PT Hylton

Author of the Storms of Magic, The Savage Earth, and The Deadlock Trilogy

Features

Story Idea – Sun Storm

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Story ideas are all around us. We just have to keep our eyes open and start noticing them. In this new series, ‘Story Ideas’, I’ll offer up a news article each week and some thoughts on how we might be able to spin a story out if it. If you feel so inspired, feel free to use any of these ideas in any way you see fit.

Two years ago, a storm on the sun almost caused a major disaster on Earth. A wipe-out-the-power-grid level disaster. For real.

Check out this story from the Washington Post. 

Here are a couple of highlights from the story:

On July 23, 2012, the sun unleashed two massive clouds of plasma that barely missed a catastrophic encounter with the Earth’s atmosphere.  These plasma clouds, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), comprised a solar storm thought to be the most powerful in at least 150 years.

“If it had hit, we would still be picking up the pieces,” physicist Daniel Baker of the University of Colorado tells NASA.

And:

“I have come away from our recent studies more convinced than ever that Earth and its inhabitants were incredibly fortunate that the 2012 eruption happened when it did,” Baker tells NASA.  “If the eruption had occurred only one week earlier, Earth would have been in the line of fire.”

A CME double whammy of this potency striking Earth would likely cripple satellite communications and could severely damage the power grid.

And:

NASA’s online article about the science of this solar storm is well-worth the read.  Perhaps the scariest finding reported in the article is this:  There is a 12 percent chance of a Carrington-type event on Earth in the next 10 years according to Pete Riley of Predictive Science Inc.

Scary stuff? Yes. Story goldmine? Absolutely!

Post-apocalyptic fiction is great. Some of my favorite books fall into that genre. But how about a quasi-apocalypse?

What if there was a sun storm that took out the grid? What if we knew we could rebuild everything in two years, but the population would have to spend the interim without electricity?

What would those two years look like? Imagine the story possibilities!

That’s my Monday story idea. Do with it what you will.

Go tell a story.

 

 

June Book Reviews

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pinesPines by Blake Crouch

Platform:  Paperback (Amazon)

Small town with a secret! As you probably know, this is one of my favorite sub-genres, and Crouch does a wonderful job with it here.

Non-spoilery synopsis: A Secret Service agent gets in a car accident while in Wayward Pines, Idaho. Bad things ensue.

Spoilery synopsis: Watch the trailer below. This book is being made into a star-studded TV show and it will air on Fox this fall. It looks beautiful, but the trailer gives away A LOT of the book. You have been warned.

Born Standing Up by Steve Martinsteve-martin-born-standing-up

Platform: Digital (Oyster)

I love memoirs that focus on a particular time period or subject rather than jamming a full lifetime into one book. This one is all about Steve Martin’s experiences as a stand up comedian. It tracks his journey from a young man learning the performance ropes at Disneyland all the way through his decision to walk away from stand up forever. Martin is a great writer and this book has a lot to say about art, comedy, and the evolution of a performer.

boneshaker_Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

Platform: Digital (Humble Bundle)

It’s the 1880s. The Civil War is still a thing that is happening. Seattle is a wasteland contaminated by a strange gas that kills people and then brings them back as zombies. The gas can also be used to make a popular (and valuable) drug, so airship pirates frequent the nearly abandoned city to harvest the gas.

So, you know, the usual.

Priest strikes a wonderful balance of action, big ideas, and small character moments. This book is only six or so years old, but it is already considered by many to be a sci-fi classic. It’s steam punk at its finest.

Also, Priest is a fellow Eastern Tennessean.  Represent!

The Family Fang by Kevin WilsonThe-Family-Fang-Cover

Platform: Digital (Oyster)

Annie and Buster Fang kids had weird childhoods. Their parents were performance artists, and they often involved their children in their strange public spectacles. Which is to say that Annie and Buster spent their time creating bizarre scenes at shopping malls. Now the kids are grown up and their relationships with Mom and Dad are rocky at best. But the performance art may not be over yet.

This is book is so strange and wonderful. It’s hard not to use the word quirky, though I will try. It has a bit of a Wes Anderson vibe, which I consider to be a good thing. It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year. Go check it out. (Please and thank you).

In a strange coincidence. Kevin Wilson is ALSO a fellow Eastern Tennessean. Go southern literature!

