Christian Laforet

The Write Stuff

/ Christian Laforet / 1 Comment

I had a great opportunity come my way this past December. CFTV was putting together a new show called The Write Stuff hosted by Veronique Mandal which would focus on two different writers each episode and they were looking to do a horror themed episode. Guess who got the call? My friend, and fellow horror writer, Mick Ridgewell was also invited to take part.

I was given directions to a small building located in Leamington ON, which, if you’ve been to Leamington, a metropolis it is not. So after cruising down a pitch black Highway 3, in the rain, I was convinced that the whole thing was an evil ploy to get me into the middle of nowhere and kill me. However, since I have no life insurance policy (which eliminates my wife, who, let’s face it, is the only person who probably wants me dead), and not a ton of enemies, I figured I should continue on.

Sure enough the directions turned out to be accurate and I found myself at the CFTV station. A brief introduction to the man in charge and the television crew followed and then I was in the green room (although it wasn’t actually green) and talking to show host Veronique Mandal.

Soon after Mick arrived (fashionably late), and we got down to business.

I’ve done interviews before, but they were always short things on the radio or for newspapers. This was something altogether different. I was going to be talking one-on-one with the host for nearly half of the show’s runtime.

After several mic checks, which was awkward because I was required to talk continuously about random things until they could figure it out, we began. Veronique dove into the questions (which centered on my first book, The Space Between Houses) and away we went.

I felt like I handled myself well, but was not trusting in my own gut (sizeable though it may be) and decided that I would wait until I actually saw the episode before I told anybody about it.

After my segment, I got to sit off to the side as Mick entered the hot seat. It was interesting seeing the show from that angle. The room was completely backed out except for the set and it produced a voyeuristic sensation within me (nothing sexual here, although Mick is a fine looking fellow).

Once the tapping was finished, we took a couple photos, chatted for a bit and were on our way.20151216_193206

Me and mick ended up at a nearby McDonalds for a late night snack, and then returned to our regularly scheduled lives.

Flash forward to last week when the episode finally aired. The Write Stuff was broadcast across Canada…for Bell ExpressVu customers only. Since I don’t have Bell ExpressVu, I missed it. Thankfully, I was sent an email from CFTV and some handy Youtube links to boot.

I was very hesitant to actually watch it. This is because I’ve decided that not only do I sound ridiculous, I also look stupid as well (I believe I described my physical appearance in such things to my wife as, it looks like my fat face is trying to eat my features). And even though I feel this is still true, I don’t appear as awful as I feared so I chalk it up as a win.

Anyway, at the end of the day it was a great experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Thanks to CFTV for giving me the opportunity and hopefully I didn’t cause too big a ratings drop-off…

(The episode  has been broken in two. Mine is up first)

(and Mick’s)

Book Launch aftermath

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The book launch was a big success! We (me and Ben) had high hopes for the launch and I think they were exceeded.

The idea for the launch was to treat the event a little more like a record release and less a book launch. A lot of the book launches we’ve been to lately are either a) very dry and boring or b) have large gaps in the programing where people are standing around doing nothing. So to combat that we did two things. First, we had it in a bar (booze!) and second we had live music. That way, during those moments where we were off signing books, there was still something for people to do (get drunk and listen to music). It worked like a charm.

One thing worth mentioning was the utter success that was having a limited edition cover of the book available at the launch. This cover (limited to 50 copies) would be exclusive to the launch. I wasn’t sure how that would go over, but since we sold out of them that night, it went pretty damn great. I can’t remember who exactly thought of the idea for the limited cover, but I’m pretty sure we’ll be doing it from now on.

The book has continued to do well over the course of the week as well. In the first six days, we’ve already sold nearly a hundred copies. I’m pretty sure, with the upcoming signings and conventions, we’ll be through the first printing of No Light Tomorrow by summer (500 copies). Which, for a little book of science fiction stories, is not bad.

As promised last post, here’s some pics. (for all those wondering, I’m the fat guy)

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New Year, New Updates.

/ Christian Laforet / 2 Comments

So…2015 happened. It was a pretty crazy year for me. The first full year as an author (The Space Between Houses came out in Oct. 2014). There was a rather surprising amount of ups and downs for a twelve month period. I did a lot of cool writer things, but also was not nearly as productive as I could have been.

But forget all that jazz, it’s 2016 baby! And I got some fun stuff planned.

It’s been awhile since I gave an update on my projects, so now seems like a great time.

First and foremost is No Light Tomorrow. This is a book that has been in the works for quite some time. It is a collaboration with Ben Van Dongen (check him out here: https://benwltp.wordpress.com/ ) of short sci-fi stories, half of which are written by me, half by Ben. They are more Twilight Zone and less Star Wars (although a couple skirt that line). No Light Cover

I love sci-fi! I love watching it, reading it and writing it. But not to fret, I’m a horror writer first and foremost…I just like to moonlight from time to time.

I’m really proud of this book. Some of the stories I’ve written for it, I consider amongst the best I’ve ever produced. It was a ton of work though. Writing, editing, designing and printing a book from scratch is a real challenge. We decided to self-publish this one under Adventure Worlds Press. Something I may use for other fringe projects in the future. 

