An Icy Touch From the Past

One of my favorite steps in story development is research. Setting a story in a real time and place gives the work a dimension of convincibility. And I believe it adds a level of "fun" for the reader. When reading Anne Rice's works I always enjoy and admire her ability to transport me to other places during different times. One can tell she puts great effort in her research. Making an effort to add as much factual material and anchoring a fictional story to a physical place gives it credence making it more believable.

Seven years ago, when living with my brother Steve, I spent several nights researching for a story titled "Toothie." This novelette is probably one of the scariest stories I have ever concocted (making it the most "fun" story for me to write). I will not relay the subject here (check out Darkside of the Planet) but what is important to this post is the setting.

Toothie explores my adaptation of the Jack the Ripper phenomenon with a huge twist (again, check out Darkside of the Planet). To make my story more "plausible" I spent more than a week doing research of the Whitechapel area of London, England in the 1880's. I poured over old police reports, maps, eyewitness accounts and pictures of each crime scene of every murder. By the time I penned the first word of my tale I had the odd feeling I'd actually walked the streets of an industrial age London.

With notes in hand I launched into relaying my story. The hours of research gave my writing an unexpected flavor as I began to toil away tapping out the yarn upon my keyboard. As I added existing theories into the fabric of my own work it produced a new degree of pleasure to the act of storytelling. I was in the zone and on a roll as my fingers flew across the buttons. I was having a blast writing this story. 

Three nights and a few thousand words into the novelette something odd happened bringing me to the subject of my post. I've written some potent and horrifying stories, most of which exist in the before mentioned "Darkside of the Planet". 

I've also received feedback from readers that I have absolutely frightened (a fact that I am exceedingly proud of). But, I can truly admit, this is the one and only time that I've ever been scared out of my wits by one of my own stories.

As the hour grew late and I tapped out the story on my computer I got this odd sensation I was no longer alone in the room. All of us have a limited sense of "radar" like a bat using sound to navigate flying through night air. The echoing of my keystrokes off the walls and hardwood floors suddenly seemed to be bouncing off a physical presence somewhere behind me.

I knew my brother had left town and wouldn't be home for a couple of days, but my rational mind hypothesized he'd snuck into room in an attempt to frighten me. It was the only plausible explanation for no one else possessed a key to gain entry to the house.

Swiveling around in my chair I expected to see my sibling ready to pounce, but, no one there. I wrote it off to overactive imagination and resumed my work. Again, the odd sensation of eyes on me persisted as the dampened echoes returned to my ears. This time I sensed whoever it was in closer proximity. My mind desperately grasped at the rational expectation of a hovering sibling once again.

Upon turning and finding nobody, I truly began to feel the touch of fear niggling at my stomach. Collecting myself for a few moments I took a deep breath and swiveled back to my keyboard mustering the constitution to continue.

Again the nagging sensation filled my soul that some entity occupied the office behind me. I began constantly monitoring the emptiness over my shoulder. Still the feeling would not leave me. When I suddenly felt an icy touch upon my shoulder adrenaline shot shards down the veins of my arm and momentarily arrested the beating of my heart. I jumped from my chair and immediately vacated the room.

Closing the door tightly behind me I desperately sought out distraction for the rest of the evening, making every effort to avoid the office area of the house. I couldn't return to writing and I didn't find sleep that night. Instead my mind contemplated the origin of my spectral visitor.

"Was it just an overacted imagination?" my brain questioned, "or, when revisiting the Whitechapel streets of historic London, did something follow me back through the ethereal portal of time?"

A Science Fiction writer tends to lean rational. But, more importantly, a Horror writer desires to believe the Supernatural.

Pause of Reflection

It has been some time since I've posted here, it has not been for lack of desire to so. I started a new career just over three years ago and it has robbed me of all expendable time. But, more importantly, it has eroded my spirit and encroached upon my very soul. The universe has this amusing way of hitting the pause button and allowing an opportunity of reflection so one can access and take stock in ones existence. My moment of Zen came in the painful form of a broken leg.

