Donald J. Bingle

March 2020 Newsletter

and Contest

My inbox is filled with photos of front doors lately. That's because the books bought by backers of my Kickstarter for Flash Drive and the rest of my Dick Thornby Thriller series shipped out from Amazon. Amazon often confirms delivery by snapping a photo of the package on the recipient's porch and, since I did all the ordering for my backers' copies, I get all the confirming photos. Digital novels and he digital stretch goal reward of my Christmas Carol Critique Collection also have been sent out, but a fair number of those haven't yet been redeemed. If you received an electronic book or stretch goal by email, please redeem it NOW, before you forget or lose the email. It helps assure you get what you were promised without glitches and, yes, it triggers payment by Amazon of my royalty percentage. Thanks for your support. 

Just in case you missed the Kickstarter or just prefer to get your books from your favorite online book retailer, Flash Drive, the third book in my Dick Thornby Thriller series, has now been released in both print and digital versions. Find it on Amazon, BN.com, and Kobo, or ask your favorite book store or local library to stock it for you. Go HERE for all the links. Here's a recent blurb from movie producer, author, Ray Bradbury expert, and all-around nice guy and erudite fellow, Steven Paul Leiva:

 

“Dick Thornby, Donald J. Bingle’s domestic family man and international spy is back! And that’s a good thing if you want a danger-filled and thrilling adventure (and who doesn’t?) mixed with family-love and laced with Bingle’s signature wit. Do what needs to be done and get Flash Drive. A good time will be had by all!” 

Steven Paul Leiva, Award-winning author of Blood is Pretty: The First Fixxer Adventure.

 

Collateral Damage: Die Hard, Burn Notice, Star Trek Into Darkness, Comic Superheroes, and Magnum P.I.

 

A Blog from July 21, 2013

 

Just watched A Good Day to Die Hard (Die Hard 5) a few days ago. This isn't a movie review column, so I won't go into why, despite the fact that the original Die Hard is one of the best action movies ever, the latest installment is a murky, boring, and unlikeable movie ranking as one of the worst action movies of all time (unless you have a car crash fetish). But it highlighted some of the thoughts that I had been mulling recently about the issue of collateral damage in movies and books and, thus, got me to sit down and write a blog post, even though I'm on deadline on a ghost-writing project.

 

Collateral damage comes in two types in books and movies. The first is the "needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one/few" approach. This type has a respectable place in both real life and fiction. Soldiers go on suicide missions to secure a target, dams and other huge infrastructure projects get built despite the fact that it is statistically almost certain that one or more people will get hurt during the difficult construction, and drugs get human trials (which can not only have adverse effects, but which trials deny patients getting the placebo a chance at actually getting a cure).

 

You see this all the time, although the American fetish for identified victims can stand it on its head at times (e.g., People will spend big bucks to get a kid out of a well or help out the victim of a high-profile crime, but not willingly bear the cost of life-saving programs like pre-natal care, construction codes/restrictions to prevent building in flood-prone areas, etc.).

 

Heck, the "needs of the many" trope can add drama and pathos to a storyline, by showing the sacrifice of the hero. And, in a world-setting, using this tactic can help identify who the bad guys and who the good guys are, though overusing it can make a government look oppressive (bye-bye Alderaan).

 

Second, collateral damage can refer to loss and destruction resulting from either the single-minded focus of the protagonist or the need for special effects and things that blow up real good. In the original Die Hard, John is clearly a hero, but a practical, down-to-earth guy. He takes some risks for the greater good (dropping a body on a squad car to get attention), but is concerned primarily about protecting innocent life. Sure, he refuses to turn himself in to save the coke-head wheeler-dealer, but he feels conflicted and guilty about it, even though he knows it was for the greater good.

 

Flash forward to A Good Day to Die Hard, however, and we get an interminably long opening action sequence in which John literally wrecks hundreds of cars filled with innocent people in order to chase his son not even knowing yet whether his son is a good guy or bad guy or who is after him or why (I guess cause they're Russians, mostly, we're not supposed to care). At this point, John has ceased to be a hero. He has, instead, become an uninteresting action junkie.

