Novelist Talks Her Trial by PURIFYING FIRE

Novelist Laura Resnick talks on the Novelists Inc blog about writing her first tie-in, THE PURIFYING FIRE, an original novel based the game MAGIC: THE GATHERING.

The creative team at Wizards of the Coast, which owns Magic, had created an excellent Writers Guide, as a private working document for novelists, which was immensely helpful to me. They also gave me numerous links to specific pages on their vast website, thus whittling down the overwhelming sea of available information to just the stuff I really needed. The game’s creative team met with me by conference call to discuss the game, the setting, and its characteristics with me, and to answer my questions. My editor was readily available with information, answers, and feedback whenever I needed it. And the editorial team, in charge of the whole series of books that create an overall story arc for these characters and this world, gave me notes about where they’d like the story to start, a few things they’d like to see happen, and where they’d like the story to end.

She elaborated on the experience in another post:

And although I’d never before had to write a novel about something I was so totally ignorant of (i.e. the Multiverse of Magic: the Gathering) I had recently finished a year of graduate school, where you spend most of your time writing authoritative research papers about subjects that were totally unfamiliar to you only a few weeks earlier. So getting up to speed fast on a subject, and figuring out just how much background material you need to learn and command, and avoiding certain pitfalls that appear when you haven’t had time to learn a subject like the palm of your hand… these were all habits I had developed in academia and now applied to my gaming tie-in novel (since, among other things, the deadline was also much tighter than what I’m used to).

It's an interesting perspective from a "newbie" to the world of tie-ins.

Sprinting the Marathon

IAMTW Member Karen Traviss wrote this article about writing STAR WARS tie-ins back in March 2006 for the Emerald City website...but her insights are as relevant today as tey were three years ago. Here's an excerpt:

From the writer’s point of view, media tie-in fiction is harder and actually requires more original thought and creative effort than creator-copyright — provided you treat it and the readership with the respect both deserve.

The only people who believe it isn’t harder and requires less creativity are those who haven’t actually done it, or perhaps those who think they can coast on tie-ins and just phone it in. But readers can spot lack of effort a mile away in thick fog, believe me, and they’ll never let the writer forget it.

The craft involved is more difficult. Having a foot in both camps, I can tell you that it’s very easy to create your own characters and story arcs; the only holes you find yourself in are those of your own making, and if you need to kill off a major character or blow up the universe to fix them, you can do it.

It's a terrific article. Be sure to check it out.

The Rigors of Tie-in Writing

Over at Jeff Vandermeer's blog, authors Dan Abnett and Mark Charan Newton discuss the challenges of writing tie-ins vs non-franchise fiction. Here's an excerpt:

Mark Charan Newton: You see it frequently these days – a literary fiction star such as Jonathan Lethem wanting to write a comic strip for Omega the Unknown, or Jodi Piccoult writing a Wonder Woman series. There’s a sense of reverence and pedigree involved. It has cool factor. But those authors are writing for a franchise that is not creator-owned. It’s not their world; the characters are often not their own. But let’s go the other way. For an author to write tie-in fiction – that is, fiction connected to a franchise or character, that isn’t technically owned by the author – it is still treated as a gaucherie by the majority of genre fans. The books suffer by not getting proper review coverage, and sometimes they are not even considered as ‘real’ works. Why do you think tie-in fiction is treated as the second-class citizen of the genre world?

[...]Dan Abnett: There are any number of contributing factors, and many of them are inevitably contradictory. Let’s start with a basic assumption: if you write as a hired gun, you must be in it for the dosh. You don’t really care what you’re writing. Therefore (obviously), you’re just crapping it out, words per square inch. In other words, tie-in fiction MUST by the very nature of its manufacture, be poor, disposable and second-rate.

It’s possible that an awful lot of people think this. They may not even mean to think it. There’s also a possibility (actually, a very high probability) that an awful lot of people in what I’m happy to refer to as “my line of work” believe that’s what other people think.

