Friday, July 29, 2016

Shore Leave 38 - Saturday - Panels And Pictures


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Saturday July 16, 2016

Saturday is the day the sessions given by the guests and the panel discussions begin in earnest. Of course, you can't do all of those activities without a good breakfast to start the day. This time I tried not to consume everything available at the breakfast buffet.


Saturday's breakfast


OK. Better luck next year.

After breakfast, it's off to the races. Which writing panels can I attend while seeing as many of the speakers as possible? And why are so many of the writer's panels held at the same time so I have to choose one and miss the others? Will I get to even see the art show? (I didn't, BTW.) It's always mass confusion on Saturday and the last minute changes to the schedule didn't help.

At 10:00 am I had the choice of two panels: Myths About Writing and Pitching. I chose Pitching, which is surely a weak spot for me.

Pitching

  Panel members:
Since many of these panelists have been on both sides of the author / editor (or agent) scenario, they were able to share stories about their experiences, usually pointing out what not to do. Like annoy the editor. One point the panel made was that agents aren't as critical to have as they used to be. That being said, they added that a good agent can be a great buffer between you and the editor. Approach editors with your ideas at appropriate times; don't follow them into the restroom to pitch your book. They emphasized that you should always have a quick pitch ready for your book because you never know when you might run into the right person, either an editor or potential agent. The pitch should be 3-4 sentences of about 50 words. Many editors don't have time to listen to an exhaustive description of your idea. For more formal pitches, they want something no longer than a page unless there is a really good reason. If you are emailing (or sending by post) your pitch, personalize each pitch or query. And keep tweaking it to make it better. Above all, make yourself interesting (that may be the most difficult part!). They also recommended checking Writer Beware to see if an editor or agent was legitimate.

At 11:00 pm I had the choice of three panels: Writing Behind the Scenes for TV & Movies, From Fan Writing to Pro, and Working with Editors. I chose Working with Editors because I thought that would be the most useful for me, though not necessarily the most interesting.

Working with Editors

  Panel members:
The panel began by discussing the different types of editors:
  1. acquisition (finds stories for a publisher), 
  2. production (oversees production of story/book), 
  3. copy (corrects spelling and grammar), 
  4. content (checks consistency, factual errors), 
  5. line (clarifies meaning, checks the way language is used), and 
  6. proofreader (goes over the work for errors after the other editors are finished) 
In an ideal world, these should all be different people. In my world of small-press anthologies, of course, they aren't. The overall job of editors is to help focus the reader's attention by making the story readable and tightly written. The suggestions or corrections they make should not be considered as a personal attack. Still, there are times when things become tense between an author and an editor. In situations such as these, an good agent can act as a firewall between the two. There wee many examples given where authors and editors did not see eye-to-eye and how the panelists handled the situation. There is no formula for this. Each individual must be addressed in a way that will bring the project to completion. There are times when a good editor will suggest the author work with a different editor because they are better suited to  the genre of the story or the personality of the author.