 

In a similar vein, look at the progression in Burn Notice. Here we started with a hard-core superspy, but one which was all noble and soft-hearted inside, taking jobs to help people thwart gangs and thugs and criminals. But as the series continued, Michael's heart hardened and his scruples faded as he became more and more willing to let others sacrifice themselves or to do things which might be hurting unknown people/governments in an effort to protect himself, his quest, and his friends and relatives, including burning another spy. Jesse may have forgiven him for that, but I haven't. The end result, a less interesting show with a less interesting protagonist.

 

Star Trek Into Darkness includes both kinds of collateral damage, culminating in a large airborne craft colliding with multiple buildings, killing thousands. The fact that the ship plows into the bay first doesn't change that dynamic. It's too soon for that to be entertainment. Heck, it will probably always be too soon for that to be entertainment. At least in Transformers, we know the creatures causing such high-casualty mayhem are alien robots who don't know any better (they styled themselves after cars when they came to the planet because they thought autos were the dominant life form on the planet), not that I care for CGI bloodshed.

 

Though the Comic Book Code may also have had something to do with it, early superheroes understood this problem. Nukes were tossed into the sun to prevent collateral damage and the hero wasn't allowed to voluntarily kill anyone. Yep, no matter how much sense it might make to off Magneto, he had to be held in an acrylic prison. (See blog following for how The Marvel Superheroes Role-Playing Game handles this issue.)

 

I've explored the concept of collateral damage in a number of my books and stories. For example, in GREENSWORD: A Tale of Extreme Global Warming, the protagonists talk about the issue, but care more about damage to animals and the environment than they do to humans. And in Net Impact, both the main character and the head of The Subsidiary, the spy agency he works for, are tough and practical--they do what needs to be done to save the world--but they are mindful of collateral damage (e.g., timing operations to lessen the possibility of civilian loss of life and refusing to engage in a firefight with local cops).

 

The line between tough and reckless may be difficult to walk, but it can be done. In Net Impact, for instance, the main spy threatens to kill an innocent, as well as her mother and her cat, though he never actually intends to do any of the three, but he hates the fact that the job makes him traumatize her at all.

 

Most people may not remember, but Thomas Magnum of the original version of Magnum P.I. actually murders someone in cold blood in the course of the series without damage to the character's likeability. Why? Because he kills the Russian KGB operative who tortured him and Rick and TC when they were captured as POWs in 'Nam. It was a justifiable kill consistent with the canon of the backstory and episode plot and they ended the episode with the shot--no carnage, no picture of the bullet hitting--so that anyone who wanted to believe Magnum didn't actually do it, that he shot near the guy to scare him, could believe that if they chose.

 

Over the top action sequences are big these days and lots of stories have large body counts (certainly a number of my stories do). Whether collateral damage is appropriate for a particular project or genre may vary. Certainly, I've written stories in which characters take actions and do things and say things that I would never do--you have to write what is right for the story. But think about the consequences of gratuitous collateral damages on your characters and on your readers. Nuff said.

 
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Marvel Supers Aren't Really Heroes. Tony Stark Knows That and You Should, Too.

 

As my old blog from 2013 set forth, I have a problem with people being called heroes when they don't show proper regard for the collateral damages their actions cause. Marvel's Cinematic Universe understands this is an issue. Tony Stark says outright that he is not a hero. And parts of the continuing plotlines in the MCU deal with the issues which arise from supers causing damages and even death. I mean, that's really the entire premise of of the Accords trying to control the Avengers after the incidents in New York and Wachovia.

 

But, even though the issue is up front and center at times, it's not really dealt with in a way that makes me think of the core of the Marvel characters as being heroic. Maybe, that's because I'm a simple guy from simpler times or maybe that's just because Marvel used to try harder to be heroic, at least in my early exposure to it.

 

That exposure came from two primary sources. Comics, most particularly Spider-Man comics in the late seventies. And TSR's Marvel Super Heroes roleplaying game in the eighties. (Yes, I'm old enough to make casual references to things close to half a century ago.)

 

Now, I'll confess, that, being a student and a relatively under-powered super compared to some, Peter Parker is not exactly the troubled, brooding type, unless he is brooding about Gwen Stacey--you know, his long-time girlfriend the MCU seems to have forgotten entirely about. (I once heard that when Kirsten Dunst was brought in at the last minute to audition for the first Tobey Maguire movie, she had never read the comics, but there were a bunch of old ones in the waiting room outside the audition, so she quickly skimmed through them and had decided that she would kick ass as Gwen Stacey, only to find out she was auditioning to play MJ/Mary Jane.)

