Greetings ! This is my website, where I provide updates on my writing projects. This includes professional work(s) and fan-fiction based on existing franchises.
My house wasn't very Christmas-like, but now the lights are now in place. I've also taken care of the grocery shopping. Sure, I might have to get some (fresh) things later in the week, but no need to do bulk buying.
So with a bit of luck and planning, I'll be able to avoid the stores during the Christmas weekend. Also, I've bought (yesterday) and posted (today) my Christmas cards, so this they have a fighting chance of making it in time.
Speaking of (electronic) mail...I also cleaned my inbox and dealt with (most of the) bills. The last bill should get the chop tomorrow. Other then that, all I need to get a haircut and I am good to go.
(Well, that and I need to keep my Blog/Twitter from sliding back into being forgotten/gathering dust. But this letter is taking care of that.)
It's that time of year that you read your previous blog entries and wonder..."What happened to all those plans I announced in my previous entries ?"
Well, in the case it's that old saying "Life is what happens while your making other plans." Several of my family members moved to the United States (of America) and it was quite the whirlwind.
It is all the "Working Out in the End" phase now, but it took a while to get there. That, and the phase will take a couple of weeks to complete. Moving on to...
My Buddy Rick Clogston
In my 10 September blog, I said that my buddy Rick was coming. He came by in the last week of September. We chatted - the old-fashioned way - had lunch and he sang some songs. He also recorded a video, which I am sure is floatingaround the Internet somewhere. Alas, for thus of you wanting to see yours truly on the web, I successfully dodged the camera.
The thing is, Rick is threatening to visit again in 2023, and this time he would not allow any camera dodging. (Poor viewers, my voice sounds like a male Fran Drescher and when I sing it gets even worse.) And that brings me to...
Picking up the Pieces
So, it's the nearly the end of the year. So Operation "Salvage What You Can." is in full swing. Which is why I am dusting off my blog and Twitter. What is next ? Time will tell. But this is what I have for today.
I know, I know, it's been a while since I've written. To begin with, the pre-Christmas crazy has begun at my day job. I'll save you the boring details, but the result is that I've needed every bit of free time I have to recharge.
Which has resulted in my professional writing grinding to a halt. Fortunately, I do have a piece of my fourth August Smith novel written already. So I am going to do some typing, hopefully that will get back into "the zone."
So, what am I going to write when I get there ? Well, I have figured out some pieces of the puzzle. And that brings me to...
Raining Ashes
Cairo - Several weeks ago, a cult and a group of Intelligence Officers played a game of chess with the fate of the world at stake. Thanks to August Smith and April Tanaka, the world survived. But April and August are no longer in Cairo, leaving the locals to deal with the scars of the conflict. Meanwhile, a new threat is rising....
A sequel/spin-off from Chess Games in Cairo, this is the 'mystery novel' I had cooking. I'm still working on the details, but the plan is for this to be the start of a new trilogy of novels. The text above is not the final blurb, which I'll write later. For now, moving on to...
From the Farm to the Sands
An omnibus collecting August and April's first three adventures. It will also include part of my fourth August Smith Novel. The million dollar question is what state will our heroes be in ? Well...I'm not saying. But I can tell you something, namely....
Five Episodes
The title, which is 'Five Episodes.' I'm keeping the details under wraps. But if you want some, Episode 1 is the part I intend to include in From the Farm to the Sands. For the remaining four, you'll simply have to buy the full thing. And...
Somewhere in the future, my American friend Rick is coming over. I've written about him before, he's the one with the band. Speaking of bands.....the Dutch flag has three bands: Red, white and blue. And the US flag also uses those colors. Mixing in the fact that Rick loves music and will be visiting Amsterdam, it gave me the idea for this musical entry. And there was only one song I could think off....
BLUE
I know, I know, Jacques Brel was Belgian. But since he sang Belgian Blues, he gets the blue band. His version is also the original, which is whyI'm going Blue-White-Red. It's one of those renditions where you can feel the passion, even if you don't understand a word of the language. (And the fact that's it in French fits nicely with the Blue-White-Red pattern. Considering what their flag looks like.)
WHITE
Eventually, a Dutch band braved a translation of the song. This is how I first learned of this song. Some would say that this song doesn't exactly paint Amsterdam in the best light. The thing is, Amsterdam isn't exactly the grand port it used to be, with Rotterdam stealing its crown long ago. So, IMHO, this song tells the story of the way Amsterdam was doing the Golden Age, when sails ruled supreme.
RED
Needless to say, this entry cannot be complete without David Bowie's version. Bowie was brave to take on this song. Not only is it about Europe, which might scare some people off, Brel is simple hard to translate. But he pulled it off.
(And after enduring two versions that most English speakers can probably not understand a word of, they deserve to be rewarded with a version that actually makes sense.) So without further ado....
And that's all for today.
Regards,
Ruben A. Hilbers (Commander Nash)
PS. If you hear somebody call Amsterdam "Mokum", that is totally normal. Mokum is the Yiddish word for city/town. (At least, it is in the Netherlands.) And it's become one of the city's nicknames.
