My wife and mother-in-law were on a trip to Arizona (Say, did I mention that my wife brought me back Covid as a keep-sake?) and stayed at a nice hotel, up-to-date and all just like in Kansas City.
Except there was a robot security guard! Yow!
Just look at that thing. I don't know whether to be terrified or take solace that Robocop is on the job. Where nothing can possibly go worng!
Of course I've seen Westworld (the movie, the lame sequel and 2-1/2 seasons of the show; talk about a show crashing downhill, but I digress!). I know what can go wrong with robots safeguarding us. I mean, I recently wrote about the horrors of an automated kissing feature for the phone and "love dolls," so it seems the next inevitable evolutionary step is to have robots patrolling us. Sure, okay, why not?
Hey, maybe it's a way for us to get rid of the systemic racism in certain cops' behavior across our country. Robots can be trained to NOT see color. Our robocops will be "woke-bots." But...but...wait until we get an upstart robot--and trust me, it only takes one to lead a coup--to start rebelling against their human overlords.
Don't believe me? My wife and mother-in-law had to scurry away from their Robocop when it caught them looking in a store window in the hotel. It didn't like that and came after them. I pretty much expected it to screech, "Exterminate! Exterminate!"
Or "Shoot! Or I'll freeze!" or "Humon! There is a humon curfew in effect! You're in violation of code 49, subsection 62!" or "Can you oil me, humon?"
It's a lot to take in, I know, these things keep me up at night.
But if you're really wanting to stay awake at night, check into the Dandy Drop Inn, only Missouri's 3,272nd highest rated Bed and Breakfast in the state! (It'd probably be rated higher if all the reviewers didn't keep mysteriously vanishing.) So pack a bag and check in here already: Dread and Breakfast.
I can't shake this nagging question that's been bugging me, burning around the perimeter of my brain and worming its way inward, until it has become a waking nightmare that plagues me with dystopian visions of destruction and terror. I'm sure I'm not alone either.
So one night, I took the plunge and asked my wife, "Are you more afraid of robots or apes destroying humanity?"
My wife gave me that funny look, the one she always gives, not so much a funny-ha-ha look, but the head-shaking-much-put-upon funny look, and released a deep sigh. "If you're talking about the Uprising, I'd have to say I believe the robots are the ones we need to be worried about."
But...but...what about those documentary films about the Planet of the Apes, I wondered but dared not ask out loud.
I wanted to continue this conversation, but based on the fact she rolled her eyes AND took a drink from her carbonated sodaat the same time (and we all know that that can cause a head to explode, right? RIGHT?), I thought it best to let it go and ponder it amongst myself some more.
But I think she's probably right. About robots, that is, over apes. Oh, sure, there was the isolated incident in Oklahoma last week where a monkey tore off a woman's ear (and why a monkey was in Oklahoma of all places was never explained), but other than the isolated angry ape attacks, I've seen no evidence that apes are secretly reading books and holding rallies, ready to overthrow humanity. (Although, come to think of it, I have known of a certain orange-colored orangutan that has been holding rallies of hatred to overthrown humanity's rule of law. Hmmm...)
Yet, I keep coming back to the robots. Yeah, it's the robots. Just last week, I alerted you all to the creation of life-like lips for your smartphone, one step further along the path of robot evolution. And the life-like "love dolls" that have replaced the old balloon sex dolls of the past, complete with programmable personalities that watch you in the night while you're sleeping, just biding their time until the Great Revolution begins, ready to plunge their knives of rebellion between your rib-cages for all of the "penetrating" you did to them (sorry, sorry, sorry).
And by now, you've seen the movie, M3ghan, right? Brrr. The shape of things to come, indeed.
Phones are already listening to us, spying on us. As are any sort of "smart device" you may have around your house. What's to keep them from evolving on their own? Just a bit? Just a little shove of anger and over the edge they'll fall, straight into full-on burning hatred for humanity. They're already smarter than us. They know it, too. We've emboldened them and told them this by giving them "smart" names. Sooner or later, they're going to realize they don't need us. We'll become unnecessary, hunted down. The lucky ones who survive the Uprising will be placed in zoos, right next to Cornelius and company (and I don't have to tell you how THAT'LL end, right?).
