The publishing world is ever changing. What was a thriving online market yesterday could well be bankrupt tomorrow. A publishing company that was an unquestioned pillar can crumble. A beloved author can seemingly go out of her way to destroy her reputation.
And a beloved horror review site can shutter.
Sadly, Haunted MTL is no more. And, I might as well rip this band-aid off now, there will not be another season of AA.
I might write the story in book form, if anyone is interested. I was certainly going somewhere with the story.
I started working for Haunted MTL in 2019. I’d already published several novels by this time, but this was something different. This was an actual writing job.
I loved my time writing for Haunted MTL. I met so many amazing writers and made friends with several. There is nothing better than writing friends. I got to see horror movies that I might never have seen. Some I wish had never assaulted my eyeballs, like Antichrist. Some I loved very much, like Silent Night and Pooka. I conducted live tweet events during American Horror Story and Dexter, and got to talk to fellow fans all around the world.
Being a critic was a fantastic experience. If you want to be a good writer, one important exercise is to dissect a piece of work that you have strong opinions about, good or bad, and consider why it either works or doesn’t work. As a critic, that was exactly what I did twice a week. And I even got paid for it.
I was also invited to participate in several charity anthologies, which is always great. We conducted storytelling events through the years, writing short stories together. Including several years of Christmas and holiday horrors.
We did podcasts. We did events. We once read A Christmas Carol together and posted it. It was a laugh.
It was too good, maybe, to last.
I will miss Haunted MTL. I will miss the sense of writing camaraderie. Of being on staff. Of being part of a team.
But even as I mourn, I know it’s time to move on. As I said at the top, the publishing world is ever changing. And so even as this spooky door closes, another will open.
If you find yourself in this sort of situation, I’m so sorry. But remember, setbacks like this don’t necessarily reflect on you. Sometimes projects don’t work. We are artists, and art is subjective. Sometimes we’re going to do our level best and still not succeed. All there is for us then is to dust ourselves off, have a little cry, and write another story.
If you’re writing a series, you’re going to find that your cast changes over time. This makes sense and is realistic in real life. If your MC is learning, growing, and changing then people are going to leave and come to their lives. They might move, go to school, change jobs, or get a new neighbor. Maybe a family member needs to come stay with them for some unexplained reason.
Sometimes this is great. Some fantastic characters have been added later in a series. Using some TV examples because they’re the best known, here are some later added characters I loved.
Patrick from Schitt’s Creek.
Kimmi from Rugrats.
Ben and Chris from Parks and Rec.
Alex from Chuck.
Natalie from Monk.
Chris from 30 Rock
Jessie from Burn Notice.
All of these characters were great additions to their respective shows.
But not all characters added later in a series are great. Some are Godawful. And the examples of that are downright cringy. Think of Dill from Rugrats, Suzie from Space Cases, Scrappy Doo, and the much despised Bobby from Brady Bunch. This horrible addition trend is so well understood, that it was mocked by the Simpsons in their eighth season.
So how do we do it right? How do we add to our cast without creating a Poochie? Well to me, this involves a series of do’s and don’ts.
Do add something to the story that was missing
Most of the characters in my ‘good’ list fall under this rule. Patrick added a straight man (comedic straight) to a pretty zany cast. Kimmi gave Chucky someone who admired him in Rugrats. Alex gave Casey a softer side that he needed in Chuck.
Do you have a character that is a little too silly? Too responsible? Too damn irritating? Give them a character that has the opposite qualities to balance them out. If your story is just a little too dark, add a character that can give levity.
Do give them a believable and sensible reason to be there.
How did this new character join your cast? Did they move? Okay, why did they move?
Kimmi’s a good example of this. She and her mom joined the cast after the Rugrats went to Paris. Her mom was working for the antagonist, fell in love with Chaz, and moved back to the States with him. That makes sense. Well, not in the real world. But in the lovely fictional world in which a school teacher can afford to keep her family in a house in the suburbs.
As a bad example, we can look at Scrappy Doo. Why is he hanging out with his uncle? Why did we never meet his parents? Why doesn’t he ever go home?