I think it’s worth getting this out of the way right at the start: writers of tie-in fiction may, sometimes, involuntarily, feel slightly guilty. They may be, involuntarily defensive. They know what the perception can be, and it contaminates them slightly. Tie-in writers can be their own worst enemies.

[...]Mark: It’s interesting you mention the money as a perceived incentive, and you’re quite right. But I suppose without naming names, there have been writers who have been strapped for cash and wanted to do tie-in fiction because they thought it was easy money. Hang around at a convention bar and you’ll hear those stories. So, as an aside – you’ve written both original fiction and tie-in fiction, so which do you find is easier?

Dan: I actually think it’s harder to write for franchises in many ways, as you’re constantly checking (or you damn well should be!) that you’re remaining true to the source, in terms of detail, fluff, character and style. It’s quite demanding to be so engaged, so ‘on’, permanently policing your actions within the boundaries of someone else’s property. In your own work, you only have to check with yourself about where the edges are. This labour is OF COURSE counter-balanced by the creative efforts involved in original invention – let me just say that before anyone has an indignant spasm.

The Winner is Me

(Cross-posted from James Swallow's blog)

My Scribe Award (mentioned downblog) arrived in the post, and it is shiny, in all senses of the word. The pointy ends mean it could double as an improvised weapon, should the need arise. As promised, here is a picture of the gong itself, in pride of place.

That, and a day at pub spent with my mates nerding out has brought a busy-but-fruitful week to a relaxing close. I also got a late birthday gift from m'colleague Peter J. Evans, this extremely detailed foot-tall diorama of Indiana Jones fleeing a giant stone ball. Along with a box of next month's Black Library book releases and an advance copy of IL-2 Sturmovik for the XBox 360... It's been a good week for swag, too.

Earlier, I joined fellow scribes Scott Andrews and James Moran to discuss an upcoming project which I hope to be talking about in the next few weeks, and then later it was off to Brighton to visit Black Rock Studios to discuss some gaming related things (which I'm also NDAed into non-discussion thereof). While I was there I got the opportunity to chat briefly to Randy Nelson, one of Pixar's top guys, who was visiting on a workshop tour. It was interesting to hear Randy talk about how Pixar put together story for their movies; like I always say, it never hurts to listen to someone who makes more money doing your job than you do...

End of One Era, Start of Another

Bestselling author Karen Traviss talks on her blog about her difficult decision to make IMPERIAL COMMANDO #2 her last STAR WARS novel...and about the unique challenges tie-in writers face. Here's an excerpt:

Tie-in work is, by its very nature, subject to a lot more unexpected change than other writing - it's someone else's copyright, and the writer has to live with that. It goes with the territory. That's why professional tie-in writers don't get emotionally attached to what they're working on. It's not that I take the task casually; but it's not my property, and the stewardship of it is always temporary. A pro has to be able to shrug, move on, and say: "Okay, nobody died, and the cheque didn't bounce - result! Next?"

But as a writer, I have a moral deal with you, the reader - if I hook you with a story, my part of the deal is to follow through and give you a satisfying outcome. If changes beyond my control mean I can't give you that, then I won't do a half a job. You deserve better than that.

Scribe Award Winners Announced

The 2009 Scribe Awards were handed out a ceremony and panel at Comic Con in San Diego on Friday. Participants included James Rollins, Max Allan Collins, Tod Goldberg, Matt Forbeck and Keith R.A. DeCandido, who was honored as this year's Grandmaster for excellence in the field. The winning books are marked with asterisks.

