Today I’m guest blogging at Chiseled in Rock.
Writing
Adventures of the Last Jelly Bean Dragon!
Today, I’m interviewing a friend of mine—maybe approaching 20 years?—Jan C. J. Jones, producer, writer, video editor, of Forest Rose, Productions. I’ve always been amazed and in awe of Jan’s incredible, indomitable will, perseverance, and imaginative superpowers. I throw the term “superpowers” around a fair amount, but in Jan’s case, I’m not kidding (pardon the pun). I met her many years ago at a Pikes Peak Writers Conference, with a big smile and a “Hi, I’m Jan—what do you do?”, and that pretty much defines how she operates. Always friendly, always outgoing as hell, and always interested in others. Always doing things for others, sometimes at great personal expense. And then there was the recent loss of her father. Well, I’m so glad to report, she’s finally realizing a dream of hers she’s put on a backburner—and still I can’t say it’s just for her—it’s for children. And it’s borne out of those imaginative superpowers I’d mentioned. Jan…is a powerful storyteller and I sincerely hope she gets the support of the public she’s so ardently supported over the many years I’ve known her. I can’t emphasize this enough, please…take the time to check out her information, below, pass this along to all you know, tweet and Facebook and blog and whatever the hell out of this. Get this out there. I love it, it fits a niche (I’m no YA-ish expert, but it sure seems like it does…), and it’s just plain cool.
Fpdorchak: What is “Save the Dragon”? What’s it all about, Jan?
Jan C. J. Jones: Thank you for asking, Frank…
JCJJ: “Save the Dragon” has become the mantra for a project titled, The Adventures of the Last Jellybean Dragon, an interactive children’s iBook project that is a hybrid “product,” melding creative writing, illustration, music & sound, and voice performance, then delivered via iPad’s interactive technology, as a means to spark young readers’ imagination with the goal of inspiring them to become tomorrow’s innovators (how about that as a run-on sentence)? This effort is planned as the first in a series of original interactive chapter books for “curious, courageous young readers” who are ready to venture beyond Mother Goose and basic books (before heading into the realms of Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket).
FPD: On your website (http://www.jbdragon.com/), you have a team of six listed as the “Creatives.” Could you briefly speak to the responsibilities of each? For example, who’s writing, who’s illustrating, who’s working the dragon magic? :-]
JCJJ: There are six listed as of this date, but we’re expecting a couple more incredible talents to join the team shortly—and I’m dying to “spill the beans,” but I must refrain until it is completely “written in stone.”
I’m the author/writer of “everything text” beginning with the story, which I completed in 1995. The story was a finalist in a competition called America’s Best Illustrated Children’s Books. That placement told me then that it had potential, but a standard printed, children’s book would never really deliver the story as I envisioned it. The story went into a drawer and emerged with iBook innovation.
Michael Koch is an amazing illustrator. His characters are so whimsical, yet exude incredible personalities. As the illustrator for an iBook, he not only interprets the text and transforms it to illustration, he must consider elements of his work that can (or will) be interactive—animation on demand, so to speak.
Paul Rohrer has an incredible acting and voice performance history, on stage, television and radio. He will be performing the narration of the iBook as well as casting and directing the other character voices. If you listen to his weekly radio show on Wednesday mornings, produced from Castle Rock Radio (Castle Rock, CO), the energy he exudes is infectious.
Original music composition and sound (effects) design are being handled by veteran composer, John Schuermann. I’ve worked with John on a few other video projects where I learned how incredible his skills are at defining and analyzing a scene then composing music that brings the correct musical tone to it. Structuring music for iBooks is different in that much of it will “loop” until the reader turns a page, or begins a new chapter, for example. It’s a challenge to create a song that is long enough, yet when it loops repeatedly (in some cases), it doesn’t become an annoying distraction.
The iBook will serve multiple purposes, so on board is Education Specialist, Barb Leitchie (pronounced LAY – HEE), who has been an educator for 35 years. During the course of her career, she’s taught every grade level, so she knows what is expected from educational programs, products and materials. Barb will be analyzing the iBook for educational elements and developing a comprehensive Teacher’s Guide (curriculum) that will accompany the iBook when purchased by educators and schools.
