Literary Titan reviewed Endemic very favorably recently. Now it’s won their Silver Award.
From their website:: The Literary Titan Silver Award is bestowed on books that expertly deliver complex and thought-provoking concepts. The ease with which ideas are conveyed is a reflection of the author’s talent in exercising fluent, powerful, and appropriate language.
After just winning its category (Science Fiction) at the New York Book Festival, this is a nice boost for Endemic.If you haven’t read it yet, it’s the story of a bookish and withdrawn woman finding her way through New York’s viral apocalypse.Haunted by her past and guided by her dead therapist, Ovid Fairweather must rise against her enemies. She was a nail. She will be a hammer.
First off, many thanks for all the congratulations that flooded in for Endemic winning its category at the New York Book Festival. I treasured every note and email. I also discovered how often my posts and tweets are utterly ignored. Folks I hadn’t heard from in years popped up to say hi! That was nice. This is also your friendly reminder that I’m a scintillating delight all the time, not just when I win a literary award. (wink!)
Second, I have a fresh interview about Endemic over at Literary Titan. It’s about the demands of writing relatable apocalyptic fiction in the middle of a pandemic. There I was in my blanket fort, masked up and hypervigilant, washing groceries, and as paranoid as a squirrel on cocaine. What to do? What to do? Write the drama and trauma, of course!
An actual viral apocalypse was on like Donkey Kong. Bodies were filling freezer trucks outside my local hospital. In hindsight, it might have been cheerier to try a different genre. Sweet romance might have been easier to sell when readers were looking for a cheerier escape. However, the themes of Endemic run deep. Although I wrote a fictionalized bio of my criminal exploits in New York (Brooklyn in the Mean Time), it is Endemic that claims the prize of being my most personal book.
Thanks goes out to Gari Strawn of strawnediting.com. She is my Editrix Supreme, and she always makes me better. Thanks to Pete, my friend who got me book doctoring work that financed the budget for applying for awards. Thanks also to 100covers for their work in putting together the graphics package for this novel.
For anyone who doubted, I have to say I feel exonerated and wonderful. Coming first in Science Fiction/Horror is a big deal to me. This is my ninth writing award, but since Endemic is an apocalyptic tale set in NYC, it feels extra special. I guess I got it right!
Frankly, I’ve felt that Endemic has been underrated, so maybe this award will help the book find more readers. That’s what happened with my bestseller, when This Plague of Days, so I’m hopeful. There’s a lot of hoping in this business, so this is a nice lift!
This week, I’m outside my comfort zone, away from the blanket fort, and working on an epic fantasy. Strictly speaking, this is a new genre to me. However, there are so many commonalities with the apocalyptic and dystopian genres that it’s definitely adjacent. The writing is coming easily. I have always enjoyed creating worlds, especially those with philosophical or theological complexity. Amid the action and chaos, there is the reaction to action and chaos. That’s where the tears and laughter can really flow.
As I sit in this cozy cottage (our first vacation in many years), I’m grateful my wife insisted we get away. For a while, someone else can worry about the broken clothes dryer and that funny noise the air conditioner makes. This week is just for us, and of course, filling up the blank page with suspenseful stories full of swords and mayhem.
Each day, I write little daily updates about the work and my reading and writing life in my fan group. If you’d like to join my inner circle of people who dig what I do, join my Facebook group here:
Makes it sound like I’m storming Zuckerberg’s mansion with a bunch of ninja commandos, doesn’t it? It’s 5% less awesome than that. For one night only, I’m taking over a FB group dedicated to science fiction and fantasy. I’ll be at Destiny’s Lighters from 5:30 pm to 10 PM EST tonight, Saturday, July 16.
Here’s the group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/lytonians/
Want to come see what I think is wrong with a bunch of apocalyptic fiction? Or what’s right? I’ll even tell you who cares. To get in, all you need is an invite and I give those out freely.
Endemic by Robert Chazz Chute follows Ovid Fairweather as she tries to navigate a world ravaged by a disease that turns people essentially braindead. As with any collapse of society, a power vacuum develops, and various individuals group together to seize that power….Can Ovid find a way to survive in a world that aims to take whatever she has left? And can she do it while reconciling with her troubled past?
Ovid endures a great deal in her past and present life. The author does a fantastic job incorporating her past experiences into the main plot points, thus keeping readers guessing and gasping as they read. I would be happy to read more from this setting, and its characters in the future, so here’s hoping there’s a sequel on the way soon.
