Mark Teppo Reading
Shoreline Public Library
June 26, 2010
The following is a transcript of the Twitter stream tweeted from Mark Teppo’s appearance at Shoreline Public Library, the first event in the Foolscap Summer Reading Series.
Mark Teppo is the author of Lightbreaker and Heartland, the first two novels of The Codex of Souls urban fantasy series. He is also one of the creative forces behind The Mongoliad, a collaborative online fiction project with Neal Stephenson and Greg Bear among others.
Notes appear in [brackets] between tweets to help put some comments into context.
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We’ve just introduced Mark. He’s reading two pieces he wrote for Omnivoracious, the Amazon blog, related to the Codex of Souls series.
Mark Teppo is fascinating: In twenty minutes, he’s invoked Alistair Crowley, Jesus, and Descartes.
Teppo: [Commenting on a realization he made about writing urban fantasy] “We just wanna get naked with things that we shouldn’t.”
Teppo: As I wrote “Lightbreaker” [first Codex of Souls volume], I repeated the words, “Men and mantras, shotguns and sigils.”
Teppo on writing fantasy & making stuff up [in relation to an online discussion about whether or not it's harder to write science fiction than fantasy]: I actually did more research for my fantasy book than I did for my science fiction story.
Teppo: The trouble with doing research is the more you get into it the more interesting things you find.
[Teppo spent some time discussing the inspirations for the Codex of Souls series, which has its roots in esoteric thought, theories of magic, and religion. Some fascinating human cultural history here.]
Teppo: [paraphrase] There are elements of abstract esoteric thought that, when applied to scientific thought, start adding sense to the universe.
Teppo: Faith is reliance on the external to deliver to you. Crowley says there is no faith, only will. Faith is reactive; will is active.
This Mark Teppo appearance is more than a reading; it’s practically a class on esoteric thought. Fascinating stuff!
Q: First scene of Lightbreaker, what was the inspiration? Teppo: “It was . . . kinda cool.” First scene was the only thing saved from first draft.
Teppo is reading the first scene of Lightbreaker. Beautiful image: a deer glowing with human soul energy in the dark of night. Magic afoot!
Book is set in the Seattle; Teppo invokes the mystery of the woods, the mundane experience of a ferry ride [and the horror of a murder] with an acute perception.
Teppo: What’s the difference between urban fantasy and paranormal romance? PR has happy endings; urban fantasy really doesn’t.
Teppo recommends Mark Henry’s series about Amanda Feral, a zombie, in the hip, happening capital of the undead, Seattle.
Q: What makes a story horror? Teppo: An awareness of dread.
Teppo talks about The Mongoliad, his new online collaborative fiction project w/Stephenson and Bear.
Teppo detours into a discussion of the evolution of publishing, complete w/drawing of the internet as a cloud–not to scale…
Teppo and audience members discuss the merits of books published directly to the web vs via major publishers.
Teppo: I think that in 5 years, the mass market paperback is going to be an e-book.
Teppo: PULP = personal ubiquitous literature platform. And the crowd goes wild….
Teppo: If we can build an interface to consumers that is fun, has low overhead, and gives them what they want, readers will give back.
Teppo demonstrates the Mongoliad on iPad. Teppo: We’re talking about an experience that is more than just text: video, rating, interaction.
Find out more about The Mongoliad at http://subutai.mn/
Teppo discusses how The Mongoliad fan writers’ works can become part of the universe canon. Qualifying fanfic may become work for hire.
Q: What is The Mongoliad about? A: (Teppo picks up a dry-erase marker and draws a map…)
Q: What is The Mongoliad about? A: In 1241 the Mongols raided Europe; in 1242, they went back. The story tells the secret history of why.
The Mongoliad will be told as a weekly serial online by a group of authors including Teppo, Greg Bear, Neal Stephenson and others.
Teppo: Contributors to Mongoliad may be musicians, artists–there are more ways to tell a story than only writing.
Teppo: The biggest problem I have as a writer is that no one can find my book.
Summary of the rest of that conversation: Piracy may increase readership; it definitely improves sales. Ideal model? Mebbe, mebbe not.
Mongoliad will be available on iPad, iTouch, Kindle, iPhone–all sorts of mobile devices.
Q: If I invest in a Mongoliad subscription I want to know it has a beginning, middle, & end. Will it? A: Yes. We want that. But…
Mongoliad will have seasons. Like a TV series, storylines will intertwine. Follow the stories you want to read.
Momentary sidebar: It’s been ten years since the X Files went off the air & some of us are still bitter about the way it didn’t really end.
Teppo: I plotted out ten Codex of Souls books for Night Shade. Doesn’t mean there won’t be more. There may be less. Time will tell.
Reading has just concluded. Great afternoon! Hope you can join us for the next Foolscap Reading Event!