Lastly, is Steve Harlow, the iBook developer. He has the incredibly weighty responsibility of pulling all the separate elements and disciplines together to produce the iBook product, itself. He must integrate and animate the various interactive elements. In addition, the JBDragon iBook has game-play components where a reader will get to certain points in the story that will take him/her into a game. Once completed, the reader is returned to continue the story. One routine event that is planned is that the villain (Enchantra, a fashioned-failed sorceress with eight uncooperative arms with a maniacal back-story) will appear at the end of each chapter and “cast a spell” on the book, causing it to “lock up.” The reader must figure out how to break the spell in order to continue reading. In spell selection discussions we’ve talked about a “Yucky Muck Mud” spell…a “Stocking Stalking” spell (involving stinky socks that just won’t go away) along with my personal favorite…the frightfully terrifying “Icky Sticky Trouble Bubble” spell. We’ll see where this tomfoolery leads.
FPD: Will “Dragon” be available on other platforms?
JCJJ: To begin, the iBook will head to iPad. Frankly, the idea of moving it to smaller electronic devices is problematic for me simply because I want kids to experience “pages” as close to a reality-book pages. The pages will truly be works of art…with text…and fun things that go “pop.” I don’t see how that might happen on smaller devices without there being a loss of the artful detail. If there’s a huge outcry to migrate the project onto one or other of the other platforms…we’ll, of course, address it.
FPD: This seems like a large-scale effort. How big are you envisioning—anything more you can tell us?
JCJJ: Throughout my creative career I’ve created or produced multi-media presentations that incorporated video, symphonies, and live performance—at the same time. Certainly a nightmare for most people (me too, actually). But I love how such presentations stimulate, entertain and reach each individual in the audience for different reasons. An iBook is like that, but the reader/user/player is holding the “whole enchilada” in their hand AND have the added advantages of controlling what happens and experiencing it over and over again. What an empowering little tool—at the low cost of a download!
FPD: What starts when?
JCJJ: We creatives make light and magic, but we struggle to make…dough. For us the “F” word is always “funding” projects as we all still have families to feed and bills to pay. As an author yourself, you know how much work and time goes into the creative process. Even with six or more professionals working on this iBook project, it will take an entire year to complete, so raising funds is definitely necessary. We’re initiating a Kickstarter fundraising campaign that “goes live” this September 1st.
FPD: What is “Kickstarter.com” and why did you decide to use it?
JCJJ: Through Kickstarter.com, scores of independent artists are provided an opportunity to compete with the established “big boys” to garner crowd-funding from individuals who choose to “back” projects that strike their fancy. The statistics are amazing. Since Kickstarter’s launch in April 2009, more than 24,000 projects have been funded, totaling $250 million in pledged funds. Many projects fail, while others garner far more than their funding objectives. And it may not be obvious on the surface, but a heck of a lot of work goes into preparing to launch a Kickstarter campaign. Candidate projects’ creators (in this case, me) must be qualified by having had certain business elements in place for some time. The campaign must follow stringent guidelines that result in the creation of a final product by a stated deadline. Kickstarter backers are given rewards based on their level of contribution. It’s an “all or nothing” funding opportunity, meaning, if a project fails to reach its stated funding goal, it gets nothing. It’s scary, exciting and a lot of work, but it’s a shot at being able to see a dream become reality that wasn’t an option before Kickstarter.
FPD: And the actual distribution of “Save The Dragon”?
JCJJ: Actual distribution of the iBook will be through one of two methods. Either it will be sold via the Apple App Store, or from our own JBDragon website. The team will make that determination once we know if (or at what level) we’ve been successful in our Kickstarter campaign.
FPD: What was your inspiration for “Save The Dragon”?
JCJJ: Gosh. Something a long time ago must have inspired the idea of a jellybean dragon and this story. A number of my stories have been inspired by what one of my kids said or did, so I’d have to err to that. The themes of the story are timely and timeless…they include loyalty, helping your friends, and, of course, good prevailing over evil. I’m sure there will be people that will glean other themes and lessons from it that aren’t obvious to me right now.
FPD: Does this project have any special significance for you—and if so, how so?
JCJJ: This project has a great deal of significance for me in that all my life, and throughout my career, I worked (as a support unit) to help make dreams come true for others, from my employers and business colleagues, to my family, kids, and friends. Sad to say, I don’t remember any of them asking me, “Jan, what do YOU want to do? What dreams can I help you achieve?” I take ownership to wrongfully expect that to happen. It’s taken me a long time—probably 50 years—to finally “get it.” No one will make my dreams come true but me. The Adventures of the Last Jellybean Dragon iBook project represents the beginning of my making my own dreams come true. Hopefully, it’s not too late. If nothing else, the message I’d shout out to everyone, especially to creatives…don’t wait on someone else to make you happy, or to help you realize your goals! The flip side of this situation is that, in selecting the team members for this project, I truly hope the project will help to fulfill some of their dreams…or at least provide a stepping stone to the next stepping stone toward their ultimate ambitions. I’d be good with that (but I’d certainly want to keep the team intact if we are afforded the opportunity to produce follow up projects—now, that’s a good dream!).
