Collaborating is a fascinating creative endeavor. Two heads, or four heads in the case of DRACULAS, really allows the writing to come quick. Having instant feedback on scenes that are hot off the keyboard is a luxury writers don’t normally have, and hopefully the fun is apparent on the e-ink page.
It’s been my pleasure to work with these talented guys, and I hope we get a chance to do it again soon…
In which Paul, Jeff, Blake and Joe interview each other about the process and experience of writing DRACULAS…
BLAKE: Joe, the idea for this book started with you. Where did you get the concept for DRACULAS and how did you go about assembling collaborators?
JOE: While browsing bestselling Kindle titles I was surprised by how many were classic novels in the public domain. One that leapt out at me was Stoker’s DRACULA, and how many incarnations have been done of that particular character. The recent trend is turning vampires into teen heartthrobs and romantic leads. I don’t find that nearly as interesting as a horrible creature that needs human blood to survive.
I didn’t want Bela Lugosi in a black cape, or anything sexy. I wanted something ugly and horrifying. So I postulated that the original DRACULA was based on a real historical event—a human mutation that was contagious and could cause outbreaks.
So I called up Blake, because we bounce a lot of ideas off each other, and I knew this was potentially a fun one. I didn’t have time to do this on my own—too many other deadlines—but I knew how this could work. I’d written three other Jack Kilborn books (AFRAID, TRAPPED, and ENDURANCE) which all operated using the same formula: There is an overpowering evil, and several different characters fight to survive during an eight hour period. No chapter breaks, just point-of-view changes.
This structure could be done, simply, with more than one writer. All we needed were three or four motivated individuals, each whom would follow a few characters, and we could have an ensemble piece.
If I recall, Blake was up for it, and we brainstormed other writers who might be interested. I’d worked with F. Paul Wilson before on a previous story (A SOUND OF BLUNDER in the collection BLOOD LITE) and pitched it to him, hoping he’d be available and interested. Then I contacted Jeff Strand, whom I’d worked with on SUCKERS and CUB SCOUT GORE FEAST, but he wouldn’t commit to it because he was too busy with other projects.
Then I told him FPW was in, and Jeff signed up immediately.
BLAKE: Although we each have pretty unique and varying writing styles, we did our best to seamlessly interweave all the individual sections so the sum of the parts would feel like a cohesive book. Readers may have hunches about who wrote which characters, but should we go ahead and take our pants down and tell everyone who wrote what?
I’ll start. I wrote the pregnant couple, Adam and Stacie Murray, some of Moorecook, Shanna, and all of Oasis. Because Joe and I kind of jumpstarted this thing, I also wrote some of the other characters leading up to all hell breaking loose in the emergency room, and also the opening chapter.
JOE: Yeah, Blake and I came up with the setting, the premise, and the dracula rules and mythos. Then we wrote the first few thousand words, setting it all up, after asking Paul and Jeff what kind of characters they were interested in writing.
After that, I took Jenny as a main character, and then popped into various baddies, including Lanz and Moorecook and Benny.
JEFF: I wrote the point-of-view scenes with Randall the lumberjack (which notably does NOT include the scene where he gets a boner) and the point-of-view scenes with Benny the Clown.
PAUL: I gravitated immediately to the “gun-nut cop.” I have a bunch of participants in the repairmanjack.com forum who are into guns—really into guns—and I’ve learned a lot from them. They’re not nuts — they’re enthusiasts and aficionados. Some are gunsmiths. If you’ve ever held a fine firearm, you might understand and appreciate where these folks are coming from. I came up with the name Clayton Theel and he began to write himself.
BLAKE: Let’s talk about how we actually wrote this book.
JOE: It was actually pretty easy. We used a program called DROPBOX which allowed everyone to read each others’ sections instantly. The structure was a snap to fit together.
This thing was so simple to write, it’s almost laughable. I don’t think we had a single disagreement on anything. Everyone was a total professional, turning in great scenes that needed minimal editing.
It was also a lot of fun. There aren’t too many balls-to-the-wall monster books being done anymore, so this was a welcome change of pace.
JEFF: Well…there were some disagreements! But never anything heated, and none that weren’t resolved quickly, and none that ever involved anybody saying “Dude, you’re writing crap! Crap!!!”
JOE: I disagree that there were disagreements. Also, you’re writing crap.
JEFF: I forgive you. See how quickly that was resolved?
PAUL: If only all novels were this easy to write. I was fascinated to watch a dynamic of one-upsmanship develop. He’s going that far? Hmmm…I could push it a little further. That’s how some of the over-the-top scenes developed. For instance, Blake nudged me with the kangaroo mother on the OB floor (you’ll know who I mean when you get there) and a situation where Adam was about to be chomped on by Oasis, the little-girl dracula. He’d left it up to me to save him. I couldn’t resist ratcheting it up a notch.
BLAKE: Did you guys approach the writing of DRACULAS any differently from the writing of your solo work? For me, because of how fast and spontaneous we wrote, I found that very liberating and would say I didn’t approach the writing with such an anal, meticulous eye. I wrote faster, and I don’t normally write so fast, so that was interesting to push myself in a way I don’t normally.
