We are delighted to welcome author Jason Brenizer to Omnimystery News today.
Jason splits his time between narrating audiobooks and writing thriller, and in that latter role he has recently published the first in his CUBIK Conspiracy series, The Distance Between (Digital Tales; November 2015 trade paperback and ebook formats). We recently had a chance to spend some time with him talking about the book.
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Omnimystery News: Tell us the backstory to The Distance Between.
Photo provided courtesy of
Jason Brenizer
Jason Brenizer: I started out in physics and engineering, and had worked with several extremely intelligent women who, sadly, had to scrape and work that much harder to get the recognition they deserved (my wife among them). It's a common theme no matter the country or culture from which you come. As a man, I have no shortage of heroes in fiction. So, for The CUBIK Conspiracy series, I wanted to place a female hero squarely in the center of the conflict and give her a chance to run circles around the men of the story. I was also intrigued to explore the difficulty for a woman to hold onto feminine power when forced to play a game by masculine rules.
You wouldn't expect a post-doc at Stanford to know martial arts or survival tactics. That's part of the mystery of The Distance Between, the first book in the series. Lexi Huang can do things that she's been hiding from everyone at college. Especially her boyfriend Kyle. At every turn she encounters tough choices — to save the people around her, she has to reveal parts of herself and her past that she's gone to great lengths to bury. That makes her vulnerable, and for someone who likes control, that's agony.
As the series unfolds, more of the mysteries behind Lexi's almost exclusively male family will be revealed, and she will take on greater challenges that require her to change in ways she never thought possible. Her struggle between duty — to family, nation, region — and her desire to design her own life is what drew me to her.
OMN: How did you come to decide that The Distance Between would be the first in a series?
JB: I am a big believer in the power of outlining, but I didn't start out that way. I imagine most novelists begin with a similar process to mine. When I first started writing, I would get an idea, open up my screenwriting software, and start knocking out scenes. But after a few stalled attempts, where I ran into impenetrable walls stretching left and right to infinity, I quickly decided I needed to maximize my chances of writing something an audience would enjoy. Well, at the beginning, I just wanted to finish a story. Who wants to relive the anguish of tossing half a screenplay into the trash? I've done it a few times.
So I set out to accelerate my understanding of craft. My acting training certainly helped understand the importance of character objective and action — what does my villain want and what is he willing to do to get it? I upped my game by attending film school in Prague while my wife and I were living in Europe. I augmented the curriculum by devouring a library of screenwriting books.
All these sources drummed in structure as the skeleton on which to hang the weight of your story. They emphasized a deep human psychological resonance to each beat within that structure. I'm not talking about formula. I like to think of it in terms of learning the theory and mechanics of music — scales, harmony, rhythm — to free myself up to compose infinite variations.
So now, when the first flush of an idea comes to me, I ask myself a lot of questions. I allow myself freedom during this brainstorming process. No question is stupid. No answer is judged. Or at least, that's the ideal.
Now to the thrust of your question. Whether an idea is suitable for a series or standalone, for me, comes down to a character's speed of change. In a standalone, the event that pushes the main character to tackle a problem and move away from unsatisfactory stasis is a once in a lifetime shift. This is the defining moment for the would-be hero. When the story is finished, the hero is changed so completely, that the rest of his life will run smoothly. And he lived happily ever after …
Alternatively, if the character doesn't change rapidly, yet the world changes by her actions, then the story could work as a series.
Detective stories are a prime example. There's something wrong with the world. It's the detective's job to right that wrong. A killer is brought to justice. A master thief is caught through matched brilliance and determination. The hero brings to light the web of corruption surrounding a powerful instituation. Jack Reacher is a prime example of this setup working brilliantly. Whether you like the series or not, you can't deny that Lee Child has continued to thrill his massive audience with seventeen books starring the same hero. A hero who changes very little.
