Science Fiction as Epic at RavenCon 2017, 4-28

So you can compare and contrast, you can see that this was my general idea for the panel originally, as this was my first panel at a convention as a moderator.

And now, you can see how my execution was.

The Description?

Often science fiction that is epic in nature is dismissed as "space opera," but science fiction can be epic without resorting to the world destroying of Edmond Hamilton or the dogfighting X-Wings of Star Wars. What constitutes epic science fiction and what does it do that more personal stories can't?

With panelists including...

Steve White
Jack McDevitt
Charity Ayres
Nancy Northcott

The Dragon Awards are open and ready for nominations, and I have a list of suggestions you might want to take a look at. If you already  have a good idea of what you want, just click here to go and vote for them immediately. The instructions are right there.

Or: sign up for my mailing list in order to get free stuff.

The Love at First Bite series. 

    

Music blog: March of Cambreadth

This one, "March of Cambreadth," by Heather Alexander, will never get old. Ever.

I first discovered this song in a John Ringo novel called When the Devil Dances, a scifi military novel about a cannibalistic Mongol horde spreading through the galaxy, with only humans to stand in the way. While the author himself refers to it as carnography (which I can only presume means "carnage porn"), it's well designed, the characters fully developed, and there's enough scheming and political intrigue to fully screw up a war.

The images are from the tv show Babylon 5, which happens to also be a scifi war epic. I know this because I assembled the video myself.

If you haven't already, check out some of the books below.

And if you have, please leave a review.

    

The Shadows Have Come for the #SadPuppies

So, yeah, Pius History will come out this weekend. It's basically a collection of research essays I did that heavily inspired the creation of The Pius Trilogy, from the basic plot, to the creation of individual characters, the bad guys, and even the weapons.

However, that takes time. There's a final edit going on, there's a final cover design going in, and Createspace can take up to two freaking days to get anything done.

And thus, while I'm waiting for Createspace and Kindle to publish Pius History in time for this Sunday to kick in, I've decided to so something strange, and go into politics again for a moment.

Yes, I know that I generally avoid politics like the plague on my blog, but in this case, it's difference. Because this time, it's personal. Why? Well, as I often tell people, come after me all you like, but touch my friends and I freaking end you. And your family. And anyone who ever owed you money.

On that note...

Everyone should remember Brian Niemeier. He's the one who put me onto being in the Sad Puppies Best novel list, he's been on the show, he's had me on Geek Gab. Search for his name on my blog, you'll see him around quite a bit in 2016.

Last week, Brian Niemeier was Shadowbanned by Twitter.  And if you don't believe me, Breitbart even commented on it.

What's Shadowbanning? It's where Twitter basically blocks your Twitter feed from getting to your followers. For the followers to even find REPLIES to tweets, the have to go directly to the profile and scroll down the feed.

This, of course, comes after Twitter has suspended Milo Yiannopoulos, whose only crimes seems to be that he is a British, gay conservative Trump supporter who really hated the new Ghostbusters film.

If you're wondering at any time while Twitter heavy hitters like Larry Correia or Daddy Warpig have given up Twitter for the wilds of Facebook, now you know why.

And you have to wonder, why has Niemeier been Shadowbanned? Can't ask Twitter, they won't tell you.

However, may I draw your attention to the off-side ring, in a nice, quite, out of the way spot called the New York Post, wherein they report that the head of Twitter communications has quit only after just six months.

This news story came out on August second.

The Breitbart story on Niemeier came out on August second.

Odd timing, don't you think?

Funny enough, the head of communications has had NO comment on what's going on, why she left, or, well, anything really.

And, Niemeier was Shadowbanned over the weekend, you have to figure that part of the conversation went "Why was Niemeier Shadowbanned?"

At which point, the head of Twitter said, "What do you want?"

"Information!"

"You won't get it."

"Then I quit."

...

Yeah, sorry, I was going to start with Babylon 5 and the Shadows motif, and it drifted into The Prisoner. Sorry.

