Perception is a first person narrative horror adventure that puts players in the shoes of a blind woman who must use her extraordinary hearing and razor-sharp wits to solve mysteries and escape a deadly presence, all without sight. Crafted by a team of veteran PC and console developers (BioShock, BioShock Infinite, Dead Space), Perception offers a bold and fresh take on first person narrative games.

After months of research seeking the house from her nightmares, Cassie discovers an abandoned mansion in Gloucester MA, the Estate at Echo Bluff. Once there, Cassie finds that Echo Bluff is worse than she dreamed. A ghastly Presence has tormented its inhabitants over generations, and it now hunts Cassie. She must solve the estate’s mysteries or become one of its victims.

The Kickstarter can be found right here.

WRITING A GAME IS DIFFERENT THAN WRITING A BOOK

I’ve been writing for years, and I’ve been gaming since I was a kid, so of course I can write a game, no problem.

When I sat down with my husband, video game design veteran Bill Gardner, and began to craft the story of Perception, the ideas flowed easily – the plot, the characters, the backstory of the estate at Echo Bluff. We knew the core gameplay loop, we knew the major beats of the story we wanted to tell, so all I had to do was write it and our team would help make it come to life.

Now just put the pen to paper and…

— Wait.

I can’t describe the protagonist’s memories or history. I won’t be able to go into details about how the house smells or the sounds of the creaky floors. I could only write dialogue, actions, and a bit of description of what her surroundings were.

I felt naked. How was I supposed to show what she was feeling? I couldn’t have my protagonist walk around spouting her inner monologue for the whole game. I felt that what I was writing was vague and skimpy. It dawned on me that a script is not a novel.

So then I started to think about some of the storytelling from my favorite games, such as the Mass Effect and Persona series. They didn’t all rely on what was being said, there was the world. I had to shift my thinking, and once I did, it was freeing. The best video game stories make use of the universe in which it exists. Take games that utilize mise-en-scene, for example, like Bioshock, Fall Out and Half-Life 2. I could tell a story of what had happened to the people at Echo Bluff just by utilizing the space around me. A fallen vase here, a pool of blood there and a well-placed diary entry and suddenly you have meaning. Using the environment instead of the inner-workings of your character’s mind is not only a viable means of storytelling, but a really compelling one.

DON’T LET ONE FEATURE DEFINE YOUR CHARACTER

Our game stars a blind protagonist. Cassie’s got a bold way of navigating the world, too. She uses echolocation, much like bats do to get around. There are a number of blind people who do this, such as Daniel Kish, whose TED talk our team found particularly inspiring. So yes, our heroine has a major feature that is heavily significant in her character development.

But that’s not all of who Cassie is, and it does not define her. I, as the writer, had to think of who this brave and headstrong girl was. A woman who would drop everything, fly across the country to visit the house that had been haunting her dreams, and then navigate it without sight? Bill and I really had to dig and search to discover what would make someone do that. In doing so, I’ve created my favorite heroine to date. Cassie is bullheaded but vulnerable, outgoing but distrustful. She’s as real and as flawed as any of my other characters in my books, and she happens to be blind. I wanted to make a character that was not defined by her disability, but certainly affected by it, the way anyone would be.

GOOD HORROR IS LIKE AN ONION

Games, movies or books that rely on only one type of “scare” to affect the audience usually come off as pretty flat. To truly get under the player’s skin, I learned that the horror in this game has to be nuanced, but more importantly, layered. I tried to approach the fear in the game as having many tiers, ranging from feeling startled, to experiencing dread, all the way to true, bone-chilling terror.

I started with the setting. The house itself is a character on its own, and I had to think about how to make the place frightening. Our team drew inspiration from The Shining and how the fear of isolation and madness can affect a person. I also really liked the unsettling feeling that reading House of Leaves gave me—this house changes. Throw out what you think you know, and start again. Plus, having lived in New England among historic homes my whole life, I understand the power that a house with a serious history can have. It was important to our team that Echo Bluff itself had a rich and tortured history.

I also felt there should be underlying personal issues that complimented the themes. Cassie had to battle her own inner demons that paralleled what was going on around her. I tried to weave the torturous stories of the house’s other inhabitants in a way that made Cassie sympathetic to them, but also made everything more frightening to her. These stories may have supernatural elements, but each level has a truly human and relatable fear about life.

