I just found out that The Janus Project is a Final Draft / Big Break Screenplay Competition semi-finalist! Out of 7,000 entrants, we are one of just 138 to advance to this stage. You can see our entry here, under Hour Pilots.

The Janus Project is available now on kindle and in paperback, and you can read the first chapter right here.

The Gotham pilot was a great hour of television. It introduced a raft of interesting characters, dropped them into an interesting situation, and lit the whole thing on fire. It didn’t have the awkwardness of most pilots; I didn’t feel like anyone was still trying to figure out their character, and the cast all seemed to work comfortably with each other.

Gotham has a great premise. The whole city is corrupt; the politicians and the cops are all on the take, there’s a mob war brewing, and the best that people can hope for is that the more restrained, less violent crime boss comes out on top. Our protagonist is the only good cop in town, new to the city and too righteous to become a part of the status quo. The inciting incident is the murder–probably an assassination–of the city’s wealthiest couple, beloved icons and philanthropists. The series arc is the ripple effect caused by these deaths. The police, the criminals, the politicians, and the people of the city will all be affected in one way or another; these murders are the straw that breaks the city’s back.

It’s a great story. There’s just one problem, and his name is Bruce Wayne.

Jim Gordon is a fascinating character. Tough, moral, and too stubborn for his own good. He’s a knight in shining armor, a man who believes in the law and in justice. He’s a man who hasn’t yet given up on the system, and watching that crumble, watching him become a man who can accept a guy dressed up as a bat and beating criminals to a pulp, will be a hell of a ride.

Unfortunately, the show feels like a tease. Because as interesting as Jim Gordon is, he will always be overshadowed by the Batman.

As far as I know, no one has ever inspected Bruce Wayne’s early life. Like Jesus, he’s the focus of a childhood tragedy, and then he disappears until early adulthood. The opening half of Batman Begins, following Wayne’s progression from would-be killer of killers into the Dark Knight, was the best part of the movie, and I would gladly watch a series about that.

I’m less convinced about watching a series about thirteen-year-old Wayne. It makes sense that this is where Batman really got his start. He’s supposed to be one of the best athletes in the world (Dick Grayson, currently Nightwing and the original Robin, is acknowledged as a better pure athlete, although Bruce is still a bette brawler), and Olympic-level athletes almost all start their training very young.

It makes sense, but it isn’t very compelling. I understand that Bruce Wayne would have to start his preparations at a young age, but I don’t particularly want to watch a thirteen year old every week. That, of course, is why Jim Gordon is the focus of the show. But whenever Jim Gordon is on he screen, I can’t help but wonder what Batman would be doing in his situation.

And, like most of these origin stories, the world of Gotham feels too small. The Penguin works for Falcone’s rival, who has the Joker up on stage. The Riddler works in the police’s CSI division. Catwoman watched Bruce’s parents get shot, and will eventually teach Batman parkour. Poison Ivy’s dad gets framed for the crime. I get that they’re exploring how the Wayne Murders affected all of these people, and made Batman’s villains as much as they made Batman himself, but it feels just a little too forced, especially all within one episode.

Gotham is a good show that is, I think, hampered by the fact that it’s also a Batman show. I think I’d be able to enjoy it more if I wasn’t waiting for a cape and cowl that will never appear.

For a while, I’ve been wrestling with the idea of Amazon exclusivity.

Amazon makes no secret that they want as many authors as possible to be available only on their devices, a program they call Kindle Select. The biggest incentive they offer used to be the ability to offer five free promo days in a three-month period, and a lot of authors have made their career by giving away the first book in their series to a few hundred thousand new fans.

They sweetened the deal with the Kindle Lending Library. The Lending Library lets people who own a Kindle device to borrow a new book every month, and read it for free. The author, though, still gets paid, out of a fund created by Amazon.

Recently, they introduced Kindle Countdown Deals, a way for authors to temporarily put a book on sale and have it automatically, gradually increase in price.

The latest benefit is Kindle Unlimited. Unlimited costs $9.99 a month, and gives the reader access to an all-you-can-eat buffet. Basically, it’s Netflix for books. Like the Lending Library, authors still get paid whenever someone reads past the ten percent mark (basically, they get through the free preview), and like the Lending Library, the only way to get your book in is to be Amazon exclusive.

There are a lot of perks to being Amazon exclusive. I’ve resisted, because I’ve wanted my books available to as many people as possible. Recently, though, I decided to take the plunge. Starting today, and until at least the end of the year, my eBooks will be available only through Amazon (but the paperbacks will still be available everywhere).

Why?

