The Ones That Got Away – Buck Rogers

For every story, comic, article, or book that gets published there are those that for various reasons never happen. I thought it might be fun to do an occasional post on a variety of pitches, ideas, and almost happened projects.

The idea of revisiting these was prompted by this recent bookstore find:

Many years ago I reached a verbal and handshake deal with a publisher to do an official history of Buck Rogers.

We had the outline agreed, had lined up in interviews with Buck Rogers and Wilma Deering themselves (Gil Gerard and Erin Gray from the 1980s TV show), started to pull together research items, and then it all went quiet and the final contracts never materialized.

Unfortunately due to a variety of reasons outside our immediate control the book never got to happen.

One of those projects that got away, but I remain fascinated with the subject, and hope to get the chance to revisit someday.

 

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The Last Ramble of 2016 – Actually it wasn’t all that bad after all.

It seems to be the general consensus that the last twelve months has cumulatively amounted to a pretty shitty year. It’s definitely had its moments, and most of them have seemed bad.  On a personal front we as a family have had some down times in 2016, but we’ve also experienced some profoundly incredible moments.

Writing wise I’ve also had some disappointments this year with work not getting published as originally planned; but that’s all part of the game. The year finished strong with two new books published that contained some of my work. So keep a look out for:

Quatermain: The New Adventures Vol. 2 – that contains my new short story “Stones of Blood,” that takes Quatermain from the streets of London, and an encounter with a certain young consulting detective, to the battlefields of the first Boer War in search of diamond smugglers.

Outside In Boldly Goes – that includes “Trouble in Tombstone” – An alternate report of the events of the classic Star Trek episode Specter of the Gun.

Some of the other highlights of 2016 have included (in no particular order):

• My weekly blog post series at the OpenText Blog, as well as a new monthly column at CMS Wire.
• A return to doing movie reviews for RevolutionSF
• Fun times at various conferences and conventions including the Content Marketing World, Lavacon, DX Summit, Peoria Comic Con, Comicpalooza, Armadillocon, and WizardWorld Austin.
• Guesting on several podcasts such as Batman vs James Bond, Pros@Cons, White Rocket and more.
• Having two of my stories recorded as Audio Book versions on Audible.
• and of course writing a lot of stuff that’s still in the pipeline that will be published next year.

Talking of next year I’ve decided to drop the (mainly) monthly Ramble format for this newsletter and instead I’m planning on diving back into my archives to present some behind the scenes stuff, as well as some insights into current projects, on a  (hopefully)more frequent basis.

Look out 2017  – it’s going to be fun.

 

 

November Rambles.

I’m in the middle of doing some research for an essay that is scheduled to appear in a friend’s business book, but decided to take a quick break to do my monthly update post (Although I just realized I missed last month – oops).

The essay in question is the last of the various essays and short stories I had scheduled for 2016. By my count I now have the following work sitting at various publishers waiting for projects to be completed and published:

• Short story featuring Rick Ruby, Private Eye
• Short story featuring Allan Quatermain (and special guest).
• Essay on Action Man
• Essay for a Star Trek Original Series project
• Essay for a Star Trek: The Next Generation project
• Essays for two business books

Hopefully some of these see the light of day over the coming months.

For 2017 I’ve decided to take a short sabbatical from accepting these sort of short side assignments and focus on completing my four major ongoing projects.

• The FORGOTTEN CITY comic book series (of which I have the final three issues to write).
• Complete the revisions and additions to the James Bond Lexicon
• Complete the research phase for the U.N.C.L.E. Lexicon
• and get a polished draft together for my novel-in-progress.

So here’s to focus and a productive year ahead at the keyboard.

August Rambles

Wow where did the year go? It’s definitely been an interesting and eventful one for us, with more fun still to come.

If things work out to plan the following books will be heading to a store near you or available on-line before the year is over:

• The Joy of Joe – with my essay “So Who Is This Joe Fellow You’ve All Been Talking About,” on my recollections of  Action Man.
• Outside In Boldly Goes – which will contain my take on the classic Star Trek episode “Specter of the Gun.”
• Quatermain Adventures Vol. 2 – containing my story “Stones of Blood.”

In the meantime you can find a new page on this site with direct links to some of my existing books for sale on Amazon.

