Bits and Pieces, Vol .2

 

.....Starting with Star Trek: Pathfinder

Alas, things are not going to well for Star Trek: Pathfinder.  An old-fashioned Play-by-E-Mail RPG, this game tells the world about the adventures of the USS Pathfinder: A Vesta-class equipped with transwarp drive zipping around the Milky Way Galaxy in 2404. 

Alas, the amount of post/e-mails was not spectacular and I only have an X-amount of time and creativity to go around. So, after some serious consideration, I decided to quit. And with that, moving on to....

Blog Updates

To begin with, I changed the skin of the Blog to give things a stir. I've also changed the Battlestar Xanthi link so it doesn't just link to the Xanthi stories, but all of my Fanfiction.net work. Speaking of which, I had an NCIS story that was just not happening. So I deleted it. (I'll also have to give my Stargate: Nova Roma blog/site an overhaul some day. But not today.)

So if not NCIS...

....what am I working on ? Besides August novel #3, I'm also trying to rescue my second Space: 2029 episode (Earthbound) from the same fate as my NCIS story. And yes, that means I'm going to kill off Sean Bean (aka Commissioner Simmons) <G> Okay, not really, since it's just a (fan-fiction) story. 

And that's all I have for today,

Ruben Hilbers

Shameless Self-Promotion, Vol #2....

 ...Well, sort of. (Because I'm going to promote my family and friends instead)

When I began writing this, I vaguely remembered writing a post called Shameless Promotion once. So I did a search and found that I had indeed done so. So this because Volume 2. Well, sort of...

Because Ruben's Unwritten Rule NR. 1 is....."Never, ever, say you're a good writer." And never, ever PRESUME it either. Or as we Dutch say it..."Act normal, that's crazy enough." Don't toot your own horn. Because if you do, you're an arrogant schmuck. Case in Point...

Harry Mullisch

...the only writer I know to do that, was Harry Mullisch. And he was IMHO an arrogant schmuck. Why his books are still required reading in school, is beyond me. Reading Harry Mullisch sucks the run out reading like a Wraith Queen sucks the life out of the average Pegasus Galaxy native. So, let's quickly move on to the people I will be promoting. Starting with the...

Dutch Only Titles

Sorry, English people, these books are only available in Dutch. So, maybe press that fast forward button. Or not... ☺Up first....I am not the first Hilbers in my family to write a book. 

My grandfather Arie was a Vicar and wrote two theological books. "Bijbel and Arbeid." (The Bible and Work -1957) and "Een Goddelijk Beroep" (Divine Work -1962)  He passed back in 1990. But he's books are still out there. And I'll give you one guess what the A in Ruben A. Hilbers stands for. Anyway, moving on to....

My sister Rachel Kragt. (That's her married name) Rachel was in a musical called Vet! (Fat!) Aimed at school children, it was about food - healthy and otherwise - allergies, and even sneaking in a lesson or two about bullying. Alas, it been a couple of years. So I couldn't find a link. And finally...

My uncle Roel Steenbergen wrote a book about my cousin Martijn. "Martijn - Kroniek van een Asperger" (Martijn - Chronicle of an Asperger.) I could say a lot about this book, but in suspect that the translation of the title is telling enough. And it's time to get the English folks back onboard by moving on to...

English Only Titles

...the first English link on the list. Which is not to a book, but a CD. 

Made by my friend Richard Clogston, it is called...They'll Never Shut Us Up Beside leading his band, Richard is also an aspiring novelist. He has finished two novels and is cooking up his third - a sci-fi novel - right now. His novels haven't been published yet, but he's working on it. Updates as they occur.

I'm also pretty sure that Ann Montague has a novel out there. Alas, I couldn't find it. So you will have to settle for a link to her LinkedIn page. To wrap this up, I want to say that I met both Richard and Ann playing Star Trek: Pathfinder, a Star Trek Play-by E-mail RPG. 

And that's all I have for tonight,

Ruben A. Hilbers

Slowly Writing the Endgame

 Hello World,

I know it's been a while since I've posted. But in this case, it's actually a good thing. For that last couple of weeks I've been hard at work on Chess Games in Cairo. Which hasn't left me any time to work on the blog. So - like I said - a good thing. 

And when I did a recent page count, I discovered that I'm pretty close to the number of pages I wanted. This means that I'm down to writing the endgame of this chess game. Which means that I'm slowly approaching the editing process. But that's a headache for another time. 😜

What I do want to point out, is that Chess Games in Cairo is the working title. And that it'll probably get the chop. Buried Secrets spent the bulk of the writing process under the title Bullhorn. I've also begun looking for a picture for the cover. Anyhoo....

Shameless Self-Promotion

So I was watching a YouTube by Robert Meyer Burnett. Which inspired me to write him a letter about why I thought Star Trek: Discovery was and still is a bad show. That letter included a big excerpt from A Guy, Two Girls and a Serial Killer. And Mr. Burnett actually read it out loud ! And I want to share it with you all. So here's the link....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8G7v1q7wTE

And that's all, folks...

Regards,

Ruben Hilbers

What do you mean....

 I have to much free time on my hands ? 

All I did was connect three universes....

Edit/Update: 

Okay, so this blog entry was kinda short. And I had a small update, which is figured was too small for a separate entry of it's own. So I decided to kill two birds with one stone and glue it onto her. Anyway, here we go...

Chess Games In Cairo

So, this project was frozen solid for months. But last Sunday, I spent a day working on the story and finally managed to get some traction again. And today, I've done some basic plotting of scenes. So, tomorrow, I'm going work on turning that skeleton into an actual chunk of story. 

When that it is done, I'll still have to type said chunk into the computer file. (Call me old-fashioned, but I believe writing should be done with pen-and-paper first.) Anyway, forward motion ! Yay !

