Bill McSciFi's Blog

If you happen to be a prestidigitating paraskevidekatriaphobic then today is wrought with horrible magic for you. For the rest of us it’s another day that’s just as good or bad as any other. Today, if you watch the news, you will be assaulted with lists of all the horrible things that have happened on Friday the 13th through the years. The first will be the fall of the Knights Templar at the duplicitous hands of King Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V on Friday the 13th in October of 1307. That one’s a juicy one since it features the only publically recorded curse attributed to God. Jacques de Molay, as he was about to be burned at the stake, claimed that God would strike both Philip and Clement dead for their deeds and, indeed, both men were dead within less than two months.

You will also hear from many noodle headed experts who will claim this is an ancient tradition, some will say dating back to the bible. These people are, using the technical term, deluded morons. Fridays have been bad news for a while, even Chaucer wrote disparagingly about them in his Canterbury Tales back in the 1,400’s. And the number 13 has, for reasons lost in the mists of time, been one to avoid since Babylon reigned supreme in the Middle East. It is even highly likely that Jesus knew about the superstition and selected the number of His apostles to prove the belief baseless. That would fit well with many of His reality based teachings.

But for any reference specific to Friday the 13th you need to be far more modern.

In 1907 an author named Thomas Lawson released a novel called “Friday the 13th.” In it a man uses superstition and greed to con a bunch of people and manipulate the stock market and cause it to crash. It was a popular book at the time and is also the first recorded use of Friday the 13th. So much for ancient and mystical. If you’re over 50, your grandparents could have had a slightly used copy of this book.

They may have even noted the eerie similarities in his book to the real stock market crash of 1929.

Still other featherheads will point to the 1993 study published in the British Medical Journal which compared the number of auto accidents on any given Friday the 6th versus Friday the 13thand said “Friday the 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent. Staying home is recommended.”

Smart people just went “Hey, wait a minute, that research is horribly flawed.” And they are 100% right. When you compare Friday the 13th with other stressful days such as tax day, major holidays and so on, the accident rate falls right into the norm. In other words, events that cause people to stress out also cause them to become distracted and those distractions lead to accidents.

You know that phrase “It’s all in your head?” Well, in this case it’s true.

Just FYI, the word paraskevidekatriaphobic comes from the Greek; Paraskevi means Friday and dekatreis means 13. You can also call the fear of Friday the 13th Friggatriskaidekaphobia in honor of the Norse God Frigga whose name is where the word Friday comes from.

Yeah, a little etymology to brighten your day.

Okay, now for some meaningless fun.

In Spanish speaking countries, people fear Tuesday the Thirteenth or Martes Trece as it is called. The reason is that that was the day that Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire. That tradition does date back hundreds of years and is well documented.

In Italy, home of the Catholic Church and what many believe to be the root of the superstition, the number 13 is considered lucky and the day they avoid is Friday the 17th. So, go figure.

Some folks can’t resist tweaking their noses at superstitions. Black Sabbath released their debut album on Friday the 13th in February of 1970 and they did okay. The 13th book of A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (a/k/a Daniel Handler) was released on Friday, October 13th, 2006 and he’s made goo-gobs (that’s a financial term) of money. And Adventure/Quest World, an online video game featuring the music of one of my faves, Voltaire, features famous guests every Friday the 13th.

Heh.

But, far be it for me to deny you something legitimate to worry about. On April 13, 2029 (a Friday), the asteroid 99942 Apophis (named after an angry Egyptian god) will come so close to the earth that it will be closer to our atmosphere than our man made satellites. If it gets caught in our gravity well it could do damage of apocalyptic proportions.

Or it could just ricochet harmlessly off into space.

I mentioned in my last newsletter how an event in South Africa I was to attend virtually disappeared off the internet with nary a clue as to what happened. It was a shame. I knew some of the other invited guests and had respect for all of them. Well, last week, the host reappeared. He’d had some sort of brew-ha-ha with LinkedIn, and they killed his account. I know some of the details, but the story is his to tell should he decide to do so. In the meantime, he’s got a lot of work to do should he attempt to try this again. I hope he does. It would be exactly the kind of event I could share with the teens at church. Educational, fun, and incredibly diverse.