GENERAL FICTION
BEST NOVEL—ORIGINAL

**CSI: HEADHUNTER by Greg Cox

BURN NOTICE: THE FIX by Tod Goldberg

CRIMINAL MINDS: FINISHING SCHOOL by Max Allan Collins

BEST NOVEL—ADAPTED

**INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL by James Rollins

DEATH DEFYING ACTS by Greg Cox
THE TUDORS: KING TAKES QUEEN by Elizabeth Massie
THE WACKNESS by Dale C. Phillips
THE X FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE by Max Allan Collins

SPECULATIVE FICTION

BEST NOVEL—ORIGINAL

**STAR TREK TEROK NOR: DAY OF THE VIPERS by James Swallow

GHOST WHISPERER: REVENGE by Doranna Durgin
RAVENLOFT: THE COVENANT, HEAVEN'S BONES by Samantha Henderson

STARGATE SG-1: HYDRA by Holly Scott20& Jaime Duncan

BEST NOVEL—ADAPTED

**HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY by Bob Greenberger
THE MUTANT CHRONICLES by Matt Forbeck
STAR WARS—THE CLONE WARS: WILD SPACE by Karen Miller
UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS by Greg Cox

YOUNG ADULT—ALL GENRES

BEST NOVEL—ORIGINAL

**PRIMEVAL: SHADOW OF THE JAGUAR by Steven Savile
DR. WHO: THE EYELESS by Lance Parkin
DISNEY CLUB PENGUIN: STOWAWAY! ADVENTURES AT SEA by Tracey West

BEST NOVEL—ADAPTED

**JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D by Tracey West
IRON MAN: THE JUNIOR NOVEL by Stephen D. Sullivan
THE DARK KNIGHT: THE JUNIOR NOVEL by Stacia Deutsch and Rhody Cohon

THE GRANDMASTER AWARD

KEITH R.A. DeCANDIDO

Scribe Awards Ceremony Announced

Third annual presentation of the International Association of Media-Tie-in Writers (IAMTW) "Scribe" Awards, honoring excellence in tie-in writing in such notable franchises as CSI, Criminal Minds, The X-Files, Star Trek, Stargate, Star Wars and Dr. Who, will be held on FRIDAY JULY 24 3-4:30 pm at Comic-Con in San Diego in Room 4. The ceremony will be followed by a panel discussion with the nominees, including James Rollins (Indiana Jones), Matt Forbeck (Mutant Chronicles), Bob Greenberger (Hellboy), Keith R. A. DeCandido (Farscape), Stacia Deutsch (Dark Knight), Nathan Long (Warhammer), Tod Goldberg (Burn Notice). With moderators Lee Goldberg (Monk) and Max Allan Collins (GI JOE).

Tied-In

(Cross posted from Lee Goldberg's blog)

Today at the California Crime Writer's Conference several writers sheepishly asked me "so, how do you get into this tie-in business?" as if they were asking me how to get into writing porn movies. Now that the book biz is tightening up, and mid-list writers are being dropped all over the place, tie-ins are beginning to look good to some authors who never would have considered them before.

The same thing happened to me during the WGA writer's strike...writer who once gave me a hard time about doing the MONK & DIAGNOSIS MURDER books while I was also writing & producing TV shows would say to me that they were "interested maybe trying that tie-in thing, you know, just for fun." Not because they needed a job, of course, but "just for fun." Uh-huh.

For some reason, when times are hard for writers, tie-ins get a lot more respect. I don't know why...for that matter, I don't understand why writers regard them with disdain when times are good. But that's one of the reasons Max Allan Collins and I formed the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers a few years ago...to educated people about tie-ins and to gain more respect for the genre. Slowly but surely, the organization is making a difference.

Speaking of which, there's an Q&A interview with me over at Talking With Tim about the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers and tie-in writing. Here's a taste:

the reason more creators don’t try to keep their TV series alive in print after cancellation is because publishers simply aren’t interested, which is no surprise if you think about it. The incentive for publishers to do tie-ins is to capitalize on the huge audience that a hit show draws and the enormous publicity that surrounds it. It also offers a level of confidence in what ordinarily would be a gamble. The book is, in essence, a pre-sold concept with a built-in audience and supported by millions of dollars worth of FREE promotion. The TV show itself, as well as the advertising and promotion that the network does, becomes free publicity for the books. Success, wide recognition, a strong concept and major promotion are what makes a publisher interested in tie-ins.

