Not All James Bonds Are Created Equal

Between 1953 & 1966, Ian Fleming wrote several books and short stories detailing the adventures of one MI6 agent, Royal Naval Reserve Commander James Bond. In 1962, James Bond was immortalized in the visage of one Sean Connery in the movie Dr. No.

I've read Casino Royale, Fleming's first 007 novel, and enjoyed it thoroughly. With the recent announcement of the 24th MGM James Bond film, SPECTRE, I was curious what the world thought the best Bond film was.. and the worst.

To keep things simple, I used the ratings at IMDB.com.

First off, though, how do we rank the actors that played 007? I averaged the IMDB ratings of the movies to come up with this:

James Bond actors, rated by average rating of movies per IMDB:

#5 Pierce Brosnan, average score 6.5
#4 Roger Moore, average score 6.7
#3 George Lazenby, one film, 6.8
#2 Sean Connery, average score 7.2
#1 Daniel Craig, average score 7.5

I still think Connery is the penultimate cinema Bond.

Now, ranking the movies, from lowest rated to highest, with my personal ranking on the right (consider same score tied):

Die Another Day Brosnan 6.1 21 Moonraker Moore 6.2 23 A View to a Kill Moore 6.3 19 Tomorrow Never Dies Brosnan 6.4 18 The World is Not Enough Brosnan 6.4 15 Octopussy Moore 6.6 16 Licence to Kill Dalton 6.6 22 The Living Daylights Dalton 6.7 13 Quantum of Solace Craig 6.7 20 Diamonds Are Forever Connery 6.7 17 Live and Let Die Moore 6.8 14 The Man with the Golden Gun Moore 6.8 12 For Your Eyes Only Moore 6.8 11 On Her Majesty's Secret Service Lazenby 6.8 10 You Only Live Twice Connery 6.9 9 Thunderball Connery 7.0 5 The Spy Who Loved Me Moore 7.1 8 Goldeneye Brosnan 7.2 7 Dr. No Connery 7.3 6 From Russia with Love Connery 7.5 2 Skyfall Craig 7.8 4 Goldfinger Connery 7.8 3 Casino Royale Craig 8.0 1

Excerpt from The Infernal Isle

As promised, a small snippet from my upcoming novel, The Infernal Isle. The story is about a scribe's apprentice (Wick) and his fellow exiles trying to escape banishment by crossing a ruined island kingdom overrun by hellish denizens. A group sits around a fire, discussing what to do next as Wick draws a map of the Isle in the sand.

“What do you know about this place, boy? How could you know?” Nocke said.

“I’ve seen every map of this place, maps from the Olde Empire days and maps from the sailors in recent years. I’ve read everything there is to read about it. My father and uncle told me stories about it,” Wick said, now just adding small details here and there to his map.

“How does a mutt of a boy like you learn to read? What maps? Only place that would have that stuff is-” Nocke said before Skire cut in.

“The library. Scribe’s apprentice, were you?” Skire asked. Wick looked up at last and nodded.

“Been there three years, in Master Onik’s care. Until the royal guards purged it,” Wick said, voice dropping to a near whisper. “They killed Onik and banished me.”

The group fell silent again, all seeming to weigh Wick’s tale of woe against their own. The sun neared the horizon and lit up the sky and clouds in hazy pinks and oranges.

“Sorry about Onik, Wick. Most none of us deserved this, but putting a boy on this island tops it all. If I get a chance, I’ll put two knives in King Saedis’s eyes, one for each. For you and me,” Skire said with a grin. “Now, two leagues, you think?” Nocke sniffed but said nothing.

“Yes, I think so,” Wick answered.

“Too bad we can’t take that map with us,” Benno said.

“No need to,” Bear said, starting to stand. He tapped Wick’s head as he rose. “It all here.”

The Infernal Isle will be published in 2015.

An Infernal Announcement

Forgive me for the long lapse in updates. Tough to sit in the corner of a basement typing in the summer time. Perhaps I should invest in a laptop so I can work outside next year.

