It was my privilege to spend just under three hours as a guest speaker in a local high school this week.
My task, according to the creative writing teacher, was simple: “Please help my students understand why editing is important.”
No problem — all high school students love editing, right?*
*(tongue planted firmly in cheek)
…“An imaginative world, an array of well-rounded characters, and a pleasantly unpredictable plot.”
“Nightmares — I loved this book!”
A generation ago, Earth’s wealthiest citizens — the Hoarders — seized control of the planet’s resources, retreated into their fortified Enclaves, and left the rest of the population to fend for itself.
Now, Hoarders have begun randomly Implanting people with a new kind of microtechnology, capable of converting their unsuspecting hosts into violent and deadly automatons.
They also created Trackers, a stealth unit of mechanically and chemically enhanced creatures, fanatically devoted to hunting down and killing anyone unlucky enough to have an Implant.
Amos Morgan and Aubrey Carter, together with a small band of fellow Runners, must unravel the mystery, racing against time before the Trackers locate them.
And before their own Implants change them into … something else.
All links via Books2Read
(Tracker flash fiction #3)
Heavy rain slashed at Aubrey as she paused to take her bearings. She pulled the hood of her sodden jacket forward, shielding her face from the relentless downpour.
Of course — it’s raining. She smiled grimly, taking an odd solace in the bitter thought. Her shoulder still stung from the cuts she’d endured after squeezing through a barbed-wire fence.
A rainstorm is the perfect soundtrack to my day From hell.
There was no betraying sign of a Tracker, but that didn’t mean one of the soul-less killers wasn’t waiting just around the next corner. The City’s sprawling ruins offered a multitude of hiding places. Aubrey studied the broken-paned apartment across the street. She half-expected to spot the deadly glimmer of a Tracker’s scanning eye, staring hungrily down at her, but the windows were empty.
Like eye sockets in a skull. She grimaced, cursing her over-active imagination. Her hand moved to her abdomen, and she glanced down. Fear and loathing competed within her. I’ve got an Implant. The Hoarders …
It still seemed unreal. Why her? She caught herself and looked around in wide-eyed panic. Pay attention, Aubs! Don’t let your guard down!
She made a decision, stepping away from the crumbling tenement’s dubious shelter. Keep moving. She mentally repeated Sarah’s adamant advice. Don’t stand out from the crowd. Hidden in plain sight.
Water splashed over her feet as she crossed the desolate intersection, the traffic lights hanging dark and lifeless above her. She must find the other Runners — her life really did depend on it.
Keep moving. She sloshed through the ankle-deep puddles, ignoring her soggy footwear. Hidden in plain sight …
All links via Books2Read
(Tracker flash fiction #2)
Aubrey reels from the news. Her heart pounds and dizziness threatens to overwhelm her. This can’t be happening. Why me?
It’s easy to feel resentful.
She’s doing the best she can, carving out a life for herself after the Hoarders completed construction on their walled Enclave.
Two years after what should’ve been her high school graduation — an event she’d only heard stories of — she moved north to a small village in search of work.
She doesn’t mind her job at the ramshackle café. Her boss is gruff but fair, and Aubrey managed to rent a tiny, but affordable, house in town. And when Thomas and Sarah moved in next door, Aubrey knew they’d become good friends. Things were looking up.
Her sense of well-being is short-lived.
Tonight, Aubrey sits in Thomas and Sarah’s kitchen, listening with stunned horror as they explain what a Tracker is, what it’s capable of, and the sinister meaning of “Harvest.” Their description of the soul-less creature is daunting enough, but Aubrey can’t fathom why it should matter to her, living so far from the Enclave.
Until a somber-faced Thomas pulls out a scanner, and Sarah gently turns the conversation to Implants.
All links via Books2Read
The “Death in the Alley” scene represents a turning point (neither the first nor the last) in the fast-paced story of Tracker.
The first meeting of the two main POV characters, Amos Morgan and Aubrey Carter, isn’t your typical “Good afternoon, charmed to make your acquaintance introduction.”
Amos arms himself with a combat hunting knife, wishing for something deadlier. Aubrey’s life flashes before her eyes, and she almost forgets to breathe.
Everyone’s nerves are on edge, to say the least. Amos and Aubrey’s companions — Don, Sheila, Stephen, and the acerbic Jane “Snake Lady” Avery — share the same jittery trepidation. Narrowly averting disaster, the new acquaintances dare to relax, breathing a collective sigh of relief.
