Pet Peeves…. every Wednesday…. maybe?

Today’s pet peeve. Flip-Flops. Say what? What’s wrong with flip-flops you say?

As the title states, this is a pet peeve. It’s my own neurotic disorder and opinion. If you don’t agree, then that’s fine. I don’t need to hear your reasoning behind it. But you will hear mine. haha.

OMG. I really can’t stand people who wear flip-flops everyday and everywhere. What in the hell? Put on some real shoes for god’s sake!

This goes mostly for men. Yet, I can easily say the same for women too. If you’re not by the side of a pool, or on a beach, or a boat, or locker room shower, PUT some real shoes on! They are not the appropriate foot wear to go shopping. They are not the appropriate foot wear to board a plane. They are not the appropriate foot wear for site seeing. They are not the appropriate foot wear to got to a restaurant (even if that formal dining is a Taco Bell or Hardy’s).

Why in the world would one think I want to look at their nasty feet while I’m eating my chalupa? Or stuffed next to you on a flight to New York? Or standing behind you in the grocery store? Is it just laziness? Does the person not own any real shoes? Like pair of boots, tennis shoes, flats, heels, docs, Mary Janes, high-tops, vans, or converse? What if you needed to walk or run. Those things can’t be a wise choice. And the noise. Flip. Flop. Flop. Flip. Flip Flop. AAAAGGGG. Make it stop!

Oh, ladies….sandals, if nice and pretty, are exempt. Carry on.

Oh and everything I just said also goes for CROCS!!!!

The Book Market…. and why it’s chaotic…

Do not take my word for it. Just think about this observation and make your own conclusions. I have no real reason or even a clue why it is this way. Maybe there’s some industry secret that makes sense and the senior’d Editor or Publishers would get in my face and say, “yeah, duh dude!!” (I used two exclamation marks because that means it’s more exclamatory than just one, right?)

It’s been over a decade since I bought my first e-reader. When the Amazon Kindle entered the market, it basically dominated. It was a nice piece of engineering. It was CHEAP! And it with the power of Amazon books behind it, the sky was the limit. I remember when the big book sellers all had one: B&N had the Nook, Borders had the Kobo. I really struggled with which to buy. Because like everything in America, they were proprietary. I wanted something more universe. I really didn’t like how I had to buy my books from one business —all the time. In the end, my mother solved it by buying all Kindles one year for Christmas. Why? They were the cheapest and technically the largest source of books.

I was so excited. Don’t get me wrong. I love books. And when I say books, I mean real books. You know, paper, ink, the smell of a printing press. But, like the iPod, I was amazed and fascinated by the efficiency to carry around every song I owned and not have to worry about a back pack full of CDs and Cassette tapes. Now I had something for books too. Wow. No more rooms full of books. No more storage units filled with books. No more sleepless nights thinking where I put that one book that I now want to re-read. Yet, there was a problem. A very big one.

The cost! I would literally have to rebuy all my books. Or I could just simple move forward with digital only books. And that was a problem just as big. I love books. I want to hold them and smell them. So, okay, I’ll just buy most books digitally and then the favorites I would buy the real deal. Ok. That might work. Then it didn’t…. see, digital books should be cheaper. And when I say cheaper, I mean A LOT cheaper. And unfortunately they weren’t. Even a basic knowledge of commerce knows that a book you pay $26 for is really only getting about $6 to the publisher and $3 to a writer. (And cost of printing isn’t even factored here for ease of understanding). Because the universal rule of business is 50% as in everything is purchased at 50% to make the seller money. So the book is printed and sold to Wholesaler who buys book for around half the cost they’ll sell it to a Bookstore. Then that bookstore needs to double it so they can pay the rent, employees and make a profit. What if? The book never has to be printed. This cuts out a bunch of middle men and costs. The book never has to go to a printer. There’s no paper, no trees sacrificed to feed the machines. The books are not stacked on pallets and stored in warehouses (rent of warehouse costs money). Nor is the book put on trucks and trains and shipped to the Wholesalers warehouse. No gas used, no salary of a truck driver (or train driver…huh engineer?), no wholesale warehouse rent. Then those books would have to be back on a truck or train to ship to the bookseller. See where I’m going here?

There’s a ton of cost in printing a book and just getting it where it needs to be. But digital doesn’t have that. I mean its basically just electrons and photons right? How do you put a price on tiny particles of energy. I guess if you wanted to get picky you could say how much does it cost to transmit the file of about 1MB to a user. There’s the small cost of the user’s internet and electric bill. The publisher or writer has to store the book on a server or hard drive that costs money to buy or maintenance. But isn’t that literally pennies. I mean like 5 cents or a dime! So I’ve concluded that a book, with the original profit margin in place, should sale for about $4.99. Split that 50/50 with the writer / publisher…. huh? HUH? Sounds good. Maybe the publisher worries about lost sales buy sharing digital files?….

Now my RANT and gripe. Why in hell are digital books more than paper books? Clearly this is a big issue and why digital books will fail. Unlike digital songs which went to a very cost effective (cheap) model. .99cents a song…. So why can’t books do something similar and stay around the 4.99 price model? You know why I’m still buying tons of paper books to my regret. Because the books I’d most likely buy digitally are usually $14.99 and I can get the Hardcover for 12.99 (or a soft cover for 8.99). Sorry, I’m not JK Rowling and I don’t have $billions to burn. Is it me or is this just backasswards??

to be continued…..maybe….

Writing is Hard Work….

I know I’ve said it before. But writing is hard work. Especially for me. Mostly because, I have good days and great days. And then some not-so-good days.

I can easily sit down and work the keyboard for a few hours and write pages and pages. Yet, then my OCD and Anxiety kicks in and I look at the writing and feel its not very organized. Or my thoughts are not coming out right. Even when I know its just a rough draft. Or a quick blog post thats not polished. I sit and worry that it’s crap.

