HAPPY NEW YEAR!
WELCOME TO THE YEAR OF THE TIGER!
Strap in tight because we’re in for a wild ride!
At least, I am. I have big plans for this year. Many projects I hope to produce.
In this edition, I thought I’d rundown these various upcoming projects. Then, in 2023 (if I’m still around), we can come back and review it all. I’m sure it’ll be fun. For somebody.
GunEngine Zero
Obviously, this is the big one and pretty much everything else hinges on the success of this project.
I’ll be hyping this project via whatever outlets I can in the next few months before launching the Kickstarter in March/April. There’s a lot riding on this so I’ll be crossing all my fingers and toes and...
THE FIRST 4 PAGES
If there are any aspiring writers out there (or avid readers), you’ve probably heard about how critical it is for a story to have a strong beginning to hook readers. Agents, producers and publishers even might only read the first page of a submission and throw it in the trash if they don’t think it’s compelling.
So I thought an interesting experiment would be to make videos where I read the first 4 pages of published novels and let viewers weigh in on whether they would continue reading or not.
Not only would it be a good way to start a discussion on the merits (or lack thereof) of the books but it can also be a good way to expose people to books they might not have otherwise considered.
I’ve already uploaded several videos to my Youtube channel and separated them into their own playlist, which you can check out HERE.
These videos will also be available on Rumble HERE.
The plan right now is to upload 5 videos every two weeks but I might alter that if it turns out to be too much or too little. As I said, the main purpose is to spark a healthy conversation about each book and if I put out too many videos at one time, they might crowd each other. So, I’ll reevaluate things once it gets going.
Here’s a list of the first set of videos that should be available now:
The Gunslinger: The Dark Tower 1 by Stephen King
Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston
LA Dead by Stuart Woods
A Dog’s Purpose by W Bruce Cameron
The Late Show by Michael Connelly
CONVENTION BLOG/VLOG
When I first thought about getting back on the creative writing horse, my goal was to one day sell my books at conventions. You know, meeting people in person and having face to face conversations. That’s crazy talk!
In 2022, I hope to finally make this a reality. At least, give it a shot and see how it goes. The problem with doing conventions is that I have some unique concerns. The first of which is my kids. Since my wife works on the weekends, I will have to bring my kids with me.
Also, I’ll be limited to conventions within a day’s drive of my home since I can’t fly. Which also means I need to acquire a vehicle that has enough space to carry myself, my kids and all the stuff I would need to bring to conventions. Right now, I only have 2 small cars so I’ll need to get rid of one of them and get a truck or van.
So I think this is going to be a unique and interesting journey that I’ll be chronicling here and in a video series. Stay tuned here to find out if and when I get that rolling.
SICK FIGURES
As I mentioned in the previous newsletter, I want to do a comic strip called “Sick Figures” that focuses on current sociopolitical issues. But this might only happen if every other project fails, thus giving me the free time to devote to it. So consider this one a big “maybe.”
Horror Anthology
When I produced Book of Legend, there were two already-completed short stories that I did not include because they had horror/gore elements that didn’t fit with the all-ages demographic that book was geared towards. So I decided to shelve them at the time for inclusion in a future anthology that has a general horror theme and is targeted at mature readers.
There will probably be 5 shorts in the first issue of this new anthology. Some of them will be self-contained and some will be serialized because I have enough stories to make several issues of this anthology.
Joaquin Guerra is currently working on one of the stories which will be 14 pages long. Here’s a tease.
Now, you might be thinking to yourself that this doesn’t look like the kind of character you would typically see in a horror story. And you’d be right. He won’t be in the story. But, he will be. Sort of. Confused? Then stick around for future newsletters where you can see how it all plays out.
And here’s another one. Just finished up the character design with Fernando Cordeiro so I figured I’d share it, too. This lady will be appearing in a serialized story that will probably span 3 issues.
six:eight Chapter Two
In conjunction with the horror anthology, I would like to also get the first issue of six:eight Chapter Two done. I’ve already written the first two issues and it will most likely be a 4-issue series. (I also have chapters three and four pretty much mapped out.) But this also depends greatly on finding an artist that can emulate the art style that has been established for the series and that itself won’t be an easy task.
My plan right now would be to have this and the horror anthology ready to ship out by Halloween or have the Kickstarter run around that time.
Neotheric
Neotheric was always meant to be an on-going series and I have the script ready for issue 5 as well as a detailed outline going up to issue 12. But, once again, this all hinges on building support. I’m not even sure yet how I would fit this into my 2022 schedule. Maybe I could do GEZ #1 in the spring, Neotheric #5 in summer and six:eight Chapter Two #1 in fall. Then, in 2023, rotate back to GEZ #2, Neotheric #6, six:eight #2 and repeat that cycle. Hopefully more people will start backing these projects so they can actually happen.
Superhero miniseries
I’ve always wanted to dip my toe into the world of traditional superheroes but I could never come up with a concept that I felt was compelling enough to exist alongside Superman, Captain America, Spider-Man and Batman.
Until now.
It’s actually the combination of an old feature film script I had written with Chow Yun Fat in mind, a short story about a superhero trying to make ends meet and a few new elements that popped into my head recently. This might sound a little disjointed but I think the end product that I’ve come up with will be a unique superhero story. But it’s not going to be a “deconstruction” of the superhero that’s so ubiquitous these days. It’s not that at all. It will be a celebration of the classic superhero myth that both kids and adults can enjoy.
But this will be another project that most likely depends on the success of GEZ. If that book fails, then I’ll probably give up the comic book stuff once and for all and pivot to prose novels.
So, if you’re into real-life drama, keep reading this newsletter!
~Michael T Gonzalez