But, yes, it seems that Twitter wants to come hunting for Puppies.

Niemeier himself doesn't object. Sales for his books, Nethereal and Souldancer, have shot up.

So, please, by all means, Twitter, Shadowban all the puppies. My bank account will appreciate it.

And I finally get to break this one out again.

And, while I await Twitter coming after me, here, might as well read one of my books.

Anyway, while you're waiting for that, consider Honor at Stake. You might like it.

Signs you might be a Declan Finn Character

Over at the Mad Genius Club, Sarah Hoyt put together a list of signs that you might be a fictional character.

I looked at that and thought -- hey, great idea! How can I steal -- I mean, adapt it?

Because her list doesn't exactly apply to my characters. Heh heh heh.  Let me show you a few things.

1. Your life is, for the most part, boring. Weeks can go by, and you're not doing anything that would interest anybody but yourself. Then, something strange and / or explody happens in the middle of one of your boring, mundane tasks.

-- I like giving my characters hobbies. And the majority of their time is boring. Heck, how much of the first part of the Pius Trilogy was just "Here's the Vatican, here's Vatican security, this is how our day-to-day is."

2.... is similar to Hoyt's, but I think I'll combine that with #10, because there are differences.

3. You have family. In fact, you might have a more complete family tree than some real people. In some cases, Mormon geneologists are blinking going "Um, no" at how far back you can trace your family tree.

--This might have to do with the fact that I had a Sean Patrick Ryan in the far future BEFORE I wrote It Was Only On Stun! or A Pius Anything, and there will be a lot of the family business going around. And because when I develop a character, I write their biography (see #10)

4. There is Something Very Wrong with you.

--Come now, surely you must have noticed that everybody I've written is a little off. The Ryan family likes being shot at. Marco might be a serial killer. Matthew Kovach has barely started yet. And the less said about Middle Earth's Most Wanted Elven Assassin, the better.  Why is this? you ask. Probably because most of the people I know in real life are a little off.

5. You're a little paranoid, and cynical that the world is out to get you ... because the world seems to be out to get you. If Murphy's Law is religion, you must be a saint.

-- This is what I call the Die Hard 2 effect.  Remember how, at the end of the second film, John McClane's wife asks, "Why does this keep happening to us?" Almost all of my characters will, at one point or other, stop reflect on their experiences, and go "Seriously, Murphy, stop."

6. Your love life is slow, and gradual, with sudden sharp peaks along the way.

--For those people who have read Honor at Stake, I don't like to rush my romance subplots ... or main plots ... or anything like that.  My characters don't ever, EVER, leap into bed with another person. Because, I'm sorry, people who screw on the first date make be seriously worry about them. Honestly, who does that?

7. You feel pain, and you get hurt, but only by certain people, and usually by the end of the adventure.

-- Because if I had all of my characters be easily injured by every bad guy, they probably wouldn't survive to the end of the novel. And I grew up playing video games, so .... BOSS FIGHT.


8. You don't let pain or injury bother you until later.

--Based mostly on the fact that there are a lot of guys out there in SpecOps who essentially run on adrenaline until after.  And then they feel it.  Oh boy do they feel it.


9. Expect to be locked in a room with someone with whom you will generate some sort of spark -- romantic or antagonistic, or something interesting.

--Because I grew up on The Prisoner and Babylon 5 (when J. Michael Straczysnki locks two people in an elevator, he really locks them in an elevator.)


#10.  You remember being shot at. A lot. And frequently.  And you remember all of them in insane detail.

--This is because some deranged nutcase can't start a backstory without writing a short story.

Flashback Blog: So, you want to be a writer?

Originally posted five years ago, it was a filler post then. Apparently, it's a filler post now. Who knew?

With apologies to Doctor Who....


So, you want to be a writer?

Maybe not, but keep reading, you might be entertained.

The first rule that many people tell you in creative writing is “Write what you know.”