Then, the internal debate happens. Delete. Leave it. No. Delete it. Okay, lets revise and edit it. No, it wasn’t meant to be edited. Okay. Delete it. Forget it. Just leave it. I’ll come back to it tomorrow and edit.

Sometimes writing is a chore. Yet, I do it because I know its something I have to do. Like a job, you have to do it even if you’re not really into it. So I just write. Mostly garbage or just stream of conscience stuff. This is when I rant or throw common sense at a problem and try to explain the upside or downside.

I hope I’m not alone in this battle to write. I think this is why I’m insanely curious to how others write and try to voyeur on their writing process. Like a nerdy 7th grader, I’m trying to justify I’m not alone in this complex world.

And don’t get me started when I think I’m just writing this stuff and its like a note in a bottle. I doubt anyone is reading it or even finding it on the web…..

What Happened to Journalism? ….

So, the internet destroyed honest journalism. Wait. Hear me out. I believe it. Listen.

The other day I was looking over the social media sites and came across and article about …. comic book industry and some words of wisdom from a very well known comic book creator. As I continue to read the article, I realize that the person writing the article is just retelling what the creator said at a recent show. And this got me to thinking about many many articles I see everyday on the internet.

Y’know, those articles where the breaking story is someone has an opinion about something and then this website tries to spin it as earth-shattering news. I’ll try to better detail it. With the invention of Twitter and social media, the thoughts and activities of the celebrity crowd is no long a mystery to anyone. (Maybe it should be?) That’s my belief no one watches the Oscars or any other award show anymore. Why tune in to see your favorite star when you get pics of their food, what they did in the Bahamas, and 140 character snippets of their morals and virtu signaling. It’s true!

Nowadays, these quasi-news sites exaggerate everything in the name of clicks. That’s how they make money. Just go to one of the sites and the madness of pop-up ads and banners all over the site. Heck, I can’t read a 10 paragraph article without scrolling past 10 banner ads for TV shows and miracle cures for my Diabetes. Thus, let’s say “fake news” is a real thing. (Yet thats a whole different topic). Sorry, back to the someone saying stuff about something. Example: Kevin Smith tells all about the MCU/Sony Split. So I click. $$ for them. I start to read. The “journalist” writing the piece begins to draw me in. Banner ad $$ for them. I continue to read. More banners $$$ for them. Oh, so the entire article is based around the 10 tweets you copied and pasted from Twitter? Really! You have to be F**king Me! Seriously!? Does anyone remember when a reporter had to pick up the phone, call a source, run to the studio and stalk the actor to get a quote? (If you don’t, I truly feel sorry for you). I do. That was reporting. That’s when I started to wonder. I wondered if this snowflake writer would be able to get this “breaking news” if he/she had to actually do some work? I really don’t think so.

If any news site wants to earn credibility or be a trusted news source (again), then actually do research. Maybe call the celebrity and interview them about the tweets not just repost them with your “divine” insight. And I’d think real journalists would get angry by this. It really doesn’t help the industry.

Oh well, thats todays thought….

Some simple bullet points….

Here are some simple bullet points that could save the Comic Book Industry. First off, I’ve been a reader, a consumer, a business owner, a manager of a company and lived life. These are based on common sense, not political correctness nor social pandering….

  1. Cover price must drop. $1 sounds right.
  2. Reprint issues from the past. Like all the time.
  3. Return to newsprint (or similar) paper.
  4. Advertise the comic book! I’ve seen a dozens of comic book movies in 10 years, NOT one time did I see some kind of promotion or tagline to go buy the comics these stories were based on. Poor marketing!
  5. Get comics at every check stand in America. Again, this should be a $1, reprint or even first run.
  6. Advertise. Plan and simple. Where does DC or Marvel advertise besides their own comic books. I remember as a kid seeing television commercials to pick up G.I. Joe, X-men and Superman comics “where magazines were sold!”
  7. Stop hiring comic writers simply because they fit a demographic.
  8. Overhaul the compensation of comic creators, writers and artists, so they want to create the best comics possible. This starts with lower salaries and more royalties. If I’m making $75K write a book and you hired me just cause of my skin color, why do I care if the book sells or is popular. Lower the going rate and offer more sales incentives. Allow creators to feel some ownership of the characters they are writing even if its owned by a mega-corporation.
  9. Run it as a business not as cultural propaganda. Tell good stories and everyone, all diversities will buy it.
  10. Listen to your consumers, the customer, your readers, your fans, your audience. Even 1 bad review is 1 too many. Ask yourself, why are readers angry. Don’t blame them for the poor quality of the product.

Simple stuff. And that’s probably not all of it. Comic books should LIVE!

Comic Book Rant….

Be warned this will be an unbiased and honest rant about an aspect of the comic book industry and those that are in leadership of said comic book industry.

It’s my opinion. It may be lacking all facts but its what I see and how I feel. And if I can conclude these feelings from simple observations, than perhaps, those folks should look into a mirror and ask themselves: what the hell are we doing? Because these simple impressions are very important to business.

I will focus on a publisher I have loved since I was 10 years old. I grew up on their characters and by 1985 would spending nearly all my allowance and then some buying roughly 20 monthly titles. (Just be aware, comics were only 60 cents back then. Hell, I can’t afford 20 books a month today and I make a pretty good salary for a middle aged man. Math: 1985 20 books = $12. 2019 20 books = $80) That publisher was DC Comics.

Besides the simple cost, what kid in his right mind would pay $3.99 for 20 pages of a funny art book? I know I ask that every time I buy one today. And these f’ing Publishers want to cry and moan that children aren’t getting into comics anymore and the industry is collapsing because of old grumpy white men? These publishers are idiots!