But once a show is cancelled, the incentive to do tie-in books instantly evaporates...

Behind the Music of BURN NOTICE: THE END GAME

(Reposted from Tod Goldberg's blog)

It's hard for me to believe this, but my first tour of duty on Burn Notice is just about over -- pending, of course, a new contract -- as today is the official release date of my second Burn Notice novel, The End Game. I am about 30 days from being done with my third Burn Notice novel, called The Giveaway and that will then be 18 months, 3 books and 180,000 words. The publisher hasn't told me if there will be more, though I understand the first one has done well and the fans seem to like it and it was critically well received, which is always nice. Writing these books is certainly a different kind of experience for me -- I write them very, very quickly. More quickly than I'd like, really, but the turn-around time on them is such that I really only have about three months to write each one and have a normal life in-between. And by normal life, I of course mean a normal writing life, which in this case means that while I wrote those three books these last 18 months, I also completed a new short story collection -- Other Resort Cities -- which will be out in October and which I am exceptionally excited about as well, wrote dozens of book reviews and essays and articles and also have a day job directing an MFA program in creative writing. So it's been a challenge to write quickly and lucidly while keeping the voice of Michael Westen in my head all the while. 

So, The End Game. Here's a little Behind the Music on it:

I knew I wanted to do something somewhat sports related and so Wendy and I hatched the basic plot one evening over pizza. I had the plot of the novel written on scraps of receipts and such and when I presented it to Matt, he liked it but also suggested I talk to Rashad Raisani, a staff writer on the show, who had a similar idea that was just too expensive to shoot. That week I came into the BN production offices for a couple of days while they broke the episodes of the second season so that I could get the flavor for the changes the show was going to take, as well as get an idea where the show was going in season three, too, since obviously my books are written not at the precise same time that the show is written. (For instance, I've been getting the scripts for the 3rd season over the course of the last month or so, but by the time I turn in The Giveaway, I'll probably have only seen the first 9 episodes on paper.) Rashad kindly gave me the notes he'd written up about these very cool yacht races and I incorporated some of that research into the book, plus I picked his brain on a few ideas I had on the caper itself, since that had been one of the things he was still trying to work on when they ditched the idea. So it was very cool to have someone who basically was on the same wave-length with me before I actually started the writing.  I then spent three months writing the book...and then I wasn't happy and added a new chapter from Fiona's pov when the copyedits came in, which probably didn't thrill my publisher, but it felt like something was missing. I've been tinkering a lot with adding different povs into the books -- Sam's, Fiona's, and in this new book I'm writing, you get the client's pov for a chapter, too -- because that's the one thing I'm really able to do that you can't get on the show. Plus, it's fun for me as a writer. Writing in the same voice in back to back books, as I did essentially with The Fix and The End Game, which were written with very little break in between, can be boring, frankly, so in order to stay inspired and excited about a project, writers trick themselves on their down days, they add new POVs, they blow up a boat, they kick someone in the head, they bring in a new character, whatever. 

As in The Fix, there are a couple of inside jokes for folks in the know. A villain is named for two friends of mine, one of whom is a big time famous author. A mutual friend of mine and Matt Nix's shows up briefly, by full legal name at least, The husband of a well-known romance-author-friend of Wendy's appears as a former NSA agent. Two other friends end up as one very odd therapist (the same two friends also ended up in The Fix as an odd character named James Dimon...but now I've used all of their combined names, so they won't be in the next book...I guess I better make some more friends...) and several sentences begin "when you're spy" because, dammit, that's what the people want and I am a people pleaser. 

