo. Earth Thirst is the start of something. The CODEX narrative isn’t done yet either. And I also write historical adventure fantasy in a realm called FOREWORLD. Our initial foray into this secret history is something called The Mongoliad. Next year, there will be more stories coming. I’ve got plans, you see. Long-term plans.

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• Idiotically Eager: Hi, I’m Zack!

  Introductions
  

  Baby is not author's baby.

  Hi! My name’s Zachary (Zack) Jernigan, and I’m ridiculously, freakishly—perhaps even disturbingly—excited to be posting on The Night Bazaar (and on Thanksgiving, no less)! I’ve followed this blog for quite a while now, and I’ve been a fan of the authors Night Shade publishes for a lot longer than that. To be communicating with you right now because I have a book coming out from them seems like the coolest of all unlikelihoods.

  Now, I understand if you’re not nearly as excited to be reading these words as I am to be writing them, but even if you’re only 0.5% as excited as me that’s still pretty excited. Which is awesome! I’m very grateful to you for taking the time out of your day to get to know me.

  But where to begin? What’s interesting? What do I like to know about authors? Basic biographical and goofy stuff, sure, but also some serious writerly junk.

  Anyway. Here goes…

  #

  I was born in Connecticut, but have no other connection to the state. I’ve lived in Northern Arizona, with occasional stints in other places, since 1990. I’m 32 years old as I write this, but I’ll be 33 on the day my novel comes out, March 5, 2013. I’ve shaved my head since 1998, when I first started fearing I’d lose my hair. Peanut Butter Puffins is the best cereal ever, though Froot Loops is a close second. I’m an absolute idiot for sitcoms from the 70s-90s. I have a BA in religious studies and an MFA in creative writing.

  Other than reading, eating, and sleeping, my favorite activity of all time is riding around in a wheelchair. I kind of wish I was kidding, but I’m so not. I realize it’s an extreme social faux pas, and I try not to do it in front of a person who needs a wheelchair for their own mobility, but goodness I think it’s fun—far more fun than a bike or a skateboard. One of the happiest nights of my life was in my early 20s, when I found the courtesy wheelchair at work and discovered how easy it was to balance on the back wheels.

  I also like riding horses, but they’re a bit more temperamental than wheelchairs.

  Mario Kart is far and away the video game series I enjoy best.

  #

  As for reading, I’m an sff fan of the most loyally obsessive stripe. I’ve, literally, not read a single book in the last 7 years (since the end of my undergraduate career) whose author didn’t have a close relationship with the genre. I didn’t even go out of my way to unlock this achievement, of which I am unabashedly proud. It’s not that I think good things aren’t being written about the quotidian world; I just don’t care about them.

  My favorite authors are Roger Zelazny, Alice Sheldon, Sean Stewart, Elizabeth Hand, Samuel Delany, Cordwainer Smith, Phyllis Gotlieb, David Anthony Durham, Terry Pratchett, and Joanna Russ.

  When I’m writing—an activity I’m compelled to do but which I find to be far, far less enjoyable than reading—it’s these authors I’m trying and utterly failing to imitate. Why? Because each of them writes/wrote unabashedly within the genre while still kicking ass as wordsmiths. There’s no skimping on the spectacularly speculative entertainment or the emotional and intellectual challenge.

  #

  So, this writing I manage to do when I’m not reading, eating, sleeping, spinning around in a wheelchair, or finding yet another way to avoid actual work…

  Since my first sale in 2009, I’ve had 13 short stories published in places such as Asimov’s Science Fiction, Crossed Genres, Murky Depths, and Escape Pod. I’ve been in a few anthologies, too. My second sale, an erotic story called “The Succession of Knoorikios Khnum” (which takes place in the same universe/setting as my upcoming novel), was shortlisted for a 2010 Spectrum Award and has been reprinted several times.

  I’ve only written one novel, but I had so much help during the writing that I hardly feel taking responsibility for it is appropriate. (If you look at my acknowledgments in the published book—which I hope you do, of course—you’ll see just how many people I’m indebted to, and even then I’m sure I’ve forgotten to list a few…) It was both a surprise and no surprise at all, discovering just how hard it is to make 100,000+ words fit together into a cohesive whole. As much as I love it, I’m still not sure it is a cohesive whole.

