Five Things on a Friday: Lex Luthor, Green Lantern

Happy Friday, friends!

If you're wondering, I didn't mean to be gone all week. I want to build a better following on the blog with my book coming out, and writing nothing for a full week is not the way to get that done. 

What can you do? I got busy this week. Not just with AFF but rewriting Dr. Necropolis's sequel, Gun Girl Gracie. I really want to get that thing out to test-readers soon, but I want to make sure that it's as good as it can be before I send it off, so I wound up kind of falling down the rabbit hole with it.

Anyway. We're back now. Let's get into it.

1. Dr. Necropolis Update

I sent the manuscript off to the typesetter, and honestly, sending that thing away was maybe the most nerve-wracking part of the entire writing process. They say that authors never really finish books, they just sort of abandon them, and I feel that. This one has been a part of my life for so long that actually letting it go has made me kind of crazy.

I really hope you guys like the book. I mean, I already know that it's not for everyone, and that's okay. But for folks who like science fiction, crime noir, and/or crazy superhero stories, I really hope you find something in here that speaks to you.

I also got another sample cover from Natalia over at Dawn Book Design this week. I still don't think we're quite ready to show you anything just yet, but it was cool. I'm excited about it.

Finally, I mentioned last week that I'd asked my friend Alan Evans, creator of the webcomic Rival Angels, for a quote for the book. He got back to me maybe three hours after I published last week's column.

“The Return of Dr. Necropolis is a compelling story of sacrifice, second chances, and the self-destructive power of hubris. It sinks its teeth into you and won’t let go until the final page.” 

 — Alan Evans, creator of Rival Angels 

If you've never heard of it, Rival Angels was a long-running webcomic about a women's professional wrestling league. It was a really interesting project that found a lot of fans. Alan's now got something like seven volumes of the collected story up on Amazon. He and I collaborated on a 10-page Halloween Special way back in 2007 or 2008, so if you've ever wanted to know what I'd do as a pro-wrestling booker, now you can find out.

2. Lex Luthor: Green Lantern

Turns out, they've done this one before.

We all watched Lanterns, right? I mean, ten million people watched the finale, so I'm gonna assume you've seen it. I liked the show quite a bit.

I was wondering if/how one might adapt Green Lantern-style ideas into the Necropolis Universe and slowly came around to the idea of Lex Luthor becoming a Lantern. Because let's be honest. Lex Luthor would be the best Green Lantern. Dude has willpower for days, can do everything Jon Stewart can do, and is totally committed to keeping the Earth safe from aliens.

So I got this idea of Luthor getting the ring maybe shortly after getting out of prison. And he sees the ring as an opportunity to go straight. Here he has a chance to do something that he basically believes is right, and with the ring, he can do it above board with the support of the Guardians of the Universe. Lex is a business-guy, so he knows a win-win when he sees one.

But he's Lex Luthor, right? At the end of the day, he can't help himself. Dude is Lawful Evil, with a capital "E", and that lawful nature only goes so far. So we'd do maybe three or four story arcs where he's trying to be a good Lantern, to do the job right, but we'll see him make increasingly questionable choices until things finally spin completely out of control.

I feel like this story could work. I now want to see this thing.

3. Don't Say It - Live

This week's music comes from Samantha Fish's new concert album, Paper Doll (Live). I found myself listening to this album several times during the week, mostly on my way to or from the pool.

4. Four Quarter Thriller: UTSA 31, USF 24 (ESPN)

This game played out more-or-less the way we might've expected. The Bulls got out to an early lead, but they finished with just 288 yards of total offense and UTSA wound up coming back to win with about :15 left on the clock. 

Is this the year UTSA Coach Jeff Traylor finally wins the American? 

It might be. I think he's a good coach, and I also think he's got the league's best team. I guess we'll see. It'll help a lot if they can play the American Conference Championship Game in the Alamodome. Nobody but Jeff Monken ever beats Traylor's team when they're at home.

The only thing that annoys me about this is that I took Under 50.5 points in this game in AFF's picks league -- because USF's offense is shit -- and the game totalled 55.

Sigh.

5. Page Chewing: Beyond the Page

I did Page Chewing's Beyond the Page podcast last night to promote The Return of Dr. Necropolis. This was -- easily -- the most literary podcast I've ever done. We talked about the writing process for forty-five minutes. That was also really cool. I don't get to stay in that mode all the time. Normally everyone wants to talk swimming or West Point or Army-Navy or whatever. The way this show played out felt almost shocking. 

Look for the interview next week. I'll let you know when it drops.

One thing I've realized doing these shows is that I should've put up the pre-order page for my book before starting this little media tour. At the time, I thought I'd promote AFF and then let people get interested in my other work that way, but folks have seemed to want to talk about Dr. Necropolis lately, and while that's great, I'm not totally in position to take advantage of this opportunity.

It seems like a stupid mistake in retrospect, but we are where we are. That said, as soon as I have a final cover for the book, that pre-order link is going up.

* * *

That's all we've got this week. Not much news this time around, but the world is on fire, and I just can't bring myself to dwell on it. Thanks for your time, regardless. God willing, we'll do more than just one column in this space next week.

For now, please go check out my appearance on the FAFO Podcast, and if you haven't already, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE sign up for the Dr. Necropolis mailing list. That is by far the best way to stay up to date with the book and with my future work.

See you next week. Or at Michie Stadium if you're going to tomorrow's game.

Cheer loud, friends!