This winter, I plan to complete my second novel. I've vacillated about what project to pursue in earnest, but this one has really motivated me and has been gestating for awhile, albeit in different forms.

All modern fantasy writers have debts to pay, tracing back to J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber and others. I must also add authors that found success writing in shared Dungeons & Dragons universes such as Greyhawk, The Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance to my personal list, such as Gary E. Gygax, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman & R.A. Salvatore. Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan, along with Brandon Sanderson, deserve credit, as well.

So, I will be adding a gritty old fantasy world of my creation, one that is only just beginning to emerge from the horrendous calamities that led to the collapse of an empire that once spanned the globe. But instead of writing one endless series of sequels about the same characters that are seeking a world-saving artifact or to destroy some dark lord (or both), I'll be crafting smaller stories built around grounded characters with rather base motivations.

The first book in this new world is titled The Infernal Isle. It's about a scribe's apprentice and his fellow exiles attempting to escape banishment by crossing a ruined island kingdom overrun with hellish denizens. This book is the first of a planned trilogy around said apprentice, who finds himself stranded and terrified on the legendary island he's heard and read so much about.

I've even created a prospective book cover, for fun, and as I flesh the world out, it will be the subject of a new web-site that will act much like the beloved appendices of The Lord of the Rings, with details about the world, its peoples and its history.

I hope you are as excited to read my next book as I am to write it. Keep an eye on this spot.. there may be an excerpt or two in the near future.

Noah's Custodian gets Smashed!

I recently published Noah's Custodian on Smashwords, which makes it available in more ereader formats.

Smashwords also maintains a Premium Catalog, which means that properly formatted books will be distributed to many online retailers and libraries, so in the near future my book will also appear on Barnes and Noble, Apple iTunes, and other sites. The nice thing is I have complete control over the price, and royalties are still very good when compared to traditional rates.

Someday I may make a few tweaks and offer as a paperback, we'll see. The book is really meant as a prequel to a planned book or two; I was inspired by the Hiero books by Sterling Lanier from way back when, and he never was able to finish the third book of his series. I've always had a fascination with post-apocalypse stories, but none have captivated me like Lanier's books.

So, someday, I plan on returning to continue the story.. though probably not in the fashion many may expect me to...

Revival of Spirit

I recently submitted a very short story in the "Three Minute Futures" contest sponsored by To The Best of Our Knowledge on Wisconsin Public Radio. They were looking for 'hard science' fiction stories of 600 words or less, often called flash fiction. While my story did not win (don't know if it was a quality or thematic issue), the entries listed on their site are top notch! The top three were made into radio plays by none other that Gates McFadden, a.k.a. Dr. Beverly Crusher of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame.

I figured I'd offer my entry up for your perusal. Upon further reflection, and after reading the winners, I think my entry wasn't plausible enough. Good show, I say, to the winners!!

REVIVAL of SPIRIT

   A worker connected to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory made sensational claims regarding the robotic rover Spirit, which went silent after one last transmission on March 22, 2010. Spirit’s handlers stopped hailing the lost rover on May 25, 2011. However, on December 13, 2014, NASA scientists detected what seemed to be a weak signal from Spirit.
   The informant agreed to an interview by our Rex Mathers for ‘The Nation Tonight’, though not on camera since this interview was unauthorized. We have named the informant Kahuna; what follows is an abridged transcript of that interview.

Rex: Please tell us what happened when it appeared Spirit had woken up.

Kahuna: We were skeptical, of course. We scrambled to determine the authenticity of the signal. After exhaustive tests and verification, we had to admit that, despite the incredible odds against it, the rover was really awake and responsive to some commands.

Rex: That had to be stunning.

