Yes, a TV interview! If you’re like me, you’re wondering “on who” I got “pictures” in order to blackmail my way onto a TV set.

It’s true! No not that–I mean that it’s unusual for an author to get on a TV show. In fact it’s unnatural. Producers worry that I’ll show up with a book and read to the camera.

Now, if you end up co-authoring a film script, say a science fiction movie set a THOUSAND years in the future, and you’ve got some video to show for it, well, now you’ve got something that touches the heart of any energetic producer who’s got a twenty minute and thirty-eight second spot to fill.

Usually I’m involved with authorly things like writing, editing, more writing, more editing, and then finally, selling the manuscript, publishing it, and telling people about it. There’s a LOT of work that goes into telling people about what you’ve done. Although there are a LOT of people on this planet who enjoy science fiction, they aren’t impatiently hanging out in my living room, watching TV and eating my chips, and checking over my shoulder to see if I’ve yet finished something for them to read. (Why, the chip budget alone could bankrupt me!) They’re busy developing products, studying, and plotting world take over (at least that’s what I do in my spare time). Because Miss Wisenheimer and the Aliens is a film, it’s a different animal: film festivals, scifi convention film rooms, distributors, YouTube, Kickstarter, and TV stations. Director Dace cut a short film version of the movie so now we’ve got something to tell those people who aren’t hanging around in my living room. (Don’t take it personal Bob.  It’s OK, really–You cleanup after yourself and don’t eat that many chips.)  TV stations that yawned at the topic of books are completely “in” when it comes to the video medium. So I’m totally tickled to do my first science fiction related TV interview. You’ll see screenings of Miss Wisenheimer and the Aliens at your local science fiction convention.

Here is the interview. 

August 10, 10,000BCE the inventor of the wheel was found dead. The local medicine man puts the time of death to within 24 hours but insists this is preliminary until he consults with the spirit of the deceased. The body’s been identified as Zuzu. It was discovered by a fellow tribesman in a terrible state, Zuzu’s stomach split open, insides hanging out as if a gutted deer. The murder weapon, a spear, lying nearby.

Everyone feels disturbed.  Although the medicine man gives assurance that he can deflect any ill givings, some worry Zuzu’s tortured spirit will roam the village and cause food to spoil and mothers to miscarry. The entire tribe has motive for the murder. Everyone demanded Zuzu stop making tools that disrupt trade with their neighbors.

Lu Beau, the tribe’s strongest man, goes on record to say, “Zuzu wouldn’t listen to reason. Our people are bigger than others. We carry the kills of their hunters further and faster, and that puts deer above our cook fires. This ‘wheel’ would toss our superiority. That guy would gut our easy life.”

Zuzu is survived by worldly possessions such as a hut, a wife, and daughter, all of which will be shared within the tribe per custom. But many fear attracting bad spirits if any possessions, especially by chance the wife or daughter, are given to Zuzu’s killer. To lop the head from their problem, the eldest has enlisted aid of a nearby tribe and trading partner, to decide who killed Zuzu.

Even this wise plan has caused concerned! Many have misgivings at inviting an outsider into this. Maru, the eldest’s son, has said on record, “This Zarina is a willful and stubborn woman who hasn’t the common sense to just pick the lowliest member of the tribe whom everyone would be glad to wear the goat’s cape and be rid of.” Maru went on to say, “She insists on asking lots of questions and is not a likable woman. It’s too bad we can’t implicate HER so this entire matter is quickly settled.”

More on this developing story is available in Caveman Noir, in the October issue of Crimson Fog.

As a fan and author of science fiction, I take my genre seriously as a wine snob would choosing which red to drink with dinner. Knowing what science fiction is and isn’t helps guide my hand in the craft. While in China, I met up with film producer/director Hal Dace. He took a break from working on his film, Miss Wisenheimer and the Aliens,to have a chat about JJ Abrams and Star Wars.