(Though, despite that, I'm not going out on the road to please the people for this book as it unfortunately is being released right when the new book is due. But fear not people, as I'll be touring the world in the fall for Other Resort Cities and will happily sign all the Burn Notice books you'd like. But if you really want a signed copy of The End Game, I suggest you contact the wonderful people at eitherMysterious Galaxy or the Mystery Bookstore, both of whom have a bunch of signed stock. )

Star Trek Screenwriters Pick Their Favorite Tie-Ins

The LA Times asked Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, screenwriters of the new STAR TREK movie, to pick their favorite TREK tie-in novels. Their choices were:

"Best Destiny" by Diane Carey (Pocket Books, 1993). "A beautiful imagining of Kirk's childhood and how it shaped him to love the stars." 
 
"Spock's World" by Diane Duane (Pocket Books, 1988). "If Mr. Spock is your favorite character, this is amust read. The relationship he forges with Dr. McCoy finally gets the nuanced treatment it deserves."
 
"Prime Directive" by Judith and Garfield Reeves Stevens (Pocket Books, 1990). "One of the best incarnations of the original bridge crew, with every character given equal consideration and full development, against the backdrop of a real-deal science fiction story." 
 
"Ex Machina" by Christopher L. Bennett (Pocket Books, 2004) "A great example of how a 'Trek' novel can fit within 'canon' while existing between the movies we love."

Tying-in at LA Times Festival of Books

IAMTW Members Tod Goldberg (BURN NOTICE), William Rabkin (PSYCH) and Lee Goldberg (MONK) signed their books at the Mystery Bookstore booth at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. BURN NOTICE creator Matt Nix (pictured below with Tod Goldberg) made a surprise visit and signed some books for delighted fans.  

The End Game Has Got Game

IAMTW Member Tod Goldberg's BURN NOTICE: THE END GAME got a rave from Rod Lott at Bookgasm, who says, in part:

It is fun, capturing the show’s joyous, jubilant essence, but not, sadly, shots of well-endowed women in bikinis. [...]The book is quick, snappy and forever mirthful — just like its source material. And until that starts back up in the summer, this is a fine substitute for a weekly fix.

Appreciating Garforth's Avengers

Novelist & TV writer Stephen Gallagher (perhaps best known here for creating THE ELEVENTH HOUR) stumbed on tie-in writer John Garforth's blog:

Garforth wrote four Avengers novels for Panther Books in 1967. Two years earlier Hodder and Stoughton had put outDeadline and Dead Duck, two rather classy tie-ins written by Peter Leslie but with Patrick Macnee credited as their author... which seemed as transparent and ludicrous to my eleven-year-old self as it does now.

Both had their virtues. Leslie's books read like a literary source from which the show might have been adapted; Garforth's Panthers were shorter, racier, and had a more contemporary feel to them. All were true tie-ins as opposed to novelisations; which is to say, they were original works based on the series' characters, and not pre-existing scripts adapted into prose form.

Check out Stephen's appreciation and, of course, Garforth's blog.

On An Award Tour With a Mic in my Hand

(reposted from Tod Goldberg's blog)

I keep forgetting to mention that I'm a finalist for (which means I'll lose) a Scribe Award for my first Burn Notice book, The Fix. The IAMTW gives these awards in recognition of excellence in writing tie-ins and such, which means, essentially, I am excellent. Or I am a finalist to be excellent. Typically, I lose these kinds of awards (there was the LA Times Book Prize, the SCBA Award, the 57,000 Pushcart Prize nominations that have garnered me 2 Special Mentions etc. etc. etc.), though I did win the Other Voices Short Story Collection Prize, which was awesome,  and I once won a free dinner at Quiznos at a raffle, so, yeah, close, but not excellent.

At any rate, the awards are given out in July at Comic-Con, which means I now have a reason to bust out my V uniform and full regalia, so that's cool, and I'd like to fucking win for once, okay? In case I don't, however, the good people at Las Vegas CityLife, where I'm a book critic,interviewed me on the topic on their blog today:

JK: Burn Notice is a great property, but what other TV shows, films and games are you itching to tackle?