JOE: I finished my scenes first. My secret was picking the character with the least amount to do, then sending constant emails telling you guys to expand your story arcs.
But seriously, this was one of the quickest, easiest projects I’ve ever worked on. It came together fast, and was never complicated, difficult, or a chore. I enjoyed writing it, and reading what you guys did as you turned stuff in. It was also ridiculously simple to put all the sections together.
JEFF: I didn’t approach the actual writing style any differently than I would in a solo novel, because we all had our own point-of-view characters, so I didn’t have to worry about making it sound like something that Joe Konrath/Blake Crouch/F. Paul Wilson would have written. I only had to keep a consistent narrative voice for my characters.
Obviously, there are differences in the process in a collaborative work simply because it’s considered unprofessional to scream “No! We’re gonna do it my way! My way! My way! Mine! Mine! Mine!” And there were things that I wouldn’t have done if I’d had 100% control that ended up working out really well.
JOE: The funny thing is, though, it is extremely difficult for the reader to figure out who wrote what section. The book is pretty seamless. The characters each are unique, but all of our writing wound up being very similar in execution. I don’t spot any particular moments where our fans could say, “Oh, FPW must have written that” or “That’s 100% Blake Crouch.” Each of our parts really contributed to a solid whole.
PAUL: I never let people read my first-drafts, but I felt at home with you guys so I just dumped my pages into Dropbox as they were done. (I went back and tweaked them later.) The idea was to maintain momentum and let everyone else see where you were taking things. We had no outline, just worked from a vague timeline. Mostly we wrote in sequence, but I jumped ahead a couple of times because a scene would pop fully formed into my head. We seemed to develop a sort of hive mind along the way where we kind of knew what everyone else was doing. The only time we needed an outline (and it wasn’t much) was the roof scene when all the characters were interacting.
BLAKE: Why release DRACULAS straight to Kindle?
JOE: A few reasons. First is one of publishers and rights. Having four authors collaborate on a book would be a n
ightmare to sell, because we all have print publishers who might want exclusives. Keeping it indie meant we weren’t bound by any preexisting contracts.
Second was speed. Self-publishing on Kindle allowed us to get this up in time for Halloween, whereas regular print would take a year to eighteen months.
Finally, we’re all selling well on Kindle, and it made sense to appeal directly to our fan bases.
BLAKE: Next up for me is finalizing a new book I’ve just finished. My first two novels, DESERT PLACES and LOCKED DOORS also just went up on Kindle for a reasonable $2.99, so I’m jazzed about that. “Serial,” which I wrote with Joe, is in the upcoming Shivers VI anthology, and I have a novella called “The Pain of Others” coming soon to Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine.
JOE: I’ve got two sci-fi ecopunk novels in the TIMECASTER series coming out in 2011 with Ace Berkley, and a few other super secret projects in the works. I’m writing the eighth Jack Daniels novel, called STIRRED, with Blake, which will also be the third in his Andrew Z. Thomas books (DESERT PLACES, LOCKED DOORS.) It’s a wrap-up to both of our series.
BLAKE: So we’re breaking that news here? Cool. I’m super-psyched to do STIRRED with Joe. The opportunity to work on a full-length novel with him and bring back a set of characters I’ve really been missing from my first two novels is a project I can’t wait to dive into.
JEFF: Next up for me is WOLF HUNT, which does for werewolves what DRACULAS did for vampires, except that I finished WOLF HUNT several months before DRACULAS, so actually it’s DRACULAS that does for vampires what WOLF HUNT did for werewolves. WOLF HUNT is funnier, though. My novella KUTTER, which is the heartwarming story (seriously!) about a sadistic serial killer whose life changes when he rescues a Boston Terrier (no, really, I’m serious about the heartwarming part), is going to be part of a two-novella collection called THE MAD & THE MACABRE, which also includes REMAINS by Michael McBride. And I’m working on other stuff.
PAUL: FATAL ERROR, the penultimate Repairman Jack novel, hit the street mid-October. Just finished a draft of THE DARK AT THE END, the (sort of) last Repairman Jack novel. I say “sort of” because the whole series ends with NIGHTWORLD which will come in 2012. Jack is a player in that novel, but the cast is an ensemble from across the Secret History.
JOE: What drew each of you to this project?
BLAKE: I loved the experience of writing “Serial” with Joe. It was a true collaboration in every sense of the word. Ever since we released that book, I knew I wanted to do something like that again, only bigger, a “Serial” squared, with double the writers, and of course, the story itself was going to have to be bigger. The prospect of essentially doing a vampire novel with four writers who could all more than hold their own in terms of scaring a reader to death really appealed to me. Considering the writers involved, I was expecting it to be a great experience. It turned out even better than I imagined. I work with Joe so much, I sometimes take it for granted what a huge fan of his I am as well, and working on this book, I was reminded of that again. Writing with F. Paul Wilson was a dream come true and a great privilege. I knew of Jeff’s work, but hadn’t read him yet. I will be correcting that oversight very soon, because man can he write!