Today begins The Brittle Riders featured appearance in Kirkus Reviews magazine. I will be listed as an indie author you should know, and will be promoted to thousands of libraries, store chains, and film industry professionals with the tag line, “Densely packed, SF-tinged high fantasy that mildly satirizes the genre.” I can live with that.

In conjunction with that, I have retained a promotion company to piggyback on the Kirkus promotion. The legitimacy of the former should give some weight to the latter and maybe, just maybe, ramp up sales and drive up interest in all the related books. People who read the series have nice things to say. I just want many more people to say nice things.

A brilliant man hosted a party. It was such a good party it culminated in the death of every man, woman, and child on the planet. That story is boring and oft told. This is not that story. This is the story of what happened next.

The Brittle Riders, apocalypses are funny that way.

Also, this October, Hadithi Sambamba Comix will be getting some serious love at the New York Comic Con. Three issues of Legends Parallel and the debut issue of Bob: Sins of the Son will be prominently featured at the Vivid Panel booth. Vivid handles the distribution of numerous titles on the East Coast, and for the NYCC, they want to feature the best of the best. It’s an honor to be chosen, and I know the atomic-powered sales bunnies at Vivid will do us proud.

Speaking of Hadithi Sambamba Comix, today is the founder, Brian Pitts’ birthday. Hoist a cold one in his honor when you can.

Until next time, stay safe and sane. It’s fun having you around.

Life is not all rainbows and unicorns. My, on again / off again, health issues are a good example. While I tend to dismiss them as “everything’s fine” the fact is I’ve been offered last rites twice in the last six months. So, maybe, less braggadocio and more paying attention to doctors is called for. And, since I promised my wife she could die before me, that is what I’m doing. Mind you, I’m in no rush to be single again. I want her to live a long and joyful life. We both had hard lives. Neither of us thought we’d find happiness at our age. And yet here we are.

Sometimes plans don’t work out. These things happen to all of us. But I have to admit, this turn of events has me baffled. I and several other authors had been asked to participate in a three-day seminar to teach writing to students in South Africa. Obviously, this would have been a digital seminar, but it still seemed cool. Graphics were created, schedules made, authors connected and then … nada. The host’s LinkedIn account has been taken down. All social media sites have been scrubbed. It’s like it never existed. Before you ask, none of us had put any money into it. In fact, other than agreeing to do it, we weren’t invested at all. Still and all, it was a strange turn of events.

A couple of months ago, I’d shared how a Japanese animator was interested in The Brittle Riders but felt he needed more background, so he had his assistant translate the trilogy for him. I have no idea what he pays her, but it’s not enough. Anyway, I hadn’t heard a mumbling word for about two months until a few days ago.

He wanted to know how I’d feel if he reset the story in Japan.

I asked how that would work since all of the social constructs I satirize are Western Civilization staples. Japan has never had anything like them. Even their version of capitalism is different. After some back and forth, it turned out he thought those things could be removed and just leave a story about the chimeras having battles, drinking skank, and being sexy.

I wasn’t thrilled but said I’d consider it if the price was right. And that was where we hit a roadblock. He wanted it to be something we developed jointly. I want to buy Kim a new home for Christmas. You can see the problem. The trouble with spec work is I spec to be paid. And I’m not giving up something I slaved over on a whim.

Anyway, I left the door open, but this version of his plan has been laid to rest.

All this being said, there are good things burbling too and I will share them when they get closer to the surface. Until then, stay safe and sane. I like having you around.

Today is the annual celebration of the birth of the most wonderful woman in the world. Some of you with partners of your own may quibble with my description, but I hope you’ll allow me the conceit on this holiest of holy days. I’m not sure what I had planned for the latter days of my life, but unmitigated happiness was nowhere near my list. I could go on and on and on, but I think you get the idea. My life is trebly blessed with her in it.

