Shanna and Clay have known each other only 6 weeks. It makes more sense for the physical part of their relationship to take a front seat. Clay is no dummy, but he has a very narrow range of interests. Shanna cares for Clay but doesn’t love him enough to marry him.
Randall and Jenny, OTOH, were married for years, and presumably had a courtship before the nuptials. They had a deeper relationship than sex before things went sour. Her cracks about his intelligence are a defense mechanism, a way to vent her anger at him for letting her down.
Jenny should be more focused on (and attracted/intrigued by) Randall’s return to the sweet guy she married. She loved him, he broke her heart by becoming a drunk, but now he’s pulled himself up by his bootstraps. At first she’s afraid to give into it, but she’s learning to love him even more. They had good sex, but that’s not what they were about, not what she misses — she misses the emotional attachment. She LOVES this guy.
So in other words, Randall and Jenny have a history and an arc. Clay and Shanna have neither.
Won’t take much - a little shading of the dialogue, a few extra lines of internal monologue here and there. I’m willing to go in and make the two couples more distinct.
Paul
• • •
Clay: “I might have a way to make it really count.”
Paul
• • •
I noticed that too, Paul. The funny thing was, we were writing similar dynamics independent of one another.
My original “fix” was to at once point have Jenny meet up with Shanna and explain that “Love means you gotta put up with them acting like cretins. All men are cretins. But if you can find one you love, you have to stick with it. I should have.”
That would’ve turned the Jenny/Randall relationship into an example/object lesson for Shanna. But Shanna and Jenny were separated too early and never reached that point.
If you want to go in and tweak it to make them more distinct, I’m all for it. But we should keep in mind that all relationships deal with issues like these.
As for Clay being found by rescue dogs, I really like that idea. Maria just read what we have so far, and expressed some strong opinions about who she wants to survive, which is pretty much “everybody.” Considering we’re killing off the majority of our main characters, having a few live might make this more palatable to the reading majority…
Joe
• • •
I think if you carry the Jenny/Randall dynamic I outlined into their final scene — she got the guy she loved back and now she’s losing him for good — it could tug at the heart strings.
While this is in my head, I’ll go into DRACULAS 2.8 now and turn it into 2.9
As for survivors, this is a horror novel - we’ve gotta have casualties. Lots of them.
Paul
• • •
Explain that to my wife when she cuts off the nookie. She’s a petty, vindictive reader who holds grudges against the artist.
I’m all for killing everybody, but I also want to have sex again.
Blake and I discussed your Dr. Driscoll, and we’re for it. It certainly sets up the sequel. But would Driscoll want the dracula bodies disposed of, or quickly packed in ice and whisked away to some undisclosed laboratory location?
I’m also fine with them putting Shanna into quarantine. Drag her off and experiment on her. Then, if Clay lives (perhaps now with an artificial leg where he stores ordnance) he can track her down and rescue her.
Joe
• • •
Driscoll would need only one body…and there’s the dead state cops right there in the parking lot.
Paul
• • •
If we’re talking full conspiracy theory here, they wouldn’t risk burning bodies and leaving either potential evidence or the chance for a foreign power to obtain DNA samples.
I’d think a team in full P4 containment suits, loading all biological matter into a refrigerated semi, a quick and dirty media blackout, a full sterilization of the area, and a quarantine of any survivors, and an instant cover story. Driscoll could even tell Shanna that she needs to be vaccinated against measles, as this was simply a measles outbreak and nothing more, against Shanna’s protestations.
If Driscoll knows about draculas, she’d know the danger of even leaving a cell of infected tissue on the scene, and flamethrowers don’t destroy teeth or bones.
Or not. Knowing our government, they might do a half-assed job cleaning this up. Then we could have some coyotes picking through the scraps, eating some infected flesh, and going werewolf Cujo on Durango…
Joe
• • •
This afternoon I added DRACULAS 2.10, which adds a few Randall paragraphs, and JEFF 9.0, the first “JEFF” scene described below.
Jeff
• • •
Fixed some typos. New version is 3.0.
I’m also doing an intervention for Jeff, to teach him how to count. Jeff is turning thirty-ten this month.
Joe
• • •
I didn’t think my changes warranted moving on to a new whole number, even though I added Paul’s requested fart joke.
And you got my birthday wrong, punk!
Jeff
• • •
You’re turning thirty-eleven?
