Tag Archives: Doctor Who

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The Obligatory Gen-Con 2014 Blog

It’s been a week since Gen-Con 2014 ended, and as usual, I miss it. Not only does Gen-Con have a great Authors’ Avenue where I can sell books and a great Writers’ Symposium where I can attend seminars, it’s one of the few places I can be an unbridled nerd and nobody judges me.

If you follow me on Facebook (and if you don’t, you should), you saw my almost up-to-the-minute updates while my brother Jarod and I were at the four-day convention. There’s a lot I could write about, but for now I’ll focus on a few highlights not mentioned in those posts. UPDATE: More photos from Gen-Con have been posted on my Facebook page!

Want to see photographs from the convention? I recommend checking out my Facebook page. Until I figure out how the new photo gallery plug-in I downloaded works, that’s where I’ll be posting photos from signings and such. Sorry.

First, here are the fans/readers I met while I was at the con, both new and old.

My first sale of the con! A gentleman named Scott Blankenship purchased "Destroyer" and "The Day After."
My first sale of the con! A gentleman named Scott Blankenship purchased “Destroyer” and “The Day After.”
Here I am with fellow kaiju fan Tom Tancredi after he purchased "Destroyer."
Here I am with fellow kaiju fan Tom Tancredi after he purchased “Destroyer.”
My first "Chidlren of the Wells" buyer! His name is Sean Steele (which sounds like the name of a hero in a book).
My first “Children of the Wells” buyer! His name is Sean Steele (which sounds like the name of a hero in a book).
I convinced my buddy Darrin Ball to buy "Destroyer" and "The Day After" since he purchased "Pandora's Box" from me a few years ago. He's still the HeroScape champ to me! ;)
I convinced my buddy Darrin Ball to buy “Destroyer” and “The Day After” since he purchased “Pandora’s Box” from me a few years ago. He’s still the HeroScape champ to me! 😉
This is Ben and Ashley Davis. I befriended them through Facebook (mostly), and they stopped by and bought "Pandora's Box." Wonderful people!
This is Ben and Ashley Davis. I befriended them through Facebook (mostly), and they stopped by and bought “Pandora’s Box.” Wonderful people!
Joe Stichmeyer (I hope I spelled that right), anotehr fellow kaiju fan, bought "Destroyer" from me and "Mammoth Monster Madness"--an anthology I contributed to--from Ed Russell.
Joe Stichmeyer (I hope I spelled that right), anotehr fellow kaiju fan, bought “Destroyer” from me and “Mammoth Monster Madness”–an anthology I contributed to–from Ed Russell.
A Rogue cosplayer named Alyssa who bought "The Day After."
A Rogue cosplayer named Alyssa who bought “The Day After.”
I met Alyssa VanderGalien (I hope I spelled that right) at the FFC/CGG worship service that morning, and she stopped by to purchase "The Day After."
I met Alyssa VanderGalien (I hope I spelled that right) at the FFC/CGG worship service that morning, and she stopped by to purchase “The Day After.”
Here I am with Patricia Gore.
Here I am with Patricia Gore.

This was Jarod’s first time at Gen-Con, though it wasn’t his first convention. He’s gone with me to several others this year as attendees. We made prints of the illustrations he’s done for my short stories and the titles cards he’s made for my YouTube show, “But I Digress…”. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, we weren’t able to sell any of these. I was shocked. Conventions seemed like the places where people would eat up his artwork. Perhaps it was because we were in the authors’ section and not the art show area. Regardless, he did manage to get a pair of commissions: one for a steampunk pin-up girl a guy wanted for a restaurant he wants to start called Pandora’s Lunchbox (he told us about it because of the title of my novel), and another for a con-goer who wanted little pictures of Wile E. Coyote and a Digimon for a Magic: The Gathering card. Jarod also drew a few random sketches during our downtime, especially when things were slow on Thursday, including Maleficent, a ballerina Dalek (no joke), and a ninja Elsa. He gave the last one to a Jedi Elsa cosplayer, who inspired the artwork.

