Quick update about what’s on tap in the next couple of months.
Although I wanted Duke’s origin book to be out early Spring, it’s looking more and more like mid-Spring. I’ve set a date for it next month, something I’m shooting for, but since I’ve blown past published release dates in the past (Episode 4 being seven months late is a shining example), I’m going to keep this one close to the vest. I will say, again, it’s mid-Spring. And it’s soon enough that if I don’t get my ass in gear I’m gonna blow past it, too.
The problem with that? It just pushes everything back even more.
And Joan’s pushing me to get her book written.
I’ve got Joan’s origin book scheduled for late Spring. So late Spring it’s almost Summer. But still, in my mind, at least, Spring.
And what should you, as the reader, expect for these two stories?
Well, they are both origin stories. They will go into some detail about the two characters and their backgrounds. What happened in their lives before joining up with JC. Likely some of the more important turning points in their lives that sent them down the paths that led them to where they are.
For Duke, this will go into his life as the son of a diplomat and a bit of his surfing life in Hawaii, pre-Army. It will mostly be dealing with something that was mentioned a few times in Season 1 – his Saudi complications. But it will also delve into the people who helped shape his life as well as some of the choices he made that put him where he is today.
For Joan, hints of her story were dropped throughout Season 1 – her chat with JC’s cousin’s wife, her 1-on-1 confrontation with Detective Garcia, her challenge to The Mexican, and JC’s confrontation with Agent Kowalski at the end of the story. Some of those will come into play, but a lot more will be revealed.
MAN! I wish I could tell you guys all the awesome stuff I’m cooking up. But I’ve got to keep my trap shut and not ruin it. I will say this – one scene in Duke’s origin story had been rolling around in my head for a couple of weeks. Near the end of the book. Walking to the subway today it suddenly crystallized. I spent the next hour furiously typing with my thumbs into my phone just to get the details down. It gave me chills, and at points, brought tears to my eyes. Not weepy tears of the boo-hoo variety, but the manly emotional tears I get when I watch movies about loyalty and family and father-son, brothers-in-arms stuff. As I’ve got most of Duke’s book plotted out (not written, mind you, but plotted) I’m kind of starting on the plotting out of Joan’s book. And getting ideas for dialogue. Nice Joan-isms. Very different than Theo-isms. But still very cool.
So yeah, it kicks ass. Both books.
One word of caution I want to pass on to you, my kind readers. The feelings and pacings of The Fixer Origin stories are going to be different than the regular Season writings. My goal with the episodes in Season 1 (and continuing seasons) are to make it feel like an action-packed mini-movie. I don’t always achieve that, but I’m writing them from the perspective of episodic television in some ways. The origin stories, however, are different animals. Duke’s story is, up till now, fairly slow. I’m likely going to re-edit it a bit and up the action a bit, but from the start I envisioned it more as a 1970’s, 1980’s type of movie. Something that laid the groundwork, built up the story and the characters, with bits of action interspersed of course, but then laid on the gunfights and car chases. Kind of like how Alien was much slower than Aliens, but still awesome. Or how Die Hard was slower than Die Hard 3, both equally awesome. Let’s not even discuss Die Hard 2.
In contrast, Joan’s book in my mind is going to be more action. I want her kicking ass from the start. Always on a mission. Always gunning for blood. Always ready to pivot away and pursue something else that will help her be more of a badass. I’ll admit something. In my mind, Joan is very much like Angelina Jolie in both Wanted and Salt. A very cold, calculating killer who is capable of both warmth and compassion as well as an extreme adherence to whatever her personal code may be. Joan, in my mind, doesn’t look like Angelina Jolie. But her character kind of is a mix of those two characters.
I’ll have some other possibly interesting news in the coming weeks. Doing what I can to turn up the heat on myself and my writing. Stick around. It’ll be nice ride.
RC