Tag: robert chazz chute

Posted on

Story Tensions

You ever have one of those dreams where you have to do something but something else keeps getting in the way? Maybe you’re running from a monster but you’re waist-deep in mud? Something like that happened to me last night. I hosted a party at a remote farm. The setting was perfect for a sorority party massacre a la bunches of bad ’70s slasher B-movies. As the last car was leaving, I called to the woman in the landrover, “Can I get a ride back to civilization?” She nodded but waved for me to hurry. That’s when it turned into a nightmare as the last-minute tasks were loaded up. If I didn’t finish locking up quick I would lose my ride.

As I recall, the list of scenarios was something like:


1. Check the barn for lit lanterns.
2. Check the house to make sure the water was turned off.
3. Solve the Mystery of the Old Mill with the Hardy Boys.
4. Confront a huge monster lurking in the cattle stalls.
5. Wash and dry the dishes and put them away.
6. Deal with a snake in the basement.

The tasks went on and on and, always in the background, the pressure built. I was going to lose my ride and be stuck on this Hell Farm of Eternal Night. The woman waiting in the landrover really amped up the tension and put a clock on the plot. It’s conflict and tension among believable characters that get the story engine chugging.

Anyway, all that nonsense got me thinking about the underlying themes and worries beneath the main action in my books. What’s the big fret our heroes and heroines have to deal with when other missions and side-missions are done?

Here’s my list:

1. This Plague of Days: How’s a mute kid on the spectrum going to save the world from a global pandemic of zombies?

2. AFTER Life: What’s a SWAT officer and a nanotech research scientist to do when they tap into the collective consciousness of a zombie uprising about to invade the United States?

3. Brooklyn in the Mean Time: How is such a flawed protagonist going to solve the mystery of his father’s criminal past?

4. Bigger Than Jesus: How does a hitman get out of the mob and overcome his past?

5. Higher Than Jesus: How does a hitman get past his addictions to save the girl?

6. Hollywood Jesus: Can a hitman go legit? How does he become a hero when everyone, including the FBI, is after him?

7. Wallflower: How does a failed comedian go back in time to save the world?

8. Haunting Lessons: Why is it that a young woman can see ghosts and what does a secret society of assassins have to do with it?

9. Death Lessons: The woman who sees ghosts must return to her home town find a secret weapon to deal with unearthly forces? What’s the weapon?

10. Fierce Lessons: How does a secret society of assassins deal with incursions from another dimension?

11. Dream’s Dark Flight: Why are people around the world dying in their sleep in bizarre ways? How can an NSA analyst, a doctor and a physiotherapist stop the killings from an isolation tank at Berkeley?

12. The Night Man: When a wounded warrior returns home searching for a life of peace, how can he untangle himself from dirty cops, bomb plots and the criminality of his own family?

13. Robot Planet: When the last few humans combat a robot uprising powered by the Next Intelligence, how can they win against such a powerful enemy?

14. All Empires Fall, Self-help for Stoners and Murders Among Dead Trees: How can a writer sell anthologies? Sure, there are several award-winning stories in the mix but literary anthologies aren’t huge sellers. (Self-help for Stoners is really kind of a novelty bathroom book that sells some paperbacks in the run-up to Christmas each year, so there’s that.)

15. Amid Mortal Words: If you had a book that could eliminate all the people who make the world a more dangerous place, would you? How many dead innocents would be acceptable to you?

~ I’m Robert Chazz Chute. In that dream I mentioned at the top? I missed my ride. Alas. I spend my waking hours writing apocalyptic epics, killer crime thrillers, and assorted science fiction and horror. Please click on the links to the right to pick up your next binge read. Cheers!

Posted on

What I’ve learned (and something I haven’t)

What I learned in high school:

Who do you think you are? Dream small.

What I learned in university studying journalism:

I’m on the wrong career track. I want to write for a living but I want to write stories that last.