I'm going to tell you that this is the last thing you should do.

No one wants to read about your family drama. Do you think that Vince Flynn is actually a terrorist hunter? Or that Bob Kane dressed up as a giant bat? Or that Stephen King is a demonic clown?

Okay, demonic clown is redundant …

NOT me.

Saying “write what you know” is as ridiculous as suggesting that I am either: an athletic mercenary with enough weapons to take Latin America / a soccer-playing Vatican Secret Service agent / or a commando priest. [Edited: or a hot female Russian vampire]

I would recommend, generally, that you write what you read. Unfortunately, your writing will probably suck at first. Keep writing. It will still suck. Do it again. Repeat until you no longer suck. Trust me, I speak from experience. And from the experience of Timothy Zahn, John Ringo, and several other authors who discovered how to write the hard way –by writing.

That would lead to an obvious follow up: read.

The Return of Everything

One, yes, I'm back. My guest has left for parts unknown (Iowa is greatly unknown to me) and I am now free and clear to right blogs again. The first thing I did was go over to the Catholic Geeks and pump out some articles, because I like to fulfill my obligations.

And, after finishing those news articles, I have to ask ... What is wrong with everyone lately?  Why is everyone and everything dedicated to reboots?

Okay, in some cases, I understand it. If it's a comic book something, fine, yay.  But why are people bothering bringing back crap that no one liked in the first place?

For example, Star Trek.  I understand bringing back Star Trek, because it's a force to be reckoned with, a franchise that's on the rebound.  So I understand having the return of Star Trek to the small screen.  Granted, in this case, it's smaller than usual, because it's "coming back" to computer streaming services, not to network or cable television. And, since the films are doing so well, it only stands to reason that Star Trek would take another stab at TV.

Star Trek has a fan base. It has some really die hard fans. These fans will cut you if you point out how DS9 ripped off Babylon 5. Star Trek is a franchise monster that's on the rebound.

THAT I understand.

But Van Helsing?  Remember that terrible Hugh Jackman film in 2004?  It's coming back, only to the Syfy channel and gender-swapped. And apparently with nothing to do with the original movie. None of the original people behind the film seem to be working on it, none of the cast are released, and it's being brought to us by the channel behind Sharknado.

Who thought this was a good idea? No one liked the original film, it died a horrible death at the box office, and it's so old, no one currently going to college probably even remembers it.  Honestly, it was 2004.  Do you remember that year very well?  It was the year after Lord of the Rings had finished, leaving Harry Potter to continue on inertia. Van Helsing was just a bad film.  And even worse, they've made it Vanessa Helsing -- unless it's Vanessa van Helsing, that means even THE NAME OF THE SHOW IS WRONG.  And if they make her nickname "Van," I'm going to throw rocks at the tv screen. That's such a stupid nickname, no one would swallow it.

Yes, I'm only pissed at the gender-swapping because they've managed to screw up the name in that route.

Music to write to: Babylon 5: Into the Fire

Okay. A few things.

One, a new review of Honor At Stake comes to us from the award-winning author Karen Kelly Boyce.  Let's just say that if you wanted a Catholic review of the book, you're going to really get it from Karen there.

Other things.  Well, we're up to sixteen reviews on Honor At Stake.  Yes, 16, already.  That's already better than one review a day.  I wish I had known that this would be the case when I started. I would have done ARC copies many moons ago. And many books ago.

I'm sorry if I'm starting to slow down, or the quality of these posts are dropping. I'm doing my best, but most of my days are spent marketing. Or planning for marketing.

Anyway, our music today is the final cut I've got left of all the B5 music from the long ago departed video game.

Enjoy all.

I'm going to take a nap.

Music to Write to: Babylon 5 video game music returns

Why a music blog today?

Because I expect to brace for impact with all of the anti GamerGate folks trolling the internet.

Because I've spent a lot of time yesterday spreading reviews of the book everywhere, I've been beta-reading someone else's book, and because I've had people tell me that they can't write to music that has lyrics.

