As promised, the second installment in the Latchkeys series, The Ugly Little Bloke, went on sale this past Sunday. The story, by yours truly, furthers the adventures of these characters and you’d be doing yourself a disservice not to try this out.
We’re starved for feedback so if you’ve this or our first piece, Unlatched by Steven Savile, drop us a note.
Peter David has been the self-proclaimed “writer of stuff” for several decades now and most of you know him for his lengthy runs on The Incredible Hulk, Star Trek and X-Factor. Some of you also know his creator-owned effort Fallen Angel and there are those who know him for some terrific Star Trek novels including his personal corner of the galaxy with Star Trek: New Frontier.
But how many know of him as a writer of original science fiction and fantasy? As a reminder, there is his King Arthur trilogy, his Sir Apropos of Nothing books, and other novels and short stories.
There’s a lot fewer of you who know this than there should be because if you like his comics, you’re sure to enjoy his original visions. It’s certainly one reason he’s a part of Crazy 8 Press. He has been sharing new works such as The Camelot Papers and The Hidden Earth novels with you. Here comes something else for you to enjoy. Back in 2011, Peter sold the novelette “Bronsky’s Dates With Death” to the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and Locus named it one of the year’s best.
It’s a wonderful work and deserving of attention. More specifically, it’s worthy of your attention. The work is eligible for a Hugo Award nomination and the deadline for nominations is March 10. We’re offering the story free of charge if you just click over to here.
Breathing life into new characters is always a challenge. You sketch them out in your notes and think you know how you want them to sound, but invariably, once you begin the actual prose, things change. They develop a bigger vocabulary or sound snarkier than intended. You let things flow because it feels right and after all, they’re your characters.
It’s vastly different when you’re putting words into characters’ mouths for the first or second time when you’re collaborating with others. Such was the case with Latchkeys when I began writing The Ugly Little Bloke the second installment. Steven Savile focused quite a bit on our point-of-view character Matt and the Wardens’ leader Jeremy but less so on the others so it fell to me to find their voices.
I grabbed on to the story when it was offered because it centered on Kaitlyn, the young teen who can access the electromagnetic spectrum but has no clue just how powerful she is. She’s young and fun and enjoys being a Warden so she had a lot to learn. Finding her voice was pretty easy and the dialogue flowed smoothly.
For the others, such as the twins Mercy and Marguerite, it was a creative challenge and with luck, as time passes and they all grow in depth and complexity, their voices will also evolve.
Right now, you can get a peek for yourself as we present a sampler to my tale, The Ugly Little Bloke, which will be available on Nook and Kindle around March 4.
Steve, myself, and the other members of the HiveMind are deeply curious as to your reaction to the series, its characters, and the stories we’re telling. So, if you have read Unlatched post a comment. If you haven’t, you should.
The Crazy 8 Press gang will be at Farpoint this coming weekend. We’ll be doing a C8 panel Saturday at 4, but all six of us will be involved in other programming. We will have news, books to sell, stories to share, and much merriment to make. If you come to show, do stop by and say hello.
Here are our individual schedules:
Peter David
Peter David Saturday 12:00 AM
Peter David Autograph Session Saturday 1:00 PM
Crazy 8 Saturday 4:00 PM
Comics: Reboots, Crises, and Civil Wars Sunday 1:00 PM
Michael Jan Friedman
Michael Jan Friedman Autograph Session Saturday 12:00 Noon
Michael Jan Friedman Saturday 1:00 PM
Crazy 8 Saturday 4:00 PM
Comics: Reboots, Crises, and Civil Wars Sunday 1:00 PM
Bob Greenberger
Bob Greenberger Saturday 10:00 AM
Writers Workshop Saturday 1:00 PM
Crazy 8 Saturday 4:00 PM
Bob & Howie Show Sunday 10:00 AM
Comics: Reboots, Crises, and Civil Wars Sunday 1:00 PM
Glenn Hauman
Bob Greenberger Saturday 10:00 AM
Glenn Hauman Autograph Session Saturday 2:00 PM
Crazy 8 Saturday 4:00 PM
Glenn Hauman and Aaron Rosenberg Sunday 11:00 AM
Aaron Rosenberg
What to Do with a Finished Novel Saturday 10:00 AM
Aaron Rosenberg Autograph Session Saturday 1:00 PM
Crazy 8 Saturday 4:00 PM
Glenn Hauman and Aaron Rosenberg Sunday 11:00 AM
Writing Humor in Science Fiction Sunday 12:00 AM
Howard Weinstein
Writers Workshop Saturday 1:00 PM
Crazy 8 Saturday 4:00 PM
Bob & Howie Show Sunday 10:00 AM
The long wait is over.