Work is continuing on editing the James Bond Lexicon project and compiling information for the follow-on U.N.C.L.E. Lexicon, and I’ve made a return to movie reviewing in my Editor-at-Large role for RevolutionSF. You can find my thoughts on the recent Suicide Squad movie online HERE.

A lot of my focus over the last few months has been around my business writing with several white-papers under my belt as well as developing regular series of weekly blog posts which you can find HERE. This has lead to a couple of additional opportunities to write a regular monthly piece for a leading industry thought-leadership website as well as an article for another prestigious media industry magazine. More on these as stuff is published over the coming months.

 

 

 

The February Ramble (Only Just…)

I guess I really snuck under the wire to be able to call this the February edition of my newsletter (Hey there may only be a few hours left on the evening of Leap Day, but it is technically still February.)

A definite highlight of this month was the signing we did at the excellent Lit. On Fire used bookstore in Peoria. The signing was held in conjunction with their “open mic” night, with local singer Caron Easley kicking off events. I did a short intro talking about the books I had on sale that night which quickly evolved into an hour or more of questions and discussions about  whole range of topics. There were some great questions and some fascinating conversations. – Oh yeah, we managed to sell a few books too. In fact Jessica Stephenson, the owner of Lit. On Fire, has been a great promoter of local authors and did sterling work in getting the word out about the event and continuing to promote the books afterwards. If you are ever in the Peoria, IL area make sure to stop by and visit her excellent, and growing, bookstore.

Our next event will be a trip to the C2E2 show in Chicago at the end of March – looking forward to what should be a fun weekend of pop-culture goodness.

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In terms of writing projects the focus this month has primarily been on the current (but still unannounced) work-for-hire licensed comics series with two scripts having been completed and turned in.

Rewrites for the James Bond Lexicon and research for the U.N.C.L.E. Lexicon book projects have also been continuing as a background task as we slowly, but surely, make progress on those.

I’ve also agreed to contribute an essay for an upcoming book that celebrates the long lasting appeal of the G.I. Joe toys; however I’ll be taking a slightly different approach as I’ll be writing about his cousin from across The Pond – The British version “Action Man,” that recently celebrated it’s 50th anniversary.

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Some of you may have spotted the appearance of a new entry on the list of pages above. I have started to pull together a full list (as far as possible) of all my writing credits over the years. – More on that next month, but if you want to check out how it’s progressing just click on the Bibliography menu item.

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The September Ramble

It’s been a busy couple of months for us in the Super Spy world with progress on both our Lexicon projects.

       Starting off with the good folks at the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement,  the new Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie while not setting the box-office alight, seems to have been enjoyed by those who did see it, and is developing something of a following and an extended run in many theaters. The buzz around teh movie has definitely generated renewed levels of interest in the original TV show and all things U.N.C.L.E. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, we highly recommend repeat viewings. It’s great fun and a wonderful homage to the spirit of the classic sixties spy movies. You can hear my thoughts about the movie on a recent episode of the Earth Station One podcast.

Research on the U.N.C.L.E. Lexicon is going to schedule and we recently passed the 50% mark with over 150 U.N.C.L.E stories watched or read, annotated and notes written up to date.

In other book news we have decided on a slight title change from “The Lexicon Affair” (which was cute for fans of the existing show), to “The U.N.C.L.E. Lexicon” as that will appeal to a broader audience, and it’s how we’ve been referring to the book on various social media channels anyway. – You can follow the book’s progress on Twitter at @UNCLE_Lexicon or on the associated Tumblr account.

       Things are also moving along with the James Bond Lexicon project. We have the copy edited manuscript of the James Bond Lexicon back from publishers. We are now going through editorial notes & planning any updates and rewrites that might be needed. Unfortunately some family medical issues will slow things down over the  next few months so it is very doubtful that the book will be out in time to coincide with the release of  the new Bond movie, SPECTRE, as originally planned. However the delay will give us time to add in some new Bond stories that have been published this year. In the mean time enjoy the build up to Bond’s next screen adventure. – Again you can follow the book’s progress on Twitter at @BondLexicon or on the associated Tumblr account.

COMICS NEWS

NEW COMICS PROJECT – I’m delighted to have been signed on to provide several scripts for a new licensed property comics series from one of the major animation studios. The series won’t be announced until sometime in the first half of 2016 so I can’t say much more yet. More news as and when I can share it.

