Thursday, March 26, 2015

Album Two Status Update

I realized the other day that I've been posting a lot of status updates about Book Two, but none on the other project I've been working on - namely, the second album by my band, Second Player Score.
As you may recall, we released our debut album, Fortress Storm Attack, last November. But the work on our follow-up has actually been going on for quite some time now; in fact, most of the songs for it were already written by the time Album One came out.

So right now, we're currently in the phase of pre-production that we like to call "Boot Camp." This is where we start to really nail down the details of the songs, arrange vocal harmonies, and listen to rough demos until our ears bleed. It's a lot of work, but also a lot of fun (really, it is).

The album is shaping up to be an eleven-song affair that is loosely connected by a concept/story, sort of like Iron Maiden's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. It didn't start out that way, but as the songs began to come together over the past year or so, a story just started to suggest itself, and - being fans of that sort of thing - we decided to go with it and see it where it led.

Boot Camp will run through the summer, and hopefully by the fall we'll be able to get back into the studio and start laying down some tracks. The target release date for the whole album is sometime in 2016, but we'd like to be able to get at least one or two advance singles out before then.

So now you know where things stand with both Album Two and Book Two - lucky you! And while you have Second Player Score on your mind, I'd like to formally announce the launch of the official SPS website, where you can listen to tracks from Fortress Storm Attack, see exclusive pictures of the band, purchase some cool merch, and more. We also have some shows lined up for the coming months, so keep watching this space for announcements!

Friday Edit: NeueRegel Radio will be holding their 24 Hours For Autism benefit show starting today (March 27th) at 2pm Pacific Time. Please listen in and donate! I'll be doing a live interview with them at 5pm Pacific to talk about The Spectraland Saga, but stay tuned before and after for some great music and DJs. Hope you can join us - tune in here!

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Talkin' With Joel: Most Annoying Zelda Mini-Games (#6 - The STAR Game)

In case you missed reading about it somewhere (like, perhaps, on the Facebook page for The Spectraland Saga), Netflix announced that they are developing a live-action TV series based on The Legend of Zelda. Very exciting news, indeed! So, in light of that announcement, I figured that it's time to continue our discussion of the Most Annoying Zelda Mini-Games with our special guest, Joel Suzuki.

B: Hi, Joel!
J: Um, you know that the news about that announcement came out forty-one days ago, right?
B: Wow, has it been that long? Time sure flies around here.
J:
B: Are you as excited about it as I am?
J: Well, it sounds cool, but according to an article I read, it may not even happen. And if it does, it probably won't be for a long time. And even then, no one is sure if it will be any good or not.
B: Hmm, those are all valid points. But, I mean...live action Zelda!
J:
B: Okay, anyway, let's get on with it!

#6 - The STAR Game (from Twilight Princess)
B: The first round of this game is actually not that hard. I was able to get it done in a few tries.
J: Um, okay.
B: The second round is much more annoying, though. More orbs, no platforms...plus, the orbs move around each time you play, so it's not like there's some kind of pattern that you can learn and get better at with practice.
J: True.
B: How many tries did it take you?
J: Two.
B: Wow, nice. Although I guess I shouldn't be surprised at this point.
J: You know you don't have to hit the orbs exactly, right?
B: Yeah, it's just...I dunno, I guess the ticking clock thing freaks me out a little bit, so then I rush and mess up and aim at the wrong spot and stuff.
J: The clock freaks me out, too, but I just try to relax and not think about it.
B: That's some good advice. Man, you're full of wisdom today!
J: Are you being sarcastic?
B: No, I'm not.
J: Okay, just checking. That sounded like something Felicity would say.
B: It did, didn't it? Yeah, sometimes she can be -
F: Hey, I heard someone say my name.
B: Oh - hey, Felicity!
F: 'Sup, man. Hey, Joel.
J: Hello.
F: What are you guys doing?
B: Talking about the most annoying mini-games in the Zelda series.
F: Nerds.
B: What about you, what are you doing here?
F: Just passing through. Looking for a soda, actually.
B: We're out. Someone needs to do a store run.
F: Ugh, fine, whatever.
B: Well, that's all the time we have for today. See you all next time for #5!
F: Who are you talking to?

Thursday, March 12, 2015

One Of The Best Shows On Television Right Now Is...

...Gravity Falls on Disney XD (Felicity knew this way before I did, so hats off to her.) The show's writers do a great job of balancing emotion, action, comedy and suspense, making it something that people of all ages can get into - despite the fact that it's ostensibly a kids' cartoon.
Anyone that writes young adult or middle grade fiction can learn a thing or two from this show. As its creator Alex Hirsch said in a recent interview, "first and foremost, it's a show about characters." That's a lesson that we, as writers, should always keep in mind - that no matter how many powerful spells or big explosions or scary monsters we have in our stories, the human element is really what resonates with our readers or viewers. We may not be able to raise the dead or fight shapeshifters, but Dipper's crush on Wendy, Soos' non-relationship with his father, Mabel's rivalry with Pacifica...now those are things that we all can relate to at some level.

Once you have that human element as the backbone for your story, then you can layer on all of the other cool stuff, which Gravity Falls also does an excellent job of doing. For example, the show's theme song is catchy and unique, and a number of episodes use variations of the theme to great effect whenever a certain mood is called for. And the inclusion of ciphers in the credits is a fun idea that engages the more sleuth-y members of the viewership.
I love all of the episodes in both seasons so far, but the last two ("Mansion Noir" and "Not What He Seems") have really taken things to new heights. Especially the ending of "Not What He Seems." Man, that was intense. Anyway, in case you couldn't tell, I strongly recommend checking this show out if you haven't already. I'm glad I did. Globnar!!

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Book Three???

While the draft of Book Two is being reviewed, I've turned my attention for the moment to - gasp - Book Three.
No, not that Book Three
As you may recall, The Spectraland Saga is going to be a seven-book series, for reasons that I discussed in this previous post. I have the general story and character arcs for the entire series sketched out, as well as working titles and basic summaries for each book. That being said, though, there's always a good chance that things will change - maybe significantly - as I do the actual, you know, writing. If you've been following along with this blog, then you know that Book Two underwent a pretty lengthy (okay, very lengthy) process of rewriting and revision to get to the point that it's currently at.

With that in mind, I figured that it's not too early to get a jump on the next installment now, even before Book Two has been finalized. The good news is that, so far, it almost seems to be writing itself - without giving too much away, the events of Book Two lead pretty smoothly into Book Three, even though Two can be read as a mostly self-contained story (just like Book One). At the very least, I'm ahead of my previous pace, when I didn't even really start outlining in earnest until Book One had already been out for two months. See, I'm learning.

So, for a while you'll probably be seeing dual status updates: one for Book Two's progress from draft to finished product (a process that will conclude later this year - yes, I said it again), and one for Book Three's journey from outline onward. I have some really cool things planned for it, so I think it'll be a fun ride.