In unrelated news, the lovely and talented Keyla Damaer tossed a McSciFi Shout Out into her most recent newsletter. She provides a quick peek behind the McSciFi curtain and has a link to my latest book, Stuff About Things. For those unfamiliar with Keyla’s work, she writes ripping space operas, and you can check them out by clicking that link.

In the last newsletter I promised some updates on Azoth Khem, and I shall not disappoint. When you go to the Azoth Khem Website you’ll be greeted by a new menu page. It will make navigating titles easier and give visitors a chance to get familiar with all the new titles now being released. It’s not just McSciFi anymore, although there’s still plenty of that.

I don’t want to belabor things but for those who follow my social media pages, yes, I was in the hospital. My on-again/off-again battle with my kidneys went next level, and they shut completely down. This time, the hospital, where I know too many people by their first names, called in a specialist and did a deep dive into my ongoing woes. Long story short, I feel better than I have in a long time and am now beginning a path of treatments to keep this from ever happening again. Simply put, there will be more McSciFi in your future.

Before I wrap things up, I’m going to do something I rarely do, bitch. I put a lot of work into the presentation kits for The Brittle Riders and Legends Parallel. There are pitch decks, promo videos, scripts, and a variety of related properties designed to give investors and producers a clear idea if what we’re shopping. Moreover, I’m upfront about the target audiences for each project. There is a lot of time and money involved. That doesn’t include the efforts by the related publishing companies and involved artists. However, lately, companies have been requesting and accepting kits, holding on to them for a few months, and then announcing they signed projects that couldn’t be more removed from mine if they tried. One company said they were looking for something like Invincible and then released something that made Care Bears look edgy. They’re wasting the time and resources of creators for no reason I can discern. I don’t mind rejections I’m an author; they come with the trade, but I hate being jerked around. I’ve spoken with a few other creators, and they’ve run into the same thing. None of us know what to do about it. We can’t ignore submission requests, we aren’t Speilbergs, but neither can we keep leading on our partners. You see, every time I submit I must, by contract, notify the relevant publisher. If every notification turns into Care Bears like stuff, they’re not going to believe me when something legit happens.

If someone just wants to check out my projects, I am happy to share. I have done so in the past and see no reason to stop. Hell, if you want to check anything out, just ask. But, if you claim to have a budget and a need for mature content, then please actually have those things.

Until next time, stay safe and sane.

The Brittle Riders was voted the best sci-fi novel of 2022 in the Critters Readers Poll. It then went on to get a stunning review from Kirkus Reviews. Some raw numbers. Kirkus reviews about 10,000 books a year. About ten percent get complete reviews (they won’t publish a negative review upon request). About twenty percent of those remaining get good reviews. I’ve done it twice.

When I found out they wanted The Brittle Riders as part of their fall catalog this year, you know I wanted in. When I discovered the agent was not only a sales rep but a McSciFi fan, my knees turned to Jell-O.

With the Is now dotted and Ts successfully crossed, they will be promoting my book to thousands of librarians, buyers for major chains, film and television producers, all of whom rely on Kirkus to vet the material thoroughly, so they don’t have to.

As one author I know, kind of famous, said, “I use them, the Obamas use them, lots of famous people use them. Chill. You’re in good company.”

“Chill” is not the right word. But I am thrilled.

You can read the review by clicking that link.

Here’s the thing. Knowing that a Kirkus Review was important is not the same as being in their catalog. The number of sci-fi books that make the cut is small, so companies looking for a fresh sci-fi project often turn to Kirkus for suggestions. You see, for them, the work has already been vetted for quality. The full review gives them a better idea of what they’re in for and eliminates a lot of tedious promo materials. They can get right to the meat of the project. I know all this now because more than one company has reached out to me after seeing my post on LinkedIn.

I also have a variety of short stories in international anthologies, more novels than just The Brittle Riders, and I am still involved with several comic book titles.

Next week, I’ll have some exciting news about the wonderful people at Azoth Khem.

Until then, stay safe and sane. I like having you around.

The Brittle Riders was voted the best sci-fi novel of 2022 in the Critters Readers Poll. It then went on to get a stunning review from Kirkus Reviews. Some raw numbers. Kirkus reviews about 10,000 books a year. About ten percent get complete reviews (they won’t publish a negative review upon request). About twenty percent of those remainders get good reviews. I’ve done it twice.