Yes, I've been busy.

And so, it brings us to today's music choice.

A while ago, I posted some bits of soundtrack from the aborted Babylon 5 video game.

Now, parts of this soundtrack will sound familiar if you kept up with every last bit of business that Babylon 5 has done since then -- like Legend of the Rangers or The Lost Tales.

Sit back, relax and enjoy.

.... And listen to it as you read Honor At Stake

What? You didn't think I was going to go an ENTIRE day without mentioning it once, did you? I have a publisher to answer to now. :)

Developing novels: Honor at Stake origins

I've mentioned once or twice that fan fiction is more or less how I started writing. It was of a space opera tv show called Babylon 5, and simply put, it spiraled out of my control into something so totally different, I didn't need to rewrite a whole hell of a lot to make it a different universe.

However, I started doing that in 1998, before I really knew what the hell Fan Fiction was.

Then my sister decided that she was going to do something for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She based a character on me a little. He was named Marco, a bit player.

By that point, it was 3 years later, 2001. I had been writing with every spare moment, I had pumped out thousands of pages of book by then, so I took one look at her fan fiction and muttered "Come on, move over, we can do this better."

Because, really, you don't get to be a writer unless you're wrapped a little too tight ... or just a little too strange.

Before I knew it, I had written three additional stories in that little bit of business, and some of them nearly at hundred pages.

Because, again, writers: we're wired weirdly.

And, because I decided that I shouldn't let anything I've worked on ever go to waste, I later retooled it into a massive 460 page novel.

Of course, I had to retool the vampire legend a little ... okay, I mostly had to retool it so that it was coherent. Let's face it, after Bram Stoker, it gets a little strange. And when you hit the 90s, vampire lore becomes a befuddled mess (Rice, Blade, Hamilton, Whedon). It's sad when Joss Whedon probably gets it better than most. Seriously, the atheist Whedon gets it better than Marvel comics?  Geez.

Part of MY vampire killing kits.

And when I did UN-Dead (because I'm subtle that way), it opened with a government spy from my other books, Merle Kraft....

Merle Kraft is one of those characters who will simply not go away.  He's a deleted character from the Pius Trilogy -- yes, I had even more characters than in the final cut -- who first appeared in a thriller Dances with Werewolves. Merle deals in "strange" cases for the government. He started out as a spy who mysteriously, just sort of opened locks without any tools whatsoever.  Any lock.

Merle Kraft is one of three half-brothers (that they know of)-- Merle, Tal, and Dalf. One's a spy, one is a stage magician, and one seems to deal with a darker power. BUAHAHAHAHAH.

And, of course, these names are short for Merlin, Taliesin, and Gandalf.

In the one-volume edition, I opened with Merle Kraft being dropped head first into a world of vampires. Because, hey, when in doubt, use the Alice in Wonderland effect.

Then Merle started to complete disappear from the story entirely.  Marco and his sidekick, Amanda, had taken over the entire novel.

Gahhh.  Sometimes, these people never want to play well with others.

All right, fine, if they wanted to play that way -- and it wasn't like anyone else wanted to publish the bloody book -- I'd retool the novel.  Let's do it from the ground up, where the two of them met. They had to figure out how to bring each other into their worlds without killing each other.

And keep in mind, this all started in 2001, before there was anything called Twilight.

Frankly, I still think I did it better.

Right Fans with Stephanie Souders TONIGHT ON THE CATHOLIC GEEK

We'll be covering a Canticle for Leibowitz, Babylon 5, and Catholic science fiction.

Remember, this link doesn't work until 7 PM EST. That's when the show goes live.

Check Out Culture Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with We Built That Network on BlogTalkRadio

A FANifesto

"We hear that you want to redefine fandom."

Apparently, it has become a thing out on the web to stigmatize anyone "normal."

"Normal" in this case is odd, because this version of normal casts so wide a net that, for the first time in my life, even I come under it.