I was so caught up in this Intra-universe of my work life that realization of the undeniable fact "this is not what I'm supposed to be doing" never crossed my consciousness. Deep down within my soul enlightenment existed, but on the surface sense of duty and devotion to the job cleverly muffled the whisperings of my heart. You can say the cliché the darkside led me astray from the light.

As I lay broken and mending, which I have to admit is boring work, my longing to pick back up my writing stirred my spirit shaking off the shackles of responsibility and the binding darkness that had encrusted my soul.  It started with re-igniting my passion to get my first book of the Morian Trilogy, MoriaVaratu, an agent.

Reworking my query letter I sent it off to six agents. So far, two rejection, which was not all together unexpected. Before I was querying fifty agents at a time and the onslaught of standard rejections really got me down. I've been told all the stories of famous authors who endured this process time and time again, but I admit I was disheartened. But, this moment of reflection has afforded me a different objectiveness this time. All the hard work is done.

In hand I have a polished, well-written manuscript that I've gone back and strengthened making it better than before. What is most important though, I'm proud of it. And if it never sees the ionized lamp light of an agent's desk I still feel accomplished. There is in existence in the world physical copies made of glue, paper and ink adorned with dedicated ISBN numbers with my name on them. I can exclaim with pride that I have dedicated blood, sweat and tears (more tears than anything else) on this accomplishment. A small portion of my soul exists within these pages bared for the world to see.

Chronilogical Chaos

Repost from 5/14


Upon talking about yesterday’s blog with a co-worker earlier today the discussion took the inevitable turn all conversations about time travel do.

“I would go back to the late 1930’s,” he said proudly oblivious, “and take out Hitler before World War 2 started.”

“I would jump to tomorrow night,” another added, “and find out the winning numbers to the Powerball drawing. Then I would come back and buy a ticket.”

Which one of these scenarios is the most nobel? Before you answer that question, think on it.

Going back into the past and averting WW II is a dignified cause indeed, but, when you follow the chain of events, what would be the consequences? At the time the war broke out the US refrained from joining the confrontation for quite some time. As a nation we could not endure such a strain on a weak economy. We quickly came to the aid of the English when Germany began bombing London, but we did not gear up for battle until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December, 7th, 1941. The next day the United States declared war on Japan. It was only three days later did we declare war on Germany.

Think about that a moment. At that time Japan had a superior navy, in numbers and skill, to any other in the world. Germany was a military juggernaut with massive numbers of tanks and men. America, spurred by great feelings of nationalism, could no longer stay out of the World War. Everyone from youngsters to famous people like Elvis Presley, were signing up for the war effort. Everyone was buying up war bonds to support the cause. The nation’s economic machine switched into high gear and within a year and a half the factories across the States were churning out ships, tanks and planes unlike any industrial nation had done before in the history of the world. As one Japanese Admiral put it, “we have awakened a sleeping giant.”

We all know the results from there. Without World War 2 the United States would have never become a superpower. Not only a superpower, but we would have never gone as far into space as we have. Why do I say this? Follow the line of reasoning. After the war the US brought over Nazi Scientists in Operation Overcast to begin engineering military and scientific rocket systems. At the head of the project was Wernher von Braun, the German Scientist who developed the V-2 rocket that killed so many allies and civilians within the early part of WW2. As a result the Apollo rocket system was born out of the ashes that war.

Scientists called this the butterfly effect.  “In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions, where a small change at one place in a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences to a later state. The name of the effect, coined by Edward Lorenz, is derived from the theoretical example of a hurricane's formation being contingent on whether or not a distant butterfly had flapped its wings several weeks before. The death of Hitler and the nonexistence of the world conflict would have changed the course the United States was put upon. Would the nation be the post war country it became? How would the political and economic landscape have been affected?

