Author

Comic book editing and writing – Bob Greenberger interview

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Bob Greenberger has been a writer and editor for decades. He’s worked on the Star Trek comic and as both a DC and Marvel executive he’s worked on numerous comic book projects. His latest work is a Captain America novel. I interviewed Bob Greenberger at Far Point 2018.

1:52 – Bob talks about his latest work, an original Captain America novel. He always wanted to write a Captain America novel. His first ideas were too political for the editors so he moved the story to Europe. He worked as the editor of the Star Trek comic book and he’s written a lot of Star Trek stories.

3:34 – For deadline work, he likes to finish before the deadline and put it side for a week and then look it over again. He does noodle over his own characters.

6:08 – His most experimental works were Suicide Squad which was unique for DC at the time. His other experimental project was with Peter David called the Atlantis Chronicles. He brought in a Spanish artist who had a whole new look. It just got collected after 30 years. DC was experimental and they went for it.

8:58 – The Hacker Files was a little ahead of its time. It was about software and hackers and conspiracies. The project was backburnered and then the project kind of disappeared over time.

10:56 – He doesn’t consider himself an experimental writer. He’s more of a nuts and bolts kind of guy.

11:32 – Bob goes over how he would create a novel like his latest Captain America novel.

13:36 – He balances narration, dialogue and such through practice. He knows Captain America’s voice but had to take more time on characters he created.

16:32 – For his Star Trek work he studies as much astronomy as needed. However, for Sherlock Holmes he went down rabbit holes as he studied Victorian London.

19:32 – Bob discusses what he learned being a journalist in college. That informed everything he did afterwards. The value of a schedule and allocating time.

22:02 – The editor’s role is to protect property. He also likes using entertainment to educate.

24:52 – He listens to soundtracks to set the mood while writing.

26:02 – He has a robotics club in school where he teaches. But not everyone’s imagination is captured by robotics. A school should find something to interest every kid. He’d like kids to be more curious about the tools that they use.

28:29 – All kids need to know how to write and communicate to do well in science. They also have to understand the history of knowledge.

29:43 – He always wanted a Green lantern power ring as a kid.

30:52 – He has an author’s page on Amazon. He also has a webpage, bobgreenbeger.com, his twitter handle is bobgreenberger and he’s on facebook.

Links of interest

https://bobgreenberger.com/

For more “Creating Sci-Fi and Fantasy – An Inside Look” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

 

Guests: Bob Greenberger

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, star trek, comics, atlantis, suicide squad, DC comics, marvel comics, author, captain america, peter david, science, education, STEM

Sci-fi author Peter David interview – Far Point 2018 – youtube

Peter David has been a professional writer for over 30 years. He’s written novels, comic books, television, video games and so on. He wrote Incredible Hulk for 12 years and has written both DC and Marvel comics. He’s written numerous Star Trek novels and comic books. I was able to interview him at Far Point 2018. He has a website and is on twitter and facebook.

1:26 – Peter David has been working on the third book in the Hidden Earth trilogy and it’s taken a while so he hopes fans like it. He’s also writing the Scarlet Spider for Marvel Comics and a Battlestar Galactica 6 issue limited series where the original crew meets the crew from the new series.

2:36 – He liked the Fallen Angel comic book series. He likes his Atlantis chronicles and his Hulk work. However, he’ll look at his past work and still find things he doesn’t like. He finds things he doesn’t think he did correctly.

5:20 – People often ask what inspires him. He says what he makes from his work inspires him. But he also has too much in his brain to not be a writer. It’s an addiction and obsession. Ideas come to writers ferociously and with clarity.

7:16 – Fan interaction is his favorite part of writing. The act itself is a very lonely business. He likes being told what fans like and don’t like.

8:11 – He started writing as a kid and kept going. His father was a reporter and he thought he might be a newspaperman. But instead he became a fiction writer. He reads a lot to get better at writing. For example, he didn’t like present tense writing until he saw Stephen King had done it.

11:20 – The writer should show society the ways it can be better. Science fiction might be the best way to do this. He enjoys the Orville because it shows the way things might be. The shows has gotten better with each episode.