In 2007, Hidden Earth: Darkness of the Light was released to critical acclaim. Terry Brooks said, “Darkness of the Light…is another quirky, intriguing, wonderful tale, filled with adventure and unexpected plot twists. No one else tells a story quite like Peter David does.” Publisher’s Weekly wrote in a starred review, “Peter David (Knight Life) is a master at juggling multiple characters and plot lines…(and) breathes new life into some well-worn mythic tropes.” Booklist wrote, “An entertaining adventure whose cliff-hanger ending confirms that it launches a series.”
Indeed it did, and now the second volume—after a long, strange trip—is here. The eagerly awaited second volume, Height of the Depths, will be released for Nooks and Kindles on Friday but right now you can read an excerpt by clicking here.
The Earth of the future is not one you’d recognize. Creatures that had previously been thought simply myth—vampires, two-legged dragons, trolls, and nine other races—have overrun the planet and made it their own. Humanity is nearly extinct. But now the Twelve Races have discovered that their own fortunes are inextricably linked with the remnants of the human race.
As a result, a young slave girl named Jepp, who holds the key to the future of the world, is on her way to a fateful meeting with the most powerful creature on the face of the planet. Except the question isn’t what will happen when she gets there. The question is whether she’s going to make it there alive.
For fans of Darkness of the Light (newly available as a trade paperback and also, for the first time, as an eBook), Heights of the Depths introduces new races and answers questions about some of the previous ones, including the truth behind the mysterious Serabim, the dreaded Travelers, and even the Overseer himself. For newcomers, you are about to enter an exciting world that is both comfortably familiar…and disturbingly nightmarish.
Here’s the back cover copy to give you a taste of what’s to come.
The Earth of the future is not one you’d recognize. Creatures previously thought to be simply myth—vampires, two-legged dragons, abominable snowmen, and nine other races—have overrun the planet and made it their own. Humanity is nearly extinct. But now the Twelve Races have discovered that their own fortunes are inextricably linked with the remnants of the human race. And so one of the last remaining humans, a young slave girl named Jepp (who holds the key to the future of the world) is on her way to a fateful meeting with the most powerful creature on the face of the planet. Except the question isn’t what will happen when she gets there. The question is whether she’s going to make it there alive.
Download the Preview PDF for Heights Of The Depths: The Hidden Earth Chronicles, Book 2 now!
Notes from Howard Weinstein:
Awesome is a very overused adjective these days. I experienced the real deal on two whale watch cruises off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts some years ago. Watching the black bulk of a 40-foot-long humpback swim casually past a boat that suddenly seems much smaller…watching it flip its broad powerful tail flukes and submerge…and then leap completely out of the water in a twisting playful belly flop… Now that’s awesome!
This epic-scale screenplay is based on the riveting true story of the only rescue of a stranded humpback whale, using contemporary news coverage and the book The Great Whale Rescue as source material.
I got caught up in these events as they happened in 1985, and even in those innocent days before 24/7 news overload, this story made the daily papers and evening news for weeks – and captured the imaginations of people world-wide. Even Wikipedia describes Humphrey as “arguably the most widely publicized humpback whale in history.”
The ending knocks your socks off – just as it really happened. Proof of the story’s continuing power came in 2007, when a mother and calf pair of humpbacks incredibly retraced Humphrey’s path in California – prompting the same media frenzy and overwhelming public interest.
Lost Whale: The Legend of Humphrey was entered in the Motion Picture Academy’s prestigious Nicholl Fellowship screenwriting competition in 2007. The script was evaluated by industry-insider judges, and scored in the top 7 percent of 5000 entries.
Maybe this screenplay will actually become a movie someday. But for now, you can “see” it by reading this script. And it’s a free exclusive download – as Crazy 8 Press’s first-anniversary gift to our readers. Thanks for your support in our first year…and we have more great stories to come!
And now you can read the script by clicking: WHALEScript.Nov2011Crazy8.