One item that was suggested that made a great deal of sense for those writing in the SF or fantasy genres where there are odd names and unusual spellings. Provide the editors with a cheat sheet of character names and quirks of dialect so they will know exactly how the author meant them to be. This can greatly assist the editors in doing their job.

~~~

At 12:00 pm I had the choice of two really interesting panels: Kick-ass Women Heroes or The Whole Package (book covers). Unfortunately, this was also the time slot for the only celebrity photo I had planned for the entire conference. So that became my choice. Here I am with celebrities from Star Trek TOS, Barbara Bouchet and Michael Forest.

Barbara Bouchet, Me, & Michael Forest at Shore Leave 38
Barbara Bouchet, Me, & Michael Forest at Shore Leave 38
(I'm in the center, just for clarification)

That's all for now. I'll have more about the happenings on Saturday in the next post!



In the meantime, you can read my story, The Song of Aiden, in Human 76 - a post-apocalyptic, shared-world anthology!

Cover image of Human 76
Check #Human76 on Twitter for news!


© 2016 K. R. Smith All rights reserved

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Shore Leave 38 - Friday - Michael Forest


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Friday July 15, 2016

Michael Forest is another actor that many at the convention will only know from Star Trek. Even after seeing photos of his earlier television appearances, younger attendees, unfamiliar with the shows, may not appreciate his other work. As I browsed through the photos of his many roles in the early westerns (and Zorro), a flood of memories came back. When I was a child, evening television programming was awash with westerns. A half-century has passed and I can still remember the characters he played. They must have made a bigger impression on me than I thought.


Michael Forest at Shore Leave 38, Hunt Valley, Maryland (July 2016) © 2016 K. R. Smith All rights reserved
Michael Forest at Shore Leave 38

Many of Michael's roles were as villains or "Indians" in the westerns. The reason he got so many parts was his height (along with his acting ability, of course). The "good guys" in those westerns were tall. These were stories about big men in a big country—and they needed big bad guys to fight against. James Arness, Clint Walker, and Fess Parker were all very tall. James Arness, for example, is listed at 6'7" (2+ m). Having a fight scene with a person of average height would have looked a bit awkward—perhaps even silly. Michael is listed at 6'3" (but I think he may be a hair taller), so he fit the bill. And even though he is part Native American, that's not what got him his roles playing "Indians." It was his height.

We were getting an autograph on one of Michael's Star Trek photos as Apollo when I made mention of a few old black-and-white photos he had out. That's when Michael said he had some pictures he really liked. He pulled out several portraits from a folder he had behind his table. They were not items he had out for sale. I hadn't planned to purchase a lot of photos at the conference, but when I saw these I knew at least a couple of them were going home with me. Best of all, he related the following story of how they came to be.

After his work in television in the United States, Michael lived in Italy for a while. Italian director Vittorio de Sica asked his personal photographer to take pictures of Michael and other actors/actresses to be used as publicity shots. Michael was surprised when asked to accompany them. He didn't know the director had such an interest in him. They went out into the Italian countryside where the following two pictures were taken (in a barn, Michael told us). It seems that the Italian actors were not pleased with the attention Michael was given, an gave him a bit of the cold shoulder. Michael is still in awe of the work the photographer did. He said, "I didn't look this good. The photographer made me look this good." The scans really don't do the photos justice. "That's not me," he said, gazing at an old image of himself. "That person doesn't exist anymore." This is one of those stories that might never have been heard had he not chosen to show us these pictures. Please do not use or distribute them for commercial purposes without getting Michael's permission.

Old photo of Michael Forest taken in Italy - please do not distribute for commercial purposes. © 2016 K. R. Smith / Michael Forest
Michael Forest in Italy
Old photo of Michael Forest taken in Italy - please do not distribute for commercial purposes. © 2016 K. R. Smith / Michael Forest
Michael Forest in Italy


Here are a couple pictures I took of Michael Forest at the Shore Leave 38 convention.


Michael Forest at Shore Leave 38, Hunt Valley, Maryland (July 2016) © 2016 K. R. Smith All rights reserved

Michael Forest at Shore Leave 38, Hunt Valley, Maryland (July 2016) © 2016 K. R. Smith All rights reserved
Michael Forest laughing with one of the attendees at Shore Leave 38.
I believe that is his wife, Diana, in the foreground.

A few final notes on Michael Forest:
  1. He has a lot of energy for an 87 year old person. Like Barbara Bouchet, he arrived at the conference early and stayed late. He was more than willing to talk at length about his career or pose for pictures with the convention attendees.
  2. He comes across as a very humble man.
  3. He also signs autographs that are readable.
  4. Michael's Wikipedia page is HERE.
I hope to see him again at a future convention. I'd like to get another one of those old pictures with just his autograph.



In the meantime, you can read my story, The Song of Aiden, in Human 76 - a post-apocalyptic, shared-world anthology!

Cover image of Human 76
Check #Human76 on Twitter for news!



© 2016 K. R. Smith All rights reserved

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Shore Leave 38 - Friday - Barbara Bouchet


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Friday July 15, 2016

Like many at the Shore Leave convention, my knowledge of Barbara Bouchet began and ended with her appearance in the Star Trek TOS episode By Any Other Name. I knew there had to be more to her career than that, and there was!

During her talk (which she shared with Michael Forest, also of Star Trek TOS fame), she answered questions about her work on Star Trek. She also mentioned the time William Shatner came to her trailer and asked her to dinner. She didn't recognize him. He wasn't wearing his hairpiece. But she did go out with him. She said many good things about David Niven with whom she did the original Casino Royale playing the part of Miss Moneypenny.