A Story Conversation With Myself

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Late last year, I read the book ‘The Successful Novelist’ by thriller writer David Morrell (which I discuss in more detail here). In the book, Morrell has an interesting suggestion for working out story ideas. He recommends having a conversation with yourself, asking yourself questions, playing the role of skeptic, etc, until you’ve hashed out the details of the story. He says it’s a great way to get to the root of what is interesting about a story idea and quickly figure out whether a story might or might not work. He recommends doing this in written form so that you can refer back to it later.

Today I was going through some old files on my Google Drive, and I found a document called ‘New Novel’. I had no idea what it was and opened it, hoping I’d written an entire novel and forgotten about it. Sadly, that was not the case. Instead, it was a written discussion with myself. I was pitching myself the idea for a new novel.

The conversation ends rather abruptly (apparently I wasn’t able to convince myself), but I thought it would be fun to share. Here’s how one crazy person thinks about stories. Take it away, PT1 and PT2!

PT1: Hello, PT. Back again, I see. Must need my help.

PT2: Yes. I do… and hello. It’s time to start thinking about the next novel.

PT1: Oh? The last one finished? You get all the rough edges sanded off, then?

PT2: I wouldn’t go that far, but, yeah, it’s done.

PT1: So what are you thinking for this next one?

PT2: I’m thinking about a thriller.

PT1: But our kind of thriller, right? Lots of mystery? Supernatural elements?

PT2: Yeah, of course.

PT1: So, what’s it about?

PT2: The protagonist is this ordinary dude. He gets a call one day from some kidnappers. “We have your son. Pay us three hundred thousand dollars.” That type of thing. The twist? This guy didn’t know he had a son.

PT1: Okay… that’s not a story; it’s an idea. [Read more…] about A Story Conversation With Myself

Fiction Unboxed

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fictionub

 

Fiction Unboxed  is a project from Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant, and David Wright (hosts of the Self-Publishing Podcast and authors of ‘Write, Publish, Repeat’ and a load of novels). They are pulling back the curtain and broadcasting their story meetings, posting their raw, unedited drafts, and letting the world in on their process as they write a novel in thirty days.

To view all the content, you need to pay, but you can get the rundown on what they are doing each day for free at www.fictionunboxed.com.

I subscribed, partly because I was curious about their process and partly as a way of saying thanks for all the free content on the podcast. I also truly enjoy their novels, and I was interested to see one come together from scratch.

While I was happy to pay the cost to subscribe in order to support the project, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

We are five days in and, so far, it has been utterly fascinating.

Here are a few observations thus far:

  1. It’s pretty inspiring how authentic and real the guys are in revealing their process. Case in point: on day two, the story timeline Sean brought to the table wasn’t working for the other guys. After the meeting stalled, they agreed to take some time to clear their heads, rethink the ideas, and reconvene later. The second story meeting of the day was much more productive. I love that we got to see that, warts and all.
  2. The way they collaborate is different than I expected. I think Johnny pointed it out of day three, but in their story meetings they rarely change each other’s ideas. It is more about building on each other’s ideas.
  3. It really makes me want to collaborate with another author at some point. I’ve been lucky enough to be part of a few great creative collaborations in my life (Six-String Bliss, Real Dad Fitness, etc). When I was in my early twenties, two friends and I started a production company called Plethora Films. Those were fun, crazy times, but my favorite memories are the story meetings. Sitting in a room with Jonathan and Greg for hours discussing story. Those were some of the most creatively fulfilling times of my life.Watching Sean, Dave, and Johnny has brought those memories back in a powerful way.

    So, someday I intend to collaborate on some fiction. I’ve even got a pretty neat idea for a unique method of collaboration (I think). There are some things I want to do before I get to that, but it’ll happen eventually.

 

May Book Reviews

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I read a great group of books in May, so let’s get started.

kickassThe Kick-Ass Writer by Chuck Wendig

Chuck Wendig is the author of Blackbird, Mockingbird, and even some non-bird-titled books. He writes novels with style, personality, and memorable characters.

When I learned he had written a series of writing books, I knew I had to check them out.

Most writing books give you the feeling of sitting down by the fire with a master storyteller as he or she carefully and elegantly explains the secrets of his or her trade. This is not that. [Read more…] about May Book Reviews