Brent Hartinger's Blog, page 2

My gay teen thriller Three Truths and a Lie is nominated for an Edgar Award, and I’m off to New York to the ceremony, where I’ll see if I won.

In New York this week? I’ll be making two public appearances:

Wednesday, April 26, 2017, 1-2 PM: Edgar Week Symposium, Nursery Noir Panel, Grand Hyatt Hotel

Wednesday, April 26, 2017, 6-8 PM: Books of Wonder Bookstore: 18 West 18th St, New York, NY

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Regular readers know that I recently decided to document the writing of my latest screenplay project.

As I said in that first post, I was torn between writing two different kinds of movies, both of which could be produced cheaply — under three million bucks: (1) A timely and provocative story that was also commercial and high-concept (like The Purge or Get Out). OR (2) An intensely personal, intimate project (like Moonlight).

In the end, I went with #1, and I’ve now completed my first draft, sent it to out to my initial beta-readers, and also done the first revision. Soon I’ll send this version to professional script-readers to get their opinion. Then, if they give me the sense it’s ready to go, I’ll try to market it (which I’ll document here).

(By the way, if you’re interested in being a beta-reader, contact me here.)

But here’s where the story gets interesting. Literally the day that I finished my first draft of this screenplay, I got another another idea.

And this idea is much more option #2, above (like Moonlight) — personal and intimate, less obviously commercial. It also says something about the world in 2017, but it’s much more specific (even if I hope it has a universal component). It has a strong gay element, but it’s not something I’ve seen many, or any, other movies or books say. It’s pretty specific to my life, but I also think it’s something a lot of people can relate too.

As soon as I thought of it, I said, “Wow, this is a great idea. If I can pull this off, I could win an Oscar.” Then I told a writer friend, and he said, “Wow, that’s a great idea. If you can pull that off, you could win an Oscar.”

So, yeah. I’m excited about this new idea. But the “pull it off” part is a lot more difficult than it sounds. Truly great ideas are rare, it’s true. But the most difficult part of writing is always the execution. Many a slip and all that…

I realize this is all pretty vague. Once I register my first idea, I’ll write about it in more detail.

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A reminder for those who might be new to my work. Last year, I wrote and recorded a song for my book, The Road to Amazing. Here it is, set to some footage of Russel and Kevin from the old Geography Club feature film:

You can even buy it on iTunes (or wherever you purchase music).

Here’s the story behind the song

Oh! And a friend wrote and song a song based on my earlier book, The Thing I Didn’t Know I Didn’t know. Check it out:

Here’s the story behind that song.

Buy “This Time and Place” on iTunes.

 

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I was recently given ten books to read, basically randomly selected, and it’s allowed me to conduct an interesting personal experiment.

I didn’t CHOOSE any of these books. But before reading each, I looked at the cover, read the jacket blurb, scanned the industry reviews, glanced at the user ratings, and then read the book — and then I discovered whether or not I liked it.

After each book, I asked myself: which of the above-mentioned elements — cover, jacket blurb, industry reviews, user ratings — were accurate predictors of my actually liking the book?

The answer? None of them! Reviews and user ratings were especially worthless — there doesn’t seem to be any correlation between books I like and the “reviewer consensus” or the “reader consensus.” (Honestly, I’ve read some books with “starred reviews,” and it seemed like the critic was on crack!)

It’s also true you can’t judge book by its cover. Well, duh!

The interesting wrinkle? The one element that was kinda sorta maybe a little bit of a predictor of my liking a book was…the jacket blurb! For one thing, a good blurb represents what the book is actually about — the genre, degree of plot, etc. Obviously that’s clear, helpful information. They also give a sense of the book’s tone, and give a pretty good indication of the book’s degree of pretentiousness (I have a very low tolerance for self-importance; humility is an author’s friend, in every sense of the word).

Who knew? You can’t judge a book by its cover, industry reviews, or user ratings, but you can — kinda sorta, a little bit anyway — judge a book by its blurb!

Or at least I can.

What about you? What do you find helpful in predicting whether you will like a book?

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I blogged earlier about how I am writing my next screenplay, and I’ve decided to bring interested readers along for the ride in the form of this online diary.

