“Among the Stars”, the brand new, just published, exciting
sexy space opera adventure, is written for the same target audience as all of
my work—my thirteen year-old self. In
other words, me as I am right now, forever trapped in a perpetual state of
exuberant adolescence.
I write books that I want to read, but nobody else has
written. So I am compelled, obsessed, and destined to write them because I
desperately need to experience these stories.
The initial creative spark for “Among the Stars” literally
comes straight out of my adolescence, because it is based (loosely) on a short
story I wrote in circa 1977-78 at the age of thirteen. At the time I was placed
into something called the GATE program (that later became the ACE program). It
was a “special needs” program according to the state, and in this case the
special need was having an I.Q. above 135. Yeah, yeah, well bleep you, because
that was a long time ago and whatever capacity I once possessed for higher
intelligence has long since vanished.
At any rate, “Among the Stars” was my homage to the science
fiction TV shows I had grown up on, mainly classic “Star Trek”, “Space 1999”,
and “Lost in Space” (the first season when it was serious, before descending
into buffoonery).
“Among the Stars” was my first official work of fiction,
(typed out in proper manuscript form by my poor Aunt who had the thankless task
of deciphering my handwritten chicken scratch), so I have always wanted to
revisit it in some fashion. So in 2015 I was watching film critic Peter Travers
interviewing Quentin Tarantino about his then upcoming film “The Hateful Eight”,
and Quentin talked about how the inspirations for the film were the endless
series of mysterious stranger guest stars who came to town each week on shows
like “Gunsmoke”, “Bonanza”, and “The Big Valley”.
That was the spark. Why couldn’t I write my own movie
inspired by the TV shows that I grew up on? And I could write the movie as
pilot film for a new series (be it film or television). Plus I now had an
additional four decades of genre material and forty years of life experience to
draw from. Thus, “Among the Stars” version 2017 was born—a wickedly exciting,
wildly imaginative new published screenplay that draws inspiration from my love
of space opera, pulp fiction, and film noir.
From the back cover:
The year is 2042. The return of fascism, war, and raging
climate change have left the Earth on a path toward inevitable destruction. But
there is one industry that thrives as people look for an escape—space
tourism—lead by Brenda Bakke, the CEO and designer of the Aphrodite, a cruise
ship to the stars.
Brenda offers a scholarship ticket to Stanford
astrophysicist student Ariana Green, hires Captain Rochelle Blair to helm the
Aphrodite’s maiden voyage, and invites former space fighter turned rogue
gambler Von Sky to join the ship’s elite stunt team, the Space Angels.
They sail off for Saturn, and the celebrated space cruise is
all Brenda could have hoped for, until, sabotage strikes, sending the Aphrodite
and its eleven-hundred passengers and crew straight into an anomaly of dark
energy where they become—lost "Among the Stars".
Written in the screenplay format, "Among theStars" is the original pilot script for an exciting new science fiction
series from the lurid imagination of James J. Caterino, author of "Caitlin
Star: The Trilogy" and "Steel Phantom".
This exclusive special edition contains a bonus section of
"Among the Stars" concept art from the author’s personal sketchbook.
No comments:
Post a Comment