 

Spidey mostly swung around trussing up common criminals, saving kids from burning buildings, and battling assorted evil guys. Collateral damage was just not a big issue. Most of the bad guys either were turned over to the cops or disappeared so they could reappear in later issues, alive and well.

 

As for the TSR roleplaying game, it had two core features which set it apart from all other rpgs at the time. The first was its bizarre and confusing action table, which always left me trying to remember if Amazing was better or worse than Monstrous or Incredible or Unearthly--at least Shift X, Shift Y, and Shift Z were in alphabetical order.

 

The second, and more relevant to this discussion was Marvel's karma rules. Karma could be used to modify die rolls and, so, was a really handy thing to have a lot of if you wanted your PC to be successful at doing the heroic things they were supposed to do. And, your PC could gain karma points by doing useful, in character, things, like stopping crimes and rescuing people. Your PC could also gain karma by doing day-to-day things, like meeting personal commitments and giving to charity.

 

On the other hand, you could lose karma by doing bad things--unheroic things--like committing crimes, permitting crimes to occur, and destroying property. (And, yes, for failing to meet commitments, even a promise to get together with someone to watch a movie.) But, the Number 1 (with a bullet) way to lose karma--all of your karma--was for a PC (a Marvel Super Hero, after all) to kill someone or allow them to die. It didn't matter if it was an innocent bystander or the most villainous of villains out there. They die, your PC's karma goes to zero.

 

While occasionally frustrating (especially when you know the bad guy will simply escape and need to be caught again), the karma rule was critical to making the game feel like it had a true comic book vibe. You could make a tough decision and take the karma hit, but you would only do so for reasons which made sense in the Marvel universe the game was set in.

 

Sorry, but the MCU doesn't play by those rules. Even the most paladin-like, goody-two-shoes (a phrase which, I understand, derives from a 1765 children's story) Marvel Super, Captain America, does plenty of things which cause substantial destruction of property and likely plenty of death--not just of random Nazis and Hydra sleepers, but innocent civilians. Yes, I understand that makes the character more realistic and the moral dilemmas imposed upon the character more interesting, but it still undercuts classic "heroism." And, of course, the less moral and intentional characters, like Iron Man and Hulk and Black Widow, cause mass mayhem wherever they go.

 

Worse yet, the MCU has reached the point where the Avengers and their allies not only cause collateral damage, but they inflict death and injury on others in order to save themselves. For all of the vaunted statements in Infinity War about not trading lives, Wakandan warriors are killed by the droves in order to give Wanda more time in order to try to save Vision, despite Vision's reasonable and moral protests.

 

In short, the Marvel Supers may be amazing, incredible, and even Shift X-ian, and they may be necessary and even desirable to keep around, but they aren't heroes. And that's just a little sad.

 

 

My Review of WandaVision

 

Wanda, of course, is anything but heroic in WandaVision, but let's set aside that topic (and how it might feed into the future of the MCU) and instead deal with how WandaVision worked or didn't work imho as a series television event.

 

In short, it didn't work for me at all. I'd give it 2 out of 5 stars, and one of those stars is simply for the costume and set design.

 

While hazing has been abolished at most colleges, fraternities, scout troops, and secret societies, viewers of WandaVision were subjected to hours of pointless hazing during the series, most particularly during the first mind-numbingly tedious four episodes (supposedly four hours, but it seemed much longer). But even later episodes were filled with exposition and tedious explanations of things which had already occurred and weren't hard to figure out.

 

It's not that I have a short attention-span, it's that I don't like being asked to sit through the equivalent of two full-length movies of alleged spoofs of classic sitcoms (which were neither effective at being good sitcoms nor effective at being parodies of classic sitcoms) and their tedious credits and theme songs for no real purpose except for Marvel to prove they could make their fans do it. Everything that was conveyed in those episodes could have been conveyed much more quickly and much more entertainingly.