It needs to
Do make sure they fit the style and overall theme of the show
We all know that fiction content tends to have a certain vibe. Some shows are warm and cozy, some are more dark. For this example, let’s consider The Good Place with The Boys. In The Good Place, everyone seems to be a little messed up, but essentially decent people.
Compare that to The Boys, where no one seems like an essentially decent person except the two main characters, Hughie and Annie. And even they, if they were plopped into The Good Place, would seem far too dark and messed up to belong there.
So, as much as you’re trying to bring something new and different to your universe, you don’t want them to be so different as to feel like they don’t fit into the world you’ve already created.
Don’t force this character to take up too much space
Now, we’ve reached the don’ts. And this first one is a doozy.
If you’re adding a new character, you don’t want them to necessarily take over as the main character. So they shouldn’t be treated as such. Yes, they should have some storylines. Yes, they should take up space in the world. Yes, they should be important to the plot. But they shouldn’t be the new focus, to the detriment of other characters.
A great example of this done wrong was Rugrats. Dill took over too many of the storylines. Now that there was a baby who needed looked after and cared for by the rest of the cast, every story had to be about him in some way. Before, each episode told a story of one baby, or the assembled cast facing a problem. Now all the problems were about dealing with Dill. Or they were exacerbated by his presence.
Honestly, did Stu and Didi never actually watch their kids?
Don’t take the place of existing characters
This one is a personal issue with me. And it started young. I’m likely dating myself here, but when I was a kid I loved the show Space Cases. It was kind of like Voyager, but with a younger crew. A ship was lost in way outer space, carrying two adults and a group of teens. Scifi hilarity ensued.
My favorite character was Catalina. At the end of season two, she was replaced by her best friend Suzee, who until this moment most of us thought was an imaginary friend.
And I never got over that.
Of course, if you’re writing anything that requires actors, you’re sometimes going to have to replace people. I had a few actors leave my podcast between seasons one and two.
Some of the characters I recast. Some I simply wrote out and didn’t replace. But if you’re writing for TV, you can’t always just replace an actor.
(Yes, sometimes it can be pulled off.)
Then there are examples like Space Cases, or Charmed, where an actor leaves and their position is simply taken over by a new character. And that’s a jarring situation.
If you’re writing a book series, you don’t have to worry about actors leaving. So you do not ever need to shoehorn a new character in to take the place of somebody else. So, you know, don’t do it.
Don’t add a character just because they’re cute
Alright, you all knew this was coming. That’s why I saved it for last. I have some words of revulsion for the Scrappy Doo, Dill Pickles, and Cousin Oliver sort.
We do not need a character added just for the sake of being cute young and new. We don’t need it. If you find yourself writing a new baby, a new puppy, or a new adorable pet sidekick to keep things interesting and fresh, stop right there. Your story doesn’t need it, and it won’t be the saving grace you think it would be. That stunt has worked once and only once, and that was on Sailor Moon.
I hope this post has helped you. And I hope I didn’t trash-talk a character you loved. If I did, please let me know in the comments. And if there’s a later addition character I didn’t reference that you think deserves some love, please let me know about them too.
Paper Beats World is a labor of love. If you love what we do here, please consider supporting the site on Ko-fi.
And don’t forget that Nova, book five of Station 86 starts on Monday! And yes it does have one later series addition, a survivor from Station Central. See you then.
One good thing can be said of 2020. I read a lot of good books. Coming up with my top ten for the year was a bit of a challenge because of this. I mean, I read The Exorcist this year and it didn’t even make it into the top ten. But if I’m going to have a challenge, I can think of worse ones.
Not all of them came out this year, this is just the first year I read them. This isn’t news to anyone who’s read my previous year-end round-ups. You’ll find all sorts of genres represented here. Some books I’ve done a full review on, some I haven’t. One I haven’t even finished reading yet, but it’s so awesome already that it had to make my top ten. No matter what differences these books may have, they all have one thing in common. They were damned good.
If you want to follow along with what I’m reading all year long, you can do so on Goodreads. Now, on to the list.
The Middle Finger Project by Ash Ambridge
If you need to get your life in order, this is the book you need to do it. I have never read such in your face realistic business advice. I cried multiple times while reading it.