Exposure

This is the big reason. Between free promos, Countdown Deals, the Lending Library, and now Unlimited, there are a ton of ways to get noticed on Amazon. And just as importantly, my books are on the shelf next to a bunch of other authors’ who are using these tools to make their books more affordable and more attractive. Being in the Kindle Select program isn’t even about gaining an advantage anymore; it’s about evening the playing field.

The vast majority of my sales come from Amazon anyway

Sure, I might gain exposure on Amazon, but I’m also losing all of the sales I’d have coming from Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, and all of the other eBook outlets, right?

Kind of. Almost all of my sales come from Amazon already, so I might be giving up five or ten percent by going Amazon exclusive. My bet is that the perks of Kindle Select more than make up for that loss. Hugh Howey, author of Wool, has been experimenting with this for a couple of months, and he’s found that the sales jump on Amazon easily overcomes the loss of other outlets.

Still, I want as many people to be able to read my stories as possible. Turns out, there’s an answer for that.

Kindle apps everywhere

If you have a Mac, a PC, an iPhone, an Android phone, a tablet, or even a Nook HD, you can download a Kindle app and read your books right on your device. And, unlike the Nook, this app actually works on Mac.

Also, my books are sold DRM-free, which means you can easily load them onto another eReader, including Nook. You can use Calibre to do your conversion and loading automatically.

Becoming Amazon exclusive gives me more exposure, and really doesn’t limit readers from getting ahold of my stories, so I’m going to experiment. I expect this to be win-win. And if not, I’m only committed for three months.

I love how often this show starts with all of the main characters talking about how much smarter Katherine is than any of them. They hate her, and they hate themselves for never being able to beat her.

There was a lot to like about this episode. It’s nice to see the fangs making a comeback on this show (and The Originals). For too long, this show has forgotten the first word in its title. Tyler is adorable when he pretends to be good at things. The moment he walked into that cell, it was only a matter of time before Damon kicked his ass. Jeremy is on the fast train to Threewayville. And it’s cool that Bonnie is still a repository of magical knowledge, even if she can’t use it.

I love what’s happening with Damon. He’s always been a few steps over the crazy line, and his infection has pushed him ever further into badass, chaotic territory. He could have just ripped the good Doctor’s heart out, but no, that wasn’t quite enough. Damon has a long memory and an overdeveloped sense of poetry.

It’s cool to see Katherine occasionally, genuinely rocked by emotions she can’t handle. She does generally care about some people. She loved Stefan, in her own twisted way, and she genuinely felt the loss of her daughter. I wouldn’t say that it redeems her, but it does humanize her.

And that was her downfall. She’s survived for five hundred years by shutting off her humanity and doing whatever she needed to do. The moment she walked back from that, the moment she let her compassion for someone else trump her sense of self preservation, it was all over. The Gilbert Gang defeated her by making her like them.

Katherine walked into Castle Salvatore like the boss she is, and she went out the way she always had to: confronted with how terrible she’s been for the past five hundred years. No sympathy, no support. She doesn’t need that. She’s Katherine Pierce. She just reminded them that she was the best, worst thing that ever happened to them, and then …

And then Stefan reminded us why he, more than anyone else on this show, is not to be fucked with. Because when you take away the hero hair and the honor and the self control, when you take away his mask, Stefan is the Ripper. There’s already a bucket of blood on his hands, and yours won’t trouble him at all.

But Katherine got the last laugh. Even when she loses, she wins. It might be a pyrrhic victory, she may not have won, but she prevented her enemies from winning. Always bet on Kat.

It was fantastic storytelling, a perfect set of character moments. It would have been a fitting end to the legend of Katherine Pierce.

But Katherine’s story? It isn’t over yet.

All hail the queen.

Katherine has long been the best character on this show, and it’s fantastic to watch her steal Elena’s life.

She’s one of the few characters who isn’t critically blind to the weak spots in her plans. Matt is a former Traveler-host, and knows about body jumping? Bang, he’s compelled. Elena is fighting for control of her own body? Boom, Kat imported an actually competent witch to shut that whole thing down.

Watching Katherine destroy Damon was beautiful. It’s no secret that I love Damon, but as I’ve said time and time again, drama comes from making the characters you love miserable. And that was proven true when Damon left the party and went right back to his old, murderous ways. This is the Damon I want to watch, the fun-loving bastard who’ll kill you as soon as talk to you. He’s been neutered for at least a season now, and its great to see him back in form.

To all those who’ve asked, no, Bonnie hasn’t mentioned that Katherine didn’t pass through her, but I am 100% certain that she will bust out that information at a plot-appropriate time. Another thing to note; Elena hasn’t passed through Bonnie yet, either, so she’s still in play. Sadly.