Some stories are so epic and grand in scale that, to be fully satisfying, they need to be broken into several parts. To use John Truby's term, these stories often have a designing principle that repeats. Harry Potter is a perfect example. There is the greater story of a young boy being the only hope against overwhelming evil which threatens all of society. Then each part, or book, has a similar shape. Harry starts out at home, an unloved outcast, and then he's off to Hogwarts for another year of self discovery, woe, and adventure at boarding school.
OMN: Were you at all concerned about writing a book featuring a female lead character?
JB: I was worried at first. Could I pull off writing dialogue and point-of-view for a hero with a gender opposite mine? I hoped I wouldn't stray too far into the land of stereotype and cliche. But being hyper-aware helped me avoid most of the pitfalls. Had my main character been male I might have ended up casting myself as the protagonist. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of me in Lexi, but she's an amalgam of many people I've known. At the point where she started taking actions I never would have, I began to feel a sense of freedom. That is, until she made choices that got me, the writer, into a bind that I hadn't planned in the outline. Those were tough writing days. Hopefully my suffering, when I didn't know what was going to happen next, translated to excitement and surprise for the reader.
I think readers only care about gender differences if the author does a poor job of writing the opposite sex. You don't necessarily get special credit for a job well done. The book is either satisfying or not. The question is, can we write a story of human experience such that it feels truthful? If I can't write the opposite gender to be more than a cardboard cutout, I'd deserve a grade of 50% — roughly half the humans on the planet are not my gender. That's an F on the report card.
Could I be better at it? Oh hell yeah! But I'll leave the answer to whether I satisfactorily pulled it off or not to the readers.
OMN: Into which genre would you place this series?
JB: I label The CUBIK Conspiracy series as Techno-thriller. In them you'll find political questions posed. The intelligence and training of the characters impact the plot. Their use and novel manipulation of technology helps them navigate their world and overcome obstacles. A lover of Michael Crichton or Tom Clancy would happily recognize the hallmarks of the genre in my stories.
If you look on Amazon there aren't many books published in this category compared to, let's say, cozy mysteries. You could take that to mean that there are fewer people out there that wish to read this type of story. Alternatively, you could say I have less competition. The activity of writing a book is distinctly different from marketing one. So calling my books Techno-thrillers or Political Thrillers or Spy Thrillers helps me remember to write (and market) for a specific audience. I can't make everyone happy, but I can try my damnedest to delight "my kind of people".
OMN: How would you tweet a summary of The Distance Between?
JB: Silicon Valley. The 99% revolt. The 1% resist. Both sides are gunning for mega-rich Lexi. Her secret past holds the key to victory.
OMN: You briefly mentioned your writing process. What are some of the actual steps you take?
JB: There's the brainstorming phase where I ask myself questions about characters, the world, the problem, the themes, and naturally the plot. I put all this into one giant mess of a Google Doc. Forty pages of single-spaced text is normal. No one could take that document and figure out what the plot of the book(s) will be. There are too many contradictory possible story threads in that jumble of thoughts.
Next comes the pruning. It's time to make definitive choices. Does Bob have a Master's degree in economics or did he quit high school when his dad died to provide for his mom and sisters? By making one hard choice, twenty other implications might be cut away at the same time.
Then I try to boil down all the remaining possibilities by using actual paper notecards. I bust out the cork board and make four rows across it with masking tape. I allow myself a maximum of ten notecards in each row. That's 40 story "beats" for one book. A beat could be a scene, a sequence of scenes, a chapter. The ends of the four rows coincide with major screenwriting act breaks: 1) leaving the comfort of the known, but somehow broken existence, 2) midpoint where stakes are raised and old tactics no longer work, 3) all is lost with a quick turn toward the climax, 4) and synthesis of the old and new ways of being.
Notecards are great for several reasons. You can only write down so many words on them. This requires me to be succinct, to get clear about what the characters want, what blocks them, and how they are going shift tactics to come out on top. Notecards are also a lot easier to toss in the trash than fully formed prose. And finally, notecards can be physically moved around on the board. I find that, especially in the middle of a story, some scenes can be shifted around to give the rollercoaster a more satisfying shape.
Once the notecards feel right, then the real writing begins. Even with all that planning, things happen I didn't foresee. New characters pop up. Some characters fall away or are merged together.