It usually takes me 2-3 weeks to nail down the exact screenplay idea I want to write next, and also write up an outline. In terms of the outline, I write up a three-page (or so) synopsis. Once that’s done, I turn the outline into a series of individual sequences, which I write out on 5X7 cards — rearranging scenes as necessary.

Then, interestingly, I basically never look at the outline or those 5X7 cards ever again. It’s all stored in my subconscious, and the way I remember it is usually better than the actual outline anyway.

I finished all that last week. Then I started writing. I began on Tuesday, and I’m up to page 40. Most of my screenplays are between 95 and 105 pages, so I’m almost halfway done with my (very rough!) first draft. I’m hoping to have that initial draft done in about two weeks, then (before anyone else sees it) I’ll do a couple of intense rewrites.

So what is the screenplay about?

Ahhhh, unfortunately, because I haven’t registered the idea anywhere, I’m not going to post the actual logline just yet. I think it’s a great idea, but I’m not quite ready to put it out into the world.

But I can say two interesting things:

(1) I blogged before about how I was torn between writing something “high-concept” that can be produced relatively cheaply (like, say, Bound), or something “authentic” and intensely personal (like, say, Moonlight). I went with the first category. It’s a dark, sci-fi-ish thriller.

(2) In addition to writing a screenplay, I also pitched the idea as a potential YA novel (with a few changes) to one of my publishers. So if the screenplay never gets produced as a movie, maybe I’ll get to write it up and publish it as a novel! I’ve never done this before — simultaneously conceiving of one idea for two different mediums — and I was tickled it seemed to work out so well.

And now, back to writing! In a few weeks, I’ll check back in.

 

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I’m so excited! (And a little nervous.)

Here’s the blurb for the book:

Otto Digmore is a 26-year-old gay guy with dreams of being a successful actor, and he’s finally getting some attention as a result of his supporting role on a struggling sitcom. But he’s also a burn survivor with scars on half his face, and all indications are that he’s just too different to ever find real Hollywood success.

Now he’s up for an amazing new role that could change everything. Problem is, he and his best friend Russel Middlebrook have to drive all the way across the country in order to get to the audition on time.

It’s hard to say which is worse: the fact that so many things go wrong, or that Russel, an aspiring screenwriter, keeps comparing their experiences to some kind of road trip movie.

There’s also the fact that Otto and Russel were once boyfriends, and Otto is starting to realize that he might still have romantic feelings for his best friend.

Just how far will Otto go to get the role, and maybe the guy, of his dreams?

I like to think that all my books have heart and humor, but I think The Otto Digmore Difference is the most touching one I’ve ever written.

Here are the deets:

THE OTTO DIGMORE DIFFERENCE

By Brent Hartinger

BK Books

New Adult

Paperback, $13.99: 978-1542810333

E-book, $5.99: 978-1370026920

Release: February 21, 2017

230 Pages

 

P.S. A reminder that if you enjoy the book, an Amazon and/or GoodReads review is always very much appreciated. They make more of a difference than you’d think!

 

Q&A About the Book!
Question: Why Otto, why now?

Brent Hartinger: I’ve always loved the character, and he’s gotten a really strong reader response. I’m proud that he’s not your usual gay character, in young adult literature or any other genre. He’s a burn survivor — and to shake things up even more, he’s a burn survivor who’s also trying to make it as an actor. I think that’s all pretty interesting.

But it’s more than that. I confess that when I first introduced Otto in 2005 (in The Order of the Poison Oak, the first Geography Club sequel), I was annoyed by the response in some quarters of the literary world. I heard more than once that I shouldn’t be equating being gay with being disabled, because you don’t “choose” to be disabled. Like you choose to be gay?

But the world has changed a lot since then,. The last few years, the topic of “diversity” has finally broken through. It finally seemed like the time to give Otto his own book.

Q: Why a road trip story?

BH: Well, who doesn’t love a good road trip story? These are some of the cleanest stories there are: the character literally sets out on a journey, and there’s a very specific goal, and there all kinds of very real obstacles along the way.