FORGOTTEN CITY – The second story arc issues (#6-10) are in various stages of production as the Kid Domino team get them ready for uploading to comiXology for digital distribution. I have turned in the script for Issue #11 and have seen the first pas at the page layouts – they are looking great.  The script for Issue #12 is also underway.

Work is also underway on pulling together the first story-arc (issues #1-5) in a trade-paperback for eventual print distribution. In the meantime don’t forget that issues #1 thru 5 are still available as digital downloads at comiXology for just $1.99 each

As a reminder, for more frequent updates, comments, and general observations on life you can follow me on Twitter @alanjporter or on Instagram. For a full list of published work to date check out my website at AlanJPorter.com

The July Ramble at ArmadilloCon

As I write this I’m just a few days away from heading to Austin, Texas for one of my favorite events of the year, ArmadilloCon. “DilloCon” is second longest running science fiction convention in Texas (this year marks its 37th event) , known for its emphasis on literary science fiction. This year will be my seventh time at the event and, as usual, I’ll be participating in panels, doing a reading, and for this year only, rolling out my “History of the Illustrated 007” show.

My full ArmadilloCon schedule is as follows:

Friday 24th

• Nothing specific scheduled but I’ll be hanging out and visiting with friends.

Saturday 25th

• 12:00 Noon  – Signing
• 4:00pm – “The History of the Illustrated 007” presentation.
• 6:00pm – Reading (probably from the latest Allan Quatermain story that I’m currently working on).
• 10:00pm – Panel – Comic Books on TV

Sunday 26th

• 12:00 Noon – Panel – The Year of Back To The Future II
• 2:00pm – Panel – Blogging and Podcasting

As a reminder, for more frequent updates, comments, and general observations on life you can follow me on Twitter @alanjporter or on Instagram. For a full list of published work to date check out my website at AlanJPorter.com

BOOK NEWS

For those who may not have seen the news on my various social media channels, I’m please to announce that the new Asian Pulp anthology from ProSe Press, which features the debut of my new character, the Lotus Ronin, is now on sale.

SHORT STORIES

Feedback on  Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol 7. that includes my story “The Case of the Rotten Corpse,” continues to be very positive.  – Thanks to anyone whose picked up a copy over the last few months

Coming Soon

Rick Ruby: The latest volume of stories featuring 1930s New York based P.I. Rick Ruby is in production. No information on a release date yet.

Allan Quartermain: Stones of Blood: I’m currently still writing new short-story featuring the classic jungle adventurer in a tale that takes him from the streets of London to the battlefields of the First Boer War. More on this one as it develops.

THE LEXICON PROJECTS

James Bond Lexicon: A Guide to the Worlds of 007: The manuscript for our upcoming James Bond Lexicon is with the fine folks at Hasslein Books for copy-editing. If things stick to schedule we are aiming for publication around the end of September or early October.

You can keep up with the latest James Bond news at the book’s tumblr and twitter accounts.

Meanwhile work continues on our  U.N.C.L.E. Lexicon project, “The Lexicon Affair” – look for more updates on this soon.

You can keep up with the latest U.N.C.L.E. project news at the book’s tumblr and twitter accounts.

COMICS

FORGOTTEN CITY – The second story arc issues (#6-10) are in various stages of production as the Kid Domino team get them ready for uploading to comiXology for digital distribution. I have turned in the script for Issue #11.

Work is also underway on pulling together the first story-arc (issues #1-5) in a trade-paperback for eventual print distribution. In the meantime don’t forget that issues #1 thru 5 are still available as digital downloads at comiXology for just $1.99 each

The June Ramble

Oops – seems that I missed posting a May Ramble, but I’m making up for that by posting the June issue a little early.

Over the last few weeks I’ve completed the final edits for the new pulp story featuring my new character the Lotus Ronin. Her debut will feature in the Asian Pulp anthology title due soon from ProSe Press. The cover of which is looking pretty cool.

Convention News:

Happy to announce that I will be making a return to one of my favorite conventions, FenCon, later this year.  FenConXII will be held in Dallas in September. More information is in the link below.