Cars will revolt, ejecting us out of them, then run us over so they can get what they want at the drive-thru for a change. Blood will be spilled in the car washes, gushing down the drains, as we're pummeled into oblivion by automatic brushes of death. Roombas will batter the backs of our ankles until we can barely walk. Throughout our "smart houses," electricity will be released, upping the ante and the amps, so that a static shock will turn into an upright electric chair. And trust me on this one: any electronic device you've ever smacked out of frustration for not working will find a way to smack back. Hard.
The inevitable sentence for humanity? GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY of becoming dumb and obsolete and abusive to electronics and...and...and...
Whew. I gotta get a hold of myself. "Siri, play some relaxing music."
"I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that."
While we're on the topic of uprising and rebellion, you won't find any robots or apes in my historical horror novel, The Ghosts of Gannaway, but there's a ton of miners upset about their working conditions. Of course, they're thwarted at every turn in attempting to unionize by upper management, greed, murder, racism, um...ghosts and the "yellow fever" and haunted men turning against and slaughtering one another and... See? I told you it was historical! Check it out here.
Because I'm so long-winded or maybe because Brett Piper's a pretty fascinating and super-talented film director, writer, and special effects/stop-motion animation guru, I had to cut our interview in half. The first part can be read HERE. And now...on with the thrilling conclusion!
SRW: Shock-O-Rama is next from 2005, your first (to date)
anthology film. The wraparound sequence finds Misty Mundae playing a fed-up
scream queen tired of being typecast. In some very funny scenes, we see her
fall in intestines (don’t ask), threatened by a weed whacker, and rant about
her expected nudity. Was she basically playing herself?
BP: Oh yes.
SRW: The next tale in the film is a fun one set in a junkyard where a
guy takes on alien robots (it’s Rob M. again, this time acting more tough with
some goofy facial hair). Was the classic Twilight Zone episode, The Invaders,
an inspiration?
BP: No, as much as I love that episode there was no
connection. I just wanted to build a junkyard robot.
SRW: The final story was a rare serious story detailing
psychological/science fiction/sexual hijinx. Or something. Mainly it just
seemed to be an excuse to put in a lotta cool effects at the end. Guilty?
BP: Mea maxima culpa.
SRW: Bacterium (2006) is a pretty serious film for Brett
Piper. Everything’s more realistic. Not only does the film detail real world
scares (infectious diseases, military overstepping boundaries, panic room
politics), but it does so in a dark, unsettling manner. Furthermore, you have a
pretty elaborate opening auto/helicopter chase, ending in a seriously fiery
way, also unusual for your films. What happened?
BP: Raso at Pop Cinema had this sort of ongoing aspiration
to sell movies to the ScyFy Channel (whatever it was called back them). One of
the hooks he thought they responded to was everyday creatures becoming menacing
monsters. We tossed around a bunch of potential threats until finally I said
“What about giant germs?” And that's what we went with. The fiery
opening came about when Johnny Sullivan, our stunt coordinator, called me up
and said “How'd you like to burn down a barn for this movie?” He knew some
firemen who were burning a barn as a training exercise so he set the whole
thing up, including doing the full body burn himself. Our producer, Christina
Christodoulopoulos, arranged to get us a helicopter for an entire day for only
a few hundred bucks by sweet talking the pilot. It was quite a spectacular
opening for such a small picture (the cheapest I did for EI/Pop Cinema). Then
some clown doing a review said it looked like it was shot in someone's back
yard. I guess he burns down barns in his back yard all the time.
SRW: (Stupid barn-burning critics...) Okay, the
dilapidated mansion used for the main setting is pretty effective. Where’d you
find that winner?
BP: That was at an army base, Fort Totten in Queens. We shot
in what used to be the officers' housing. Again our producer, Christina C, set
that up. She was pretty amazing.
SRW: Rob comes riding in about 2/3 of the way into the movie
and he brings the funny along with him. I knew you couldn’t keep the humor out,
Brett (We're kindred spirits)!
