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Hello, my friends. Wow, but has this been quite the week…
There’s new fiction on the new site, and I played a part in a major film!
Okay, so the part I played was tiny, but it was a major film. I was a background extra in The Rivals of Amziah King, a crime thriller starring Matthew McConaughey, written and directed by Andrew Patterson.
Filming took place here in the Birmingham area, but I am unsure if they finished before the Screen Actor’s Guild went on strike. Maybe?
Depending on how the editing goes, you will be able to see me in two scenes. Although you’d have to squint real hard on one of those. Of course, since we’re talking movies, the scenes I was filmed in could be cut or the angles the director ends up choosing might not show me (for any number of reasons). And that’s fine. That’s part of their process.
I did get paid a small amount, but that’s not why I signed up. I did it simply for the experience. It was good to get out of the office for a day and to do some socializing. I met some awesome people, and I enjoyed seeing how filmmakers go about things. To me, filming seems like a chaotic process, but clearly it works.
I also had the chance to do a bit of acting. Me and another fellow had to mime a discussion in the background while the actors in the foreground were talking. That was fun, though it became awkward and challenging to keep it going after the first couple of minutes.
I would love to tell you more about the movie, but there’s not much I can say. They’re being tight-lipped about it. I would love to show you photos, but I can’t, because they don’t let you take photos on set.
While the filmmakers didn’t say that we can’t tell people about the location where we filmed, I don’t feel comfortable revealing that information. I will say, the location we went to was quite the experience in and of itself. I will share more on that when the movie comes out.
I chose quite the time to become a (background) actor! Most of you are probably aware by now that the Screen Actor’s Guild has joined the (Screen) Writer’s Guild of America in their strike against unfair studio pay and practices.
One of the key issues for SAG-AFTRA is all about background actors. Studios want the ability to scan a background actor then duplicate them in that movie and future movies using artificial intelligence. The background actor would get paid once for a day of work ($200 for guild members), and after that, the studio could use them in that film and any future films, whenever they wanted, without additional pay. Obviously, I would not have signed up to be background if that was something that was already in play.
You can read all about it in this Rolling Stone article.
This Week on Rogues & Starships
This last week I uploaded the first two parts of the revised version of Gadda Bisby’s Grail. I had thought two parts would be sufficient, but I was wrong.
Wednesday saw the release of the first chapter of the updated Storm Phase series. Late on Wednesday, because right before loading it onto Substack, I decided I was still unhappy with the way the book began. So to the computer screen and typewriter I went, and several hours passed of me typing away and reading out loud until I got what I wanted. Now I’m happy with the way the first chapter begins.
Books I’m Reading
Again, I’d like to mention a book that I read earlier in the year: Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell. That’s the fourth book in The Saxon Tales series. You may be familiar with the Uhtred stories through the tv series The Last Kingdom. I haven’t started book five yet, but I will soon.
I got sucked into Cornwell’s writing by The Last Kingdom, but because the television series was coming out, I started with The Warlord Chronicles, his Arthurian trilogy. Which was outstanding.
The first four novels in The Saxon Tales and all three books in The Warlord Chronicles are five-start reads. I cannot recommend them enough if you like historical fiction in the least.
As an author, I found these novels incredibly inspiring. And I try to read outside the fantasy and sci-fi genres in an effort to keep my writing fresh and avoid too many cliched plots and themes. Some tropes are intentional, of course.
Music
Another banner week of music for me. My favorite band, Ghost, and my fourth favorite band, Gunship, both released new songs.
Ghost’s new song Stay is a remake of a Shakespeare’s Sister song. It features vocals by actor and director Patrick Wilson.
Gunship’s new song is Monster in Paradise. Check it out if you like synth wave music. The video for the song is very cyberpunk.
For the curious, the ranking goes like this: Ghost, Iron Maiden, Barenaked Ladies, Gunship. I have no idea what my fifth favorite band would be. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers perhaps?
Movies
To celebrate the 4th of July, Aubrey and I watched the first Captain America film. From there, we continued watching all of the Captain America and Avengers films up through End Game. As I have said before, I began my reading adventures with comics, and the first series I read consistently was The West Coast Avengers. Following that, I got into the rest of the Avengers titles and Captain America. I had a blast rewatching these films.
Coming Up Next Week
Next week will see the release of the Gadda Bisby’s Grail 3 on Tuesday. Free subscribers will get Storm Phase 2 on Wednesday and The Crucified Owl 1 on Thursday.
At some point next week, I’m going to release a short afterword for Gadda Bisby’s Grail, discussing the changes I made to the story and why, as well as a little background on Murder Creek. That will be for paid subscribers only.
For the time being, there will be a new Storm Phase chapter every Wednesday.
The first eight chapters of that series will be free for all subscribers. After that, I will probably do a rolling release where paid subscribers get to read new Storm Phase chapters first with all subscribers getting to read them for free later.
On Thursday, July 20th, I will be releasing an Outworld Ranger box set, collecting the first three ebooks in the series.
Best wishes and happy reading,
David Alastair Hayden
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