What I learned at the Banff School of Fine Arts:

I’m much funnier than they gave me credit for in university. Maybe that was because I wasn’t so angry all the time as soon as I got out of journalism school.

What I learned in my 20s:

I used to believe a bad thing: Pay your dues. Be patient. Wait your turn.

(What was implied: “This has nothing to do with keeping us up by keeping you down.”)

What I learned in my 30s:

I wanted to be a spiritual person for the comfort. It didn’t stick because I looked honestly at all the suffering. Also, I unlearned the lesson from my 20s. Underestimating me and keeping me a second-class citizen was always about fulfilling other people’s dreams.

What I learned in my 40s:

My kids redefined love for me. They expanded my capacity.

What I’ve learned in my 50s:

Not everyone who acts like a friend really is. Unfortunately, learned that lesson before but I think this time I really get it. Betrayal sucks and sticks. Not everyone you meet along the way will stay by your side. For those who do, we cherish and support each other. We stick together.

What I know now:

Dream bigger. Ask for help. Work like hell to make it happen.

I have yet to learn:

Forgiveness. Yes, I hold grudges. In AFTER Life, the flawed hero admits that he supposes he must have forgiven somebody once but he can’t think of a single example of having done so. That’s me. I’m not sure that forgiveness is something I want to learn, either. If someone treats me badly, shouldn’t heightened vigilance and isolation simply be called learning? People can make mistakes and I’ll let that go, of course. (I’m Canadian.) But when malice is involved? Hell, no.


~ I am Robert Chazz Chute. I write apocalyptic epics and killer crime thrillers and I’m best known for This Plague of Days. My latest books are The Night Man and Amid Mortal Words.

Posted on

Were old SF movies better?

Since getting Roku, I’m getting the opportunity to see some old sci-fi movies. Most are pretty bad but one stands out as so good, firing on all cylinders, that I encourage you to check it out. It is The Day the Earth Caught Fire. What’s so striking about this film is how many parallels there are to our response to disasters generally and climate change in particular. As a writer of apocalyptic epics, I’m addicted to sci-fi about the end of the world. This is not one to miss.

The movie starts with a slow burn (no pun intended) in which a failed journalist walks through London. The city is ravaged by drought. The dry ground is cracked and the sun beats down on the city in a way we have never seen. Then we fade back 19 days to find out how things went so bad so quickly.

Released in 1961, this is SF with a conscience. The nuclear arms race is front of mind. Eventually, it comes out that simultaneous testing of atomic bombs has screwed up the planet. The Earth tilts eleven degrees and the equator has moved. Earthquakes, typhoons, fires and meteorological chaos ensues. First comes denial and things seem fairly okay for a while as the population is assured that all they have to do is cope and wait out the disaster. The initial mild reaction to things falling apart reminds me of On the Beach (1959). As things get worse, water shortages spread. The bloom of black markets and typhus follows. Then comes the civil unrest.

It’s a fascinating study in societal decay as seen through the eyes of journalists trying to report on the end of the world. To avoid panic, the world’s governments attempt to downplay the destruction of civilization as long as they can. Watching this movie I was disturbed by several of the bits of propaganda that felt eerily familiar in contemporary times. Though the science is a bit off and it feels a bit dated here and there, much of the dialogue is snappy. That helps the story move along quite well. I have a theory that old movies have better dialogue because they can’t rely on CGI as much as today’s movies do. Scripts were longer and the exchange of words was generally sharper then. Many of today’s movies seem to be made for an Instagram audience. (There’s only one Aaron Sorkin. People make fun of Sorkin’s affection for the “walk and talk” but the dialogue always sizzles with urgency.)

Finally, I can’t write about this movie without mentioning the accomplished English actress Janet Munro. She is a stunner who steals every scene she’s in. As the low-level whistleblower, it’s easy to imagine this is how the awful truth seeps out. I have an odd hobby when I watch old movies. I always look up the actors to see how they died. Janet Munro passed away at the age of only 38 of heart failure. I don’t mean to be morbid but to see how people so fit and fabulous knock off is a grim memento mori so, hey, carpe diem. Sad and true.

