Help local author Matt Forbeck write 12 novels—yes, 12 novels—in 2012
Kickstarter is rapidly becoming the site of choice for web-savvy artists who want to appeal directly to their fans. Local sci-fi and fantasy author Matt Forbeck recently announced “12 for ’12,” an ambitious project where he plans to write 12 novels in 2012, with Kickstarter as his main source of funding. The A.V. Club sat down to talk with Forbeck while he downed several pots of coffee in preparation.
The A.V. Club: How did you come up with this crazy idea?
Matt Forbeck: I’ve always been a fast writer. Back before I had kids, I could regularly write 5,000 words a day. Now, with five kids—including a set of 9-year-old quads—I average about 3,000 words a day, but I often shoot higher. Thinking about it earlier, I realized I could write a short novel every month if I wanted to, so why wasn’t I?
The real trouble with that plan is getting paid for the books, but that’s where Kickstarter comes in. It allows me to line up pre-orders for the books before I start work, which removes a lot of the risk from sitting down and writing so many books. The fact that I wanted to write a dozen novels in a year coincided with the approach of 2012. The idea of doing “12 for ’12” became too strong to resist.
AVC: Tell us about the first trilogy of novels, Brave New World.
MF: The Brave New World Roleplaying Game is a dystopian world I created in which super-powered people have been outlawed because of the collateral damage they can cause. You either sign up to work with the government, or you go to jail. It made for a rich setting for games, but it came out back in 1999, well before 9/11. The central theme of the setting is, “How much of your liberties are you willing to surrender to feel safe?” That’s become far more relevant over the past decade, and I can’t wait to explore that in the novels.
While the game shares a title with Aldous Huxley’s novel, by the way, it has nothing to do with it. Both works take their title from a quote from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest: “O Brave New World that has such people in’t.” Seemed too good for a superhero setting to pass up.
AVC: Why did you decide on Brave New World as the first of your 12 novels?
MF: A number of reasons. For one, BNW is in pre-production as a feature film at Reactor 88 Studios, and they’ve shot a proof-of-concept video to showcase the story. I was able to use that to help make a fantastic Kickstarter video for the project. Also, I’ve worked for many years as both a game designer and a novelist. Writing BNW novels allows me to bring together two of my fan bases and give both of them something I hope they’ll love. In the end, I’ve been away from BNW for over a decade, and it feels like it’s time to get back to it and bring it to a whole new audience.
AVC: Will you be working on other projects during 2012?
MF: Besides 12 for ’12, I’m also writing the Magic: The Gathering comic book for IDW, based on the original collectible card game. On top of that, I have a couple of gigs in which I’m building a world for someone else’s projects. Plus, I have a novel called Carpathia coming out from Angry Robot in March, which I’ll be busy promoting.
AVC: Will you still pursue the other books if any of the Kickstarters fail?
MF: At the moment, I’m hopeful all of the Kickstarters will come through. The second trilogy is set in a “shotguns-and-sorcery” setting of mine that I’ve used in a couple of short stories. Think of crossing Raymond Chandler with J.R.R. Tolkien, and you have the tone of it: mean streets filled with magic.
