Christopher Pike Fans

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webmasternemi — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 05:30:13 +0000

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Pike Talk: On Witch World 2

webmasternemi — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 05:24:54 +0000

PIKE here: This post will be about the creative process that leads to how I create a book. Instead of an old title, it will focus on Witch World II. In my next post I’ll return to my old books.
However, eventually I’ll run out of old books to talk about and I’d like to return to the idea of trying to make this site — and my future website — a place where we discuss EVERYONE’s books. Where people can post two chapters and an outline and ALL of us can read it and give our input, not just me. The focus cannot always be on me — that will get boring. I want this site to be dynamic, capable of constantly attracting new people.

Besides, it’s dangerous for me to give my input on other people’s books. Most of the books I’m sent to read are not good enough to pass on to an agent, never mind be published. It doesn’t matter how much people say they want a blunt assessment — they end up hating me for telling them the truth. For that reason, I’d rather have the whole Facebook board point out the book’s flaws, and maybe, just maybe, the would-be authors will fix the flaws.

Speaking of the creative process. Thanksgiving night, when I drove back late from L.A., I thought I had a pretty good idea of how Witch World II would go. Turns out I knew nothing. I figure out my plots in basically four ways: I sit at the computer and throw out ideas; I brainstorm with my girlfriend; I take a long walk and think about the book; or I take a long drive. I got The Sixth Door on one long drive, an adult book that is coming.

Thursday night, Friday morning, while driving back to Santa Barbara, the bulk of Witch World II came to me like a slow rolling movie. The book I was talking about earlier — The Players — it no longer exists. It’s become a major part of Witch World II. It should have been obvious when I got The Players that it was part of the Witch World saga but I didn’t see it. Now the original Witch World feel like one long cool prologue to the REAL story.

Witch World II has Jessie, my hero, trapped in an arena like situation, where she’s fighting for her life. But it’s unlike The Hunger Games — it’s an arena unlike anything that has been done before. It is so damn intense! The first draft of the book is due April 15th and that scares me because the story is now VERY complex, very rich. I hope I’m able to pull it off — I think I can.

The rush I got when the story came to me was better than any drug. I had so much energy, I could have driven to Canada. The creative process is interesting that way. When you get “Touched” it’s an incredible experience. Then you know the book always had a life of its own — that it was already out there waiting to be discovered.

To make Witch World II work, I might have to do something I’ve never done before — combine Jessie’s first person narrative with another character’s narrative, either first person or third person. This character, Blake, he was at the heart of The Players — the entire book was told through his eyes. He’s actually based on someone I met, or rather, watched in operation.

Because Alcon is making the Alosha movie, they usually invite my me and my girlfriend down to L.A. to see the opening of their films at Grauman’s Chinese Theater. These are red carpet affairs and lots of stars come out to see the new films. They’re fun, especially if the movie is good.

Anyway, the parking is an interesting problem. Grauman’s was built ages ago and doesn’t have it’s own parking lot, at least not anymore. I park in the mall next door to the theater. But a lot of people valet, and their car may end up in the mall or some other place, it’s hard to say.

I’d rather not go into too much detail how I met Blake but let’s just say that MY Blake — the one in my book — works parking cars for all the rich Hollywood types, and as a result he knows exactly how many jewels the ladies are wearing for the red carpet and he also has access to their car keys. Plus he knows where their cars are parked.

To make a long opening chapter short, Blake is a jewel thief who preys on specific couples — those who wear tons of jewelry, and those who stay late at the “Post-Movie-Party.” These parties are held a hotel within walking distance of the theater. Imagine how this situation is perfect for a jewel thief. By parking people’s cars, seeing early in the evening what they’re wearing, Blake is able to identify a dozen candidates to steal from.

Why is it important his candidates stay late? Blake has a real job — he’s a valet. But as the night wears on, most of the valets go home. At some point Blake clocks out. But he doesn’t leave. Instead, using the car keys available to all the valets, he hides in the trunk of a car of a person — specifically a women — who is wearing tons of jewelry, and who is probably exhausted — because she has stayed so late at the party — and who is more often than not drunk. Of course, this woman is not alone — she’s with her husband or a boyfriend. But it’s the woman who interests Blake. It’s the woman who wears the jewels.

You can probably guess what happens next. When the couple finally pick up their car, Blake rides in the trunk back to their house. You can see how the people make perfect victims. When they park in their garage, they have no idea Blake’s in their trunk. They’re tired, they’ve been drinking. What are the chances the woman will stop to store her jewelry in a home safe? Close to zero. Chances are she’ll just pull them off and leave them on top of a counter somewhere, in the bathroom or the bedroom, and then plop into bed.

That’s when Blake leaves the trunk and sneaks into their house and steals the jewels.

This is — or was — the opening chapter of The Players. Now it will probably be the opening chapter of Witch World II, I haven’t decided for sure. I may start with Jessie’s point of view in another situation.

The point of this exercise is to show how a real life situation inspired a first chapter for a novel. A chapter that with one long exciting sequence tells you more about a character than a dozen normal chapters could. By the end of this chapter you KNOW Blake. You know he grew up on the streets. That he has had to struggle to feed himself. That he has “Street Smarts.” That he’s a survivor. That he’s perfect partner to be thrown into a deadly arena — with Jessie — and survive.

I won’t tell you if Blake manages to steal his victim’s jewels that night or not. I don’t want to spoil the fun. But I will say that before the night is over he is “Picked Up” by some mysterious force and ends up in a strange metal box-like room with Jessie and four other young people from all parts of the world.

Is Blake a witch? I don’t know, I don’t think so. If he is one he’s certainly not conscious of the fact. Jessie is probably the only witch in the group, but I don’t know and it doesn’t matter, not at this point. I know where they’re going, I know what theyre going to have to face. That’s enough for me to write the bulk of the book.

Another question is — is all this happening in the Real World or in Witch World? Once again I’m not sure and it doesn’t matter this early in the story.

I never planned to have The Players meet Witch World II. I never planned for Chaneen’s story to meet Lauren Wagner’s story in The Season of Passage. It just happens sometimes and when it happens you realize that either your subconscious or your muse or your guardian angel or the akashic records were planning it all along. Now I can’t imagine how Witch World II could have worked without Blake and his gutsy background. Jessie needs Blake to help fight what she’s facing in Witch World II. It’s a hell of a lot worse than the Lapras from the first book.

To enjoy Witch World II you’ll have to read Witch World. So go buy a copy this weekend! And please send it to me to sign. This morning it was exciting to check my email and discover tons of books have already arrived at the UPS Store. I didn’t know they would email me every time a package arrived. Remember to enclose U.S. Postage SASE! Have I mentioned that before? I know, a thousand times, but you would be amazed the mail I get from people asking if they need to send one. Also, send only two old books for every new copy of Witch World. I have said this before, a few times, but not everyone is getting the message.