Kahuna: Yes and the data regarding its status launched an all-hands-on-deck alert within NASA and upper echelons of government. The rover’s position suggested it was well away from the sand pit that had trapped it in 2006. Spirit had rolled just under five miles to that point until one of its wheels malfunctioned and it was trapped. However, we learned that its odometer had registered over eleven hundred miles.

Rex: You’re saying that Spirit moved 1,095 miles on its own, out of your control?

Kahuna: Well, not on its own. The data suggests that Spirit had been under foreign control for some time. You can imagine that our intelligence and law-enforcement agencies have turned over every stone in the search for what we presumed to be a terrestrial culprit, theorizing that another space-faring nation had hijacked the rover somehow. 

Rex: Who did it?

Kahuna: We don’t know. We found no obvious clues to the hijacker’s identity. Impossible as it seems, we found that whomever, or whatever, controlled Spirit for those many years did so from the surface of Mars itself.

Rex: Could it have just been a malfunction?

Kahuna: Well, even more amazing is the fact that it appears that someone repaired and even augmented Spirit. Its balky wheel worked flawlessly, it could move faster, and its sensors were exponentially better.

Rex: Again, who?

Kahuna: We don’t know.

Rex: You must have a theory, speculation.

Kahuna: I- I can’t say. I won’t. I can only speak to the evidence in front of me.

Rex: Well, you say it traveled 1,100 miles. Where did it go?

Kahuna: I’m not privy to the exact route, but it wound up in a canyon, and stopped in front of what appears to be a cave entrance.

Rex: Cave?

Kahuna: Yes. We were able to get some pictures back from Spirit of the cave entrance and its surroundings.

Rex: But you don’t have those pictures.

Kahuna: No. But I’ll never forget them. I can’t.

Rex: Why’s that?

Kahuna: We found this very, eh, difficult to get our minds around. But the evidence is very convincing.

Rex: What evidence? Convincing of what, exactly?

Kahuna: There are carvings around the cave entrance, unnatural carvings.

Rex: Unnatural, meaning man-made?

Kahuna: Meaning orderly and likely not created by natural forces, like erosion.

Rex: What did they look like?

Kahuna: Symbols, like it was a language, a sign over a doorway. Words.

At this point, presumed government agents raided the set and Kahuna was arrested. Our studio remains shuttered. One of our producers was able to get this transcript out on the Internet; the public deserves to know something unusual was discovered on Mars.

A Dose of Validation

I wrote a 300 word pitch for Noah's Custodian to enter the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest last month. I've never written a pitch for a novel in my life.. not hard to believe since I've only completed one novel in my life.

Anyway, I received the incredible news today that I've made it through the first round- one of 400 entries to survive in the SciFi/Fantasy/Horror category, and now the first three chapters will be read by 'select Amazon Vine reviewers' who will provide some feedback! The top 100 move on to the quarterfinals.

Regardless of whether my novel advances, I'm thrilled to at last get some unbiased, third party, complete stranger reviews of my work. Sure, it'll only cover the first three chapters, but at least I'll have an inkling if its good enough for the readers to want more, and if not, why not. But, making this first cut provides some validation that my premise, my original idea, grabbed enough attention for some complete strangers out there to pick mine out of a pile of likely a couple thousand entries.

I've said in this space a couple of times now- authors are not the best judges of their work, nor the best editors. I told a friend today I'm only 85% happy with my book, and I'll never be 100% happy even if it finds a traditional publisher with the attendant professional editing. But a dose of outside validation does lend a certain peace of mind: yep, it's not a bad idea. Someone thinks I might really have something here.

On another front- I'm a couple of chapters away from finishing my short story The Deathcheater's Diary, which I'm planning to submit to the 'Writers of the Future' contest that runs on a quarterly as well as on an annual basis. I'm hoping to make the April 1st deadline, but that is likely pushing it. If not, I have until July 1. Ironically, if Noah's Custodian somehow is selected as an ABNA winner, I'd be disqualified from WotF. So July 1 is the drop dead date.. just in case.

Doesn't hurt to be optimistic, right?

