Waterstone Media

Stories Matter

Disaster Stories

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There was a day when disaster movies were some of my favorite.  Armageddon. Deep Impact. The Day After Tomorrow. I loved all of them.

Part of the reason was because of the tremendous special effects in the movies. I’ve always loved effects, and these movies all made great use of them.

There was another reason I loved them, too. Ultimately, most disaster movies are about the best parts of humanity. Sacrifice, courage, and wisdom when we are really pushed to the edge. Spoiler alert here, but when Bruce Willis sacrifices himself at the end of Armageddon, I still cry every time. The sacrifice of the one to save many will always resonate with me.

I think the fist time something really changed for me was when I watched 2012. When the disasters began, for the very first time, I just sat there thinking about how I was watching, for enjoyment, thousands upon thousands of people dying. I had never had that thought before, and it really sat with me.

Since that time we’ve seen the rise of the superhero movie, which in a sense, is always a disaster movie. The Avengers destroy several cities in their movies, and there was no end to the controversy of Man of Steel, where Metropolis got the living daylights beat out of it in the final slugfest.

I still have a soft spot in my heart for disaster movies, but I think I’ve identified a consistent problem in them from a storyteller’s perspective. The problem is one of stakes.
Everybody knows that for a good story, there need to be stakes. For the protagonist, these stakes need to be high. The higher they are, the more drama and emotion supposedly follows.

I’d argue that “end of the world” scenarios aren’t high stakes. Stakes come through emotional investment, and when we watch thousands of computer-generated individuals perish in an earthquake, we struggle to connect, leading to the sense of horror I felt watching 2012.

Filmmakers know this, too. It’s why in a superhero movie Superman will always have to rescue Lois Lane, and why family always plays such an important role in disaster movies. As humans, we’re hardwired to care for individuals, and the plight of one main character is far more meaningful than the plight of thousands of extras, CGI or real.

I don’t necessarily have great answers to the challenge. It would be difficult to pitch a Marvel movie where the fate of the entire universe isn’t at stake. But I’d be very intrigued to see the results. What would a disaster movie look like if it kept a razor-sharp focus on a handful of people?

I’ll end by returning to this thought. One of my favorite movies this year has been Arrival. On the surface, it has all the hallmarks of a disaster movie. Aliens, potentially threatening the entire planet? Talk of an alien weapon? Political and military tension? It’s all there, but at the heart of the story, all of that is just background for the development of one character, and that made for a beautiful movie.

Thanks,

Ryan

Why I Went Indie

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So, last week I wrote a short post expressing some gratitude to Amazon for creating a place where independent fiction can thrive. Today I figured I’d talk a little bit about why I went independent in the first place.

A little bit of history to start:
I’ve been writing for as long as I’ve known how to. Someday, I’ll share with you some of the first stories I wrote in second grade. They are of course, beyond horrible, but they’re pretty funny.
But even though I’ve always written, I’d never, ever considered a career as an author. In hindsight, maybe I should have, but I focused on education and youth work, and worked in those fields for over a decade. Through it all though, I kept writing, just for myself.

I’d have to go back and check my files, but Nightblade was either the second or third full-length novel I wrote. However, it was the first one I liked. But even after writing it (in 2012), I didn’t even consider publishing it. It was just a good story. I wrote another novel afterwords, which was also horrible.
To make a long story of discovery short, I came upon the Self-publishing podcast. I read their first non-fiction work, Write, Publish, Repeat, and for the first time I thought to myself that perhaps there was something to this idea of independent publishing.

After a substantial amount of debate with myself, I made the decision to go independent. There were a few reasons for this.

First, I hadn’t really expected to make a career out of it. I was dissatisfied with my other work in life and was looking to figure out how to work from home, but I was focused much more on consulting and freelance writing. I figured if I could make an extra $50-$100 a month through Amazon, why not? Being as I wasn’t looking at making a career out of it, I figured there was no point going through the traditional publishing cycle of rejection. I’d just make something as nice as I could and put it out there.

Second, I liked the idea of control over your work and your success. With independent publishing, there’s no one else to blame but yourself. I got to pick the cover and decide how the story ended. Anything good or bad about the book is entirely in my hands – and I liked that idea.

Finally, I liked the idea of connecting with fans directly. With independent publishing, there’s no one between me and readers, and I thought that was great.
To say the story took some twists and turns is an understatement, but I’m glad I went independent!

Cheers,

Ryan

Why Indie?

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So, this October, Amazon is celebrating independent fiction, complete with its own hashtag: #poweredbyindie

As part of the celebration, Amazon is featuring independent works by a wide range of authors, and I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of the featured independent authors.

For some reason, the emails from Amazon put me into a reflective mood, and I was thinking about how crazy the journey has been. I quit my full time job just a little over a year ago, in August of 2015. My wife, bless her, told me I had one year to generate enough income to replace my old one. After years of working on Nightblade, I finally took the leap, hit publish, and waited to see what would happen.

Since then, I’ve published four stories on Amazon, and I have more ideas than I have time to write (even though I’m writing full-time). Every week I get to hear from people who have enjoyed the stories.

Next week I’ll write about why I went indie, but for today, I just wanted to express gratitude. I think that often, technology is a two-edged sword. But the advent of the kindle and digital reading has shaken up the industry, and it has given me a chance to tell stories for a living, and for that I’ll always be grateful.