The journey itself changes the main character. Just by setting foot outside their door, they become someone new. And they learn that, as with life, it really is all about the journey, not the destination. Which isn’t to say the destination isn’t really important in this story!

I think road trip stories are some of the most satisfying stories to write — and also to experience.

Of course, Russel being a screenwriter now, and Russel also being Russel, he has some fun with all the road trip movie tropes that pop up along the way.

Q: Russel is a supporting character?

BH: Yeah, that was important for continuity sake. Plus, Russel has a lot of fans, and let’s face it: I wouldn’t mind selling a few books here.

But it also really fit the story I wanted to tell. From the beginning, I thought of this book as a love story between two best friends. There are lots of books that explore the relationship between male lovers, but there aren’t a lot of books about the friendship that can exist between two guys. And in Otto and Russel’s case, they’re gay and they’re former boyfriends. I think that can lead to a really strange and wonderful kind of intimacy, and I wanted to explore it in this book.

Q: Both Otto and Russel started out as teen characters in YA novels. Why did you start writing about them as adults?

BH: Technically, these newer books are “new adult,” although I’m already tired of that term.

Honestly, it just felt right. I’d explored their lives as teens, and now I wanted them to grow up. I also wanted to bring them into the present and write about present-day issues.

One pleasant surprise was finding out that plenty of my readers had read Geography Club and the other books as teens, and they were now in their twenties themselves. So they grew up along with the characters, and they could really identify with them. It turned out to be brilliant marketing, so I really wished I’d planned it that way!

And of course the dirty little secret of young adult publishing is that half or more of your readers are adults anyway.

Q: Was it fun to write from Otto’s POV?

BH: It was unbelievably satisfying. I’ve written from Russel’s point of view for seven books now, and I love Russel. But I also love how different Otto is. He’s less cerebral than Russel, but even more open-hearted. In the end, I found a kind of duality in him, in that he’s very confident in some ways, a natural performer, but oh-so-vulnerable in other ways. I think a lot of actors are like that.

I was also excited, and a little nervous, to a write from the point of view of a disabled character. I’ve written a number of disabled characters before, but never as the point of view character. And I really, really didn’t want him to be a stereotype, or to be defined solely by his burns. But at the same time, he’s had an incredibly traumatic experience, and I wanted that to inform his character.

Q: How many books will there be about Otto? Will you write books from the POV of Russel’s other friends?

BH: At least two books in this series, maybe more depending on — ahem — how much people like them.

Will I do any other characters? That’s doubtful. I love some of those characters — Gunnar and Min, especially — but I’m not sure they quite fit my brand.

I’d love to return to Russel again eventually, for a third series about him. But that depends on my schedule in the years ahead.

 

Q: What’s up with the Geography Club TV series? Will Otto be a character in that?

BH: They plan to film the pilot this summer. But it’s more of a TV sequel to the feature film, not an adaptation of my whole book series. And they don’t have the rights to any of the sequels anyway. So unfortunately, Otto won’t be a character there. He’ll have to live on through the books instead.

I’m not really involved in the creation of the series, but they have asked me to write for the show if the series goes to full production. So that could be exciting.

One of the best parts about the Geography Club feature film was how legitimizing it was for the books. Seriously, I have friends where it’s like they didn’t quite believe I made my living as a writer until the feature film happened.

And I can’t tell you how many hundreds of people have told me they discovered my work because of that film. Then they go on to read all my books.

Buy the book at Amazon

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P.S. Are you a book critic? Contact me, let me know your credentials, and I’ll send you a review copy!

P.P.S. Incidentally, here are the three books in the last Russel Middlebrook series (click on them for more info about each book).

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One of the most interesting parts of being a writer is there’s always some unexpected new opportunity popping up completely out of the blue.

This week it’s the fact that they announced that Geography Club, my first book, is officially being turning into a television series!

It’s not really an adaptation of the Russel Middlebrook Series of books. It’s more a TV sequel to the 2013 feature film that was based on my books.

Where and when will it air? It could be an American network or channel, but it’s more likely to be on Canadian TV (and also on Netflix). They want to shoot the pilot this summer, and go into full production shortly thereafter.

