First the McFun stuff. Yesterday marked my first one-on-one meeting with a big time Hollywood film producer. No, they weren’t Steven Spielberg. But, who is when you think about it? Nevertheless, they’ve been making films people have liked, and given awards to, for their entire career.

If you’ve been playing along you know we discussed The Brittle Riders. While previous meetings have focused on how to package this behemoth in a way that would be palatable to mere mortals, this one was more specific in scope.

The conversation was completely organic, but I have summarized the talking points below. There was no checklist.

1) Can it be made?
2) Subset: Should it?
3) If so; should it be made into a movie, TV series, or something else?
4) If something else, such as animation, what sophistication level would be required to make it work?
5) No matter the media, what parts of it would make the best pilot, if there was interest?
6) What ancillary media would dovetail with any project? Specifically mentioned were video games, board games, licensed materials such as lunch boxes, or clothing, (Geldish bikinis?), and so much more my tiny brain bent.
7) Are there any elements of the book which could be directly turned into ancillary media as is? (Readers know the answer is HELL TO THE YEAH MUTHA FUKKAS!!!!!)
8) TI-ZAM Byotches!! … okay, I’ll stop now.
9) Are there any other existing properties that could be tied into this universe?

As you can probably guess, the conversation was far reaching. That said, it also just skimmed the surface. We didn’t spend more than a couple of minutes on each item. The rest of the conversation was filling in resumés, getting to know each other, and learning about the nuances that make up the story. The whole idea was to put someone smart and experienced in front of this and see if there was a reason to move forward. If not, we all walk away friends before money and time become elements of litigation.

Don’t waste none, don’t get sued none.So far, we’re moving forward.

WHEW!That means more meetings, more detailed talks, more copies of The Brittle Riders sprinkled on interested parties, hopefully they have insurance since the hard copies are over three pounds each, and then we can start looking around to see if anyone wants to work with us or just issue restraining orders.

I’m kidding about the restraining orders, but not about the amount of work that needs to be done. We have an uphill battle. There are companies that will not accept anything less than a best seller when it comes to creating a property based on books.

There are others that only accept family fare.Just as we had to whittle down the list of producers who might speak to me and cross check it with a list of those who interested me when it came to being spoken to, so too will we need to edit the list of available companies down to those who are worth our time pitching and whose time we won’t waste in doing so.

However, just because we have our work cut out for us doesn’t mean its work not worth doing. There’s someone for everyone. We just have to find them.

Now, to the McAnnoyances. Someone hacked my Instagram account on Sunday. While I caught it as it was happening, and stopped it in under thirty seconds, the damage was done.

Ads had been placed featuring my ugly mug selling bit coin and cash app scams, and my Instagram page had been deleted. Not only was that done out of spite, it also hides the tracks of the hacker.

While starting a new page was, and is, easy, I’m kind of miffed at the loss of symmetry. For the last five or more years I’ve listed every social media site as @BillMcSciFi. Now, thanks to needing to synch with Facebook, Instagram is BigBadBillMcSciFi. It’s fun, but not the same.

Please follow my new Instagram page. Until next week, stay safe and sane.