It’s OK, myself — I’m lousy at following directions.

Please post a review of Witch World! I have mentioned this before as well. Not just here on Facebook, although they are fun for me to read, but on Amazon — if you can — and Goodreads. For 20 years I’ve never even looked at a review. I’m sure you can understand why. But they do help sell books and I’m ultimately responsible for the success or failure of the Witch World saga.
How a series starts often determines how long it will last. Myself, I prefer to rely on word of mouth to sell books. I have my whole career. But in today’s world the Internet controls the success of everything — movies, CDs, books, TV shows. The feedback is fast these days. We’ve all seen how a 200 million dollar movie can vanish overnight if the opening weekend is weak. Take Battleship for example. Poor reviews, lousy Internet buzz — it went from showing in every theater in the country in the first week to a handful of theaters in the second week.

Unfortunately, now it’s the same with books. When I sold Slumber Party and Weekend, the books sat on the shelves for months. I had plenty of time to gather positive word of mouth. It was an easier time to break into the business. I look back on those days fondly. There were also hundreds of independent book distributors. If a quarter of them liked you — you could become a success writer.

Now all the small time distributors are gone. They have all been bought out. Now the majority of books are sold to a handful of accounts. Now a book has to start selling the first month it appears on the shelves. That’s why beginning writers — and old hacks like myself — are having to go on the Internet and promote their books. I’m just lucky I have this site on Facebook.
Oh, that reminds me. I’ve never seen a site like this one before. I can’t believe how civil everyone is to each other. You know how it is on other sites. Half the people regularly post notes that insult the other half. You must have noticed that NO ONE on this site tries to hurt other people. It’s kind of a miracle. We have been lucky so far.

However, if we do start accepting book proposals, and reviewing them online, I expect a few people will get their feelings hurt and lash out. I think it’s worth the risk. If we can help even one person get published then this site will have served its purpose. Remember how Sati said if even one person gets enlightened then everyone on the planet is changed. I believe that.
I’ll continue posting about my older books soon.

I’ve got to go sign copies of Witch World!

From “Christopher Pike Books” on Facebook

Pike Talk: His Books

webmasternemi — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 05:20:50 +0000

PIKE here. Finally I can explain the ideas behind a few of my books. Why I wrote certain stories; how I wrote them; what I like about them; what I don’t like about them. But before I start I just want to thank all of you for your extremely kind reviews of Witch World. Reading them each day has hastened my recovery, I’m not kidding. I love the book so much, I worked so hard on it but… You never know until it’s out there if other people are going to feel the same way. But once again, please post your reviews on Amazon — you can post there if you have bought something from them in the past — and Goodreads and any other place you can think of. Ryan has a list of review spots. Frankly, I’m a little behind the times in that area. But customer reviews do sell books so if it is not too much trouble…

Now, to business, to the fun stuff. I should get out one of my titles and check which order I wrote all my books in. I have a general idea, of course, but that’s all. However, I know WHERE I was when I wrote each book.

SLUMBER PARTY: The first book I sold, obviously. As I mentioned in my last post, at first I was trying to write story that could sell to a new YA supernatural series. So at first the story had a supernatural aspect. The burning of the two girls was originally caused by pyrokinesis — the ability to start fires with the mind. The original plot was actually more complex. The young girl — Alice? I can’t recall the names of most of my characters, there are so many — was the one with the ability and it would occasionally flare up when she got upset. But she didn’t know she had the power, not consciously, although her older sister did. Of course her older sister had long ago been a victim of the power, although it had been my hero’s fault the young girl had accidentally used it. As you can see, when Jean Fiewell moved to Scholastic and asked me to show her the whole book, minus the supernatural element, I had to do a ton of fresh plotting. Yet I think it turned out well. Slumber Party is short and simple but I think it works.
I wrote it in my parent’s house. In my old bedroom.

WEEKEND: Immediately after buying Slumber Party, Jean asked for another book and I sat down to try and top what I’d just written. Once again I tried to isolate my characters. That was playing it safe. I was not sure how to scare people who were not isolated. So I set up another weekend away from the parents. Jean believed strongly that adults should not play a major role in YA books. At the time she was probably right, but later I tried to move away from that rule. Anyway, I had a friend from high school named Candice who was on dialysis and who was also blind. I can’t recall what triggered her condition but we became better friends ten years after high school, and it was she who inspired me to use the idea of having a main character with failed kidneys. Like the character in Weekend, Candice was hoping for a transplant but sadly she died before she could get one.
I was excited when I came up with the idea of having a long lost brother show up to rescue the sick girl, but what I really liked best about the book was the characters. Sol, Shani, Park — I loved writing their dialogue scenes. It’s interesting that the characters in Weekend are more developed than in my next book, Chain Letter. But I was never happy with the snake scene at the end, and wanted to fix it. My agent and editor loved it, however, so I let it go. You tell me if you think it worked.
I wrote it in my parent’s house.

CHAIN LETTER: In this book I learned how to isolate people psychologically. The gang is surrounded by their family and friends but no one outside their small circle can help them because they can’t reveal their secret. Of course hitting someone and fleeing from the scene of the accident is an old idea. What made the book work is how the chain letter forced the characters to do things that embarrassed them. To be humiliated, as a teenager, can be the worst thing in the world. Yet the tasks the Caretaker demanded — at least in the first round — were not that difficult, not if you were an adult. But the kids understood the book, better than any adult, and it scared them. The only problem I had with Chain Letter was I could have developed the two main characters more. I editor told the editor, when we were going through the editing stage, that I needed to add a few scenes to give us a better idea of who these people were. The editor said no — don’t slow down the pace. She might have been right, the book is a page turner. Back in the days when the average YA sold 10K-20K, if you were lucky, Chain Letter quickly blew past a million copies.
Why did I write a sequel? I was offered a lot of money, and I wanted to keep my publisher happy. That’s the same reason I wrote two sequels to Remember Me. Obviously neither of those books were meant to have sequels. But I’m not ashamed of Chain Letter II. I knew when I started it I couldn’t repeat the first book. That’s why I added the supernatural element. I thought the book was pretty scary. “Once you are in the box you stay in the box.” But because of my situation at the time, I was forced to write the book in less than a month. I regret I didn’t spend more time on it. I would have made it longer — I had many more scenes with the demon girl and our two heroes in my head. Did the sequel feel rushed to you guys?
I wrote it in my parent’s house.

