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Collaboration

Adventures in Co-Authoring with a Sci-Fi Legend: Origins – Act II: Monster Con

February 6, 2022 by holojacob Leave a Comment

Jacob's Well-Loved Copy of In Death Ground
My well-loved copy of In Death Ground.

Catch up on Act I here!

Act II: Monster Con

We arrived early to David’s signing, hoping to not only get my copy of In Death Ground signed, but also to whisk H.P. back home to safety and comfort.

This plan, as with many plans before it, did not survive contact with the enemy.

David had not yet arrived, but his signing was being hosted at a table run by The Royal Manticoran Navy—a fan club for his Honor Harrington series—and so, naturally, there were other David Weber fans hanging out, many in full military cosplay from the Honor Harrington universe. We began to chat about David’s books and the club itself, little knowing that many of the people we chatted with would become close friends to this day.

(Fun Fact from H.P.: It turns out that one of those impending friends was the person who suggested that Monster Con invite David in the first place, and he runs the shop that has since become the top supplier for my mild Funko Pop addiction. Which is to say, Jacob also owes this twist in his writing career to Richard at Richard’s Comics and Collectables, so be sure to swing by his shop and buy everything.)

The conversation soon swung over to books and my own aspirations as an indie author.

At which point, a member of the TRMN said, “Oh, you should talk to David’s wife.”

I was not keen on this at all. What business did we have disturbing David Weber’s wife?

That’s when they decided to drag us over to her table.

Surely enough, Sharon Rice-Weber had been hanging out there the whole time, chatting with the TRMN like they were close family.

I expected to say a quick hello and then leave, but one thing you quickly learn about the Webers is they love people, and they love talking with people.

We ended up chatting with Sharon for over an hour, well past the start of the signing, and nearly to its end. We chatted about writing, about the publishing industry, about the fan club, about recent surgeries—both Sharon and H.P. could sympathize on that one—and when it came time for us to finally break away to have my book signed …

Sharon invited us to lunch with David.

So … we set up a lunch.

Again, H.P. and I expected maybe an hour-long meal and chat in which David politely tolerated this weird, awkward fan’s questions.

We ended up talking for four hours.

Which proved not to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, because David and Sharon asked us out to lunch a second time. And a third. And a fourth. And so on.

At some point, we ended up popping over to the Webers’ house for David’s homemade spaghetti.

And now I can say that I have eaten spaghetti cooked by my favorite author, in that author’s house.

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect my wife’s short (but very frightening) bout with cancer to end there.

And, strangely enough, it didn’t.

Continue to Act III here!

My signed copy of In Death Ground.

Filed Under: Adventures Tagged With: Cancer, Collaboration, Collaborations, David Weber, Honor Harrington, In Death Ground, Jacob Holo, Monster Con, Science Fiction, Sharon Rice-Weber, The Royal Manticoran Navy, TRMN

Excess (Monster Punk Horizon #3) – Cover Reveal!

August 16, 2021 by hpholo Leave a Comment

If you’ve been following us these past two weeks, you’ve seen the first two books in my new series, Monster Punk Horizon, and now Jacob and I are delighted to bring you the cover reveal for Book 3! 😀

Art by Jackson Tjota

Excess (Monster Punk Horizon #3)
by Jacob & H.P. Holo


🌟 GameLit 🌟 Crafting 🌟 Adventure 🌟 Comedy 🌟


✨ Coming December 23rd, 2021 ✨

Audio Release Date TBD


🐉🐉🐉

Loot Like Your Life Depends On It!

Losing a trusty weapon is like losing a close friend, and Pix’s beloved capacitor blade is on its last legs.

Fortunately, she has a plan to craft a new, even better weapon. Unfortunately, her plan involves hunting down a vicious migrating monster that has more teeth than some hunters have brain cells. Even worse, this new creature has riled up the apex monster of Skull Harbor, and both of them are spoiling for a fight.

But Pix has one thing they don’t: a party foolhardy enough to take them both on.

She’ll need all the help she can get, because it’ll take all their combined luck, skill, and oversized weapons to put down these two monsters. But her friends have her back. After all, there’s awesome loot to be had!

If they manage to survive…

Preorder Here!
Or Read a Sample of Book One Here!

Excess is unique from the previous two Monster Punk Horizon books in that it’s a collaboration between me and Jacob!