Basically, if you are a straight white male who does not read "important" science fiction, by the "right" authors, you are not a true science fiction fan.

Oh reeeeeaaaally?

Wait for it ...

Wait for it ...

...

...

ARE YOU PEOPLE F***ING STUPID? WHAT SORT OF ABJECT F***ING MORON EVEN TRIES TO THINK LIKE THIS? ARE YOU BORN BRAIN DEAD, OR DID YOU HAVE TO BE DROPPED ON YOUR HEAD A MILLION TIMES TO BE SO DEVOID OF BRAIN ACTIVITY, AND YET STILL BE ABLE TO OPERATE A KEYBOARD?

*Pant* *Pant* *Pant* *Pant*

Ahem.

As I was saying, this is an idea that is devoid of serious content and thought. It makes one wonder what the author was smoking at the time that this particular proclamation was made.

CatholicFiction(.net), and "Dereliction of Duty"

Sometimes, I love my fellow Catholics.

And sometimes, they are brain-dead stupid.

If you look at this article from CatholicFiction.net, you'll see this great example of brain death.

Science fiction has also been derelict in its duty. Who does science fiction serve? Sci-fi is a significant buttress propping up the established church of Scientism. Sci-fi flatters both rightist and leftist elites: square-jarred heroes battle alien savages along the outer space frontier while proclaiming anti-religious and anti-natalist platitudes. As an avid reader of the genre, I have come up with a list of the major shortcomings of the genre.

While I can think of some particular examples of what this nimrod (a creature from the black lagoon named Nito Gnoci), this is just ... "Avid reader?" Really?

Funny, as an avid reader myself, Nito, you're an idiot.

If you've followed the guest posts I've written for Right Fans, or read my reviews of Karina Fabian's work, you'll probably note that this very concept is already starting to get under my skin.  But, sure, there are problems within science fiction -- science fiction fans know that "sci-fi" started as a derogatory term -- so let's play this out some, shall we?

If you compare and contract the article excerpts here with the original article, you'll note that I've cleaned up the lousy formatting.

1) Aliens

Aliens: Sci-fi stories often involve contact with numerous alien civilizations.In 1950 Enrico Fermi, in conversation with his colleagues at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, famously asked “Where is everybody?” (Meaning: If alien civilizations exist why haven’t we heard from them?) I don’t think the question has received a satisfactory answer. It is unlikely other technologically advanced civilizations exist within our galaxy. If they existed they would have already explored the galaxy, a process which takes only some hundreds of thousands of years, which is a mere moment in geologic time.

Ummm ... doesn't this presume that the aliens are more advanced that us?  This is a presumption that Rod Serling never made.  In fact, there are three distinct episodes that immediately come to mind (Third Planet from the Sun being one of them, I forget the titles of the other two).

Also, if there are other life forms out in this galaxy, doesn't that mean that they could be as advanced as we are, or maybe even less so?

This argument basically reads: If there are aliens, therefore they must be more advanced, therefore they don't exist because otherwise we would have heard of them by now?  What idiot thinks like that?

Not to mention that this presumes that any technological advancement is leaps and bounds ahead of us.  In fact, Nito assumes that aliens would advance at ONE EXACT RATE OF SPEED.  Yikes. Nito the nimrod presumes so, so much.

I'm not saying that there are aliens, but there's a lot of space out there. As Douglas Adams noted, space is big. Really big. The idea that we're the only ones in the galaxy is kinda presumptuous, don't you think? Also, the author limits himself to this Galaxy.  There are more galaxies than just ours out there.

2) Bad predictions

Sci-fi often features time travel or routine intergalactic travel. Instead of dubious scenarios that involve debating with Socrates or zooming to the Andromeda Galaxy for the weekend, sci-fi should focus on less speculative but still astonishing advances in medical, communication, and computer technology. Sci-fi readies us for a future that will never come, and too often assumes the future will mirror the past, an assumption both unrealistic and unimaginative. After all, what is the starship Enterprise but a British or American colonial gunboat?

