The Gentleman Adventurer

by richardwrohlin | May 20, 2013

Beta reader FAQ

Writing a book — even a relatively short one — is a lot of work. There’s the writing itself, which is the easy part. Once that’s done, there’s editing, cover art, typesetting, and proofreading that all has to happen before your work is ready to go to press, be it physical or digital. The problem is that it is entirely possible to do all of these things and still fall short if the plot is boring, poorly-constructed, or difficult to follow. As the author, it’s almost impossible for me to recognize this because I’m too close to the story. If a reference doesn’t make sense, for instance, I probably won’t realize it because of course I know what I meant.

This is where you come in. I’m looking for beta readers — people willing to read an early copy of the manuscript and provide valuable feedback. If this sounds like something you might be interested in, keep reading.

Archer: Book One of The Long Game

Who can be a beta reader?

The short answer is “anybody over thirteen.” Really, though, I’m looking for two groups of people.

The first group would be those who are more or less unfamiliar with the setting of Archer – those who have not previously read any short stories, story bibles, or other related material or participated in the Colossal Heroes Collaborative Fiction Forum, where Archer has its roots. I need feedback from these people because it will tell me how effectively the story engages new readers.

I also want feedback from people who are already familiar with the setting (you know who you are) — people who are already fans or are already interested or emotionally-vested in some way. I need their help to make sure that the official, published incarnation of the universe stays true to the things that you loved about it to begin with.

For now, I want to keep the circle small and manageable — that means that for now, I’m going to restrict the number of beta readers to a very arbitrary ten. We’ll likely be expanding this pool for future projects, but I’d like to establish a close circle of folks and then focus on growing the community from there.

What are the requirements of beta reading?

Beta readers will be given an early eyes-only copy of the manuscript and will be given approximately two weeks to read it. When they’re done, they’ll be asked to fill out a short questionnaire asking some specific questions about how they feel about the story, and any changes or errata they’d like to submit. This is pretty straightforward, given that Archer is a relatively short story and will take no more than 2-4 hours to read.

Are there rewards for beta readers?

Yes! As it happens, we’ve got some pretty cool ones planned, including, but not limited to:

High resolution prints of the excellent cover by Aaron Wood
Bonus material in the form of an excerpt from the journal of the Madman in the Mask
A sneak preview of our next work in progress: Ronin

These rewards will be made available exclusively to our community of beta readers, upon publication of Archer.

How can I get involved?

Getting involved is as easy as dropping me a line via any one of a number of outlets:

via email at richardwrohlin@gmail.com
via Google+, Facebook, or Twitter
Leave a comment here!

3 Comments

Filed under Storytelling

Tagged as archer, publishing, self-publishing, the long game

by richardwrohlin | May 18, 2013

Coming soon to a Kindle store near you: Archer

Colossal City, Illinois: A glittering titan of industry, it was here that the American tradition of costumed exceptionalism first began. From masked adventurers to high-flying supersoldiers, the city’s heroes have defined the social movements which have shaped its history. Colossal’s latest champion, the man called Quantum, is hot on the trail of an evil as old as the city itself — one which may cost him everything.

It is the year 1976 and Roger Fitzooth is at the top of his game. More than the gadabout polo champion and ladies’ man the tabloids make him out to be, Roger has been carefully groomed from birth to assume the reins of his father’s industrial empire. But beneath the Fitzooth family’s success and patriotic contributions to the western powers lies a seedy underbelly of duplicity and corruption. Something sinister is happening in Downstairs, Fitzooth Industries’ secret R&D facility — something that will forever change the course of Roger’s life.

Spurred on by the masked stranger John Law, and aided by a team of Britain’s greatest superspies, Roger begins a transformative journey that will take him through the thick of Cold-War Europe. To prevent what he will be, he must become that which he is not: A spy. A hero. An Archer.

After three months of long nights and weekends, we are finally ready to talk at length about our latest project: Archer.

Archer: Book One of The Long Game

What is it?

Archer is a novel, in the vein of the American pulp fiction and superhero comic book traditions. More specifically, it’s the first of a series of four short novels entitled The Long Game, which in turn is the introductory story arc to a fictional world which Benjamin Feehan and I have been collaboratively building over the past seven years. In that way, Archer is a beginning: It’s the beginning of a series, which is the beginning of a fictional universe which will eventually incorporate a myriad of novels, short stories, and comics. It’s also the beginning of our new publishing imprint: Grapple Gun Publishing.

Grapple Gun Publishing

As a kid, I was enthralled by the classic stories of pulp adventurers like Doc Savage, the Green Hornet, and the Shadow. Most of the books and radio shows are still with us in some form, thanks to the wonders of the internet. We also watched quite a bit of the classic Adventures of Superman show, which, as far as I can recall, was my first introduction to the world of superheroes. Like a lot of old TV shows, it presented a straightforward, moral view of the world — one that was consistent with the values our parents taught us. Watching it now, it seems kind of goofy and cornballed — but I don’t love it any less for that.

As I got older, I started to explore the world of imaginative fiction — revived pulp, modern comics, etc. I found the waters had been increasingly muddied by something called the “deconstruction of the superhero.” Somewhere along the way, Truth, Justice, and the American Way got to be just a little too old-fashioned. Comics became more “adult,” pervaded by an scale of sliding morals and an industry increasingly obsessed with pushing the envelope.

