ASMSG Scifi Fantasy Paranormal Emagazine April 2015 | Page 18

That leaves Gilligan himself. Okay, the
guy is a boob. He has no skills and no
brains. He’s a mouth-breather from way
back who should have been dead a long
time ago. But you know what? He’s
lucky. So, I say keep the schlemiel—the
show will work better.

And like the old show, every once in a
while you can have over-the-hill guest
stars like Erik Estrada and Loni
Anderson land on the island and get
eaten while Aubrey Plaza provides the
sarcastic commentary. Hey, this thing
practically writes itself!

So what would you like to see in this
new show? Anyone? I’ll be standing by,
awaiting your comments.

Steven Ramirez is the author of Books One and Two of THE DEAD SERIES, Tell Me When I'm Dead and
Dead Is All You Get. He has also published a number of short stories, as well as a children's book, and he
wrote the screenplay for the horror-thriller film Killers. To hear about new releases, visit
http://stevenramirez.com/newsletter. Steven lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughters.

Check him out on Amazon. While you’re waiting on Gilligan’s Zombie Island, get
Steven’s latest novel Dead Is All You Get here.

Drew Avera

How Batman Shaped MyLife
(As a Writer)

Original source: Drew Avera's Blog

Disclosure: I’m not a vigilante running through the city on
rooftops and breaking up gang violence with a cape and
batarang, not that I wouldn’t enjoy it, but I figured I’d put that
out there before you read through this wondering how many
psychos I put in Arkham. No, I’m not a hero, but that doesn’t
mean Batman hasn’t shaped my life.
I was a kid when Michael Keaton starred in the Tim Burton
films. Seeing the caped crusader decked out in black and kicking
butt was exciting. In fact I even made a grappling hook out of
aluminum pipe that I flattened with a hammer and attached rope
to. I remember walking down the street to this abandoned
building and throwing the hook up to try and scale the wall.
Would you believe me if I told you it worked? The grappling
hook I mean. I was a kid and didn’t have the upper body
strength to haul myself up there. You might look at me
questioningly, but I was a nerd, not a jock. I guess you
understand that now…not that a post about Batman wasn’t a
dead giveaway lol.
Playing make believe aside, I learned some things by reading the
comics and watching the movies. The biggest thing is I don’t like
lulls in stories. I want to see people in jeopardy and the hero
swooping in to save them. Knowing this, I apply it to my own
writing. As an adult I understand how suspense works and you
can’t always have action, action, action. That doesn’t mean you
can let the fast pace slide, though. It just means you have to
create tension in order to carry the story forward.
That brings me to another bat-point. Conflict is a must when
writing a good story. You don’t have to write science fiction or
fantasy to have a good conflict. In fact, an internal conflict is

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much more interesting than some of the battle scenes in Star
Trek. I’m sorry Trekies, but Kirk can only fly out of his chair so
many times before, It. Gets. Old. Batman has that internal
conflict because he refuses to kill the killers. Every death at the
hands of his enemies is a death he wears on his heart. As a
twelve-year-old, it was hard to understand, but as an adult with
big boy pants I can see just how important that is to the story.
At the end of the comic there was a call to action. It was usually
some clever marketing gimmick to get you to spend your hardearned allowance or hoarded lunch money on the next issue.
Why did it work? Because they left you wanting more as a
reader. When writing a book you should try to make it so the
reader never wants to close the book. I want to leave each
chapter with a level of insecurity for the character. It sounds
easy, but it’s far from it. Regardless of how easy or hard it is, the
goal is to always push the story forward and make the reader
want to turn the next page. It’s the same reason I would save my
lunch money and allowances in order to buy my next fix of
comic book lore.
So there you have it; just a few ways Batman shaped my life as a
writer. It’s not as physically demanding as taking out the Joker
every other night, but it is fun to create worlds where the lives of
many are in your hands. Hopefully you can take something from
this and put it in your own utility belt. Thanks for reading!
Don’t forget to grab my book The Dead Planet Series :
Exodus for free on kindle!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C1KP6SS