Bill McCormick's Blog, page 8

McFun with Gmail

Last week I wrote about how I’d somehow run afoul of several major anti-virus programs that ripped links out of my holiday newsletters and made my life a pain in the bupkis. But, after some back and forth things got sorted. So ….. yay team. But, Gmail didn’t follow along. And, support for Gmail comes mostly from other Gmail users. This happened once before, long before my newsletter got to this size, but (GOOD NEWS PEOPLE!) in this case size doesn’t matter. However, if you use Gmail and want to check out a link, just copy https://blogs.billmcscifi.com and paste it into a new tab. I post the newsletters there each week, often before they are sent.

Enough of this nonsense.

While behind the scenes stuff shall continue to remain behind the scenes, I can tell you that The Brittle Riders is on the desks of three different production companies. That knowledge was shared on two blogs, so nothing’s out of the bag here. Now, in the real world, that doesn’t mean a whole lot. No one’s cut any checks, limos laden with champagne continue to not be in front of my apartment, and I haven’t been asked to join the Kardashians for drinks, although an old friend did once get me a phone call with one. She was nice and promised to read one of my books. That was several years ago and I haven’t heard anything more. Even so, it was fun. But, to this sci-fi guy, all of this is some nice, real world, validation for the work I’ve done.

Goptri of the Mists: Kitaab Do came out and people are already asking when the third book will be available. Later this year is the answer. I’m not a machine.

Also, this behind the scenes bit I can share. When I first began writing Goptri of the Mists I had always planned on having two, wildly different but action packed, endings. And it will. However, I hit a certain point in book three where each ending kind of canceled the other, leaving me with no ending, just a permanent pause.

This would not be conducive to happy readers.

So, I did something I normally don’t. I went back and plotted the whole thing and then started writing again. Although, technically, plotting is writing, but you get the idea.

Anyway, the good news is it will get done. And, once foisted on the nice people at Azoth Khem for editing and polishing, that will conclude The Brittle Riders saga. Which, if looked at properly, is still faster than some more famous sagas have gotten finished. Heck, there’s one I’m convinced never will.

Oh well. I’ve got ninety-nine problems but a conclusion ain’t one. Of course, ninety-nine problems is still a lot.

In the meantime, Stuff About Things is out. A collection of short stories, essays, and non-fiction articles, it’s a nice introduction to my squishy brain. Or, as my wife puts it, “It’s the gateway drug to McSciFi.” Hers is catchier.

Until next time, I wish you all nothing but happiness. Stay safe and sane.

McWelcome to the Future and McFree Stuff

I learned something at the end of 2023. I learned that if I stack a series of hyperlinks on top of each other, making an easy to read and use list, certain anti-virus programs will rip all those links out and leave nothing but out of context snatches of text. After some research, and a few angry emails, I found out this feature is popular with large companies. Apparently the cubicle drones waste serious amounts of time clicking every link in every email. I understand the principal but, since my anti-virus does it too, I think a memo should have been in order. So, if you’d like to enjoy all the links you may have missed, just CLICK HERE and have fun.

In a mark your calendars moment, I will be appearing on Central Valley Talk with Mike Briggs at noon (CST) on January 10. This promises to be a fun interview and, bonus, the show has global reach. That means anyone with the Internet can watch and, apparently, many do.

The lovely people over at Azoth Khem Publishing have decided to start your New Year off right. From now until February, you can get the Kindle of Goptri of the Mists: Kitaab Ek for free. That’s right, for the incredible fee of a mere zero Samolians you too can read the first part of the prequel/sequel to The Brittle Riders.

Also, a fun reminder letting you know my story MIGGY (about an alien toad thumper who just wants some respect) is in The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination: Journey. Or, as the cool kids say, Rabbit Hole Vol. 6. I’ve read all the other stories in this anthology and can say this is a well edited and assembled piece of work. If you like weird, well written, sci-fi this is a “must have” for you.

My collection of short stories and essays or, as my wife calls it, “the gateway drug to McSciFi,” Stuff About Things is out and being enjoyed by actual humans.

Here’s what some of them have said about some of the stories you’ll be reading.

