Hi, I’m Christopher Ryan, a hybrid author with forty years of experience in journalism, education, sketch comedy, indie film, unions, community service, parenting, public speaking, acting, podcasting, and, most often, writing fiction, poetry, and pop culture essays. Now I’m working to discover what more I can achieve and share with the world, and whether an older author can find a place in the storytelling business. Together, let’s see what’s possible.
***
NEWSish Stuff (Well, not really new — these are the same pitches as last week)
Soul Scream Antholozine is Available as a Halloween Treat, and Pulp is Next
Our eighth issue “Madness Takes Its Toll” can still be at your house in time for wider audiences Halloween reading fun.
Here’s New News: One of my oldest friends (we’ve been friends the longest, not that he’s ancient) sent me a series of texts today about this issue of Soul Scream Antholozine. I’ll keep his privacy, but here’s what this extremely well read person said:
“Just finished Soul Scream. Read it slow, basically, 1 or 2 short stories at a sitting including the interviews. Well done!
“I enjoyed Teel James Glenn and Jon Frater especially, but all were worthy of print. Be proud, Bro, it’s a good thing.”
I am and I truly appreciate the feedback. Sometimes those kind words are the difference between getting the next project down and drowning oneself in Cheerios and Ritz crackers.
The Fight Never Ends Pulp Extravaganza Preps for Presale
With one left to add, this first foray into pulp legends is about ready for fans of fast-paced action with a soul to preorder. Stay tuned!
***
This Week’s Tell The Damn Story Dives into How to Take Risks With Your Writing —Without the Risk!
This week co-hosts Alex Simmons and I discuss ways to confidently experiment with form and structure without losing what you already had. Sometimes the story is there but it doesn’t seem like it is in the right shape. Here’s how to explore that without losing what you’ve already created…and a few examples to illustrate what we’re talking aobut.
For those of you feeling overwhelmed or old, a bit of Dylan Thomas.
Here’s the link:
*** ON WRITING: Having a bad day? That is gold for writers!
What a morning.
I found a cracked pipe in my basement. Water on the floor. Boxes ruined. The cat demanding to be fed. Cat puke on a nearby rug. All within ninety seconds.
My frustration soared with each discovery, promising to ruin my morning, maybe even the day.
Yes, it all sucked (except the cat wanting to be fed) and yes, I could have exploded, but I got lucky. You may think I’ve lost it, but hear me out. I went to the basement in this predawn hour because that is the agreement I have with this cat; she gets fed before I even boil the water for my beloved Barry’s Irish tea.
As I do that each morning, I’m usually utilizing the dream-like quality of my not-quite-awake-yet state to thinking about the writing challenges of the day. And currently I have a beaut.
I am experimenting with form on this novella project, attempting to mimic the short attention span of scrolling social media as a crisis erodes the logic of said experience. I’m trying for fluid, stream-of-consciousness as it is experienced thumbing through media today.
And my question this morning was how to build tension in that experimental format.
And then the avalanche of discoveries. Just as I was about to become furious, the writer part of my brain connected all that frustrating information I had observed with my writing questions, and instead of blowing my top, I became intrigued with the opportunity to use this morning’s one-minute flood of bad news to help shape the most challenging part of my WIP.
This is a blessing of creatives: life’s challenges become creative lessons and inspirations.
Now, to call the plumber…
ON WRITING, Part 2: Do Your Homework
Sometimes, fellow creatives will recommend checking out something they see as possibly helping your WIP. Check out those recommendations. They might really inspire you past a challenge you are facing or inform you as to what has been done before so you can try to create something new. Additionally, listen to similar recommendations that come from your writers’ group.
I recently received two recommendations for my current WIP and quickly got my hands on both. Will they absolutely drive my WIP? No idea. But they will at least show me what it out there so I don’t do exactly what it already out there and then my work becomes redundant and less marketable.
The idea is always to further the conversation, contribute something more to the ongoing body of art that we all love so much.
So yeah, do your homework. You can even make it social media content. I did and got nice numbers as a result.
*** Here’s a Little Humor
***
What a Task Master Looks Like
Isabella Crumple, alleged Promotion Manager for our company, is all business as she triple checks what I’m sending out to promote the business and books. Notice the complete lack of approval from that face. I’m worried about my upcoming performance review…
***
And Now a Pic of a Handsome Fella
Here’s a possible cover for Sonny’s next album, Sonny Mehlman and the Slim Brothers – Straight Outta the Boneyard.