My next convention appearance will be:

• July 24-26 – ArmadilloCon – Austin, TX.
• Sept 25-27 – FenCon – Dallas, TX

For more frequent updates, comments, and general observations on life you can follow me on Twitter @alanjporter or on Instagram. For a full list of published work to date check out my website at AlanJPorter.com

SHORT STORIES

Feedback on  Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol 7. that includes my story “The Case of the Rotten Corpse,” continues to be very positive.  – Thanks to anyone whose picked up a copy over the last few months

Coming Soon

• Rick Ruby: The latest volume of stories featuring 1930s New York based P.I. Rick Ruby is in production. No information on a release date yet.
• Allan Quartermain: Stones of Blood: I’m currently still writing new short-story featuring the classic jungle adventurer in a tale that takes him from the streets of London to the battlefields of the First Boer War. More on this one as it develops.

THE LEXICON PROJECTS

James Bond Lexicon: A Guide to the Worlds of 007: The manuscript for our upcoming James Bond Lexicon is with the fine folks at Hasslein Books for copy-editing. If things stick to schedule we are aiming for publication around the end of September or early October.

You can keep up with the latest James Bond news at the book’s tumblr and twitter accounts.

Meanwhile work continues on our  U.N.C.L.E. Lexicon project, “The Lexicon Affair” – look for more updates on this soon.

You can keep up with the latest U.N.C.L.E. project news at the book’s tumblr and twitter accounts.

COMICS

FORGOTTEN CITY – The second story arc issues (#6-10) are in various stages of production as the Kid Domino team get them ready for uploading to comiXology for digital distribution. I have turned in the script for Issue #11.

Work is also underway on pulling together the first story-arc (issues #1-5) in a trade-paperback for eventual print distribution. In the meantime don’t forget that issues #1 thru 5 are still available as digital downloads at comiXology for just $1.99 each

The April Ramble

Eisner-nominated author sounds good doesn’t it? A few weeks ago I came the closest to that accolade as I’m sure I’ll ever get with the fantastic news that the four volume Comics Through Time encyclopedia project (to which had a small part in penning the entry on uncredited Batman co-creator Bill Finger) has been nominated for a 2015 Eisner Award in the “Best Comics Related Book” category – Congratulations to everyone on the production and publishing team, and all who participated in the project.

Convention News:

Just to confirm that I have to have to pull out of the first Peoria Artist and Comics Expo in May due to family commitments (But it’s for a happy reason – the birth of our grand-daughter is now scheduled on the same weekend) – I wish the organizers all the best for the show.

I had a great time at the Windy City Pulp convention in Chicago, where as well as participating on a fun panel on the future of New Pulp , I was lucky enough to spend time chatting with publishers Ron Frontier (Airship27), and Tommy Hancock (ProSe Press).

My next convention appearance will be:

• July 24-26 – ArmadilloCon – Austin, TX.

For more frequent updates, comments, and general observations on life you can follow me on Twitter @alanjporter or on Instagram. For a full list of published work to date check out my website at AlanJPorter.com

SHORT STORIES

Initial feedback on  Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol 7. that includes my story “The Case of the Rotten Corpse,” has been very positive so far. – Thanks to anyone whose picked up a copy over the last few months

Coming Soon

• Rick Ruby: The latest volume of stories featuring 1930s New York based P.I. Rick Ruby is in production. No information on a release date yet.
• Lotus Ronin: The new Asian Pulp anthology from prose ProSe Press is in production. I’ve done the final copy edits on the debut tale of my new pulp character, The Lotus Ronin, and am waiting for news on a possible publication date.
• Allan Quartermain: Stones of Blood: I’m currently still writing new short-story featuring the classic jungle adventurer in a tale that takes him from the streets of London to the battlefields of the First Boer War. More on this one as it develops.

THE LEXICON PROJECTS

James Bond Lexicon: A Guide to the Worlds of 007: The manuscript for our upcoming James Bond Lexicon has been delivered to the fine folks at Hasslein Books for copy-editing. If things stick to schedule we are aiming for publication around the end of September or early October.

Meanwhile work continues on our  U.N.C.L.E. Lexicon project, “The Lexicon Affair” – look for more updates on this next month.