Lastly, I had to go for a bit of the old school horror. Enter the Presence. We wanted a shadowy enigma, something unsettling that would stay with you long after you’ve played the game. For the Kickstarter campaign, we have actually kept our images of to a minimum. We wanted the Presence to be our version of Bigfoot—often spotted, rarely seen clearly. We want our elusive baddie to tease you just enough. But, in creating the character for the full-length game, the team had to dig deeper. I think something innately frightening is the power of myth and creatures that endure stories throughout centuries. Urban legends about the Presence in the game have been around for hundreds of years, dating back to sailors’ reports of the foul and unnatural events they witnessed on the shores of Echo Bluff. This little spin, for me, was a nod to a little bit of the Lovecraftian motif of evil that endures. But I had to think further about what it would do, and also say. Without giving away the plot, I wanted the Presence’s dialogue to be schizophrenic and manic. I wanted more than just Cassie to be afraid of this thing, I wanted you to be afraid of it.

Then, of course, there was some more overt horror, such as startling, ghastly images, gut-wrenching tragedies, and the like. Mainly, what I learned was that the best horror has a number of nuances that add up to a total cumulative experience.

GAMES REQUIRE MORE COLLABORATION

When you’re writing a novel, it’s yours. Sure, you may have great critique partners and a stellar agent like I’m lucky enough to have in Jessica Sinsheimer, but at the end of the day it’s your baby. You own it, regardless of how much input you’ve listened to or how many eyes have edited it.

Writing a videogame is quite different. Writing a videogame with your spouse is more so. I was intimidated, at first, working with my husband Bill on this. He’s been a fantastic crit partner for my books, but now I was venturing into his territory. Bill’s levels in BioShock have been called some of the best levels in gaming, and he even co-created all of the amazing Kinetescope videos in BioShock Infinite. I was in his house now. Well, not the one we pay the mortgage on, but I digress. It was a little frightening for me to now be the writer on this project full of award-winning gaming vets, especially since I was the one driving the narrative, and the BioShock series is known for its stories.

Soon after outlining the story, we came together and started to really put it together, and it suddenly wasn’t as terrifying. I was a piece in this very intricate puzzle of designers, artists, musicians, voice actors, and more. And each of these people have different, and often game-changing ideas that they contribute. You have to be flexible and not get too precious about your ideas, because in one day, an entire level can be struck from the game, or two characters could end up becoming one. There was a lot of give and take, and by the end of our Kickstarter trailer, I knew that as a collaborative, we’d really done something special.

A GOOD STORY IS STILL A GOOD STORY

There was a moment in the process that made me realize that regardless of how steep the learning curve was, a good story was a good story at heart. It was when Bill and I Skyped into the studio session where the amazingly talented Angela Morris recorded the lines for Cassie. We had over a thousand auditions to listen to, but Angela had this realness to her voice that we couldn’t pass up. She sounded professional but like a real person. Like Cassie. And when she began to record the lines for the game, I started to tear up. There she was, my Cassie, speaking the lines I’d written.

And she delivered the lines exactly how I pictured. They sounded natural, and her cadence and rhythm matched what was in my mind for so long.

I felt validated. The words I’d written were clear and meaningful, as evidenced by a complete stranger to the project being able to completely inhabit this fictional person we’d created as a team.

And I think regardless of the medium, writers write. Stories speak to us from all corners of our lives, and at the end of the day, we just want to experience a great narrative. I hope I’ve been able to bring that to Perception.

If this game sounds intriguing for you, I’d love for you to check out our Kickstarter campaign, www.kickstarter.com/perceptiongame. Thanks, Chuck, for having me!

* * *

Amanda Gardner: A life-long gamer, Amanda has been fully-immersed in the geek lifestyle for as long as she can remember. Amanda is excited to bring to you the story of Cassie and the estate at Echo Bluff, and has enjoyed transitioning from writing urban fantasy novels to writing video games. When she’s not writing, she’s chasing around her two children (while quite pregnant) and teaching English. Amanda also serves as the game’s producer, a role she was born for, considering all she does is chase after people anyway.

Amanda Gardner: Twitter

Perception: Kickstarter | The Deep End Games

Said it before, will say it again: Mad Max: Fury Road is the dust-choked rocket-fueled orifice-clenching crank-mad feminist wasteland batfuck doomsday opera you didn’t know you needed. It’s like eating fireworks. It’s like being inside a rust tornado. It’s like having a defibrillator pad applied directly to your genitals but somehow, you love it?