I can’t say anything yet about the actual story, but there’s also a good chance that some of the actors from the movie will return. Alas, I’m not involved in a creative capacity in the creation of the series, except I will hopefully be writing an episode of the first season.

Pretty cool, huh?

Follow here for updates.

Or follow me (on Twitter or Facebook), and check back here for an insider perspective.

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I’m writing a new screenplay, and this is a column where I’m going to document the process!

A bit of background: In addition to writing novels, I write screenplays (I split my time about 50/50 between the two mediums).

I’ve written about twenty screenplays in my career, and eight have been optioned by producers. Alas, none has yet actually been made into a feature film (I didn’t write Geography Club, the 2013 movie based on my 2003 novel).

The good news is that I think I’m getting better at the craft of screenwriting: the last five screenplays I’ve written have all been optioned, and four of them are still in development. I think at least three of them have a pretty good chance at becoming movies in the years ahead: two indie projects and one animated movie, currently in the works in China, of all places.

In this regular column, I’m going to document the process of my next screenplay. I’ll give regular updates, from conception (now) to whatever the end place is — hopefully, a completed feature film.

So … where am I on this new screenplay now? I’ve literally just begun. I don’t even have an idea! In fact, I’m not even sure of the genre. The only thing I know is that I want it to be a low budget project that (I think) has a higher chance of actually getting produced. So the movie will be able to be made for a million bucks or less. 

With that in mind, I want to go in one of two different directions: (1) Something really bold and high-concept and attention-getting that can be done cheap, and that also maybe says something about what’s going on now — a modern-day Blair Witch Project or Scream. OR (2) Something intensely personal and “from the heart,” like Moonlight — something that isn’t necessarily “marketable,” but that could get made anyway by virtue of its authenticity and sincerity.

Here are some ideas I’ve toyed with and rejected:

Over the course of one night, a despairing middle-aged man has a passionate, but fleeting affair with a slightly “off” younger man, and they both give each other the will to keep living. Eventually, the older man realizes that the younger man is himself in an earlier timeline, and in fact, he remembers experiencing the same night twenty years earlier.

Why did I reject this? I’ve always wanted to write a “gay man falls in love with himself” story, because I think it’s truly weird and catchy, and I don’t think it’s ever been done. That said, I’m sick of time travel, and the whole thing seems sort of obvious.

Another idea:

Four friends walking through a forest at night climb up a big old tree in order to save themselves from what looks like a pack of vicious wolves. But as the night goes on, it becomes clear that they won’t be able to survive up in that tree forever — and that the creatures in the dark are something more than just wolves.

Why did I reject this? Frankly, I’m tired of the trope where the main character[s] are trapped in [some single location] by [something scary]. This is something filmmakers do a lot in order to keep costs low. Basically, this just doesn’t seem fresh or different enough.

But both these ideas do seem to be on the “high-concept” end of things, not the “personal” one, which makes me think that’s where I secretly want to go, and where this project will ultimately end up.

Oh, well, onward and upward! The “idea brainstorming” process continues…

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I was recently interviewed by Jeff Adams at the Big Gay Fiction Podcas. We talk about a making movies, writing YA, and much more.

Check it out!

P.S. I was just starting to grow a beard. I’m not usually this scruffy!

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There’s another Russel Middlebrook book coming out in February 2017, but there’s something different about it.

It’s told from the point of view of Russel’s friend, Otto Digmore (from several earlier books).

In fact, it’s the first book in a new series about Otto Digmore. Here’s the jacket:

It’s a roadtrip story, about Russel and Otto on their way to a very important movie audition of Otto’s. But of course I tried to have lots of exciting and unexpected stuff happen along the way. As I was writing it, I was thinking, “This is a love story about two friends.”

I’ve always wanted to write more about Otto, because he’s long been one of my favorite characters. Gay and a burn survivor? And now a TV star? How does that work? Since this will be at least a two-book series, now I have the chance to really explore the character.

Preorder at Amazon

Preorder at iTunes

Preorder at Barnes & Noble

(Print version preorders available soon.)

Here are the three books in the last Russel Middlebrook series (click on them for more info about each book).

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