The thing is, and everyone of the younger generation of our society should learn from this, every action has a consequence. Today’s youth does not grasp this concept because they live in a world removed from the physicality those of us older grew up with. When we communicated, we were face to face (or ear to ear). We could not post thoughts in virtual space and reach the audience these folks do today. Not having true physical proximity to our audience injects certain bravado into some people’s attitude and the consequences become a mere oversight after all is posted and published.

I digress…

Let us revisit the co-worker who wanted to win the lottery by finding out the numbers beforehand using our Time Machine. Although his intentions seem much less scrupulous than the murderous employee who wanted to off Hitler, this man wanted to go forward in time leaving set history untainted. The consequences of this suddenly wealthy man’s trip would be far less devastating to our nation. The best part of the whole scenario is the fact that I am this coworkers newest friend.

Coolvian

It was 1980 and I was in my pre-teens. School had ended and summer vacation had come along and, after the frenzy of freedom from Junior High classes had worn off, the hot days settled into a laid back and lazy routine. My brother, sister and myself were what we would call in these politically correct days “latch key kids”. Mom would leave for work early in the mornings and, being the oldest at 13, I was in charge.

Back in that decade we did not have a plethora of entertainment to choose from like we do today. There wasn’t Facebook, laptops or smart phones. We relied heavily upon adolescent imagination and creativity to pass the time.

Television viewing then would have been considered abysmal by today’s on demand standards. We had three TV stations; two networks and PBS. Soap operas and preschool programming were the order of most days and these shows had little hold on our young minds.

But, one bored afternoon, something life altering and amazing happened. While manually giving the control knob (what is a remote control?) a turn on the old console Zennith, an action hero with a mangled bush of curly brown hair and a long flowing multi colored scarf materialized across the screen on our Public Broadcast Station. I was instantly mesmerized by this British accented, sonic screwdriver wielding super hero as he fought off aliens who threatened planet Earth. I had discovered Tom Baker’s version of the alien Timelord known as Dr. Who.

I will save the history lesson of the show for another blog post, but, for those who have never discovered it I will give a brief description as described from Wikipedia: Doctor Who is a British science-fiction television program produced by the BBC. The program depicts the adventures of the Doctor, a Time Lord—a time-travelling humanoid alien. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-travelling space ship. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, the Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilizations, help ordinary people, and right wrongs.

The program was high brow, action filled fun catering to my every nerdish whimsical passion. Upon arriving at school following that first Whovian summer, I had a whole new repertoire of discussion with my nerdy friends. The cool kids had no clue what we were talking about and it was almost as if us “smart kids” were part of a secret society as we carried on about Daleks and Trans dimensions at the lunch room table. It was more than just a show… it was a concept.

Today, with its later generations of doctors and expanded budget for special effects the show has burst into the main stream here in the United States. Dr. Who has become cool. But, to all of us nerds of the eighties the rest of the world is just catching up on what we always knew.

My Top Three Science Fiction Films

Star Wars (1977) Though not the best of the Star Wars Franchise it was the movie that started it all. Movie special effects would never be the same after this George Lucas motion picture tour de force. That summer movie goers were treated to a spectacle of weird aliens, shiny robots, princesses in peril, humble heroes and epic battles the likes never seen before. It was the ultimate story of good versus evil from the opening scene to the films finale. The blue print for all science fiction to follow would forever change. Because of its innovativeness and its unforgettable scenes A New Hope makes number one on my list.

Blade Runner (1982) This film lands next to best on my list because of its uniqueness. An epic film in personality and morality as our hero investigates a story centering around human clones. It combines the old film noir detective movies with modern day Science Fiction. Harrison Ford is a modern day Humphrey Bogart working his way through a mysterious case in an ultra modern Los Angeles wrought with neon and monster skyscrapers. Constant rain falls as the best of visual story telling plays out on the screen. Add a haunting soundtrack and you have a masterpiece only Ridley Scott could have achieved.