Vorbliss
(I)f we accepted “Vorbliss” with its expletives, he would sure as shootin’ show up on my doorstep with a pot of bubbling tar in one hand and a bale of freshly-plucked feathers in the other. – Don Webb – Bewildering Stories

A Letter from an Editor
Overall, his “Letter” is a magnificent parody of the world’s ugliest trends (addiction to video games, offshoring). Tell him that he can write to me any time and that his work is brilliant. I love it, love it, LOVE IT!!! – Marina S.

The Writer’s Stuff
It would be a fine addition to “The F**kening”. Bouncing it boobily to the inbox. – Margret Treiber

And the Beat Goes Phut
After hundreds of years, all DJ gigs are the same. Minus the death of all things. – D.J. Russ Harris

14 Frogs
For the first time in my life, shit makes sense. – Carlos Rodriguez

Tuesday
No matter how odd the rituals, it’s reassuring to know love spans the stars. – Matilda Weatherspoon

Ever since 2016, when the first iteration of The Brittle Riders came out, this has been a fascinating journey. I’ve met so many cool people, had my impostor syndrome ratcheted down to “maybe I can belong some day,” and used the elements in my squishy brain to convince a beautiful woman to marry me. Being an author isn’t for everyone, but I like how it looks on me.

In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, but never in want.

Happy New Year!

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McSciFi’s McHoliday Store

A few people reached out wanting to know if I could be persuaded to send autographed copies of my stuff. The answer is a resounding yes. However, I only deliver to the continental United States. But, the links for individual titles can be delivered internationally, sans autographs, via Amazon and others, either electronically or as a paperback.

I will note that I will not be getting any of my stock replenished before the holidays. So, it’s first come, first serve, and then off to Holiday-Land we go. This year, for the first time, my wife and I will be holidaying by ourselves. No family, no muss, just her and I enjoying each other’s company. We are truly looking forward to it.

As always, thanks for all your support. Allow me to wish you and yours a safe and festive holiday season and I’ll see you in January.

Autographed Copies
Wearable Gear
Anthologies
The Brittle Riders
Goptri of the Mists
Hadithi Sambamba Comix Store (digital)

Happy McBird Day

As we head into the holiday season here in America, I’d like to thank you for your continued support. I would be nowhere without you. One great way of showing gratitude is sharing, and that’s what I’ll do here. Each of these authors has used their platforms to promote all the other authors in the anthology. So, I’d like to use mine to introduce you to them. You can dive right in and just purchase the anthology by clicking on the title, a great holiday gift, or you can click on the individual titles to get a preview of each story and some background on the author. Either way, I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

Rabbit Hole Vol 6 Authors

Alice Baburek’s ‘The Time Keeper‘
Bill McCormick’s ‘Miggy‘
Brian R. Quinn’s ‘The Fully Realized Likeness of Alfred K. Friedman‘
Denice Penrose’s Building Castles in the Sky
Fran Tabor’s ‘The Greatest Danger‘
H. Donovan Lyòn’s ‘Bruja’
James Dorr’s Marcie
James Rumpel’s Climbing the Intergalactic Ladder
James Rumpel’s The Power Gem of Ortraz
Jane Frankel’s Sadie
J.W. Wood’s ‘Goznym: Leyla‘
Leslie Muzingo’s Emerald Eyes
Michael Pudney’s ‘Artificiality
Pete Barnstrom’s ‘Drive, She Said‘
Rick DeRobertis’ ‘The Saga of McKADE the Sailor‘
Susan R. Morritt’s ‘The Cherry Tree‘
Tom Wolosz’s ‘OUROBOROS
Tom Wolosz’s ‘Rufus‘

Until next year, I wish you peace, happiness, good health, and success in all you do.

If you need some McSciFi for your holiday gift bag, the links below will hook you up.

The Brittle Riders
Goptri of the Mists
Hadithi Sambamba Comix Store (digital)
Autographed Copies
Hear Bill Sing in the 80s

The Flesh Was McPressed

As promised, or threatened depending on your point of view, I went out in public and peopled. I’ll go into details in a bit, but this gives me a chance to do something I missed; welcome new subscribers. If you’d like to catch up on any previous newsletters, just click the magic link to be transported to a land of miracles and wonders. Well, it’s a miracle I’m still alive and many people wonder what’s wrong with me.

