Ask a Superhero: Picking a Costume

Welcome to our continuing weekly feature where we ask a question of a Superhero, Dave Johnson, aka Powerhouse and the Emerald Avenger.

Interview: Our next question comes from Abner Hollaran in Lewisville, Texas. Abner thinks your custome looks great, but it doesn't look comfortable.

Dave Johnson: It's not really.

Int: If it's not comfortable, why do you wear it?

Dave: There are three priorities in Superhero costumes. The top priority is a cool looking design. The second is safety.

Int.: Wait a second. You're saying its more important that your custome look cool than be safe.

Dave: What good is it to be safe if people laugh at you when you come to rescue them. Safety is a close second, though. Then, there's comfort. Unfortunately, looking good and being safe can make you kind of stiff. That's why when I get home from work, I change into something more relaxing.

Int.: Have you ever thought of doing a Casual Friday?

Dave: Casual Friday?

Int.: You know instead of your Superhero costume, you fly into town with a Superhero t-shirt, a light mask, and a pair of shorts.

Dave: If I were to fly into town on a rocket pack wearing a pair of shorts, there would be a barbeque on Casual Friday.

Int: What would be cooked?

Dave: My legs. Second, office workers can have casual Fridays because their work is over. But not superheroes. We fight a continuous skirmish-

Int.: You mean never ending-

Dave: No, the lawyers said I had to use continuous skirmish. As I was saying, we fight a continuous skirmish against the forces of larceny, drug dealing, and murder. Evil doesn't take the weekends off, so our resolve can never weaken, and neither can our clothes.

Int.: How do you keep your costume clean.

Dave: Easy, I imagine my costume into existence, so its clean when I put it on. I also dust off my already clean costume.

*Dave stands and dusts off his already clean costume.*

Int.: But it was already cleaned.

Dave: Of course, it's clean because I dusted it off.

Int (sighs): Ookay. E-mail your questions for Dave to askasuperhero@laserandsword.com. Then follow his story every Tuesday at Laser and Sword Magazine. Tales of the Dim Knight is set for release November 22nd, but you can sample the first four chapters for free in our ebook.

Ask a Superhero: Picking a Name

Welcome to our continuing weekly feature where we ask a question of a Superhero, Dave Johnson, aka Powerhouse and the Emerald Avenger.

Interviewer: Our next question comes Kit Tyler in Tyler, Texas. Kit wants to know if he became a superhero, how would he pick out his name?

Dave: This is a great question for a potential superhero to think of and I racked my brain until one of my kids gave me a name. As you may not have a kid to name you, I actually have come up with some great supehero names that I'll let anyone takes who wants to use them:

1. The Human Itch
2. Expendable Man
3. The Fool
4. The Rope Burn Kid
5. Amoeba Dude
6. The Amazing Ordinary Man
7. Flea Bag
8. Flag Football Commando
9. Used Car Man

Int: And if people don't want the villains to laugh.

Dave: Well, there's a reason these names haven't been taken yet. Otherwise, you just need to make sure the name's not taken. Perhaps, the best thing to do is to use a Thesaurus. For example if you want to strike fear in the hearts of criminals use a synonym for fear and put a "the"before it. Anyone will do.

Int: Like The Terror?

Dave: No, The Terror's been taken. However, you could be, The Consternation.

Int: So, 'Stand back villains, I'm the Costernation.'

Dave: You got it.

Int: That doesn't sound quite right.

Dave: Well, you take it out for a test drive, use it on a mission and see how it works. If the name doesn't work out, try another one.

Int: E-mail your questions for Dave to askasuperhero@laserandsword.com. Then follow his story every Tuesday at Laser and Sword Magazine. Tales of the Dim Knight is set for release November 22nd, but you can sample the first four chapters for free in our ebook.

Ask a Superhero: What Do You Think You Were Doing?

Welcome to our continuing weekly feature where we ask a question of a Superhero, Dave Johnson, aka Powerhouse and the Emerald Avenger.
Interviewer: Well, fancy meeting you.

Dave Johnson: You in a bad mood?

Int.: You were supposed to be here every week for the past two months! And I've been here and where have you been? Do you think I've got nothing better to do.

Dave: Really, I'm sorry.

Int.: You could have called, you could have written-

Dave: Would you like to know why I was gone?

Int.: I don't care! I have no interest in knowing what you were doing. I just have one question.

Dave: And that is?

Int.: What were you doing all these months?

*Dave blinks*

Dave: Okay, well, the writers were doing a rewrite. They wanted to fill in some blanks.

Int.: It took them two months.

Dave: Well, they interviewed Naomi and her friend Carmela, and they needed to get some more information from me. Apparently, I'd been a little vague on a few details.

Int.: Is there anything else to come out of this?

Dave: Well, the authors felt the door was open to a sequel.

Int.: So that's what this was all about. A sequel! You get more royalties, they get more royalties and I spend two months of you not showing up. I didn't go to interviewer school for this!

