Random thoughts...

[Sock Monkey]

So, I'll post this here because only fellow collectors truly know of what I speak.

The sting of collecting defeat has been rough this last week. Camelot posted that they had a copy of Centipede's edition of KOKO by Peter Straub. Unfortunately their price of $1250 is way out of my price range, but it got me thinking that I need to fill this particular hole in my collection. I was perusing an eBay seller's listing and checked their sold auctions and they just sold one that day for $250! While I was bummed about missing KOKO, I soothed the pain by telling myself it sold before I even knew it was listed, and that helped a bit.

Now the other night, I was on ABEbooks and a seller had listed a near fine copy of the Algernon Blackwood volume of Centipede's Library of Weird Fiction for $250. This is a fraction of the price I normally see it for and I've been tracking this bad boy down for awhile. I quickly perused the photos making myself take a brief moment to ensure there wasn't anything wrong with the book. Satisfied with the photos, I quickly added the book to my cart and go to check out, already excited about posting pictures of my find on the forum once I got it in hand. My dreams were cut short when I got the dreaded message "Book already sold".

I tried to convey my dismay to my wife, but she merely rolled her eyes and said "they're only books". They may be "only books" but the sting still runs deep...

[Sock Monkey]

William F. Nolan, Co-Author of Logan's Run, Race Car Driver and the Last Of the California Sorcerers has passed away at the age of 93. What a run!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_F._Nolan#Death

Sad to hear of his passing. I need to move up his volume of Masters of the Weird Tale and read it in honor of his memory and his contribution to the genre.

[Martin]

William F. Nolan, Co-Author of Logan's Run, Race Car Driver and the Last Of the California Sorcerers has passed away at the age of 93. What a run!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_F._Nolan#Death

Had not heard that. I may have to dig out and re-read California Sorcery. I have no clue where but he has lived around here for a long time.

[Ben Staad]

Long and wonderful career. May he rest in peace.

William F. Nolan, Co-Author of Logan's Run, Race Car Driver and the Last Of the California Sorcerers has passed away at the age of 93. What a run!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_F._Nolan#Death

[mhatchett]

William F. Nolan, Co-Author of Logan's Run, Race Car Driver and the Last Of the California Sorcerers has passed away at the age of 93. What a run!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_F._Nolan#Death

[RonClinton]

R.I.P. Joe McKinney. He was only 52.

https://www.sacurrent.com/ArtSlut/ar...inney-has-died

I hadn't heard. Man, way too young. I've only read a couple of things of his, but he had a fairly engaging style.

[Ben Staad]

R.I.P. Joe McKinney. He was only 52.

https://www.sacurrent.com/ArtSlut/ar...inney-has-died

[mhatchett]

I just saw that Richard A. Lupoff passed away last year in October. It made me sad. He Introduced me to the world of Edgar rice Burroughs with his fantastic book, Master of Adventure: The Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs. I still have my original Jr High School copy with check marks by all the Burroughs books I managed to collect and read. Late I read his own fiction, especially the Comic Book Killer series. I hope he had a good life.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richar...off#Nonfiction

[JJ123]

Ron, that's a very good point. In my mind, I suppose the conflict would just be getting there, but then again, as I intimated, I wasn't really going to get too far into the science, so that would still be a deficiency on my part (i.e., no conflict if the science is left out). Under the idea of a man/woman going to Mars to die, there could be conflict there, but I'm leaning toward a single man or woman. Maybe there would be an internal conflict with himself? You know, thinking about it, that could make it attractive budget-wise for a film, with above-the-line talent being the most expensive part.

In the end, so far, I probably have half an idea...

[RonClinton]

My random thought: I was thinking that maybe a good idea for a book or novella (if I was to write it, probably would be more like a short novella or short story, as I probably don't have the science chops for this) would be someone (or perhaps a man and woman) is sent to Mars to die. In other words, the technology doesn't really exist to bring the person back, so the goal is to take a volunteer and rocket him/her/(them) off to the planet to gather some video and send back reports to Earth, and maybe talk to classrooms/students, etc. (I really like the idea of the person(s) talking to students because in my rendition of it the students would be bored and sneaking peeks at their phones, etc., in a clear comment on today's society). The reason for doing this would be because a billionaire wanted to see this happen before he died (or it could be a she, certainly, but everyone probably knows who I'm thinking of...or maybe the two/three I'm thinking of, and they're all male...then again, it could be a she based on that famous as of late investor who invents all those ETFs)....and it could also be for non-selfish reasons such as powering the imagination of the world as the moon landings did. In the end, the person pops the cyanide pill that astronauts supposedly have (is that an urban legend?) but gives a speech supposedly on a private line...but a group interferes with that and shares it with the world. (One note: it has to be a healthy person who goes so the stakes are upped, and of course, that would make sense anyway)

So, as I sometimes ask in these parts because I am not as well-read as the majority here...has this been done before? I assume, as usual, that it has, but just curious if anyone happens to know. I probably won't write this out anyway as I have no real connections either in publishing or Hollywood - and that's what I really would see for this as a dream sort of thing, a rights-selling situation for film or episodic - and if I did it probably would just be a short story that basically skips to the suicide speech (thinking about it, maybe it could more realistically be a short film under that condition? Hmmm...that actually gives a little hope). Nevertheless, I sort of saw this in my mind as starring someone like Matt Damon (he obviously came to mind), but I suppose something like this could already be in development somewhere...