  When Night Shade bought No Return, I was stunned. I’m still stunned—stunned and thrilled and scared, but mostly humbled into near speechlessness. Jason, Jeremy, and co. publish hugely talented people.

  Like, whoa, HUGELY TALENTED PEOPLE… and… Zachary Jernigan?

  Oh, well, I guess the folks at Night Shade know what they’re doing. I hope they do. Ross Lockhart surely made my story better with his awesome editorial suggestions, but it’s not always easy to see the merits of something you’re so close to. Still, I like it. I wrote the kind of novel I wanted to read.

  #

  I realize I’m going on a little long here, so I’ll try to wrap things up by telling you at least a little bit about my novel—a little bit that hopefully counterbalances the doubt about my talent I’ve probably lodged in your brain.

  The tagline I came up for No Return is: BATTLE SUITS, MEN MADE OF METAL, AND ALCHEMICAL ASTRONAUTS. Which I think is pretty cool, because, really, who doesn’t love those three things? In my novel, I placed a heavy emphasis on cool-looking characters with cool powers doing cool things in cool settings—real epic science fantasy stuff without the epic length. Yet despite my characters’ sometimes demigodlike superpowers, I’ve tried damn hard to make my them read like actual people dealing with actual problems that have actual consequences.

  Plus, there’s a lot of sex in the book—a lot of sex and an even greater amount of violence. I think it’ll appeal to people who like the mature genre-expanding works of writers like China Mieville, Martha Wells, M. John Harrison, and Bradley P Beaulieu. I hope, at its best, it evokes classic New Wave mythologies of Samuel Delany and Roger Zelazny.

  But wait a minute. Why am I trying to sell this myself? Here are two of the blurbs I’ve gotten, from people far more trustworthy and knowledgeable than I:

  “A visionary, violent, sexually charged, mystical novel—No Return challenges classification. Clearly, Zachary Jernigan has no respect for genre confines. His tale of gods hanging in the sky and a “constructed man” with glowing blue coals for his eyes and a motley band of fighters navigating a harsh landscape peopled by savage creatures and religious zealots… Well, it’s pure genius. Here’s hoping it’s just the first of many such works from this guy.” – David Anthony Durham, Campbell Award-winning author of the Acacia Trilogy

  “Zachary Jernigan’s genre-defying epic raises the bar for literary speculative fiction. It has the sweep of Frank Herbert’s Dune and the intoxicatingly strange grandeur of Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun, with a decadent, beautifully rendered vision all its own. One of the most impressive debuts of recent years.” – Elizabeth Hand, Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning author of Available Dark and Radiant Days

  #

  Anyway, for a full synopsis and character illustrations, some free fiction, and ways to get ahold of me, please stop by zacharyjernigan.com and take a look around.

  Thanks for reading! Maybe next week I’ll have cover art to show you.

  #

  Oh! I nearly forgot something!

  In case you miss it on my website, know that for now into the foreseeable future I promise to send you something in the mail (could be promo material for my novel, a mix-CD, a free book/magazine, or anything else I think is cool) if you pre-order/order No Return, review No Return, or do any other thing that involves No Return.

  Just send an email to jerniganzachary@gmail.com with a link (or copied text from a retailer) to show me what you’ve done, your physical address (US only), and any other words you’d like me to read. And then BAM!—a cool thing will show up in your mail around the release date of March 5th, 2013 (or later, should you do any of this after release).

  NOTE: Though I haven’t the money to mail things outside the US, please don’t feel left out! I’ll still go to some effort for you, like make you a personal mix-CD and email it to you.

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• Greetings from Terminal Island!

  Introductions

  This is my first post here on The Night Bazaar–my first post under my real name, that is.

  I’ve actually posted here many times under my pen name, W.G. Marshall, which I used for my novel ENORMITY. My real name is Walter Greatshell, which some have told me is much less plausible than the pseudonym. As Walter Greatshell I have written a number a books, including the XOMBIES trilogy, the sci-fi thriller MAD SKILLS, and the occult novel TERMINAL ISLAND, which Night Shade is releasing next month (Dec. 4). I gotta say I really love the cover art for TERMINAL ISLAND–it perfectly captures the scenic beauty and underlying dread of the book, as well as the real-life setting for the story. I can only think the artist must have been there.

