Catch me live this week! Podcasts, Podcasts, Podcasts, oh my!

So by now most of you know I have a new novel out,  Simon Says, and the next anthology, Infinite Stars: Dark Frontiers, is out in 3 weeks, close on its heels. So I am on the promotion bandwagon for a bit. Here’s two chances to catch me live this week:

 

 

 

Monday: At 8 p.m. CST U.S., find me on Keystroke Medium Live on YouTube, Join me and hosts Josh Hayes and Scott Moon as we talk about writing, police, the book, and more. Be sure and login early so you have your name in the chat window and can ask questions.

Tuesday: At 3 p.m. in the afternoon, you can call in and ask questions as I join hostess Sherri Rabinowitz on Chatting With Sherri live on blogtalk radio. The call-in number is 646-915-9580.

 

I’ll be talking about my research process for writing the John Simon Thrillers, including real live ride-alongs with KCPD on all night shifts multiple times, and other adventures, and taking questions. Who knows? We may even give away a book or two. So tune in please!

WriteTip: Using The Five Senses

The following is an excerpt from my book How To Write A Novel: The Fundamentals of Fiction, Chapter 3:

Many of us are guilty of falling into the habit of using one or two senses and ignoring the rest. For most of us, sight is the dominant sense—the sense through which we first encounter and examine the world. So how things appear will dominate most narratives naturally, closely followed by sound. But we have five senses, and all have the power to bring useful imagery into your storytelling.

Good description employs all five senses—sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing—and employs at least one every two pages, sometimes more. A few well-placed details can totally embody a character or place and make them come alive for the reader. And nothing takes us deep inside the character’s mind and experience like sensory details. All good settings are rich with detail, so you should have plenty to choose from. From the appearance and smells of a restaurant or grocery store or market to the touch and sounds of the outdoors to the taste of food, there are numerous opportunities to add color and vividness to your prose using these kinds of details.

Here are some suggestions for aspects of each sense to consider:

Sight—Color is usually one of the first things that comes to mind, but studies actually show that spatial dimensions tend to be picked up first by the brain. How large is the area? How high is the ceiling? After dimension, the source of light tends to be noticed next. What is lighting the scene, and what is its source—artificial or natural? Is it bright or white or mixed hues? Then, color impressions form. The dominant color tends to take on significance. Next comes texture, like shadows or rough and smooth surfaces, etc. Finally, there’s contrast. Superimposition of colors and other aspects affects how much objects, people, and places draw our attention.

Sound—Sound can be described by the loudness or complexity—simple or multiple sources—tonality (soft or hard, harsh or gentle, etc.), and the location of its source and distance from the hearer. Also, is the sound unknown or familiar?

Smell—While smells can be often overlooked by both writers and in real life, smell can reveal a lot. Is the odor pleasant or unpleasant? What emotions does it evoke—fear like smoke from a fire, or is it the steady everyday scent of vehicles, animals, or insects in the environment that almost goes unnoticed because it is so common?

Touch—How do things feel—rough or smooth, hot or cold, sharp or dull, etc.?

Taste—Does the character notice sweet or bitter, salty or acidic, pleasant or unpleasant, etc.?

If you’re like me, these kinds of details may not come naturally. So, I recommend two key resources that have really helped me up my game on writing sensory content. The Emotion Thesaurus by Pugliosi and Ackerman and Setting by Jack W. Bingham. These two resources are so invaluable, I often keep them with me on trips and beside me as I write and refer to them often, because writing such visceral descriptions is not first nature to me, and it can be very easy to fall into personal clichés and patterns that repeat the same details and descriptions over and over, which quickly becomes repetitive and glaring to readers. The authors also discuss body language and internal sensations, which can be described to show, not tell, the emotions of characters, the atmosphere of rooms, etc. Additionally, author David Farland describes this as the Kentic, Audio, Visual Cycle and offers useful tips on his website at https://mystorydoctor.com/the-kav-cycle-part-1/.

