SciFi Diner Podcast Ep. 151
Our Interview with Maurice Broaddus
and Jerry Gordon editors of the Dark Faith Anthologies
The SciFi Diner Podcast
A 2012 Parsec Finalist
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Tonight’s Diners: Scott & Miles
Welcome to the Diner.
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Menu:
New Trivia:
Trivia: Since no one, and I mean NO ONE was able to answer last months trivia, we're trying a different tactic to give away an autographed picture of Kate Mulgrew, Captain Janeway of Star Trek: Voyager. All you need to do is write in and explain why you are the biggest fan of Kate Mulgrew. Please include your address and the code word mentioned in the first 15 minutes of the show. We'll be drawing a name the middle of October.
Prize: An Autographed copy of Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway)
You will have until October 15th to send us your answers. Please include the code word mentioned in the first 15 minutes of the show. Send your answer with your mailing address to scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com, call us at 18885084343, or DM us on Twitter at @scifidiner. Make sure you include your e-mail with all entries! Only one entry per person. The SciFi Diner is not responsible for any injuries occurring if you secretly decide to go all shiny and dress in a browncoat and walk into your local bar.
Promos
Tuning Into SciFi TV Podcast
Fringecasting with Wayne and Dan
Promo
Subversion Promo from John Mierau
Gatecast Podcast
Interview:
Maurice Broaddus
“’Buyer beware’ is the cautionary theme of Maurice Broaddus’ sublime ‘A House is Not a Home’ – the standout of the collection… Broaddus’ commanding use of language coats the story with a lushness that belies its short fiction format and places it in a class of its own.”
– Vince Liaguno, Dark Scribe
“There are fewer greater pleasures in a reader’s life than witnessing a writer whose work they have enjoyed reached a new plateau in their storytelling skills, and such is the case here; with The Devil’s Marionette, Maurice Broaddus comes into his own as a writer of dark fiction. It is the brilliance we’ve all been waiting for, and Broaddus delivers in a voice that both whispers and roars and cannot be ignored.”
– Bram Stoker and International Horror Guild Award-winner Gary A. Braunbeck
The Knights of Breton Court series
King Maker – March 2010 (UK/Australia), October 2010 (US/Canada)
King’s Justice – February 2011 (UK/Australia), March 2011 (US/Canada)
King’s War – November 2011 (everywhere)
The Knights of Breton Court (omnibus) – October 2012 (worldwide)
Maurice Broaddus graduated in 1993 from Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis and holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biology. He works as an environmental toxicologist for a local firm, Commonwealth Biomonitoring. He comes from a family that includes several practicing obeah (think: Jamaican voodoo) people, but is now the facilitator for the church, The Dwelling Place. He is married with two children.
His areas of interests includes religious studies, folklore, and myths. His previous book was the novella Orgy of Souls, written with Wrath James White. He says he only wants to get famous enough to be able to snub people at horror conventions.
When asked, “what kind of horror writer are you?”, Maurice said…
There are kinds of horror: atmospheric, supernatural, serial killer, splatter/”gross out” and other ways I could categorize it. But I tend to think that horror writers fall into two very general camps: traditionalists and extremists (for lack of better terms). It is the tools you use to scare that define what camp you find yourself in. Traditionalists tend to be more character driven, letting the horror arise from or intrude on the mundane. They are often more atmospheric, and explore the eerie or weird with a moral code. Oh yeah, traditionalists are good vs. evil moralists. Extremists are more visceral. Quicker to go for the blood and guts/gross out or the perverse. I’m actually disturbed by how much value-loaded (read: judgmental sounding) language I’m using, but it’s the easiest way I know to describe it. I’m more of a traditionalist, which is not to say 1) that I don’t occasionally enjoy a good extremist or 2) that traditionalists or extremists exclusively write with only that set of tools. It’s a pallette: You have a broad spectrum of colors and styles to choose from to create your painting. And sometimes it’s like your taste in music: most times I listen to 70′s R&B, but sometimes I need a little Rage Against the Machine or Dream Theater to get me going. Most times I naturally gravitate toward the traditionalist stuff – Ray Bradbury, Stephen King – but sometimes I need a shot of Clive Barker or John Shirley to shock the palate.