Joe
• • •
Don’t feel bad. Blake is still in his mid teens.
Joe
• • •
Hey, I bought beer tonight and didn’t even get carded!
Blake
• • •
My birthday isn’t until December. So you’re all welcome to send me “It’s for your birthday AND Christmas!” presents.
Jeff
• • •
How about just some good wishes?
Blake
• • •
Just FYI, I have Adam emerging onto the pad and seeing Randall, Jenny, and the kids at the other end, standing at the edge and waving down toward a sea of flashing lights, yelling and trying to get someone’s attention. Since we’re all writing scenes that occur in the same place and time, we should probably keep apprised of what everyone else is doing.
Blake
• • •
How do we barricade the door to the helipad…any ideas? Big metal dumpster by the door? Some large piece of equipment they can use to briefly block the door?
Blake
* * *
September 18, 2010
With some swift kicks, the chainsaw, and some pushing and pulling, they could detach a few of the air conditioning units on the roof and stack those against the doors.
Joe
• • •
I’m adding to the end of this Clay section to make it consistent with the opening of Blake’s Adam 8.0 (to which I added one word from Clay: “Incoming!”)
Paul
* * *
September 19, 2010
Here’s how I see Clay’s roof scene. He’s got the kids and the baby. The TV copter is landing. The pilot sees a couple of draculas (attacking Adam maybe?) and suddenly decides landing is not such a good idea but Clay is there with the MM-1 and makes it very clear that the copter either lands or it flies off with a dead pilot at the stick. He puts the kids on board and Adam comes up to say good-bye to his daughter. We can switch to Adam’s POV here.
As for destroying the hospital, the army could drop a huge shaped charge onto the roof that will blast a plasma jet down through the floors (just like an antitank missile goes through layers of steel), frying everything within. Obviously, Clay won’t survive that.
Paul
• • •
Paul, this sounds great, and as always, your knowledge of ordnance, firearms, etc. is terrifying. Check out my Adam and Stacie scene first though, just to get a sense of what’s happening on the roof. The way it’s worked out, Adam will have his daughter in his arms when the draculas break through, get bitten, but then Randall saves him. At that point,
Adam will walk over to Clayton and hand his baby over, knowing he’s been infected. It made sense for Adam, Stacie (and baby) to be together when she dies.
Blake
• • •
Adam and Stacie final scenes are up…Please check them out before you write your final scenes…I think it’ll make it easier to keep the timeline straight.
Blake
• • •
I’m putting Draculas 4.0 together…Joe thought it would help with figuring out where new scenes go, so I’m putting my new ones in, along with Paul’s and Jeff’s setting up what happens on the roof. We are super close, guys.
Blake
• • •
Hey, I see that you’ve got “The Sound of Blunder” listed as a bonus DRACULAS story. Make sure you double-check your contract—I think you’re a year away from being able to reprint it!
Jeff
• • •
Reprint? It’s an ebook. We’re not printing anything.
Joe
• • •
You’re gonna get in troooooooouble…
Jeff
• • •
Also, as one of the bonus extras, we’re including forty-six Harlan Ellison stories.
Joe
* * *
September 20, 2010
Thanks, Blake! You are owed an infinite number of chocolate chip cookies.
Jeff
• • •
Nice work, Blake!
I talked to the other guys. You did such a terrific job, we’re letting you finish all of our scenes too.
Hurry up. I’d like this done by Thursday.
Joe
• • •
Stacie’s death scene - very moving, Blake. I got a little verklempt.
Paul
* * *
September 21, 2010
Blake—I wound up with Adam’s last words. He’s your guy, so if there’s anything you want to change there, please feel free. If you think quoting Dickens is out of character, really, change whatever you want.
Paul
• • •
Finished the two big Jenny scenes. Get your hankies out.
They’re in the JOE folder. Blake, you can splice them into 4.2 when we’re sure no one else is editing it.
Joe
• • •
I thought you did a great job with him, and I liked that he wasn’t thinking bible-verses but rather Dickens at the end. He’s a minister, sure, but he’s not a tee-totaler, not a holier than thou type of guy, and I think that showed that. It was a very nice scene, Paul, so I’m happy to let that be the end of him.
Blake
• • •
but he’s not a tee-totaler, not a holier than thou type of guy
I’d gathered that from earlier passages and so I went with it. I think it’s refreshing (even for this devout agnostic) to see a Christian minister portrayed as a straight arrow rather than a hypocrite. I’m really sick of books with lech preachers.