When I found out they wanted The Brittle Riders as part of their fall catalog, you know I wanted in. When I discovered the agent was not only a sales rep but a McSciFi fan, my knees turned to Jell-O.

With the Is now dotted and Ts successfully crossed they will be promoting my book to thousands of librarians, buyers for major chains, film and television producers, all of whom rely on Kirkus to vet the material thoroughly so they don’t have to.

As one author I know, kind of famous, said, “I use them, the Obamas use them, lots of famous people use them. Chill. You’re in good company.”

“Chill” is not the right word. But I am thrilled.

Kirkus’ Brittle Riders Review

Today is the second anniversary of my marriage. Kim has been a blessing in every sense of the word. We met on Facebook and spent over a year getting to know each other. As noted in last week’s newsletter, after I moved to the southside I was close enough for Kim to meet me in person. We did that in September of 2016. We’ve been together ever since.

Now, on to the fun stuff.

The Brittle Riders: Book One (Second Edition) was Voted Best Sci-Fi Novel of 2022 at Critters.org and scored a 92.7% film adaptability rating by the reviewers at Bookscribs.

A brilliant man hosted a party. It was such a good party it culminated in the death of every man, woman, and child on the planet. That story is boring and oft told. This is not that story. This is the story of what happened next.

A very unique tone and world, reminiscent of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY meets a MAGNIFICIENT SEVEN/DIRTY DOZEN – type set up, but with a look, flavor, and lexicon all its own. – Garrick Dion – (producer, Joker, Drive, etc.)

Lord of the Rings meets Tank Girl – S. Shane Thomas.

If David Brin came off a three day tequila bender and dropped acid, he would have written The Brittle Riders. After the death of every man, woman, and child on the planet things get a little weird. Apocalypses are funny that way.

If any of that intrigues you, you can snag a FREE PDF via this link. We’re trying to make this edition a perma free on Kindle, but Amazon likes making money.

In related news, as in I wrote this stuff too, there are two new anthologies out featuring your favorite sci-fi writer. Well, okay, maybe not favorite, but still cool enough to have a newsletter.

Miggy is a toad thumper. On his world that’s the lowest form of life you can be. He ignores that and continues to be happy with his toad thumper wife in their toad thumper church. This is my dark spin on A Day Without a Mexican.

You can read the whole thing in The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination: Journey. If you scroll down you can read the editor’s note on what he thought of the submission.

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!

Twerking for Jesus. What makes human hearts (and other parts) beat faster? For some, it’s other humans. For others, it’s tentacled creatures from beyond time and space. In this frightful Dark collection of Cthulhu mythos-inspired romcom, nineteen stories and poems, part of a duology, we meet Cthulhu’s wife and children, do some gardening with a wife at the end of the world, join a women’s cult, honor the beloved dead, steal cursed furniture, hook up with Nyarlathotep, and get chased by some Dark Young in pursuit of true love. This Dark tome includes many beloved Mythos creatures and a host of new ones.

You can wallow in the epic coolness of it all when you get Necronomi-RomCom: Dark Edition.

And, as always, the Kiwi Kid (pictured below) continues to power rep McSciFi in New Zealand.

I hope you enjoy your freebie and the new releases. I’m proud of all of them. Until next time, stay safe and sane. I like having you around.

July has been developing into a good month for me. It’s the month I got married, and that still makes me smile. It’s a lot of things, all joyous and wonderful. But, before any of them could happen something I rarely talk about had to happen first. So, I’m going to peel back the curtain a little and let you in on a tough moment in my life.

July 2, 2016, eight years ago today, was the worst day of my life. I was living outdoors, homeless, without a job and not many prospects. I’d recently finished a tour of all the fun jails in northern Illinois. Nothing serious, just a cop who wanted to fuck with homeless people, so he did. If you’re planning a vacation I can say Cook County Jail’s guards are humane and the food is tolerable. DuPage’s jail is run by jack booted thugs and the food is an insult to the word food. You can guess which one is the for profit prison system.