TG: None. I wasn’t itching to tackle Burn Notice, but the show runner, Matt Nix,[and I] have known each other for a long time, I love the show and when it was offered to me it sounded like a ton of fun, which it has been. So I don’t see me writing any others, candidly, so don’t go running to the bookstore to read my take on, you know, My Two Dads: The Novel.

Scribe Award Nominees Announced

The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers is pleased to announce this year's nominees for the 2009 Scribe Awards, which honor excellence in licensed tie-in writing—novels based on TV shows, movies, and games. The nominees for this year's awards are:

Best General Fiction Original

BURN NOTICE: THE FIX by Tod Goldberg
CRIMINAL MINDS: FINISHING SCHOOL by Max Allan Collins
CSI: HEADHUNTER by Greg Cox

Best General Fiction Adapted

DEATH DEFYING ACTS by Greg Cox
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL by James Rollins
THE TUDORS: KING TAKES QUEEN by Elizabeth Massie
THE WACKNESS by Dale C. Phillips
X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE by Max Allan Collins

Best Speculative Fiction Original

GHOST WHISPERER: REVENGE by Doranna Durgin
RAVENLOFT: THE COVENANT, HEAVEN'S BONES by Samantha Henderson
STARGATE SG-1: HYDRA by Holly Scott & Jamie Duncan
STAR TREK: TEROK NOR, DAY OF THE VIPERS by James Swallow

Best Speculative Fiction Adapted

HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY by Bob Greenberger
THE MUTANT CHRONICLES by Matt Forbeck
STAR WARS - THE CLONE WARS: WILD SPACE by Karen Miller
UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS by Greg Cox

Best Young Adult Original

DR. WHO: THE EYELESS by Lance Parkin
PRIMEVAL: SHADOW OF THE JAGUAR by Steven Savile
DISNEY CLUB PENGUIN: STOWAWAY! ADVENTURES AT SEA by Tracey West

Best Young Adult Adapted

IRON MAN: THE JUNIOR NOVEL by Stephen D. Sullivan
THE DARK KNIGHT: THE JUNIOR NOVEL by Stacia Deutsch and Rhody Cohen
JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D by Tracey West

The highest honor the IAMTW can bestow is the Grandmaster Award, which recognizes a writer for his or her extensive and exceptional work in the tie-in field. This year's honoree is KEITH R.A. DeCANDIDO. He has written over thirty novels, most of them original tie-ins or novelizations. His work includes many Star Trek novels, as well as original books in the CSI: NY and Supernatural tie-in series, to name just a few.

The Third Annual Scribes will be awarded at a special ceremony at Comic-Con in San Diego July 23-29. (Specific date and time to be announced)

The IAMTW also awards two Special Gaming Scribes, honoring excellence in game-related tie-ins. Those awards are given at GenCon in Indianapolis August 13-16 2009 (http://www.gencon.com/2009/indy/default.aspx. Specific date and time of the ceremony to be announced) The nominees are:

Special Gaming Scribe - Best Original

EBERRON: THE INQUISITIVES, THE DARKWOOD MASK by Jeff LaSala
DRAGONLANCE: DEATH MARCH by Jean Rabe
EBERRON: THE DOOM OF KINGS by Don Bassingthwaite
WARHAMMER: ELFSLAYER by Nathan Long

Special Gaming Scribe - Best Adapted

THE WORLD OF WARCRAFT: BEYOND THE DARK PORTAL by Aaron Rosenberg & Christie Golden
THE MUTANT CHRONICLES by Matt Forbeck
METAL GEAR SOLID by Raymond Benson

For more information about the IAMTW (I AM a Tie-in Writer), please visit our site at www.iamtw.org

Congratulations to all the nominees and special thanks to all of our judges for their hard work.

(Pictured: Keith R.A. DeCandido)

Story of the Year

Unreality SF is a British web site dedicated to tie-in fiction of all sorts. In honor of their first anniversary, they held open voting to determine the "Story of the Year." After the nominating process, they listed the top ten vote-getters, and held another open vote to determine the winner. The nominees included novels and audio dramas, plus a short story, most in the realm of Star Trek and Doctor Who (the exception was a 4400 novel).

