A Resonable Discussion of The Last Jedi - Part 2

            To be fair to Rian Johnson, the major problems with The Last Jedi do not begin with his movie.  They begin with The Force Awakens; or more specifically, JJ Abrams.  Why Abrams is considered a mastermind capable of handling the largest franchises of all time is beyond me.  His breakthrough project Lost has literally the most infamously bad ending in television history.  He built up a mystery for years and abandoned the project so others would be blamed when no answers were revealed.  He then developed Star Trek with unsustainable world building, then abandoned it just when audiences lost interest so others would get the blame.

            He goes to Star Wars and admittedly creates a fun story with likable characters, but it's a repeat of the original with no coherent world building.  It also creates a mess which he once again walked away from, leaving someone else to clean it up.

            For instance, the basic logic of the story of Force Awakens makes no sense.  Luke Skywalker (whose name is always uttered with extreme reverence) has left a map to him which the heroes have to get back to the rebel... I mean "resistance" base.  If they get the plans, they can go find him, but if the bad guys get it, they'll go kill him.  Now, why the hell would Luke make a map to himself that could get in the hands of someone who could come kill him?  Why not just tell his sister, or someone he trusts?

            But the main problem this sets up for the next film is that now they have to explain why Luke has isolated himself on this planet, and why he made a map to be found.  Standard Abrams setting up an impossible to explain situation and leaving it for someone else.  Speaking of which, he has a scene where Maz hands Luke's lightsaber to Fin and literally tells him that the story of how she got it is "for another time."  Never before has Abrams been so blatant in his plan to pass the buck than that line.

            The biggest challenge of all that Abrams has left is how this galaxy even works.  He acknowledges the original trilogy and says it happened 30 years earlier.  But then he sets up a new empire called The First Order and shows the rebellion is still fighting under the name "the resistance."  With such a setup, one needs an explanation as to why that dynamic still exists three decades after the climax of Return of the Jedi.  He makes it even more confusing by saying there is a new republic which is somehow relegated to only one solar system.  This is confusing not only in that a GALACTIC REPUBLIC is only in one star system, but it makes it all the more confounding that the "resistance" is on their side.

            Someone might need to get a dictionary to Mr. Abrams so he understands that a "resistance" is set up to resist the government.  If there's a galactic republic, they're supposed to be fighting that.  If they're fighting for the republic, they're either a government entity, or mercenaries.

            He furthermore created a main character that has started out where characters should end up; already powerful enough to take on and beat the main bad guy.  She can also fly the ship that gets them around, and is adept at using the force.  Dramatically, there's little room for her to grow.  However, Abrams did set up a mystery with her parents, so perhaps they can explore that aspect, and there will be something interesting there.

            There's also a nitpicky thing that I still think is a bit relevant.  Abrams being the hipster that he is, only put in the ships that he liked from the original, and developed no others.  So the resistance has X-wings, and the First Order has tie fighters.  Nothing else has been developed in 30 years, and even the ships that had existed in the other movies, such as Y-wings, B-wings, A-wings, tie interceptors, etc. have no upgrades.  Only the ships Abrams thought were cool got to continue to the next film... with new paint jobs.  Oh, and of course, the Millennium Falcon.  Can't let the new characters have their own identity with a new ship.  Only Abrams' memories shall be allowed here.

            So that's what he handed off to Rian Johnson with the new movie.

A Reasonable Discussion of The Last Jedi - Part 1

            When I went to see The Last Jedi in the theater last December, I was hyped up beyond any other recent Star Wars movie.  It had been reviewed better than any other Star Wars film, and was lauded as better than Empire.  I told my girlfriend I would probably be coming back on cloud 11.  But as it unfolded, I got uncomfortable.  I started wondering what might be wrong with me.  If everyone thought this was so amazing, what was I missing?  I kept trying to make excuses for it; trying to go along with it.  But by the time the film was done, I was just depressed.  Not only had I not enjoyed the movie, knowing what the future held for the franchise, I wasn't interested in anything they had planned for the future.  I had just lost my love for the series.

            This was a big deal to me because I grew up with Star Wars.  The original Star Wars was the second movie I ever saw, (damn you, Benji!)  My first experience telling stories was playing with the action figures; and that literally caused me to become a writer.  Most of all, I always saw untapped potential in Star Wars.  The title alone implies so much.  "Star" - Within a galaxy there are hundreds of millions of stars, around which billions of beings live.  "Wars" - Within any war there are millions of stories, and this is plural, implying many, many more stories.

