Storm Grant: Five Things I Learned Writing Lost Boys 2.0

Trapped outside the world, unlikely hero Thaddeus Wright must partner with sexy Secret Agent Peter Pan to save a new generation of Lost Boys.

Thaddeus Wright would love to forget his childhood. A bi-racial bastard orphaned at four, he was the very definition of sin, according to the strict and disapproving grandparents who raised him. Twenty years later, Thad works with at-risk youth as both coach and counselor. Even after his grandparents’ spare-the-rod, spoil-the-child parenting, Thad just wants to help people. But when three young boys he coaches go missing, he’s the prime suspect.

Especially when he goes missing himself!

That’s when paranormal policing agency Borderless Observers Org. (BOO) sends in recent recruit Peter Batique on his first solo mission. Peter had another name once, but he’s all grown up now and looking to prove himself an adult and a capable agent. However, after a hundred years as an unruly boy in Neverland, growing up holds some pretty unique challenges for Peter.

Despite their differences, Thad and Peter must learn to work together to rescue a whole new generation of Lost Boys and take down the black market shadow dealer responsible.

USA Today gave it 5 stars, calling it “a mash-up of a detective novel, horror story and modern-day romance.”

JOSS WHEDON KNOWS!

You like Firefly? Buffy? The Avengers? I do. A. Lot. Why, you ask? (Yes, you did.) Because of the fun/fright balance. Oh, sure, the characters, the dialogue, the setting, the plotty goodness… They’re fine, too. But it’s the dark-to-light ratio—the humor vs. horror—that sucks me right in. And a lot of other people too, if box office numbers are any indication. It’s funny when Captain Tight Pants boots a guy into Serenity’s engine. Isn’t it? Isn’t it?

DRAMEDY IS A THING…

It’s a sliding scale—light and fun on one end, heart-wrenching, gut-ripping darkness on the other. With the dramedy sliding scale, the light-to-dark ratio changes. Dean Winchester gets sucked into Hell—deadly serious stuff. But he quips as he goes. Guffaw! Lightly dark or darkly light. Guardians of the Galaxy is a comedy in which thousands of people die. Constantine is dark, dark, dark… until it’s not. Lost Boys 2.0 is a tragic story that’ll make you laugh and cheer. Or it’s a funny story that’ll make you sleep with the lights on.

…AND SO IS FUN-TASY!

Whether it’s shelved in horror or romance or sci-fi, if it’s funny and it’s fantasy, it’s fun-tasy. Look, the Queen gave Sir Terry Pratchett a knighthood for being funny. Who’s going to argue with Liz? I hear she’s a huge Discworld fan.

CROSSING GENRES IS GREAT!

Let’s screw with reader expectations. With mashed-up genre books there’s something for everyone. Well, maybe not for the guy who’s allergic to vowels. I love a book that has plots within plots, unexpected twists and turns. Why take anything out of your writerly toolbox? My fave thing about Chuck’s Blue Blazes was the romantic sub-plot. “Bwa-huh?” you say? Go back and read it again.

THE SAME ONLY DIFFERENT

Writing two heroes offers different challenges, different perspectives and an entirely different dynamic. Who rescues who? (Or is that whom?) Twice the heroes, twice the testosterone, a heck of a lot more conflict.

And yet still the same writerly challenges: the characters, the dialogue, the setting, the plotty goodness…

And when all else fails, blow something up.

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She’s two people, actually. Aren’t you? Storm Grant pens long and short tales. Her work spans genders and genres, offering good guys and bad puns. Her alter ego, Gina X. Grant, writes funny urban fantasy.

Storm Grant: Website | Twitter | Facebook

Lost Boys 2.0: Amazon | B&N | iTunes