Yesterday, they announced the winner and full rankings:

1. Star Trek: Destiny: Gods of Night by David Mack
2. Doctor Who: The Eyeless by Lance Parkin
3. "Good Queen, Bad Queen, I Queen, You Queen" by Terri Osborne (in Doctor Who: Short Trips: The Quality of Leadership)
4. A Gutted World by Keith R.A. DeCandido (in Star Trek: Myriad Universes: Echoes and Refractions)
5. Star Trek: The Next Generation: Greater than the Sum by Christopher L. Bennett
6. The 4400: Wet Work by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore
7. Doctor Who: The Raincloud Man by Eddie Robson (audio)
8. Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles: The Prisoner's Dilemma by Simon Guerrier (audio)
9. Doctor Who: Brotherhood of the Daleks by Alan Barnes (audio)
10. Doctor Who: Almost Perfect by James Goss

podcast discussion of media tie-ins

I'm one of the hosts of a twice-monthly pop-culture podcast, The Chronic Rift. On alternate episodes, we have a Roundtable discussion, during which two of the hosts are joined by a professional and a fan in the field of whatever we're discussing. In the past, we've covered Doctor Who, Live-Action Role-Playing games, Mystery Science Theatre 3000, the evolution of horror, whether or not science fiction has been predictive of the future, and so on.

The newest episode has just gone live, and in it we discuss media tie-in fiction. Hosts John S. Drew and myself are joined by IAMTW member Jeff Mariotte and "Complete Starfleet Library" web-master Steve Roby to discuss the ins and outs of tie-in fiction.

You can subscribe to The Chronic Rift on iTunes, or download episodes directly from either the Rift web site or from podOmatic's Rift page.

On Other Blogs...

David Mack and Keith R.A. DeCandido get some love from the Euro Crime blog.

Words For Hire

The February-March 2009 issue of The Bulletin, the magazine of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, features a Q&A interview by IAMTW member William Dietz with Paula Block, Senior Director of Product Development at CBS Consumer Productions (aka Paramount, Viacom, etc.) and Lee Goldberg, IAMTW co-founder and author of the MONK novels.

Bloggers Praise IAMTW Members

Three IAMTW members got some lavish praise from bloggers today. Bill Crider rediscovered Scribe Award winner Christa Faust's novel HOODTOWN. He says, in part:

So you have murder, masked wrestlers, some spicy sex, a fast-paced narrative, and a well-constructed world that's a lot like our own but different. Or not. You can read whatever metaphorical meaning you want to into the prejudices against Hoodtown and its people. I'm not going there.

If you liked Money Shot and you're waiting eagerly for another Christa Faust novel, wait no longer. Get this one. I'll bet you won't be disappointed.

Mystery File gives the star treatment to Scribe Grandmaster Donald Bain and Jessica Fletcher. They say, in part:

The first Murder, She Wrote novel came out in 1985, and there’s at least one that’s scheduled for 2009, a span of years that’s even longer than when the TV program was on the air. It’s quite a track record [...](Jessica Fletcher)also tells the story in her own words, and what is quite remarkable is that Donald Bain as the author has her voice down cold.

And French journalist Thierry Attard raves about Lee Goldberg's latest MONK novel. He says, in part:

Mr. Monk is Miserable, his latest Monk tie-in novel, is a perfect sample of the art of this master storyteller. Should you be a fan of the Monk tv series or not, as the show itself regularly flirts with the self-conscious formulaic Tony Shalhoub one-man show. But the talent of Lee Goldberg is to build totally original novels with familiar figures. His reinventions of Adrian Monk's frustrations and anxieties are so wonderfully and joyfully crafted that many of his readers already wish an adaptation of his new Monk Book for the television series.

Thanks to all those bloggers!