LAST ACT: A dream inspired this book. I saw a girl on stage in a play shoot another girl and the girl who got shot was really dead. Last Act and Witch World are the only two books of mine that came from dreams. I worked long and hard on Last Act. It was the first book Simon & Schuster bought, and after that they became my publishing home. I’m proud of the book — I think it’s a technically perfect murder mystery. And I like how Melanie was a normal girl. There’s nothing I would change about it.
Except…While I was doing the final edits on the novel I woke up at night and realized I had a significant logic error in the story. I was not half asleep — I was fully awake and I knew what the mistake was. No problem, I thought. I’ll fix it in the morning. But in the morning I couldn’t recall what was wrong with the plot. To this day I don’t know what I did wrong. But if you spot it…
I wrote the book in a one bedroom apartment in La Habra, which is next to Whittier, where my parents lived and where I grew up. I wrote eight books in that tiny place. I was lucky, I could walk to my parent’s house every evening and eat my mom’s cooking. Now that I was published, my mom always wanted to know what I was working on. She became a fan. My father, of course, just wanted to know how much money I was making. But my dad was great, the best.

SPELLBOUND: This was the first book I wrote on a computer, the first book I typed. I was stunned when I was able to write it in six weeks, after Last Act had taken months. The magic of word processors — I was able to rewrite my paragraphs as I wrote them so when I finished the first draft I was basically done with the book. S&S bought it the same time as Last Act. It was just re-released and I just reread it, something I never do with my books. I was proud that young version of me wrote it. I couldn’t find anything wrong with it.

GIMME A KISS: I liked the start of this book but not the finish. I felt it was too rushed. Also, I was never sure if the main idea worked — that the villain could be so stupid as to think…Well, I won’t say it. But if you’ve read it you know what I’m talking about.
Fall Into Darkness was in many ways a rewrite of Gimme A Kiss. If you study the plots you can see how they overlap. Also, I had the lawyer in Fall Into Darkness mention Gimme A Kiss in court — indirectly. I think I was trying to send you guys a message.

FINAL FRIENDS: I was excited when I started this trilogy. I have always loved “locked door” murder mysteries. I’m a huge mystery reader and hope to write more straight mysteries in the future. But I was also nervous when I agreed to write the trilogy. I worried if I could keep the readers interested for so many pages. The solution, I decided, was that I had to improve the complexity of my characters. Thus were born Michael Olson and Jessica Hart.Jessica was my first character to get away from me. I wanted her to be a nice girl. I planned for her to be a sweetheart. But she kept acting like a bitch. I was stunned when she talked about Claire’s abortion in that crowded gym. I had no control over her. Then when Michael showed how much buried anger he carried around at the end of the first book — when he screamed at Jessica — I thought, who are these people? I don’t know them but they sure are alive.
That’s what pleased me most about the trilogy. And it has one of my favorite scenes I ever wrote in the third book. At the end when Michael goes to Jessica’s room to have her sign his yearbook. I absolutely love that scene. I love how tense he was, I love what she wrote. For me, the entire trilogy was worth writing just to be able to write that scene.
I often think of writing a, “Ten year high school reunion” sequel to Final Friends. I started it once, and it was going well. But the file was accidentally destroyed when I was out of the country. Oh well, maybe one day we can revisit Michael and Jessica. But I can tell you this much — they were already married and divorced when the sequel started. But still very much in love… It’s could make for an interesting story.

REMEMBER ME: For me, Remember Me was a gigantic leap. I knew when I was writing it that it was special and when I finished it — I was high as a kite for weeks. I knew I had finally written something beyond me — a book that would last forever. When Pat MacDonald, my editor at S&S read it, I remember her reaction. She was so moved she was crying. She had just lost her mother so it had a personal meaning to her. But over the years thousands, tens of thousands of people, have written to tell me how much it meant to them. Remember Me was the first book I TOTALLY did not feel I wrote. First, I had never written in first person before. I didn’t know how. Second, I had no idea what was going to happen next, when in all my other books I knew where I was headed. Finally, when I wrote the last line, when Shari says she wanted people to remember her, someone or something tapped me on my right shoulder. I swear this happened. It was like a person was done telling me their story and they were moving on. Like they were saying goodbye and thanks.

SCAVENGER HUNT: This book was inspired by two high school students coming into a record store and searching for a hidden object. They were on a scavenger hunt. This was the same record store where a girl named Becky worked — the same girl who inspired See You later. I had such a ridiculous crush on Becky, and damn if she didn’t have a boyfriend. I remember how pathetic I acted around her the moment I met her. I said, “Hi, my name’s Kevin, Christopher Pike. I’m a famous writer.” She never let me live down that remark.
Back To the book. I like the first half, especially how it started, but I was never satisfied with the end. I know many people love it. The book sold like crazy. I think the title helped. But after the high of Remember Me, I felt like I had taken a step backward. If I wrote the book now it would be ten times better. Let me know your thoughts.

SEE YOU LATER: Yes, this book was inspired by Becky in the record store. Hell, I wrote it to impress her so she would go out with me. Eventually she did, years later, after she broke up with her boyfriend. But by then I had moved from LA to Santa Barbara and I didn’t see her much. It was a curious relationship. I adored her but somehow we drifted apart. Then, one night, my answering machine clicked on and it was her. But I didn’t pick up, I don’t know why. She left a shaky message saying that she was getting married. It was not cruel of her — I had not seen her in a while. But it was still a shock.
The reason I talk so much about Becky is because See You Later is obviously about soulmates. Whether we believe in them or not I think we’re all looking for that perfect person we’re supposed to be with. See You Later was my first effort at a cosmic love story. The Starlight Crystal was my second. Witch World is my third effort, especially when it comes to the sequel.
See You Later does not work as a tight well plotted book. The plot line is rather weak in places, just like The Starlight Crystal. But the book still has magic. It works because it creates a profound feeling. I felt for the main character. I wanted him to find love, I wanted him to be happy. Maybe I identified with him too much, I don’t know. The ending of the action is weak. But I feel the last few pages were beautiful. That’s mostly what I remember about the book, and the line, “It began with a smile…”

FALL INTO DARKNESS: As I said, it was a reworking of Gimme A Kiss. I was trying to write a murder mystery and I think it worked. It’s another title I’m proud of. But the Movie of the Week that was made out of it — I hated it. It was my first introduction to Hollywood. What a learning experience! The production company was independent but made many movies for the networks. They swore to me when I sold them the rights they would stick to the plot. When I saw an early draft, I flew into a rage. There were no court scenes! A third of the book takes place in court. That’s what made the story work — the switching back and forth from the night of the murder to the day of the trial. Foolish me, I immediately stormed down to LA with my lawyer to scream at them. They promised to rework the script and swore I’d get to go over it with them when they had another draft. Two months later I heard they were shooting the film. They never called until after the film was on TV and was a hit. They wanted to option Chain Letter. You can imagine what I told them.
I took time on Fall Into Darkness and crafted it carefully. Looking back, I would have made the court scenes more realistic but otherwise I’m happy with the book.
Oh, I did speak to Johnathan Brandis. He starred in the film with Tatyana Ali, his girlfriend. In the 90’s Johnathan was perhaps the biggest teen heartthrob in the world. He starred in Spielberg’s Seaquest and his picture was on every magazine. When we spoke, he was extremely kind. He told me how much he loved my book and how he wished the producers had stayed with the original story. He just seemed like such a nice guy. I found out later he was that way to everyone. He had a great soul. Unfortunately, if Hollywood is often unkind to writers it can be downright cruel to actors. He stopped getting roles and in a bad moment, in 2004, he hung himself. I remember reading about his death online and marveling how few people seemed to notice that he was gone. I found this site you might want to take a look at — http://popspiracy.blogspot.com/2009/08/short-life-and-tragic-death-of-jonathan.html. It’s moving to hear what this young woman had to say about him. I wish I’d known him better. He talked about his writing. He was serious about it. He wanted to direct as well. He was a talented guy.