As for my book sales, they were slow again this year. I took fewer books with me assuming I’d sell out, but I didn’t. I got a few bits of advice from my fellow writers on how to improve that:

1) Get new signs. I’ve been using Jarod’s handmade sign for three years now. It’s time I upgraded. It’ll help me look more professional.

2)  Have more books. For whatever reason, people will be more interested in buying books when they have more choices. I thought the opposite was true, but I think it would diversify my appeal and show people I’m still writing.

It didn’t help that the new books I wanted to take—Children of the Wells, Volume 1—didn’t arrive in time, so I wasn’t able to sell them until Saturday. Even so, that was a bit of tough sell since I wasn’t in that collection (but I’ll be in volume two).

However, I think my networking was much-improved this year. I talked with more of the writers there and shared my business cards with them. I think I even found a publisher interested in seeing Ninjas and Talking Trees. J Hopefully, in the coming year, that will all pay off.

As usual, while other vendors were too tired to enjoy the convention after the exhibitors’ hall closed, I was still running around with boundless energy like the Doctor. (In fact, I cosplayed as the 10th Doctor while I was there on Sunday).

I've harassed this Dalek every year, and I was excited to do so this time since I had a real costume. But his batteries were dead. He must've been so scared, he shut down. :P
I’ve harassed this Dalek every year, and I was excited to do so this time since I had a real costume. But his batteries were dead. He must’ve been so scared, he shut down. 😛

I attended many writing seminars since many of the other events I wanted to attend were sold out. (I waited to sign up since I was on the waiting list for months and wasn’t sure I’d make it to the convention). Regardless, I was still able to participate in an “Ultra Street Fighter IV” tournament Friday night and see the Five Year Mission show Saturday night. I wasn’t able to play any board games, though.

Overall, I don’t think it was quite as good of an experience as last year’s convention, but I still want to return next year. That, sadly, is uncertain since the organizers didn’t allow writers and artists an early sign up at the end of the convention like they usually do. I have no idea when tables will be available. On the bright side, I could have as many as three new titles to sell at next year’s convention if all goes as planned (more on that later).

See you next year, Gen-Con!

News, Announcements

I’m Starting an American Version of ‘Doctor Who’!

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You’ve probably been wondering where I’ve been the last few weeks. Well, I’ve been a busy fanboy. I decided to utilize the connections I’ve been making in the writing world—most notably Jonathan Maberry—and you won’t believe what I managed to do. I convinced Steven Moffat, the showrunner for Doctor Who, to let me make an American version of the show!

A promotional title card for the series.

A promotional title card for the series.

First, I must say that I was honored that “the Grand Moff” took time out of his busy schedule (what with Peter Capaldi filming his first season as the Doctor) to talk to me. I told him about a Buzzfeed article (and subsequent video) published a few months back where a fan mused about the equivalent American actors who could’ve played the Doctor had the show been an American production. This inspired me. I was a longtime Whovian and had written the pilot for what I thought would be a respectful American remake of Who. The episode was entitled “Bigger on the Outside.” The episode would start in the 1960s, and the TARDIS would be a phone booth. He said he’d look it over. A few days later, he called me and said he loved the script and so did BBC. Obviously, my jaw dropped. “This might distract the fans from hating me,” he said. I immediately started talking about casting. I told him my friend Scott Klaus, an even longer-time Whovian, would be perfect, but then Moffat threw me a curveball. “You should be the American Doctor!” he says. “What?!” I blurt. He says Mr. Maberry referred him to my Facebook page, and he liked the photo of my Tenth Doctor cosplay. But what convinced him I should play the part was this photo:

"Dude, you could play Dr. Who!" (Photo by Sergio Garza)
“Dude, you could play Dr. Who!” (Photo by Sergio Garza)

He took one look at that and thought, “He can play the Doctor, too!”

I tried to tell him I wasn’t cool enough to be the Doctor, but he would hear none of it. He was already talking with executives at BBC America and the SyFy Channel about the show. “A thirteen-episode season should be enough, right?” he asked. “Um…sure…” I replied.

Looks like I finally got my big break, True Believers! The writer and star of my own science fiction TV series!