I let a first draft sit for a month or so. Then I read through it with semi-fresh eyes and take notes. I'll do several passes of rewrites, often focusing on one story thread. Sometimes there are inconsistencies with the tech. Other times I'll look exclusively at a character — how she speaks, what her mannerisms are, and how she reacts emotionally to what's happening.
I feel that I could write and rewrite a story forever. But then I also want to finish at least one book a year, so at some point I just have to say "good enough" and move on to the next one.
OMN: How do you go about researching the plot points of your stories?
JB: We are so lucky to be living at this time in history. We have a world of knowledge at our fingertips. If I want to write a scene taking place in Mumbai, I have immediate access to videos, satellite imagery, pictures, books, and blogs as I sit in a coffee shop in Austin, Texas, USA. Obviously there is no substitute for actually experiencing the sound and feel and taste of a place, but I am confident that all but the most fastidious of Indians will be pleased with the richness of setting and detail one can create with a good internet connection and a lively imagination.
I love learning new stuff. Right now I'm working on a standalone techno-thriller / horror novel called The Sentinel of Eden for which I have been doing way too much research: World War II history of the Japanese in southeast Asia, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, genetics, and symbiotic organisms. Look for this one late 2016.
For my technology research I also consult regularly with experts. In the spring of 2016 I'll be publishing my recorded sessions with scientists, technologists, and entrepreneurs as the Digital-Tales Inflection Point Podcast. It will be available through iTunes, Stitcher Radio, and my website.
OMN: How true are you to the setting of the series?
JB: With The Distance Between I had the benefit of looking at what the near future might be like in the San Francisco bay area. With this setup, I can take all the liberties I want. Does the Golden Gate bridge still exist? That's my choice. But if I write it out of existence, I'm making a statement. Setting a story in a real city, but in an alternate reality, allows me to explore the impact of our our current actions (or unwillingness to act) on future generations. It's like a marked up layer of tracing paper sitting on top of our present time. For me, by comparing what is to what could be, the themes take on an extra depth.
If I were to ever write historical fiction, I'd feel more compelled to be as accurate as possible.
OMN: If we could send you anywhere in the world on our dime to research the setting for a book, where would it be?
JB: I've had the good fortune to live abroad in France and then Singapore and travel widely in those regions. It's been several years since I've been back to southeast Asia. I'd love to spend more time in the Malaysian peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
OMN: What are some of your outside interests?
JB: When I lived in Singapore I began training in Filipino Martial Arts — Kali Majapahit, Sikaran, and Panantukan. Upon returning to Austin, I've been lucky to continue my training with one of the best Pekiti Tirsia Kali instructors in the world. I'd still consider myself a beginner even after years of training. The real artists devote their lives to the discipline. I do think that knowing the mechanics of fighting helps me describe it. I've felt the fear of a fight, both in myself and in others. I've had my bell rung. And I know what it's like to be at the mercy of someone who knows in his bones how to take down an opponent.
OMN: What is the best advice you've received as an author?
JB: Write a little bit every day. An author friend did the math for me early on and it was compelling. Graham Greene, one of my favorite authors, wrote 500 words a day. By the end of his life he had written 26 novels and almost as many plays, screenplays, and travel books. I'd be content with that.
OMN: How did The Distance Between come to be titled?
JB: The Distance Between was definitely not the working title of the book. At the beginning I gave it a loose title purely for function; it was the "escape the bay" book. It wasn't until the second draft that I started thinking seriously about the title. By then I had a solid grasp on the themes and, more importantly, my hero's identity and point of view. She holds secrets. She doesn't want others to judge her by her past, but in doing so she judges herself.
I think I filled three pages with iterations of different titles. One phrase would blossom into five more related phrases. I settled on The Distance Between for it's multiple meanings. It says something about social structures and at the same time questions the relationships between the main characters.
OMN: Suppose your series were to be adapted for television or film and you're the casting director. Whose agents are you calling?