            My biggest disappointment with The Empire Strikes Back was that it only followed the main characters.  Though in retrospect it was the greatest of the Star Wars movies, I always felt that it could have branched out from there and done what the Marvel universe is now doing.  So when Disney bought the rights to the franchise, I thought they'd do something similar.

            And to be fair, they are; but unfortunately the people they've put in charge of it have turned out to be wanting to go in a direction I simply don't care about.  This was the crossroads where that's happening, where JJ Abrams has been brought back to finish the main storyline, and Rian Johnson is going on to create the new series, while Kathleen Kennedy oversees it.  These are the three people that have proven to be on a path I believe is detrimental to the franchise.

            By the time I got home that night, I was downtrodden.  I truly did not care what happened next.  I never thought that I would actively boycott the next films; I just had no interest.  It was the first time in my life that had happened, and I felt empty.  My girlfriend asked if I was on cloud 11, and I said, "There is going to be a huge backlash over that movie."

            I'm not a film critic.  I usually endeavor to tell my own stories rather than criticize others.  In the case of Star Wars I've been writing my own fan fiction to tell it the way I would  You can find it at:

            But this time my mind kept racing back to it.  For some reason it's really bothered me and I've wanted to speak out.  I didn't for a while partially because it's just not something I do, but also because my prediction of the backlash has been right, and there's been so much vitriol from both sides.  I didn't see how my voice would help.

            I doubt it will help now, (in fact, I'm probably just beating a dead horse,) but it's bothered me long enough that I just need to get it out on paper.  I'm not going to write a diatribe of how bad it is; I wish to be reasonable about it and even point out where it was good.  I also don't want to belittle people who liked it.  If you enjoyed it, that's fine.  In fact, I envy you.  I wish I could have enjoyed this as much as you did.

            This is intended to be a reasonable discussion on The Last Jedi, but bear in mind that there will be more negative than positive.

The Three Villains in Every Relic Worlds Book

I'm usually not one for formulas.  I believe one can paint oneself into a corner that way, or make themselves stale with "good old fashioned storytelling."  I even bristle at the mention of act 1, act 2, act 3, even though that's the basic recipe in all storytelling.  However, some stories benefit from basic tropes; especially those that are supposed to be familiar and fun.  Relic Worlds has a lot of that flavor to it.

As such, in each book I purposely set out some basic formulaic outlines to follow.  One of these elements is the antagonists.  I became inspired when Red Letter Media was analyzing a film, and they brought up the basic villains in Indiana Jones movies.  There's the brains behind it, the muscle or fighter, and the one who represents the society in which they're living.  Beloq is the brains.  The Nazi commander is the muscle or fighter.  (He's sort of more of a leader, but he commands the soldiers who go after Indy.)  And then there's the guy wearing all black who represents what Nazis are all about.  Each of the Indy movies have this combination.

I may be copying a bit close by doing this, but I found that it works for my stories.  I try to keep the connection as widely varied in each book as possible, but having that familiar archetypes of the brains, the brawn, and the one who represents the world they're dealing with has been a great way to keep me focused on the familiar elements of this kind of story that make it work for the ones who want to see it.

Want a free copy of The American Game?

The American Game, the story about a series of baseball games between enemy soldiers during the Civil War, is now an audio book, and I have copies to give away for free.  The only thing I need in return from you is a review on Amazon or Audible.

You can check it out on Audible here: https://adbl.co/2HLs3yR

You can learn more about the book here: https://bit.ly/2J487GA

If you would like a free copy of this audio book, leave a comment below with a way for me to reach you.

My Visit to Shiloh and How Carrie Fisher Led Us to Jack Daniels

My girlfriend Jamie Ball put up a bunch of pictures of our trip to Tennessee. I thought I'd put up a few specifically about one incident that may interest some specific people who know my interest in the Civil War.

In the late '90s, I had the privilege of speaking with author Shelby Foote for a while. We spoke a bit about the craft of writing; about the importance of telling a story rather than just throwing out names and dates. I asked who his favorite general was, and interestingly he said Grant. He pointed out Grant's fascinating personality, and how he is misunderstood as a drunk and a butcher. He pointed out the Vicksburg Campaign as an example of his skills in leadership and strategy.