Another No for Noah.. and some advice

I found out this week that Analog magazine has passed on publishing Noah's Custodian as a serial, which isn't surprising. The head editor himself responded to me (at least according to the signature) and simply stated that Analog rarely publishes serials and my offering wasn't quite strong enough. And, that's OK by me, since I've already published it.

Being a new Sci-Fi novelist, an interesting article caught my eye exhorting us to understand ten things, sort of a ten commandments for newbie sci-fi authors. One rule that jumped out at me- and I agree with- is that authors are the worst judges of their own work. I agree. While I may be able to fix grammar and spelling, perhaps even some structure, it is impossible to step back enough to truly judge to work from an objective point of view. I'd prefer to have someone else do it, but I can't justify the cost of paying someone to edit my work at this point, and it is incredibly difficult to get published. Kind of a catch .22. The trade off, naturally, is the inexpensiveness of books offered directly by authors- especially those that have not been professionally edited.

Check out 10 Things That Every Brand New Creator of Science Fiction Should Know.

Why I Self-published My First Novel

As detailed earlier in this blog, I've been curious about the self-publishing industry and especially Amazon's offerings in that arena- Kindle Direct Publishing in particular. Hybrid publishing caught my eye, where authors may choose to self-publish an eBook but leave it to a traditional publisher for a print edition, if it worked out. Certainly, the benefits of Amazon's program are compelling- up to 70% royalties in perpetuity, total control of your book in every aspect, and the instant gratification of creating and publishing quickly.

There are downsides, of course. The self-publisher must take all the risks and do all the work, often in areas he/she has no expertise in. Not to mention the supreme difficulty in self-editing- the author is almost never going to be the best editor of his/her work. Competent, perhaps, but they can never have that neutral detachment necessary to truly see their work through an expert's eyes.

I chose to do this largely because I've always wanted to, and I think Noah's Custodian is decent. Can I do better? Yes. Could it be a more polished book? Yes, with help, I think it could. But I think it is still pretty darn good, and worth reading. An author can probably always find things he wish he would have phrased differently, or wished she spent more time on. I have a dozen ideas for books I'm very excited about, but I didn't want to write those in the rush of NaNoWriMo. Noah's Custodian sprung into my head and was a thrill to write in the span of a month, but I want to take my time and spin those ideas into awe-inspiring stories, at least to the best of my ability.

I tried a couple of places to get Noah's Custodian published to no avail. So I figured why not offer it to the world, learn a bit about self-publishing in the process, and hone my marketing skills. Most importantly, get back to writing something new, tackle one of the projects that has been kicking around in my head for a decade. My hope is that my first book sets the stage for those yet to come, and helps me build the discipline necessary to become a full time writer.. in addition to my career and full-time duties as a family man.

Perhaps, some day, writing will be my career. We'll see.

Moving On

Noah's Custodian is published. Aside from prepping it for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest and promoting it, it's high time to move on to the next project. I have a couple of short stories I'm working on, as mentioned previously, but I need to start focusing on the next big project. And I do mean BIG.

I've begun laying out a series with a planned ten books aimed specifically at my kids but hopefully enjoyable to all science fiction/adventure fans. I know it is very difficult to make a living as a novelist- even as a part-time endeavor it is difficult to derive much income. Yet, I would some day like to just be a writer, career-wise, and perhaps this new series will get me there.

I'm not quite ready to divulge titles and story lines, but it's fair to say I have the 'Star Wars', 'Harry Potter', 'Hunger Games' and 'Divergent' audiences in mind. The books will center around one titular character but certainly there has to be a strong and interesting supporting cast with their own stories to tell. Chiefly, I'm going to write this series for my kids. I figure if they like it, other people will, too. More to come as I begin the project.

Me, a Published Author!