There’s another aspect to independent publishing that doesn’t often get mentioned: a closer connection between authors and readers. Because of the nature of independent publishing, there aren’t so many layers between authors and readers. For the first time, we live in a world where its easy to say “Hi” to the person who wrote our new favorite book. As both an author and an avid reader, this has been fantastic.

So, to all of you who have made this journey possible, thank you.

Ryan

Release date set for The Wind and the Void!

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It’s been a very busy month over here at Waterstone Media, and I continue to be really excited about what 2016 holds.  But I’ll get right to the point today:  I can finally commit to a release date for The Wind and the Void!
The Wind and the Void should be live on Amazon on Saturday, March 26th.  Like World’s Edge, it will debut at $2.99.  On Tuesday I will raise the price to its regular price of $3.99.
I think that’s all for now.  I’ll let everyone know once the title is live, but for today I’ll leave you with this – the cover for The Wind and the Void.
audio book cover - The Wind And The Void - Ryan Kirk
With gratitude,
Ryan

Behind the Scenes of The Wind and the Void

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I hope this finds you all doing well!

First of all, I wanted to apologize for my silence on the website as of late.  I think I’ve broken almost every resolution I made at the beginning of the year, and that’s entirely my fault.  I will be trying to get better!

Today I wanted to take a moment to talk about The Wind and the Void, the third and final book of the Nightblade Trilogy.  It’s been quite a while since World’s Edge was released, and everyone has been more than patient with me waiting for the third book.  But for those of you interested in how the series has developed, perhaps this will be interesting reading.  It will hopefully also explain why the book has been so late in coming.

The Nightblade Trilogy began back in 2011.  At the time I had written several novel-length stories (all of which were beyond horrible and will never see the light of day) and had an idea for a great story, a story about a boy who discovered he had the power to be an amazing swordsman.  From that single seed the story grew, and I wrote while holding down a full-time job, writing about a thousand words a day for about 150 days.

When I was finished, I was proud of what I had written, but at the time I was writing simply for the sake of writing.  I had no greater goal.  I set the first draft aside and moved on to other projects.

In 2014 I made the decision to attempt to publish my story as the first part of a trilogy.  My first step was to try to write the first draft of the second book.  Then I went back to Nightblade and worked a second draft.  In the summer of 2015 I wrote the first draft of the third book.  Then, knowing how the series would end, I went back for the final draft of Nightblade.  Don’t worry if that all sounds confusing.  It was for me too, and I’ll not do that again.

The important piece of all of this was that while I had the entire trilogy written, it wasn’t as close to done as I thought it was.  In my head, I thought I would have all three out by December of 2015, which now seems foolish.

In August of 2015 I published Nightblade and started editing World’s Edge.  But as I edited, the story changed, substantially.  I won’t put any spoilers on the page, but Moriko’s story was originally half as long and didn’t have her going into Azaria.  Needless to say, the final product is a far cry from the first draft.

I published World’s Edge in October of 2015, still thinking there would be a chance of finishing the trilogy by December.  But as I re-read the first draft of The Wind and the Void, I knew I was wrong.  The story had changed so much there was almost no connection between the second and third stories.  It took me a few days of deliberation, but I decided to scrap the entire book.  I saved a few sections I knew would still be good in the new book, but I figured it would be faster to just rewrite than try to edit what was there.  In the end, I threw away over 130,000 words.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t that disappointing.  I thought I’d be sad to lose so many words, but I knew I was doing the right thing.  I’ve lived and breathed the world for six months, and I knew I could do better.

And that’s the reason why The Wind and the Void has been so far behind the others.  I’ve written the entire book twice, but I’m very happy I did so.  It did mean I pushed myself pretty hard to get it done in a reasonable time, but I’m happy with the book right now.

The book has been with the editor for a while now, and if all goes according to plan, the book will release on March 25.  It’s not a promise yet, but it is my goal.  I can guarantee, and will promise, that at the very latest, the book will be published by the end of the first week of April, but I’m hoping it’s done sooner.

Moving forward, I’ll try to be in touch more!  Take care, and keep reading!

Ryan

Waterstone Media in 2016

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January has been an excellent month for me, and it’s hard to believe that it has already almost gone.  I’ve been diving deep into The Wind and the Void, and I’m excited to bring this story to its conclusion.
I wanted to both say thanks and to keep you updated on what is happening behind the scenes here at Waterstone Media.  First, I do need to say thanks, to all of you.  Your support and kind words have been welcome, and I’ve enjoyed the emails, tweets, and facebook questions and comments.  It means a lot to me to be able to tell stories for a living, and you make it all possible.
2016 is shaping up to be a pretty big year for me here.  I will definitely be switching over to writing fiction full time, and I’m excited to be able to put more stories out this year.  Here’s the short version:
1.  My first and most important job is to finish The Wind and the Void and get it into your hands.  Right now, it looks as though it will be sometime in the month of March, but I should be able to commit to a firm date within the next 2-3 weeks.
2.  The Audiobooks from the Nightblade series are also in production.  I expect World’s Edge to be released in the first half of February, and The Wind and the Void to be released a month or two after the digital release.  I will let you know when they are finished!
3.  I do plan on seeking a traditional publishing deal this year.  It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m hopeful that someday you’ll be able to see my work on your local bookstore shelves.
4.  Finally, I plan on writing and releasing at least three other stories this year, independently, in addition to wrapping up the Nightblade series.  I’m excited to write in some other worlds, and I hope you all will enjoy the stories!
Take care all, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re interested!
With gratitude,
Ryan