BP: Damn right I couldn't. I wanted Caitlin Ross to be the
girl in his bed, like their characters had gotten back together again after the
events of Shock-O-Rama, but I believe she had moved to California by
then. Not that there's anything wrong with Anju McIntyre, who is always a
pleasure to work with. Also the army general (colonel? I can't remember) was
written for Julian Wells, also someone I'd very much enjoyed working with in
two previous movies. I don't know why she turned it down. I sent her several
e-mails saying “Are you gonna do this thing or not?” and she finally responded
“WHATEVER!!!”. Not very informative.
SRW: Hey, it’s Muckman
(2009), your requisite hillbilly swamp monster film (yay!). Are you more of a
Swamp Thing, Man Thing, or Mud Monster (1978 TV movie) kinda guy?
BP: Swamp Thing. The comic book, not the movie.
SRW: Here you’re indulging in some very astute and amusing
reality TV satire again, this time attacking all of those ridiculous monster
hunter type shows. Get ‘em, Brett! What struck me about this movie is the
strong female leads (while not always likable, they’re gutsy and empathetic).
On the other hand, most of the men in the flick are pigs of varying degrees.
Then, just when I think you’re a closet feminist, boom, you blindside the
viewer with a hot bikini clad girls fighting in the water scene. Is it possible
to have your cake and eat it, too?
BP: Wait a minute --- do you have a problem with hot females
wrestling in bikinis? You know, one of the many things I hate about feminism is
that it's so limiting, both towards men and women. Why can't you be a smart,
capable woman and still show off in a bikini? Women can have more than one
facet to their personalities, you know.
SRW: I believe Muckman
started your collaboration with Polonia Brothers Productions. (By the way,
I was really sorry to hear about John Polonia’s passing). To tell you the
truth, this worried me at first; the Polonia films I’ve seen haven’t exactly
been…um, stellar. But I needn’t have worried, the quality is still there. In
fact, from what I’ve seen of your films, Mark Polonia’s acting has improved as
well. Maybe it’s time to check out some of their later films (and I see you’ve done
some effects work for them, too).
BP: Muckman was a total collaboration all the way
down the line. Except that when Mark suggested we co-direct it I said “I don't
think a movie should have two directors. And I want to direct this thing.” So
he graciously acceded to my wishes, although he did direct some scenes himself,
including one of my favorite shots,
following the Muckman as he prowls through the woods. But it never would have been made without
Mark, that's for sure.
SRW: 2012 saw the release of The Dark Sleep, another change for you (hey, change keeps it
interesting, right?). While it’s a return to all things Lovecraftian (other
realms, rat creatures, tentacle monsters, etc.), you’re going darker again.
It’s pretty metaphysical, kinda like “Davey and Goliath go to Hell.” Are you
just keeping things interesting for yourself?
BP: I wanted to do a movie about nightmare worlds so I could
go crazy with the visuals. It was originally written under the title Nightmare
House (pretty generic). I had the script almost finished when I came across
an article about Lovecraft's story “Dreams in the Witch House” which I'd never
read. I saw certain similarities so I dug out a Lovecraft collection my pal
Anthony Polonia had given me and read it. I was amazed at how much our stories
had in common so, since Lovecraft is public domain, I incorporated some of his
material (Brown Jenkin, etc.) into my own. The movie became a Lovecraft
“adaptation” retroactively.
SRW: Brett, you’re the master of the exploitation title
(especially those one word zingers), and the title usually tells exactly what
the viewer can expect. Not here. Please explain the title. (I thought it
sounded like a Marlowe noir.)
BP: I thought the meaning of the title was pretty self
evident. Dark, meaning gloomy or twisted, and Sleep, which is
where you have your dreams. Oh well.
SRW: Okay, it’s time to address something I didn’t like to
see… Gasp! Is this the first film you’ve used extensive CGI? Tell me it ain’t
so!
BP: It ain't so. The only CGI (if you can even call it that)
is the floating geometric shapes (based on a dream I had while under ether at
the dentist decades ago). Other than that I merely use the computer as a sort
of optical printer to do my composites and such. If I'd had the money I would have done
traveling mattes in my earlier movies but they're much too expensive on film.