Whether it’s picked up by BBC America or SyFy, the show will premiere April 1, 2015.

As my favorite Doctor always said, “Allons-y!”

Blog

The Importance of Art

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First, before I get my main thesis, I’d like to thank everyone at the Roanoke Public Library in Roanoke, Indiana, for having me give a lecture on fantasy writing last Thursday. It was a small crowd (stupid weather!), but it was fun. I’d love to come back, especially if you have room for one more lecturer.

Since I spent a fair amount of time preparing the lecture and I’m sure some people didn’t come but wanted to, I’m going to expand it a bit and make it into a multi-part series for my vlog, “But I Digress….” Expect the first video soon!

Anyway, as I was going to say…

A few weeks ago, I got involved in a short but heated discussion between a friend and her sister (they shall remain nameless) on Facebook. My friend had posted a photo of an angel someone made of snow. Being that we’re both Whovians (“Doctor Who” fans), I commented, “Don’t blink!” (This was a reference to the nefarious Weeping Angels). My friend then went on about how they were also the evil Snowmen from another episode, so you couldn’t look at them or blink. Her sister then commented, saying she looked at the photo and blinked and nothing happened. At first, I thought she was being sarcastic, but I realized she wasn’t. The sister then said she didn’t understand how anyone could be “obsessed” with fictional things like this when real life had more to offer. My friend, myself, and one other person tried to explain things to her. Since I came into the discussion later, I just posted this quotation from my friend “Jack”:

when_i_was_ten____by_johansrobot-d5szt4h
You wanna argue with C.S. Lewis, hmm?

When I hit adolescence, I started getting the feeling that kids my age didn’t watch things like cartoons. That was the age one “outgrew” them. We were supposed to do better things with our time…like chase the opposite sex in a hormone-crazed frenzy and read books like Twilight (how is that book more mature than cartoons?). But guess what? I kept watching the cartoons I thought were good. In secret. Yes, I was embarrassed that I enjoyed watching shows “Beast Wars,” “Spider-Man,” and “Batman: The Animated Series.” I wanted to be seen as mature and grown-up, at least in public. I spent most of teenage years living this quasi-double life. I was quite a serious lad at the time. It took college to lighten me up.

Now I make no secret that I enjoy cartoons, comic books, and other “childish” forms of entertainment. Seriously, look at my video collection:

Yeah, I am such an overgrown boy. :P
Yeah, I am such an overgrown boy. 😛

Part of that is the nostalgia craze that’s been going on for over a decade, which has made these things more acceptable. But there are still those who would look at this and say, “These shouldn’t be on a grown man’s shelf.” They’d cite 1 Corinthian 13:11 as evidence that such a person was immature.

But here’s the truth: only children worry about being perceived as grown-up. Many children at one point or another wished they were adults. They worry about what people will think of them if they “act childish.” With age, however, comes the attitude that what people think doesn’t matter, and the wisdom that true maturity comes from how one treats others and his responsibilities.

Yes, people read comics, watch “Doctor Who,” and play video games as an escape. They’re called “escapist entertainment” for a reason. It’s a stress relief because life is often hard. The problem is when one lets it become an addiction, a source of one’s self-worth. I’ve seen this happen. It’s sad. But anything, no matter how good it is, can become an addiction. There’s a difference between someone who has an occasional sip of wine and an alcoholic.

There’s also something to be said about cultivating an imagination. People who are imaginative see things like nobody else. They invent, they create. Ideas are their playthings. Without people like them, we wouldn’t have technology, culture, and philosophies. Heck, I keep hearing stories about how much of the tech seen in “Star Trek” and its spin-offs keeps inspiring real gadgets!

Capt. Kirk inspired your cell phone. Capt. Picard inspired your iPad. You owe them. :P
Capt. Kirk inspired your cell phone. Capt. Picard inspired your iPad. You owe them. 😛

Art enriches our lives. It illustrates truths. It provides a lens that puts life into perspective. It expresses things we might have trouble articulating (hence why most couples have a favorite love song). We see ourselves in all our beauty and ugliness. It gives us ideals to strive for. It expresses our deepest longings.