13:33 – He enjoys Harlan Ellison, Neil Gaiman, Stan Lee. He uses other writers to reflect on his own work. The older masters provide good lesson but the newer writers inspire too with the new things they try.

14:51 – He doesn’t use science as the basis for his works but he makes sure his Star Trek novels have consistent science. For example he wanted to make Odo from Deep Space 9 maintain his mass when he changes shape.

16:31 – Mr. David likes movies and tv but he will critize them. For example Superman IV made him think that the UN would not be happy with Superman’s decision to get rid of nuclear weapons. It would be Superman against the world. They would get Lex Luthor to fight him. If he ever wrote Superman, that’s the story he would write.

18:46 – Mr. David talked to Dale Keown, his artist on Incredible Hulk, about predicting how movies will go. Writers can figure out how a story will go. Mr. David figured out how Tango and Cash would go after watching for 30 minutes. The most recent Star Wars film fooled him though when Luke showed up for the final battle in the way he did. He also predicted Sixth Sense after the first two minutes.

22:16 – He would love to teleport. He’d like to be like Nightcrawler.

 

Links

https://www.peterdavid.net/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Orville

 

For more “Creating Sci-Fi and Fantasy – An Inside Look” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

 

Guests: Peter David

Host: Cris Alvarez

 

Sci-fi author Peter David interview

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Peter David has been a professional writer for over 30 years. He’s written novels, comic books, television, video games and so on. He wrote Incredible Hulk for 12 years and has written both DC and Marvel comics. He’s written numerous Star Trek novels and comic books. I was able to interview him at Far Point 2018. He has a website and is on twitter and facebook.

1:26 – Peter David has been working on the third book in the Hidden Earth trilogy and it’s taken a while so he hopes fans like it. He’s also writing the Scarlet Spider for Marvel Comics and a Battlestar Galactica 6 issue limited series where the original crew meets the crew from the new series.

2:36 – He liked the Fallen Angel comic book series. He likes his Atlantis chronicles and his Hulk work. However, he’ll look at his past work and still find things he doesn’t like. He finds things he doesn’t think he did correctly.

5:20 – People often ask what inspires him. He says what he makes from his work inspires him. But he also has too much in his brain to not be a writer. It’s an addiction and obsession. Ideas come to writers ferociously and with clarity.

7:16 – Fan interaction is his favorite part of writing. The act itself is a very lonely business. He likes being told what fans like and don’t like.

8:11 – He started writing as a kid and kept going. His father was a reporter and he thought he might be a newspaperman. But instead he became a fiction writer. He reads a lot to get better at writing. For example, he didn’t like present tense writing until he saw Stephen King had done it.

11:20 – The writer should show society the ways it can be better. Science fiction might be the best way to do this. He enjoys the Orville because it shows the way things might be. The shows has gotten better with each episode.

13:33 – He enjoys Harlan Ellison, Neil Gaiman, Stan Lee. He uses other writers to reflect on his own work. The older masters provide good lesson but the newer writers inspire too with the new things they try.

14:51 – He doesn’t use science as the basis for his works but he makes sure his Star Trek novels have consistent science. For example he wanted to make Odo from Deep Space 9 maintain his mass when he changes shape.

16:31 – Mr. David likes movies and tv but he will criticize them. For example Superman IV made him think that the UN would not be happy with Superman’s decision to get rid of nuclear weapons. It would be Superman against the world. They would get Lex Luthor to fight him. If he ever wrote Superman, that’s the story he would write.

18:46 – Mr. David talked to Dale Keown, his artist on Incredible Hulk, about predicting how movies will go. Writers can figure out how a story will go. Mr. David figured out how Tango and Cash would go after watching for 30 minutes. The most recent Star Wars film fooled him though when Luke showed up for the final battle in the way he did. He also predicted Sixth Sense after the first two minutes.

22:16 – He would love to teleport. He’d like to be like Nightcrawler.

 

Links

https://www.peterdavid.net/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Orville

 

For more “Creating Sci-Fi and Fantasy – An Inside Look” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

 

Guests: Peter David

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: writer, comic books, novels, hulk, incredible hulk, marvel comics, dc comics, spider-man, supergirl, star trek