You Are Number Six

MediaBistro is glad you can watch classic episodes of THE PRISONER for free online at the AMC website...but what they would really like to see is a reissue of the 1969 tie-in novel by Thomas M. Disch...and the never-produced tie-in 1976 comic by Jack Kirby.

PSYCH: This Time It's Not Personal

(Cross-posted from William Rabkin's blog)

Someone asked me on another forum what the hardest thing was about writing my first Psych novel, A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read. I figure I might as well answer here, too.

The really tough part of the first Psych book was coming up with a story. And that was strange for me, because I’ve done zillions of mystery stories over the years. I’ve got a graveyard of fictional corpses that fills entire city blocks. But Psych made me rethink everything I know about crafting a story.

Usually when I’m trying to come up with a new episode for a series, I start with the show’s central character. Almost every good detective hero I’ve written about is driven by some kind of obsession. Dr. Mark Sloan is compelled to solve murders because he sees crime the same way he sees illness and he’s sworn to the Hippocratic Oath. Monk desperately has to put the world back into order or he’ll go mad. Nero Wolfe needs to prove he’s smarter than everyone else around. So when I’m thinking about a new episode, I ask myself what kind of crime and what kind of criminal will compel my hero to act. What kind of plot can I use to explore the inner life of the detective.

But Shawn Spencer isn’t driven to solve crimes. He isn’t pursued by psychological demons. He does it because… it’s fun.

There’s just not a lot to explore there…

So I first went to the bag of tricks all TV writers reach into when we can’t figure out how to give our stories some emotional weight. Shawn’s dad is kidnapped. He discovers he’s got a long-lost brother who’s accused of murder. His buddy from ‘Nam is in trouble.

These are what we big-time TV writing professionals call “crap.”

Then I realized I needed to stop thinking about the way I go about developing stories and start figuring out what would work for Psych. One of the show’s great charms is that Shawn doesn’t have any great emotional need to solve these crimes. He’s not driven. He just kind of ambles through the stories.

That word was my breakthrough. Ambles. Because when I think of ambling, I think of Dave Thomas and Joe Flaherty ambling through their parody of Hope and Crosby’s Road pictures in an old SCTV sketch. And that led me to the real Hope and Crosby and the real Road pictures, and the way their characters would be inside the story and at the same time outside commenting on it.

That became my starting point for Shawn. Yes, he’d be investigating the crimes, but at the same time he’d be watching the investigation like a jaded viewer. It wouldn’t be enough for him to find the solution to the crime — he would need to find an entertaining solution. He would build theories based not on logic or evidence, but on maximum narrative pleasure. And he’d be right.

Once I had that, everything else fell into place.

Well, maybe not everything, but that’s another post…

On Writing Dr. Who

Death Ray Magazine has a lengthy interview with IAMTW member Lance Parkin about his Dr. Who tie-ins:

The creative process with The Eyeless was an odd mix this time. I’ve written a fair few Doctor Who books, and that’s not really the challenge any more. The challenge this time is that the tenth Doctor books have this immense audience. You can buy them in Asda, and they’ll be 3-for-2, front of house, at the major bookstores. With my previous books, I knew my name had a little capital – I could get away with stuff because I’d written Just War or The Infinity Doctors or whatever, so I was given the benefit of the doubt. This time, most of the people who read my book have no idea who I am, a lot will barely notice the author’s name. You’re not allowed old monsters or the sort of continuity in-jokes I love that half the audience won’t get, now.
With The Eyeless, I’ve got quite a straightforward story – 15 years ago, a giant alien fortress arrived on an alien planet, killed everyone there. The Doctor arrives, determined to deactivate the Fortress, a sort of Guns of Navarone-type mission. The Doctor’s all on his own. It’s the sort of plot that would work on telly… But then, it’s a novel, so it ends up being quite introspective. There’s stuff beneath the surface. I’m hoping it works on two levels: action-adventure stuff, and plenty of it, but also if you’re looking, you’ll find plenty of stuff you’ve not been told directly.