Once she reached the age of 39, Barbara decided to stop acting in movies. In addition to her American and British films, she had acted in numerous Italian films until that time. She continued to do some television work. It wouldn't be until Martin Scorsese asked her to take a part in the movie The Gangs of New York (2002) that she would return to the American screen.

After Barbara left movies in the '80s, she was faced with a decision about what to do next. She said she was not one to just set around twiddling her thumbs. It was about this time that Jane Fonda was coming out with her exercise videos, and that struck Barbara as something she could do. Also, gyms were not very popular, especially for women, at that time in Italy. So she recorded exercise videos, opened a gym, and eventually added a line of clothing. She became the Jane Fonda of Italy. She said, "If you find Italian women attractive, you can thank me for that." She ran her fitness business for 12 years.

As of late, she has been doing theatre in Italy. She lamented about the low pay and the less-than-glamorous environment when travelling. Unless the show is in a major city like Milan, the tour does one night in each town, then it's off to the next venue early the following morning. Still, she loves the theatre.

Here are a few of the pictures I took of Barbara Bouchet at the Shore Leave 38 convention.


Barbara Bouchet at Shore Leave 38 (July 2016)

Barbara Bouchet at Shore Leave 38 (July 2016)

Barbara Bouchet at Shore Leave 38 (July 2016)

Barbara Bouchet signing autographs at Shore Leave 38 (July 2016)


A few final notes on Ms. Bouchet:
  1. She arrived early on Friday and stayed late on Sunday, even after most others had left and many of the vendor stalls had been dismantled. And she was available for autographs and questions nearly all of the time. She seems to take her convention responsibilities quite seriously!
  2. She was very friendly and was willing to talk at length about here life and her time at the convention.
  3. When she signs an autograph, you can actually read her signature. She thought that was important. "So many of them are just squiggle, squiggle, squiggle." I can't remember if those were her exact words, but it's close.
I hope to see her again at a future convention, though that may not happen as she lives on the other side of the pond. When I mentioned possibly going to Italy someday, she said, "Sure! Come on over to Italy!" Maybe I will.



So, while I'm over in Italy you can read my story, The Song of Aiden, in Human 76 - a post-apocalyptic, shared-world anthology!

Cover image of Human 76
Check #Human76 on Twitter for news!



© 2016 K. R. Smith All rights reserved

Monday, July 18, 2016

Shore Leave 38 - Friday


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Friday July 15, 2016

I arrived at Shore Leave 38 around 3:00 pm and checked into the hotel ( Hunt Valley Inn Wyndham Grand ). A few of the actor guests were already set up in the main hall. The book vendors and authors were starting to arrive. I went to the registration desk and got my badge, then unloaded the car. Unfortunately, I had to leave for a while to take care of some personal business. When I got back, it was time to head into the "Valley Room" where the show was already underway.

At 8:00 pm, I listened to the talk given by Barbara Bouchet and Michael Forest.


Image of Barbara Bouchet and Michael Forest at Shore Leave 38 - July 2016
Barbara Bouchet and Michael Forest

Shore Leave is a mainly a Star Trek convention, and both of these actors appeared in episodes of Star Trek TOS. Michael was also in an episode of Star Trek Continues. Although Star Trek was a minor part of their careers, many people only know them from these roles. I'll have more on both actors in upcoming posts, including stories they relayed during their appearance and when I talked to them afterward.

After Barbara and Michael were finished, it was time for the comedy group Luna-C to do their skits.

Image of the Luna-C players taking a bow - Shore Leave 38 - July 2016
The Luna-C players taking a bow

Once Luna-C was done, it was 11:00 pm. It had been a long day and it was time to turn in.

There will be much more about Shore Leave 38 to come!

In the meantime, check for my story, The Song of Aiden, in Human 76 - a post-apocalyptic, shared-world anthology!

Cover image of Human 76
Check #Human76 on Twitter for news!



© 2016 K. R. Smith All rights reserved

Monday, July 11, 2016

Shore Leave 38 - The Preparation


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Shore Leave 38 is coming up this weekend. It's a month earlier this year. That leaves less time to work it into my schedule—which is unfortunately full.



Shore Leave 38 polo logo
Logo on Shore Leave polo shirt
(from http://www.shore-leave.com/emporium/)



I'm not as excited about the convention this year. Partly because the guest list doesn't hold a great deal of interest and partly because other events in my life are making it difficult to get into the proper mood.

The one thing that could be interesting is the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. There will be lots of fan-made movies and I can imagine many of the attendees will be decked out in their best costumes. There will be a showing of the Starship Farragut movie The Crossing along with many others, most of which I've never seen.

So, the plan will be to post to the blog from the convention with, perhaps, a few interesting pictures! Maybe I'll try to do a video this year. Until then, you can check this out:





I'll keep you posted!



© 2012-2015 K. R. Smith All rights reserved

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

This Month's Free Photos - Moonstruck


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A sliver of a moon obliged by appearing during the twilight hours allowing my little point-and-shoot camera to capture it with not-great but acceptable photos. If you zoom in on the first photo, you can even see the hint of a crater or two. Not bad for a the type of camera used (Nikon Coolpix S6800). Eat your heart out, Hubble!


Image MOON_2_2016_07_06.jpg © 2016 K. R. Smith -  may be used with attribution
A sliver of a moon above the horizon


Image MOON_1_2016_07_06.jpg © 2016 K. R. Smith -  may be used with attribution
Zoomed out a little...


Image MOON_3_2016_07_06.jpg © 2016 K. R. Smith -  may be used with attribution
A tiny arc in the purple evening sky




Images MOON_1_2016_07_06.jpg, MOON_2_2016_07_06.jpg, and MOON_3_2016_07_06.jpg ©2016 K. R. Smith - www.theworldofkrsmith.com - may be used, in whole or in part, with attribution.


© 2016 K. R. Smith All rights reserved