In other words, it helps us figure out life. And life then in turn enriches art. The two need each other like a husband needs a wife, and vice versa. Without it, there would be no color to life. We would be robots.

Most importantly, art is an expression of being God’s image bearers. God created the universe. It isn’t purely functional. It’s full of color and wonder and adventure. I drove through Pennsylvania and Maryland a few months ago and was blown away by the rolling hills, mountains, and multicolored leaves. I grew up in house that was constantly surrounded by mischievous animals. And need I mention the wonder of the night sky? God is an artist.

Think about that next time you want to criticize someone for being an “out-of-touch child” just because he made his own lightsaber.

Vlog, Review

But I Digress…, Episode 19: A Review of ‘Day of the Doctor’

“But I Digress…”
Hosted by Nathan Marchand

In case you didn’t know, I’m a Whovian (“Doctor Who” fan). I wanted to review the franchise’s 50th anniversary special, but I was so busy, I was barely able to watch it and didn’t have time to review it myself. So, I invited a special guest to review it for me–and he was interrupted by some unexpected arrivals! Special thanks to my friends Sarah Kilduff and Anthony Gangemi.

Merry Christmas, True Believers!

Please subscribe, share, and comment!

Video, Commercial

But I Digress…, Episode 19 Teaser Trailer

Here’s a homespun “trailer” for my next vlog. I don’t normally do this, but it’s a review for a major event in fandom and I had a fun idea for a preview, so I made it. I even tried recording a voiceover for teh first time.

Featuring the music from the “Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor” teaser trailer music, composed by Murray Gold.

Special thanks to the Whovians and celebrities I met at Gen-Con 2012 and 2013, who you see in those photo montage. I hope none of you mind me using those pictures.

If you’d like to see the trailer I parodied, watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hRy2N2CMhQ

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A Big Name at a Small Convention

My apologies, True Believers! I wanted to get a blog posted Wednesday so I could start a new posting schedule. Better late than never!

Last weekend, I traveled to Maryland to meet my friend Sarah “Serenity” Kilduff. She invited me to go with her to her local library’s “mini-comic-con” that Friday in Aberdeen. After a harrowing drive the previous day (mental note: don’t ever drive that far again in one day!), the two of us put on our cosplay outfits–I was the 10th Doctor and she was the coolest-looking TARDIS I’ve ever seen–and headed to the library.

Sarah in her awesome TARDIS dress (right) and me as the 10th Doctor (left). "Alons-y!"
Sarah in her awesome TARDIS dress (right) and me as the 10th Doctor (left). “Alons-y!”

 

We had a great time, and I hung out with several people the whole afternoon, most notably Anthony, who was dressed as the 11th Doctor.

That, however, is just the set-up.

The “mini-con” (not to be confused the Transformers faction of the same name) was capped off with a lecture by author Jonathan Maberry. Admittedly, I’d never heard of him nor read his books, but I was interested in hearing him as a fellow writer.

My gosh, this guy has connections! He met Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson as a kid. He’s friends with just about every horror author out there. He’s written comics and screenplays. He even said he once had dinner with Neil Gaiman and talked to Steven Moffat, the showrunner for Doctor Who, on the phone! “Talk about geeking out!” he said.

His story was fascinating. He started as nonfiction writer on martial arts. Then he tried his hand at compiling an encyclopedia for vampire and monster mythology he heard from his grandmother as a kid. He sort of stumbled into writing fiction, doing it at first just to stretch himself as a writer. Now he does that full time. He has friends in the scientific community, too. They constantly feed him story ideas based on their research–like cloning neanderthals. (Seriously, he says that’s being worked on).

He’s quite prolific, so I asked him how long he writes everyday. He said 10 hours! He goes for about 3,000-4,000 hours a day. But he always makes sure to take weekends off for his family. Still, I was blown away. My days are split between writing, chores, and a part-time job. It makes me want to re-evaluate my priorities. Perhaps even make some changes to my lifestyle.