FPD: You’re a heavy Facebook user. How do you plan on using FB—or any other social media—to promote and market “Dragon”?
JCJJ: Although I don’t over-use Facebook like some do, I see the potential of Facebook to reach people on a global level. Currently there are 21 countries who’ve visited the JBDragon website and there’s an impressive range of international diversity “liking” the JBDragon Facebook page. We need an audience and we need funding. The project—the JBDragon—must develop a multi-demographic fan base. The project needs to stimulate interest from potential Kickstarter backers who want to directly influence what artful products are produced and brought to market. How can they do that if they aren’t aware of the opportunity?
JCJJ: The JBDragon has a webpage, www.JBDragon.com as well as a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/JellybeanDragon) that link to the JBDragon Kickstarter page. We have sneak-peak JBDragon videos on YouTube.com that also link back to these other websites. We need to get word out about the project to our demographic—6-to-8-year-old readers and their parents—as well as to potential Kickstarter backers, many of whom may be grandparents. I believe much of the popularity with Kickstarter projects is that the public is tired of seeing the same stories re-hashed; backers are stating they want more “original programming.” I mean, how many times can Snow White be given a different spin and retold? I’d hate to see a future where everyone went to see a movie every week that was always the same storyline, repurposed for different actors and time periods. Kickstarter backers are “voting” with their dollars to encourage originality, and perhaps demonstrate some rebellion toward big studios and publishers, who force cookie-cutter products into the market. Obviously, demand for creative originality is not being met.
FPD: What question have I not asked, but you wished I had?
JCJJ: Actually, I think I provided information and answers to anything that you didn’t ask—as if you had asked them. And thank you for providing this marvelous opportunity to do so, Frank.
FPD: Last words?
JCJJ: Please help to bring the Jellybean Dragon into children’s make-believe. Don’t let Enchantra achieve her goal of destroying all dragons! With pledges starting as low as $5, independent-minded art enthusiasts can support our Kickstarter project, The Adventures of the Last Jellybean Dragon, a curious interactive iBook for courageous young readers at www.kickstarter.com/projects/2059302411/1946378799?token=57152e14.
…and just one more thing, please…SAVE THE DRAGON !!!
FPD: Thank you for your time, Jan, and wish you all the best on this project!
http://www.jbdragon.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INrlz3Xt9Y0
https://www.facebook.com/JellybeanDragon
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2059302411/1946378799?token=57152e14
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/7/prweb9719727.htm
https://www.facebook.com/events/248654251904126/
www.forest-rose-productions.com
Twilight Zone Posts
Hey, readers, I’m a huge Twilight Zone fan, so am pimping my other blog, Reality Check, and two recent Twilight Zone posts there (here and here). Please check them out and enjoy!
Dearly Departed
Dear Reader:
I found this article last week and really sympathized with it. When the whole “e-mail thing” began waaay back (yeah, I can remember those days…), I, too, felt the tension.
Use…or not to use?
No, it never quite felt right, using it in e-mail, but did always feel right on good old-fashioned, “old school,” paper. But, even then…well, let’s just say I’ve never been a “formal” guy. I mean, sure, I’d use proper names and all, on salutations on letters, but I wasn’t above just saying “Grandma and Grandpa,” and be done with it.
I’m all for proper respect and all, but I saw nothing wrong with addressing my salutations without a “Dear.” I do, however, not think they’re necessarily appropriate in e-mails, but that depends on the situation. Typically, e-mails are more “memo” formats, less formal. But, even when I wrote letters (full disclosure: yes, I do still [occasionally] write letters…), always thought—to me—that “Dear” sometimes too formal. I aways wondered, when I wrote to guys, would that seem, you know—très efféminé?
“Mr. Kalamazoo” always sounded much better. More Manly. More apropos. “Dear Mom” was fine, but why wouldn’t just plain old “Mom” suffice? What the heck was it with having to use “Dear”?! The Question Everything in me always took issue with that. But, to see it now seemingly go by the wayside, well…it brings back the nostalgia of it all. When paper was made of wood and letters were more frequently penned and actually endeared onto the medium, when people took a little more time and respect in addressing each other. I can’t say that I never addressed a salutation with “Hey,” but I doubt I did so. And probably only with my siblings.
Should “Dear” be relegated to the anachronism compost pile? Methinks, not. If you like it, continue using it. Heck, if you have to, consider it a zombie term: perhaps mostly dead, but still alive and twitching? Use it because others aren’t using it. I’ve always found it rather amusing, may or may not continue using it, but I like what it stands for, and it works really well for those you really care about.
