My First Novella; R.I.P. Adam West ‘Batman’

Progress Report

I may be behind in my writing projects but I’m making progress. I just completed writing my first novella last night. It’s a virtual reality-video game sci fi/dark fantasy. Sure, it’s going to need a lot of revising but as many long-time authors will say, one of the most important steps in the fiction writing process is to finish the first draft. A year or two ago, I had started writing a novella but never finished it. I allowed myself to drift away from it and never resumed writing it. Maybe I’ll go back to it someday after revising this new one.

Besides finishing the first draft of my novella, I’ve been working on the cover to the print edition of “Circa Sixty Years Dead”. The illustration, title and byline lettering are all set up since I’m using the same graphics as I did for the ebook edition. But I need to write the back cover summary which shouldn’t take me long. However, I may need to examine a copy of the print edition before I can release it for sale. Amazon would have to send me the copy, or proof as they call it in the publishing industry, which could take a couple of weeks. You really don’t know how good a print book looks until you see it in actuality as opposed to on screen.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons/ABC Studios

Adam West ‘Batman’ Dies at 88

It seems that all year, Hollywood stars have been dying left and right. It may just be that many of them are up there in age and so they are naturally reaching the end of their life spans. Adam West, who was most known for the campy 1960s Batman TV series was one of them. He died at 88 Friday night. It’s hard to believe he was that old. So it was a shock when I saw the news about his death on SpyVibe, a blog that discusses ‘60s espionage fiction in its various mediums (movies, TV, books, etc.). Jason Whiton, the blog host of SpyVibe, has a far out article that pays tribute to Mr. West, which if you grew up watching the ‘60s Batman series like me (even though it was a little before my time, I watched the re-runs weekday afternoons), I strongly suggest you read it. It brought back a lot of the sensations I felt when I watched the series as a kid and so it will probably do the same for you.

Sure, Adam West’s Batman was not your Dark Knight Detective as we know the character today from Christopher Nolan’s movies or Tim Burton’s 1989 cinematic adaptation. But many of us came to know the true Dark Knight, the Gothic super hero, through the campy ‘60s series from when we were kids which therefore served as a starting point. So I owe a lot to Adam West’s Batman since it was what got me started on the Batman character to begin with. If I never watched the TV series, I probably wouldn’t be as much of the Bat fan that I am today.

I just finished reading a good sci fi novel which is nostalgic for the 1970s and millimeter filmmaking of monster movies. It’s called Mr. Fishback’s Monster, by Steve Sabatka, which I’ll try to have a review of here next time.

So, Bat fans, did you grow up watching the ‘60s Batman TV series? If not then what got you started on Batman?

Until next time, same Far Out Fantastic channel . . . !