Yeah, the weekend is here. The dust is continuing to settle over here, which is finally giving me some time to think. So the plans that were brewing before are now crystalizing into something solid. And without further ado, moving on to....
Stargate Fan Fiction (Nova Roma)
I figure most of the people reading this already know, but for any newbies.....Before the Amazon-MGM deal, I wrote a lot of Stargate fan fiction. My stories were a continuation that finished the story of Stargate: Universe.
After that tale was told, I introduced a new enemy that threatened both the Milky Way and the Pegasus galaxy. (Making life miserable for the SGC and the Atlantis expedition). Meanwhile, the Goa'uld had packed up and moved to a new galaxy, where an Earth outpost led by Colonel Telford had landed the job of stopping their evil plans...
That was the story I was planning to tell when the Amazon-MGM came through. I figured that this meant that a new canon TV/Streaming show would soon appear on our screens. (Wiping all of my stories from existence.) So I pulled the plug and threw away my notes-slash plans. But it's been ages and we've heard nothing, zip, zilch !
So, I figure....well, if Amazon won't do it, I will.....sure, it won't be canon. But it'll be fun. (And as a bonus, it'll keep my Twitter account from getting too dusty.) There is on minor hiccup. Like I said, I threw out my notes. So I'll have to do some homework before I get back to it. In the meantime, the has come to move on to...
Professional Writing
My professional writing has been stuck behind an old-fashioned writer's block. Fortunately, I had already written a large chunk of my next project before I ran into it. And I write my first draft the old fashioned way, with pen and paper. So I have plenty of typing to do, which will hopefully give me the run-up I need to break through the block and get back into the zone.
It's been a while since I've put pen to paper. - Or should I say keyboard to e-mail ? - but here I am again.
After I published Chess Games in Cairo things got kind a weird at my day job. It was that weird part of the year where there wasn't that much work. But because the place is running with a skeleton crew, you still end up working your butt off.
Fortunately, the end of the vacation period is approaching. Which means that everybody is coming back and soon we'll be swamped together as he we head towards the madness that is December. In short, everything is back to normal. Yay !
Star Trek
Meanwhile, at home, I've left Star Trek: Pathfinder and joined Star Trek: Freedom. Things on Pathfinder were really not going well. And Freedom sounded like a nice RPG. So off I went...
Getting started took a lot of time and energy. That and my latest Mass Effect play through was screaming for attention. But now things are settling down and I've found a better balance. Leaving me free time to...
Start Promoting My Book
Alas, promotion is expensive. So I decided to start by updating my LinkedIn page. (Yeah, I know, LinkedIn, who still uses that? But it's free and in my situation I'll take what I can get.) That done, I decided to dust off my blog. And here we are. I've got more plans brewing, but I need to do some homework. So for today, I'm done.
My third novel, Chess Games in Cairo, has been published. It is now available as an E-book and as a paperback novel. If your internet holds together long enough - are you still stranded on that island ? - you should be able to see that I've posted the links already.
(By the way, it's been ages since I've gotten a letter from you. Are you okay ?)
Like the two novels that came before it, this one is an entry in the August Smith series. With this book out the door, so to speak, I'm going to have to cook up something new. That novel is still peculating, but I have already figured out that it will not be an August Smith book.
How are things going on your tropical island ? Any closer to getting back to civilization ? Sorry that I didn't write for a while, but there hasn't been anything to report. The good news is that I am finally dusting off some stuff. Starting with this blog, duh 😜
I also dusted off my Twitter account, which need some love and attention. Killing two birds with one stone, I clipped two YouTube clips and shared them on Twitter. This not only gave my Twitter the love it needed, but removed some of the centimeters of dust on my YouTube page. Speaking of which...
YouTube Page
Besides the two clips, I also reviewed my playlists and found that some of the videos were no longer valid. So I found replacements and made the lists complete again. And between my previous letter and this one, I also updated my list of research videos. But if I really want to make it a thing, I'd have to record videos of my own. Thing is, yours truly is camera shy. So I'm going to have to think about how to do that. Moving on to...
Writing
It's been a rocky couple of weeks, but I've still managed to scrape together time to put a large chunk my next project on paper. As for what it's about....keeping that under wraps. *Insert evil snicker here* I'm also not labeling this blog post with writing, because I'm continuing to try balancing out my post numbers a bit. And...that's all I have for today,
How are things going on your end ? Things have been wonderfully average here. It is easy to complain about the average-ness of your life, but I am cherishing it right now. No dramas, no major problems and no war. How fragile things are in life. Moving on to...
Robservations
I used to write-in to Robert Meyer Burnett and his Robservations show (on YouTube). But I have decided to stop. Mr. Burnett made some changes that made it impossible for me to watch his shows life. Which turned a fun activity into a chore. (Partially because it locked me out of the chat.) It also ruined the Discord chat for me. So I left and wrote Mr. Burnett a letter saying that I was out. Speaking of writing...
Rewriting
I finished the corrections on Chess Games in Cairo. The good news is that they take as didn't long as I expected. The bad news is that they covered only a third of the novel. So now I'm trying to get my editor to give me notes on the rest of it. (I don't have an official editor, just a friend who did me a favor. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll have time to read the rest.)