So, this opinion is based solely on a consumer perspective. I’m a consumer and I have money to spend. How will the publishers earn my support? That’s the real question isn’t it? Let’s say that social media doesn’t help their cause!

Well, social media can literally best or break a company. (One can ask Gilllette?). So, it doesn’t help the cause or earn my support with some careless social media posting. And yes, this could be shallow and trite but hey I think it and I have a right to question and talk about it. Thus, I think ‘all’ entertainment companies should have some strict social media rules when they want to lure my money out of my pocket. And to be shallow and honest, this could even be simple family pics highlighting over indulgence….

Not to be someone that just wants to dox another, I will not use the co-publisher’s name. Let’s say his name rhymes with Stan Lee but he’s Asian and much shorter. I’ll refer to him as ‘Little Timmy’ (That kinda rhymes too). So, Little Timmy is a very talented artist. He creates a style and brand for his art; he sets out to be an independent comic creator. And, after all said and done, is a very influential name in the business. He returns to the company that helped him rise up through the industry and has become the co-publisher of all the books this company prints. That’s a pretty impressive CV, right CV? (Why, yes it is!)

So, like every other dumb American, I follow him on social media. I thought it might be a platform to see his art. Well, I was wrong. (Edit: I lie for exaggeration and embellishment! There are posts of his work. Mostly Batman stuff and self-promotion of DC stuff and movies.) Instead, I get photos of him jet-setting around the world. I mean literally “around the world.” There are pics of him front row-courtside at Lakers games ( just a few chairs away from Jaaack!). There, he is, in Greece (I think it was Greece), Saudi Arabia, Dubai, China, Japan, and all of the other European countries. Then I see he’s celebrating a aniversary with his wife (most likely Hawaii) and her brand new Lamborghini Aventador (price tag: just south of a half a mil.).

I know what everyone’s thinking: “So!” He’s worked hard to get where he is. He deserves to treat himself to some luxuries out there in the most expensive real estate of California. And honestly, I’m all for the American Dream and pursuit of wealth. I hope to be there one day too. (Correction: I think I would be more conservative. Chalk it up to growing up poor and knowing the value of things…or more importantly, happiness….) Now to my POINT!

DC COMICS is in trouble. Of the two engines keeping that plane in the air, one is on fire and the other is starting to sputter. So, I question how much time does he actually spend in the board room or his office? Isn’t his job to make sure his company is selling millions of comics and thriving? So when I just see him traveling or buying super sport cars, I feel like somethings being ignored. I want him to wake up and put some dedication in keeping comics around for the next generation — like: try and create solutions to get comics back into the hands of children! My first instinct is to think he’s just milking the cow and not really caring about if the cow is eating a healthy diet.

Little Timmy, pleas stop traveling the world. Instead get in that office and make a difference. Change the scope of the industry once again like you did so many years ago. That would convince me to open that pocket and let that money fly out….

The Force Awakens…. Lost its way….

As I stated, the movie started out with lots of potential. Yet, it didn’t know what it wanted to be. The writer and director didn’t create a natural extension of the Skywalker story. Instead, they created a story and production they thought the audience wanted. Or to be more precise, what the producer thought the audience wanted.

So, the new leadership at Lucasfilm decided to nix everything in the expanded universe. A horrible idea to millions of fans that spent decades enjoying the stories and respecting the chronology. But a fabulous idea for a new writing staff so they don’t have to worry about the past and all thats come before it. Or as I really think, they didn’t have a clue of any of that source material and like a slacker high school student, why actually read the book and know the material when you can just petition the teacher to throw out the textbook altogether. Yes, I am calling out those writers for not actually being SW fans and actually knowing the chronology. When you have a clean canvas you can create anything without remorse or worry.

As story development proceeded, The Force Awakens could literally be anything the writers could dream up. And that doesn’t necessarily mean that it fit in with the previous movies, character developement nor even the wishes of Mr. George Lucas. He handed treatments over yet Lucasfilm leadership decided to toss them and proceed with the what the rockstar director wanted.

Story may be the weak link but the saving grace was the art design and characters that were created. Except I think they needed a slight tweak….

Up next… a fan’s version of The Force Awakens….

Star Wars….other possibilities….

With the Skywalker Saga (as they are calling the core Star Wars movies nowadays) storyline coming to an end with Episode IX, I dream about the possibilities of what could have been.

I want to get my thoughts and opinions down on digital paper. When Lucasfilm sold to Disney I was very optimistic about the future of Star Wars. Unfortunately, my optimism was cut short with the release of the new ‘sequel’ trilogy of films. And the basic destruction of the expanded universe cannon. I will clarify that I never expected the expanded universe to become the stories of any new movies. Yet, I hoped that they would at least try to blend in. The reason I stand by this: Lucasfilm took such care and consideration of any and all post ROTJ stories. Thus, I figured George Lucas essentially approved it all. Yet, the films are truly the only ‘true’ cannon. Thus, if Mr. Lucas would have changed his mind, then that would be acceptable and understandable.

In this process, I hope it makes sense. I hope my thoughts and ideas are clear and find a audience. I think the narrative of my opinions would have made in some regards better Star Wars movies. I believe this as I would have written my Star Wars from the aspect of the known source material and universe. I would not have made decisions on the risk and ridiculous hope of ‘pleasing audiences’ and being ‘diverse’.

I think its best if I start from the beginning….

Snake-Eyes Solo Movie….no thank you!

Again, Hollywood has no clue. Yet, I still blame Hasbro too. Because Hasbro could oversee and control the out come as they “own” the property.

I’ve never understood the motives of film writers and producers that have (literally) the easiest job when it comes to adapting a iconic 80s property. The backstory is there. The characters are there. Heck, the fans and viewership is already there! All you have to do is come up with a great story! How hard is that?

