Since the (in)famous “Sheriff” Cranmer let the cat out of the bag over on Meridian Bridge, I can at last reveal something about the secret project I referred to a few times this summer. David came up with an idea for a time travel romp featuring the hard-boiled Simon Rip in a desperate race through the ages to confront the end of time as we know it. David recruited a few writers to put more flesh on Rip’s bones and the results will begin to appear as a serial on Beat To a Pulp in September.
Chris F. Holm wrote the first installment and I picked up the baton for part 2. Matt Mayo has taken over for part 3. I had a tremendous amount of fun working on this project. It’s the first time I’ve ever taken part in a serial/shared world type adventure like that and it was a great learning experience. Challenging, but fun.
I’ve read Chris’s opening but will be reading Matt’s conclusion along with the rest of you when it hits BTAP. I’m looking forward to seeing the whole thing together.
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I know I've mentioned these before, but I didn't have the cover for one of them. In a follow up to my last post, these are two recent anthologies that have stories in by me.
Here are a couple of books on writing that I read years ago but don't own copies of. I'll be looking for these soon.
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Sounds cool. :)
ReplyDeleteChallenging idea!
ReplyDeleteSounds fun and exciting.
ReplyDeleteSounds good, I was guessing it would be a serial of sorts.
ReplyDeleteOught to be "rip"-roaring!!!
ReplyDeleteWriting in tandem with other writers would definitely be challenging.
ReplyDeletevery ambitious!
ReplyDeleteWrittenwyrd, I think it's gonna definitely be.
ReplyDeleteAlex, it was. But I like trying new kinds of tasks.
Sidney, I hope everyone will like it.
David J. West, hum, good guess.
Richard Prosch. Lol.
Bernardl, I was worried about that but the first installment was definitely top notch so then I had to try to keep up that level.
Deka, David is an ambitious guy in that way.
That does sound like a neat project.
ReplyDeleteAre my deductive powers failing? Did you mention before it was a serial and life made me forget?
ReplyDeleteIf so my bad.
Ambitious! You are a dynamo, Charles.
ReplyDeleteWarm Aloha from Waikiki :)
Comfort Spiral
Charles, you added so much to this project, that I can't thank you enough.
ReplyDeleteThat's so cool Charles! I look forward to giving that a read!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait!
ReplyDeleteYes, looking forward to it. Very well done to you guys for pulling it off!
ReplyDeleteRegards, David.
Wow! That sounds like a lot of fun, to read and write.
ReplyDeleteCongrats.
That does sound like fun all the way around. Just read a time-travel and really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeletegood fun!
ReplyDeletewe did a similar thing on another board i belonged to: one person would start a tale, comprised of a paragraph, or even just an opening line; the next would add to it and keep the story going, or take it in a completely different direction, adding characters and situations as they went along... hilarious!
Sounds like great fun. We used to do this with our kids. Pass the story.
ReplyDeletesage, I always enjoyed reading that kind of stuff.
ReplyDeleteDavid J. West, no, I think your powers are hearty and hale. I don’t think there was any mention of the serial aspect. Or of the time travel thing.
Cloudia, I feel at times more like a generator running low on fuel.
David Cranmer, thanks. I appreciate that. It was my pleasure.
BStearns, I agree, cool!
Steve Malley, not too long now.
David Barber, the proof will be in the reading but it looks to be fun.
Ty Johnston, I had to read the first installment several times because I kept getting caught up in the story rather than paying attention to what I needed to know to do the second part.
Alyssa Goodnight, there are some good ones, although some that don’t quite work either it seems. It’s not easy to pull off.
laughingwolf, I did that with a few friends before too, and I’ve got some buds who we used to go drink beer, eat sushi, and create rengas, which is like a serial poem.
pattinase (abbott), yeah, that’s a fun game to play.
Awesome. Sounds like a fantastic project, though a bit challenging.
ReplyDeleteYou are a prolific publisher of your writing Charles. I left you a Norman Mailer letter at Ivans
ReplyDeleteSerial fiction isn't easy to do, but I imagine with different writers carrying the torch it keeps the story fresh.
ReplyDeleteHarry Markov, I was lucky to get invited in.
ReplyDeleteMark, eh? I'll have to look and see.
JR, it probably does that. I think that's one of the strengths. The potential weakness is that the story line will show discontinuity.
...'Fraid I'm out of my medium, but every time I do a straight story about impending apocalypse, it always bombs. Last publisher, some years ago, said my "The Hat People"-- historical aliens come to destroy Toronto-- "had no commercial value."
ReplyDeleteSeems Peter Martin Associates had bad judgment at the time on commercial value. Last I heard, they went broke.
Anyway, perhaps I should have been in Science Fiction, where apocalypses seem to abound.
But break a leg on this project, guys!...I would have called it PPulp to a Beat", as pulp used to really sell--but what do I know? I was once fired as a title writer. :)
Charles, I know what you mean about "reading along with the rest of you"; it's disconcerting and kind of thrilling to set something in motion and watch it spin way outside your control. I am dying to see where Rip's tale goes...
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like wonderful fun- exquisite corpses on a grand scale.
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of Time Travel- just watched Primer, an independent sci fi film made for $7000. Still confused, but it is in essence a variation on Chaucer's Pardoner's Tale. I would be curious to know what you think of it.
Wow! Secret Project sounds fun!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds awesome and so cool! I'm sure you will have a blast with it!
ReplyDeleteSounds like fun. Hope you're first week of school was fun too!
ReplyDeleteivan, I've got a book you should read. "get thee to a punnery."
ReplyDeleteChris, your piece started the fun to rolling. I look for it to be a "whopper' of a tale.
ArtSparker, I haven't seen it. I'll definitely have to try and catch it, though.
Natasha Fondren, well now, you've got a secret pseudy so you already know about that a little!
Ello, the proof is in the reading.
Jess, this week was all meetings and registration. Classes start MOnday, which will be more fun.
Charles, I can't stop.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you ever saw the ancient play, Oedipus Rex, but that Jocasta of his was a real swinging chick.
Ok. It goes onto my reading list.
ReplyDeleteSound great, Charles! I’m definitely going to read it.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck in your new endeavor! It's for sure you don't have an aversion to being busy.
ReplyDeleteivan, it's an addiction, man.
ReplyDeleteX. Dell, mine too, since I only read part of it.
Vesper, I'll keep everyone posted on when it'll appear.
jennifer, most of the time, no.