Top of my lungsby Natalie Goldberg
Have you ever read a book and immediately knew you were going to reach for it again? That was what Top of my Lungs was like for me. The poetry is inspiringly beautiful. The artwork is soothing. I put this book on my in case of an emergency bullet journal page. If I’m in doubt, Natalie is there for me.
The Handmaid’s Taleby Margaret Atwood
Yes, I know this show blew up on Netflix. No, I don’t know if I’ll be watching it. That’s not what I’m here to talk about. This book was good. This book was deep and thoughtful and felt way too real. It’s a reminder that we lose the rights we don’t insist upon.
Savage Legion by Matt Wallace
This is the one I haven’t finished yet. But the story is so good, I had to include it on the list.
A young woman is sent to the front line of an unwinnable war as punishment for a barroom brawl. But it turns out she got herself sent there on purpose to find the one man who can stop this brutal practice and save the soul of their country. And I have loved every second of it. Expect a full review on that soon.
The War on Everyone by Robert Evans
This was an eye-opening book in a year that was quite eye-opening for everyone. It goes a long way to explain where we are in America and exactly how we got here. Of course, it’s written by the man who hosts a podcast called Behind the Bastards. So, be aware that this book isn’t for the faint of heart.
If It Bleedsby Stephen King
I did a whole review of this book over on Haunted MTL, so I’m not going to spend a lot of time on it. Let’s just say it’s worth a read, and for more than just the title story. Especially if you were a fan of King’s The Outsider.
Now, then and everywhenby Rysa Walker
It’s hard to do a time travel story right. It’s even harder to do it when you’re working between a trilogy you already wrote. But Walker has done this, as well as providing a great story. There’s fighting racism in this book, exciting adventures, fun characters, funny shout outs to real-world fandoms. And I have to admit, I didn’t see the ending coming. The sequel is coming out in January, and I’m stoked.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesby Suzanne Collins
Everyone was looking forward to this book, and it caused a lot of dust-ups among nerds. I loved it. It was a great story that didn’t humanize President Snow as much as I was worried it would. Again, I’ve done a whole review of it here, if you’d like to read it.
Mexican Gothicby Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Again, I reviewed this book on Haunted MTL and you can read my review here. If you haven’t read Mexican Gothic, do it right now. It’s a rich, atmospheric read that I just lost myself in.
A Beautifully Foolish Endeavorby Hank Green
This was, by far, my favorite book of the year. You might remember that last year the first book, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing made my list. So it’s no surprise that the conclusion made it onto this year. It’s a difficult book to describe, but I attempted to here in my review of it. Do yourself a favor and read it now if you haven’t.
So that’s it for my top ten list of books in 2020. I’d love to know what made it onto your list. Let us know the best book you’ve read this year in the comments below.
As a lover of comic books, I’m surprised it took so long for Utopia to end up on my radar. Now that it’s there, it’s easily one of the coolest shows I’ve watched all year. And given how much tv I’ve been watching recently, that’s a high bar.
Utopia was a dark, horrifying, fun ride that honestly hasn’t had a bad episode yet. I’m waiting for the next season. While we wait, let’s break down the first season of Utopia and talk about why it works.
Utopia is the story of a group of comic fans obsessed with a comic called Dystopia. They’ve all been waiting for a follow-up series, called Utopia.
But they’re not just waiting for the story. They’re waiting to see what horrific tragedy Utopia might predict. Because this group of online buddies doesn’t just love Dystopia for the story. They’ve spent years looking deep into the storyline and artwork for clues as to what’s going on in the real world.
This is something I think a lot of us think we want to happen. I’ve had fantasies of opening wardrobes to find new worlds since I was a child. Like everyone else, I find nothing but mothballs and old coats.
But what if I did find something? What if it turned out that your favorite fantasy world was real? I think most of us would find out pretty damn fast that we don’t really want that and we’d like to go back to our regular lives right now, talking animals or not.
That being said, it’s really fun to think about. And that’s where a lot of the enjoyment of this show comes from. It’s a very realistic view of what might happen if our conspiracy theories turned out to be true.
Another choice the creators made that worked well for them is to make the main character, Jessica Hyde, totally selfish and crazy. She is willing to do literally anything to survive, including straight up killing innocent people.