It’s not a perfect movie.

But it’s amazing just the same.

And part of — for me! — what makes it amazing is how easily it flaunts its rule-breaking. Writing — particularly the very-patterned art of screenwriting — comes with all these preconceived sets of “rules” or “guidelines,” and like most creative rules and guidelines, they’re half-useful and half-dogdick. It’s great once in a while to be reminded why the rules work. But it can be even more illuminating to realize when something works in spite of those rules — in direct contravention to what you expect can and should happen.

And I wanna talk about that just a little. Real quick.

Hold still. *fires up the defib pads*

CLEAR.

bzzt

Begins With Action And Then Action Action Holy Fuck More Action

Beginning with action is hard. Because a lot of the time, you need context. You jump right into some actionstravaganza and you feel lost — unmoored, drifting, caught up in OMG THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE EXCITING BUT MOSTLY IT FEELS LIKE ACTION FIGURES BEING FIRED OUT OF A CANNON AGAINST A WALL BECAUSE I DO NOT YET HAVE A REASON TO CARE. It’s all whizz-bang-boom, but ultimately? Hollow as a used grenade. Shallow as a puddle of sun-baked urine.

Fury Road is like, “Yeah, fuck you, mate,” and then instantly there’s a car chase? And then like, five minutes of setup and another car chase that goes until the middle of the movie? And then a sequel to that car chase that ends the movie. On paper, that shouldn’t work. On screen, it roars like an engine and drags you behind it like you’re chained to the goddamn bumper.

How does it work? I don’t fucking know. That’s the amazing thing. Best guess is that we get just enough character overlaid — Max is a survivor, Max is haunted by ghosts, Furiosa is a bad-ass, Immortan Joe is a skull-mask wearing chemo monster, and we’re off to the races once more.

Very Little Oxygen

Writing action is very often: ramp up action, then draw down into some oxygen, then more action, then more oxygen. A action film’s rhythm is like breathing during sex — starts normal, then you hold it, then it gets faster and faster and then you slow back down and then go go go nnngh holy toe-curling shitkittens, boom. Die Hard has that classic rhythm. Intense action, then oxygen of roughly equal duration. You learn about character and context, then back into action. It works. It’s a good pattern and you can use it for a lot of storytelling that has fighting or gunplay or fucking or fightplay gunfucking or whatever.

But Max gives the tiniest little appe-teasers of oxygen. But mostly? It’s all action. It’s two hours of cinematic-foot-on-an-accelerator with only a handful narrative potty-breaks.

How does it work?

What little oxygen you get is like gulps of air when you’re drowning in rising floodwater.

They’re meager, but they work. And the film never really lets you get comfortable.

That won’t fly with every story.

But hot chromeshite, it works here.

Protagonist And Main Character Are Not The Same

Mad Max is the main character.

Furiosa is the protagonist.

His is our POV.

But she is the one with agency to change things.

She moves the story.

He is merely present in the story.

She fires the gun.

He’s the shoulder on which she rests the weapon.

(I can’t speak to whether or not the film is truly feminist — that’s for smarter and more impacted people than I am to decide. But you have a world where the men are either all-brutal or half-useless, and are made more “human” by their contact with women. Women in this are generative creatures, the keepers of the future, the civilizing force. They’re the ones who get shit done and who will change the world. The men can either get in line, or they can get fucked. It’s not just that the film gives the women characters agency — it’s also about what’s necessary for them to be equal, and for the world to be made better in their wake, not in the wake of men. We are given the suggestion that men ruined this world, but it might just be the women who fix it.)

Regardless — separating your protagonist and your main character is a tricky maneuver. It’s ADVANCED LEVEL shit, hombre. But Mad Max handles it well — even using it to perhaps drive home the point I just made (re: feminism) above.

Explains Almost Nothing

Haha, you wanted answers and context as to what’s really going on?

WELL TOO GODDAMN BAD.

The film’s world-building is such that here’s how it builds its world:

“Did you see that thing that just happened? We just drove past it at 120 MPH.”

“But you didn’t tell me anything about it.”

“Oh, you want to know more about it?”

“I do!”

