Collaboration For Dummies

So where were we?

Oh, yes. We were talking about comic books. Specifically, I was going to lay out for you how impressed I was that DC Comics, who can’t seem to figure out what to do with their flagship character, one of the most recognizable icons on Planet Earth, managed to publish a couple of pretty cool horror-centric titles.

And then between columns the two books in question were canceled.

By the way, the two titles were I, Vampire and Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. Oh, and the company also pulled the plug on their longest running title Hellblazer, from their mature-readers Vertigo imprint. But the character lives on in Constantine, an all-ages, cleaned-up version. No more silk cut cigarettes. No more F-bombs.

I, Vampire, Frankenstein and Hellblazer are all available in trade paperback collections. In fact, there are roughly 3 gazillion Hellblazer trades.

Now I am faced with a ponderous dilemma. Do I pour through hundreds of comic books–mostly bad–to find the next horror classic, investing (and possibly wasting) many hours)?

Or…I could plug my new book.

Welcome, friends, to the Dead Earth: Sanctuary column!

Dead Earth: Sanctuary (which I will henceforth abbreviate to DE: S, if you don’t mind) is the third book in the horror/SF series I write with my pal David T. Wilbanks. I know that news just shocked you, but it’s true: I do have friends. Not many, I admit, but there are a few.

DE: S continues the story of our planet in the near future, when an accidental alien incursion has poisoned the atmosphere, effectively killing off most of the population, then bringing them back to life as flesh-gobbling monstrosities. After destroying the invaders in the previous book, Dead Earth: The Vengeance Road, Jubal Slate now wants to lead his small group of survivors to a place where they can find some peace. He hears whispers of a town somewhere to the north that is somehow protected from the wandering dead. Jubal can hardly allow himself to believe the story. Could there really be such a safe zone, a sanctuary, where every day wasn’t a fight to simply survive? He decided to take the chance that the tale is true. He will lead his people to Sanctuary. But if he finds it, Jubal may come to believe that the cost of safety is more than he can pay.

You don’t really need to read the previous two volumes to follow the story. We tried very hard to make this novel work as a stand alone story. Early reader comments indicate we managed to do that. Of course, if you feel the need to purchase Dead Earth: The Green Dawn and Dead Earth: The Vengeance Road, who am I to say no?

DE: S is the third book I’ve written with Dave Wilbanks. I’m not sure how other writers collaborate, but I hope their process works as well as ours.  We start by lobbing ideas back and forth until we both find a few savory concepts we’re eager to explore. The next step is hammering together a plot. For Dead Earth: The Green Dawn, our first collaboration, the plot was pretty detailed. Things loosened up more in each of the next two books as we learned to trust each other and ourselves. Now our plots are a thin skeleton of a story. It’s up to us to hang the flesh on it as we roll along. Also, a looser plot leaves the novel wide open for new ideas as they occur to us, and that’s a kind of freedom that has proved to be addictive.

When we start the actual writing, we take turns writing 1500 word chunks of the book. I can’t speak for Dave, but I love getting his part of the story and trying to top it with mine. It’s a powerful way to stay motivated and get those pages written.

We continue alternating sections until we reach the end, then we start the revisions. You’re probably asking yourself: Gee, Mark, that sounds nice and all, but how do you and Mr. Wilbanks handle disagreements?

Through trial and error we have developed an efficient conflict resolution system that I like to call MARK IS ALWAYS RIGHT.

I’m kidding. The actual answer is: we work it out. We talk about it and reach a solution that we both can live with it. Kids, it’s called being an adult. Not every situation has to turn into a Real Housewives bitch slap. Actually, not ANY situation should go that way. If it does, you need to consider moving your trailer to a different park. Life in Douche-y Acres isn’t working out.

Once we’re happy with the manuscript, we send it to Permuted Press for an editorial touch-up. For DE: S, we were lucky enough to work with a phenomenal editor named Felicia A. Sullivan, who used her deft touch and keen eye to find all of our silly mistakes and turn our manuscript into a much better book. Every writer should be so lucky to find an editor like Felicia.

The frequent question I get these days (other than “When’s the next Pod of Horror, dammit!” Hi, Nanci!) is : Will there be another Dead Earth novel?

Yeah, I think there will be. We have more stories to tell in that world. First, though, we want to collaborate on another novel, one that doesn’t have Dead in the title. I hope to be able to tell you more about that one in this space in the near future.

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Mark Justice talks for a living and writes because he can’t help it. He discusses this at http://markjustice.blogspot.com/