A VIOLENT (OR APATHETIC) REACTION!

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Last week I was at dinner with a friend and the topic of gun violence in schools came up. During the course of the conversation, my friend casually mentioned, “Well, there’s nothing we can do about it. These things are just going to happen.” I have to admit I became defensive. Perhaps it’s because I teach at a university and there is a slight vulnerability that I feel. I explained to my friend that his attitude reflected part of the problem. As a society, we have accepted that violence is part of life, but many of us don’t see or understand the ways in which we are complicit. Agreeing to the normality of deplorable aggression is at best apathetic and portrays the population at large as powerless.

HOW WE FEEL ABOUT OURSELVES AND BODY IMAGE

We, as a society, have put our stamp of disapproval on profanity, nudity and sexuality. A quick flash of Janet Jackson’s nipple created a firestorm of censorship that eventually forced people like Howard Stern off of terrestrial radio. At the time, Howard was known for pushing the envelope with discussions involving sexuality.

In our culture, we have forbidden our networks from featuring nudity on our broadcasts. I recall the first time I traveled to London, nearly three decades ago, and saw nudity in a TV skincare commercial. I was stunned. Not only did they have nudity on TV, it was in a commercial. At the time, it never occurred to me this could even be done. But Europeans don’t have the sexual hang ups that we see so frequently here in the U.S. In fact, one of my screenwriting students recently wrote a sex scene that read something like this: “It is indicated they have sex.” I immediately understood this was her own form of censorship because she didn’t want to describe the intimate details of her own story.

 WTF STANDS FOR WHAT?!

As a society, we have also outlawed four letter words. I was miffed recently while watching a reality show. Some of the reality stars were cursing and the network had not only bleeped the language, they had also pixelated the mouths of those delivering the salty words. I suppose their philosophy was, we don’t want you to hear it or see it if you read lips. I must admit I was incredulous. In the U.S., we have huge checks and balances in place to make sure no one sees a nipple, or hears words like shit or fuck. But what are our attitudes on violence? How hard do we work to regulate how much of it audiences see on the big and small screen?

A few years back, I turned on my TV around noon and stumbled onto the movie Thirty Days of Night. The film had already started and one of the characters was being decapitated. Very recently, a new series with Kevin Bacon aired on Fox called The Following. As a professor of film and TV screenwriting, I must admit it is well done. But I also question how responsible the writers are. The level of violence in The Following is extremely high. People are sliced and stabbed, beaten, shot, and set on fire and much of that happens in a single episode. While, on one level, the writing is quite good, I don’t know that I can follow the show because, even as a viewer, I felt assaulted by the amount of violent imagery.

This is why I grew defensive when my friend said, “There’s nothing we can do.” As a society, we have ample servings of violence on TV and in movies. Young children who turn on the TV at noon might see people being shot, stabbed or beheaded. These same young minds also switch on their X-boxes and play video games like Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto, where the goal is to rape, rob and kill. I don’t play video games, but I’ve seen the commercials promoting them. It seems the majority of them involve the delivery of violence.

How can we feign surprise when fifteen to 20 years later these same kids walk into a school or a movie theatre and begin delivering the same kind of brutality in real life? When we decide, as a culture, that images of violence might be as or perhaps more dangerous than a nipple or the f-word, maybe then we will see its decline. But it’s disingenuous to pretend that we don’t understand how or why these things happen. We are confronted with it almost every time we turn on our TV’s, play a video game or go to a movie.

On a lighter note, I have written a book. THE UNVEILING: 1.0 is a sci-fi/fantasy/adventure that many have compared to The Da Vinci Code (only with psychics and aliens, specifically the Anunnaki of Sumerian Mythology). To check it out, please visit the website: TheUnveilingSeries.com

"THE UNVEILING: 1.0" unveiled - Part 1

Welcome to the first installment of “The Unveiling: 1.0 ” unveiled. You should know "The Unveiling" is a novel series and that “1.0” refers to the first book of an epic story.

NAMING THE SERIES
At one point, I did try to figure out if I would come up with different names for each individual book like Tolkien did with the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy: “The Fellowship of the Ring;” “The Two Towers” and “The Return of the King.” After toying with several options, I decided 1.0 was the best designation. I am currently working on “2.0,” the follow up to this first book and I am developing a story for “3.0” to round out a nice full-bodied trilogy.

THE STORY BEHIND "THE UNVEILING"
So, what is “The Unveiling” you might ask. The tale of “The Unveiling” is a blend of fact and fiction that holds Sumerian Mythology at its core. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this mythology, its origin is Sumer, Earth’s oldest known civilization (fact). The mythology from this region recounts a phenomenal story of how modern man was created. But here’s where it gets interesting. Sumer’s mythology reads quite a bit like the Old Testament, only it's a much older story. Where the Old Testament refers to God as our creator, Sumerian Mythology instead proposes that an advanced alien race genetically engineered us. Is this too fantastic to believe? Perhaps not. Could the Old Testament possibly be a derivative story of this ancient Sumerian tale?

