OUT IN THE WILD

LegalDispatch 107

Aug 02, 2024

Howdy.

Well, I had aimed to get this week’s newsletter out yesterday to coincide with the Pub Date for In Any Lifetime, but other things related to publication, plus notes on the first issue of the new Star Wars project I keep teasing, frustrated that effort. So we’re back to the normal Friday cadence. All good.

YES, IT’S OUT IN THE WILD NOW

Yesterday marked the official release of my novel In Any Lifetime — which you’ve been hearing about ad nauseum in these virtual pages for a while now — after a month of previews in the form of Amazon’s “First Reads” program. Those of you who were kind enough to pre-order copies (and I thank you) should have received yours either in the mail or on your Kindles yesterday. (For those of you who didn’t pre-order, maybe I can entice to you give the novel a try by clicking here?)

Thanks to just those previews alone, we’ve topped another Amazon sales chart, this time for “Action Thrillers” (which is cool as I hadn’t really thought of the book this way).

To commemorate the book’s release, it seemed appropriate to share the acknowledgments section here in full:

Some stories want to be told.
My initial notes for what has evolved to become this novel are dated February 26, 2013. The journey has been a long one, and I’ve been blessed with the help of many fellow travelers along the way.
Meyash Prabhu was the first to dig into my pile of work, extricate this story, and find it worth pursuing.
Amanda would have been largely absent from the narrative but for the wise counsel of Palak Patel, Elishia Holmes, and Mike DeLuca.
As they have for well over a decade, Cliff Roberts and Wendy Kirk served as both traveling companions and guides, helping me navigate challenging terrain despite the wide variety of accidents and storms and earthquakes the universe threw at me.
My longtime, long-suffering assistant C. M. Landrus—a wonderful and wonderfully talented writer in her own right—was the first reader I imposed on. Her sharp-eyed observations and insights were as invaluable as a simile or metaphor. (Inside joke.)
My former book agent, Erin Malone at WME, also provided much appreciated feedback and encouragement. Anthony Mattero at CAA took up the baton without costing us even a millisecond in the race. (With apologies to C. M. for the metaphor.)
The remarkable Season Kent graciously donated her time and plied her trade as one of the best music supervisors in film and television—and now prose. She’s one of the best people I know, and I desperately miss working with her.
• • •
Some stories want to be told.
But not all stories want to be published. Finding the right home for this one was challenging and at times seemed impossible. It was during one of those moments when it seemed that this story might not see the light of day that novelist Alex Segura volunteered his advice and assistance. Alex and I are familiar with each other from our respective work in the comic book industry, but his help was practically the equivalent of coming to the aid of a complete stranger. The greatest mitzvahs are those done for people one barely knows, with no potential for reciprocation. Through his generosity of spirit, Alex introduced me to Chantelle Aimée Osman at Lake Union. Chantelle was the first editor to recognize what this book was and, more importantly, what it could be. She is, as she said on our very first phone call, this book’s first fan. The gift of her support and encouragement is one I can never adequately repay.
Among the many things Chantelle brought to this project, perhaps the greatest is the involvement of its editor, Jason Kirk. His notes, insights, and line edits elevated every page. He even served as my de facto science adviser. Pairing me with an editor who happens to have more than an armchair understanding of the cosmos is just one example of Chantelle’s prodigious brilliance.
Chantelle and Jason, along with eagle-eyed and OCD-in-the-best-possible-of-ways copy editor Megan Westberg and proofreader Jenna Justice, and our sensitivity reader Mary Ruth Govindavari, have all guided me through the unfamiliar waters of prose with patience and grace. If this novel reads as such—and not like the media with which I am more comfortable—it is entirely due to their efforts. I will be forever grateful for everything they’ve taught me.
In addition, production manager Angela Elson indulged me with similar patience and counsel and, I suspect, was instrumental with Chantelle in affording me a deadline extension when I really needed one.
Finally, domo arigato gozaimasu to my friend Kyomi Fisher, who gamely jumped in at the proverbial last minute to clean up my osoroshii—horrendous—Japanese. Any mistakes contained herein are wholly mine.
• • •
Some stories want to be told.
The easiest part of telling this one was writing about Jonas’s feelings for Amanda. All I had to do was think of my wife, Tara. If Jonas’s and Amanda’s child turns out to be half the person our daughters Lily and Sara are, then Jonas and Amanda are truly blessed indeed. I love the three of you far, far too much.
You’ve made me the luckiest husband and father in any lifetime.
Best,
Marc Guggenheim
Encino, California
August 2023

In addition, I wish to thank Guillermo del Toro, Brad Meltzer, Charles Soule, Ayelet Waldman, and Alex Segura for the extremely kind and generous pull quotes they provided.

LOS ANGELES BOOK LAUNCH EVENT

ICYMI, tickets are still available for our Los Angeles launch event at the Grove LA’s Barnes & Noble tomorrow (8/3) at 12 PM. You can order tickets by clicking here.

SHOOTING MY MOUTH OFF

This week’s installment features an interview I did with the Making It Up podcast, which you can check out below:

Plus, we have the second part of the interview I did with The Showrunner Whisperer. It wasn’t by design, believe me, but I feel like all the juicy bits were saved for this latter part. Watch it below:

FROM THE VAULT

So, I’m at ComicCon last week, and a guy named Gorav walked up to my table and asked me about an Arrow tie-in comic that was published in — of all things — TV Guide. Specifically, he wanted to know who wrote it. To be honest, I didn’t remember who wrote it — largely because I didn’t remember the thing AT ALL. We produced several in-canon comic book tie-in stories during the show’s first three seasons, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember one that appeared in the pages of TV Guide.

But I promised Gorav I’d search my memory — and Arrow Dropbox folder — when I returned home and so I have and, lo and behold, Gorav is absolutely write. We actually produced a six-page story that bridged the end of Season 1 with the beginning of Season 2.

I couldn’t decide on how much to share, so here’s the entirety of the script (it turns out) I wrote for the story. Substack requires me to split it into two galleries:

And — in for a penny, in for a pound — here’s the story in its entirety:

There you go, Gorav. Sorry I didn’t remember when you’d asked!

BLACK, WHITE & BLOODSHOT

In an earlier newsletter, I mentioned that I wrote an eight-page story starring Bloodshot from Valiant Comics. The story’s currently being crowdfunded at Kickstarter for a project entitled Black, White & Bloodshot. My story is rather simple: “Bloodshot tries to take in a movie. Chaos ensues.” Here’s a little tease from artist Agustin Alessio:

You can learn more about the project at its Kickstarter page.

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OUT IN THE WILD

LegalDispatch 107

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