While it's not a hardfast rule, most fiction -- especially genre fiction, that would seem to fall under science-fiction or speculative -- requires conflict of some type or degree to drive the narrative...and I don't see any conflict in your synopsis. Protagonist > travels to Mars to explore and die > makes a speech the world hears > dies. But maybe I missed it.

[JJ123]

Thanks Ben for the advice. If it's just that book and it doesn't follow mine, that's pretty cool to hear. I do have to work on writing every day. What I normally do is think in terms of trying to get a couple projects done every year, but that does not translate into writing each day. It's sometimes hard knowing it won't get an audience, so you think what's the value, but I should try to enjoy it for its own sake, especially as I get older.

Thanks again for the reply...

[Ben Staad]

Woot. PP has already started the refund process. The only comment I have is it seems this was covered as an unauthorized transaction. Which appears to mean PP is eating the cost directly and returning the money, to me, out of their own pocket. A line is really blurred as to why this isn't a legal issue. It would seem like the thief or thieves should face criminal charges.

Either way, money is being sent to my bank account, and in turn I will need to send this money directly over to the CC company.

That is some BS!

[Ben Staad]

I say just go ahead and write your story. I would suspect that almost any story or conceptual idea is out there, somewhere, but what really matters is that the authors voice takes that story and makes it their own.

In regards to your specific questions a fairly recent novel called The Martian by Andy Weir tackles space travel to Mars and a movie was developed for this novel starring Matt Damon. This novel does not follow you story line.

I've read a few books on writing, taken a few college courses on writing, and attended writing courses online taught by a writer. They all had a few different techniques, ideas, and their lists of do's and don't. However they all shared the same general consensus that a writer needs to write everyday and that they should never stop writing.

Good luck, my friend.

My random thought: I was thinking that maybe a good idea for a book or novella (if I was to write it, probably would be more like a short novella or short story, as I probably don't have the science chops for this) would be someone (or perhaps a man and woman) is sent to Mars to die. In other words, the technology doesn't really exist to bring the person back, so the goal is to take a volunteer and rocket him/her/(them) off to the planet to gather some video and send back reports to Earth, and maybe talk to classrooms/students, etc. (I really like the idea of the person(s) talking to students because in my rendition of it the students would be bored and sneaking peeks at their phones, etc., in a clear comment on today's society). The reason for doing this would be because a billionaire wanted to see this happen before he died (or it could be a she, certainly, but everyone probably knows who I'm thinking of...or maybe the two/three I'm thinking of, and they're all male...then again, it could be a she based on that famous as of late investor who invents all those ETFs)....and it could also be for non-selfish reasons such as powering the imagination of the world as the moon landings did. In the end, the person pops the cyanide pill that astronauts supposedly have (is that an urban legend?) but gives a speech supposedly on a private line...but a group interferes with that and shares it with the world. (One note: it has to be a healthy person who goes so the stakes are upped, and of course, that would make sense anyway)

So, as I sometimes ask in these parts because I am not as well-read as the majority here...has this been done before? I assume, as usual, that it has, but just curious if anyone happens to know. I probably won't write this out anyway as I have no real connections either in publishing or Hollywood - and that's what I really would see for this as a dream sort of thing, a rights-selling situation for film or episodic - and if I did it probably would just be a short story that basically skips to the suicide speech (thinking about it, maybe it could more realistically be a short film under that condition? Hmmm...that actually gives a little hope). Nevertheless, I sort of saw this in my mind as starring someone like Matt Damon (he obviously came to mind), but I suppose something like this could already be in development somewhere...

[mulleins]

Happy 4th of July.

Happy 4th

[JJ123]

My random thought: I was thinking that maybe a good idea for a book or novella (if I was to write it, probably would be more like a short novella or short story, as I probably don't have the science chops for this) would be someone (or perhaps a man and woman) is sent to Mars to die. In other words, the technology doesn't really exist to bring the person back, so the goal is to take a volunteer and rocket him/her/(them) off to the planet to gather some video and send back reports to Earth, and maybe talk to classrooms/students, etc. (I really like the idea of the person(s) talking to students because in my rendition of it the students would be bored and sneaking peeks at their phones, etc., in a clear comment on today's society). The reason for doing this would be because a billionaire wanted to see this happen before he died (or it could be a she, certainly, but everyone probably knows who I'm thinking of...or maybe the two/three I'm thinking of, and they're all male...then again, it could be a she based on that famous as of late investor who invents all those ETFs)....and it could also be for non-selfish reasons such as powering the imagination of the world as the moon landings did. In the end, the person pops the cyanide pill that astronauts supposedly have (is that an urban legend?) but gives a speech supposedly on a private line...but a group interferes with that and shares it with the world. (One note: it has to be a healthy person who goes so the stakes are upped, and of course, that would make sense anyway)

So, as I sometimes ask in these parts because I am not as well-read as the majority here...has this been done before? I assume, as usual, that it has, but just curious if anyone happens to know. I probably won't write this out anyway as I have no real connections either in publishing or Hollywood - and that's what I really would see for this as a dream sort of thing, a rights-selling situation for film or episodic - and if I did it probably would just be a short story that basically skips to the suicide speech (thinking about it, maybe it could more realistically be a short film under that condition? Hmmm...that actually gives a little hope). Nevertheless, I sort of saw this in my mind as starring someone like Matt Damon (he obviously came to mind), but I suppose something like this could already be in development somewhere...