20 FIRST CHAPTERS INTERVIEW
Posted on January 16, 2025
To promote the release of the fifth volume in the 20 First Chapters series along with the collected edition called 101 First Chapters, Brian sat down for an interview.
1. Where did you come up with the idea of writing only first chapters?
I generate a lot of story ideas, far more than I can put to paper in a lifetime. I liked the challenge of writing a chapter that lays the groundwork and builds characters. I also wanted to see if penning twenty would make writing future first chapters easier. I think it has. It’s made me rather fearless. No blank page is going to paralyze me.
2. Were there any categories or genres you naturally gravitated toward?
Metafiction and Superheroes show up the most, with Dragons and Urban Fantasy taking third and fourth. I loved doing any stories with deities, magic schools, and familiars as well.
3. How long did each volume take to create?
It took fourteen months to write all five volumes. Each volume averaged about two and half months. Volume Five was written in twenty straight days, though. Most volumes were worked on while I was in school. I teach at a year-round elementary school, and we’re in session for nine to ten weeks then get about three weeks off. I write my novels during the four breaks from school each year. I wrote these first chapters mostly during the weeks I was in school and averaged about two to three a week.
4. Can you divulge some of the pop culture influences in your work?
The Rook Fletcher chapter is a metafiction take on Encyclopedia Brown. This Island Adrift combines Survivor with Land of the Lost. Rex Arcana is my salute to Hellboy. Eric Can’t Spell melds Harry Potter with Weekend At Bernie’s. Into the Woodworks channels the Micronauts. Mystic Lake Summer Camp is a fusion of X-men with Percy Jackson. The YA, Things-That-Go-Bump-In-The-Night Book Club is my homage to Buffy and Scooby Doo. Fans of Gremlins will love Lurks. Major Carson and the Gate of Halizar is my spin on Edgar Rice Burroughs. XTC’s Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead inspired The Problem With Peter Pronto. That’s just to name a few.
5. What sort of frameworks do you use in your first chapters?
I tried to deliver info and background details in description, dialogue, and through character’s thoughts. Some first chapters start off in the middle of action. Quite a few use an interview approach. I think doing this project freed me up to see that there are so many ways to start a story.
6. Are there any topics or genres you are itching to try in future volumes?
I’d love to do one about a Kaiju and possibly a body horror tale. Volume Six has giant tentacles on the cover, so I anticipate getting one or both of the topics knocked out in that volume.
7. What drove you to change from first to third person and also switch between present and past tenses?
Because I do that with my fifth graders. In class, we write stories using first and third person, even second person. I think it keeps the reader on their toes and serves as another teaching tool. The Author’s Commentaries have been cited by readers as a wonderful addition to the project. It gives me a forum to talk inspiration, structure, and craft.
8. Have you thought of branching out with the brand?
I think it would be fun to do a collection of 20 Meet Cutes. I’d also love to do twenty first chapters with nineteen other authors. I also like the idea of teaming up with another author and we each write ten first chapters to put together a special volume.
9. Will any of the first chapters get their own complete books?
Yes, in fact my next project will be taking the first chapter of Eric Can’t Spell and telling a complete story. I’ll likely tackle others, too. Lurks is another one I’ve been eyeing. A Rise In Evil would seem like a good choice. I’ve yet to do a full-length superhero novel and I think that one or Hero Near You App have a lot of potential.
10. How long do you think you can do this?
Well, I’ve already started on the sixth volume. I figure that means I should commit to getting to Volume Ten so I can have 202 First Chapters.
11. Did you find the ideal word count for a first chapter?
The average was about 1500 words. A couple went past 2000 words, and maybe one clocked in under a thousand. I think their short length makes the volumes so easily digestible and a little addicting. It’s like the equivalent of literary fast food. The total word count for each volume was very consistent. All were over 30,000 words with most being about 31,000 words.
12. Can you list your twenty favorites so far?
Cutlass Jones and the Fire Pirates
With Antlered Brow
Cecil Finds His Station
Suffer Not a Mitch to Live
So You Think You Can Time Travel
Murdering Me, Myself, and I
Den of Steves
Infernal Wind
Being Hector Specter
Hero Near You App
Evil On the Rise
Lurks
Into the Woodworks
Beach Blanket Bloodsuckers
A Bullet For Craig Mellon
Seth In Stone
By a Ghost Inhabited
Takeout Dragon
Eric Can’t Spell
Rook Fletcher and the Case of the Ancient Newcomer