Grapple Gun Publishing is my attempt to answer that. From these admittedly humble beginnings, my hope is to produce a line of imaginative fiction that is as enjoyable as it is wholesome. In a nutshell, the stories we tell through Grapple Gun will have three core principles:

Interesting characters. Just because our stories are family-friendly doesn’t mean our heroes and villains have to be uninteresting or one-dimensional. We hope to introduce you to the same complex, flawed, and heroic characters that we’ve come to know and love over the last seven years of world-building.
Good stories. Storytelling is an art — one we spend a lot of time trying to master. We aspire to tell stories that are worth your time to read. Most of all, we want them to be fun.
Strong morals. We can’t promise you’ll agree with every choice our characters make, because we don’t — after all, what’s character growth without mistakes and consequences? But we are committed to reading stories that will be safe and fun for readers old enough to comprehend the material. No, this probably isn’t a book for your six-year-old, but I am committed to making sure that the kind of stories we publish will be the kind of stories I’d like to pass on to my own children. I don’t believe that you need sex, profanity, or gratuitous violence to tell a compelling story.

Archer

As we mentioned, Archer is the inaugural book of our flagship series. Set during the Cold War, it introduces some of the core characters and themes that will be essential for some of the more contemporary stories we plan on telling in the future. Archer will initially be published in the Amazon Kindle Store, and will be available for purchase June 14, 2013.

Beta Readers Wanted

Archer is currently in post-production, meaning it’s undergoing rewrites and the final stages of editing. Part of this phase includes a round of test reads by our “beta-reader” team — a courageous bunch of boys and girls who will be previewing our story before publication and providing valuable feedback. We’ve already got a pretty enthusiastic team chomping at the bits to get their grubby fingers on our manuscript, but we can always use more help. If you like this sort of thing and would be interested in being involved in the production process, drop me a line at richardwrohlin@gmail.com, or get ahold of me through any number of social media outlets (on Facebook as Richard Rohlin, Google+ as Richard Rohlin, and Twitter as @richardrohlin). I’ll be posting more about beta-reading opportunities for this and other Grapple Gun projects in the near future.

Stay Tuned

Over the course of the few weeks leading up to our June 14 release date, I’ll be posting a series of character bios, concept art, and “making-of” posts. Stay tuned for more!

1 Comment

Filed under Storytelling

Tagged as archer, grapple gun, Storytelling

by richardwrohlin | April 25, 2013

30 Days of Writing Prompts: Redux

As it happens, we are nearing the end of our second-ever 30 Days of Writing Prompts event. It’s been a bit different this time, with a different mix of participants, skill levels, and interests, but as always it’s been a lot of fun. I mention it, because to mark its completion we are doing another giveaway over at Amazon.com! That’s right for the next forty-eight hours, 30 Days of Writing Prompts: The eBook is free to download.

If you’re not already familiar with it, 30 Days of Writing Prompts is our boot camp for aspiring writers, aimed at getting you doing the first thing that separates true writers from the wannabes: writing every day. Want to learn more?

Learn more about the program
Read our previous 30 Days of Writing Prompts posts, including 7 Reasons You Should Join 30 Days of Writing Prompts as well as all 30 of Richard’s personal prompt responses for the inaugural event.
Check out 30 Days of Writing Prompts: The eBook!

Warriors and Poets: Israel demands a king (Pt 2)

In 1 Samuel 8, Israel demands that God and Samuel give them a king. We’ve already talked about why, and about the provisions in the Law for kingship. Today, we’ll look at God and Samuel’s response.

Israel demands

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” (1Sa 8:4-5)

Samuel reacts

Samuel takes their demands personally, as a rejection – possibly even an indictment – of the job that Samuel has done in his years as judge over Israel. On some level, it probably was. Samuel’s sons were not godly men (1 Samuel 8:1-3). In fact, Samuel seems to have this in common with his old mentor, Eli. Samuel’s sons are known to wicked, greedy men, taking bribes and perverting the justice of God. Angry and hurt, Samuel takes his pain before the Lord:

But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. (1Sa 8:6)

God responds

God does not respond by reaffirming Samuel’s calling or the job he’s done as judge, nor does he reprimand Samuel for the sons he has raised. Instead, helps Samuel out by giving him a bit of perspective:

And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” (1Sa 8:7-9)

“They haven’t rejected you,” God says. “They’ve rejected me.” And really, he points out, if there’s anybody who understands rejection, it’s God. God’s dealings with His people – with all of mankind – are one long story of His reaching out to them and them rejecting him for false gods, temporary pleasures, and hollow realities.

This, like all of Israel’s other rejections, is remarkably short-sighted. Can God deliver Israel from their enemies without using a king? Of course He can. Does trading the leadership of Samuel’s corrupt sons for a hereditary monarchy really ensure more fairness and less oppression? Of course not.

But like all of our other calloused rejections of our Creator, God has anticipated this. He has provided for it in His law and he has made it a part of his divine redemptive plan. “Obey their voice,” God says. “Only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” Yes, God has forseen this. Yes, God is working with this. But that in no way negates the consequences of rejecting God – consequences which, as we will see in our next post, will have a destructive impact on generations to come.

Warriors and Poets: Israel demands a king (Pt 1)

Recently, we discussed the growing scope of national threats that formed the catalyst for Israel’s demand for a king. This helped us understand why they rejected God’s original model of government. In today’s post, we’ll look at the consequences of Israel’s demand: how God treated it, used it, and judged it.

God’s original plan

God’s original plan for Israel was that it should be a theocracy, with God Himself at its head, his will expressed through specific revelation and through the Law. The administrative functions of the government would be carried out by the priests and Levites, while the magisterial functions would be performed by “judges” – men and women that God raised up specifically for that purpose.

“If any case arises requiring decision between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another, any case within your towns that is too difficult for you, then you shall arise and go up to the place that the LORD your God will choose. And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them, and they shall declare to you the decision. (Deu 17:8-9)

But God knew that they day would come when, seeking to be more like the nations around them, Israel would desire a king:

“When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose… (Deu 17:14-15a)