After hearing all this, I couldn’t resist giving him copies of my books (yes, I take them with me everywhere) and since he was a Whovian, I got a picture with him and Anthony. A photo background with with zombies are there, so we took the photo there.

This is what happens when these three meet! Anthony the 11th Doctor (left), Mr. Maberry (middle) and me (right) running from zombies.
This is what happens when these three meet! Anthony the 11th Doctor (left), Mr. Maberry (middle) and me (right) running from zombies.

I re-learned an important lesson from him: network, network, network. Knowing the right people is just as important–if not more so–than writing talent in this business. But its important to know people outside the writing field, too. They can help with research or give one story ideas. It reminded me to make as many friends and connections everywhere I go. I never know when it’ll pay off later.

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Distractions, Distractions, Dis–Oh, ‘Doctor Who’!

distraction (1)I really need to update more often on here. Heck, I took a writing seminar at Gen-Con where I was reminded that if I want to be successful as a writer in the digital age, I need not only maintain a blog but update on a regular basis. I’ve been trying to do that more often, usually writing about things besides, well, writing, but life has a way of interfering with my best laid plans.

But it’s not just that. It’s me. Dr. Hensley, my English professor from TUFW,  would be disappointed with my time management. What’s weird is it seemed easier to be disciplined back then. Maybe it was because there were fewer distractions–or at least fewer readily accessible distractions. Regardless, I’ve been taking on more and more writing projects than I originally expected. Remember my last vlog of 2012 where I mentioned what my big projects were gonna be for this year?  Well, it’s at least double that now. I’ve taken on a co-writing a nerdy devotional with a friend; making an updated version of Destroyer; writing short stories for a pair of collections; writing a script for a fanfilm I’d like to produce; and I’m still trying to keep up with my aforementioned projects!

If it was just because I’m trying to do too much, I’d say it was a good problem to have. But that’s not the only reason. I’m somewhat unique among writers in that I’m an extrovert. I like being social. I’ll usually respond to friends asking me to hang out. Or I’ll jump on Facebook and “hang out” there. Lately, I’ve been showing my brother Jarod the new Doctor Who show. He’s hooked–and so am I to showing it to him. Or I let my hobbies, like video games, sap my time.

Meanwhile I’m still have a part-time job and I want to go back to the gym.

Procrastination is a fiend!

Then I stop and realize I haven’t gotten nearly as much done as I wanted to. This bugs me. I like feeling accomplished everyday. The problem is I let myself feel accomplished doing things like earning trophies on my Playstation 3 games. It needs to come from getting a minimum 1,000 words written everyday (and that excludes blog posts like this!).

So, first, let me apologize for my poor time management. I still need to get photos from Gen-Con posted on here, dangit!

Second, you have my permission to harp on me to get stuff done. You’d be surprised what pressure from fans can accomplish. Also, if you have any advice for overcoming distractions and/or procrastination, please share them with me.

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Gen-Con 2013, Day 4: I’m the Doctor

(Continued from day 3).

After three days of sleep-deprived insanity and fun, Sunday was a welcome relief. I only signed up for one event and the exhibitors’ hall closed early. My last cosplay was a simple one: the 10th Doctor. Mind you, it was only a fancy T-shirt that looked like his costume. I had tried making a real costume using thrift store items, but that didn’t pan out before the con. I’ll save it for Halloween.

Anyway, we enjoyed our last breakfast at the hotel. I walked by Darrin, who was still too humble to brag about his HeroScape title, and said, “This means what you eat is the breakfast of champions.” After eating, I made sure to thank the black man who I’d seen every day at breakfast. I deduced he was the chef, so I thanked him for all his work. With our stomachs full, we packed up and checked out.

Since we were leaving at different times, Eric and Darrin rode together and I drove separately. Our only event that day was the Christian Gamers Guild/Fans for Christ worship service at the Westin. It was huge this year and required a larger room. The music leader was Tom Vasel, the president of the Dice Tower network. He was quite animated while singing, which was a great thing to see. Also, this year we actually had music! Last year the attendees had to sing the worship songs a cappella. We partook of communion using the same wafer/juice packets used last year. Derek White the Geek Preacher returned. This year he cosplayed as his Dungeons and Dragons character, a cleric. His message was entitled “Living a Life Well Played” and preached from Genesis 1:26; 2:4-7. I learned some interesting things during that service, the most mindblowing being that D&D’s co-creator, Gary Gygax, was a Christian!