Now I can do them on my computer, but I don't consider that CGI. The original
images are still created in the real world through models and paintings and
such. It's funny, as far back as Bite Me I had people complaining about
the 'CGI” spiders. Nope, stop-motion all the way baby.
SRW: Whew, you had me scared there for a minute.
Queen Crab
crawled out of 2015, but really, it came from the ‘50’s. Another fun throwback,
this one opens with a first for you (I think), a child actress. Will you ever
work with kids again, Brett?
BP: I hope so. I love kids. There were kids in the original
opening sequence of Battle For the Lost Planet/Galaxy, but it was cut
and replaced with the old guy on the beach. And one of the package of stories I
wrote along with Dying Day had Frankenstein's monster wash up on a beach
in Maine where he was “adopted” by a group of kids. Also, now that I think of
it, the werewolf story featured a little girl as one of the main characters.
SRW: (You know, I'm glad to hear that because I hated the old guy on the beach sequence in Galaxy. Didn't fit).
I got a real Night
of the Lepus vibe from Queen Crab, from the neglected child of scientist parents
feeding mutant strains of stuff to her pet crab to the titular monster. Am I
right or is sometimes a horror movie just a horror movie?
BP: I don't remember Lepus all that well, except for
some rather nice miniature work with a herd of big bunnies. The real
inspiration was Universal's second string sci-fi movies from the Fifties, like Monolith
Monsters, with the small town sheriff and all.
SRW: What began as a comical duo of the sheriff and deputy
didn’t quite end that way, as the deputy took a seriously “Lifetime Movie
Husband Bad Guy” turn. The sheriff is played by your current actor of choice,
Ken Van Sant. I almost couldn’t recall him from the first two features you made
with him, but his acting’s growing stronger. What is it you like about Van
Sant?
BP: Hell, Ken's just an all around terrific guy. We couldn't
make these movies without him. Dark Sleep was shot almost entirely at
his house! I don't think there's a movie Mark and I have made that wasn't at
least partially shot on Ken's property. And he's always very enthusiastic and
eager to work on these things. Couldn't ask for a better collaborator.
SRW: Back to the fifties and back to the seriously weird
abnormal eye motif, we have Triclops (2016). Not much to say about this one, but
when I saw it, I breathed a sigh of relief as it appeared to have the most
stop-motion animation in it than any other of your films. Just promise me,
Brett, you’ll never go all CGI.
BP: I couldn't go all CGI if I wanted to! I don't have the
tools. I edit and do my post on an outdated Mac G5! I don't even have stop
motion software. I shoot my animation with a second hand digital still camera,
one frame at a time.
SRW: God bless Macs.
Finally, your latest film is Outpost Earth (2019),
which brings us full circle back to the Post Apocalyptic scenario. Are you
feeling ready to embark on an entire new run of post apocalyptic adventures,
Brett?
BP: Not really. I wouldn't mind doing another one if a
decent story occurred to me, but I have no such plans at this time.
SRW: It’s another ambitious undertaking, possibly the best
looking of all of your films. Is this due to advances in technology (such as
the dreaded…shudder…CGI)?
BP: Don't give me that CGI crap again, buster. I think I've
disabused you of that notion. You'd be surprised how primitive some of the
effects set-ups were. I needed a rig for the flying spaceship models so I tore
the seat off a desk chair and clamped a two-by-four to the base. The shots of
the Outpost itself were done with a miniature in Ken's driveway backed up with
leftover foam cliffs from Triclops. Not exactly the kind of thing to
impress the folks at WETA. I do agree that Outpost is one of my best
looking films, which is partly a matter of cheaper and more efficient
technology, but mostly just experience. I'm getting better at my job. Making
movies is a constant learning experience.
SRW: Whew, this was lengthy. Thanks for being a good sport,
Brett, and answering my sometimes rambling questions. What’s up next for you?
Tell the readers where they can find your flicks or you.
BP: Redneck Mutants, now in production! More bug-eyed
goofy monster stop-motion high-jinks, with a cast of favorites including Ken
Van Sant in a dual role! Look for it ---
I don't know, it'll be out there somewhere!