Meet Maurice online
More Praise for King Maker
“KingMaker isn’t yet another retelling of the Arthurian stories. There are drugs and gangs and people who are almost too scared to breathe. If there’s a small world that needs saving, it’s the world of this novel: too many lives are in danger and too many people are willing to give up. What’s awesome is there is no guarantee that King is going to become the Arthur we know. His enemies understand where he comes from and what he can do before he does. ”
- Gillian Polack
Jerry Gordon
Jerry Gordon: This is the spot where I’m supposed to talk about myself in the third person. It’s a strange but generally accepted way of doing things, fine for book jackets and magazine bios, but a little impersonal since you’ve come all this way to find out more about me.
There are a couple hundred Jerry Gordon’s mucking things up on this planet. I’m the one that’s a fiction author, editor, college instructor, computer programmer, and occasional grad student. If you’re wondering where free time fits into this equation, you just discovered the downside to being interested in everything. I have an undergraduate degree in English and Education from Ball State University. When I’m not writing, I’m daydreaming about my next trip… and a little apartment in Paris.
The most common question I get asked (when people find out I write fiction) is what kind. Truth is all kinds. I love just about every genre and hate labels. I tend to blur the lines between genres, writing mash-ups that combine the best of several. If you want to pin me down, I’ll admit to writing mysteries, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and “literary” fiction. Usually, at least two at the same time.
If you’d like to check out my work, head over to the bibliography page.
Thanks for dropping in and don’t be shy about sending me a note via the contact page.
Jerry
Some fun facts…
- At the age of fourteen, I was a DJ for WBDG in Indianapolis.
- By sixteen, I was running that radio station.
- I ditched my telecommunications degree in favor of an undergrad in English and Education.
- It only took one semester to fall in love with storytelling and make the switch.
- I’ve been on more movie sets than I can remember.
- I was once a Klingon extra on Star Trek.
TV News:
Observers Continue to Boss Us in New FRINGE Featurette – Residency Protocol
Monday, September 17th, 2012
Remember the early days of Fringe when we thought that the Observers were a curiosity but were basically benign or, at worst, maybe interlopers for good? Ah those halcyon days. Now we know that only one of them was like that, and the rest, at least in the season that is to come, are not.
Below we have the third of Protocols that have been issued by the Fedora-ed Ones. We’ve included the previous two for your ease of reference (and protection from scans).
Featurette: Fringe Season 5 – Residency Protocol
Elfstones of Shannara to be made into a television show. Good news or Bad?
Nielsen Ratings
NEW YORK -- The number of U.S. homes that don't get traditional television service continues to increase, but that doesn't mean they don't have TVs.
The Nielsen company said in a report issued on Tuesday that three-quarters of the estimated 5 million homes that don't get TV signals over the airways or through cable, satellite or telecommunications companies have televisions anyway.
Many of these homes are satisfied to use their TVs for games or get programming through DVDs or services like Netflix or Apple TV, said Dounia Turrill, senior vice president for client insights at Nielsen.
The company's report shows how the nature of TV service is slowly changing. Before the percentage started declining about three years ago, more than 99 percent of TV homes received the traditional TV signals. Now that has dipped just below 96 percent.
Part of the decline is also economic – service deemed expendable by people struggling to make ends meet, Nielsen said.
Because of the changes, Nielsen is considering redefining what it considers a television household to include people who get service through Netflix or similar services instead of the traditional TV signals, Turrill said.
During the first three months of 2012, the average consumer spent about 2 percent less time watching traditional TV than the previous year, Nielsen said. They more than made up for that by spending more time watching material recorded on DVRs or on the Internet through TVs, computers and mobile devices.
The typical consumer spends 14 minutes a day using gaming consoles, although it's more for owners of Wii, XBox and PlayStation 3, Nielsen said. Many of these devices are also popular sites for accessing video, Turrill said.
"The gaming devices are becoming entertainment hubs," she said.
People over age 65 spend nearly 48 hours, on average, watching television each week, Nielsen said. At the other end of the spectrum are teenagers aged 12 to 17, who spend an average of 22 hours per week watching TV.
Blacks spend an average of 210 hours per month watching TV, more than whites (nearly 153 hours), Latinos (131 hours) and Asians (100 hours), Nielsen said.
Movie News:
1st look at a startlingly different suit for that RoboCop reboot
We've had a look at the handiwork of OmniCorp, we've read the official synopsis, and now it's time to get a look at the cybernetic crimefighter himself. On-set pics have just revealed what Joel Kinnaman's RoboCop reboot suit looks like, and it's definitely a departure.