BURY ME DEEP: Atilla The Hun was supposed to have said, “Bury me deep,” when he was struck down. I thought it was a cool title for a ghost story. I think it’s obvious from reading the book that I have scuba dived off Maui. I love Maui, I love all the Hawaiian islands, and I wanted to see if it was possible to tell a ghost story in a sunny modern hotel rather than in a dark and stormy castle. Bury Me Deep was another big seller. It got on the New York Times list. But I was never happy with the book. Once again, I felt the ending was weak. To me the book had no mood, no deeper power. It’s a quick read, sure, but I don’t think it touched anyone.

Let me know your thoughts.
I’ll discuss some of my other books later. For now, once again, I want to thank everyone who has helped me through this rough patch. Your letters have made a bad time bearable. No, more — in a way I feel like I’ve found a family of friends I never knew existed. I shouldn’t have stayed hidden away all these years.

Pike Talk: On Writing

webmasternemi — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 05:13:08 +0000

PIKE here. This post is about writing in general. In another post I’ll talk about how I came to write specific books. Hopefully, this post will answer many of your questions about publishing.

A lot of you have asked how I started writing and how I got my first book published. I spoke about these points in my last post on writing but it seems you guys want to hear more.
As always, my views on writing are just that — my opinions. Nothing I say is gospel. My opinions have changed over the years. Ten years from now they’ll probably have changed again.

I started writing seriously when I was 21 or 22. I was painting a house with a friend of mine, Danny. It was pleasant working outside in the sun; it was neither too hot nor too cold. We talked while we worked. I did most of the talking. Danny was a great listener.

I had a convoluted idea for a book. The hero was a medical student who had recently lost his sister in a fire. He kept having a dream about her along with a bright star. The book started with his dream. Little did I know that more than half the first books written on this planet start with a dream.

However, Danny loved the story outline. In a sense he was my first fan. He didn’t mind that the plot involved X-File like conspiracies — oddly enough, a portion of the book was a virtual blueprint for the X-Files; not to imply that Chris Carter used my ideas — UFO’s, reincarnation, soulmates, time travel. At the end of the story, I even managed to work in the Second Coming. The title of the book was “The Starlight Crystal.” My original version of The Starlight Crystal had nothing to do with the story that was later published under that name.

It should already be clear that the book was a mess. It covered every genre. Indeed, when people ask what was the first book I wrote, I usually say “The Season of Passage.” Because Season, even though it also covered several genres, at least made sense.
Yet, with my friend’s encouragement, and my sister’s, I spent a year writing The Starlight Crystal, and ended up with a 700 page novel my aunt typed for me. Back then I couldn’t type. I wrote in notebooks with Flair pens. I used to vary the color of the pens to keep myself amused.

I learned a great deal writing Starlight. I wrote 4 or 5 hours a night. That was a lot because I had to work during the day. At that point in my life I had already dropped out of college.

When Starlight was typed and ready to go, I sent out sample chapters and an outline to various publishers. I was hurt to be rejected by everyone who looked at the book. Or did they look at it? I began to glue together a few pages and when I got the manuscript back, the pages were always still glued together.

I figured I needed to find an agent.

I read about a writers conference that was going to be held at USC and signed up for it. I was excited. The ad in the LA Time said there would be REAL writers, publishers, and agents at the conference.

Unfortunately, that weekend the writers and publishers got up and gave depressing talks. They made it sound like it was next to impossible to get published.

However, I met Ashley Grayson there. He was just starting out as an agent; he was willing to read The Starlight Crystal. I doubt if an experienced agent would have bothered with me. Ashley felt Starlight was a mess but he thought I had talent. He told me to show him my next book, which I gave to him a year later — The Season of Passage.

Season was also roundly rejected, but I’d put so much work into it, I’d finally got a feel for how to write. By this time I’d begun to work as a computer programmer and I was desperate to quit my job. I hated the long hours, the tedious work, getting stuck on the freeway in rush hour. I felt if I had to kept working at programming I’d go nuts.

Note: this is a key point. I was DRIVEN to sell a book. I felt I HAD to sell a book. I felt I wasn’t built to work at a normal job. Maybe I was a snob. Maybe I was a dreamer. Maybe I was a little of both, I don‘t know.

It doesn’t matter, I kept writing and I kept getting rejected. I did this until I was 27 or 28 — I can’t remember exactly how old I was when I had a breakthrough.

One day Ashley called and said that a publishing house was coming out with a line of teen books that dealt with the supernatural. I can’t even recall the name of the series; later, it came out and died. Ashley told me to write two chapters and an outline and he would submit the material for the series. I wrote the beginning of Slumber Party but I did not call it Slumber Party.

It got rejected but it was an interesting rejection. The editor in charge of the series thought my book was too good for his series. He told Ashley and me to take it elsewhere. Ashley took it to Jean Fiewell at Avon. She offered to buy it, along with two other books.
I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Suddenly I had a contract; I got an advance. I went around and told everyone I was a published writer. Then Jean Fiewell left Avon for Scholastic. Avon let me keep the advance I’d been paid but told me they were not interested in my book. Suddenly I was a nobody again, or at least I felt like a nobody.

Ashley took the book to Jean at Scholastic and she asked me to write the WHOLE novel and then she would decide whether to buy it or not. It was an exciting but scary period in my life. I had an editor who was serious about buying something I had written. Indeed, she had already bought it once before. But now I had to come up with 12-15 well-crafted chapters.

Knowing this might be my only break, I wrote and rewrote the book four times. I did all this in six weeks. It was worth it. When Jean read it, she loved it and offered me five grand and a standard royalty — 8% of retail on each copy sold. She renamed it Slumber Party, a brilliant title.