Nevertheless, welcome one and all.

Last Wednesday, my lovely wife and I toddled down to Kankakee to the Limestone Library. The library is located in a section of the city that appears to be where serial killers hide the bodies. Still, a small but enthusiastic crowd got to hear me read chapters from books one and three of The Brittle Riders, ask questions, sample cookies, and have a great time. The event was put together by Karyn Bowman and was open to the public. All in all it was well received and I’d certainly do it again given the opportunity.

Then, on Friday, my bubbly bride and I headed out to the Doubletree Hotel in Oak Brook. My mom always used to say, “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” in that vein, let’s talk about Windycon!

Celebrating its forty-ninth year as a leading science fiction and fantasy convention, this year found them in a new location and facing the challenges that all new things present. Still, they’re a seasoned bunch and the con ran smoothly. Attendance was down a little this year, probably due to the new location, but the attendees there were all in on everything. There were wonderful cosplays, vendors from all walks of life with varying interests, and enough diversity from the writers as to have something for everyone.

This is a con that has a near familial feel among the vendors. People are there to help. It seems it’s impossible not to make a new friend or twelve when you’re there.

Sadly, due to my stupid arthritis, I was in too much pain to take pics. My wife, when she was there, did snap a couple, and some people took pics of us. Why they did that is a mystery, but there now exist images of me I’ll never see. Which is fine, if weird.

Nevertheless, a time was had by all and we will be doing it again.

Until next week, stay safe, sand, and occasionally bathed.

Dew Ewe Wanna McMeet Me?

Subject line courtesy of Spell Check.

Before we press any flesh, I thought you would enjoy learning that Hadithi Sambamba Comix has a new store up and it has all the cool comics we’ve talked about. One thing to note, the store uses hard sized graphics and those tend to die on cell phones. It’s best to open it on a tablet, or larger, device. Trust me, it’s worth the effort. When you place an order you’ll immediately be sent a link to a PDF you can download.

Oh, yeah, don’t read print quality comics on cell phones either. Besides being nearly impossible to do, it’s insulting. It’s akin to using the Mona Lisa as a bath mat.

Also, on the good news front, my story, MIGGY, about an alien toad thumper (it’ll make sense when you read it), is out now in The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey. The cool kids, like you, call it Rabbit Hole Vol. VI. If you click that last link you’ll be treated to a brief interview with me, a sample of the story, and enough awesome sauce to raise your street cred by proxy.

All right then, let’s get fleshy!

Tomorrow, November 8, 2023, at 6:30 PM, I’ll be appearing at the Limestone Public Library, located at 2701 W. Tower Road, Kankakee, IL 60901. I will be reading excerpts from The Brittle Riders, sharing some fun stories about how I eventually ended up in your inbox, and chatting with any who wish to chat. Now, don’t quote me, but rumor has it I’ll have some awesome wearables and bookmarks for those who are into that sort of thing. I was bummed that the pandemic killed the fantasy and sci-fi conventions in Kankakee, since I always did well there. So, you can imagine how thrilled I was to get this invitation. While I won’t be selling anything I’m pretty sure it will be an enriching experience.

Right on the heels of that, I’ll be at Windycon in the DoubleTree, 1909 Spring Road, Oak Brook, IL. 60523 from Friday, November 10th, through Sunday, November 12th. Doors open at noon on Friday. I’m really geeked for this. I haven’t been to Windycon since 2019 and always did well there. I’m expecting a large crowd of eager sci-fi and comic fans to learn to worship, or at least tolerate, your favorite McSciFi.

As my wife and I ramped up for these appearances, we also began plotting on how we can attend more conventions in a broader geographic area. Some of the cons we loved are no longer functioning or have dramatically altered their target audience. For example, one con I loved has changed their target market to pre-teens. I’m pretty sure I’d end up in jail if I pushed my stuff on young kids. Sure, there are sixteen year olds who like my work, but they’re not the target audience here. It skews really youthful.

Oh well, like my mammy used to say, “When one door slams shut, someone will just push you out a window.

And, on that jovial note, I wish you nothing but happiness and hope to see you soon.