And here’s a rare backstage peek at Sonny getting ready…
POP CULTURE FUEL
TV – VISIONQUEST
With superb writing, performances, cinematography, and sound, Marvel’s VisionQuest is everything DC’s Lanterns wasn’t. While I enjoyed the latter, it continually fell apart under close scrutiny, defeated by questions of plot logic and character assassination. VisionQuest rewards such scrutiny, details revealing how thoroughly and satisfactorily this show has been thought out, to the smallest details.
Highly Recommended.
Books and Music –all over the place, reading a short story here, non-fiction there, articles, researching via videos, listening to a developing playlist for my WIP, so nothing new and everything, everywhere, all at once.
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A request: If you’ve read this far, you are a real one for me, somebody who enjoys what this newsletter is trying to accomplish. If that is you, please tell me in the comments what works for you and what doesn’t about this newsletter. What’s you’re favorite feature, and your least? What would you like to see more of? Thanks.
***
Feel free to share this with anyone you think would enjoy it. Thanks.
Awright, thanks for stopping by. Talk atcha next week.
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The Lanterns season finale aired. The writers’ room’s intentions are now out there for all to see. No more “wait and see” or “please reserve judgment until the finale.” We’re here now and those entrusted with DC characters who fans have loved for multiple decades have done what they’ve done.
What did they accomplish?
They managed to misuse all three Lanterns in one season.
And they only used three. That’s three-for-three fumbles of valuable DC IP.
No matter what TV viewers think they saw, longtime comic fans know the true nature of these characters.
Allow me to correct the Lanterns writers’ room sins:
They had a Manhunter who somehow impregnated a woman to make another Manhunter, potentially sparking a Manhunter infiltration on Earth. Look at what that did to Antaan’s planet. That’s enough story right there to do a True Detective/Lanterns story without abusing canon and beloved characters.
They failed us.
Hal isn’t a jerk from a suicidal family addicted to the ring who is better off dead. He didn’t cost a lot of lives “for selfish reasons” as the writers’ room made him say; he confronted a Manhunter who used a space laser to blow apart Rushvillle, killing many while Hal did his best to protect those people who hated him. Any argument that Rushville was peaceful until Hal showed up is ignorant of the Manhunter legacy. Ignoring their history because you have a different agenda doesn’t change canon. All “Hal’s horrible sins” in this show do not belong to Hal, they were created by the writers’ room and were forced upon Hal in a lazy and unnecessary attempt to make John more heroic.
They failed.
Guy Gardner isn’t a one-note buffoon Guardians ass-kisser who is afraid of John Stewart and his uncharged ring. Reducing Guy to a clown abuses yet another hero, another long-successful DC IP in the name of making John Stewart look better. It didn’t.
They failed.
And John Stewart isn’t a bizarrely abused child who grows up to take the ring and lantern but refuse to join the GL Corps, limiting his immense power to Earth as if that wouldn’t launch a Lanterns War. John Stewart’s is a much better, stronger, fiercer hero than that. Let’s be clear: John Stewart never needed any of the writers’ room over-the-top melodrama and character assassination because he is already an incredible hero.
The writers’ room diminished him. They failed him.
And they failed us.
But wait, there’s more.
Leaving Sinestro chained to a chair on a dead planet while a Manhunter might know about him? Abuse of another valuable DC IP.
They even failed a villain!
Having Police Chief Kerry engage in an affair with Hal, the guy Rushville blames for all their woes? The guy who never quits when his gut tells him something is wrong? While she’s trying to protect her Manhunter son? And once that guy establishes that her son knows he’s a Manhunter and is doing something incredibly dangerous, her response is “shut up” and when he tells her he loves her, she shoots him? Someone who has been incredibly rational throughout despite being under constant tremendous stress because she always knew what he son was? And then she immediately calls his colleague, another person highly likely to uncover not only that she killed Hal but why? Absolutely, unforgivably ridiculous.
They failed her too. And she’s their creation.
Tom “Hal Killer” King, et al., have a lot to answer for. To fans. To DC. And to DC’s owners. The charges? IP abuse.
And these writers and producers are going to get more chances to ruin characters, including Mister Miracle and Big Barda?