*shoves bottle rockets in your mouth*

*throws you into a pit*

*covers you in guzzoleen and bullet casings*

*throws a car on top of you too because hey cars are cool*

*the car is covered in spikes and Juggalos because of course it is*

The movie doesn’t linger. It never AS YOU KNOW, BOBs you. It assumes you either will figure it out or you won’t and that’s on you. What’s with the chrome paint? And the Valhalla? And who are the Bullet Farmers and what the fuck is Gas Town? Why is Max a blood bag? What is a Doof Warrior and why is that girl named Toast? Who is the little girl in his vision?

What the actual unholy sand-fucked shit is going on?!

Nope. None of it. No hard answers.

Just buckle up, butterfly. Can you get away with this in your story? Maybe. Fury Road does it because it still recognizes that the real story isn’t all those details but rather, about the flight for freedom. It gives you the details you really need to get to the next moment — and literally nothing more. No fat on those bones. It’s lean and raggedy as a starving coyote.

But it still hunts.

And Oh By The Way, Fuck Consistency

Everyone wants to know how this lines up with the previous three films and they’re scrambling to draw the comparisons — MAYBE MAX IS FERAL BOY AND FURIOSA WAS MAX’S DAUGHTER AND LOOK THE MUSIC BOX AND I’M PRETTY SURE I JUST SAW MASTER BLASTER IN THE CORNER OF MY EYE SITTING NEXT TO ME IN THE THEATER — and all of that routinely fails because these films are basically disconnected narratives. They advance only the narrative of the apocalypse (in each, the world is worse than when we last saw it). Max is different in each. Little actually connects them. Less connects this one to the last three. It doesn’t matter.

Good luck pulling that off in your story, ha ha ha.

Why does it work here? Again, fuck if I know. It works because it works. It works because thematically it’s tied together. Because it’s like revisited mythology — an interpretation of character and story, whether we’re talking about Zeus or Jesus or Batman or Bond. (Behold my new character: JAY-ZEUS BATBOND, the super-spy vigilante savior! Somebody pay me.)

Mad Max: Fury Road doesn’t give a bucket of sunburned fucks about your rules.

Your writing and storytelling rules are just roadkill, bubba.

It’s that time again where I ask:

Hey, whaddya reading?

What was the last book you read (and how was it)?

What are you reading right now? Er, beside this post, I mean.

Me, I just finished:

Delilah S. Dawson’s HIT — a YA about a girl who takes on the debt of her mother and has to pay it back in a rather unconventional way: kill or recruit other debtors in service to the bank that just secretly took over the US government. It’s fucking rad, this book. It’s like, the metaphor of a teenager taking on the burden of her parents is right on. And Patsy is in some ways a cousin to my own Atlanta Burns* (an heir to the problems her not-great mother brought to bear, uses a gun, Southern, drawn into a conspiracy larger than she cares to handle, small town, unexpected dog).

Christopher Golden’s TIN MEN — doesn’t come out till the end of June, but this is a bad-ass near-future war thriller worth checking out. Terrorists and presidential assassinations and cool bleeding-edge tech and oh yeah soldiers controlling robot drone bodies with their minds. I read it and I thought, “This reads like Terminator plus Saving Private Ryan,” and then I went back and saw that Scott Sigler said exactly that in his blurb. Thus proving that I am secretly Scott Sigler.

Speaking of Scott Sigler —

I am presently reading his own: ALIVE. Which is so far taut as a choking rope and mysterious as the strange rash I have on my left buttock in the shape of Cousin Balki of Perfect Strangers. The book stars teenage protagonists but I don’t think is YA? Whatever, it’s great. Not out till July. I also, rather foolishly, haven’t read enough Sigler in my life, so this goes toward correcting it.

I’m also reading Adam Christopher’s MADE TO KILL — which is, what exactly? Robot pulp noir? I dunno what to call it, but I know I’m loving it so far. (Adam is, of course, my co-writer on The Shield, which hey did you see Drew Johnson’s jumping on board the book and hey look at that art that I’ve posted at the bottom of the page because I’m totally shameless and isn’t it cool?)

Oh! Also, a couple quick administrative notes:

a) I’m gone from Wednesday this week to Monday of next week. Because of Phoenix ComicCon, which is awesome and you should go and I’ll see you there. But that means posting might be light.

b) I feel like some folks haven’t yet seen the winners of the STORY IN SEARCH TERMS contest — but hey, the winners are picked, and if you are a winner, contact me, will ya?