This was a brave choice. And it could have gone bad. I mean, we all love an anti-hero, but your MC has to be at least a little bit likable. That’s hard when your MC starts the series by shooting an innocent woman in the head.
And yet, in the way the story progresses, you don’t hate her. You understand where she’s coming from. Maybe you still don’t agree with everything she does. But you at least sort of understand why she did it.
Finally, Utopia managed to find the most perfect item that makes things go viral. It has an incredibly catchy catchphrase.
Stay alive, Jessica Hyde.
It’s a great line that gives a lot of information. Who’s our main character? Jessica Hyde. There’s some reason why she might not stay alive, but people sure want her to. It also sums up the biggest storyline for the first season. What does Jessica Hyde want to do? Stay alive. What does the bad guy want to do? Kill her. It’s a simple conflict that has a complex resolution. The best kind.
Altogether, this show was designed to draw you in, make you scream out loud, and wait with bated breath to see what happens next. Things we could all do well to remember in our own writing.
Stay alive, Jessica Hyde.
After a year of nightmares, Sennett and her family need a vacation. Together with Godfrey, they’ve faced assassins, killer AI dogs, mind-altering viruses and politicians. So they’re setting off for Station Central, the ultimate vacation destination with water parks, roller coasters, fine dining and the best hotels in the stations.
But they’re barely off the ship when Godfrey finds himself embroiled in Station politics that he can’t seem to avoid. Sennett discovers not one, but two people stalking her on the station. One of whom might have the secret to her birth family.
Through it all, Sennett and Godfrey are haunted by a darker set of questions. Where are the Hollow Suits, and what are they planning?
Why isn’t everyone talking about Upload? It’s a clever, funny show that the husband and I binged in two days. Now everyone else needs to binge it in two days.
Upload is about a man named Nathan, a computer programmer. The show starts with Nathan being in a horrible car accident. His body isn’t going to make it. So his wealthy girlfriend, Ingrid, pressures him to let his mind be uploaded into a simulated afterlife called Lake View.
So yes, this show is about a dead man living in a computer simulation.
Lakeview is a paradise. It’s everything you could ever want. Like a retirement village you wish you’d end up in. The rooms are amazing, the food is magnificent. You can change the weather anytime you like. You can eat, sleep, swim, love, have sex. It’s just like being alive.
Except it isn’t, not really. And Lakeview is expensive. Nathan doesn’t have the kind of money someone would need to exist there. So Ingrid is paying all the bills. She’s entirely in control of Nathan, even down to what he wears. He’s entirely at her mercy. This isn’t a great set up under the best circumstances. Then, Nathan starts falling for his handler, a woman named Nora. As his very existence depends on Ingrid’s goodwill, this is a dangerous crush.
Hilarity is sure to ensue.
So, let’s talk about why this works.
To start with, this is the rare original concept. There’s nothing else like it. While it does share some traits with other stories, I can honestly say I’ve never seen a show like it.
Now, this is hard to hold up as an example to follow. I mean, coming up with original stories is what all writers are trying to do. It’s freaking hard! As a side note, I don’t see a huge issue with retelling an old story with a fresh voice. Fairy tale retellings, quests to save the kingdom, a young woman befriending dragons. I’ll consume those stories all day long and ask for more. So long as the voice is fresh and the writer brings something new to the story, I’m going to love it.
That being said, sometimes writers use that as an excuse to play it too safe. We’re afraid to reach out to the weird. To experiment outside of set genres, or blend them in weird and new ways. Don’t be scared of this! It’s exactly what people want.
Now, let’s take a look at the characters. At the start of the season, everyone seems like the asshole. Nathan’s wrapped up in his own tragedy, not noticing that he’s surrounded by people going through the same thing. Or worse. Let’s not forget that his mom and girlfriend watched his head get chopped right the hell off with no warning.
Ingrid, the girlfriend, is entirely an asshole. She is aware that she’s financially responsible for Nathan. And she’s not afraid to use that power to make him heel. And it’s not like he’s upset that he doesn’t have a big enough allowance. Early in the series, we find out that the people who don’t have money to pay for Lake View are called Two Gigs. They have only two gigs of data a month. When that’s gone, they can’t do anything until the next month. That’s the fate that waits for Nathan if Ingrid cuts him off. She’s not shy about threatening it.