It’s hard to believe but I can’t recall what I was calling the book. I don‘t even know if I had a title. At the same time Jean asked for a second book and I wrote “Sweet Hemlock — all of it. She loved it and offered to buy it as well, although she renamed it “Weekend,” another brilliant title.

The books came out and sold well. I expected that. I thought I just had to get published and the rest of my life would be rosy. I had no idea how much the odds were against my two small books. I had only made 10 grand off my writing — it took me 2 years before I saw any royalties — but I felt rich. I felt nothing could stop me. It was an exciting time of my life.

I would have stayed at Scholastic and stayed with Jean but my next book — Chain Letter — got rejected. Or I thought it got rejected, and so did my agent.

Jean wanted me to make major changes to Chain Letter. I felt they would ruin the story. I know now they definitely would have ruined it. But I don’t blame Jean. I never got a chance to speak to her. My agent just said she didn’t want it and sent the book to Avon — to the house that had just rejected Slumber Party. There was a new editor there named Ellen Kreiger and she loved Chain Letter and offered to buy it.

Probably if Jean and I had talked face to face we could have worked out our differences on Chain Letter. Jean is a clever woman and I’ll always be grateful to her. She told me early on, while editing Slumber Party, that I was talented and that I would be successful. That meant a lot to me.

No one was to blame for the breakdown in communication.

When Chain Letter came out it took off and Ashley brought my next book to Pat MacDonald at Simon & Schuster. Pat was to be my “mother” for the next 13 years. But my actual editor at S&S was a woman who worked freelance for the company named Majorie Hanlon. To this day I have never met Marjorie even though she edited almost every one of my books. Marjorie taught me a great deal about writing. She was a jewel.

That’s how I got started. What can you learn from my experience? Well, first off I needed to get an agent to get read. Next, I had to give the publisher what they were looking for. Yet the truth is they weren’t sure what they were looking for in YA at that time.

They decided that sophisticated YA thrillers were the next thing only after Slumber Party, Weekend, and Chain Letter took off. I’m not saying I created the YA thriller market but I helped it along. R.L. Stine appeared on the market shortly after I did. There were other writers of YA thrillers but Stine and I held most of the market. It was a heady time. What helped made me popular is that I brought out 3 or 4 YA books a year. My fans always knew a new book was coming.

Back then it was important to bring out lots of books. The writers who did well kept writing. But they were short novels, and when Harry Potter came along, longer novels became more popular and suddenly short novels were out. The market changed. I’m not sure if I changed fast enough to keep pace, but that’s a story for another day.

During this time I was successful because I kept writing interesting stories. I did not have a formula. Every book was different. When I came up with a fresh concept, I ran with it. I didn’t care what genre it fit into: sci-fi, horror, mystery, fantasy — it was all fine with me. I worked hard, I wrote almost every day. I wrote a few adult novels as well. None sold as well as Remember Me or The Last Vampire but they did okay.

I kept experimenting. I’m still experimenting, and that’s the best advice I can give new writers. Keep writing — write every day if possible — and don’t get stuck on one book. Finish it and move on. But do finish it. I know so many unpublished writers who never finish a book.

People often ask what they should write about. Write what you’re passionate about. Write what excites you. Try to make your book as clear and readable as possible. All successful writers are readers. Read what is selling. Try to figure out WHY it is selling. But then, write your own book. I’ve said this before — learn from others but don’t copy them.

If you read this post closely you’ll see that I was able to sell a lot of books because I was highly motivated. I wanted to be a writer and I had a strong work ethic — when it came to writing. When it came to programming computers, I was hopeless. I mean, I was okay at it but since I hated it, my future with computers was doomed.

I hope this brief synopsis of my career helps even one of you get published. Then it will have served its purpose. When you start writing, your odds of getting published are terrible. But each year that you keep writing, they improve dramatically. Because if you have talent, you will improve dramatically.

How do you know if you have talent? Keep writing and you’ll know. You won’t have to ask anyone. But whatever your inborn abilities, you will go through periods where you feel like quitting. Where you feel despair. It comes with the territory.

Sure, you read about certain people who write their first book and it makes them rich and famous. But those people are one in a million. 99% of writers pay their dues. They work hard for several years and then they get published, and if they’re lucky, people buy their book. And it doesn’t matter whether people buy it or not, they keep writing. Because they know people are going to buy their next book or the one after that.

Now go buy Witch World and study it. It might teach you something about writing, and even if it doesn’t, it will definitely keep me from having to get a normal job.

Seriously, writers write. If you feel compelled to keep writing, there is probably a reason. Have faith in what drives you. It might be a muse, it might be an angel, it might even be fate. Remember what a wise man once told me when he was talking about the invisible universe that surrounds us. He said, “The passionate-less ones seek out those with passion.” Imagine if your muse comes one day to help and you’re not at your desk writing.

Pike Talk: Getting Well

webmasternemi — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 05:10:38 +0000

PIKE here: I have to tell you how my girlfriend, Abir, and I sat down to watch a movie last night. Before we turned it on she flipped to the spot where you guys responded to my letter explaining how I was recovering and couldn’t do the tour. When Abir started to read aloud your long list of responses to my surgery — to say I was moved would be a massive understatement. Abir started crying and I …well, I acted like I wasn’t.

I’ve mentioned how I grew up obsessed with Arthur C. Clarke — 2001: A Space Odyssey — and Isaac Asimov –The Foundation books — and Robert Heinlein — Stranger In A Strange Land. By coincidence, while lying around and trying to heal, I’ve been reading Clarke’s collected short stories. It’s brought such nostalgia! The massive book gave me a window into the past and allowed me to see how much his work structured my mind when I was growing up.

Then, while Abir was reading your “Get Well Messages,” she pointed out that I had had a similar impact on many of you. That’s still impossible for me to accept but she kept insisting it was true.

No one dislikes false humility more than I do. And no one would ever accuse me of being politically correct. I still think of myself as Kevin McFadden, not “Christopher Pike.” I’ve said before that good stories have a life of their own. The most important task a writer has is to work his/her ass off when they show up to get them down on paper or in your computer. The second most important task is to stay out of the way of the stories and just let them come.

This is my clumsy way of saying — and I know I’ve said it before — that I don’t feel I deserve praise for my books. But the love you guys have showered on me with during this rough time — that’s not the same thing as praise. It’s…I can’t find the right word. It’s overwhelming, it’s amazingly, and it’s so much more.

While Abir was reading your letters aloud, I felt healed, No joke, I felt EMOTIONALLY healed. Surgery is obviously traumatic. I mentioned before how I couldn’t wrap my brain around the idea I was going to spend five hours on a hard table in a chilly operating room while I was cut and sewn back together. A good thing I was unconscious, I keep telling myself. And I was out cold, no questions.