  To those of you who thought W.G. Marshall was a real person, and are either furious or heartbroken at the deception, I apologize. I never meant to hurt you. Take comfort in the knowledge that W.G. Marshall is not dead–he lives on in our hearts.

  But who is Walter Greatshell? I’m glad you asked. Walter Greatshell is a large man who lives in Rhode Island with his lovely wife and his even larger son. He has a cat with a thyroid condition, and a washing machine with a broken spin cycle so the water doesn’t completely drain out. You have to bail it…or rather I have to. Then the wash has to be squeezed out by hand before it goes in the dryer, or it’ll never get dry. There’s not much room for all this because the basement ceiling is so low that I keep bumping my head on the heating ducts. Last week I hit my forehead so hard it started bleeding, leaving me with a gash that looks exactly like a closed eye. This is sounding like the beginning of a Stephen King story.

  TERMINAL ISLAND is also sort of like a Stephen King story (is that what Hannibal Lecter called a “ham-handed segue”?). Not that I was thinking of Stephen King when I wrote it–my inspiration was more along the lines of THE WICKER MAN, or THE MAGUS, a tale of weird secret cults operating just below the surface of our everyday modern world. In this case, a man loses contact with his estranged elderly mother and tracks her to her last known address, a picturesque island off Southern California. Along for the trip are his wife and baby daughter, who have never met grandma. But there will be no joyous family reunion, for the island is not what it seems…

  Thanks for reading.  More next week!

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• Great Halloween Tunes

  Uncategorized

  The theme for this week was “favorite Halloween reads,” but since I don’t have any, I thought I’d list my favorite Halloween music instead.

  In my teen years, playlists were an important part of any holiday. My sister was the best at making them. She had the patience to slowly lower the needle onto the vinyl and pause the cassette tapes at just the right spot. Besides that she had a good sense of how to arrange the music so that the slow bits were mixed perfectly in with the funky and rock-y bits. My tapes were always filled with hisses, pops, and snatches of stray music.

  Now we have iTunes and similar, and while we might complain about the digital sound, transitions between songs are no longer an issue. Also, if a playlist is not the right balance, you can just rearrange it – no screaming and kicking the stereo, or throwing your records out the window. It’s easy and anybody can do it (provided they have a computer). So, true to my family tradition, each holiday in this house is preceded by weeks of careful playlist creation.

  This year’s Halloween playlist represents years of experience fussing with such things. Here are nine of the best songs: (more…)

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• Auf Wiedersehen, Again

  Halloween

  The topic for our final Night Bazaar post is meant to be “Halloween Reads.”  But since I’m dashing off this post in an airport on my way to the World Fantasy Convention, I hope you’ll forgive me if I cheat and simply link to my last year’s Halloween post here at the Night Bazaar, in which I covered the same topic.  Only thing I’d add this year is that two of the books on my last year’s list now have sequels: the Book of Cthulhu II anthology recently hit the shelves (more tentacles! More creeping eldritch horror!), and Kendare Blake’s Girl of Nightmares is an excellent follow-up to her YA horror/fantasy novel Anna Dressed in Blood.  Go forth and enjoy!

  I’ve had a lot of fun posting here at the Night Bazaar again, so as I say farewell, I also want to say: thanks.  Thanks to everyone reading, lurkers and commenters alike, and to Liz Upson of Night Shade for keeping the blog going in 2012.  Y’all rock.

  If you want to keep up with me, I’ll be posting regularly on my personal blog, where I share book recommendations, pics of my favorite wilderness places and adventures, and of course all the latest news on the Shattered Sigil books and other authorial topics.  Speaking of which, I’ve got two last pieces of news to share here:

  • Thurs Nov 8 I’m doing an “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit’s r/Fantasy forum – so if you’ve got a burning question about my books, my writing process, publishing in general  - or even mountain climbing, canyoneering, skiing, figure skating, or engineering…come ask!  You can post questions throughout the day and I’ll answer them live at 8pm CST.
  • Want to win signed copies of The Whitefire Crossing and The Tainted City?  Fantasy Book Café is holding a worldwide giveaway – see here for details, and to read an interview with me that covers everything from how I got started writing to why nobody’s married in the Shattered Sigil books.

  And with that, I shall leave the Bazaar once more.  So long, farewell, and thanks for all the comments!

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