But noooo. Producers and writers have to come in and F*#k it all up. Why? I truly believe its because they have absolutely no clue about the actual source material. Either this is complete ignorance or simply a matter of no respect. Because its all about the money.

Thus, if these producers (or Hasbro) had any clue, they would not be moving forward with a Snake-Eyes solo movie. Snake-Eyes is a product of G.I. Joe. G.I. Joe is a team. G.I. Joe, in definition, is a group of diverse characters with unique skill sets that work together to defeat Cobra, a terrorist organization determined to rule the world. Snake-Eyes excels when he’s fighting alongside Duke, Scarlett, Roadblock and Tunnel Rat.

Honestly, Snake-Eyes is a bad-ass character and he’s freaking awesome. But I don’t want to see him in a movie by himself. He needs his supportive cast. And if you bring even one of those characters, or a member of Cobra (i.e. Storm Shadow) then it’s a G.I. Joe movie. Why not just make that one?

There’s over 200 stories in the form of comic books. Its okay to use those as the basis for a good story – a great story. Yo Joe!

Analog writing….

So I watched a documentary the other day….

It was about the resurgence of typewriters in the writing community. The film also spotlighted the notable writers that have and continue to use vintage and trusted typewriters.

I grew up in a time that I was given a typewriter as a child. My mother inspired me to write my stories. She even allowed me to type on her electric IBM at the office and she was lucky enough to take one home. Back then I just hunted and pecked my way around the keyboard. When it was time to go to High School, the one class I had to take and there was no debate (according to my mother) was typing. She said it would come in handy.

See, she knew that typewriters (and eventually ‘word processors’) was the future of my academic writing. And it would one day the tool to write my book(s).

When I was a small child, I remember my mother going to the community college to take a typing class. Because she was a single mother and poor, she asked the professor if she could bring me and sit in the far corner of the room. The professor took a great risk and trusted that I wouldn’t be one of those children that disrupted the class. I took my coloring books and notebooks. I sat there drawing and writing stories every Wednesday and Thursday nights, for 16 weeks. It was so cool to hear a dozen students banging at keyboards and hearing the rhythm hum and beat of the IBMs typing away!

After the class was over, the professor marveled at my discipline (more like my shyness) and thanked my mother. I couldn’t wait until I could use the machine to write.

So, as I watched the documentary, I decided I want a typewriter again. I have the old manual one I was given as a child. Its lost to the archives of the garage but I will venture to dig it out and maybe clunk away at it once again.

Wish me luck!

Can a Keyboard make a difference?

So I bought a new Bluetooth keyboard.

It was a Kickstarter project. Sometimes I feel like its a gamble with technology on Kickstarter. I’ve supported a couple in the past and they usually just need in a novelty and or broken tech.

Yet, I was very pleased with this one. It was a Keycron keyboard that is a styled and designed with a old fashioned mechanical key setup.

It is so fun to type on this. The clunk-clunk of the keys. It reminds me of the old Commodore 64 or the old IBM keyboards.

Now I’m inspired to write and continue to write on this thing. I will finish the current projects and hopefully write many more!

Where’s the Coffee Machine?!

And, so we stood, confused and dazed.  The coffee machine was missing!  This happened early on a Monday morning.  The coffee machine was the one thing we all looked forward to on a Monday morning – it made the stay in the office tolerable.  It was a miracle of modern technology – it dispensed black coffee; decaf coffee; coffee mochas; cappuccino; hot chocolate; lattes; and hot water.    Some of us even were rumored to worship the coffee machine.  The area around it was a social hangout.  We told stories about our weekends in front of the coffee machine; we discussed the reports in front of the coffee machine; we shared photos of our kids around that freaking coffee machine –  the machine was part of our family.  There was always a line – most of us standing with empty mugs in hand.  We needed it to get the extra wake-up juice that the day required.  There we stood, in disbelief.  Jack Eden had already called building security to report it stolen.   When the security guard finally arrived to take our statements, the management staff strolled up and tried to get us to disperse. 

A few weeks before we all learned we were moving cubicles, again.  Management brought it upon itself to suspend the funding to the coffee machine.  Budget reports showed that it was a huge red line in the bottom line and somewhere the management staff had to decided that the only way to fix it was to have it removed.  No concern was taken on how this would effect the employees or our morale.  The situation  started to get ugly.  Tempers started to flare.  Tensions were rumbling on every floor of the building.  We took it upon ourselves to send emails to anyone who would listen.  The story goes, that even the CEO was aware of the musings of mutiny.  He quickly placed a note on his blog, on the company’s homepage on our intranet – to dispel rumors and sweet talk the employees with his boyish charisma.  The seasoned workers like Rick and Jack saw through the lies and deception.  Rick and Jack spent the rest of the day calling the coffee machine vender and other coffee wholesalers.  Their daily reports and emails went ignored.  The two men worked up spreadsheets, powerpoint presentations and pie charts on the expenses on a company providing the simple life blood of coffee to its employees.  Jack had even called the exact technician that removed the machine.  With a day’s work and math, they came to the conclusion it only cost the company about $10 a day to give 1000s of cups of bold, hot, stimulating coffee to its legion of cubicle prisoners.   

After days of buying coffee from the Starbucks from down the street, the group decided to pitch in for a coffee machine and coffee.   It took several days before building management discovered our bootleg coffee pot.  We were instructed to remove it.  We asked, “why, we’re paying for it out of our own pockets?”  The building management’s excuse was “it’s a fire hazard and the building couldn’t accept the liability.”  That excuse had us scratching our heads – once again – for hours.  How could our machine be a fire hazard yet the one that sat there just days before – for years and years – was not? Did they know the liability of disgruntled employees?