Anyway.

Your turn.

What did you just read?

And what are you reading now?

Time to share the book-love.

Or I guess the book-hate if you didn’t like it, but pssh, whatever.

* by the way, Atlanta Burns is on sale this week at Amazon — the Kindle is at $3.99, and the trade paperback has dropped to $7.50, should you be so inclined to check it out.

Flickr has a function called INTERESTINGNESS.

Click that link. Go on, do it.

It will be the basis of this week’s challenge.

Click that link, and you’ll get a page of recent “interesting” photos.

Choose one, and use it as the basis for a 1000-word story.

Due next Friday (5/29), noon EST.

Write it at your online space.

Give us a link so we can see it.

Choose a photo.

Write.

Spoilers ahead (though at this point I don’t know how you’ve avoided them).

So, lots of discussion about the (latest!) rape scene in Game of Thrones, which has led to a whole lot of folks defending it. Some of this defense is even-minded and fair, whether or not I agree with it. I certainly don’t think any topic should be off the table when it comes to fiction, and if you feel that this scene in some way is important to the story or important to the characters or culturally vital in some way I’m missing, hey: you do you.

I think it was crappy and I wish the writers would’ve done better — largely because they’re so good at telling this story in so many other ways. It’s often so good and so well-thought-out that to me, stuff like this really stands out. Like a cancer shadow on an X-Ray.

Regardless of what they did or planned as writers and showrunners, what I’m finding super gross is some of the response to the criticism. Particularly the, erm, impassioned defenses for the inclusion of rape as a story element in this particular scene and episode.

I’d like to tell you why it’s super-gross.

Let’s go on a journey together! A journey through grave grotesquerie huzzah!

Well, Sansa Knew What She Was Getting Into —

Ah, the most disgusting of defenses.

Sounds a lot like what real-world victims hear:

“She deserved it.”

“She knew what she was doing.”

“She said yes before she said no.”

And so on, and so forth.

It’s victim-blaming. And though she’s not a real character, realize that actual victims are hearing you say these things. They are internalizing them. Trickle-down economics doesn’t work for shit, but culture and a lot of its worst ideas sure can trickle down. It’s poison to all who drink it.

Storytellers may not have an actual responsibility to anyone or anything.

But shitty is shitty, so don’t be shitty. Be awesome, instead! See? Easy.

Yeah, But Sansa Is A Weak Character, So —

More victim-blaming. Also gross. Stop being gross. Why are you being gross?

She’s weak so she deserves to be raped? What heinous fuckery is that?

“Puppies are small and helpless, and so they deserve to be crushed.”

“Children are tiny. Kick them!”

“Grandma moves slow these days. Kill her while she watches Dancing With The Stars.”

What’s wrong with you? No. Nooooo. No, no, no.

*smacks you*

Do We Even Know That It Was Really Rape, I Mean —

Stop. Stop. Ew, stop.

*dumps a bucket of fire ants on your head*

Maybe This Really Proves How Strong Sansa Is —

*dumps toxic diarrhea on your head*

But It Explains What Theon Is Going To Do Next —

I don’t know what comes next from Theon, but unless it’s literally him donating his family fortune to RAINN and training to become a rape counselor in Westeros, I don’t see how this was appropriate or necessary. If he’s supposed to get some kind of revenge on Ramsay Bolton, well, garsh, I’d say he has enough reason to do that already, don’t you think? Do we forget the part where the young Bolton bastard hacked off Theon’s wangle-rod? Humiliated him and tormented him? Turned him from a human being into a beast named Reek? (Which I always imagine is just “Rick” said with a funny accent! As if Peter Lorre is saying it in Casablanca!)

And oh hey by the way pop culture is full of fridging women — meaning, when women characters are subject to violence only to activate MANPAIN and motivate MANACTION.

It’s not just about this one time.

It’s about the pattern across this show, across all shows, books, movies, comics.

Wait, But It Demonstrates What A Monstrous Sadist Ramsay Bolton Is —

Whew, thank god, because before now, we thought he was a real gentleman!

Oh, wait, except none of us were confused about Ramsay Bolton being terrible.