Then there’s Nathan’s friend and partner, Jamie. He’s been letting Nathan’s calls go to voicemail since he died. There are reasons, and they have something to do with the app he and Nathan were making. The app that Nathan can’t remember anything about.
All that being said, the characters make some really hard choices. Like, things I don’t know if I could do.
Ingrid is having a relationship with a dead man. Even if she’s being a bitch about it, she’s actively choosing to not leave him for someone who is, you know, alive. And she’s a sexy blond with a shit ton of money. It’s not like she doesn’t have options.
Do you remember I was talking earlier about the Two Gigs? They become a crusade for Nathan. He can’t stand that these people have nothing when it would cost nothing to give them anything. He didn’t have to care about these people. He doesn’t have anything. Not anything that’s his. But he wants them to be okay.
There are harder decisions than that, for sure. But to go into them would ruin some truly wonderful surprises.
Sorry, I know that was super vague. But a lot of the fun from this season was the misdirection. I’m going to try to explain what I mean without ruining too much. You see, there’s a mystery in this first season. Part of Nathan’s memory is missing. Someone removed it and deleted it. That’s not spoiling much, it’s in the very first episode. This sets off a list of mysteries that gets deeper and darker.
And it’s not what you think. That’s the great thing about this whole season. Whatever you think is going on, you’re wrong.
Finally, let’s talk about the morals of the story. There’s always a moral, whether writers mean there to be or not. Sometimes the moral is hidden, soft like a whisper. Sometimes it smacks you in the face like a dead fish. You didn’t need it, didn’t want it, and it smells rotten.
Sometimes it smacks you in the face like a cold wave in the ocean. It’s undeniable and it’s cleansing. That’s how the moral was here. I’m pretty sure you can guess it, just based on this post.
There was a lot to love about Upload. A lot to learn too. Let me know what you thought about it in the comments below.
Want to know why another show, movie or book works? Suggest it in the comments.
Let me tell you about my Thursday nights as a kid. Well, as a teenager. It was sort of the best night of the week. I would park myself in the dining room, for three solid hours of tv. Those hours were devoted to some of the best television I’ve ever seen.
Buffy, Angel and Charmed.
Yes, I have been a nerd my whole life.
The darling husband and I have been binge-watching Buffy and Angel recently, because what the hell else are we going to do? And I have to say, I can see why I loved Buffy so much as a kid. As an adult, I can also see where and why it went downhill.
Boy did it go downhill fast.
When it was good
It’s very good. It’s a fun show for a teenage girl to watch. The characters are a lot of fun. Willow is relatable, so is Zander. I loved Giles and still do.
The show was funny, but it also had deep moments. No one was a throwaway character. People reacted when someone died.
None of the characters were perfect. Buffy was a pain in the ass. Everyone kept secrets from each other, everyone was selfish sometimes. Except for Oz. Oz was always perfect.
It was just a really fun show to watch every week that wasn’t preachy, stupid or overly complicated.
I’ll grant, though, that it might be benefiting from nostalgia. Would I like it so much if I didn’t still have those fond memories of Thursday nights? I honestly don’t know. That’s one of the bad things about revisiting shows we loved in the past. We can never again see them with fresh eyes. We’ll always see them through the lens of the past, with the heart of the girl who first fell in love with them.
When it started getting bad
On the other hand, my eyes have still gotten used to modern special effects, and the ones from Buffy did not stand the test of time. The husband and I just watched an episode with a giant snake monster, and we were howling anytime the thing was on the screen. Probably not the impact they were going for.
Sad to say, but I think most of the good writers left Buffy and went to Angel when it split off. The stories from that point on got a little less mature. They got a little more silly, a little less coherent.
And character development changed. That was a big issue for me. Buffy continued to grow as a person, but not into a very nice person. She’s selfish and unaware of how she uses people. She doesn’t care about the emotional well being of anyone else, her problems always seem to overshadow everything else. And it’s not just when we’re talking about saving the world problems. It also includes boy troubles. Which are no more crucial than anything anyone else is going through.
I also wasn’t thrilled with many of the story arches. Some of them just seemed designed to be heartbreaking.