Sensory experiences and emotions evidence themselves in three ways: internal sensations, external sensations, and body language, and all three are important ways to describe them and help readers experience them too. For example:

Butterflies danced in her stomach as she entered the audition, and she fought to control her face as she took in the other dancers. There were famous faces she’d seen in numerous Broadway shows and performances. What was she doing here? She swallowed and licked her lips, which had suddenly grown parched. Her arm was twitching. She had to make it stop, but it wasn’t listening to her internal commands, so she shoved it tight against her side in an attempt to control it.

I don’t have to tell you she is nervous and intimidated. The descriptions do the work. This is what you are aiming for. If you are unsure about a particular smell or taste or even sound, Googling can provide impressions others have had of familiar things that can be adapted for your prose. I also recommend practicing by going to a mall or price club or anywhere else and sitting down to take notes of all the things your senses notice as they occur to you. This will give you practice not only at writing visceral (i.e., instinctive and emotional) details but also in noting how they naturally affect you and might also affect your characters.

You’ve probably deduced by now that description is the art of picking the right details at the right time. Stories are about movement, so be wary of stories where your characters reflect and remember a lot. Instead, action and discovery go hand in hand. As your characters go and do things, they discover sensory cues that provoke memories, emotions, and reactions and inspire further action. People move through life on two levels simultaneously: physical and emotional. Physical movement follows plot and events that unfold A, B, and C, while emotional movement follows character. The physical tends to move with the emotional. So meshing plot and character is the key, and good description is key to your ability to do that well. As Monica Wood writes in Description: “A story’s pace is controlled by the physical and emotional goings-on in the story, and those goings-on are controlled by description.”

Another element where description is especially important is context. Establishing the scope of a story can be vital to making it work, giving characters a scope in which to love and hate each other, to conquer or fall to adversity, discover or lose themselves. Context uses metaphors and symbols to reinforce emerging themes and organize the movement of a story into beginning, middle, and end. Wood writes: “The breadth of the story should dictate the breadth of the context.” Contextual details, small or large, reveal character and can serve to contrast with the story itself, adding power. The order in which details are noted can tell us much about a character’s values and priorities as well as how they view themselves in relation to those around them. Are they rich or poor? Powerful or weak? Confident or insecure? These details can reveal so much about them.

So, how do you choose which details to use and when? Well, that depends upon what you need the readers to know to understand and connect with the story at any given moment. Let’s look at an example from John Connolly’s Charlie Parker book A Song of Shadows:

The woman stank of cats and cookies, of piss and mothballs, but Cambion, whose sensory abilities had long been ruined by his disease, and who had grown used to the reek of his own decay, barely noticed it.

How do you not remember that? Ask yourself what you most notice about particular people, places, and things. What do you remember? What stands out about them? What did you notice first? What sticks with you most when you have been away from them awhile and remember? These are the beginnings of finding the most definitive choices to use in describing them because they hint at what stands out when you encounter those people, places, and things. Let’s look at another example from Brazilian author Jorge Amado’s Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands:

Delicate, pale, with that pallor of romantic poets and gigolos, black hair slicked down with brilliantine and lots of perfume, a smile that was a combination of melancholy and allure, evoking a world of dreams, elegant in bearing and attire, with large, pleading eyes, the Prince would have to be described by very high-flown words: “marmoreal,” “wan,” “meditative,” “pulchritudinous,” “brow of alabaster and eyes of onyx.”

So much said with just a few words but very colorful, visceral, and intriguing because every word count. This is what good description is all about.

For what it’s worth…

Panel: The Future As I See It (San Diego Comic Con 50, 2019)

This is the panel I moderated on Friday of Comic Con 50 in San Diego with authors discussing how they write and envision the future in their works.

