Behind-the-scenes book talk with a bestselling author and his unicorn. Join 6000+ readers of my 150 books as I share stories behind the stories, unbox the creative process, and lead a disobedient "artisan author" movement to treat readers like rockstars and make the book world suck less.
Desolate, liminal, unanchored, and unreal
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Writing has always helped me to clarify my own thinking. Even back in school, I used to write essays with that in mind: Rather than writing what I believed about a topic, I wrote in order to discover how I believed. Last week, I talked about vital it is for me to set the mood for a book before I begin writing it. I knew that was true last week ... but writing it down for you rammed the concept home. And so this week, when I began writing a brand-new book, I put higher priority on mood-setting than usual. I chose a music playlist, found some mood-matching imagery to look at while I write, and wrote down a few words that felt like the right tone for the new project. Those words were: Desolate, liminal, unanchored, and unreal. Yeah ... this is going to be an interesting book. But as interesting as it is, the book in question is brand-spankin'-new and won't be out for months. On the other hand, the book that got me talking about the importance of mood -- Winter Break -- is coming out in under two weeks: on the day after Christmas ... or "Boxing Day" if you're cool enough to know that phrase. I should probably tell you what Winter Break is about, right? All I've done so far is to give you its mood -- which should tell you a thing or two about just how important MOOD is in the first place. Here's Winter Break's frozen-to-the-bone teaser:
In deep enough snow, nobody can hear you scream. After a semester of college, Miranda is free of her parents: mom’s obnoxious helicoptering and dad’s sometimes-violent alcohol problem. They've got a solution for the separation, though: This winter break, they've rented an isolated cottage for the family to reconnect. For Miranda, it's the opposite of a vacation. The timing is terrible. her boyfriend has been ghosting her, and her best friend thinks he's cheating. A coming blizzard means that once she arrives, she can't leave. Some creep's been texting her disturbing photos she doesn’t understand. And worst of all, her folks are acting strange. They're hiding something, and Miranda has no idea what it is. What Miranda discovers at the cabin will leave her gasping for breath, giving "surviving winter break" a whole new meaning. This book is full of twists and turns. It uses a "right up to the cliff" approach to storytelling, which means that just after a huge WTF is revealed, I back off and show you a new side to the same story from another character's perspective instead of answering your burning questions. (In fact, I anticipate many people being pissed off at me as they read Winter Break because the mystery persists right up until the end. Until the final act, you're going too be dying to know the answers.) Winter Break is available for preorder right now at its lowest price. It won't get cheaper than it is right now, and the price will go up shortly after launch. So, you know ... if you want to get it, you should get it now. ** Grab your copy of Winter Break here so that you'll have something chilling and desolate to read on YOUR OWN Winter Break. **Trust me: It's perfect for reading next to a fire, glad you're not trapped in bloodshed and madness like Miranda and her unhinged parents. Happy reading! P.S: A few people asked if this book would be available in paperback and/or sold direct from my JohnnyBTruantBooks.com website. The answers are yes and yes, but not until the actual launch date on December 26th ... and yes, I'll tell you when they're available. I'll also be able to offer print and direct-from-store preorders in the future, but I couldn't get it together in time for this release. |
Literary As F**k
Behind-the-scenes book talk with a bestselling author and his unicorn. Join 6000+ readers of my 150 books as I share stories behind the stories, unbox the creative process, and lead a disobedient "artisan author" movement to treat readers like rockstars and make the book world suck less.
I got an email from a reader named Dana the other day, asking a question about whether I “see” my stories in my head as I write them. I wasn’t sure at first. It took some thinking. Because yes, I sort of see them … but not in the same way I saw this in my living room at the time: Rico thinks he's a lot smaller than he actually is. I told Dana that it’s actually both ways for me. Which was intriguing, because I’d never thought about it before — and because it doesn’t make much sense that I...
I’m doing something completely new for me in about a month … and this comes after doing about a billion OTHER new-for-me things over the past year and a half. You’d think there wouldn’t be any new things left, but it turns out they just keep coming. My current new thing is: I’m attending a Comic Con to sell my books. It’s both exciting and intimidating. I sell live all the time, but this will be my first convention … and cons have different rules — and require different setup equipment — than...
A friend and avid reader (Hi, Rachel!) asked me a curious question the other day ... one I'm not asked very often. It was: Do you [meaning me: Johnny] read other books? Or does it burn you out after writing your own books all day long? It's a fair question ... and a loaded one for me, because one of my favorite for-authors books is Stephen King's On Writing, and in that book King says that writers absolutely must read. He's pretty clear about how he feels. In his mind, people who don't read...