Then a third POV character — a Tracker — shows up.
And the body count starts to rise.
Trackers may be considered “soul-less,” but they are grimly efficient in their obsession with the “Harvest.” That Runners must die in order for the Trackers to collect their Implants is of no concern.
Amos is right — a combat knife is a mediocre defense against the brutality of an enhanced killing machine.
(Tracker flash fiction #1)
Amos was running long before he knew he was a Runner. The trauma from his twelfth year drove him, stalking his dreams, corroding his waking hours.
He did his best to control it, to put a clamp on the accusing inner voice, to block out the recurring nightmares.
Over time, he’d learned how to cope, to carve out a semblance of normalcy in the chaotic world they’d inherited after the Hoarders abandoned them.
Until the day it was confirmed by Doc Simon: the hated Hoarders had buried an Implant in his body — somewhere. And now he was fully a Runner, a human time bomb, and a threat to anyone close to him if his Implant activated.
And he was also a target for the subhuman Trackers. The blood-thirsty creatures would stop at nothing until they’d gutted him for the microtechnology hidden in his body.
So Amos did what any Runner would do. He ran …
All links via Books2Read
I’m a big fan — and shameless advocate for — writing conferences. It doesn’t matter where you’re at in your writing journey. It’s in your best interests to attend a writing conference as often as you can.
At the very least, you’ll find yourself surrounded by other people as book-nerdy as you. Creative souls who can encourage, challenge, sharpen and cheer you on.
Two generations ago, Earth’s richest citizens — the Hoarders — seized control of the planet’s resources, retreated into their heavily guarded Enclaves, and left the rest of the population to fend for itself.
Until recently, when the Hoarders began to randomly implant people with a new kind of micro-technology, capable of converting their unsuspecting hosts into violent and deadly automatons.
They also created the Trackers, chemically and mechanically enhanced creatures fanatically devoted to hunting down and killing anyone unlucky enough to have an Implant.
Amos Morgan and Aubrey Carter, together with a small band of fellow Runners, must unravel the mystery, racing against time before the Trackers discover them.
And before their own Implants change them into …
Something else.
“Eat the meat, spit out the bones.”
It’s a valuable piece of advice most of us have heard more than a few times. It also applies to the plethora of available “how-to” resources for writers — not all of whom agree with each other.
It’s a good idea for aspiring authors to read as many different voices as possible, but in the end, you’ll have to decide for yourself which ones qualify as meat and which are bones.
That’s why it’s difficult to say which books should be on an aspiring author’s “must-read” list. Every genre has its own unique personality, and what might make obvious sense in one may be incomprehensible gobble-dee-gook* in another.
*highly technical writer’s term
That being said, there are a few books which I’d suggest are indispensable, regardless of genre, sub-genre, and/or the unique and twisted personality of the would-be writer.
The Elements of Style by William Strunk & E.B. White
It’s short.
It’s a tech manual for writers.
It’s worth its weight in gold, diamonds, and assorted other gemstones. Why? Because it will persuade grammar nazi’s (and editors) to put their long knives away.
Steering the Craft by Ursula K. Le Guin
The craft of story-telling as recounted by a true master of the skill.
Subtitled “a 21st Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story,” Le Guin’s book is a pleasure to read. The writing exercises she includes are a challenging and fun way to immediately put her recommendations into practice.
On Writing by Stephen King
I’ve re-read this one several times. It’s just that good.
King includes his own journey as a writer, which is as entertaining a read as any of his works of fiction. Nuggets of wisdom are sprinkled throughout — including his famous (and oft-debated) axiom: “the road to hell is paved with adverbs.” In a word: inspirational.
I’ve read quite a few additional tomes on speculative fiction, world-creation, character arcs, dialogue, etc., but I keep coming back to these three.
That’s not to suggest I don’t “spit out the bones” at times (with the exception of Elements — ignore it at your peril), but any aspiring author should give these three books a permanent place of honor on their desk.
Creating characters who are genuinely interesting = putting in the time and energy it takes to write their “back story.”
Characters are like real people: they have likes, dislikes, hopes, anxieties, dreams and phobias. They have families, friends, and life experiences which shaped their thinking, beliefs, instincts, reactions, and motivations.
Real people are a wonderful, messy, walking mass of contradictions, and believable characters are the same.
…