Because Elena really is too dumb to live. Huh, I just woke up in the Magic Tomb of Not Leaving, staring at Katherine’s corpse, while her daughter looks on and a Traveler mutters Romanian death curses over me? Well, they’re probably not trying to steal my body from me, so I’d better let them all live!

Seriously, Elena has killed plenty of times in the past, and she knows how dangerous Katherine and Nadia are. There is absolutely no reason for her not to off everyone in that room and then burn Kat’s body. Except for the fact that that would be the end of the best character on the show.

I’m curious to see if and how Katherine let’s Stefan know that it’s really her in Elena’s body … and if Stefan will fight to keep Katherine around rather than Elena. Katherine is his One True Love. Even fate wants them together. It’d be a shame to pass up that opportunity.
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It was also fun to watch Katherine wreck the S.S. Cyler. Okay, sure, Klaus murdered Tyler’s mother, but Tyler seems to have forgotten that time he let Oliver Queen lock her in a cage and torture her.

That’s the thing about this show: there is absolutely no room for anyone to take the moral high ground, because all of them have done terrible things. And that’s part of why I love this show.

I said god damn.

That felt like a mid-season finale, not the first episode off of a hiatus. It was without question the best episode of the season, and for one single reason:

Katherine Fucking Pierce, ladies and gentlemen.

The latest TVD drinking game, “take a shot when Katherine Pierce was awesome,” is a microcosm of what makes this show awesome. On the one hand, we have a vulnerable girl being comforted by her rejected and reconciled lover, and in the living room … everyone is talking shit about her.

“Katherine pretended to be stuck in a tomb!” “Katherine murdered my sister!” “Katherine murdered me! But I Guess it kind of worked out.” And you know what? They’re right. Katherine is a terrible person. She’s a bitch, a backstabber, a schemer, and a murderer.

And that’s why we love her.

Let me tell you a little secret, friends. TVD isn’t about heros. It’s about bad guys that makes us love them anyway.

Damon is the first person to admit that he’s evil. He’s a goddamn serial killer! And his sometimes girlfriend jokes about it! And Saint Stefan, he of the Hero Hair and Martyr Misery? He’s killed so many people other vampires think he’s off the rails!

The vampire legends have always been about forbidden desires and shameful indulgences, and that’s what TVD gives us. But unlike a lot of past vampire tales, TVD doesn’t stop with dirty, dirty sex.

Anyone who’s ever stood in line behind someone that can’t figure out how to work the goddamn self-checkout has wanted to snap a neck or two. Who hasn’t wanted to tell their boss, or the cops, or anyone in authority, to fuck off? Who wouldn’t want a pair of hot [insert your preferred gender here] fighting over you?

TVD lets us indulge all of those fantasies. Our “heros” can skip class, do all of the sex, and murder their way through college, and they never face any consequences.

Damon used to be the epitome of this self-indulgent fantasy, but that crown now firmly belongs to Katherine Pierce. This episode was a celebration of that fact, and it was entirely appropriate for the rest of the cast to reminisce over how she’s done that wrong.

And it was entirely appropriate for Katherine to once again fuck over Elena Gilbert.

This is what TVD was meant to be. Who cares if Klaus should have been in New Orleans and Stefan should have broken every Traveler neck in the old Witch House. It didn’t make sense, but it was fun.

You know why my wife is awesome? Because she made a Castiel Christmas tree angel, that’s why.

Vin Diesel: Vroom!

Paul Walker: Vroom!

Vin Diesel: Vroom!

Paul Walker: Vroom!

Vin Diesel: Vroom!

Paul Walker: Vroom!

Vin Diesel: Vroom!

Paul Walker: Vroom!

Vin Diesel: Okay, you win this one, blondie. Now go give your new baby boy, my nephew, a kiss. And remember, once you walk into that nursery, our life as street racing international criminals is over.

Paul Walker: But Vin, our life as street racing international criminals was over last movie, too. Besides, this is Fast and Furious Six: Fuck the Plot, not Well Shit I Have a Kid Now, I Better Start Carpooling.

Vin Diesel: Yeah, I know, I just wanted it to be super emotional when The Rock recruits us in a few minutes.

Bonnie Bennett: Dead diary: today I learned that being a non-corporeal spirit isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be, especially when you’re watching your father get murdered.

Jeremy the Vampire Slayer: I’d totally give you a hg right now, but you know, non-corporeal spirit and all.

Katherine Pierce: Wow, running through the woods wearing nothing but a slinky bathrobe is way less fun now that I can actually get hurt and run out of breath.

Tessa Tattle Tale: Hi Katherine! I’m gonna give you to Silas! Pepper spray!

Katherine Pierce: Hi Tessa! I’m going to pound your head into the asphalt! Asphalt!

Matt Donovan: Hi Katherine! I have a shotgun and a death wish! Make my day!