MGM/Amazon Deal
Meanwhile, it turned out that my decision to stop writing Stargate fan-fiction was indeed well-timed. The MGM/Amazon deal was approved by the EU this week and the Federal Trade Commission led the deadline for acting action lapse. The thing is.....they were missing a member.
This is because his appointment is deadlocked in some committee. So they didn't really have a choice. For once, bureaucracy and political infighting actually worked in favor of a fandom. So I am not complaining. Now all the fans - including yours truly - have to do, is poke Amazon into making new Stargate.
It's been a while since I've written a letter. February has been short, but also stormy. And that has been in more ways then one. The Netherlands was hit by three storms in the early days of the month. Fortunately, my apartment came through in one piece. But the current "storm" unfoldingin the Ukraine is far worse and darker. Which brings me to...
My Day Job
I normally don't bore people with my day job. I pay the rent and other bills with euros earned at Cycloon Post. In the morning, I push paper and my afternoon is spent doing work with the sorting team. First I do set-up and then I pitch in. Anyway, we stopped sending packages to Russia and Ukraine this week. And something tells me that this is just the start of the war leaking in...
Fan Fiction and other writing
Tomorrow, I'll start the Chess Games in Cairo rewrite. Today, I'm going to enjoy some down time playing Mass Effect 3.I'm almost done, so I'm hoping that I should be able to finish it today.
On the fan fiction front, I have finished Stargate: Dark Empire and replaced it by Space: 2029 - Earthbound.
But with the rewrite taking up most on my time, this new project will be on the back burner.
Next Letter
And that's all I have for now. I do have some things in the incubator in the back of my mind. They're not ready to discuss yet. But with a bit of luck, it won't be another month before my next letter/entry is written.
A while back, I told you how Star Trek was in major trouble. Guess what, things are not getting better. So, what has been happening on that front ? Well, here is what I can tell you...
Halo Show
The Halo show has begun putting out trailers and if the show is half as good as the trailer(s), the Star Trek: Discovery is in major trouble. Because Halo is SO going to bury Disco when it comes to ratings and reviews. Speaking of trouble....
Quantum Leap
Peacock is not doing well, so NBC needs a big show. And maybe, just maybe that is why they gave approval for a Quantum Leap reboot. Right now, they have only opened the door for a pilot. But if it gets an season order, that's another competitor for Star Trek. Meanwhile, over at the BBC...
Doctor Who
There is an odd rumor going around that David Tennant - aka, the 10th doctor - is going to come back and become the 14th doctor after Jodie Whitaker leaves. I don't think it's going to happen, but it's the first time in ages that Dr. Who has had a positive buzz going on. Which proves that it can still happen. And if Russell T. Davis plays his cards right, Doctor Who is going to be a serious threat to Trek.
The CW/Discovery+
Circling back to streaming services not doing well, this includes the CW and Discovery+. Discovery+ is Warner and the CW is half Warner-and half CBS. This seems like a problem for the Babylon 5 reboot, but it might not be as bad as you think. Because the B5 reboot is still in development.
And because Warner owns the rights, there is nothing to keep them from selling their shares in the CW and then simply putting B5 on HBO Max instead. (As their new Science Fiction heavy hitter.) They could even use the money from selling the shares to pay for Babylon 5 (and its start-up costs).
Also, if I was pushing the buttons at Warner, I would fold Discovery+ into HBO Max to fatten up its catalogue of shows and take everything successful from the CW, while cancelling Naomi and Batwoman. (Which are both suffering horrible ratings and reviews.)
All in all, with the right manager behind the driving wheel, Babylon 5 is far from out of the picture. What is out of the picture, is....
Star Trek: Picard
After Season 3, Picard is done. They make it sound like this was the plan all along, but I'm not buying it. You see, a while back, Netflix sued Secret Hideout for the right to send them packing after Discovery Season 3. They won the lawsuit and did just that.
So CBS had no other choice but to buyback the right to Discovery and move it to Paramount+ But after they did so, they tried to spin it as if it was part of their plans for Paramount+ But it wasn't. They HAD to do that.
Hence, I don't buy this "It was always planned" bit for a second. I think Amazon Prime followed Netflix's example and send them packing. I think they are replacing Trek by either Mass Effect, (new) Stargate or both (at the same time).
It's been a while, but here we are again. So what I've been up to ? Well, here we go, starting with....
Star Trek
Nothing much happening on that front. I left Pathfinder and I've stopped watching Trek. Speaking of which, Rotten Tomatoes has stopped shielding Star Trek: Discovery and it went from 24 percent to 19. Ouch !
So, moving on to...
Writing Novels
Sorry, folks, but.....that is another front where not much is happening. I had a friend take a critical look at Chess Game in Cairo and he gave me some notes that made it clear that I need to do some (possibly major) rewriting. Alas, my inspiration has been in another place, which is my bridge to...
Stargate: Dark Empire
This is where things have been going strong. Currently, Dark Empire has 20 chapters up for reading. And I have 5 more chapters ready to go. I'm working on Chapter 26 and once that is done, Dark Empire is going to get a major update.