By Christopher Ryan, with apologies to William Carlos Williams
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens
unless you are
that poor
red wheel barrow
then
it becomes too
much
pressures of fame
haunt
when all you want
is
to just be left
alone
***
Hi, I’m Christopher Ryan, a hybrid author with forty years of experience in journalism, education, sketch comedy, indie film, unions, community service, parenting, public speaking, acting, podcasting, and, most often, writing fiction, poetry, and pop culture essays. Now I’m working to discover what more I can achieve and share with the world, and whether an older author can find a place in the storytelling business. Together, let’s see what’s possible.
***
NEWSish Stuff
Appearances
No upcoming bookings. There should be. I even know a few upcoming events. This is becoming a problem! I need to get out there and say hello!
***
This Week’s Tell The Damn Story focuses on how to make Earth-shaking stakes personal to help readers connect
The success of any story’s success depends entirely on whether the audience (be they readers or viewers or listeners) connects with that story. And one of the best ways to do that is to give them ways to connect. This week, Alex and I discuss ways to include that in your stories. And yep, we use a ton of examples from lit and pop culture.
ON WRITING: Revisiting the blessing of writers’ groups
I know I’ve discussed this before, but some topics merit revisiting. For me, finding a writers’ group that works has proven to be a godsend.
Why?
They inspire me to keep going. Just wanting to contribute to the group’s discussion material each week helps me write, gets me into that room, opening the lap top, as Richard Price once said, “putting ass in chair.” The power of what a writer’s group can do for you should never be underestimated.
The group’s feedback gives me applicable advice, ideas I haven’t thought of, and sharpens my writing skills as a result. Other members have said the same.
And to be fair, not every editorial comment or moment of feedback is acted upon, but the process has sharpened my judgment in that area as well.
Years ago, I may have taken feedback personally. These days, I handle it professionally, assessing what helps, and keeps me focused on what serves the story best.
Finally, in a profession that can often feel lonely, this is a lifeline, a community, a reminder that all writers feel alone sometimes—and it is not true.
And thank God for all that.
***
ON INDY MARKETING: Alternatives to AI
As the AI waters rise all around us, promising easier marketing, dynamic ads, etc., all stealing jobs from others, independent publishers, and all authors find themselves forced to face tough choices about how to get the word out there.
Here’s a few examples of non-AI marketing:
Keep potential readers informed about how your book project is progressing, including sending out author copies…Be creative with social media posts. It doesn’t have to involve apps and special effects if it is done with passion…Utilize upcoming holidays, and undernourished friends, to spread the word…Celebrate the blessings of participating authors willing to help promote the project…Learn how to promote better from book project participants who have experience, like this national treasure…
The bottom line is you can get the word out on your project without AI, you just might have to apply that ample imagination of yours to go it. Have fun. Be creative. Avoid selling out your reputation.
***
More exciting art from Christy Aldridge for the upcoming Pulp extravaganza The Fight Never Ends!
Work continues on Seamus and Nunzio Productions’ first ever pulp project (though some may say everything I do is pulpy), the novel-in-stories actioner The Fight Never Ends! Our big book of pulp action should be available by late October.
This week, we offer a look at artist Christy Aldridge’s interior illustration for a second Blackjack story called “Deliver Us From Evil” based on thumbnail sketches from Tim Fielder, a story by myself and Blackjack creator Alex Simmons, leading to this story, written by me. It has been a long road for this one, going all the way back to the Charlottesville tragedy, and I am glad it will finally be available.
Here’s another peek at Christy’s exciting art:
***
Speaking out on the Cornell Situation
In what might become a weekly thing, I made a video discussing this terrible topic as reasonably as possible. The response was positive.
Here’s the link:
***
Screenshot
POP CULTURE FUEL
Books: Still reading about The Beatles, and enjoying Wilson’s poetry.
Music: I like the new music U2 is putting out. Looking forward to the album, but nobody, and I mean nobody, is as thrilled as the Glorious One. For my wife, U2 is a spiritual experience.
TV/Film:Avengers: Endgame Encore was fun to see and the extra stuff at the end made me look forward to Avengers: Doomsday even more. Lanterns continues it’s bizarre Hal Jordan HateFest, to the point that I had to call in The Spectre….
***
Listen, you can’t claim victory
just by saying you won,
and you can’t fix a looming problem
just by changing one word to “super”
because the world doesn’t work that way
and the leopards will eat your face.
***
Feel free to share this with anyone you think would enjoy it. Thanks.
Awright, thanks for stopping by. Talk atcha next week.