Dave: It really wasn't-

Int.: This is all about the plush toys.

Dave: What?

Int.: The writers have got all kinds of rights, and they've spent these two months sprucing up your story so that you can sell plush toys and a hundred sequels.

Dave: I wouldn't do 100 sequels. If I do a sequel, I'm only doing one.

Int.: Why only one?

Dave: Well, think about this Superman II was better than Superman the Movie, Spiderman II was better than Spiderman, The Dark Knight was better than Batman Begins.

Int: Okay, and your point?

Dave: Superheroes can only make a good story and then a good sequel. After that, it's all downhill. Think Superman III, Spiderman III, Teenant Mutant Ninja Turtles III. No, I'd only consent to one sequel.

Int.: As long as you get to sell your plush toys.

Dave: You're bitter about that. No one has signed a plush toy contract.

Int.: Not yet. But you will.

Dave: Do you think you'll be in a better mood next week. How about we come back then with a reader question.

Int.: I'll decide when to end this interview, and I think now's a good time. E-mail your questions for Dave to askasuperhero@laserandsword.com. He may decide to grace us with his presence.

Dave: Oh come on, I'll be here.

Int: We'll see. You can also follow his story every Tuesday at Laser and Sword Magazine. Tales of the Dim Knight is set for release November 22nd. A free ebook containing the first four chapters is available for download. You can also become a fan of the book on Facebook.
He's also set up a Twitter account @dimknight.

Sample Ebook for Tales of the Dim Knight Released

We've been working very hard this Summer on revisions to Tales of the Dim Knight. You can take a look and see a little of what we've been working on, as our free Ebook has been released.

You can read it online or download it for your Kindle, Ipad, or Sony Reader. We hope to soon have this free book available in the Ipad or Sony stores. Unfortunately to make it available on the Kindle store, we'd have to charge at least 99 cents, which wouldn't work with our free preview cover.

Here's our blurb:

What happens when the World's biggest superhero fan gets superpowers? When Mild Mannered Janitor Dave Johnson discovers an alien symbiot that gives him untold powers, there's only one thing to do. Put on a pair of tights and save the world. In this special free preview, see how Dave's adventures begin as he faces down drug dealers, car thieves, and the dreaded petty criminals

Alpha Redemption Press Release

Debut SF Novel Delves Into Science and Spirituality

September 1st 2010 sees the release of P.A. Baines’ debut novel Alpha Redemption, a story about a man who rediscovers his faith in God through the friendship of a sentient computer.

Auckland, New Zealand – Splashdown Books is pleased to announce the release of an exciting debut novel from a talented new author. It is a tale of lightspeed travel, and also of an inner journey from pain to peace.

Brett Denton is unemployed and has lost his will to live, as well as everything else – his faith, his family, his career. When offered the chance to leave his old life behind in an experimental mission to Alpha Centauri, he gladly accepts, knowing that he may not survive the hazardous journey.

With only the ship’s intelligent on-board computer, Jay, for company, he crosses the depths of space in an epic voyage of discovery. At first he just wants to enjoy his solitude and finds Jay’s quest for knowledge an annoyance. Over time, however, they become friends as Brett slowly begins to heal from a life of heartache.

On arriving at Alpha Centauri they find a planet very similar to Earth, now deserted but showing signs of a once-powerful civilization. When an emergency situation arises, it soon becomes clear that Brett may not be able to make it back alive. And Jay discovers that Brett is not alone on the ship.

Alpha Redemption is 2001: A Space Odyssey meets Robinson Crusoe, with soul. “My idea for Alpha came from wondering what a purely logical being would make of faith and God. If such an entity were to learn about God, what would it make of this knowledge, and would it be able to sway the opinion of an atheist?” said Baines.

For more information on Alpha Redemption, visit www.splashdownbooks.com or the author’s website at www.pabaines.com. The book is available from Amazon.com and other online retailers, and discounted direct from the publisher.

About Splashdown Books:

Begun in 2009 as an independent publisher of inspirational science fiction and fantasy, Splashdown Books has a vision to provide a connection between authors and fans of a genre with the capability to transport the reader to other worlds in their mind.

P.A.Baines was born in England and currently does contract work in Europe where he lives with his wife and two children. He writes computer programs by day and speculative fiction by night, although his dream is to swap those two around. His aim as a writer is to create science-fiction where God is not just present but at the very core of the story. He hopes one day to get a proper night’s sleep.

One month and counting. . .

When you are writing, do you ever take the easy route? By that I mean do you come to a scene and, instead of sweating over how to make it as good as it can be, you rush through it? Or maybe you sneak a little bit of “telling” in when you should really be “showing”? Maybe you whitewash over it when you ought to be getting the easel out and experimenting with the full palette at your disposal. Perhaps you use flat language when you really need to reach for that perfect metaphor. Or you ignore pacing and tension just because you want to get to the intense action scene in the next chapter where you get to describe the battle between the robots and the mole-people.