As we wrapped up, I asked him what battlefield I should visit. I like to joke that he told me to get lost, because he told me to go to Shiloh, to choose any path to walk into the woods. Then, he said I should leave the path and walk deeper into the woods until I don't know where I am. Then I'm exactly where I should be.

Ever since that conversation I have intended to go to Shiloh and follow his advice. I finally got that chance, but it began to rain. Jamie and I had driven across the entire state of Tennessee to get there, (from Chattanooga, another one of Grant's victories,) so we weren't about to give up. We had gotten lost along the way and wound up at the Jack Daniel's distillery, but that wasn't going to count.

We found a path, and waited for a break in the rain. As we wandered down the path, we heard distant roar of thunder in the clouds. We feared being hit by lightning, but yet it was somehow perfect as it resembled the rumbling of cannon. We got to a monument tucked away in some small clearing, and Jamie waited there while I walked into the woods.

I reached a point where I could no longer see a path, and wasn't exactly sure how to get back. So I figured that was it. The thunder was still rolling overhead, and besides that, it was silent, save for a few birds emerging after the rain. I listened for whatever it was I was supposed to gather out there.

I had come to Tennessee to see my dying uncle, but he had passed just before I got there. He was only 60 years old, 14 years older than I am. He was also one of my earliest influences in writing, being a nonfiction author himself. I wrote my very first script when coming back from his wedding in the 1970s. I felt like this had somehow come full circle.

The one thing I felt was the moisture of the air. In Tennessee, after a rainfall, the humidity remains giving a sensation to both body and smell. I closed my eyes and let that moment sink in. The booms continued overhead and I tried to shake the fear of being stricken until I one of the booms was a distant gunshot. Someone was probably hunting, and it added to the historical nostalgia, but I didn't want to be the subject of an accident, so I hurried back.

There was Jamie, wearing a hood whose sharp angles looked like she was hiding horns coming toward me. That's about as much meaning as I'm going to get out of that journey, but it's a journey I had to take, and am glad I did. It had been a perfect time to fulfill the advice I got from one of my literary heroes.

Finally Saw the Bad News Bears

When I was 5 years old I played in Little League and a movie came out about Little League called The Bad News Bears. I obviously wanted to see it, but my parents wisely said I could not until I was old enough.

At 46, I suppose I'm old enough, so I just watched it, and I found something particularly interesting. This was close to the same time of Rocky, and it had the same message which is lacking in so many sports movies. The lead team loses, and the point of the movie is that there are more important things than your petty little game.

My favorite part of the movie was the climax where they are losing the game as a direct result of decisions they made which were better for their lives, even if they caused them to lose the game. It is triumphant, because the characters have learned that what's happening here isn't really all that important.

I never had any interest in seeing Rocky 2 for this very reason. As I understand it, Rocky wins in a rematch against his opponent in the first. This takes away the entire point of the first movie. All these films which advertise themselves as "this boxer's one chance" or "this team's one chance to win" are huge turn-offs to me because, I'm sorry, what happens in a game just isn't as important as what happens in their lives.

It's interesting that several films of the '70s seemed to understand that.

The Audiobook of The American Game is a Dream Come True for Me

I spent nearly 20 years trying to get The American Game made into a movie.  It was a story about a series of baseball games that take place between enemy soldiers during the Civil War.  It seemed like a beautiful story, an with the way people got excited about it when I told them, it seemed like it was a sure thing.

When I finally gave up, I wrote it into a book.  Though I was most proud of the book, I always felt it was a pity that I didn't get to see these characters portrayed on screen.  I didn't ever get to hear their voices.

But that changed when I partnered with Steve White to create the audiobook.  White is an actor who does an amazing array of accents and voices.  I knew as soon as I heard his voice reel that he would be able to bring these characters to life.  And he did.

Over the course of a year, he worked on the audiobook, and now it's available on Audible.  It's so amazing to hear the characters come to life, and the story become a reality.  I love the written word, but this was always meant to be seen and heard.  At least I got one of the two.

You can find The American Game on audiobook now at: https://amzn.to/2IsawuJ

You can learn more about the book at: http://www.bandwagononline.com/The-American-Game.html