Panelists:
Gini Koch – National bestselling Author, Alien series
Timothy Zahn – Number 1 New York Times bestselling Author, Star Wars Thrawn, Quadrail series, Cobra series
Steven L. Sears – Screenwriter/Author, Xena, The A-Team, Riptide
Jonathan Maberry – New York Times bestselling Author, Joe Ledger series, Rot and Ruin series, VWars
Javier Grillo-Marxuach – Screenwriter/Author/Comic Writer, Middleman, Lost, Blood & Treasure
Seanan McGuire-New York Times bestselling author/Comic Writer, Newsflesh, October Daye, Spidergirl, The X-Men

Fall 2017 Book Tour Dates: INFINITE STARS, MONSTER HUNTER, PREDATOR, JOE LEDGER

For those wanting to connect, here are my confirmed tour dates so far for Fall 2017. Still trying to fill in open weekends in November with dates in either Arkansas, Nebraska, or Iowa. John Morris (aka Alexi), hope to see you there.

Oct. 5-8, 2017 New York Comic Con, Javits Center, New York City, NY, Guest, Book Launches: Predator: If It Bleeds (Titan) and Infinite Stars (Titan)

Oct. 18, 2017 Signing: Barnes and Noble, 11323 W 95th St, Overland Park, Kansas, 7-9 p.m.

Oct. 21, 2017 Signing: Barnes and Noble, 960 S. Colorado Blvd, Glenda, CO, 2-5 p.m. with Peter J. Wacks, David Boop, Julie Frost, and Holly Roberds

Oct. 28, 2017 Signing: Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 NW Expy Ste 135, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 3-5 p.m.

Oct. 29, 2017 Signing: Barnes and Noble, 5231 East 41st Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1-4 p.m.

Nov. 1, 2017, Signing: Barnes and Noble, Columbia Mall,2208 Bernadette Dr, Columbia, Missouri, 6-8 p.m.

Nov. 3, 2017  Signing: Barnes and Noble, 6130 SW 17th St, Topeka, KS, 7-9 p.m.

Nov. 3-4, 2017 Writing Workshop: Science Fiction Worldbuilding, Johnson Country Library-Central Resource Branch, Overland Park, KS Critique and Lecture sessions plus signing (see link for details)

Nov. 5, 2017 Signing: Books-A-Million, Central Mall, Ninth Street, Salina, KS, 1-3:30 p.m.

Nov. 11, 2017, Signing: Maker Faire, Barnes and Noble, Oak Park Mall, 11323 W 95th St, Overland Park, Kansas, 12-4 p.m.

Nov. 12, 2017, Signing: Books-a-million, Legends Outlets, 1859 Village W Pkwy f101, Kansas City, KS 66111 1-4 p.m.

Nov. 25, 2017 Signing: Barnes and Noble, 6510 N. Illinois St., Fairview Heights, IL, 1-4 p.m.

Dec.2, 2017 Book Signing: Barnes and Noble, 6300 S. Main Street Suite N101, Aurora, CO, 2-5 p.m. with Peter J. Wacks, Holly Roberds, and David Boop

Dec. 2, 2017 Book Signing: Storybook Brewing, 3121 A North El Paso Street, Colorado Springs, CO, 6:30-9 p.m. with Peter J. Wacks, David Boop, Holly Roberds

Dec. 3, 2017 Signing: Barnes and Noble, 4045 S College Ave, Fort Collins, Colorado, 7-9 p.m. with Peter J. Wacks, David Boop, and Holly Roberds

ARCHON 41- TOASTMASTER Schedule

I have the honor of serving as Toastmaster for ARCHON in Collinsville, IL this year. It is a con I have attended on and off for years and enjoy. I really look forward to it. Here’s my schedule for the weekend. In between, find me at Bookseller’s Row, Table 16, outside the Dealer’s Room.

YOUR SCHEDULE:

Star Wars – Is It What We Hoped It Would Be?

Friday 12:00 – 12:50, Salon 6 (Gateway Center)

With Episode VIII only months away, how do we feel about what we’ve gotten so far?  Have Episode VII and Rogue One lived up to our dreams – and did they make up for Episodes I-III?

David VonAllmen (M), Jimmy D. Gillentine, Mr Paul Hahn, Bryan Thomas Schmidt

The Future Isn’t What It Used to Be

Friday 16:00 – 16:50, St. Clair A & B (DoubleTree – Collinsville)

How has our vision of the future changed as our culture has modernized and shed stereotypes and archaic norms?

Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Ms Joy Ward, Michael Benjamin (M)

Opening Ceremonies

Friday 18:00 – 19:00, Center Hall B (Gateway Center)

Book Launch Party: The Exodus–Saga Of Davi Rhii by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Friday 19:00 – 19:50, St. Clair A & B (DoubleTree – Collinsville)

Come discover the trilogy Barnes and Noble named a Year’s Best and Jonathan Maberry, Mike Resnick and others said captures the feel of classic space opera like Star Wars! Buy signed books or 3 and enjoy pizza, soda, and snacks. Giveaways too!

Bryan Thomas Schmidt (M)

In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream: Horror Beyond the Stars

Friday 21:00 – 21:50, Salon 6 (Gateway Center)

Some of the scariest stories take place is space.  Some of our favorites are Alien, Event Horizon, Pandorum, and Riddick.  Come discuss the best and worst of horror in space (Jason X, anyone?).

Suzanne Cappelletti (M), Jim Yelton , Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Wyatt Weed

Editing: A Diamond in the Rough

Saturday 11:00 – 11:50, Marquette A (Gateway Center)

What does it take to turn a project from trash to treasure?  An open discussion on the editing process.

Claire Ashgrove, Lettie Prell (M), Mr Michales Joy, Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Author Reading with Archon 41 Toastmaster Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Saturday 14:00 – 14:50, Salon 4 (Gateway Center) Reading: from The X-Files SECRET AGENDAS– “Border Time”

Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Tips For Writing About Things You Know Nothing About

Saturday 17:00 – 17:50, Marquette A (Gateway Center)

Okay, we can’t know everything about everything. Listen to our experts reveal what they have done to become knowledgeable on a subject or at least what they did to make it seem like they were.

Marella Sands (M), Ms Joy Ward, Rachel Neumeier, Mr Mark Tiedemann , Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Problems and Questions from Young Writers

Saturday 18:00 – 18:50, Cahokian (Gateway Center)

Our pros share their wisdom with those who will eventually replace them.  Que sera sera.

Deborah Millitello, Christine Amsden (M) , Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Lloyd Kropp, Glen Cook, Claire Ashgrove

Editing: Behind the Scenes

Sunday 13:00 – 13:50, Marquette A (Gateway Center)

A chance for new authors to understand what happens to stories after they’re submitted.

Benjamin C. Kinney (M), Mr. Brian Katcher, Mr. Adrian Matthews, Rich Horton, Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Volunteer Pizza Party with the Pros!

Sunday 13:00 – 15:00, Madison C & D (DoubleTree – Collinsville)

Please join us as we thank our Archon 41 Volunteers!

Publishing Short Stories: Where and How

Sunday 14:00 – 14:50, Marquette A (Gateway Center)

Our experts share different avenues and platforms on which to publish your short fiction.

Deborah Millitello, Bryan Thomas Schmidt (M) ([email protected]) , Ethan Nahté , Shawntelle Madison, Guy Anthony De Marco

Closing Ceremonies

Sunday 15:00 – 16:00, Lasalle (Gateway Center)

ConQuest 48 Schedule – Bryan Thomas Schmidt & Amelie

This weekend is my annual trek to Kansas City for our local science fiction convention, ConQuest at the Downtown K.C. Sheraton. Guest of Honor is Robert J. Sawyer and Toastmaster Jonathan Maberry, and I will be spending time when not on panels at a dealer room table selling their books. So here’s where to find me outside the dealer room which is open as follows:

Fri 12-6
Sat 10-6
Sun 10-4

Special Guest: Amelie will be accompanying me much of the time.