I’m guilty of doing all these things because there are times when I simply don’t feel like doing more than the basics. Sometimes I’m tired or bored and just want to move on to a more interesting bit of the plot. I do it hoping that noboody will notice. I stand there whistling a nonchalant tune, with my hands in my pockets and my freshly-waxed halo tilted at a jaunty angle, and I push a dull, half-baked, uninspired piece of prose under the carpet. After all, who is going to care if the rest of the writing is to a reasonable standard? Who is going to care if I skip a little polishing and sweep a little dust under the rug? Everyone, that’s who is going to notice.

Some years ago, a colleague asked me to read his completed novel. It was an epic science fiction fantasy in the vein of Star Wars. He had spent many years working on it, and he was rightly quite proud of his achievement. He had previously shown me a few extracts and I was impressed. The writing was rich and flowing. The scenes were captivating. I couldn’t wait to see the finished product. Then one day he announced that it was finished and I volunteered to have a read. I was so disappointed. It contained scene after scene written in the style I had encountered in my earlier glimpses, and yet the novel did not work. The problem was not with the exciting scenes, but with the bits in between. It was as if he couldn’t be bothered to worry about the “boring” parts because he wanted to get to the interesting stuff. The end result was disastrous. It was like looking at a diamond mounted on a soda can pull. The diamond was still beautiful, but all you could see was the piece of scrap-metal it was mounted on. He sent it off to be edited. I don’t know what they told him, but he was not happy. He moved on and I’m not sure if he ever revised the manuscript. I hope he did. I hope he listened to what the editor had to say and applied it because I’m sure he would have found a publisher one day if he would just go back and do some more work.

The reason I mention this is because my story is currently at the end of the editing process. The person responible for this daunting task is Cathi-Lyn Dyck (or Cat for short). Cat works as a freelance editor and also for Splashdown Books. And, boy, she is thorough! When I received my first set of comments from Cat, I realized that not only had she lifted the carpets to check for dust, she had also pulled out a magnifying glass and done a full forensic CSI thing on it. Looking through her comments, I soon realized that all of of my moments of laziness had been spotted and dragged, dazed and blinking, out into the open. Luckily, there weren’t that many, but she spotted them all. I remember thinking while I was writing those parts: “that’ll do.” Let me tell you, they won’t do. I’m currently listening to a best-selling science fiction author. This morning I heard something that dragged me right out of a particularly interesting part of the story simply because he told me something rather than showing me, and in such a blatant way as well. By the time I got back into the plot I had lost a few seconds of dialogue and had to rewind and try again.

I’m still learning the craft and I’m aware how much I don’t know, and I think that’s important. Problems start when you think you know enough. Cat has taught me an awful lot through this process. There were things I didn’t really understand and she was happy to explain them to me until I did understand. Best of all, she “got” my story. She understood what I wanted to achieve and then helped me to get there. And she spotted things that I would never have seen in a million years.

So with a month left to go, Alpha Redemption is almost ready with just a few more bits and pieces to sort out. I’ve learned from experience not to count my chickens until they’re running around the yard in a squawking flurry of feathers, but everything is currently on track for September 1st.

And if you are looking for an editor, I can’t recommend Cat enough. She is professional, thorough, patient, and supportive in equal measure. Details of her services can be found on http://scitascienda.com/scienda-editorial/. In Cat’s words: “My inbox is always open for general questions or hellos, and people are welcome to contact me through ScitaScienda.com, Facebook, or email (on the sidebar at the blog’s mainpage).”

Ask a Superhero:Superhero Gadgets

Welcome to our continuing weekly feature where we ask a question of a Superhero, Dave Johnson, aka Powerhouse and the Emerald Avenger.

Interviewer: Our next question comes from Clive Staples nominated Author Fred Warren.
"There are a lot of wannabe superheroes these days, so I want to make sure you're the real deal...every superhero has his own supply of super-cool super-high-tech gadgets. Do you?"

Dave: I don't need superhero gadgets on hand. I can create them with my mind.

Int: So you have a super imagination?

Dave: Yes, I can imagine anything I want and it'll appear. This is great for me. Bruce Wayne may have the batcave to put all of his stuff in, but I'm not a billionaire, and my garage is already full. This way, I can imagine a device to be there for me when I need it and then just imagine it out of existence later. And no chance the kids might find my rocket pack and take off with it.

Int: So tell us what are some of the high tech gadgets you imagine yourself having that we'll see in Tales of the Dim Knight?

Dave: There's my rocket pack, a 50 foot giant robot, and a flying stealth aircraft with retractable whips and machine guns that fire rubber bullets.

Int: Pretty impressive. What do you use the 50 foot giant robot for?

Dave: You have to read the book to find out.

Int: E-mail your questions for Dave to askasuperhero@laserandsword.com. Then follow his story every Tuesday at Laser and Sword Magazine. Tales of the Dim Knight is set for release November 1st.