I must admit I was perplexed by the Sumerian account of humanity's origins. By tradition, I had been taught to believe in the Old and New Testaments which only made Sumerian Mythology that much more compelling. Today, the ancient civilization of Sumer is largely known as Iraq (along with portions of Turkey and Syria). A segment of this region is believed by many to be the legendary location of Eden in the Bible’s Genesis.

Bible excerpt – Genesis 2:10
“Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden;
and from there it divided and became four rivers...”

Of those four rivers mentioned, only two still exist, the Tigris and the Euphrates, both located in Iraq, or what used to be Sumer.

Upon learning this, my brain immediately began a balancing act. If I had been taught that the Bible is truth, why am I not meant to believe a story that emerges from the very region that the Bible speaks of? I admit I found this difficult to reconcile. Here I had two stories before me with incredible similarities, but one was meant to be believed (according to religion) and the other, even though it was the older of the two stories, was intended to be fantasy or myth. Whether or not you believe in religion is not really the point. The tale of Sumerian Mythology is so compelling that many scholars believe in it, as you can witness on shows like the History Channel’s “Ancient Aliens,” or in books like those written by Erich Von Däniken or Zecharia Sitchin.

SO, WHAT IS "THE UNVEILING" SERIES?
"The Unveiling" novels recount an epic sci-fi/fantasy/adventure tale that chronicles the creation of man. If you enjoy stories by authors like Dan Brown, Whitley Strieber or Stephen King, "The Unveiling: 1.0" is sure to please.

In the meantime, please keep an eye out for Part 2 of “The Unveiling” unveiled. Next time, I’ll discuss more specifics of “1.0” and how it relates to the Bilderberg Group.

"The Unveiling: 1.0" is available in paperback, Kindle, Nook or iBook. To learn more or to get your copy, please visit TheUnveilingSeries.com.

PRACTICE BREEDS EXCELLENCE

It’s a little disturbing that I am now old enough to refer to “young people.” I guess I have reached that age where “young people” no longer see me as part of their pack (and vice versa). I remember quite clearly being a college student, but I am now a college professor. I remember taking finals, but now I write them. Because I am currently perceived as someone with a little wisdom, I feel a sense of responsibility to live up to the part.

TIGER WOODS, AGED 2, ON THE MIKE DOUGLAS SHOW
As an educator, I encourage my students to figure out their professional interests sooner than later. The earlier you can determine what you like in life, the sooner you can begin building expertise. There is an extremely old video of Tiger Woods on the Mike Douglas Show hitting a golf ball at the age of two. Essentially, Tiger has been playing golf since he learned to walk. For most of us to develop a true expertise, decades are required. This is the reason we need to begin delving into our craft the moment we take note of what that craft is.

THE ART OF WRITING SCREENPLAYS
It’s hard to believe that I first began writing screenplays in the 90’s. At that time, I didn’t know what I do now, so I naturally thought I would become a great screenwriter with my first effort. I remember someone once telling me that most screenwriters write ten screenplays before they sell one. This not only seemed crazy, it seemed impossible. Certainly no one would reach success if that kind of effort was required. Now that I’m older and wiser, I know this isn’t so farfetched. Writers write and with each project they become stronger, faster and better. The greats like Amadeus Mozart and Johann Sebastian Bach were known for obsessing over their music, as I’m sure many athletic greats have been known to do. “Practice makes perfect” is cliché, but there is truth in every cliché.

WHEN IT SPEAKS TO YOU, YOU'VE ARRIVED
Last year, as I was finishing my first novel, “The Unveiling,” I became aware that I was stuck in a loop. I had completed the first draft and was continuing with rewrites. With each pass, I became a better writer, and the draft improved, but it was still never good enough for my liking. It took a while before I realized what was going on. By the time I got to the end of each pass, I had become a better writer, so nothing I’d written before was good enough. It occurred to me that this cycle could continue indefinitely. The more I wrote, the more I would improve, so I’d never be satisfied with anything I’d written in the past. Somewhere in the midst of all of that, my expertise as a writer transitioned. My skill crossed the line into professional level prose.

It probably sounds strange, but after I made that realization, certain words began speaking to me. While editing, I would stumble across a word that would trouble me in a way I didn’t immediately understand. Finally, I took note that these words were speaking to me, telling me, “I am not the right choice for the idea you’re trying to convey.” It took me really quieting down to listen to what these words were saying. Sadly, they hardly ever suggested what the right words were, but they would announce to me that I needed to keep looking until I found what best expressed my idea. I believe when your craft begins to speak to you in this way, you can truly say you have developed expertise. But the amount of work you’ll need to achieve this will likely be equivalent to finishing 10 screenplays before you sell one. For this reason, the best advice I can offer is to enjoy what you do, stay patient and keep at it.

TO LEARN MORE OR TO READ AN EXCERPT
of my sci-fi/fantasy/adventure novel, “The Unveiling: 1.0,” please visit TheUnveilingSeries.com.