MAY 26 • FRIDAY

  5:00pm –  5:50pm L Tales of the Weird West

Fremont (2345 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108)

 

A discussion of speculative stories set in the Old West.
Moderators: Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Speakers: Rob Chilson, Christopher McKitterick

  6:00pm –  6:50pm M Opening Ceremonies

Chicago (2345 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108)

Moderators: Margene S. Bahm
Speakers: Earline Beebe, Jonathan Maberry, Rachael Mayo, Robert J. Sawyer, Zac Zacarola

  9:00pm –  1:00am E Little Green Men–Attack! Kansas City

N/A (2345 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108)

 

A launch party with editors Bryan Thomas Schmidt and Robin Wayne Bailey and authors like Selina Rosen and more.
Moderators: Bryan Thomas Schmidt

MAY 27 • SATURDAY

 12:00pm –  12:50pm L Editors Are Not The Enemy

Empire B (2345 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108)

 

Authors and editors discuss the invaluable relationship of working together.
Moderators: Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Speakers: Claire Ashgrove, Rich Horton, Jonathan Maberry, Robert J. Sawyer

  2:00pm –  2:50pm L Humor In Science Fiction and Fantasy

Fremont (2345 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108)

 

A discussion of humorous tropes and stories down through SF history. Who are the key writers? What should you be reading? and more.
Moderators: Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Speakers: Robin Wayne Bailey, Selina Rosen

  4:00pm –  4:50pm U Little Green Men: Then And Now

Empire B (2345 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108)

 

A discussion of the alien encounter trope through SF history in various media from literature to film and beyond.
Moderators: Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Speakers: Robin Wayne Bailey, James Gunn, Robert J. Sawyer, Ken Keller

  6:00pm –  6:50pm L Editing 101 For Writers

Benton (2345 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108)

 

Popular annual workshop for writers on self-editing tips run by two successful editors.
Moderators: Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Speakers: Claire Ashgrove

MAY 28 • SUNDAY

 11:00am –  11:50am O One On One With Jonathan Maberry

Empire B (2345 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108)

 

Come chat with Bryan Thomas Schmidt and Jonathan Maberry about Maberry’s life and work.
Moderators: Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Speakers: Jonathan Maberry

  1:00pm –  1:50pm L The Science Of Science Fiction

Empire B (2345 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108)

 

A discussion of science in science fiction: what are the key elements? Important writers and works? Etc.
Moderators: Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Speakers: Kij Johnson, Robert J. Sawyer, H.G. Stratmann

Comicpalooza 2017 Schedule

Well, this weekend I make my first trip to Houston for COMICPALOOZA at the Convention Center in downtown.

This weekend, starting Friday at 3:30, see me at Comicpalooza booth #2632, Next to NASA in Hall C. (Click map to enlarge view.)

I will also participate in the following signings and panels:

FRIDAY MAY 12, 2017 2:30 PM TO 3:30 PM

**

ARCHON 40 SCHEDULE, Sept. 28 through Oct. 2

archon-logo

Here’s my schedule for ARCHON 40 in St. Louis, at the Collinsville, IL Convention Center, Friday September 30 – Sunday, October 2, 2016. Guests of Honor include Ellen Datlow, John Picacio, and Claudia Christian.

I am not sure if anyone else will carry my books but usually Larry Smith and Glen Cook have a few in the dealer’s room. I will have my own and sell them on my autographing time Saturday for sure.

Bryan Thomas Schmidt Fri 5:00 PM GC Marquette B Advice For New Writers
Mark W. Tiedemann (M), Ellen Datlow, Lynn Rosen, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Richard C. White
Bryan Thomas Schmidt Sat 12:00 PM GC Marquette B Editing 101
Ellen Datlow (M), Julia S. Mandala, Christine Amsden, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Claire Ashgrove
Bryan Thomas Schmidt Sat 2:00 PM GC Signing Table Autographs with Angie Fox, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, and Ethan Nahté
Bryan Thomas Schmidt Sat 4:00 PM GC Salon 4 Classic Sci-Fi TV
Marella Sands (M), Van Allen Plexico, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, David Phelps
Bryan Thomas Schmidt Sun 10:00 AM GC Illini A Libraries of the Future
Susan Baugh (M), Paul Hahn, Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Bryan Thomas Schmidt Sun 11:00 AM GC Marquette B The First Five Pages: How to Hook Your Reader
Cindy Matthews (M), Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Michales Joy, Shawntelle Madison, Jimmy D. Gillentine