No Light Tomorrow launches on Jan. 9th and will be available soon after on various platforms.

untitledNext is my novel. It does exist, I swear! It also has a name, I’m just not ready to share it yet (although I did let it slip during an interview I did for a TV show called the Write Stuff). The novel took a hit during the production of No Light, but with that book all wrapped up, I’m back at it. I figure the first draft should be done by mid to late Feb. After that I’ll start cleaning it up. I’m still estimating it to fall in the 70 – 80K range for word count (I’m at about 30K right now).

I’ve had the good fortune to make a couple amazing contacts over the last year that I am really hopeful will result in some interest for the book. Only time will tell I guess.

Beyond that things get foggy. If all goes according to plan, I have another collaboration (this one a novel) with a history expert. Let that bit of info sink in for a moment… 

Besides the above projects, I also have some fun events to attend, including a 3 day horror convention in London in May. Really excited about this one, more on that as the date nears.

Alright, I guess that’s it for now. I’ll be back next week with pictures from the No Light Tomorrow launch party!

-Christian

 

No Light Tomorrow Cover Reveal!

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I can’t believe it’s finally here. I’ve been working on this book for the better part of the year, and despite most of the process being trying (to say the least), I’m excited and proud of the final product.

Without further ado, I present No Light Tomorrow!

 

No Light Cover

Some things are so accepted as to be taken for granted. While the far future is shrouded in uncertainty, there are expectations often considered assured that are overlooked. There is only one you, threats are usually empty, ghosts are not real, life is finite, science can solve the most daunting challenges, and beliefs are assured when society takes matters in their own hands. When unexpected events transpire, we are left in the dark.

Authors Christian Laforet and Ben Van Dongen present six science fiction stories that explore improbability and show you what happens when expectations are subverted.

 

 

A Halloween Story

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Spider-man and Dracula stepped off the porch.

“What did she give us? I can’t see.” Dave pulled his Spider-man mask to adjust the eye holes.

“Take your stupid mask off, we’re not even at the door anymore.” Twin lines of spit dribbled down Rob’s chin from where his plastic fangs poked out past his lips.

Dave shook his head emphatically. “Sorry dude, with great power comes great responsibility.”

Rob raised his arms and looked around with exaggerated movements. “There aren’t even anymore houses on this street.”

Behind them, two Batmans, a Transformer and Princess Bubblegum ran up to the steps.

“So…seriously, what did she give us?”

Rob rummaged around in his pillowcase. “Oh man, weak!”

“What?”

“She gave us a toothbrush!”

Dave stopped walking and dug through his own haul. “Who does that? Why would somebody want to ruin Halloween?” With a groan, he pulled the offending treat from his bag and flicked it into a nearby bush.

Rob followed suit.

Dave turned back towards the house. “I kinda want to use these on her now.” He let his hand rest on the small, nylon bag tucked into the waist of his spider-pants.

“Yeah right, and miss the look on old lady Talbot’s face? Never.” Continue reading →

Big Things!

/ Christian Laforet / 2 Comments

No Light Tomorrow is coming soon (even sooner than I thought) and we’ve started sitting down (Ben and myself) to work out a promotional schedule for its release.

I’ve managed to do pretty well with my first book, The Space Between Houses, by making lots of connections and hitting up various events, and, most importantly, being available for any opportunity presented to me. It wasn’t easy though. Keeping motivated, doing research on events and staying prominent in the community becomes exhaustive. If it were just me pushing this next book, I would probably be looking at the same amount of success, but I’m not alone. Having a second person involved, who has as much interest in the book as I have, is going to pay off greatly.

The first thing up (for the public anyway) is the launch. Some of the ideas we’ve been throwing around lately have me super excited. I’ve been to a few book launches in the past few months and they have been…lacking. Some have been so poorly attended that once you removed the author’s family from the equation, there was only a few people there. Others had more people in attendance, but the launch itself was so painfully long and boring that the bulk of the crowd high-tailed it as soon as all the speeches and back-patting were over, blowing right past the table of books along the way. Now, it is still a bit early to reveal exactly what we have in store, but I can say that our launch is going to be a hell of a party, with some innovative ideas.

And that’s just the beginning!

We have an aggressive marketing campaign, lots of appearances and a book tour or two scheduled over the next six months.

Plus, besides all that, because of recent developments, we (again me and Ben) have finally decided to do something that we’d talked about for quite some time. This new endeavor will open doors for both us, as well as other talents in the community, and pave the way for any fringe work we produce in the future.

Like the title says, Big Things are on the horizon, so stay tuned!

 

The Comic Book SyndiCon and Twisted Studio

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The Comic Book Syndicon is coming (Sunday, Aug. 16th, to be precise). It is being held at St. Clair college in conjunction with their own family fun day event. It should be a great day for the whole family (comics, collectables, cosplay and more!). The best part is, it’s free admission!

I’ll be there selling copies of my book, but I won’t be alone. I’ll be sharing a table with comic writer Dave Rocha (The Underground and Tecumseh) from Twisted Studio!

Check out the poster below for the con, and for more on Dave, hit up his website right here: http://www.twistedstudio.ca

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