I should note, most homeless people are harmless simply because they don’t want to call attention to themselves. I, on the other hand, was (am) large, capable of extreme violence and, at that point, had no fucks to give. You get the idea. I was no longer the fun dude you’d invite for drinks.

I’d also written a comic book called Legends Parallel. The story behind that is long and annoying but, suffice it to say, the guy who’d originally hired me had baskets full of bullshit and no money and the man who salvaged the project saved my life.

You see, on July 2, 2016, at my lowest point, Brian Pitts, who was soon to be the owner of Hadithi Sambamba Comix, and his father Danny reached out a hand and, instead of shoving me to the curb, handed me the keys to an apartment. It was a shithole, but it was indoors, had an address, and meant I could get mail and have an ID. It meant I had a life again. I did not waste this opportunity.

Still, I’d been feral for a while and spent July 3rd wandering and exploring my new neighborhood, South Chicago being slightly different than Logan Square where I’d been surviving. By the end of the day I was sitting in a stranger’s front yard, eating fried chicken, drinking their beer, and trying to explain how my lily white ass ended up on their block. The chicken was delicious and that’s how I ended up becoming friends with Aiesha and her family. You have no idea who that is, so let’s move on.

On July 4th was when everything changed for once and for all. Around noon Danny knocked on my new door and told me, “The family cookout starts in half an hour. Be there.”

As I sat down on a lawn chair munching on burgers, brats, and Bar-B-Q spaghetti (a delicacy my GERD now denies me), it gradually dawned on my slow ass that I now had a family. Something I’d given up hope of ever having. As time went on and I was introduced to more Pitts family members, the more it became clear that if Brian and Danny wanted to adopt this goofy white guy, then they would too. I was invited into homes, broke bread with many people, slept on floors, and laughed as grandchildren grew into wonderful adults.

When I met Kim it became apparent they knew she was a keeper before I did. No matter. They were right. Barely three months after we met Kim left her cushy suburban life and moved in with me. Soon enough, she joined me in breaking bread with new family, learning to love grandchildren we’d never have, and integrating these new life experiences into our own. And, this is key for both of us, these are our experiences and no one could take them away from us.

In the summer of 2017 we got invited to a Pitts’ family cook out in honor of Danny’s birthday. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was the first black cook out Kim had ever attended.

My white readers are all saying, “So what? You toss some burgers on a grill and hope uncle Harold doesn’t get too racist.” But, it’s more than that. A black cook out is a sacred place, where people can set aside their ‘white faces’ and just be themselves.

All in all, things were going smoothly. Kim was enjoying the food and the company, I was laughing with Brian and his cousins, there may have been an off color joke dropped in there somewhere, and everyone was having fun. Then we retired to the garage for the lighting of the cake, and the singing of Happy Birthday. I share this not to  embarrass  my wife, but to give a head’s up to anyone who is given the opportunity to attend a cook out, black people have a different Happy Birthday Anthem. It’s by Stevie Wonder, if you haven’t heard it please click the link to enjoy. Anyway, my poor wife was staring slack jawed as people sang and clapped and danced in celebration of a great man’s birthday.

She knows it by heart now.

And I’m glad. We lost Danny on September 12, 2019. He was an amazing man who loved family, even me, more than anything else. Our last conversation, hours before he passed, was all about his granddaughter and her ballet recital. He even sent me a video. To this day, if I’m feeling blue, I play that video and imagine him smiling.

The pics below are my new family. In the top there’s Brian. me, and my buddy Steve whom I’ve known since 1982. Our lives have wandered in and out and are now firmly in. My wife loves both those mugs almost as much as me. The next pic is me and our new nephew Danat’e. He and Kim have birthdays close together so cake has been shared and will be shared again. The bottom pic is our second kiss as husband and wife.

Some people go to Build a Bear workshops. I built a family. With the help of some incredible people who refused to let me fail. If you haven’t already, go get yourself some of them.

We’ll hop back on the McSciFi train next time. Thanks for reading along