­­FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

(with answers this time!)

Q: What is the reading order and schedule for ExForce books?

EF1: Columbus Day

EF2: SpecOps

EF3: Paradise

EF3.5: Trouble on Paradise

EF4: Black Ops

EF5: Zero Hour

EF6: Mavericks

EF7: Renegades

Mavericks1: Deathtrap

EF7.5: Homefront (audio drama)

EF8: Armageddon

EF9: Valkyrie

Mavericks2: Freefall

EF10: Critical Mass

EF11: Brushfire – December 2020

EF12: Breakaway – June 2021

EF13 – December 2021

EF14 – June 2022

EF15 – December 2022 – last ExForce book Note: EF12 was intended to be the 3 rd Mavericks book, but since the story has the Mavericks working with the Merry Band of Pirates and those sketchy Jeraptha, I decided to relabel it as an ExForce book. The story and title have not changed, just the series label.

Q: You made a live-action audiobook trailer?

A: So, I had an idea to make a live-action trailer for Columbus Day. Not just a typical book ‘trailer’ that is just a still image of the book cover with some special effects, I wanted something like a movie trailer. To kick off the project, I wrote a script for a 60-second movie that included an alien spaceship crashing into a field, an ice cream truck, Skippy saying snarky things etc. Then I started looking around for a video company to make this short film.

Reality check: we would have to sell our house to pay for this 60-second movie.

Time for Plan B. Podium Audio was enthused about the idea and had contacts in the industry, we agreed to split the (still very expensive) cost. The script got pared down to fit the 60-second runtime, and we lost the ice cream truck and Skippy. The marketing people explained that anyone who liked the video would click through to learn more about the book, and anyway we shouldn’t give away the surprise reveal of Skippy during a teaser video.

RC Bray’s delivery in the trailer is perfect!

Will there be more trailers? Shmaybe. They are expensive, like, really expensive. BTW here is a link to the trailer if you haven’t seen it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxoUzJyLCT0&feature=youtu.be

Q: How many books will be in the ExForce series?

A: All of them!

Q: Well, duh. I meant, give me a number.

A: Seriously, there will be fifteen ExForce novels. Plus the Book 3.5 ‘Trouble on Paradise’ novella, and two novels of the ExForce Mavericks. Plus, eventually a novelization of the ‘Homefront’ audio drama that is Book7.5. So, seventeen novels and two novellas. That is a LOT of words. Just thinking about it makes me tired.

Q: Is there a plan for the ExForce series, or are you just making stuff up as you write?

A: When I wrote Columbus Day, I created a background story for who Skippy is, how he came to be buried in the dirt on Paradise, who the Elders were etc. Also I wrote a story arc for the entire series, so I know where the story is going. That original vision for the story arc has remained consistent, with minor changes along the way.

Q: Will there be more books in the Ascendant series?

A: Ascendant is a trilogy, and there are three books, so, no. However, my wife loves Ascendant and when she read the last line of the third book, she looked at me and said ‘You son of a bitch’.

When she asked if there would be a fourth book in the trilogy I said something like ‘Duh, no’ (the ‘Duh’ was implied). She pointed out that:

1) It’s my series and I can do what I want

2) I left a whole lot of stuff unexplained

3) She can easily smother me while I sleep

Her argument was very persuasive. So, I thought about it and, darn it, my brain started imagining what the continued story would be like and now I can’t wait to write it. When I will have time to squeeze another 150,000-word book in my schedule is a good question

Q: Craig, when will you have time to squeeze a (or possibly more than one) 150,000-word Ascendant book in your schedule?

A: That is a good question.

Q: Will there be more books in the Aces series?

A: The Aces series was planned as a two-book story arc about Kaylee and Manny, the second book will be Aces: Grounded and I do have an outline for it. Aces is the first book I ever completed, and it taught me how to develop plots, pace my writing, find my writing ‘voice’ and generally how to write a novel. I am very proud of that story. Like Ascendant, I do not know when I will have time to write another Aces book.

Q: You publish three or more 180k+ word books a year. You are an incredibly prolific writer. How do you do it?

A: Let me ask YOU a question: if you work your job five days a week, 48+ weeks a year, does anyone call you ‘prolific’? No. That is just called ‘working’ unless you are a writer. Somehow, the bar is set incredibly low for writers. It used to be that if a writer published one typically 90k-word book a year, they were ‘prolific’. Now the world has changed.

Q: Were you ever in the Armed Forces?

A: No. Sadly, my dreams of being a pilot were squashed when a recruiter gave me a ‘lantern test’ and discovered I have significant red/green colorblindness. Also my dreams of being pretty much anything that requires color vision, such as reading maps, wiring diagrams, etc. If I ever have to defuse a bomb by cutting the blue wire instead of the purple wire, I am screwed. I thought that the stupid Scandinavian genes that gave me blonde hair, blue eyes and color blindness would at least mean I get to hang out in Asgard with Thor, Odin and the Valkyries but NO! They have ‘standards’. Stupid Norse gods. I didn’t want to hang out with them anyway. Bunch of jerks.

Q: What is this writer’s ‘Voice’ BS?

A: ‘Voice’ is a fancy pretentious way to say ‘style’. My style is heavy on dialog, without a lot of description. Also my style is sometimes considered to be sarcastic (I know, I couldn’t believe that either). When I first started writing, I tried to write like authors I admired, and I quickly told myself ‘Ugh, this is not working’. I was bored while writing a scene, so I figured the reader would be bored also. So, I started writing the kind of books I like to read, and that works for me.

Q: How does you long-suffering wife stand living with you?

A: My theory is she hopes her suffering in this life will be rewarded in her next life (like she will be married to Chris Hemsworth).

Truthfully, if she has a shot at Chris Hemsworth, she should go for it. I mean, the guy is dreamy.

Q: Why did you become a writer?

A: It is currently the easiest way to get the stories in my head into a readable format.

Q: Are there plans to make ExForce into a movie or TV show?

A: Define ‘plans’.

Q: Something better than you kidnapping famous producers, and forcing them to make an ExForce movie.

A: There have been discussions with various Hollywood producers and studios. So far, nothing is signed. Everyone who has been through the process tells me it takes a very long time.

Q: What is the most important characteristic a writer needs to have?

A: IMHO, it is the ability to tell a story. If you don’t have an interesting story to tell, and you don’t know how to tell it in an interesting way, it doesn’t matter how ‘good a writer’ you are. If you are that person who doesn’t know how to tell a good joke at a party, you are probably not going to be a successful writer.

So, have an interesting story, and know how to tell it. The rest is just typing.

Q: What did you do before you were a writer?

A: I was in Witness Protection.

Darn, I wasn’t supposed to tell you that. Forget what I said.

Q: Is there a chart of the star-faring species in ExForce?

A: Ayuh.