Endemic is a suspenseful and thrilling science fiction novel with a dystopian twist. Readers will be drawn into the world that at times is almost too real and plausible and left with an eerie feeling of could this happen to me.
When we are feeling rudderless, the mental health gurus encourage us to find your why. Why are you a writer? If you’ve been at this a while, you may ask yourself, “Why am I still a writer?”
For many of us, getting into the brain tickle business doesn’t feel like a choice. It’s more likethe profession chose you. It’s a calling, right? As a kid, you loved to read. Writing books seemed like the next natural progression.
Here’s what I want you to know:
There are many paths up the mountain, and there are a lot of twists and turns ahead:
The lightning bolt of success will strike, but maybe it won’t hit you.
Others will succeed. You will read their books, and you shall be mystified by their success.
Some who appear successful really aren’t.
Some who don’t appear successful really are.
You may learn something from the success of others. You may not.
There are many moving parts you can’t see and variables you can’t control.
Other people’s success or failure has nothing to do with you. Don’t be jealous.
You may achieve early success, but it won’t last.
You may achieve success later. That probably won’t last, either. (People are obsessed with the new, even if it’s not as good as the old.)
You may be writing to achieve a legacy, but in the end, despite your best and better efforts, you’ll probably be known for just one thing. Scary thought. huh?
You’ll get bad reviews for something in your book you thought was innocuous.
The stuff you thought might piss off some readers will sail by without fireworks.
You may write a brilliant book. The market does not necessarily reward brilliance.
Writing and marketing are two separate activities. A good marketer can outpace a great writer.
Odds are against it, but you could hit it big with your first book or first series. It might have been a fluke, so don’t go around thinking you’re a genius too soon.
Being gifted is great, but it can set you up for disappointment later. Just do the work and ease up on the unrealistic expectations. Unrealistic expectations is what the lottery is for.
Hard work and consistency often outpace talent.
Elementary skills, solid craft, and dramatic chops are important, but not everything.
Marketing skills are important, but not everything.
Gurus will act like they have all the answers. (A) Taking their courses without acting on their advice is a waste of money you could have used for a writing retreat at an Air B&B, and (B) they don’t have all the answers, but acting as if they do is Salesmanship 101.
Influence, advertising, presence, and followers can be bought. If you don’t have the cash, you aren’t sprinting from the same starting line as those who have the moolah.
You can do everything right, and still fail.
You can do everything wrong. That’s probably your first book, the one that should have stayed in a drawer.
I’ll tell you what many won’t: luck and timing are factors and they are beyond your control.
Advertising, celebrity endorsements, and/or a nod from a social media influencer can make a bad book sell. (I know of an author whose books are not at all grammatical. His first language is not English. He needs translator and an editor. Because of endorsements, he’s getting sales on terrible books.)
Life’s not fair. You knew that already, but as cruel as life can be, the market can be meaner.
You and your readership may disagree on which are your best books.
You will have a baby that you’re sure is the cutest, and yet it will squat there on your sales page, mostly unreviewed and unloved.
That new shiny idea you chased might turn into a book series. Hurray! Hitch your wagon to a star! At some point, you’ll sit at your keyboard feeling like you’ve hitched your wagon to a stump. You’ve got newer, shinier ideas, but you feel like you can’t move on.
Unless you’re a psychopathic narcissist, you will have doubts, and worries about your writing career. That doesn’t go away, it just ebbs and flows.
Writing more books gives you more shots on goal, but failure is normal. Failure is so common, huge publishers put out big lists of books so the few successes pay for the rest that get remaindered.
These are not all happy, happy, joy, joy things to say, are they? So here’s the good news:
Contrary to what you may have thought, you do have a choice. Yes, you could quit. It may be a calling, but you don’t have to answer that call.
Alternatively, you could let it go to voicemail while you reevaluate your assumptions, rejuvenate your mind, and rethink your strategy. Or you could just plunge forward, full steam ahead, damn the torpedoes.You will probably do exactly that. I’m not here to discourage you. I just want you to know you are not alone sitting there in doubt and frustration as you stare at the horrible, impatient blinking cursor wondering if you’ve made an irreversible mistake.
You haven’t made one mistake. You’ve made plenty and you’ll make more. But someday, maybe, all those mistakes will contribute to your creation of something glorious for all to see.
~ I am Robert Chazz Chute and I’ve written a lot of books. Here’s the one I’m most proud of, but what do I know? You decide.