He’s actually so evil it’s ludicrous. He has no sympathetic side. He’s Joffrey 2.0 (and Sansa being wrapped up with him is deja vu, and not in a good way). He doesn’t just pluck the wings off of butterflies, this guy. Ramsay would set butterflies on fire and then shove them in the mouth of your beloved geriatric uncle while stealing the last of your beloved geriatric uncle’s food money from his wallet just before taking a shit inside the wallet and then shoving the previously mentioned shit-filled wallet into the town well that we all drink from so we’re all drinking it up.

Slurp.

He’s a kitten-kicker. A wang-slicer. A monster so inhuman I think he’s actually just a case of syphilis that took over a human body. You know how they interview the neighbors of serial killers and they’re like, “Wow, we had no idea?”

Yeah, with Ramsay, we have plenty of idea.

Here’s the thing: storytelling is about breaking the status quo. About juking left when we expect you to go right. We expect him to be a terrible person. So what happens if he isn’t? What if he seems to be actually romancing Sansa instead? What if Sansa hurts him? Or acquiesces and turns him from a predator into a Reek-beast? What if she spies in him something monstrous about herself? Where’s the twist? The hook? The artistry? This isn’t artistry. It’s just the authorial equivalent of Orson Lannister crushing bugs.

Him not assaulting her has actual narrative value here. First, it would function as a nice surprise. But more logically: the Boltons need this alliance. They require the Stark name. Ramsay has things to lose. His new name. His power. What if we pretended for once he was an actual character instead of a giant mustache-twirling embodiment of eeeeeevil? Mightn’t his struggle with trying not to reveal his horrible side be interesting to watch? More interesting, than say, another rape of another POV female character (particularly one who is victimized every 21 seconds in the show)?

Hold On, The Scene Tells Us Something New —

It doesn’t.

Ramsay is a monster? Knew it.

Sansa is a victim? Sadly we’re reminded near-constantly.

Theon is a simpering husk? Knew that one, too.

Even if you believe that “rape in fiction is okay as long as it moves the plot forward!” (as if it’s just a mechanism for melodrama), this doesn’t even pass that barest-of-bones smell test.

Oh Sure But You’re Not Getting Mad At All The Other Violence —

Well, who says? I’ve commented before on how nasty this show is. Sometimes this show demonstrates the sadism found in many of its worst characters. Now, to a point, I like sadism in my storytellers — I certainly don’t want everything to be MY FACE WARMED BY SUNSHINE BEAMING FROM A PONY’S BEDAZZLED ASS. So, fine. But here’s the other thing:

IfI were to sit in a room full of 100 people, how many of them do you think have been beheaded, cock-chopped, throat-slit, war-murdered, skull-asploded, and so on, and so forth?

Probably none.

Except Gary. Poor Gary.

But how many do you think might’ve undergone sexual assault or rape?

That’s a higher number, innit?

No, that’s not a reason to never write about the subject. But it is a reason not to rely on it as a creepy, shitty, trite trope. It’s important to realize that this thing is used again and again in fiction. Particularly in the SFF genre. It’s not treated as serious. It’s treated as a “plot device.” There’s no gravity to it. It’s like horrible wallpaper.

You expect it and see it so often you become inured to its presence.

But In Medieval History —

First of all, stop there, because not so much.

Second, I didn’t realize Game of Thrones was a historical television show.

I look forward to the Reddit discussion where you all debate the accuracy of the dragons based on the dragon skeletons found just outside of Plymouth just last year, or how accurately the show portrays the science behind revivified corpses and —

OH WAIT IT’S ALL FANTASY

Hey, what the fuck?

Truth in fiction is about authenticity.

Stop using “history and “fact” (which you’re probably getting wrong anyway) to explain why women are powerless or there aren’t any non-white people or whatever other lazy inclusion you cling to. Read some actual history instead of just more epic fantasy.

But Rape Happens All The Time —

Yes, it does.

And there’s the problem.

Rape culture is about the normalization of the act.

And if we keep excusing lazy inclusions of rape in our pop culture as there because it’s there, you’re just kicking that can further down the road instead of picking up and asking why are you kicking this can and why is the can full of rape and oh shit maybe it’s worth actually thinking about what we’re writing and reading about rather than what we take on as assumed and obvious. It’s not that you can’t talk about these sorts of things, but writing about them without any sort of examination, without any respect at all — that’s some twisted shit.