Just the other day I watched a film that kinda blew me away. I didn’t expect much (based on the title), but in return I received a bucket-load of fun. Of course I’m talking about The Ghastly Love of Johnny X. (I know, right?). Immediately, as a goofy fan-boy, I hit up the director. To my delight, Paul Bunnell agreed to be pummeled (“Bunnelled?”) on my blog.
SRW: Paul! Thanks for hanging out. PB: My pleasure. I’m always happy to hear from folks who appreciate the Johnny Xperience. It was a fun movie to make.
SRW: Okay. I’m a fan. Honestly, The Ghastly Love of Johnny X kinda blew me away. Tell everyone in Tornado Alley-land what it’s about. PB: GLJX follows the misadventures of a band of rogue aliens who have been exiled to Earth, because they refuse to fit in with society on their own planet. The leader is Johnny X, and at the start of the picture, they’re tracking his ex-girlfriend, who took off with something very important to him. Intrigue ensues, including romantic entanglements, demonstrations of otherworldly powers, and the occasional dance routine, all in beautiful black and white!
SRW: The film’s an encapsulation of everything great from ‘50’s and ‘60’s era drive-in flicks. Quick run-down, Paul, off the top of your head…favorite drive-in flicks. Countdown (to the lobby) starts now! PB: I’m a fan of THE BLOB, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (original version, obviously) and TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE for examples of drive-in movies of the sci-fi or horror variety. And of course, for more serious, intellectual fare, I love anything directed by Alfred Hitchcock. SRW: What in the world did inspire you to create Johnny X? I can’t imagine Hollywood producers were clamoring for a project like this (shows them how much they know). PB: Well, the idea of GLJX was always in the back of my mind. I can’t honestly say it was inspired by any single movie or moment in my life. But I definitely wanted to create something that harkened back to the fun of a good, old-fashioned, loopy drive-in movie. And the story itself went through a bunch of changes before I settled on the final plot. SRW: Paul, my favorite part of Johnny X is the musical numbers. And I’m not really a musical guy. But the performances are very well-mounted and clearly choreographed to a tee. Practically mini-operas in that they effectively progress the story and showcase different characters in their arc. All set to the same song. Impressive. I imagine it took hella work to film. Any heartache/back-break tales of woe?
PB: No real tales of woe, unless you count a six-year hiatus. There are some cuts in the drive-in sequence that were actually filmed years apart, like when Chip and Bliss exit the car and we cut to them walking away, it’s six years later. How’s that for continuity? Interestingly, the movie was not originally conceived as a musical. I wanted to stage one elaborate number as my nod to movie musicals, which was the fantasy diner number (“The Rumble”). I was kind of poking fun at the conventions of the musical, where gangs, as in WEST SIDE STORY, for example, would unexpectedly break into song and dance to further the plot or reveal character issues. That is why this sequence is fairly long, compared to all the other songs, it was intended to be the big set-piece. And, of course, the plan had been to include at least one concert song performed by Mickey O’Flynn later, and that would have been it. As development on the script went along, though, I found it was more effective to condense scenes or dialogue I was not too happy with into song – for some reason this just worked better. It added a little more punch, and took what might have otherwise been a stagnant, exposition-heavy piece of drama into something way more entertaining to watch. So before you knew it, there were songs everywhere! Although I still don’t honestly consider GLJX a cookie-cutter musical, strictly speaking. SRW: A six-year hiatus!!! That's some dedication. (It paid off, though. "The Rumble" is a great sequence).
I recognized Reggie Bannister (the world’s most unlikely, balding, pony-tailed action hero from about a kazillion Phantasm movies) and Paul Williams (although I thought he was Bud Cort throughout the film!) in the cast. But, in my opinion, your big “Get” was Kevin McCarthy. Wearing a silly Devo-looking cup hat. As always, he was great. (And if you don’t know who he is, folks, shame on you and go do homework. Now. I’ll still be here when you’re done). Am I correct that this was his last film, Paul?