Production had already slipped by 37%. The writing was on the wall. Yes, several uncontrollable naps would happen. Concentration would be lost to staring at cubicle walls for hours at a time. But most importantly, the tine it took for 87% of the staff to walk 1.5 blocks to the Starbucks, waiting precisely 8.6 minutes to order their drink, waiting another 12.7 minutes to get drink, and then walk slowly back the 1.5 blocks back to the building. Before the coffee machine was 20.7 feet away. Now it caused this reckless behavior and loss of production.  It made no sense whatsoever! 

If we were to keep our freshly installed coffee machine, we were gonna have to take it to the mattresses – and bribe a few fire inspectors!

And So We Stood

And, so we stood, watching Mary Sela cut into a glazed doughnut.  The doughnut was still in the box from the little doughnut shop from around the corner – The Donut Hole.  Using a plastic knife in a rigorous sawing motion, she promptly removed an expertly cut half a doughnut.  She placed it on a paper towel and walked back to her cubicle.  We stood there wondering if anyone else would courage up to taking the other half of the doughnut.  

Jack Eden decided he didn’t want to ponder the idea. He yelled, “Mary!” As she turned around with a “yeah”, he questioned her with a “what the hell was that?”  Her eyebrows scrunched down into an inquisitive “what?”  He approached her and asked her why she only took half a doughnut.  She quietly responded that she didn’t want a whole doughnut.  “So, you figure someone wants your discarded half of a doughnut?” he grilled.  She stumbled on her words, looked over his shoulder at the rest of us, and in a passive voice “I didn’t want to waste it.”  Jack didn’t care what her best intentions were, nor did any of us think we would happily dine on half-a-doughnut still in the box from the little doughnut shop from around the corner – The Donut Hole.  

First off, we didn’t get free doughnuts very often, especially those bought and paid for by our management staff.  Secondly, we weren’t exactly concerned about our pride when it came to gorging ourselves on free food.  So to witness such an odd event, we found ourselves scratching our heads.  Even after Jack interrogated Mary.  And wouldn’t you know, that half-a-doughnut sat in the box even after all the others were gone.  Pillaging free food still had its requirements and it didn’t involve scraps. We weren’t heathens.  We weren’t vagabonds. We weren’t animals.  We were highly educated morons that sat in tiny cubicles all day, shifting through emails, answering phone calls from whiny brokers, and ‘servicing’ our clients – although no one liked that term – it just sounded perverse.            

The half-a-doughnut was still in the box when everyone had gone home for the day and the lights were turned out.  It sat in the box, from the doughnut shop around the corner – The Donut Hole, on the green table, in the green kitchen, through the night.  The green table, in the green kitchen was also known as the table where discarded food went to disappear – if someone had leftovers or excess amounts of Halloween candy, it was placed on the green table. Within a few days (sometimes only hours), it would be gone.  It defied explanation.  The phenomenon wasted hours of useful production time as we discussed the theories and probabilities of how the food disappeared. Maybe the Dining Hall manager suspected contraband and had it disposed of? Or, maybe the Health Relations Monitor saw a potential food poisoning event and quickly bagged and tagged it for analysis. Maybe, the table actually had a trap door where the food would fall through a maze of tunnels and passage ways and fall right into the incinerator? In the end, we suspected it was simply eaten.  We hoped the cleaning crew just took care of it each night.  Yet, this was disproven by the half-a-doughnut incident.  The following day, the half-a-doughnut still sat in the box on the green table, in the green kitchen as it was left the day before.  Most of us stared at it as we got our morning coffee and threw our lunches into the refrigerator.

Then, Joey Brena, getting her third cup of coffee that morning, noticed something! The box, from the donut shop from around the corner – The Donut Hole, was open and more importantly, empty. The half-a-donut was gone! Joey raced over to Rick Whitmore’s cubicle to inform him that the half-a-doughnut was now missing.  The box from the doughnut shop from around the corner was still on the table, including crumbs and smears of chocolate icing.  But more importantly, the half-a-doughnut was gone!  Rick Whitmore proceeded to walk to Jack Eden’s cube and inform him of the news.  Before we could even check our voice mails or log in to our emails, we gathered in the green kitchen, near the green table.  We stared at the table, at the box.  

“You think Mary came back to get the other half?” Sandy Johnson hypothesized.

“That’s just ridiculous!” Jack rebutted.

The thing is, someone had to take the half-a-doughnut.  Someone decided it looked appetizing.  It obviously wasn’t thrown away, or why was the box still on the green table, in the green kitchen?  

Jack whispered to Joey Brena he would check on Mary and see if the half-a-doughnut was on her desk or if her sweater revealed the crumbs of evidence.  Mary Sela, a nice fifty-something lady, typically kept her self clean and smelled like cheap Walgreen’s perfume.  But sometimes she had the unfortunate character of clumsiness. Like the time a meatball escape her fork and rolled down a heavenly white blouse – leaving a Morse code of bright red spaghetti sauce in its wake. 

Joe Eden, gone only a couple minutes, returned to inform us that, “She’s not there. Her computer isn’t even booted up.”  We all just looked at each other.  We continued to debate the disappearance of the half-a-doughnut.  What happened to the half-a-doughnut?  Worse yet, did someone eat it?

Today’s Word: Patience.

Hello, boys and girls. Today’s word is patience.

This is something some writers don’t have. Okay. Well, maybe not some. Let’s just say me. I try hard to have it but ….

My head is filled with stories. It’s full of scenes, dialog and … things. I sit and as I write, it flows so much slower. I can spend a full solid morning and only have a few pages to show but in my mind, I’ve seen the beginning, the middle and the end.

So, with the patience comes focus. With that head so full of stories and ideas, its hard to stay focused on just one. I easily get something else caught in my imagination and start to document that. And typically, as I’m working on that, a new idea bursts forth.