Check The Day the Earth Caught Fire* if you get the chance. Do not confuse it with The Day the Sky Exploded (1958) because WOW! That sucked. Also, if you haven’t already seen The Day the Earth Stood Still, stop reading this and go check it out immediately. (I mean the genre’s classic from 1951, not the 2008 remake with Keanu Reeves.) Add Logan’s Run (1976) and Silent Running (1972) while you’re at it.

I love old sci-fi. The special effects might seem quaint but there were many fun (and sometimes great) science fiction films that were made before CGI could do all the images justice.

*There sure were a lot of The Day the Blah Blah Did Something movies, weren’t there?

Posted on

All Empires Fall: New Cover Reveal

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JNSRJT4/

Note: This anthology will be fan-priced this Sunday, January 20. (Hint: that means free.)

The new cover reflects my favorite story of the collection: a planet-killing meteor striking the Earth. This new design take reminds me of a bunch of SF covers so -4 for originality, +8 for SF reader appeal. (Numbers are approximate.)

I liked the old cover very much but it wasn’t as clear as it could be as a thumbnail image. Also, it reflected multiple disasters befalling Earth instead of one big one. This new one should have more punch and attract SF readers.

The story behind the stories

I’ve written several big apocalyptic epics with long story arcs. Here’s the weirdo rundown:

This Plague of Days is a paranormal on the spectrum zombie/vampire/good versus evil apocalypse.

AFTER Life is the nanotech-zombie apocalypse/invasion of America from Canada.

Robot Planet is the humans versus the Singularity war.

The Dimension War is a New Adult alien invasion/ghost fantasy series written with Holly Papandreas.

For a while there, I swore off writing shorter fiction. Then my friend Armand Rosamilia asked for a short story as part of a promotion for the Project Entertainment Network. When Armand said short, he meant just 750 words. I figured I could accomplish that, no problem. It didn’t quite work out that way. I knocked out a story that was much longer than what Armand was looking for. Then I wrote another, and another, and…suddenly I had a little anthology.

It occured to me then that I’d been a little too precious about writing shorter fiction. I remembered that I loved a format where anybody could have a quick read they could enjoy on a long commute or over their lunch hour. All Empires Fall hits on several apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic scenarios and I had a really good time writing it.


~ RCC

Posted on

Do you feel trapped sometimes?

Here’s the promise: You’re going to love the escape you feel when you read The Night Man.

Earnest “Easy” Jack Jr. is a wounded warrior with harsh history and a very uncertain future. He returns home from war to his father’s house on the edge of Lake Orion, Michigan. His father raises guard dogs and works as a long haul trucker. When Easy’s mother got sick, Easy Sr. began smuggling to make ends meet. That’s how the trouble really started.

This novel is packed with witty dialogue and plenty of action and plot twists. However, the narrative has some things to say about the decay in Middle America, too. The root of Easy’s problems rest in fertile soil: the failures of late-stage capitalism, the gig economy and the trap we’re all in. Just about every character in The Night Man feels trapped. The only one who doesn’t feel trapped is a monster.

Don’t get me wrong: This crime thriller is fueled by tons of surprises, fascinating characters and fun dialogue. But I feel trapped sometimes. A lot of us do. Even fun escapist fiction can have a subtext that addresses what’s real. That’s important in fiction. A real context helps readers suspend disbelief.

As I write this, it’s Saturday, January 12, 2019, and The Night Man ebook is available to download for free. If you’re reading this too late, it’s still a very inexpensive and compelling read that will keep you entertained and smiling for hours. Enjoying a good book is one of the few ways we have to escape the trap.

Enjoy The Night Man and all my books by clicking the links to your right. Thank you for being a reader.