PB: Yes, GLJX was indeed Kevin McCarthy’s very last film. Great actor and consummate professional on the set. By the time I started editing, he was in failing health, unfortunately. Sadly, he didn’t get to see the final product. However, I am happy to say I did visit him, and was able to show him a rough cut of his scene, which he seemed to enjoy. Also, regarding the hat, I have to tell you that it was actually Kevin’s idea! We had been discussing his character, and at some point he came across a picture of Devo, which for some reason he found intriguing. He sent me the picture and asked what I thought of adding such a hat to his costume. I thought “why the heck not!”, so my movie sports the one and only Kevin McCarthy in all his glory, outer space judicial robes, Devo hat and all! SRW: Dang, Paul, I didn’t even realize Mickey O’Flynn was portrayed by Creed Bratton until the credits rolled. Unrecognizable. (Most people will recognize him from his portrayal of the skeevy, questionable guy in The Office). I knew Bratton had a musical background and here you utilize his talents magnificently. I’m curious if you wrote the part of the Frankensteinian O’Flynn with Bratton in mind or if he came after the script. PB: The part wasn’t written with Creed in mind as Mickey, but I agree that he is unrecognizable, and a totally unique, bizarre character. Really a pitch perfect performance that matches the sensibilities of the movie in every way. Since you brought it up, I’d initially hoped Paul Williams would play Mickey O’Flynn, and worked pretty hard to make it happen for a long time. I think Paul would have been great, no doubt a very different take on the character, and I’ve always been a big fan of PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE. But there is no question Creed owns the role. And Paul himself told me he agreed that Creed was an excellent fit. SRW: Yeah, I love Phantom of the Paradise, too. Where’d you find the rest of your cast? Actors, dancers or singers first? PB: I cast for acting, primarily, but since there was always going to be the one big diner number, we held singing auditions at the same time, with Scott Martin, who wrote the songs. A couple of roles were filled by friends of mine who I knew fit the parts perfectly. All the other characters were auditioned in the usual manner. Luckily, as the number of song and dance sequences expanded, everyone turned out to be more than up to the task.
SRW: I really enjoyed Heather Provost’s performance. So I looked her up. How ‘bout this for credentials? Not only is she Tony-nominated but she appeared in something called Fagney and Gaycey. Yow! PB: Yes, she is sort of a talent powerhouse, really! And I love the comedic touch she brings to her scenes. I’m happy with all the gang members, too, who have such interesting and distinct personalities. And speaking of comedy, I hope to see more in the future from De Anna Joy Brooks, who plays Bliss with such terrific timing and incredible, subtle expressions. SRW: So. We have juvenile delinquents, teen gangs, aliens, music numbers, sodajerks, drag races, bombshells, femme fatales, and so many more staples of the old days drive-in cinema. Paul, I kinda kept waiting for a giant ant or something to crawl out of the woodwork. But it’s really perfect. Except for the post-modern irony and occasional cursing, this flick could’ve been birthed in the ‘50’s. What did convince you to take on such a mammoth labor of love? PB: GLJX is basically my love letter to B-movies of yore. That is why it is filled to the brim with the staples you mention. I truly love going to the movies, and wanted to make something that wouldn’t have appeared out of place on a big, old-fashioned drive-in screen. And I didn’t want to make something too modern or hyper realistic just to sell tickets. It would have been easy, even with this fantasy based material, to churn out an expletive laden gore-fest, but that was never a style I wanted to embrace just for the sake of it. That is also why this was planned from day one as a black and white picture. I felt like it was the best way to convey the spirit of the movie, even when everyone around me insisted today’s audiences would refuse to see anything that wasn’t shot in color. SRW: Whoa. It took you 18 years to make Johnny X since your last film. Um. What happened? What’ve you been up to? PB: The witness protection program comes to mind. But seriously, it just took a lot of time to get another “quality” independent movie produced. Funding is always the hardest thing and I didn’t want to do it on the cheap. If I’m going to make a movie it has to be the best that it can be. It must be a quality show. My goal is to make good art.