While I was writing Book 1, Jacob became so fascinated with the world he watched me create that he wanted to write a story in it – and since he was between books in the Gordian Division series at the time, he took the lore I’d already established in Book 1, created a new monster, and churned out the rough draft of Book 3 before I’d even started Book 2! 😄 I then went over it after I’d finished Book 2 and  H.P.-ified the parts Jacob had marked “write whatever here.”

Excess is slightly different in style, too, in that it follows Pix more than Jaz – which is to say, it follows Jacob’s Monster Hunter character instead of my Monster Hunter character. 😉

As you may have guessed from the vibe of the covers, one of Monster Punk Horizon‘s original inspirations came from our nights playing Monster Hunter World together. It’s not quite fanfiction; in fact, my first step when designing the series was to create a world whose basic mechanics and essential history were independent of the various fictions that inspired it, but that still allowed me to pay homage to those fictions and to insert Easter Eggs for fans. 

Even so, our gameplay experience in Monster Hunter World is very much in the DNA of the Monster Punk Horizon series, and particularly in how Pix and Jaz came to be in the first place. Jacob and I have wildly different play styles, his very strategic and mine very … not.  😆 Plus, when I play video games, I have a tendency to invent headcanons totally separate from the lore of whatever game I’m playing – especially in games with stories as simple as Monster Hunter World‘s.

Because of that, Pix and Jaz had personalities and backstories before I even knew I was going to write Monster Punk Horizon, solely because I needed a way to entertain myself during loading screens, and making up stuff about our player characters was a fun way to do it. It’s no coincidence, then, that Jaz is the Leeroy Jenkins of the pair (me), while Pix is the methodical gamer who likes to go in with a plan (Jacob). Stories told from Jaz‘s perspective – that is, Books 1 and 2 – are thus rather more chaotic than stories told from Pix‘s perspective, which I think brings a nice balance to the series as a whole.  After all, even worlds as crazy as this one need a break from the craziness every now and then. 😊

Excess (Monster Punk Horizon #3) is set to release on Kindle Unlimited this December, and is already available for preorder.

And again, if you’d like to be one of the lucky people to read it early, be sure to join the Pug Scouts – our VIP Street Team! 😀 I’ll be sending out eARCs soon, and all you have to do in exchange for your free book is post a review once the book is live!

Join Our Street Team Here!

***

Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.

Filed Under: Holo Books Tagged With: Action, action adventure, adventure, Collaborating, Collaboration, Comedy, coming soon, Excess, Fantasy, fantasy comedy, GameLit, gamer, gaming, Kindle Unlimited, Leeroy Jenkins, LitRPG, Loot, Monster Hunt, Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter games, Monster Hunter Rise, Monster Hunter World, Monster Hunting, Video Games

David Weber and Jacob talk The Valkyrie Protocol on the Weberverse!

September 22, 2020 by hpholo Leave a Comment

Here’s even more from The Weberverse! This time, David and Jacob chat The Valkyrie Protocol together, from how the whole adventure started to the details of the writing process.

Filed Under: Holo Books Tagged With: Baen, baen books, Collaboration, David Weber, Jacob Holo, military sci fi, multiverse, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, The Gordian Protocol, The Valkyrie Protocol, time machine, time machines, time travel, time travelers

David Weber talks The Valkyrie Protocol!

July 17, 2020 by hpholo Leave a Comment

Valkyrie Facebook Cover Photo
Here’s more from The Weberverse! This time David talks the process of collaborating with Jacob, creating time travel rules, creating (and destroying) entire parallel universes, and other such fun whatnot in The Valkyrie Protocol. 😄 Check it out below or watch it on YouTube!

Filed Under: Holo Books Tagged With: Antioch, baen books, Belisarius, Byzantine, Byzantium, child universe, Collaboration, Constantinople, David Weber, Jacob Holo, Library of Alexandria, Parallel Universes, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, The Valkyrie Protocol, time machine, time machines, time travel, time travel rules