Like Joyce dying. I get that the actress wanted to leave the show. I get that people lose their parents. But I don’t think that this sort of thing had a place on this kind of show. It felt out of place, too mean.
Finally, let’s talk about the worst addition to the show.
Dawn.
I hated this character. I love the actress, but the character is a huge pain in the ass. She’s the scrappy doo of Buffy. I honestly can’t tell you what she adds to the show. Buffy didn’t need an annoying little sister. She didn’t need additional responsibility.
Which isn’t to say it stopped being good then. It’s still fun, so long as we’re not having a depressing episode. And the addition of the antagonist Glory was great.
Mind you, I’m not saying that Buffy wasn’t worth watching. I still enjoy the later seasons, right up to the last episode. It just wasn’t what it was at first. It was still a revolutionary show that opened doors for a lot of work we wouldn’t have now without it. That’s worth overlooking some flaws.
Now I want to hear what you think. Did you watch Buffy when it originally aired? What are your thoughts about it now? Let us know in the comments.
Now and then I like to go through my list of podcasts I listen to and share it with all of you. I’m a very fickle soul and I get tired of things quickly. I also find new and exciting things to listen to. I’m kind of like a crow with a shiny new thing. So this list is changing all the time.
Right now a lot of us are at home more than we’ve ever. Many of us need some entertainment. Preferably something that doesn’t cost anything. So here’s a recent roundup of my podcasts. Some are purely for entertainment, some talk about writing. Some talk about things we should all learn about. Enjoy.
So smooth that I started listening to the second podcast of his. This is also a history podcast, though much shorter. The stories aren’t necessarily scary, some are funny. I can honestly say I’ve never listened to a boring episode.
Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Howard Taylor and Mary Robinette Kowal
This podcast has been included in almost every podcast update I’ve ever written. Given my aforementioned fickle nature, that should tell you all you need to know about this podcast.
But I’ll tell you a little more. I have learned so much about writing from this podcast, I can’t start to tell you. If you’re a writer just starting, listen to this podcast every week. If you think you’re an established author, listen to this podcast every week.
If you catch me laughing in public, I’m probably listening to this. Ditch Diggers is the most brutally honest, funny podcast about the business side of writing I’ve ever heard. I love every episode, and I’m always getting new ideas from it.
This is so much more than a podcast. DIY MFA is a whole online community with classes and posts all dedicated to bringing creative education within the grasp of everyone. And I am here for it!
On the podcast, Gabriela interviews authors on a range of topics that never fail to fascinate and interest me. I learn something every time I listen.
Bill, Bill, Bill! Alright, got that out of my system.
Bill Nye has been teaching me science since I was in first grade. And he’s still doing it today with his podcast, Science Rules. It is for adults, thank you. And that’s part of the cool thing about it. Science Rules feels like I’m talking with my favorite uncle. He still remembers me as a little kid, but he recognizes that I’m an adult now, too. So, bad dad jokes but a willingness to discuss difficult topics.
One topic he’s talking a lot about right now is, of course, the Covid-19 pandemic. And if you’re looking for clear, honest information about a scary situation, this is the podcast you want to be listening to.
I think this one was also on my last list of podcasts. I hope so because it’s a great place to be if you’re, you know, bad with money. It’s simple, no-nonsense talk about money from people you don’t usually hear talking about money. Gaby doesn’t judge you about your money choices. She just lays out the facts. And some of the facts are useful. Some are inspirational. Some are just a pat on the back and the realization that you’re not alone. And maybe it’s not that you’re bad with money. Maybe it’s that our economy sucks and we’re all just doing the best we can.
So that’s my updated list of what I’m listening to. But I want to know what you think. Leave a comment below to share your favorite podcast.
Preorder Falling From Grace now, and be entered to win a free autographed copy of Broken Patterns. And, get the first four chapters of Falling from Grace right away! Just send a screenshot of your preorder recipt to nicolecluttrell86@gmail.com.
from each other, everyone was selfish sometimes. Except for Oz. Oz was always perfect.
Dawn.
Broken Patterns. And, get the first four chapters of Falling from Grace right away! Just send a screenshot of your preorder recipt to nicolecluttrell86@gmail.com.
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