I’ve learned that patience comes with discipline. To ease the chaos of my mind, I try to satisfy it by working on more than one project at a time. I’ve been asked if that isn’t confusing or difficult. To be honest, not really. But it does do, is: it slows down the process and extends the completion of the story.

So, I’m trying to focus on only 2 or 3 projects. I can rotate as needed but I feel it will help me and my blocks. But its not rigid. If I find that I spend all my time on 1 project, then so be it. And congrats to me. The only benefit to a slow process is that I get to think more about the story. I find places to make changes and fix problems. In the end, maybe thats the reward….

Oh, and with that: I use a notebook to catalog all those new ideas. Let’s just hope I can get to them one day!

Writers and Writing….

OMG

I feel like I just woke up after spending all weekend immersed in authors panels and looking at art and reading about new writers.

I met so many fellow authors and new literary adventurists.

One of my favorites this weekend was Cinda Williams Chima, writer of the Heir Chronicles, Seven Realms, and Shattered Realms. My daughter was introduced to her writing back in junior high. She had read a lot of fantasy books and was sitting on her wall that the best book in the world was Harry Potter. Well, she read The Warrior Heir and the changed overnight. She brought the books home and introduced them to her parents. We became instant fans. Cinda was very nice and supportive.

Other writers: John Scalzi, Pierce Brown and Tricia Levenseller. All of them were very positive. All were more than willing to encourage you and your writing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If you want to write for more than yourself, you need to find a community. And don’t be afraid to seek out even the big authors. Those that have New York Times Bestsellers books. Those that have the Hugo or Nebula or Locus awards. You’ll find most if not all are very humble. Yet, be respective and don’t try to be the new best friend. If you’re not careful thats where restraining orders come into play! (Just a little joke folks!).

I find that other writers inspire me. I’m sure they inspire all of us. So have fun and find time to meet your favorite authors.

The Future!

“Always in motion, the future is.” – Yoda, Empire Strikes Back.

We can sit and do nothing. We can sit and worry about it. Or we can get up, plant our feet on the ground, and take advantage of it.

This is my attitude about publishing. The future is rapidly approaching. The fate of storytelling as we know it could flip in on itself. Not only for novelists, prose writers, short fiction writers but also the comic writer and the comic artist.

Technology is now so advanced; anyone can write and publish a book with little or no fuss (and/or budget). Tools like Amazon or Lulu allow you to place your story online and sell it digitally to millions of Kindle readers or tablet users. WordPress is a brilliant platform for sharing creative content absolutely free!

Then there’s crowdfunding sites to “pre-sale” your product so you absolutely know the demand of your market (and reader)! Sorry big presses; this is the future. One needs to adapt or get out of the way. The time of worrying if a major publisher will accept your work (or story) is over. With the right enthusiasm and motivation, a storyteller can sell his work and bypass them altogether. And actually make a full-time career out of it; paying the bills and paying their taxes.

Right now, you can get lost in a very big sea of content and creators. But soon, millions of people will know where to look for it besides the local Barnes and Noble or Walmart. Comic book stores will become digital stores selling both digital and physical items. And publishers like DC and Marvel need to learn quickly how to stay relevant. Or by 2024, these guys will be only selling reprints of archive stuff or hoping another billion dollar movie can be made. I see Marvel (or DC) being a one room office with a staff of little just trying to protect their copyrights.

I am inspired by the future. And honestly, I still want a big publishing deal. Yet, I know it’s not the only option anymore. I challenge all of you to go to IndieGoGo or Amazon to look for independent stories. Support the next generation of writers and creators! Or be the next generation writer and put you stuff out there, any way you can!

Meet those that Inspire You

So I’ve been reading books from this author for nearly 20 years. My first book of his I read in only a few days while working a tedious office job. I consumed it as it made my imagination go into over drive. Mainly because the topic was fantastical and wondrous – and in some ways, very possibly true.

It was Fingerprints of the Gods.

And the author is Graham Hancock!

Although he has dabbled in fiction, his books are mostly hypothetical pre-history investigations.

I find this stuff incredible fascinating and I like it as it questions orthodox understandings of our recorded history. I’ve always questioned many of today’s understood facts – say like the Big Bang theory. Like how do scientists even know this- they took some readings and guessed. Yeah, they don’t really know. Maybe Thanos snapped his fingers!?

Personally, I think it’s a bit of truth to something normally believed to be myth and fantasy. It’s a bit of science fiction but done in reverse. The superior tech was in the past not the future.

Mr. Hancock inspires my own creativity and fiction writing. And as a writer, one should meet and talk to those that inspire you. Let them know as it builds our small community and it scan truly be motivational to continue what we do. So go. Do it. Enjoy.

Here’s Graham Hancock signing my copy of America Before and like his other books will definitely be interesting and entertaining!

Faith Restored!

So last week, I had a bit of hard roads.

I lost my way. And I couldn’t find a solution.

Well, one thing is I stayed off social media. I just read books and watched movies.

I avoided the negativity of people. Honestly, I think this negative attitude to other people’s ideas, opinions and art created an overwhelming sense of self doubt.

So, I’m back to feeling some desire to write again. I want to tell my stories. Perhaps they won’t be any good. Maybe no one will ever read it. Yet, I will complete them. I think thats the attitude I need and hopefully I can keep the faith restored….

Star Wars was ruined by, “I am your father!”

Well, not ruined per se, but it was something the Prequels and the Sequels haven’t been able to live up to. Or perhaps they forgot about it — a key dramatic element of the Original Trilogy.