Back in 2010, Hal and I talked science fiction over beers and Hal produced a 55 point manifesto why JJ Abrams was the wrong guy to direct Star Trek 11 and 12. Although I enjoyed the movie immensely, I agreed with Hal on nearly all of his points. Hal want’s to see a Trek film, not a pastiche. We met again before Star Trek 12 opened and put together a Star Trek Purity test. Our pre-show opening Trek 12 predictions were:

Into Darkness will fail the first three checklist items and then come on strong for the next four, and finally Uhurah sings and Spock’ll do something Vulcan, putting the film at six out of eleven. This will allow the movie to be a great commercial success yet maintain most of the Trekkie fan base, thereby bringing fresh viewers into the Trek fold.

It’ll be Star Wars: nonstop action, no strategy, no thoughtful moments. I say the next film fails all of the tests. A complete ZERO.

 

We invited the internet community to take our pre-opening online poll and the results were: 40% thought that it’d get “-5″/11 (hopeless cynics!), 30% predicted 0 out of 11 (rational cynics), and single votes for: 11/11 (snort), 10/11, and 6/11 (that was Lancer).

What the movie actually got was…. :

Three out of ten (the Romulan’s weren’t part of the movie so we struck that question from the test.) The movie did a little worse than Lancer thought but better than Hal thought.

Regarding point one, Star Trek is about peace.  Most if not all Star Treks are about great efforts and trade-offs to keep it.

I remember a TOS episode (A Private Little War) where the hill people who have only spears and bows, are defending themselves against those with flint-lock guns. And McCoy is pushing Jim to arm the hill people so they can fight back, and Jim wouldn’t do it because of the Prime Directive.  But NuKirk is always in trouble with Star Fleet.

<Laughs> In fact, regarding point 8, the first thing that happens in the movie is that Kirk’s kicked out of Star Fleet.

Regarding point 10, I guess they didn’t use science to solve a problem. It was all about action and maneuvering.

It was contrived that Kirk saves the ship instead of Scotty.

But it setup a nice role reversal with Spock.

Agreed! That was nice but contrived that Kirk has engineering ability. They train you in real Navy that the engineer gives up his life to save the ship. It would have been Scotty’s idea and duty to go into that chamber. As it was, Scotty had given up saving the Enterprise and it was Jim that came up with the idea of going into the chamber.

In light of that, better to have found another way to work in the role reversal. For example, Kirk could’ve stopped Scotty (as done in the movie), but the dialog was wrong and needed changing so it was Scotty’s idea. And the scene of Kirk kicking that cathode (core alignment mechanism), had him doing it in mostly the wrong direction.

 

No matter what I or other Trekkies think the movies were a commercial success.

But Abrams has thrown Trekkies under the bus to do it.

Hey Fritz. That looks uncomfortable.

It’s a short term gain. Because he’s a weak story teller, his films will be forgotten unlike Star Trek #2, #4, #7, and #8.

But his films are better than the TNG movies. I hardly remember them.

Wrong! Even the worst TNG movie, #10, had something great in it and that was Data sacrificing his life to save the Enterprise and Earth. JJ Abrams will never have a moment that’s as great as the greatest moment in the worst TNG movie.

 

 

 

Abrams well suited to Star Wars?

In spring 2013, at another meetup in an English bar in China…

I hear Abrams got the job of directing Star Wars.

Both: You didn’t know that?!

JJ Abrams working on Star Wars is the best thing to happen to the Star Trek franchise!

I’ve got bad news for you. Paramount has chosen to keep going in the science fiction thriller direction with Trek. Star Trek Beyond (trailer) is being produced by Abrams and directed by Fast and Furious director Justin Lin.

Abrams style totally suits Star Wars. He might even fix the franchise. My argument will always be that Star Trek is completely different from Star Wars and that letting Abrams get his hands on Star Trek was always going to be a disaster!

But Disney…  I can’t believe Lucas Films sold to them.  What’s that going to do to Star Wars?

I think it’ll be better because Disney will get the best people to make the film, where Lucas was too nepotistic.

Well, OK. Abrams will get people who can act and hopefully writers who can make a script with great dialog.

Star Wars isn’t character driven so the actors are kinda stuck. There’s never a serious explanation as to why they’re acting this way.