Um, excuse me.  When 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was written, it was science fiction, and now we have nuclear submarines. Is that not predictive enough?

But Robert Heinlein created mechanical suits of armor for soldiers to fight in, and our modern military is designing it.  Captain Kirk had the first flip phone. Doctor Crusher had the first tablet, and Captain Picard read off the first e-reader. J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5 developed a star fighter called Starfuries -- which NASA wants to use a model to design space construction craft. The science fiction show had the most functional design.

Oh, wait, medical technology? You mean the people who've been designing a medical tri-corder from Star Trek and the people who've made an actual Doctor Who sonic screwdriver aren't enough for these people? Are we kidding?

Oh, and these things will never come? Maybe not in our lifetime, some of them, but we've already got scientists who are coming up with variations on warp drive.  Presuming that Einsteinian physics will always be physics is like saying that Newtonian physics is the end all and be all of physics. Hint: it's not.  Considering what quantum physics might end up giving us, we might end up with better technology than warp drive.

Hell, we've already got the early stages of a transporter, dang it. Meaning that Nito the Nimrod not only doesn't know science fiction, HE DOESN'T KNOW SCIENCE!!!!

Babylon 5 and Religion in Scifi

You know, with all the posts yesterday, I can't believe I forgot this one.

I did a guest post over at Steph Souders' page. It's all about Babylon 5.

Enjoy.

DragonCon report #2: Babylon 5 and Firefly

Wonder Woman at DragonCon

[No, I will not be doing a 9-11 article this year. Everything I could say in the matter was covered last year.]

Believe it or not, I didn't get into a lot of panels at DragonCon because they were standing room only, and not even that. The Lord of the Rings panel was crowded out, Torchwood panels were crowded out, even guests Adam West and Burt Ward (Batman and Robin from the 60s) had so many fans that the place was crowded out.

However, as John Ringo has said, what happens at DragonCon, stays on YouTube.

So, who needs to go when stuff is being filmed?

Answer: Me. Much of what I did go into didn't even get put online.

So, one panel, which I didn't get into, is a Firefly panel.  For those of you who don't know Firefly, it is a sci-fi western of Joss Whedon's from about ten years or so ago.  This panel had Sean Maher, Jewel Staite, and an appearance from Adam Baldwin -- his first appearance in years, since he was busy working on a show called Chuck.





Below the break, Babylon 5 stars Mira Furlan and Bruce Boxleitner (aka: Tron), discuss their work on the show.

Troubles and Tribulations

REVIEWS OF BOOKS YOU (PROBABLY) NEVER HEARD OF. PART 2: Tribulations

Reporter Susan Randall is going through the worst time of her life, as is LA. It begins with a typical ride-along with a local patrol car, usually a serene, boring assignment; and it is, until she gets shot. It gets worse: a serial killer is having a fun time in Los Angles, slicing through the homeless population. Each victim is mutilated in a less-than-typical fashion: their hands are sliced in such a way that they riffle like a deck of cards when touched. Susan wants the case, and gets it and everything that comes with it.

“Everything” includes not only the killer sending her e-mails, but a man named Raymond Weil, who keeps showing up: first at the crime scenes, then at the funerals of the victims. Despite his claims of demonic involvement in the murders, Raymond knows more than the police do about the serial killer and makes for a great lead for the story. 

That is, until Susan suspects he knows too much.

As the search for the killer proceeds, Susan becomes intrigued by Weil’s life and his continued persistence in relating the demonic to a serial killer. Before too long, she discovers an unnerving secret that causes her to suspect Raymond shouldn’t know some of the things he knows, especially as the City of Angels slowly becomes more like a city of Hell.