JB: This is a fun question. I consciously avoid describing too many physical attributes of my main characters. I prefer the reader to fill in the blanks. Everyone's sense of the ideal is different. With details left vague, it's easier to slide yourself into someone's skin.
For that reason, on the cover for The CUBIK Conspiracy book 1, my main character, Lexi, looks into the distant cityscape, her back to us. The reader sees what she sees. And we have very little idea what her face looks like or how she feels about it.
Asking me which actress I see playing Lexi in the movie adaptations is a more complicated question than you might think, because she has already been up on the big screen. I wrote and directed the film CUBIK while living in Singapore, and it successfully made the rounds of the international film festival circuit. That story includes several other characters found in The Distance Between. I loved them and their nefarious world so much that I knew I had to further explore their lives.
OMN: What kinds of book or film genres do you enjoy for entertainment?
JB: I read a lot of classic science fiction and fantasy as a kid. Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, J.R.R. Tolkien, Roger Zelazny. The list goes on and on. My biggest formative influence has to be Frank Herbert. The man was a genius in world building. I have read and still have a copy of everything he has ever written.
Once I got to college I started devouring literary fiction. No longer forced to read the contemporary classics, I actually started to enjoy them. Graham Greene, Hemingway, Nabokov, Joseph Heller, D.H. Lawrence, George Orwell, Joseph Conrad, James Joyce …
But the movies were my gateway to thriller and crime genres. I remember watching The Andromeda Strain in a science class at school (when we must have had a substitute) and learning the film had first been a book. Enter Michael Crichton. I'd find new authors, binge on a bunch of their books, and unearth who their influences had been. Down another rabbit hole I'd go. Or I'd watch a Bogart noir and suddenly be reading Raymond Chandler.
OMN: Create a Top 5 list for us on any topic.
JB: Top 5 places to visit:
1. Istanbul, Turkey
2. Prague, Czech Republic
3. South Island (Mt. Cook to Doubtful Sound), New Zealand
4. Granada, Spain
5. Kyoto, Japan
OMN: What's next for you?
JB: In addition to writing novels, I also produce audiobooks for other authors and publishers. Because I found myself answering the same questions again and again, I decided to write them all down and publish a non-fiction book called 50 Critical Questions: Discover the Perfect Audiobook Producer. Look for it in digital format by on February 1, 2016.
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Jason Brenizer was once a scientist — not the soft stuff — physics. Then one day, while carbon dating the Shroud of Turin (or was it designing microprocessors for Apple?), he chucked it all to become a storyteller. He studied filmmaking in Prague and acting in NYC. He played Jesus, RFK, and even a WWII Nazi-Vampire. CUBIK, the Singapore-set Sci-Fi film he co-wrote and directed, won the Grand Remi Prize at WorldFest — the same as Spielberg's first award. These days, he focuses on writing science thrillers and narrating audio books.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at JasonBrenizer.com and his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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The Distance Between by Jason Brenizer
The CUBIK Conspiracy
Publisher: Digital Tales
In San Francisco, rising seas have claimed the districts lining the bay. The streets have decayed into a twisted version of Venice. The people scrabbling in these Zones have been abandoned by the government, while the wealthy sit protected in their pristine Rezident Enclaves and tell jokes about Canalo Alto and San Weteo. The Zoners have had enough. They want revolution.
And for some reason, they want Stanford post-doc Lexi Huang, too. She's had a sneaking suspicion for weeks that someone's been stalking her. But when the voice of the revolution, Mr. Megaphone, calls her from the riot brewing outside her campus lab, Lexi goes on the run, with boyfriend Kyle in tow.
She's been preparing for something like this her whole life. In fact, her family insisted on it. Now, to weather the political hurricane, she must rely on concealed talents, while hiding their origins from Kyle to keep a promise. And the Zoners aren't the only ones tracking her.
To survive, she'll have to violate her values and jettison her dreams of a simple life far from the shadow of her Singaporean family. She's the city's most wanted. She's the key to the revolution. And when she crosses your path, devastation is only one step behind.
— The Distance Between by Jason Brenizer