But the weird thing, over the last ten days, I’ve begun to get “flashes” of what went on during the surgery. These flashes might be imaginary. But when I get them I feel pain, physical pain, my body trembles.

However, when Abir read your letters, the flashes stopped.

Many believe in prayer, others don’t. I believe in what works. Tons of you said you’d pray for me, and, remarkably, minutes after I posted my note about my surgery, I began to feel better. Come morning, when thousands of you saw my note, I felt a lot better.

Even though I’ve yet to throw away my bottle of pills, now I believe in you guys.

Speaking of my little blue pills. MANY of you appear VERY curious about the pain medication I’m taking. If I didn’t know better…Ah, I should be careful what I say! I’m not taking Dilaudid but I am swallowing pretty strong stuff. It not only takes away the pain it makes me love everyone…

I’m aware of the dangers of addiction. The other day I purposely didn’t take anything for 28 hours — yes, I counted them; at the end they crept by — and naturally I felt pain and soreness. But I also felt “hot.”

I think that was my body’s way of saying, “Hey, Mr. Big Shot Christopher Pike, about those opiates you‘ve been feeding me. You‘ve got to get more or all those kind letters people have been sending you are no longer going to magically make you feel better.”

I felt my body was blackmailing me. And the fact I was having real time conversations with myself was a bad sign, although not as bad as the “heat” I was feeling. It was a little scary how quickly the heat vanished as soon as I took a few pills. I take addiction seriously, I’m cutting down, way down. There’s no danger of me becoming an addict.

However, my birthday is just around the corner.

A man should enjoy his birthday. He should be comfortable.

Maybe, just for one day, half a day…

Seriously, thanks for the “Get well” letters. I just reread them for the fourth time. If I had the energy I’d respond to every one of them personally. Energy is a problem these days. One of you called me on that fact when you said, “Just like a man, trying to rush the recovery period.” I deserved that. Trying to push to do the tour was macho B.S. And yeah, being macho is not the same as being strong.

I still fear that by taking so long to call off the tour lots of fans are going to show up at the Miami Book Fair and at the various bookstores looking for me. Which leads me to…Can I ask a favor?

If you know anyone, an online friend — or even a friend of a friend — who was thinking of trying to see me, could you try to get them a message about the pretty nurse and the catheter… No, I mean could you try to let them know that I’m staying home, and WHY I’m staying home.

We all know times are super tight. You wouldn’t believe the size of the checks I had to write last week: to the surgeon, the surgical center, the anesthesiologist, my own doctor, another specialist. You guys think I’m so smart. A genius, some call me. Well, after decades of paying for medical insurance, your genius let his policy expire just before I needed it.

You’re probably thinking bills like that wouldn’t bother “New York Times Bestselling Christopher Pike.” NOT! Medical Bills are Mystery Bills. You get a catheter attached to your…hell, I have to stop using that example. You get any extra procedure — and I had a few complications; nothing that’s going to hurt me long term — and wow, the cost goes through the roof.

Still, the experience has been educational. I’m more sympathetic to what people have to go through to get decent medical care in this country. You need money, money, money… I haven’t studied Obamacare as close as I should. I know it’s controversial. I just hope it helps.

I’ve gotten off base. I’ve said before it’s difficult for me to play the salesman. None of us likes getting calls from people trying to sell us stuff, although I understand our economy is based on someone somewhere selling a product. Salesmen deserve the respect of any hard working person. Still, it’s not my thing, and I suck at it.

The last ten days, my energy to sell Witch World has waned. And the book comes out in what — three days? I have to fight against how I’m feeling physically. I hate to ask for another favor. Could you reach out to your friends online — or in the neighborhood! — and tell them Witch World is coming. Send them the first two chapters if you think it will help sell the book Or wait and read it and then tell them what you think about it — QUICKLY!

Sadly, the book business had come to resemble the movie business. I told you Simon & Schuster has been great; they’ve shipped plenty of books. Walmart, Barnes & Noble — the big chains will have lots of copies of Witch World. That’s wonderful, I’m grateful; every author dreams of having their book out there and widely visible. But it’s a double-edged sword.

I have to sell the books fast. This time of year the stores are jammed. You all know Christmas starts earlier every year. That’s why S&S set the release date for Witch World for Nov 13th . Once again, I’ll get you the details on the mass signing next week. If you want to give a book as a gift, I’ll sign it to whoever you want. If you send a half dozen books and a list of names, I’ll sign them all. And I’ll sign two old books for every Witch World you send me to sign. Sorry I can’t just sign everything. I’ll send the book back the day they arrive. IF you enclose a SASE. The SASE is what will makes this all work. I’ll talk more about it when I post the signing details.

The reason I’m delaying the post to the last minute is because of the surgery. I haven’t gone outside since I had it. I’ve been stuck at home with a handful of books, TV, my girlfriend. Abir has been my saving angel. It’s interesting how many of us only realize how much someone means to them when they go through a crisis. I’m grateful I’ve had her to watch over me. I don’t know if I would have made it without her.

Damn, I keep wandering away from selling of Witch World. I’m so excited about the book; even more excited about Witch World II. This story goes where no one has gone before. Since the surgery, I’ve had a floodgate of ideas open to the Witch World universe. I suspect this series will be the major work of my career. I’ve been searching for something like this to sink my teeth into.

The first book is an exciting thriller. It moves fast — I had to cram in a tremendous amount of action, characters, concepts. But even though the book is complete in itself, it also opens a door. I worked on it today a little bit. It was a thrill to come back to it. This story if DEFINITERLY being fed to me. I could never come up with it on my own. I’m not being humble it’s just a fact.

Again, thanks for your letters, your support, especially your prayers. Prayers work. Love works. One day I think science will discover that love is the power that allows all the other forces in the universe to work.

Before the nurse came to wheel me into surgery, when I was lying in an undersized hospital gown with an IV in my left wrist and one is my right foot — I don’t know why I needed two — I wondered what it would be like if I died on the table. I knew it was unlikely but my sister is an R.N. and she has told me enough stories about what can go wrong.

As you know by now, I hate pain. After what I’ve gone through, I can say I fear it as well as hate it. But for reasons I’ll explain another time — it deals with my spiritual adventures — I have no fear of death.

Still, I didn’t want to die, largely because I didn’t want to leave those I love behind, but also because I have so many stories I have left to write. I thought of you guys when I was waiting to be wheeled away. I remember thinking how none of you would ever know how the Alosha series ends, or how vast the Witch World universe was going to become. And I thought how I would never get to see your reaction to The Sixth Door — the darkest of all books. For all these reasons, for all these stories which have a life of their own, I knew my own life had to go on.