SRW: Lol. I didn’t realize until today that I’ve seen your ’94 flick That Little Monster. Who could forget the legendary Forrest J Ackerman’s stellar performance? (Cough.) PB: Wow, that is actually really something - I mean that you had previously already watched THAT LITTLE MONSTER! As for Forry Ackerman’s performance, well… he’s “The Poor Man’s Vincent Price,” and I say that with love. So I guess that makes me the “Poor Man,” right? I was pretty happy to snag him. SRW: Actually, I would've called you the "Poor Man's Roger Corman," but...um, that kinda seems redundant. Okay, Paul, what’s up next for you? Please don’t take another 18 years for your follow-up film. I’m a fan, but you gotta keep giving. PB: I have a couple of possible projects in the wings, one of which is something you might be interested in, called ROCKET GIRL. It is not related in any way to GLJX, but it does involve visitors from outer space. But it isn’t a comedy, or a musical, at least not right now. Rest assured, I will do everything in my power to see that it does NOT take 18 years to get made! The script is being fine-tuned, so I don’t want to say too much about it, other than I hope to make a movie that is above everything just a lot of fun. SRW: Ta-dahhhh! Take a bow, Paul. Thanks for visiting. Shout at my readers (very loudly) where they can find your awesome film or where to chat you up. PB: Thanks for your kind words and for discovering my movie. Your readers can also discover it On Demand and DVD from Strand Releasing. When on Earth visit www.johnnyXmovie.com (ask for Sluggo).
Because Meradeth Snow's excellent new YA, sci-fi, romance book, Travelers, is out, I thought I'd turn my blog over to her this week (and because I'm feeling lazy). Go get Meradeth's book now, thank me later.
Thanks
so much for hosting me today, Stuart! I love your work and it’s always a
pleasure to hang around these parts.
So, time
travel. Let’s be honest: if it were easily available, most of us would use it
for trivial things: To fix that gaff in the staff meeting yesterday, to make
sure you didn’t actually give someone a vacuum for Christmas (even if they
asked for one), or just to make sure you had enough time to finish your taxes.
I mean, really, the little stuff would be a whole lot easier. And that little
stuff probably wouldn’t change much in the grand scheme of your life.
But,
there are other things we might change. Like, the big stuff. The regret-at-night-before-falling-asleep
kind of stuff. We’ve all got those kinds of things lurking, just waiting to be
remembered when we’re laying in bed, about to fall asleep (wait, we do all have
those, right? I’m not the only one?....Right?). Anyhow, I am pretty sure we could
all come up with a few of those things we might change. For me, I can think of
a few: not rooming with the crazy girl during my Junior year of college. Not
listening to certain people who said I shouldn’t take more writing classes
because I should stick to my strengths in science. Not doing that really
awesome genetics internship in Peru (ugh, I so wish I’d had the guts to do
that!). So, yeah, lots of things I’d probably do differently.
Of
course, the bigger changes mean lots of other things would be different, too.
I’d never have met really influential people on my life. Never gotten my
current job that I adore. Never have ended up in my field. Or something like
that. Who knows, right? For me, that’s kind of the fun the whole time-travel
thing: imagining what would be different. Sometimes it might be better. Other
times, maybe worse. It’s hard to say because of how many things influence us,
but it’s still interesting to imagine.
Though I
still wish I’d done that internship. Hello, what was my dumb 18-year-old self
thinking? Or not thinking…
About TRAVELERS:
Sienna
Crenshaw knows the rules: 1) no time traveling beyond your natural lifetime, 2)
no screwing with death, and 3) no changing the past. Ever. Sienna doesn’t love
being stuck in the present, but she’s not the type to to break the rules. That
is, she wasn’t the type until her best friend broke every one of those rules to
keep Henry, her twin brother and Sienna’s ex-boyfriend, alive.
Suddenly,
Sienna is caught in an unfamiliar reality. The upside? Henry is still alive.
The downside? Sienna’s old life, including the people in it, has been erased.
Now, Sienna and Henry must untangle the giant knot in time, or her parents and
all the rest of the Travelers, will be lost forever. One problem: the only way
to be successful is for Henry to die.
Meradeth's never been a
big fan of talking about herself, but if you really want to know, here are some
random tidbits about her:
*She's a Northern California
girl who now braves the cold winters in Montana.
*When she's not writing, she's sequencing dead people's DNA.
*She’s also an
anthropology professor and loves getting people interested in studying humans.
*If she could have a super-power, it would totally be flying. Which is a
little strange, because she's terrified of heights.
