Holo Writing

Authors Jacob & H.P. Holo

Novel Origin

Time Reavers – Novel Origin

by 1 Comment

Here’s the setting. I’m in Stuttgart, Germany, and I’m waiting for the train to arrive at the main station. I look around and think to myself: You know, it would be really cool if I could freeze time and still move around. That would be a handy super power to have.
And boom. I had the idea for Time Reavers.
Seriously, that’s how it happened. It’s as dumb as it sounds.
Soon after that, I sat down in my hotel room and wrote a short story. This story eventually became the first and second chapters of Time Reavers. In it, the main character Nicole gets sucked into a pocket of frozen time (inside a Saint Petersberg subway station, no less), meets a rather quirky swordsman, and helps him fight a reaver.
time reavers front cover smallFriendly looking fellows, aren’t they?
Around this time, I was in a major writing transition. Unsatisfied with my previous ten novels (and, naturally, my inability to get them published), I decided to completely rework my writing style. This process went about as smooth and painless as you’d expect (i.e. not at all). I chose Time Reavers to be the first experiment with this new writing style.
Oh, and just to make this even more difficult, I decided to write a contemporary fantasy novel instead of my usual military sci-fi stuff. No sweat, right?
Right …
But Time Reavers turned out to be the perfect novel for this transition. With most of the story taking place in the real world, I easily avoided many of my earlier pitfalls. I didn’t have to explain the world. Readers already understood it. Planes were planes. Cars were cars. For the first time in four novels, I didn’t have to describe what mnemonic alloy was.
Oh yeah, it felt good.
It became easy to cut the novel down to its core, streamline the prose, and deliver the scenes at a brisk pace. This allowed me to focus on the few fantastical elements, such as the whole freezing time thing, people with super powers, and the reavers.

time reavers back cover small

Ah, yes. The reavers. Oh, did I have fun with these villains. Their basic design started by mixing a bunch of phobias I have. I figured if I find them creepy, other people might as well. By the way, I posed for that artwork. Don’t believe me? CHECK THIS OUT!

jacob holo is the mantis

Yeah, that’s embarrassing. But at least it’s not as bad as The Dragons of Jupiter reference photos. No seriously. You see the Crusader with the thermal lance? The one on the right? This guy over here?
the dragons of jupiter cover crusader with thermal lanceYeah, that’s me holding a trash can. I kid you not. For the other two Crusaders, I was holding a paintball gun.
And I’m not showing those pictures. Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.
Anyway, even when Time Reavers was finished, it wasn’t really finished. Recently, the novel went through a major edit. I added a few extra action scenes (can never have too many of those), enhanced the role of a side character, cut some of the dead weight near the end, and … oh yeah, dropped everyone’s age by five years.
Yep. I turned Time Reavers into a Young Adult novel. After H.P. read the initial version, she recommended the change to YA. And while, at first, I wasn’t too crazy about it …
H.P. Holo: You should turn this into a young adult book.
Jacob Holo: Seriously? Isn’t it too violent for teens?
H.P. Holo: Pffffthttttttfffffffrrrp! Haven’t you read The Hunger Games?
Jacob Holo: The what games?
H.P. Holo: Oh, we have to fix this.
I eventually warmed to the idea. And now here we are, just about ready to publish our second novel. It’s going to be fun!
Subscribe to the Holo Writing Newsletter to receive updates on our current and future books.

The Dragons of Jupiter – Novel Origin

by Leave a Comment

the dragons of jupiter cover front v2 blogIt’s 2006. I’m on assignment in Germany. The weekend has arrived, and I’m bored. It’s a cold, wet, miserable winter day. The hotel has no internet, and I can’t understand a word on the television. Well, except for “Ich möchte ein Bier, bitte.” I had that phrase down solid.
I decide to write.
That’s how The Dragons of Jupiter began. In a German hotel. It’s kind of weird when I think about it. I had already penned ten novels by that point, none published, some better than others, but my overall style was lacking. I had too much Tell, not enough Show. Sickening amounts of exposition bogged down my prose. The writing had two basic modes: explosions and exposition.
That had to change, and that change began with a short story: two teams of super soldiers fighting it out on the moon. I had a lot of fun writing the story. I rummaged through my mental garbage bin, stealing ideas from previous novels, throwing them in wherever and whenever.
I loaded the story up with cool tech, showing the weapons and gear in action rather than ponderously explaining everything. I focused on creating an example of asymmetrical combat: two sides with very different fighting styles and equipment, but still roughly equivalent in power.
Many of the elements in The Dragons of Jupiter made their first appearances here. The Dragons, invisible space ninjas that they are, were in full display, sniping and backstabbing like champs. The Crusaders, with their bulky armor and devastating weapons, also made a showing, gunning down anything in their path. In fact, most of the tech went unchanged in the transition from short story to novel. Locations and political entities like Europa, the Federacy, the Lunar State, and even New London made the switch pretty much as is.
The characters, though. Yeah, umm, there’s no hiding it. They were flat. Flat like cardboard. The story had explosions and cool tech, but no soul. It also had a really depressing ending (and that’s assuming you even cared about the characters). At the time, for some bizarre reason, I believed my upbeat endings were the reason I couldn’t sell stories, so I decided a change of pace was in order.
dragons of jupiter crusader firepower-smallYeah, in the short story, all the Dragons get slaughtered. Spoilers.
This was my first and last experiment in depressing endings, just to set the record straight.
I was generally happy with the result. When I got back to Michigan, I printed off some copies and shared them with a local writers group. The result was nearly unanimous. They hated the story. One of the writers said my characters were “stupid dildo heads.” He used exclamation points.
Ouch.
They also found all the tech details confusing, said I should tone it down and make it simpler.
Yeah, not going to happen.
Now, don’t get me wrong. There are times you should listen to the advice of others. And then there are times when you just go with your gut. I went with my gut on this one and got a second opinion. I shared the story with some friends who read a lot of sci-fi, and wouldn’t you know it? They had a very different reaction. The story wasn’t perfect. Far from it, but they saw what the writers group had not: the seed of a bigger and better story.
And, with some encouragement and a lot of hard work, that seed eventually blossomed into The Dragons of Jupiter. Oh, and just to be on the safe side, I stuffed it with even more ridiculous tech details than the short story. Because, you know, that’s just how I roll with it sometimes.
If I had listened to that writers group, I would have never written the novel, never self-published it, and you can forget about a sequel.
time reavers cover front 266Instead, it’s full speed ahead! Not only did H.P. and I publish The Dragons of Jupiter, but we’re going publish Time Reavers before the year is out.

And we’re just getting started!

Subscribe to the Holo Writing Newsletter to receive updates on our current and future books.