It's definitely not what Peter Weller wore. The silver exterior with black accents at the joints has been replaced by an all-black theme that looks a bit like Christian Bale's Batsuit. And the bulky, muscled look has been replaced by something much leaner. Also, he seems to have saved one hand from robotic reinvention. Unless there's some kind of massive CGI overhaul coming in post-production, this is a very different RoboCop.
Of course, we've yet to really see this new suit in action, and this could just be a part of what director Jose Padilha is delivering us, but it seems clear that there's a very different look in store this time around.
What do you think? Is the new RoboCop look a refreshing, modern take, or just a remake dud?
This week in Star Trek:
Space, The Final Frontier... 46 Years Of Star Trek
46 years ago today, Star Trek launched its 5 year mission. Unfortunately it only lasted 3 in its original form, but Trek as we now know it consists of over 700 hours of television and movies. It seems that this year Star Trek is getting more press than usual on its anniversary. Google, Oreo, and websites the world over are celebrating the launch of Trek. Some even proclaiming today as Star Trek day. Of course, we're not complaining.
Where would we be without Star Trek? I've often wondered that, but really the world would be a much different place if Gene hadn't been offered a second pilot or Lucille Ball and Desilu had passed on the show. Could there have been a different show that took its place and inspired millions of people to boldly go on the human adventure? Who can say. I'm just thankful that Gene got the chance to express his ideas through a medium that was available to so many viewers worldwide. On this anniversary, I'll leave you with one of my favorite videos of Gene... For us, no limits. Happy Star Trek Day!
Life After Trek Podcast Episode 20 Featuring Michael DeMeritt
By Captain Pyke
We’re pleased to announce episode 20 of our “Life After Trek” podcast, featuring Michael DeMeritt. Many of you know Michael from his time on the full run of both Star Trek: Voyager & Star Trek: Enterprise as First / Second Assistant Director. He also worked, most recently, on hit shows like ABC Family's Make It or Break It, Showtime's Californication, NBC's Las Vegas, and many others. We met him at BayouCon 2012 in Lake Charles, Louisiana and got the chance to experience his inside Star Trek panels featuring many never-before-seen photos & stories. We knew, then and there, that he would be an excellent guest on "Life After Trek".
We ran the full gamut of Mike's Trek experience, on this episode, but also got to talk about his start in Hollywood and his early years as a DGA trainee. For those "Life After Trek"-ers out there, that love behind-the-scenes info, this is an episode you don't want to miss. If you would like to learn more about Michael and his work, you can check out his official website at MichaelDeMeritt.com and his full list of credits at IMDB.com.
Sci Fi 5@5:
The Five Most Important TV Shows In Science Fiction
By Raul Ybarra
A few weeks ago, I had made some Tweets regarding the most important TV shows
in science fiction. This generated a variety of responses that has nudged me into
writing a bit more reason behind my selections. Going into this, it's important to
note that my criteria here is "most important" rather than "best." I also am not
including non-SciFi shows though they often get lumped in together. Thus, you
won't see any fantasy, horror, or super-hero shows in the list. Likewise, you will not
see shows like Night Gallery, even though they did, at times, dip into science fiction.
So here's that list from the least to the most important.
5. Firefly
Yes, Firefly was *great* science fiction. Yet it only lasted 13 episodes, so why
is it so important. As I said, good does not necessarily equate to importance
though this show was both. It's the nature of what happened to the /show/ that
makes it so important. It's pretty universal that few shows had as raw a deal as
Firefly. The shows of this serial were aired out of order. The "Suits" interfered in
the production. It was summarily canceled without really being given a chance.
However, it was a critical reminder to both fans and network of the power of the
fans' voices. While not enough to save this show, the outcry certainly rattled Fox.
Fortunately, Fox seemed to learn its lesson. I believe that it's thanks to Firefly that
shows like Dollhouse got a second season, in spite of the terrible ratings or we are
getting a fifth season to finish the story in Fringe. Fox, as well as other networks,
pay a lot more attention to the fans as a result of Firefly.
4. Battlestar Galactica
I'm talking about the original "Classic" show rather than the 2000's reboot. People
today may not be aware of it, but introducing phrases like "Frack" or having a main
character, Cassiopia, as a "Socialator" (i.e. prostitute) were huge steps in prime-time
programming that caused considerable discussion. Equally ground-breaking was
the use of cinema-caliber special effects. Largely because of this, the show was also
the first show to break the $1,000,000 per episode barrier -- an enormous sum in
1978. The Bridge set was one of the largest regular sets ever for a show and was
functional with working electronics, communications and computer displays. It was
primarily the very high cost of the show that led to its cancellation after the first
season.