We can do better.

We can ask for better, too.

* * *

Added reading:

My post from the other day: “We Are Not Things” (Mad Max vs. Game of Thrones).

Robert Jackson Bennett on: “Why Are You Writing A Rape Scene?”

Emmie Mears :”Why I Share: Living On The Fury Road”

And finally, the “rape tropes” page at TV Tropes.

Once again: comments off.

First up —

Hey, Zeroes got a nice review from Publisher’s Weekly:

(link for subscribers only)

“Wendig (Blackbirds) piles on the thrills and chills in this fast-paced near-future novel about human frailty and inhuman ambition. … Wendig wields the tools of suspense and tension with skill. His large cast of characters is entertaining, the moments of horror are sharp and chilling, and the story races to a breathless conclusion.”

Plus, a hella great quote by Christopher Golden:

“Chuck Wendig is one of the most talented genre-fiction magicians we have and ZEROES reveals him at the height of his powers. Razor sharp characters highlight a paranoid, relentless thriller about outcast hackers and the malleable line between renegade and hero.” — Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of TIN MEN

And one by Richard Kadrey:

“Zer0es is a taut, complex techno-thriller with something much darker and deeper at its core.” — Richard Kadrey, author of the SANDMAN SLIM series

I’ll be doing a small tour in support. Check my Appearances page! More dates coming.

Phoenix ComicCon

Hey! I’ll be at Phoenix ComicCon at the end of this month.

My schedule?

On the Outside Looking In : Thursday 3:00pm – 4:00pm

Author Signing C.j. Hill, Cherie Priest, Myke Cole, Greg van Eekhout, Chuck Wendig : Thursday 4:30pm – 5:30pm

More Than a Haunted House : Friday 1:30pm – 2:30pm

More Than a Haunted House Signing:Alex Gordon,Chuck Wendig,Greg van Eekhout,Andrea Philllips : Friday 3:00pm – 4:00pm

Here on Earth : Friday 4:30pm – 5:30pm

Beth Cato,Joseph Nassise,Alex Gordon,Mel Odom,Richard Kadrey,Viola Carr,Chuck Wendig Signing : Saturday 12:00pm – 1:00pm

Chuck Wendig Spotlight : Saturday 1:30pm – 2:30pm

Author Signing: Jamie Wyman,Suzanne Young,Chuck Wendig,Naomi Novik,Stephen Blackmoore,C.J Hill : Saturday 4:30pm – 5:30pm

Writing Reluctant Heroes : Sunday 10:30am – 11:30am

Signing:Saundra Mitchell,Amy K. Nichols,Brian Staveley,Chuck Wendig,Jonathan Maberry,Greg van E : Sunday 12:00pm – 1:00pm

Stepping up to Social Media : Sunday 1:30pm – 2:30pm

From Page to Screen : Sunday 3:00pm – 4:00pm

Also, don’t forget about the Poisoned Pen SUPER MEGA SCI-FI AUTHOR extravaganza — “Elevengeddon” — which is May 27th at 7:00pm. Features an unholy host of awesome authors: Kevin Hearne, Richard Kadrey, Naomi Novik, Delilah S. Dawson, Stephen Blackmoore, Sam Sykes, Myke Cole, Brian McClellan, Cherie Priest, Beth Cato, Andrea Phillips — basically, they keep adding authors to this thing. Come, hang out, get books signed, chat it up.

And I’ll be doing a STAR WARS: AFTERMATH poster signing. Saturday 10AM – 11AM.

The Harvest Launch: Let’s Play Books

I celebrate the launch of THE HARVEST (the final book of The Heartland series) at Let’s Play Books! Facebook event page here. Tuesday, July 14th, 6:00PM, Emmaus, PA. It’s a great bookstore for children and young adults (with a spare adult books section). B-Dub loves it.

The Harvest comes out that same day.

You can buy signed copies right from the store.

Or you can pre-order the e-book here.

In fact, I’ll tell you what —

If you buy a signed, printed copy from Let’s Play Books, I’ll give you a Kindle version of The Harvest. Because getting e-books with physical books is awesome, that’s why.

Storybundle

The WRITE STUFF Storybundle is still going strong.

Twelve books. Name your own price. Determine how much of your money goes to the bundler, the author, and charity. Includes my own 30 Days in the Word Mines.