Aliens (1986)Third on my list is James Cameron’s follow up to Ridley Scott's Alien. The sequel is a non stop thrill ride centering around Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) the only surviving member of the original film. She is called upon to aid a group of well armed space marines when communication with the colony on LV-246 is lost. As she sets foot back on the planet of her original ordeal her worst fears are confirmed. This movie has it all. High paced action, cool futuristic weaponry all culminating in one of the best sci fi scenes ever shot: Ripley’s battle royale with the mother alien utilizing the robotic cargo loader. Kudos  to James Cameron on this remake, it is definitely one of my favs.

Hilariously Horrific

Today I grab the hands of time and give them a spin into the past to revisit one of the most fun films ever made. The Evil Dead 2.  Below is the story line as posted on IMBd:


"A young man, named Ash, takes his girlfriend Linda to a secluded cabin in the woods where he plays back a professor's tape recorded recitation of passages from the Book of the Dead. The spell calls up an evil force from the woods which turns Linda into a monstrous Deadite, and threatens to do the same to Ash. When the professor's daughter and her entourage show up at the cabin, the night turns into a non-stop, grotesquely comic battle with chainsaw and shotgun on one side, demon horde and flying eyeball on the other. "

Sam Raimi's tale is the ultimate satire of horror films. Its low budget special effects, over the top grotesque sight gags and excessive corny acting were all by genius design making the film ooze personality and become an instant cult classic. It was comedy disguised as a horror movie and those who grasped this concept fell in love with this motley movie. I know I did.

It instantly made Bruce Campbell's career, especially the battle he fought with his own hand, in this author's mind, the most memorable horror movie scene ever filmed. I was so lost in the shot I almost succumbed to the notion I was watching an episode of the Three Stooges.

Who could forget the flying eyeball or the cheap special effect skeleton dancing in the moonlight? All outlandishly cheesy and completely amusing. Those who walked into the theaters in the summer of 1987 to see a horror flick were, I'm completely sure, very disappointed. But, for those like myself, who were able to take in this film on a larger scale... we witnessed a masterpiece of comedic genius. What side did you find yourself on?

If you had a Time Machine

Tonight's blog is a repost from 5/13/13

If you had a time machine, where and when would you go? Would you walk with Jesus, or would you stride with the dinosaurs? If you thought these events might affect the belief system that helps you cope with the modern day world would you reconsider your destination? Because we are all individually different in our fundamental theologies, beliefs and interests many of us would want to see the origins of our faith, whether it be based in scientific evolution or in spiritual conviction.

I, on the other hand, would hold onto my sacred viewpoint and intrigue myself with humanities greatest and most mysterious achievements. This may be because of my Science Fiction mindset, but, my first stop would be Atlantis curious to whether Plato’s accounts of the mythical society were true. Did they possess electricity? Had they harnessed the power of flight? Exactly where was the Island Kingdom located; within the Mediterranean, the Atlantic Ocean or was it somewhere in South America?

Then I would spin the dials to an era when the Ancient Library at Alexandria was untouched by devastating flame. I would spend weeks, maybe even months (if I could read the languages of antiquity) pouring over the long lost history of the primeval world. Can you imagine the inspired stories that would come out of such a session? How would today’s world be reshaped if such vanished history was rediscovered?

Finally, curiosity would thrust me into the future. I want to observe the day our species takes that first baby step into a bigger cosmos. How will our first contact with an alien race come about? With the discovery of so many extra solar worlds within recent history the notion we are alone in this great big universe is absolutely absurd. Would these non Earth cultures welcome us with open arms to a peaceful life amongst the stars, or will we awaken the attention of blood thirsty hordes hell bent on stealing our Mother Planets natural resources? These are questions Science Fiction has been asking since the creative minds of Jules Verne and Isaac Asimov ignited the dreams of our little Earthbound race.

Where would you take your time machine? And more importantly… why?