Another Longshot Attempt

Life has been getting busy for me lately, as I continue to write and work at various other jobs and projects.  After the long blogging campaign of April's A to Z challenge, I needed a bit of a break, and as things continue to be hectic at times, I may not always manage to stick to the blog's posting schedule.  It is important to prioritize, and while I do not wish to disappoint those of you who are interested in reading the blog, it can't always take precedence over other things in life.

A couple of days ago, I started work on another exciting project.  You all should know about the West of the Warlock television project by now, which has thus far gone no farther than the production of a script.  Seeking to broaden my chances for cinematic success, I am now working on the pilot script for The Rogue Investigations television project.

Friends and readers have long commented that The Rogue Investigations would make a great tv series, more so than my other works.  The chapters contained within the book are written in episodic format to begin with, so it won't take much to adapt them to scripts.  There are a few things I plan to do differently in the script than what is written in the book, though the general theme will be the same; Zachary McCain and John Rage, with Detective Amanda Alfaro in tow, will investigate the paranormal, seeking to expose the truth behind unexplained phenomena and supernatural entities.

Whether the show will ever be made is anyone's guess, but a longshot is better than no shot.  If I write the script, the option will be there for any executive with the inclination to take a chance on me.  All it takes in this business is the right industry professional to have faith in your work.  With any luck, that right person will discover The Rogue Investigations someday soon.

Family History Hiatus

You may have noticed that I haven’t put down a fresh family Sunday post for a while, and I must report that it’ll be a while longer before I get around to writing more of them.  At present, I have a lot on my plate, and other things must take precedence.

One major problem I have at the moment with my family research lies with a computer failure.  I recently had some hard drive issues, and had to install a fresh copy of Windows XP.  Well, the copy I have is 5 years old, and it turns out that Family Tree Maker 2011 requires a pretty up-to-date version to work.  So, until I get a bunch of updates downloaded and installed (which could be a month or two with my dial-up connection), I can’t access a lot of my data with ease.  It’s another convenient excuse to take a break.

This coming Fall/Winter, I hope to find the time to do some more comprehensive research into various lines, and thoroughly peruse the 1940 Census (which should be indexed by then).

In the meantime, feel free to drop me a line anytime about the preexisting lines I have posted.  I’m always eager to hear fresh stories and receive old pictures to add to the collection (there are still a lot of photo-holes on my father’s side of the family in particular).  Don’t be shy to share!

Slipping Philosophy into Fiction

I’m not the sort of writer who spends a lot of time and effort seeking to capitalize on my political leanings.  While I certainly have personal convictions and I occasionally make a political statement or two, I don’t see my literary work as a means of indoctrinating others to my brand of philosophy.  Instead, I try to entertain my readers and present stories that can be enjoyed by a broad audience.  People can take what they want from it.

Every writer ends up speaking from their own beliefs to some degree, so I’m not saying I never interject my ideology into my works.  However, in my opinion, there are too many authors and entertainers out there who try to beat you over the head with one viewpoint or another, but when it comes to marketing that can be counter-productive.  Keep in mind, for every person who agrees with your impassioned rants, there are many more who will disagree and be less inclined to purchase your material.

 Science Fiction has always had its share of object lessons and metaphorical messages.  Writers have often utilized the “fantasy” of the genre to expound about some social injustice or potential threat, but the best of these tales have been careful to maintain the integrity of the entertainment, so readers disinterested with the moral ramifications can still appreciate the overall story.

Looking to my own works of fiction, there are generally little snippets of philosophy tossed in now and then, though the most successful use of it can be seen in The Guns of Mars.  The backdrop of the story is a sociopolitical struggle between the rights of the individual and the dictates of the State.  The Scientific Fundamentalists represent those who desire strict order and control in the name of human progress, where Morgan Asher and his allies represent the sort of Libertarian individualists we see standing up for their rights throughout history.  Even as we explore this clash of philosophies, there is an action-packed adventure that can be appreciated by anyone, regardless of their ideology.

Thrown into the mix are some interesting scientific concepts, and future technology that brings this up to the level of “hard” Science Fiction.  The world is exposed in a clear manner, so you can understand how humanity might progress over the next 250 years.  It’s my most “serious” work of fiction, and the reviews have reflected that.

This is the must-read novel a lot of people haven’t heard about yet, so don’t be shy about spreading the word.  Do me a favor; stick a link to this post on your facebook page, and let’s see what happens.

FBI Red Alert!!! (Scam)

I'm sure most of you have recieved the scam letters from some third world troll, saying so-and-so died recently, leaving millions of dollars in a foreign bank account, and that Mr. Mugubutu in Oooga Booga land wants to give it to you because he's just so nice.  These pathetic scams (most of them from Africa) are always changing, and it's funny to see how pathetic they really are.  It's really sad that there might be someone gullible enough to actually fall for this sort of obvious scam.