Unfortunately, BSG is important in one negative area. This is the show more
important than even Lost In Space for the "Cute Kid" problem. After BSG, every
serious SciFi show until Babylon 5 was crippled by having to have a "cute kid" for
the youngsters. I believe in my heart-of-hearts if we didn't have Boxey here, we
would have never been inflicted with Wesley Crusher a decade later.
3. Doctor Who
You cannot have a list of important SciFi shows without including the longest
running science fiction series of all time. Doctor Who will be celebrating its
50th birthday in 2013 having gone on the air in 1963. It's initial run was for 26
continuous seasons ending in 1986. It wasn't cancelled, but put on hiatus, with a TV
movie in the 90's and resuming regular airings in 2005.
Aside from the run time proving the staying power of a science fiction show, the
Doctor brought us such iconic items as sonic screwdrivers, K9 and the TARDIS.
Dimensional transcendence ("It's bigger on the inside than out."), time travel,
parallel universes, racism, women's rights, cyborgs, paradox, nuclear war, ethics -
- I've commented many times that there are few science fiction themes that Doctor
Who hasn't done first. The show was always serial rather than episodic; sometimes
being 4-6 episodes, sometimes being whole seasons. With such a low budget
for effects (the subject of MANY jokes) the show had to focus on being story and
character driven.
Doctor Who also gave us some of the great villains/enemies in SciFi: Cybermen,
Sontarans, the Master and of course Daleks. The resumed series has also added
probably the scariest monster of all time: the Weeping Angels. Science fiction
television owe a huge debt to this long running and innovative show.
2. Babylon 5
It was a close call between Babylon 5 and the #1 choice. Star Trek won only
because that without Trek, we never could have gotten Babylon 5. At some point
I will probably write a full blog article on Babylon 5 just to cover all the "Firsts" it
represents to not only SciFi TV, but TV in general.
Just to cover a few of these, it was the first successful serial sci-fi series, first fully
scored for each episode, first Hi-Def show, first all CGI effects, and first to prove
you *don't* have to follow the Star Trek model for success. In season 2, the beat
Star Trek for the Hugo and next year, did it again to prove it wasn't an accident.
Characters were only used when needed and even killed when it served the story.
The series *began* intended as a 5-season serial with all five seasons mapped out in
advance, though with enough room to allow the story to "live."
The story was cohesive and well written and the characters were compelling. The
show proved that it takes BOTH story and characters to achieve true greatness. I'm
re-watching it with my son and the story is as relevant today as it it was 20 years
ago. The alien cultures were very well developed and the makeup was amazing;
NOT just a different nose bridge or ear caps. Space flight was based on Newtonian
physics and the resulting battles were dizzying with ships flying in all directions and
every orientation: sideways, backwards, upside down.
Bottom line, every SciFi show since 1993 - including the Star Trek franchise - owes a
huge debt to Babylon 5.
1. Star Trek
First, note well that I am referring to the Original Series only. None of the other
Trek series makes this list -- and that includes Next Generation. More than any
other show, Star Trek made televised SciFi serious. The show was initially rejected
by CBS as "too cerebral." Star Trek made a conscious effort to put the Science in
the Fiction, though some purist such as Arthur C. Clark disparagingly wrote it off as
fantasy.
Though an adventurous "Wagon Train to the Stars," Star Trek still hit hard on the
serious social issues humanity did, and still, faces - racism, war, equal rights, medical
ethics, religion and on. It did it honestly and without fear of stepping on toes. The
bridge crew included a Russian, the ultimate in aliens in Spock and women. Even
more ground-breaking was that a senior command officer was a black woman.
Except for Doctor Who, without Star Trek, none of these other shows would have
been.
Summary
There could be a lot of honorable mentions, the BSG Reboot, Fringe, Stargate,
Farscape; just to name a few. These and others are all good and sometimes great
shows. However, in importance I think it is these five that set the precedents upon
which all the others depend. These five shows set standards for stories, characters
and effects that all the others have had to live up. They have proven themselves to
be timeless in that they still hold their popularity today. I would love to hear your
comments.