PAUL: I know and have read all these guys. I met Jeff at various NECons over the years. Blake and I both drummed for the first Thriller Killer Band at the Phoenix Thrillerfest (he’s much better). I feel like I’ve known Joe forever, though I met him at a horror convention in 2004. Joe’s query came at a perfect time. I was just wrapping up the last Repairman Jack novel, THE DARK AT THE END, and had a window of free time. I’d worked with Joe before, knew, liked, and respected the other two participants, and this sounded like such a wild idea, how could I say no?
JEFF: When one is presented the opportunity to work on a collaborative novel with F. Paul Wilson, one says “Yes.” Joe and I had been lightly batting around the idea of a full-length novel collaboration ever since we’d finished SUCKERS. And I’d read Blake’s work based on Joe’s passionate recommendation and loved it. So basically I was just presented with an outstanding opportunity to piggyback off the success of everybody else, and took it.
JOE: I dug the main concept but didn’t have time to do it alone. It was fun working with you guys on other projects, so I was pretty sure we’d be able to make it work as a team. Funny thing is, I think it turned out better than if I’d done it on my own. You guys each brought unique flavor to the project, and came up with many ideas I would never have thought of.
So does anyone think there will be a sequel? A spin-off? A different project? I’ve got one in the back of my head called MUMMIES…
CUB SCOUT GORE FEAST
A Bonus Short Story by J.A. Konrath & Jeff Strand
“Isn’t this when you start telling scary stories, Mr. Hollis?”
Hollis grinned, staring at the boys around the campfire. Cub Scouts, none of them older than ten. For some, the first night they’d ever spent away from their families.
“Are you scouts sure you want to hear a scary story?”
“Yes!” they chorused.
“Even though it’s dark and we’re all alone in the spooky, menacing forest?”
“Yes! Yes! Yes!”
Hollis sat down on his haunches. His face became serious.
“Okay, I’ll tell you a scary story. Scary because it’s the absolute, hand-on-my-heart truth. You’ve all heard rumors about Troop 192, how they disappeared without a trace not too far from here, right?”
Several of the boys nodded.
“Well, the rumors were wrong. There were lots of traces of Troop 192. There were traces all over the place…on the ground, up in the trees, by the lake, maybe even under where you’re sitting right now. Imagine if you took a blender, like the kind your mothers use to make smoothies, but it was a giant blender, maybe…I dunno, eighteen feet high. And then you dropped the entire Troop 192 into it, and accidentally left the lid off, so that when you pressed the ‘blend’ button they sprayed all over the place. That’s what it looked like.”
“I heard it was just one kid who went missing,” said Anthony.
Hollis shrugged. “If you think one little kid has that many guts inside of his body, more power to you, but I was here. I saw it. It was gross.”
“My mom said they found him the next morning. He was playing Nintendo.”
“Oh, well, I guess your mom is in a position where she was allowed to accompany the law enforcement agencies on their search, huh? Did she somehow become deputized without anybody hearing about it? Do Hooters waitresses typically get to tag along on searches for missing children?”
“She works at Olive Garden.”
“Whatever. She wasn’t there on the night of the investigation. I’m telling you that it was the entire troop, and their insides were strewn as far as the eye can see.” Hollis made a grand gesture with both arms to emphasize the extent of the carnage. “And do you know who got blamed for it?”
Several of the scouts shook their heads.
“Madman Charlie. Oh, they arrested him, and sent him to the electric chair the next morning. But it wasn’t Madman Charlie. When Troop 192 was massacred, he was off murdering a young woman in a completely different county. No, Troop 192 wasn’t slaughtered by Madman Charlie. They weren’t even slaughtered by something…human.”
One of the youngest scouts, Billy somebody, raised his hand. No doubt because he was too terrified to hear more.
“Billy, are you too terrified to hear more?” Hollis asked. “Because that’s okay. Nobody here will judge you.”
“No, Mr. Hollis. I have to go to the bathroom.”
Hollis sighed again. “Go ahead, Billy. But don’t go too far away. Anyway, there’s something inhuman in these woods. Something that hungers for human flesh.”
Theolonious raised his hand. Probably wet himself he was so scared.
“Do we have any more hot dogs?” Theolonious asked.
“You already had three.”
“Jimmy
ate the one I dropped one the ground.”
“Jimmy didn’t come with us on this trip.”
“Well, okay, I ate it, but it wasn’t as good as the two that didn’t get dropped on the ground. Can I please have another one?”
“This inhuman creature,” Hollis said, ignoring him and raising his voice, “slaughtered Troop 192 on a night very much like tonight. It cracked open their bones and sucked out the marrow, and slurped up their intestines like spaghetti, then flossed its sharp fangs with their muscle fibers. And rumor has it this insatiable monster still hunts in these very woods, on the night of…” Hollis paused for dramatic effect, “the full moon.”
“Was it a Dracula?” Cecil asked.
DRACULAS (A Novel of Terror) Page 30