From “Christopher Pike Books” on Facebook

Pike Talk: Recovery

webmasternemi — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 05:02:36 +0000

PIKE here. Sorry I haven’t written in over a week. I’ve run into a problem. Normally I’d talk to a handful of people about it, but since I’ve begun to chat with my fans on Facebook — YOU guys — I feel a responsibility to explain what’s happening in my life.

Last Tuesday, on Oct 30th, I had surgery for a health problem that needed fixed, and which couldn’t wait. The surgery was long but the procedure itself was in no way life threatening and I’m fine. I’m going to be fine — there’s no danger of me dying or anything dramatic like that.

But the recovery has been awful. I would have spoken about what I was going through earlier — especially with a national book tour coming up — but I kept hoping I’d be able to do the tour. I thought, “What the hell, I don’t care if I feel bad, I owe it to my fans.” The last thing I wanted to do was let you guys down. So, yes, I could have written this letter a week ago, but I kept postponing it with the hope that I could do everything Simon & Schuster had planned to help launch Witch World. Unfortunately, reality has caught up with me.

I can’t do the book tour.
I need more time to recover.
The tour is off. It’s definitely off.

The last two weeks have been insane. I’ve been caught between a rock and hard place. Every morning I’d wake up and think, “I’ve got to let people know I might not make it to their city.” At the same time I’d think, “I should give it another two days, see how I feel. Maybe I can make it.”

The fact I have been taking pain meds has not helped the situation. Drugs are great at getting rid of pain, but let’s face it, they make you dumb. Writing this note, I feel like I’m working with a 65 IQ — 20 IQ points below my normal level.

I was raised by a great father, but he was a strong man. He wanted his sons to be tough. I was taught never to show weakness, to suck it up, to do what had to be done.

That attitude served me well in the past. But it hasn’t helped in this situation. My girlfriend and sisters told me right after the surgery to cancel the tour. They told me I was crazy to postpone the decision. Naturally, the big worry has been to drag people from their homes and have them drive for hours to see me at a bookstore or convention and….I’m not even there.

I had pressure from several directions to do the tour. But I’m not blaming anyone else. In all of this, Simon & Schuster has been great, very understanding. I could have stopped the pressure by giving a definitive no a lot sooner. But I kept hoping, you know, I’ll feel better tomorrow. And I have been getting better each day — slowly. The problem is I’ve run out of days.

I’m repeating myself, I think it’s the drugs talking. I never take drugs. I don’t take Tylenol or drink alcohol. I’m not a purist, I just feel better being who I am. Yet, I must admit, after the surgery, I thanked God every time I was able to reach for the bottle of pills. I thanked God they were there. Such tiny blue pills, but they kept me from jumping off a cliff.

I write weird books. A lot of people think I must have a weird mind. But I don’t, not really, I’m a pretty normal guy. I rediscovered how normal — or how helpless I was — when I was wheeled into surgery. It’s a freaky experience. Many of you been there. We all watch these show: ER, Gray’s Anatomy. They make for great drama. I grew up wanting to be a doctor and these shows always rekindle that desire. But being on the other side, being a REAL patient — it’s light years away from what’s on TV.

I don’t know if our brains are built to comprehend the idea of lying on a table for five hours and being cut open and repaired. Intellectually, I knew what was happening, why it was happening, and how I’d feel afterwards. But the truth is I knew nothing.

Before I went under, I chatted with the people in the operating room, trying to act cool. The ridiculously pretty nurse who was going to hook me up to a catheter the second I was out. The surgeon who was going to fix me. The anesthesiologist who was going to keep me under and keep me alive. I told him to tell me exactly when he was going to put me out. At some point he said it was time. I asked what the drug he was using was called. It had some long name. Then I asked — thinking of the old sodium pentothal — if it could be used as a truth serum. He said no, and that was the last thing I remembered.

I didn’t have a cool out of body experience. Whatever they use nowadays to knock people out — it works. It was like I was dead.

When I woke up in the recovery room I felt a WALL of pain. I realize many of you have experienced this but for me it was all new. It was horrible. It was worse than the stuff I put my heroes through in my books. I wished it was just a story. Pain is so humbling. I felt like an infant. It makes me wonder how I’ll write about pain in the future. I’ll probably treat it with more respect. For sure, I have a much better understanding of what people must go through who suffer chronic pain.

I was looking forward to this tour more than I wanted to admit. I’d come on Facebook and try to psyche you guys up about it because I was so psyched. I haven’t done any publicity in twenty years, and I loved the idea of promoting Witch World. I love the book. That’s another reason why I kept trying to postpone this decision.

My girlfriend told me in the recovery room I had to cancel the tour. A memorable event inspired her. I woke up feeling like I had to pee real bad. Unknown to me a catheter can do that. Thirty minutes after the ridiculously pretty nurse removed it, another nurse helped me into a bathroom that was missing three walls. It was there I experienced what it was like to piss liquid fire — a common side effect of catheters that someone forgot to warn me about. I think it was my scream that tipped off my girlfriend that the tour wasn’t happening.

All kidding aside, I should have listened to her.

I should have warned you guys earlier.

I’m going to do the mass book signing of Witch World. It will be easier to do now that I’m staying home. I’ll post all the details next week. I’m going to try to post each day. So many people wrote about my thoughts on writing. Talking about writing excites me, and I have the deepest and most profound admiration for all you crazy people out there who think you can write and publish a book. Because I’m one of you .

I hope the Christopher Pike fan page can grow into a place where writers, and fans of all types of books, can get together and talk about what makes a novel work and what makes I fail. It’s fascinating to explore the elusive Ingredient X — that quality that makes it impossible to put down a book.

I’ve felt like hell the last few days but, even though I’m not fit to go on the tour, I’m ready to put all this behind me. I want to forget about the doctors and the nurses, particularly the one who almost ruined me for life.

Forgive me for rambling.

It’s probably just the pain medication talking.

I did just take another blue pill.

From “Christopher Pike Books” on Facebook

What happens in Vegas, Happens in Both Vegases.

webmasternemi — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 05:46:49 +0000

Look what came in the mail today?

Chocolatey goodness!

Witch World comes out in one week! BUY YOUR COPY NOW!

A Note – From Christopher Pike”

webmasternemi — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 20:14:35 +0000

WITCH WORLD RELEASE: TWO WEEKS AWAY! ORDER YOUR COPY NOW!

“Pike here. I finally finished the major edits on Thirst V, although the book still needs fine tuning. I want more out of the ending I suppose, but that’s normal with me. My editor says it is the best Sita book so far. It will be interesting to see what you guys think.

Now, I have been told by Simon & Schuster, I have to work at marketing Witch World. It goes on sale Nov 13th so there is not much time. The stores ordered tons of books but now I have to sell them, which is scary because it’s a new series. With Sita everyone just goes out and buys the latest Thirst book. But I honestly think Witch World is the best book I’ve ever written. I have said this before, of course, but I feel Witch World has more power and emotion than anything I’ve ever created. Certainly, I’ve never worked so hard on a single book. I wrote eight drafts of Witch World!