A couple arrived at 10am thinking that was when the service was and were disappointed they missed it. The woman even cried a little. Derek gave them leftover communion packets, offering a blessing, and several others—including myself—hugged her. I’m sure they felt the love.

On the way to the exhibitors’ hall, I caught a few minutes of a floor show (there were many throughout the weekend, and I wish I’d taken more time to watch them), featuring a Klingon minstrel and his lovely assistant/dancer. His name was Il Troubadour. I’d met him at his table the day before. He played a mandolin while singing in Klingon. Yes, you read that right.

The rest of my day was dominated by Doctor Who. Since the crowd was thinner, I went to see Peter Davison, aka the Fifth Doctor. Meeting him was probably my best story from the convention.

As I always do at a convention, I give the celebrities free copies of my books. But I also had another gift for Mr. Davison. His Doctor was known, among other things, for wearing a celery stick as a lapel, claiming it warded off a gas he was allergic to. So, after taking one photo and giving him the books, I said, “I’m sure thousands of fans have given you this over the last 30 years, but…,” and slid him the bagged celery. “In case your allergies flare up again.”

He laughed. “Actually, no one has ever given me this before.”

“You’re kidding me!”

“No. You’re the first.”

Geeking out, I asked, “Can I get another picture since I’m the first?”

He thought about it a second. “Oh…all right.”

This is that photo:

What you can't see is my hand is shaking being this close to greatness.
What you can’t see is my hand is shaking being this close to greatness.

Riding high on that experience, I left Eric in charge of my table while I explored the hall. I met a fellow writer who had a toy of the First Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, which he introduced saying I was “playing with cosmic forces.” He told me he’d had the thing was over 30 years old and he’d had it for 15 years—and the batteries still worked!

This kid was just hamming it up.
This kid was just hamming it up.

I returned to the Who North America booth to meet the Dalek I’d bantered with last year. The Dalek was having fun posing for photos with other fans, saying things like, “Smile or you will be EXTERMINATED!” But before I could get a picture with it, a kid stole the show. He was maybe 6-8 years old, dressed as the 11th Doctor, and had perfected his British accent. I filmed him as he taunted the Dalek and fell over after the evil alien had zapped him, only to stand up and say he had regenerated as the 12th Doctor and continue to taunt the Dalek.

Then I made things worse. I walked in front of the Dalek and pointed my sonic screwdriver at him. He panicked. “Alert! Alert!” he yelled. “Sonic device detected! Alert! Alert! Eye stock malfunctioning!” Then the light on said eye stock went off.

Yeah, I might be the Doctor…if I was cool enough.

When I returned to my table, I was soon joined by Becky and Kate. The latter wasn’t wearing her costume, so I didn’t recognize her at first, which they didn’t let me live down. As the day progressed, Becky appointed herself my manager, literary agent, editor, and fashion designer, among other things. (Did I mention the little tyrant likes being in charge?) 😛

Four o’clock came too soon. The con ended. My friends left. I packed up. A small sadness crept over me. I missed the convention already.

This wonderful woman gave me a ride back to the parking garage.
This wonderful woman gave me a ride back to the parking garage.

I packed everything up, but despite all the books I’d sold, the boxes were still heavy. I was determined to get to the parking garage, though. Thankfully, I met some people riding on big modified bicycles with seats in the back for hauling. I got a ride from one of them, a woman multicolored hair, and gave her a nice tip (I should’ve given her a book).

Well, there you have it, True Believers. Gen-Con 2013 in a nutshell for me. There are many other stories I could’ve shared, but I did my best to focus on the important ones. I’ll be posting a photo gallery from the convention—including photos of many fans who purchased books—on the website soon. I’m also compiling a “highlight reel” of the videos I filmed while I was there. That’ll be posted on YouTube.

I can’t wait until next year! Only 363 days to go!