Hence we get to the term “Space Opera.” As in Opera where acting isn’t primary but instead music and high drama play a major part in communicating story. Operatic stories need to be simpler than say a play or a “regular” movie. Star Wars derives emotion from what’s happening around them rather than coming from inside the individual. The stories come from top down “big picture” situations and how that impacts the individuals. To make this story telling work, it heavily leans on archetypes acting in the face of black and white situations like good versus evil. And to drive it along, pre-destiny, established by some off-screen agent plays a big part and overcomes individual choice.  Instead of oracles, priests, and Gods fortelling (Illiad and the Odyssey), the language is “the Force,” the dark side, and visions. Luke Skywalker had little chance to avoid his destiny any more than Odysseus, Achilles, etc. So the actors hit the stage, queue symphony, and viewers and actors just accept these preconditions and the curtain raises.

JJ Abrams will be ideal. His lack of science in his Star Trek work will fit in with all the “banking spaceships” Star Wars nonsense.

Yeah, well I think sparkles shooting out of peoples mouths would be cool but I don’t want to see it in my science fiction.

Even Lucas doesn’t think Star Wars is science fiction. In the summer of 1977, 2 months into the huge success of Star Wars, he said that Star Wars isn’t science fiction, but is science fantasy.

 

 

I’m worried about Star Wars. Maybe next year there’ll be jedi and clones thrown under this bus. Or maybe it’ll probably work out. I’m excited to see what happens!

OK, here’s a poll to see what the rest of the world thinks.

See everyone at The Force Awakens.

Attributions:

Boot Icon made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com 

Drum Icon made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com 

Caveman Noir is true to the noir genre with its cast of the Eldest’s daughter Zarina forced to be a PI or be banished, the inventor of the wheel who was savagely murdered, and Maru, an unlikeable man from the neighboring tribe with whom Zarina must cooperate. To work the case, she visits Maru’s village to undertake the job of finding the killer. But her job is complicated in that the entire tribe never wanted the secret of the wheel to get out. Many have motive in stopping the inventor in order to prevent disruption of the trade agreement between Maru’s tribe and Zarina’s. As Zarina investigates leads, she discovers how her own shaded past is knotted with the killer.

Crimson Fog, by TM Publishing, is an online and print magazine. The online version beautifully renders in your web browser using the Issuu system, which Crimson Fog took good advantage of by using lovely full color imagery to go along various points of each story. This technology brings 24bit color to the reader at a level of quality and quantity beyond what most print magazines can afford to do.

This debut issue contains two other stories, a repeating history of murder in “Chasing August” and medical intrigue in “Death of a Medicine Man.” The issue is filled entirely with international submissions from the countries of India, England, and China.

Read Caveman Noir available online at Crimson Fog magazine.

Everybody loves The Office TV series. Did you ever wonder how an episodic series is born?

At my day job I was telling my manager about my latest consulting adventure after which he asked me to “write it up, and let the narrative tell the story.” Maybe he was bored and was trying to get rid of me, but I took him at his word. Though being an innovative guy, I went to the extreme by writing a dramatic short story called “A Silo To Hell!” Despite the smart title few people in my busy office took the time to read it. Unwilling to declare failure, I pushed it to the next level by converting the short story into SCRUM NOIR: A Silo to Hell! and broke it into three episodes. To produce the images, I pressed some minions (such as co-author, Dhaval Panchal) into service as comic book actors, and viola! The comic format did the trick! Anyone no matter how busy or despondent will take the time to page through something with pictures and an engaging story.

So I gave my co-workers episode one and chilled until they demanded the next, and then the next. And the series SCRUM NOIR was born! Today there are three story lines: A Silo To Hell, Mad Dog Mary, and Bad Boys of Scrum.  Each story is made up of three episodes where Agile consultant Ace is challenged to unknot real world problems with a real world solutions. The comics are available on an episode basis or if you hate cliff-hangers, buy an entire story bundled in a Mega Digest. SCRUM NOIR is available in both print and Kindle on Amazon. To help get you started, first episodes are heavily discounted to $1.99 or even free if you’re in the Amazon Prime club.

Learning Agile software development, project management, and people management doesn’t have to be boring any more than watching a TV show about office life. Pickup a SCRUM NOIR and learn the fun way!