 

Worse yet, the series touches on one of the most interesting aspects of the MCU post-Endgame, the return of half of humanity (an enormously disruptive event, logistically and emotionally), and breezes past it in about five minutes. Why? I don't know. Not enough time to deal with something interesting?

 

Ten hours about characters I didn't care about, except Darcy and Jimmy. A waste of time, as far as I'm concerned.

 
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As Promised Last Newsletter, A Review of

Black Heart of the Dragon God

By Jean Rabe and Craig Martelle

 

Goranth, A New Hero from Authors Who Know How to Do Action

 

If you are a fan of Conan, but are looking for a new tales of mighty warriors fighting in strange realms, Black Heart of the Dragon God is exactly the book you are looking for AND you don't have to parse your way through the antiquated phrasing and purple prose of more ancient tomes. There's plenty of action and heroic deeds, swords and sorcery, twists and turns, gods and monsters, and, of course, treasure and dragons to satisfy both fantasy role-playing game fans and those who crave what the industry calls men's action adventure. One minor caveat, the opening chapter is imho the weakest in the book, so don't be disheartened if you find it a bit confusing or off-putting; things get much better very quickly and you will soon be caught up in the quest, the characters, and the magic of this fine new series.--Donald J. Bingle, RPGA Gamer and Author of Not-So-Heroic Fantasy.

CONTEST

 

In celebration of the recent release of Black Heart of the Dragon God by Jean Rabe and Craig Martelle and the release a while back of The Mindful Eye by Mary Konczyk, I'm going to run a contest. Email me at orphyte@aol.com with the Subject Heading "March Contest" to enter. I'll make two random draws. The first drawn contestant will get a free copy of their choice of Black Heart of the Dragon God or The Mindful Eye, in their choice of print or digital version. Second drawn contestant gets the other item. (No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited, regulated, taxed, or otherwise problematic. U.S. residents/addresses only. If you want to post a link on social media about my newsletter or my recent book release, that would be cool, but is not required.) 

Coming soon, a bundle so packed full of science fiction, we had to assemble it in orbit.

 

Over twenty authors have joined the International Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers (IASFA) in a massive book bundle to warp the space-time of readers everywhere. IASFA Book Bundles are a way for people to discover quality books written by popular authors. You know how it's always hard to find something good to read? IASFA can help solve that with monthly free book promotions as well as through a massive Book Bundle like this: https://20bookpacks.com/IASFA-Sci-Fi-Book-Bundle:

 

From fantastic worlds to scowling spaceship commanders, from exploration to colonization to alien contact. There is something for everyone and probably your next favorite Science Fiction author can be found right here. We’ve compiled a bunch of hot titles and can offer them in a bundle for much less than a dollar each.

Ensnared, by Sian B. Claven

 

Unsure of her future, Amari settles into a new life with her parents on an isolated farm where strange things surround them. A girl sits on the boundary wall, something is in the woods, and Amari finds a book in her bedroom that seems to know what she’s thinking.


But that’s impossible, right?


Now a witch is after her and the girl in the book that she is trying to free. Amari must do everything in her power to help Kiara and to protect her own family.


Perfect short scare for young and older readers.

 

Donald J. Bingle is the author of seven books and more than sixty shorter works in the horror, thriller, science fiction, mystery, fantasy, steampunk, romance, comedy, and memoir genres. His books include Forced Conversion (near future military scifi), GREENSWORD (darkly comedic eco-thriller), Frame Shop (murder in a suburban writers' group), and the Dick Thornby spy thriller series (Net Impact; Wet Work, and Flash Drive). He also co-authored (with Jean Rabe) The Love-Haight Case Files (a three-time Silver Falchion winning paranormal urban fantasy about two lawyers who represent the legal rights of supernatural creatures in a magic-filled San Francisco; sequel is in the works). Don also edited Familiar Spirits (an anthology of ghost stories).

Many of Don's shorter works can be found in his Writer on Demand TM collections.

 

Get the audiobook version of Net Impact at Audible.com, Amazon, and iTunes and the audiobook version of Wet Work at Audible.com, Amazon, and iTunes.

 

Full disclosure: Various links in my newsletter or on my website may include Amazon Affiliate coding, which gets me a small referral fee (at no cost to you) if you purchase after clicking through. 

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