McWin Some, McLose Some

First, the McLosing.

Those of you who follow me on social media know I entered The Brittle Riders into a contest for the best science fiction/fantasy script of 2023 at Stage 32. Long story short, I didn’t win. Hell, I didn’t even place. However, when I went through log lines and other info I could find on the winners, yes – I’m petty enough to do that, I kind of understood. The judges were looking for stuff with broad appeal and, well, no one has accused The Brittle Riders of having that.

If you don’t believe me, just CLICK HERE to check out the “R” Rated tone reel created by Freddy Noriega. Or, hit the “boobtastic” (gotta love my fans) Pitch Book that provides a plot summary with its graphic images.

As always, this stuff was created to impress investors and they watch shit like this on one hundred inch screens. So, make sure you have your biggest screen on, with great sound if you’re watching the tone reel, when you view.

But, apparently, I wasn’t the only person watching the winners list as several producers reached out to me with varying levels of interest. Some asked for one sheets, a few wanted a synopsis, a couple wanted the script, and others demanded the complete investors kit. No one can say yes if they don’t know what’s on the table. That’s why I’m thrilled to share. Since my ultimate goal is to get this made, I’m okay with where I’m at.

Rejections don’t bother me. At this point in my career, losing is more like a necessary stepping stone. My story Breasts in Space was once called a waste of 4,000 words and went on to be renamed George and included in, the internationally distributed, anthology series Just a Minor Malfunction V. The Writer’s Stuff was considered an affront to YA books (it kind of is), but got printed in the globally released (I can use synonyms) anthology The Fuckening. My whimsical tale, Miggy, was called anti-capitalist and an insult to the accepted social order, yet recently got sold (sold = money) to the The Rabbit Hole VI, published by the Writers Co-Op. The fact this is the sixth edition tells you the first five made money and were loved. Twerking for Jesus pissed people off to the point I wondered if they needed to up their meds. Even so, it’s being released in Obsidian Butterfly’s next release Necronomi-Romcom. It’s one of my wife’s favorite love stories, proof that you should pay money to read it once it hits the interwebs and bookstores. I could go on, but I’m guessing you get the point.

On to the McWinning.

Starting this weekend all the titles on Hadithi Sambamba Comix, yes – that’s how it’s spelled, will begin their life in east coast conventions starting with the New York Comic Con. If you go just visit the Vivid Panel Comic Books table at booth 3922. Tell them Bill sent you. They’ll be impressed. On the west coast, the fine folks over at Nerdanatix are already mad pimping Hadithi Sambamba Comix to a grateful world. They already have Legends Parallel #1, Legends Parallel #2, Legends Parallel #3, Legends Parallel #4, Bob Sins of the Son, Svarožič, Alokia the Kaiju Hunter, and Ruh Roh Rangers. You can check out some for free by clicking on the previous Nerdanatix link and then buy as many as you want later.

While Legends Parallel and Ruh Roh Rangers are for more mature readers, due to violence and some nudity, the rest scale younger with the only caveat being that Bob has a few “F” bombs.

Also, after much guh-nashing of teeth and voluminous lamentations, Hadithi’s Store is finally up, running, and open for your business. You hop on by, click a title you want, drop a couple bucks into the PayPal bucket, and prepare to have your email’s inbox filled with coo coo coolness as each PDF arrives. Your life can’t really get any better now. Consume and say thanks.

Yes, people have warned us that some folks might share the PDFs without sending us more money. While that’s not thrilling, it’s also the world we live in. If we can get people hyping our titles now, we can manage technical details later.

One side note, so I never get another email demanding I make industry standard comics phone friendly, don’t read them on your phone. Web Comics, like those created by my pal and all around fun human Zee Bee, are more akin to the comics you grew up on in the Sunday papers. A couple of panels and a punch line. As an aside, visit her site, love her adorable lesbians, and thank me later. We create comics for print. The formatting is different, the amount of pixels used is radically different, and the framing is completely different.

Before you ask, there is no real way to adjust a comic to make it work in both formats. Not without spending stupid amounts of money and time. The flow of the stories in each format is dependent upon image placement. And print and web have radically different demands for that.

Simply put, if this is the worst thing that happens to me, I’m living a blessed life. I hope you all stay safe and sane. Until next time!