I’m not used to trying to sell a book. As you all know, I’ve stayed away from all forms of publicity. But since the folks at S&S are working so hard to get Witch World out there, I feel I should help. Besides doing the tour — which I’ll give plenty of details on in another post — I’m considering doing a mass book signing — where people can mail me the book, with a Self-Addressed-Stamped-Envelope (SASE) and I sign it to whoever the person wants me to sign it to, then mail it right back, the same day. I have to run this idea by Simon & Schuster, though, see how they feel about it. But I like the idea. Few of my fans have a signed book — I don’t think I’ve signed any in 20 years. I’ll get back to you very soon about this possibility. I’m not sure how many fans I have on Facebook. Some people say 7000, others say 30000. The same with Goodreads, I don’t know how many fans I have on that site, or how I should reach out to them. I don’t want to spam people. On Goodreads and Facebook I have thought of starting a blog that I could give a lot of attention to for the next few months. That’s another idea under consideration. Ideally I would get my website up and running but I have had to work so hard the last few months, and now time is short. My website might have to wait until after Witch World is out.

Some quick news. Alosha looks like it’s going forward and will start shooting next year and Spooksville is supposed to be on the air by March. Thirst — well, FilmNation wants to TOTALLY change the story so we are having our differences. I’m trying to make it work but at this point I’m not optimistic. I will keep you posted.

I have started a new book called The Players. It’s from a story I wrote right after I graduated high school. It will probably remind some people of The Hunger Games but the idea of having an arena, where a group of people battle to survive, is very old. The Players is tremendous fun to write, which makes me think it will be a blast to read. It’s a rich book, very complex, and will probably take a while to complete. I already have created a hundred pages of notes of background for the story and I almost never need notes. I’ll post the first few chapters when I feel they’re ready.

Once again, when it comes to marketing Witch World, I don’t have much experience and anyone who has ideas that can help…well, I’m all ears. Please let me know your thoughts. Already S&S has received strong reviews on the book — it seems to be creating the “Wow!” factor in readers. These reviews will be posted near the release date, although I see there is already a few online. Witch World will be an ongoing series. I’m already seriously at work on the sequel to the first book.

I’ll be checking in more frequently now that I’m not so buried. Hope everyone is doing well. PIKE”

WITCH WORLD RELEASE: TWO WEEKS AWAY! ORDER YOUR COPY NOW!

Witch World (Review) (No Spoilers)

webmasternemi — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 20:09:01 +0000

It’s always a challenge to present an unbiased opinion when writing a review of a Christopher Pike novel on a website called http://www.christopherpikefanclub.com. As a fan of everything the author has ever written, we all know it’s very unlikely that I left Witch World disappointed.

Witch World is not a radically new style of book for Mr.Pike, particularly for his current generation of books. The Alosha trilogy, Secret Of Ka, and Thirst #3+4 all had similarly large and complex storylines. Each of those books created evil corporations and sophisticated parallel universes. Witch World is no different, though it’s filled with so many twists and turns you might think you’re reading the next chapter in the Thirst series.

Indeed, Jessie may be Pike’s most intriguing character since Sita. Her voice is strong, her mind is complicated.

The action starts within the first few chapters and keeps going until the very last page and the writing style is typical Pike. What’s particularly remarkable with Jessie in Witch World is that she is not as clean-cut as Ali in Alosha or Sara in Ka. Things get messy (in a good way) with unexpected deaths, dirty talk between lovers, and unexpected story turns you won’t find in other books. This is Christopher Pike returning to form, no longer worried about pandering to a new audience.

While I see what’s attractive about creating a series of books, or a trilogy, on a personal level I have to admit that I’m looking forward to a stand-alone book sometime soon. “The Sixth Door” is rumored to be published shortly, and I’m anxious for news on that project. With no end in sight for Alosha (we’ll get it when the movie’s made, how many years away that is) and an open-ending to The Secret Of Ka (with no sequel in the works), it’s hard to start a new Christopher Pike franchise without worrying about closure.

Luckily, Witch World 2 is already being written and a new (possibly final) Thirst book is on the way.

Witch World is a book that every Pike fan will devour. It’s dark, twisted candy. With elements of his previous few releases as well as shades of Whisper Of Death, this is both classic and modern Pike (most fans know what I mean when I distinguish between the two). For new readers, they may be surprised by the edginess and challenged by the complex, fast-moving plot – both are unlike anything out there.

Have you pre-ordered your copy of Witch World yet? By ordering it on amazon – you will get it delivered the moment it comes out (possibly even before the official release date). Just click here.

Witch World First Chapter Excerpt

webmasternemi — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 18:03:00 +0000

PRE-ORDER WITCH WORLD NOW

WITCH WORLD

CHAPTER ONE

Once I believed that I wanted nothing more than love. Someone who would care for me more than he cared for himself. A guy who would never betray me, never lie to me, and most of all, never leave me. Yeah, that was what I desired most, what people usually call true love.
I don’t know if that has really changed.
Yet I have to wonder now if I want something else just as badly.
What is it? You must wonder…
Magic. I want my life filled with the mystery of magic.
Silly, huh? Most people would say there’s no such thing.
Then again, most people are not witches.
Not like me.
I discovered what I was when I was eighteen years old, two days after I graduated high school. Before then I was your typical teenager. I got up in the morning, went to school, stared at my ex-boyfriend across the campus courtyard and imagined what it would be like to have him back in my life, went to the local library and sorted books for six hours, went home, watched TV, read a little, lay in bed and thought some more about Jimmy Kelter, then fell asleep and dreamed.
But I feel, somewhere in my dreams, I sensed I was different than other girls my age. Often, it seemed, as I wandered the twilight realms of my unconscious, that I existed in another world, a world like our own, and yet different, too. A place where I had powers my normal everyday self could hardly imagine.
I believe it was these dreams that made me crave that elusive thing that was as great as true love. It’s hard to be sure, I only know that I seldom awakened without feeling a terrible sense of loss. As though my very soul had been chopped into pieces and tossed back into the world. The sensation of being on the “outside” is difficult to describe. All I can say is that, deep inside, a part of me always hurt.
I used to tell myself it was because of Jimmy. He had dumped me, all of a sudden, for no reason. He had broken my heart, dug it out of my chest and squashed it when he said I really like you Jessie, we can still be friends, but I’ve got to go now. I blamed him for the pain. Yet it had been there before I had fallen in love with him, so there had to be another reason why it existed.
Now I know Jimmy was only a part of the equation.
But I get ahead of myself. Let me begin, somewhere near the beginning.

PRE-ORDER WITCH WORLD NOW