I bit the bullet and self-published Noah's Custodian on Kindle today, it should be available tomorrow. Amazon already reviewed it and assigned it a stock number, and it's on its way to showing up for sale. I'm certainly proud of my work, satisfied and ready to move on to the next challenge. Maybe not as exciting as hitting the 'traditional' publication lottery, but I'm not getting any younger and this project has waited long enough, as have I.

Interesting thought crossed my mind- the big action Biblical flick Noah is coming out soon, I wonder if my humble book will benefit. Nothing like a little serendipity to help out! Also, it is a candidate for the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest, so I need to come up with a killer 300 word pitch and get it entered for that. Could win up to $50,000 and get it formally published!

I've been puttering away at short stories and such, kind of scattered, as you can tell from my posts. But I've decided to settle on a sci-fi book my son will love, and he already knows some about it. I want to write it for him and others his age- while he's that age. I already had a start on it but have been thinking it over and may just restart it. Time to get cracking.

Dabbling in Flash Fiction

So, I've heard of flash mobs, especially those coordinated via social media. You know, someone sets up cameras and invites strangers and friends alike to converge on a location and 'spontaneously' break out in some mass activity, like dancing to a song, or participating in some act of kindness, or dare I point out the one reenacting a famous scene from When Harry Met Sally.

I came across a call for entries in a flash fiction contest sponsored by Wisconsin Public Radio, the Center for the Humanities, and Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. The story has to fall between 500-600 words. I entered the contest with a story I called Revival of Spirit, clocking in at 597 words. Three winners will be chosen by famed science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson, and their entries will be dramatized into three-minute radio plays to be directed by actress Gates McFadden, best known for her role as Dr. Beverly Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. How cool would that be!? Winners to be announced April 9th.

I still have not heard back from the magazine regarding my first novel, Noah's Custodian. I've begun formatting it for self-publication on Amazon for distribution on its Kindle platform. I'm actually getting excited about finally getting it out there, even if I do it myself.

Research and Writing

David McCullough is, bar none, my favorite historian. His works are amazing, and his knack for transporting you to the time of his subjects is astounding. You feel he's actually gone back in time, interviewed his subjects, walked beside them, and lived in the moment of that period.

That, of course, speaks to the strength, width and depth of his research, setting aside his excellent prose and delivery. There are so many good history books out there, and I've always been interested in writing a historical book. I'm no historian, my research skills are rusty, and I hold no degrees in literature or history. But I have an itch to come up with an original project or two, something to work on in the background of my other fictional endeavors.

I've had one idea for sometime, one that would be a fun exercise and may help me ease into historical research and writing. My casual research for that, however, led me to an 19th century American explorer who has many ties to Michigan and the Midwest, was a prolific explorer and writer, yet who does not appear to have a formal biographer. So, my interest is piqued. But, how to begin? How much research is necessary?

Obviously it depends what and how much is available. It appears I'll be able to get an excellent start on research right at my desk using the Internet, as many of my potential subject's writings are online and even free to access. Still, at the beginning, what a daunting task! McCullough himself said had he known his book Truman would have taken him a decade to finish, he never would have done it!

McCullough was interviewed and offered some other tidbits on his process. If anyone can point the way to a successful endeavor, he can.

Fathers and Sons

My dad is my hero. I'm so blessed that he is relatively young (only 18 years between us) and we are very, very close.

I have a gazillion ideas for books and short stories, but there are none that my dad would be really interested in reading. He's proud of my writing and totally supportive, but science fiction and fantasy just aren't his thing. He's not a big fiction reader anyway.

Lately I've wanted to write something I could dedicate to him, that he would probably enjoy reading. And being a father now, I'd like to tell a story of just what it means to be a father. This morning, an idea struck me for a story that knocked my socks off. I'm still mulling it over, doing a little research, but I like where things are headed. I think it will be a short story, set near the end of World War II, and it will find a father and son serving on opposite sides of the world.

I'm really excited about the story.. and I'm frustrated, too, because it seems like I get going down one avenue then get distracted by another idea. I guess it's OK as long as I'm writing, right?