Everyone remembers the time they first saw that dramatic scene in Empire Strikes Back where Darth Vader tells the young hero Luke Skywalker that he is in fact his father. The shock would plague some of us for nearly 3 years waiting for the release of Return of the Jedi. Yes, I was a kid, 8 years old, back then and saw it in the theater. I’m not sure I even believed it. I figured Vader was lying to Luke just to get him to turn to the Dark Side.

See, I was naive and believed Obi-wan Kenobi when he told Luke that Vader betrayed and murdered Luke’s father. Yet, once I saw ROTJ and the audience got its confirmation that Ben Kenobi lied, I learned a very important dramatic element of story telling. Some call it the “big reveal” or some might say “the redirect”. The goal is to surprise your audience with some information they weren’t expecting. This information is meant to change the dynamic of the characters relationship with one another. Not only providing melodrama but layers of complexity to the story.

Now, when the Prequels debuted in 1999 with The Phantom Menace, we knew this was going to be a story about a young Anakin Skywalker — Luke’s father. But what we didn’t know was how and what drove Anakin to the Dark Side. So millions of Star Wars fans waited and then we were disappointed. Okay, fine, we saw how he fell to the Dark Side, yet George Lucas made it a very long turn. Instead of something dramatic, we were told that Anakin was troubled and manipulated by Palpatine — spending over a decade slowly mind controlling him.

We all have the version of new Star Wars we wanted in our heads. My imagination over 20 years allowed me to think of a few different versions of the prequels. Yet, I know that is the definition of exaggerated anticipation — and there’s no way to be completely satisfied with the result. This is a common affliction in a Star Wars fan. We put too much of our own desires into future stories that we hopelessly know will never become reality. This is why a Star Wars fan can hate and love a movie at the same time.

In my Star Wars, Anakin fell to the dark side in one tragic and dramatic moment. Something very similar to what we saw in his final moment of his fall in Revenge of the Sith. But something much more powerful. I saw him using the Dark Side only to save someone he loved — i.e. the “young queen” (mother of Luke and Leia) but because it truly was the only way to save them. Almost to say, he sacrificed himself to save them. But this isn’t my point. Yet, I mention it as this could have been the “I am your father” moment. And maybe it should have been.

In all aspects of the Prequels, we never got this “reveal” moment. We were never shocked or surprised by the story. It really felt like the three movies were telegraphed to us in a very long exposition of images. I blame George Lucas for not giving us our surprise. Where was “I am your father” in the Prequels? We didn’t get it! Maybe Palpatine should have told Anakin that he was Anakin’s father? Or that Qui-Got was? Something. This is the same thing that happened in the Sequels. We almost had it with the tease on Rey’s parents but then we didn’t get anything. I believe if we had gotten this moment in Attack of the Clones or in The Last Jedi, those trilogies would be inherently better. But then, what do I know….

I failed….

On January first, I wanted to write on this blog every day for an entire year. As anyone paying attention (not sure there’s many) but that’s not happened.

Several factors have influenced this: internal conflicts of do I share opinions or touch on uncomfortable subjects, or simply share memories and reminisce about things I love; battling writers block on a couple projects that have diminished my desire to write; and, working through my fixation of my obsessive need for refinement (an oxymoronic statement I’m sure) and my never ending worry with having order in my process of work.

If the last reason doesn’t make sense, it’s probably because I don’t know how to make sense of my mind sometimes. There’s definitely something not right when I worry about every word. I immediately want to take it back. I should have said that differently or the anxiety of judgment due in part to the manner in which I talk or think.

So I failed but I still want to move forward. Confronting weakness or mistakes is the first step, right? Then again maybe artists don’t fire on all thrusters and I need to accept that. I’ll work on it. But realistically, I just want to tell stories….

Time is limited….

So, more and more nowadays, I know my time on this planet is limited. I’m not getting younger….only older!

Optimistically, I most likely have at least another 20-30 years of life in me. Yet, family health history and current health issues could shorten that. Now, I’m not trying to cause a panic and say I’m looking at Death’s door. I feel great and have plans for many many years to come. I got some things to do before then.

Yet, hearing reports of a celebrity dying at only 52 opens up those concerns. Especially, when I know the celebrity isn’t much older than me and I remember growing up with the actor. This was the actor Luke Perry.

I was in high school as 90210 premiered. I graduated a year later but continued to watch it in early days of college. I will say I was fixated on the story and the young characters. As a young man, I grew my sideburns. I just happened to get a eyebrow scar in 1989 from a hunting accident. And, my one (or few claims of fame) is I did have a few girls think I looked like Jason Priestly and a 90210 guy! Heck, if I’m not sporting a beard, I still keep the Luke Perry sideburns.

The show influenced me so much that I immediately cast the actors into my own stories. I saw these guys and gals as part of my early visions of favorite IPs and my own creations. Nerd Alert: I cast Luke Perry to play Maximillian Sterling in a big live action screenplay I wrote in 1992 for the ROBOTECH franchise (disclaimer: it was a fan script as I was only 19 at the time.) My limited casting creativity also cast Jason Priestly as Rick Hunter and Jennie Garth was Lisa Hayes. When I look back on that, it just sounds ridiculous! (sidebar: I cast Brett Michaels to play Lancer aka Yellow Dancer in a Robotech Next Generation script I was writing back then too).

So, hearing about Luke’s death kinda hits home. I never met him. But I felt I knew him in some weird way. I’ll be sad for a while. I wish his family well. And remember: Time is limited…. take every day to enjoy it!!

What Kind of Insanity….

I’ve always been intrigued by how people can exaggerate an outcome from a statement and completely come up with a ridiculous verdict that wasn’t even hinted at in the original statement. Let me provide an example:

Someone at a dinner states, “I try and donate $100 a month to my local animal shelter.”

The person-across-the-table returns, “So you condone animal murder!”