Paul
• • •
Me too, I wound up liking the guy quite a bit…brave as hell in the face of fear despite nothing for the entire book (until the end) with which to defend himself.
Blake
• • •
Clay on the roof…is loaded. Very short, very Clay.
Paul
• • •
Just to keep you guys looped in on what’s happening marketing-wise, I emailed a big list of bloggers/media people I know and who Joe knows, forwarding the press release and a letter. Response has been solid so far, with about 25% requesting the manuscript to review. We also put out the word on Joe’s blog and offered people the chance to have a free review copy of Draculas on Oct. 1, if they promised to review it on their blogs, Facebook, Amazon, and tweet it. Joe also has a lot of Goodreads friends, like 1200 of them. I’ve given a friend of mine access and she’s emailing them one by one (it’s the only way) to solicit additional reviews and coverage since many of them have blogs.
Already, we have over 120 people promising reviews, all to launch on 10/18, the day before it releases, and then all those review go up on Amazon on the release date. We’re also adding an annex to my website which will be a dedicated draculas web page. I’ll shoot you all the link when that goes live. Plus, we’ve got some interview requests which I’ll share shortly, we’re doing Diabolical Radio 10/6, and hopefully Joe’s going to write a column in the HuffPo around the release date. If you’re interested, the email that’s been going out to the “troops” is at the end of this email. Jeff, Paul, if either of you have any big ideas, please share. Otherwise, I think we’re in excellent shape.
from J.A. Konrath: DRACULAS — Advance Reading Copies!
Dear_____:
If you haven’t been on my blog for the last few days, I’ve got a new ebook experiment going on.
Earlier this year, I asked three fellow writers if they wanted to collaborate on a horror novel. I’ve worked with each of them before (F. Paul Wilson, Jeff Strand, and Blake Crouch) and they’re all consummate professionals.
The result of our efforts, DRACULAS - A Novel of Terror, will be released on Kindle, October 19.
Now we’re attempting to generate some buzz prior to the launch, by treating this like a traditional release rather than an indie release. That means we’re looking for a few good reviewers.
Do you want a free advance reading copy of DRACULAS?
Here’s what you do…
Send an email to [email protected] and confirm that:
1. You will post a review of DRACULAS by October 18 on Good Reads, your blog or website (if you have one), along with a link to Amazon’s pre-order page (which will be provided to you along with the book and press release.)
2. You will post that same review to Amazon’s DRACULAS page when the book is officially launched on October 19.
3. Make sure to include your name and the web-address of your website or blog (if any), which may be linked to from my blog when the book goes live in the Kindle store.
Your email address will of course be kept confidential, and anyone who writes a review, good or bad, will be thanked in the acknowledgments of a future edition of DRACULAS.
We anticipate having a final manuscript of the book ready to email on or before October 1.
IF YOU DON’T HAVE A BLOG OR WEBSITE…
No problem. We’re going to have a dedicated DRACULAS website page. Write a review, email it to [email protected], and we’ll post it there. Then you can link to your review via Twitter and Facebook, if you use them.
Thanks in advance for helping us spread the word! And please make sure to email [email protected], under the heading GOOD READS REQUEST. DO NOT EMAIL ME DIRECTLY - we want to make sure your email is read, not lost in my huge stack of unanswered emails.
Thanks in advance for helping us to spread the word!”
Blake
• • •
Great scenes. Paul, Joe, I’ve incorporated yours into Draculas 4.1. Joe, I tweaked yours just to sync up the helicopter leaving (it’s already flying away by the time Jenny reaches Randall). Here’s what’s left before we write the last two scenes (Shanna and Moorecook). I’m waiting to start those until I see what Paul does with Clayton, and I’d like us all to have input into the end.
Randall
[JEFF WRITES: Randall’s transformation. Draculas break through, and as a full blooded dracula, with a chainsaw, he kills a few dozen.]
Jenny
[JOE WRITES: Second to last scene with Jenny. Randall dead. She’s all alone. Draculas are running up the stairs again, will be there soon. A helicopter is coming. Jenny thinks the TV helicopter has returned, looks up, but it’s an Army helicopter. BUT DON’T EXPLAIN WHAT THE CHOPPER IS DOING YET.
Jenny
DRACULAS (A Novel of Terror) Page 54