Ruben A. Hilbers

Starting the New Year....

 ....With Bits and Pieces

Happy New Year Everybody ! 

Hopefully, this year will see things slowly morphing back to normal. (Or close to normal.) 

Meanwhile, I've been backing some stuff up. You see, this is not my only blog. I have another blog where I have a back-up for my Stargate Universe fan-fiction story. Fanfiction.net is a great site, but servers can crash. And the blog allows me to post some notes that Fanfiction.net doesn't. The problem was that said blog was missing a chunk of the story. But now it's all caught up until the end.

On the new story front, the first chapter of Space 2029 - Earthbound is up. Space 2029 is a re-imaging of Space: 1999 in the vein of Ronald D. Moore's re-imaging of Battlestar Galactica. Which brings me to my next subject...namely, this....

https://trekmovie.com/2014/07/29/ron-moore-ponders-possible-future-star-trek-tv-series-recalls-trek-experiences-more-in-reddit-ama/

If you scroll all the way to be bottom, you will see that Mr. Moore wanted to redo Space: 1999, but didn't know how to do it. As for me...

Well, I have an idea. (And a script that can be found at Fanfiction.net as Space 2029 - Breakaway.) But I'm not Ronald D. Moore, I have zero connections in Hollywood. I'm just a Dutch wannabee, who wrote two novels. But I figure that the worst that can happen, is that nothing happens. So I'm going to see if I can poke the bear.

Finally, things over at Star Trek: Pathfinder are looking up again. We ended up with 21 posts in December. We've had busier months, but I'm not complaining. Anyway, that's it for today.

Ruben A. Hilbers

Madness, Space and LinkedIn.....

 ....thrown together.

(Because otherwise this would be a really short blog)

Hello world,

So......I'm updating this blog and getting my brain away from my day job. Because, well...

I'll spare you the boring details, but my day job is the mail/post business. And with Christmas coming up, the craze has REALLY hit home. And with another four working days to go, I really needed to get away from work. And with all this insanity going on, there hasn't been much energy to spare for my writing. But it is not all bad news, because....

There's Space: 2029 and other writings

Episode 1 - Breakaway is done. Further more, the first chapter on Episode 2 - Earthbound - is on Fanfiction.net. On another front, the writing rate of the Star Trek RPG I'm a member off - and tells the adventures of the USS Pathfinder and her crew - had tanked. 

October was a utter disaster with only one mail....November was a slight improvement with four mails and this month has seen ten mails so far. And I get the sense that there are a few left in the pipeline. So, we're on our way to recovery. Yay !

And moving on to...

LinkedIn

...where my profile page has been gathering dust for quite a while now. How come ? Because, frankly, I don't use it. So why do I have it ? It's not like I'm looking for new job. And even if I was, using LinkedIn for that is iffy. So to answer the question. "To look like a professional." And it was nice, free way to increase my internet footprint. 

So, after this blog is done, I am going to update it. Maybe try to knock out an article. And with that, I'll stop booooooriiing all of you. I know, my blog isn't big, spectacular or exciting, just....average and tiny bit dull. But that's life for most people, especially in these Covid-times. On the bright side, that gives me time to continue watching Space 1999 and my ER Season 1 rewatch. Laters !

Ruben A. Hilbers

Dusting this puppy off....

 ...after several months of inactivity

 To begin with.....

 

TRUMP

 

Sanity and loyalty have prevailed in the US. Donald Trump can deny it until he's blue in the face, but he LOST the election and that is that. He's been losing one legal case after the other, simply because all this fraud claim are bogus. 

And that is probably just the beginning of his (legal) troubles. Before he was elected, Trump was at the receiving end of a ton of accusations. Soon, he will no longer have the White House to shield him from these and he will have to deal with them. Sucks to be him. Anyhoo, moving on to....

STARGATE UNIVERSE AND SPACE: 2029

My fan fiction continuation of Stargate Universe is done. And nope....I am not saying what the signal hidden in Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation means. You'll just have to go and read it on Fanfiction.net. As for what is now swallowing up my time....

 

Space 2029 is a reimaging of Space: 1999. I'm not going to redo the whole show, just the pilot - Breakaway - and the first regular episode - Earthbound - with each being an entry/story in the Fanfiction.net database. 

As an experiment, I'm began writing Breakaway in a different format as usual. Instead of using the Play-by E-Mail (RPG) format that I usually use, it is written as a television script. Which IMHO is REALLY  annoying. So for Earthbound, I am going to back to the PbEM format. So, why finish Breakaway in the television format ? Because I'm seriously considering sending it...somewhere, to somebody....

 

(I haven't figured out where/to who that would be, so stay tuned for that....) I figure that the worst (and most likely) thing that could/will happen, is that it ends in somebody's paper shredder. Finally, there is....

Space 2029 Casting

Scarlett Johansson as Commander Joan Koenig

Why a female Commander Koenig ? Simple, I heard behind the scenes stories that Martin Landau was an enormous pain-in-the ass during the making of Space: 1999. The dude had a HUGE EGO. So I was looking for somebody who was the polar opposite of that. And while I was brewing up the idea of Space: 2029 I saw an interview with Scarlett Johansson. Which made me think....yep, that's the kind of actress this project needs.

George Clooney as Captain Alan Carter

Ian McKellen as Doctor Victor Bergman

Hello, we're talking George Clooney and Ian McKellen here. Enough said. And finally....

Sean Bean as Commissioner Simmons

Have a character that you are going kill off ? Maybe in some gruesome fashion ? At or near the start of the series ? Cast Sean Bean. Who else are you going to cast ? And....

 

...That's all I have for now,

Ruben Hilbers