Now my first thought, where in the heck did this conclusion come from? I mean the person across the table took a typical good thing and turned it into massive negative. The look of surprise on my face is:

Thus, the kind and gentle heart that decided to donate to an animal shelter has to ask follow up questions. “Why is that?” The person-across-the-table heatedly replied, “because that shelter is NOT a no-kill shelter!”

Wait! So, a charitable donation, that helps feed and keep animals safe, is now a completely bad thing. The person is now judged as completely vile and immoral person while doing something good? WHAT KIND OF INSANITY IS THIS?

But, this is actually a diagnosis symptom. Yes, if someone you know does this, then they have been infected by the SJW-virus – causing normal people to spit out these outrageous responses. Do not be alarmed. It’s okay to confront the disorder and tell the person they need help. If we work together, we can battle this disease and return society back to normal.

Thank you for your support. Knowing, is half the battle. And, MORE YOU KNOW!


A decade, huh?

Dayna was the only daughter of the King of Valaxia.  Her marriage was a strategic arrangement with the Duke Rilo of Relen, the ruler of the only adversary of the peoples of Valaxia.   Days before the tournament of chivalry, Dayna pondered the idea of marriage vs. the life of a free spirit.   While in the forest of legions, she understood she wasn’t cut for the harsh environment outside the castle and decided to marry the Baron’s son, whom she’d never met, on the basis, she will have all the luxuries she had since birth.  While she returns to see her new promised husband in tournament, he was seriously slammed with a lance and killed dead on the jousting field.   Her father, whom only promised his daughter to Baron Nolan as a peace offering after 20 years of war, decided to send his daughter off to the monastery to learn the life of a commoner, as a grounding tool.   Poor Dayna who wanted to be independent, whom decided to remain a slave to her kingdom, must face the new truth of her original passion.  Dayna, no longer a princess, but a women forced to learn a hard lesson about life.

I wrote this paragraph over ten years ago. It was the first thing I wrote in an effort of writing a massive fantasy opus. After ten years of work and seeing it finally taking shape this paragraph comes off primitive and cliche.

Don’t be alarmed if a project takes years – or even decades – because it’s a passion you should be dedicated no matter how long it takes….

Look to Role Models….

As a young aspiring writer back in the 90s, I constantly looked up to other successful writers for direction.

Back then, I was mostly looking to write for stage and screen. I may have dreamed about writing a novel or something but my true dream was to be produced as a playwright or screenwriter. I was in Film School when I realized that to succeed in writing films I must mimic those great film makers and screen writers. I went so far as to write the exact same way as George Lucas wrote his movies. When, I learned that George writes only on yellow legal pads, I immediately went to Office Depot and bought a case of yellow legal pads. I wrote my next 2 plays on nothing but yellow legal pads and then transcribed them into a Word-processor in the computer lab.

I took a seminar with John Patrick Shanely – the screen writer of Moonstruck and Joe Vs. The Volcano – at CU and couldn’t believe I could be so lucky. It was open to Film Makers and Creative Writing majors and I called the reserve line before I could finish reading the flyer. Sitting there with him for a few days, I wanted to know how he wrote. Call me funny, but my questions weren’t philosophical. I wasn’t asking him what made him a better writer. But how he physically wrote. Did he plot things via an online? Did he block it out with index cards? Does he handwrite his writing on paper first or just type it directly it into the typewriter or computer? I do recall him giving me a weird look each time I asked him a question. Not the: what-are-you-smoking-weird look, but that of a curious mind. Almost as he was trying to understand my intent.

So, that’s how I wrote in the 90s. I’m not sure if that was successful as I didn’t get anywhere. But I don’t regret it. Yet, I’ve learned since, just write. Write. It doesn’t matter if you use a pencil. It’s not important if you write everything with a pen. Some just sit at the keyboard and let it flow out.

I will admit. I still like to use pen and paper to throw down ideas and outlines. Yet, I’m also trying to be more electronic and do it all digital. That’s why I bought a iPad Pro with Apple Pencil. But I think I may just be too analog and old school….

It’s been weaponized…and that’s F’ing scary!

Today, is a great time for writers. It’s also a scary time too!

20 years ago, when I started a real effort to be a professional writer, I knew it would be a very hard and vigorous journey. I also knew there were no guarantees that I could actually pull it off. It was like buying a lottery ticket. One could think about it, research numbers and then finally buy a ticket and still not win anything. That was just the publishing world. Not everyone was ‘lucky’ enough to get their break.

Fast forward to today, and now almost anyone — actually everyone can write a book and get it published. Granted, I’m referring to the new ability to self-publish. I could have self-published in 1999 as well, but it would have been horribly expensive and a financial burden to my family.

With services like Lulu and Amazon, you can now get your book placed digitally on the internet. They offer consumers the ability to buy your book, both digitally or print-on-demand, and you can financially benefit from it. Now, you still need to put some work into marketing and publicizing it or it will just get lost in a sea of thousands — millions of new books.

Now, I will consider the self publish route so I get more control of my creation. I will still shoot for a traditional publishing contract too. Yet, I have a new fear. A very real one. That fear is the — INTERNET! Or more precisely SOCIAL MEDIA.

It has been weaponized. And it can destroy people’s careers. I say this as a worst case scenario of course. But it should be a real fear for writers. What-if, my book is successful? What-if, I’m the next J.K. Rowling?

And then, someone is offended by something I wrote. What if they interpret that my book as something it isn’t and go to social media. Now I have to defend it. Or defend my life and my career. Because today, creators can be accused, tried, and punished by popular opinion and its far more damaging than a court of law nowadays — and usually this destruction bipasses due process and the courts. And this is scary.

So, everyday I tell myself to be kind. Be humble. Tell my stories they way I want and how, if I was just a reader, would like to read them. This is my confidence — AND I will SUCCEED!