Catching Up the McNew Kids

Today seems like the perfect time to step back, take a deep breath, and put all my ducks in a row. The reason it seems like a perfect time is because we have new members from the Readers Judge book club, Love Books Tour, and Stage 32. The latter is a website dedicated to creatives who want to be involved in film, television, or related media industries. If you join you can learn from many posts, lease time with industry professionals to help you with your project, and expand your contact list dramatically. If you’d like to visit my page to get an idea of what it’s like, just CLICK HERE and have fun.

Welcome everyone.

While I will soon be appearing in a couple international anthologies and at speaking events and cons, I’ll focus today on the one project that makes my wife smile in anticipation. Specifically, The Brittle Riders series, project, and journey.

As you’ll note when you click the link, the book has fans. Many have asked when it will be made into a film, not understanding that it’s not realistic for me to call a potential investor and say, “I’m a nice guy, people like my books, give me several million dollars. Please.” And, when this journey really started, there was no one in the industry claiming this would make a good movie or series. Hell, there wasn’t even a cheerleader for a five minute cartoon.

Fortunately, there was a place you could go to get an idea of whether or not your creative efforts are worth other people’s money. The company, now defunct, was called BookScribs. The site was run by  who has moved onto to create some amazing literary aids using AI over at notions.so.

A nice rep Skyped with me and let me know that I would need a sixty percent or better score to be shopped via BookScribs. When you glance down you’ll note my score was ninety-seven point nine two.

Yes, I railed at clouds wondering why I didn’t get one hundred.

That led to a series of meetings that, while none led to financing, taught me tons about the industry I was falling into. I had thought my years in the music business would have prepped me for most of this. I was wrong. Fortunately, I’m the guy who asks directions when lost, and the nice people I’ve met have been more than willing to assist.

Near the end of 2022, thanks to Voyage Media, I ran into , a film producer who’s worked on Joker, Drive, and many others. He liked the idea and even gave me the new pull quote we’re using on the back of the book. You can read it when you review The Brittle Riders link.

One thing that became apparent was, good book or no, we needed more materials than we had and we had no clue how to get them. A patient film producer named Rocky Lang took pity on me and showed me how to build a pitchbook. After some rough bounces, it got done. Just CLICK HERE to take a look. Since it’s a high resolution PDF I would suggest looking at it on a larger screen.

Another thing we needed was a tone reel. Tone reels are industry oriented shorts that use footage from other sources to create a single feel, or tone, so that investors and others will grasp what we’re trying to create. And, let’s be honest, The Brittle Riders is not easy to match with anything out there. I began to understand how hard it would be when the third company that does these things turned me down. Oh, sure, they wished me luck too, but they still turned me down.

Again, Rocky swooped in to save me and introduced me to Freddy Noriega. Not only did Freddy accept the challenge, he created a masterpiece. As with the pitchbook, this is movie-theater quality footage with a great soundtrack. Do yourself a favor and watch it on a big screen with good sound. A minor CONTENT WARNING; like the book the tone reel contains graphic violence and chimeric nudity.

I followed that by writing a script for the pilot and getting people smarter, and more experienced, than me to edit it. While we’re calling it a “pilot” it’s really more of an “introduction to the universe.” The story is so dense, and the world building so detailed, that creating a single episode and hoping people would get it simply proved impossible.

As Garrick said in one of our meetings, “The good news is you’ve created a unique IP. The bad news is you’ve created a unique IP.”

Over the last couple months I’ve had a few meetings and only one, outright, rejection. They were terrified of the budget. Which is fair. Although I’ve met some VFX specialists and they seem to think this could be done for a reasonable amount of money.

I guess this brings you up to date. As always, if you have any questions, just reply to this email. I’ll get back to you within a day. Until next time, stay safe and sane.

Step Inside my McLife

Today’s a nice day to kick back, pop open a cold one, and let you take a careful peek inside my multiverse. For the most part, I’m just like you. I love my significant other, enjoy paint peeling hot sauces, try to turn any conversation into a zombie fueled musical, have sky-dived naked, been arrested for public indecency, and punched a Nazi (those are three separate events), own at least one item of clothing that isn’t black (my wife insists on this one), wrote and sang odd love songs, and did other things that have unclear statutes of limitations that make law enforcement itch no matter what. You know, normal people stuff.