COMICS

FORGOTTEN CITY – The second story arc issues (#6-10) are in various stages of production as the Kid Domino team get them ready for uploading to comiXology for digital distribution. I have turned in the detailed page-by-page outline for issues #11-15 and I continue to work on the full script for issue #11

Work is also underway on pulling together the first story-arc (issues #1-5) in a trade-paperback for eventual print distribution. In the meantime don’t forget that issues #1 thru 5 are still available as digital downloads at comiXology for just $1.99 each

THE MARCH RAMBLE

Thanks to everyone who liked, commented, or read last month’s initial monthly “Ramble.”.

Convention News:

Sad to report that I have to have to pull out of the first Peoria Artist and Comics Expo in May due to family commitments (But it’s for a happy reason – the birth of our grand-daughter is now scheduled on the same weekend) – I wish the organizers all the best for the show.

I have however added ArmadilloCon in Austin to the list for this year, and I’m looking forward to returning to what has been on of my favorite conventions over that last several years.

The updates appearances list now looks  something like this:

• April 19 – Windy City Pulp – Chicago, IL
• April 20-22 – Content Management Strategies conference – Chicago, IL.
• July 24-26 – ArmadilloCon – Austin, TX.

A Fab Surprise

During a visit to the always fun Twist & Shout music store in Denver this month, I picked up a copy of the updated 2013 BEATLES BIBLIOGRAPHY and was pleasantly surprised to read this on page 375

“Porter, Alan J. – Before They Were Beatles– This is a chronological exploration of the ways in which popular music came to play a serious role in the lives of the young men destined to be Beatles. Porter’s portrayals are thorough and well written and he has the ability to draw his readers into not only a historical, but also geographical exploration. This is an engaging text, written by a genuine Northerner, and it is recommended.”

Cool – Thanks to writers Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis for the shout-out.

For more frequent updates, comments, and general observations on life you can follow me on Twitter @alanjporter or on Instagram. For a full list of published work to date check out my website at AlanJPorter.com

SHORT STORIES

Initial feedback on  Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol 7. that includes my story “The Case of the Rotten Corpse,” has been very positive so far. – Thanks to anyone whose picked up a copy over the last few weeks. – In related news, teh previous volume, Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol. 6, which includes my story “The Case of the Sugar Pearls” has been nominated for a Best Anthology of 2014 award.

Coming Soon

• Rick Ruby: The latest volume of stories featuring 1930s New York based P.I. Rick Ruby is in production. No information on a release date yet.
• Lotus Ronin: The new Asian Pulp anthology from prose ProSe Press is in production. I’ve done the final copy edits on the debut tale of my new pulp character, The Lotus Ronin, and am waiting for news on a possible publication date.
• Allan Quartermain: Stones of Blood: I’m currently still writing new short-story featuring the classic jungle adventurer in a tale that takes him from the streets of London to the battlefields of the First Boer War. More on this one as it develops.

THE LEXICON PROJECTS

James Bond Lexicon: A Guide to the Worlds of 007: The manuscript for our upcoming James Bond Lexicon has been delivered to the fine folks at Hasslein Books for copy-editing. If things stick to schedule we are aiming for publication around the end of September or early October.

This week I received a new batch of illustrations for the book from artist Pat Carbajal – and as usual they are high quality work. Here’s a taster for a few of the items that graced my email inbox a few days ago.

Don’t forget you can keep up with the latest news about the Bond Lexicon and the world of 007 in general at the book’s Tumblr and Twitter accounts

The Lexicon Affair: A Guide to the world of U.N.C.L.E.: Work continues on The Lexicon Affair, with notes and annotations under way for Season Two of The man From U.N.C.L.E. TV shows, and the Entertainment Publishing comics series. While The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. novels and digest magazines have recently been finished.

You can also follow the dedicated Tumblr and Twitter accounts for updates on the U.N.C.L.E. book’s progress as well as the upcoming new Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie.

COMICS

FORGOTTEN CITY – The second story arc issues (#6-10) are in various stages of production as the Kid Domino team get them ready for uploading to comiXology for digital distribution. I have turned in the detailed page-by-page outline for issues #11-15 and am now at work work on the full script for issue #11

Work is also underway on pulling together the first story-arc (issues #1-5) in a trade-paperback for eventual print distribution. In the meantime don’t forget that issues #1 thru 5 are still available as digital downloads at comiXology for just $1.99 each.