THE BLACK SKY - Book Character Trailer #1

Five months from today - The Black Sky arrives.

Here's a sneak preview - the first of three character trailers.

Trailer two drops April 28th and trailer three on May 28th.

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THE BLACK SKY Book Trailer Is Live

The trailer for The Black Sky is officially live. Make sure to watch to the end ;)

Update: 8/10/18

Quick Update: While the book is out making the query rounds, I've started the very long process out loosely outlining the sequels that have been in my head for the last year. I'm not going to lie, like the book itself is influenced by my childhood movie viewing as much as my reading, the thought of sequels immediately landed me on a trilogy inspired by the ebb and flow of the original Star Wars trilogy. What does that mean exactly? It doesn't mean there will be space battles or mystic powers that get magically retconned in prequels. But, there is definitely a much darker chapter to follow (interpret that as you will).

Music: Brian Eno

During the writing of The Black Sky, I posted about music I was listening to at the time that provided inspiration. I didn't get to all of the music, as my playlist became massive - almost 2,000 songs by the end. However, one I failed to mention that really deserves a post is Brian Eno.

I didn't start listening to Eno with the writing of the book. I actually started months before, as I was searching for morning music while I worked at my regular job. I found music with lyrics early in the morning to be jarring and distracting, and searched out instrumental ambient music to put on while I was groggily sifting through emails in my inbox or working on Excel and Word docs. I had heard about his ambient series, specifically Music for Airports, and decided to put that on one morning. I believe that became my morning routine for several months after. If you checked my Spotify profile and what I was actively listening to, you'd think I was stuck in a loop. In retrospect, that was appropriate.

Once I started on a regular daily writing schedule with The Black Sky, I explored the entire Eno discography, including his collaborations with Cluster, Harold Budd, Moebius and Daniel Lanois. All of the music became essential in the creative process, as I have found that silence is a killer for me when writing. I need some sort of "other" going on in my brain, and Eno's music did and does that. It's subtle and unobtrusive, activating my subconscious in a way I cannot explain. Music for Airports, Neroli, The Drop and other Eno albums work in all situations for my writing purposes, whereas other artists and albums I might use as inspiration for specific scenes (i.e. more uptempo or dramatic music for an action sequence).

The Black Sky Gets The Wonder Plan Treatment

Recently made the acquaintance of fellow Buckeye, author/illustrator/speaker Jason Tharp at a local school event. Afterward we had coffees and talked publishing, and Jason was super nice to put together this in about five minutes - does this look like the cover a novel or what?

It's That Time - Query Letters

Like so many unpublished writers, once the book is written, and rewritten, and edited and revised, and molded into something your friends say is worth reading, I have now entered into the dread time known as "sending out query letters."

Fact is, I've been down this road before. I spent ten years in an independent rock and roll band. We sent our demos, then complete recordings, to record labels and got nowhere. We got a sniff or two, a call, someone from a regional indie came out to see us, but nobody bit. In the late '00s, I wrote screenplays. Most were bad, some were okay, maybe one or two where good. Still, I sent them out, even entered them into contests, but generally got rejections.

My first book, Power Ballad, was sent to a few folks, but I knew it was niche, and the feedback I received confirmed that. I didn't bother with my second book, Small Stories, because that's not why I wrote it. It was a personal thing, getting it published didn't matter.

But The Black Sky is different, so I'm taking a different approach. I'm being methodical, I'm being thoughtful, and I'm focusing. Sending out 100 queries to every name I can find is not the goal. The goal is locating folks who I can find common ground with in my story, and who have a track record with this sort of material. Maybe it will lead to the same dead ends, but I won't know until I start hitting send.

Update 8/30/17

The first batch of reader feedback has come in, and I’m excited for the progress, but I’m still looking for more readers, so here’s the deal:

I can’t afford to pay anyone at this point, so if you’re willing to take a chance on this project, I would love to get your feedback on the book. I can offer you a personalized copy of the book when it comes out, as well as a thank you in the book itself. If near-future sci-fi dystopian action adventure is your thing, send me an email at timminneci at gmail.com, or hit me up on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, and I’ll get you copy to read.