And, as a self-proclaimed normal people, I interact with other normal people and we discuss normal people bits and bobs that all normal people experience and discuss. To be honest, I’m so normal I make Barney Fife look cutting edge.

Which is why I’m going to share, with you – and only you, this little vignette of a Day in the Life of McSciFi.

I had to go in for a simple medical procedure. Since I smoked for almost fifty years, did coke for twenty, and so on and so on, making sure I’m not dying or something seemed wise. Especially since my wife insists I keep living.

That said, the med tech looked familiar. So I asked her if she happened to be friends with another nice lady who also provides me health care. As it turned out, she is. Then I asked if she had ever cosplayed as a succubus.

Quick side note. There was once a Halloween party where costume choices were apparently more difficult than they needed to be, and I suggested this nice human should go as one of the succubi from The Brittle Riders. No, I never thought, not for a minute, she’d do it.

Not only did she go full succubus, five of her friends joined her.

Anyway, the second lady actually had done this perfectly normal thing with the first lady and they’d both had fun. Tequila was involved.

Possibly copious amounts.

The second nice lady quickly realized who I had to be, and also realized I must have seen pics of her topless while she was wearing little more than bat wings. For the record, I have seen the pics but was not given them. Which makes me sad, since I can’t share them, but makes me happy, since everyone gets to keep their jobs.

All that being said, I should like to add you can always feel free to send me pics of you cosplaying any of my characters. You need not be unclothed.

Moving on.

I told her she looked good that way (she truly did) and we both had a laugh at the whimsy of the universe. Eventually, she said after all this she’d probably have to buy my book.

One sale at a time, that’s how I roll.

I feel it’s salient to note that, unrelated to anything in The Brittle Riders universe, Legends Parallel, Issue #4, is being printed as I type and will be presented at the New York Comic Con this October. That is part of a larger Hadithi Sambamba promotion plan that will see their titles, including the ones I wrote, represented at multiple conventions on the East Coast.

As the second pic below shows, Legends Parallel has fun fans too.

I should note that Leslie Tejlor, the artist behind Legends Parallel who created Sabrina’s avatar below, likes to draw sexy avatars of Legends Parallel fans, like he did with Sabrina. In other words, buy some Legends Parallel gear, or get hard copies of the comic, and send in your pics celebrating same (clad or not, depending on your preferences) to see if Leslie can make you a cartoon god or goddess, as it applies to you.

To be clear, unrelated nudes aren’t required or appreciated.

Until next time, stay safe and sane.

Big McFun with the WGA/SAG-AFTRA Strike

As most of you know, the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists are on strike. Money is the main issue, but not the only one. Members are tired of being treated like chattel. They’re tired of seeing their work get “one million streams” and then getting a check for $11.27. With the studios, allegedly led by Netflix, digging in and doubling down, this may last a while.

That being said, studios still need content. You might think they would realize that simple fact and settle with the strikers. You would be tragically wrong, but I can see why you’d think that.

Nope, what they are doing, instead, is what just happened to me.

This nice gentleman, a/k/a sleaze ball, reached out to me with the offer of a lifetime. Long story short, he and his peeps were willing to develop The Brittle Riders and save a ton of money by using non-union cast and crew. Well, gosh, where do I sign?

Dear God, can you imagine a community theater version of this? High quality visual effects done by Chad who has temporary access to his cousin’s copy of Photoshop. Featuring a cast who all recently starred in the Oshkosh production of Brigadoon.

While there was never a moment where I even considered agreeing, I did hear them out.

The staggering level of bullshit was stultifying.

In essence, they were promising that there would be no repercussions. That all the nice people on strike would welcome me with open arms when the strike ends. That, somehow, despite the fact I’d be undercutting even the lowest pay scales, I would be respected.

I come from a union family and know full well that nothing they said is true. Had I gone along with this crap I’d be the proud owner of a shitty movie and a dead career.

At least they didn’t offer to make it a musical.

Well, I dodged that bullet and, by proxy, so did you. Until next time, stay safe and sane.

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