A Funny Story About Writing The Gordian Protocol

May 10, 2019 by holojacob Leave a Comment

The Gordian Protocol Cover
*Originally posted 3/6/19 on the Weber Forums.
PLEASE NOTE: This post will contain a few vague references to parts of The Gordian Protocol‘s plot and characters. I’ll do my best to keep from spoiling anything, but those who wish to experience the novel without any spoilers of any kind should avoid this post in its entirety.
Though, honestly, if you’re reading this, are you really trying your best to avoid spoilers? 🙂
Now, onto the story.
It’s spring of 2017, I’m deep into writing my scenes for The Gordian Protocol, and I come across a…problem. Not a big problem, mind you, but more of a “Hmm, how best to handle this?” kind of situation. I was quickly approaching a scene where I needed to get a key character onto the protagonists’ time machine. And the character (let’s call him “Jimmy”) had to board the time machine willing. That’s the important part, and I need to be snappy about it, because the story was on a serious crescendo, and I wanted to maintain that forward momentum into the climax.
Problem is, there’s a lot tying Jimmy to his native place in history. A lot.
This is a man for whom duty runs thick through his veins, especially to his…goldfish. (Okay, you know it’s not his goldfish, but I’m rolling with this as part of my anti-spoiler tactics.) He needs a Very-Good-Reason to leave his goldfish behind. He and that goldfish have been through some tough times together! Granted, our protagonists have that Very-Good-Reason, but their story isn’t the easiest one to digest, and Jimmy is no fool, especially when the needs of his goldfish are concerned. There will be questions. There will be discussions. There will be…delays.
Hence, I had a problem.
I took a step back and reviewed David’s notes. This was often my first step when I wasn’t quite sure how to proceed. Between the alternate history notes and deep character background, I had over 40,000 words of material to pull from when writing my scenes, and those notes almost always provided the guidance I needed to support David’s vision for the novel.
So, I looked up David’s notes on Jimmy and… Aha! This particular goldfish wasn’t named here! It only listed that Jimmy…found a second goldfish, long after the untimely passing of his first goldfish. (Have you figured out what the goldfish is?)
Well… 😜
Let me segue for a moment here and talk a bit about the collaboration process. As the junior partner on a project, I view it as my responsibility to support the senior partner’s overall vision for the novel while also contributing my own original ideas. Balancing the two can be tricky at times, so I was always keen to identify which parts of this story I needed to strictly follow David’s lead and which parts were my sandbox to explore.
The lack of a name for Jimmy’s second goldfish was like a bright green flag waving in my mind. We were in sandbox territory here! Yes! I could do whatever I wanted with the goldfish!
I pondered how to approach the problem with this newfound narrative freedom. And then it hit me. Jimmy’s goldfish couldn’t tie him down…if it wasn’t around anymore!
So I blew up the goldfish during one of the novel’s action set pieces. Little smoking pieces of fish strewn everywhere. Thus Jimmy was free to board the time machine without hesitation, and the plot could move forward efficiently. The engineer in me was quite pleased with how I’d dealt with the problem. KISS principle, you know? (Keep It Simple Stupid)
Sometimes it’s easiest just to dynamite the obstacle.
I went on to finish my portion of the novel and hand it over.
A little while later, David reviewed my work, and we had a conversation that went something like this (heavy paraphrasing to follow):
DW: So, you know Jimmy’s goldfish?
JH: The first or the second?
DW: The second. The one you blew up.
JH: Sure, I do. I’m the one who blew it up, after all.
DW: Right, about that. You do realize I had a story planned for that goldfish in the sequel.
JH: …You did? 😬
At this point, my internal dialogue looked something like this: Oh, &%#$! Oh, &%#$! Oh, &%#$!
DW: Yeah, you mind if I rework those scenes?
JH: What? Oh, uhh, no, not at all! Please, be my guest! Edit away! I wasn’t sure how best to approach that part anyway!
A little while later, I received David’s next set of revisions. And boy, was I in for a surprise!
You see, he didn’t take the goldfish death out. In fact, he ended up making the death scene even WORSE! He didn’t just blow it up! He mangled the goldfish’s body, had it flopping around on the floor, gasping for air, and then had it die in Jimmy’s arms!
I remember reading it, thinking to myself, “Wait a second. Isn’t the goldfish supposed to live?” And then a little bit later, “Huh. Guess not.”
And, wow. I absolutely loved the changes he made. He took a scene I wrote out of a desire to move the story forward as cleanly as possible, reworked it here, massaged it there, and then cranked the emotional impact up to eleven! It was a fantastic scene, but it’s also one he wouldn’t have written if I hadn’t killed…the goldfish…when I shouldn’t have. A small misunderstanding ended up blossoming into something neither of us would have written on our own, and it’s moments like this that make collaborating with another author such an awesome experience.
That said, I told David afterwards we should probably establish a “Thou Shalt Not Kill These Characters” list for future projects. 🙂
Speaking of which, I think I’ve procrastinated enough today. Time for me to get back to work on the sequel to The Gordian Protocol. I’ve got a lot of [REDACTED] to blow up this week. 😄😄😄

Filed Under: Holo Books Tagged With: Alternate History, Alternative History, Collaboration, David Weber, Goldfish, The Gordian Protocol, time travel, Writing, Writing Problems, Writing Techniques

Interview with Keystroke Medium!