Update 8/10/17

So, after quite a bit of revision, cleaning up, fixing, mending, etc., I gave it to some folks with reading interests I felt would align with the genre and style of the book. I’ve started getting feedback, and it’s just what I hoped for – incisive, attentive and most importantly, confirms I’m on the right path with the overall story and world created. More to come.

Update 5/1/17

Revision, revisions, revisions. In the not-so-fun part, fixing grammar issues, ironing out bits and pieces here and there, but the overall story is solid. For those interested, here is the Spotify playlist I created for when I was writing that collects the various bands, musicians and albums mentions, plus hundreds more. No joke, currently this playlist is almost 2,000 songs and over 170 hours.

 

Music: Cliff Martinez

I first discovered the work of Cliff Martinez when I saw Drive in a theater in 2011. The music paired perfectly with the film, and I instantly sought out the soundtrack. As much as I enjoyed the tracks by Kavinsky, College & Electric Youth and The Chromatics, the score by Martinez was the real draw for me.

That same year, the film Contagion was released, featuring music again by Martinez, this time for frequent collaborator Steven Soderbergh. The next year The Company You Keep and later another Soderbergh collaboration, The Knick, all featured excellent scores that have been added to my writing playlist.

Update 4/5/17

Quick update: The Black Sky is now complete. Thanks to everyone who read along and kept me pushing through.

Update 3/26/17

Sunday Funday! Two new chapters (#20 & #21) written for The Black Sky and two new songs on Soundcloud. Read, listen, feedback, thanks.

Update 3/13/17

New chapter (#19) and song are posted! Getting closer and closer to the end.

With all of Decker's mapping going on this chapter, I had to actually break out a map of Manhattan quite a bit. Well, I to be fair Google Maps has played an important role quite often, but this one in particular I was bouncing between tabs on the my computer.

Update 3/4/17

Getting close to the end! Another new chapter (#18) is ready for your eyes with corresponding music for your ears.

Music: Tron Legacy Soundtrack by Daft Punk

Again, I meant to post these more often, but writing has been all consuming lately. Although Tron Legacy wasn't quite what I hoped based on my childhood love of the original Tron, I still enjoyed the movie. However, I really liked the soundtrack by Daft Punk.

It takes total sense that recent sci-fi and action films have called upon artists like Daft Punk, The Chemical Brothers, M83 and others. Pulsing synths and drum loops are perfect for these types of films, and as mentioned in a previous post, are a callback in many ways to the soundtracks of John Carpenter in the 70s and 80s.

Update 2/23/17

New Chapter! New Music! #17 is in the books (literally, that's the chapter #). As always, thanks for reading and feedback!

Update 2/10/17

What are you up to this weekend? How about sitting down with a (partially finished) book and some new music? Check out the newest chapter (#16) and a corresponding music track to set the mood. Feedback appreciated!

Update 1/31/17

Chapter 15 along with a new music track are now up for your eyes and your ears. Thanks for the feedback, keep it coming!

In case you are wondering, here's what a Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion looks like. Got to learn about various fuels used to power them for this section.

Music: Lost Themes I & II by John Carpenter

Been so locked into writing recently I haven't had time to post about some of the music I've been listening to along the journey. Well, now is probably as good a time as any to given a nod to the man who is not only a musical inspiration, but who has also provided film inspiration - John Carpenter.

In scouring Spotify for instrumental music, I've landed on a number of soundtracks to Carpenter movies (Assault on Precinct 13, The Thing, Escape From New York, They Live being favorites), but only recently discovered his Lost Theme albums (I & II) released in 2015 and 2016. They sound as describes, lost tracks that would fit in perfectly with his 70s and 80s film output: driving bass lines, arpeggiated synths and hypnotic rhythms.

In revisiting my movie upbringing in the 80s, few writers or directors aside from Steven Spielberg and John Hughes find repeated films among my favorites they way that John Carpenter does. He released eight films during the decade, and five of them (The Thing, Escape From New York, Christine, Big Trouble In Little China and They Live) are among my favorite movies of the decade, up their with Aliens, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future and others (someday I'll get around to making a list of favorite 80s movies, thought that seems daunting).

Update 1/19/17

Chapter 14 is live along with a new track - ch-ch-check it out.

The staging of the action sequence in Angela's apartment is based on this floorplan.