Writing Report April 8, 2018

I’ll be at both San Diego Comic Fest (April 20-22) and RoboToyFest (May 6, Pasadena Convention Center).

Since several people have been asking about it, at both shows I’m going to be offering some facsimile copies of scripts I wrote back in the day:  A Thundarr, a Jem, a Transformers, my Dungeons & Dragons episode, and perhaps a copy of the G.I. Joe screenplay.

This required digging deep in the archives (i.e., garage) to find suitable material.

In the process I stumbled across a few other items that aren’t going to go up for sale (at least not at conventions) but may surface eventually on this blog or in an upcoming collection.

I also found a lot of stuff that’s going to stay buried.

• I have a couple of sword & sorcery spec scripts I wrote way back when.  Nothing intrinsically wrong with them, but (a) I’ve grown as a writer and (b) I’ve incorporated some of the ideas in them into what I think is a much better story, so why under cut that with lesser earlier efforts?
• There’s a romantic thriller that’s okay, but not really outstanding.  A few clever bits does not justify dragging it into the light.
• I wrote the first volume of a sci-fi trilogy set on a far distant world but y’know, it’s kinda slow moving and just doesn’t set me on fire anymore.  Not gonna throw it out, but it can stay in its box for another decade or so.
• A post-Vietnam action thriller.  Vietnam is at least three wars too far back.  This one stays MIA.
• Big noir political thriller; I like the basic idea but today it seems too forced in places.  Again, clever bits, but now I see enough structural and thematic problems to put it aside for another decade or two as well.
• A novel loosely based on my experiences as an employee at a drive-in theater back in the 1970s.  I think my angle of approach is wrong on this; so wrong I may just keep the setting and start afresh with a brand new story….eventually.
• Elaborate notes and an intricate plot outline on a horror novel idea I came up with back when I wanted to be the next Peter Straub.  I no longer want to be the next Peter Straub.
• A pulp sci-fi screenplay I wrote to get it out of my system.  It’s out of my system.
• Two spec horror screenplays. I can see now are both soulless, so they stay entombed.
• An adaptation of an Edgar Allan Poe story; I see now where there's more than can be done with this idea so it stays near the surface where I can dig it up easily.
• A historical epic dark fantasy story involving two beloved figures in geekdom.  Originally written to be a comic book mini-series / graphic novel, but the project died aborning when the publisher abruptly decided to change careers.  Another, similar project by someone else has recently been published so this one will need to wait at least another decade before it sees light of day, but it has potential.

And mind you, these are just the hard copies I dug up:  I’ve got a box full of 5 ¼ and 3 ½ floppies containing far more material.

And that’s not counting what’s sitting on my hard drive this instant.

In short, there’s plenty to keep me occupied and (hopefully!) you amused for years to come.