May 6, 2019 by hpholo Leave a Comment

keystrokemediumEarlier tonight, David Weber and Jacob joined Josh and Steve over at Keystroke Medium to chat collaboration, publishing, and The Gordian Protocol. Check out the interview below! 😀

And of course, for more interviews and writing insight, visit Keystroke Medium’s website and YouTube channel!
Also, LESS THAN ONE DAY TO GO, Y’ALL! 😀😀😀
The Gordian Protocol Cover Photo

Filed Under: Holo Books Tagged With: Alternate History, baen books, Collaboration, David Weber, Indie Publishing, Jacob Holo, Keystroke Medium, May 2019, Publishing, self publishing, The Gordian Protocol, time travel, Traditional Publishing, Writing, Writing Techniques, YouTube

FantaSci Panel Schedule!

March 17, 2019 by hpholo Leave a Comment

fantasci
Hey, readers! Our 2019 con season is kicking off this weekend at FantaSci in Durham, NC!
Here’s a list of our panel appearances and fellow panelists:
COLLABORATING WITH AN AUTHOR
FRIDAY, March 22nd @ 3pm – Camellia
Writing by oneself is a journey, but collaborating with an author is a whole other kind of adventure! We’ll discuss the perks and challenges that come about when two heads come together (sometimes literally).
Panelists: Jacob & H.P. Holo, David Weber
SELF-PUBLISHING FOR SHY PEOPLE
FRIDAY, March 22nd @ 4pm – Camellia
For many aspiring authors, being an introvert is almost synonymous with being a writer…but unfortunately, that doesn’t sell books. We’ll discuss how to get the word out about your writing when all you want to do is hide behind your favorite notebook.
Panelists: H.P. Holo

CARE AND FEEDING OF AUTHORS
SATURDAY, March 23rd @ 11am – Camellia
The role that wives, significant others, family and friends have in caring for the writers that we love so that they can focus on creating the stories that we love.
Panelists: H.P. Holo and other author spouses

WRITING BY THE SEAT OF YOUR PANTS
SATURDAY, March 23rd @ 1pm – Rose
Pantsers unite! Some writers like to chart their story’s course and follow it to the letter. We are not those writers. We’ll discuss tips for writers who want to wander…without getting lost.
Panelists: H.P. Holo, Christopher Woods, Rob Howell, Terry Maggert, and Jason Graves

CHAOS OF CREATION: BALANCING WORLD BUILDING WITH STORY
SATURDAY, March 23rd @ 6pm – Rose
Sometimes you create a world so vast, you can’t possibly fit it all in a readable story. How, then, do you decide what to keep? We’ll discuss how to write a fascinating world while keeping readers engaged through plot and character.
Panelists: Jacob & H.P. Holo
JUMP, JIVE, and WRITE: A DISCUSSION OF MUSIC AS CREATIVE INSPIRATION
SUNDAY, March 24th @ 9am – Rose
The great philosopher, Plato, once said that “music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” Come hear a panel of authors discuss their musical influences growing up, as well as the songs, artists, and themes that drive their writing today.
Panelists: Jacob & H.P. Holo, Jason Cordova, Jason Graves, and Ian Malone

CRAFTING TIME TRAVEL RULESETS
SUNDAY, March 24th @ 11am – Magnolia (Main Room)
Time travel writing is fraught with paradoxes and endless potential for plot holes. We’ll discuss how to design a time travel system that doesn’t break your universe.
Panelists: Jacob Holo and Steve White

Schedule is subject to change so, check out the website or Facebook page for the most up-to-date info.
See you this weekend! 😀

Filed Under: Holo Books Tagged With: Co-Author, Co-Authoring, Collaboration, Con Panels, Conventions, David Weber, Durham, FantaSci, Fantasy, Honor Harrington, Honorverse, Panel Topics, Panels, Science Fiction, self publishing, time travel, World Building

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