Joseph Michael Straczynski is the creator of the television series Babylon 5, wrote over one hundred episodes of miscellaneous TV programs, ran Amazing Spider-Man and Thor for several years, and will soon take over writing for Superman and Wonder Woman comicbooks. Straczynski’s style is often marked by creative wit and a keen observation of society at large. Tribulations is no exception. Throughout the novel, he uses his years of experience in Los Angeles with his graceful wit and driving narrative that forces the reader to push on. Despite his claims of atheism, one would hardly suspect it with his knowledge of past demonic incidents—both in theological and pure historical terms.

There is one mistake you should not make before you continue reading: that this is a spiritual novel. Whether you are Freud, the next generation, an atheist theology major, or a Catholic priest, you can enjoy this book. One might say Straczynski is part Walker Percy and part Jeffery Deaver: humorous, thrilling, and just dark enough to make you look in the closet, just to be safe. Straczynski uses his considerable talents to merge psychology, sociology, and theology into a story that unites profiles of serial killers, the sociology of a riot, and a profile of evil.
 
Truly something for everyone.

Week-In-Review 7-23-11

Well, this week has been interesting.

Monday
The week started with Killing Captain America ... again! Those bastards.  Let's just say that I expect a movie tie-in is at work.

The music blog was all about flying cars and Babylon 5.  You'll see.

I also did a nice little article over at Examiner.com about martial arts and childhood obesity.  I'm told it's quite good.

Tuesday

This was the day I learned the good Muslims can't be good Americans ... well, if you believe one army private. I don't, but what can you do?

It also came the same day that Hollywood once again has proven to me that if I ever do a film on A Pius Man, I'm going to take the money and run very, very far.

And music blog for the day was Harry Potter, Pirates, and Mass Effect. Long story.

Wednesday

The music of the day was taken from the soundtrack of Mass Effect.  Enjoy  It's really rather neat.

Thursday

The day that, once again, all my irritation of politics is justified, as someone at Salon.com tries to examine the Politics of Captain America.

A note o n this one: The author of the article tripped over my blog post, and insists that the whole "fiscal policy of Captain America was all tongue-in-cheek."  Read it yourself. See what you think.

Music blog: Babylon 5 & Tom Smith

This is the last cut of the music from the aborted Babylon 5 video game from last week. It was fun while it lasted.

And now, the parody version

Music: Epic Video Game music

Yesterday, I started a series of music clips that should have gone with an aborted Babylon 5 video game. However, it was over an hour of music, and even what I posted yesterday was a little much.

I hope you enjoy

Music: Epic Video Game Music

In the world of video games, there are some really stupid decisions.

And then, some ideas that are dumber than others.

Babylon 5, created by J. Michael Straczynski, inspired a video game. It even came with an entire soundtrack.  Multiple soundtrack cuts, as done by why sounds like a full orchestra (I haven't looked up the data to see how much was done with Christopher Franke and the Berlin Symphony orchestra )

And then Sierra games cancelled it.  Pulling it from the shelves entirely.

Ahem .... Morons.

However, I've found over an hour's worth of the soundtrack on YouTube. It might be the whole thing.

Enjoy.

Inspiring Authors: J. Michael Straczynski

Every once in a while, I look over my writing style, and I look at what I've taken away from the authors I've been exposed to.

The first, and most important writing influence is someone named J. Michael Straczynski (JMS).

JMS, who I have mentioned once or twice, was an executive producer on Murder, She wrote, created Babylon 5, and writes almost anything else he can get his hands on. He's written comics, TV, novels, science fiction, battling demons....

Just look him up on amazon, buy everything except for “Rising Stars” and “Supreme Power.”

I'm not joking. Go now.

If you saw Thor -- and who didn't? You didn't? Go see it. I'll wait..... Back now? You liked it? Good. -- JMS had a cameo in the film as the first fellow to find Thor's hammer, and organized that big sequence with trying to drag out the hammer with a truck.

There is Tribulations, a book about demonic possession in modern LA. Surprisingly well put together and very religious ... And he's an atheist. So, he at least knows how to appreciate religion, even if it's only for use as fantasy fodder.