Trying to stay fresh, a scam artist has come up with a new one, this time posing as FBI Director, Robert Mueller!  The letter rambles on, threatening arrest and financial ruin if the unnamed recipient doesn't pay $98 to a man in Lagos, Nigeria.  But the threat is then followed by the assertion that the recipient will get $10,500,000 after paying the trifling sum to avoid jail time.  Oh, yeah, that's got to be true.  Not!  While obviously fraud, it is a clever new tactic; at least it is for a third world scam artist who still has a little trouble writing in English.

In case you haven't received this particular scam in your email, I'll share it with you.  Have a good laugh:

Anti-Terrorist and Monetary Crimes Division
Fbi Headquarters In Washington, D.C.
Federal Bureau Of Investigation
J. Edgar Hoover Building
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20535-0001 Website: www.fbi.gov

Attention, this is the final warning you are going to receive from me do you get me?
I hope youre understand how many times this message has been sent to you?

We have warned you so many times and you have decided to ignore our e-mails or because you believe we have not been instructed to get you arrested, and today if you
fail to respond back to us with the payment then, we would first send a letter to the mayor of the city where you reside and direct them to close your bank account
until you have been jailed and all your properties will be confiscated by the FBI. We would also send a letter to the company/agency that you are working for so that
they could get you fired until we are through with our investigations because a suspect is not suppose to be working for the government or any private organization.

Your id which we have in our database been sent to all the crimes agencies in America for them to inset you in their website as internet fraudsters and to warn
people from having any deals with you. This would have been solved all this while if you had gotten the certificate signed, endorsed and stamped as you where
instructed in the e-mail below. this is the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) am writing in response to the e-mail you sent to us and am using this medium to
inform you that there is no more time left to waste because you have been given from the 3rd of January. As stated earlier to have the document endorsed, signed and stamped without failure and you must adhere to these directives to avoid you blaming yourself at last when we must have arrested and jailed you for life and all your properties confiscated.

You failed to comply with our directives and that was the reason why we didn't hear from you on the 3rd as our director has already been notified about you get the
process completed yesterday and right now the warrant of arrest has been signed against you and it will be carried out in the next 48hours as strictly signed by the
FBI Director. We have investigated and found out that you didn't have any idea when the fraudulent deal was committed with your information's/identity and right now if

Your id is placed on our website as a wanted person, I believe you know that it will be a shame to you and your entire family because after then it will be announce in
all the local channels that you are wanted by the FBI. As a good Christian and a honest man, I decided to see how I could be of help to you because I would not be happy to see you end up in jail and all your properties confiscated all because your information's was used to carry out a fraudulent transactions, I called the EFCC and they directed me to a private attorney who could help you get the process done and he stated that he will endorse, sign and stamp the document at the sum of US$98.00 only and I believe this process is cheaper for you.

You need to do everything possible within today and tomorrow to get this process done because our director has called to inform me that the warrant of arrest has been
signed against you and once it has been approved, then the arrest will be carried out, and from our investigations we learnt that you were the person that forwarded
your identity to one impostor/fraudsters in Nigeria when he had a deal with you about the transfer of some illegal funds into your bank account which is valued at the
sum of  US$10.500,000.00.

I pleaded on your behalf so that this agency could give you till 4/28/2012 so that you could get this process done because I learnt that you were sent several e-mail
without getting a response from you, please bear it in mind that this is the only way that I can be able to help you at this moment or you would have to face the law
and its consequences once it has befall on you. You would make the payment through western union money transfer with the below details.

NAME: UDI JAMES
ADDRESS: LAGOS NIGERIA
TEXT QUESTION: WHAT
ANSWER: SOLUTION
AMOUNT: $98
Senders name======

Send the payment details to me which are senders name and address, mtcn number, text question and answer used and the amount sent. Make sure that you didn't hesitate
making the payment down to the agency by today so that they could have the certificate endorsed, signed and stamped immediately without any further delay. After all
this process has been carried out, then we would have to proceed to the bank for the transfer of your compensation funds which is valued at the sum of US$10.500,000.00 which was suppose to have been transferred to you all this while.

Note/ all the crimes agencies have been contacted on this regards and we shall trace and arrest you if you disregard this instructions. You are given a grace today to
make the payment for the document after which your failure to do that will attract a maximum arrest and finally you will be appearing in court for act of terrorism,
money laundering and drug trafficking charges, so be warned not to try any thing funny because you are being watched.

THANKS FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION.

ROBERT MUELLER

WASHINGTON DC

Anti-Terrorist and Monetary Crimes Division
Fbi Headquarters In Washington, D.C.
Federal Bureau Of Investigation
J. Edgar Hoover Building
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20535-0001 Website: www.fbi.gov