Most Humbly yours,
F. P. Dorchak
The Hunger Games — Books Two and Three
I finally completed the trilogy Friday night. It took a while only because of the business of life, not because I wasn’t interested in the books. Overall, I was quite impressed with them. So, let me just say, right now, I really liked them. I was, however, getting a little “over” all the talk about kissing and who kissed who, but I had to remind myself these books were written for Scholastic and YA.
The second book was about after having won the Hunger Games, how Peeta and Katness continue to become pawns in the Capitol’s scheming shenanigans–and how Katniss must now deal with Gale (you know, what with all the Peeta and Gale kissy-poo thing from the first book’s Games), after returning home. How they’ve fueled a resistance in the Districts. The third book deals with the results from all that has come before, including the new mystery of District 13.
While I found all the books a great read, I favor the first book most. But, I have to admit, I did find one thing that kinda stood out across the second and third books, especially in light of a recent blog conversation I had with Bree Ervin’s Think Banned Thoughts post, concerning sex in fiction. And this issue of mine does not in any way detract from the enjoyment of the books themselves, but it certainly got my attention as I read them, probably only because I’m a writer and my view on the topic. I don’t do many book reviews, because of writing time limitations, but also because I don’t like to discuss the negatives of written books (see this interesting post by Joe Ponepinto), because as a writer I know how much effort goes into books. But, I’d already reviewed the first Hunger Games and the “Completeness Freak” in me needs to make good on my need for symmetry.
I am far from being any kind of a prude, but I found it interesting that there was all this sometimes “graphic” violence in the Hunger Games (which seemed quite different from the first book, where not much was mentioned), yet when it came to sex, there were only all this talk about kissing. Just kissing. The only sex involved having children.
For real?
Two kids (here, I’m talking about Gale and Katniss in their District before all the nastiness befalls them), alone by themselves, in the woods. Burgeoning hormones. And all they do is kiss?!
Two teenagers?!
Now, if there had been no graphic mentions (versus detailed and focused descriptions) of flensing and dismemberment, I could have easily let this slide (it is Scholastic, right?), but, no…can’t. And, actually, when you think about what exactly Mockingjay describes in terms of violence and torture, it actually made me, well, flinch, considering the initial target audience of these books.
Me.
Flinch.
I don’t typically flinch.
The entire dichotomy perfectly lends itself to our Ervin post. If you haven’t read it, take a read. What is also kind of interesting is that in my first review I praised the lack of graphic violence. But, since these books are really about a revolt against a tyrannical society, you can’t really shy away from some details. But, if you can give those kinds of details, turnabout is fair play, and the same respect and attention should have been given to the more physical aspects of the young lovers’ lives. It all ignored the very real sexual aspects that would actually exist between teenagers “in love.” Maybe the girls could “push it off,” but young men? Negative. The flowing testosterone is just too strong. And throw in physical or emotional attraction, sorry, it just isn’t realistic. It was just too glaring for me, and all the talking around it was too transparent to me. Now, it may not have been our author’s desire to do it this way, it well might have been the publisher, but the dichotomy still bothers me.
It truly seems that as a society, we’re not a bit squeamish in depicting humans going at it in acts of violence (again, the initial target audience of these books were kids), yet are so danged squeamish in depicting the act of two humans going at it for the lust or love of it. And I’m not talking gratuitous, “porno” descriptions. I’m talking in a respectful manner that does sex justice and does not continue to give it a bad rap. Heck, the author didn’t even have to graphically depict any of this, but she certainly could have alluded to it. And no, all that “kissy talk” is not sexual allusion to me.
Short of one’s religious views, there’s nothing wrong with good, clean sex. And yes, I do believe there is such a thing. Good and clean. Between two individuals who actually care for each other, want—need—to explore each other. Emotionally, physically. It could have even lent more tension (ye olde “sexual tension”). All the kissy-poo just didn’t work for me, even though I know it wasn’t written for the likes of me. It was written for young adults. But given this (and do forgive me, Suzanne Collins, because I really did love your trilogy), these books essentially continue to enable the Human Condition into the point of view that it’s all right to depict violence…but not sex. Oh, but it’s okay to kiss. Lots. And lots. But, sex?
Sex is for birthin kids.
Reading This Blog is Subject to Terms and Conditions!
Where and when had we gotten so CYA? Was it just a way to give lawyers more work? The whole Internet thing seems to have given explosive growth to the now-ubiquitous legalities.
I went to download some new tunes the other day, and was informed that the terms of the Terms and Conditions (T&C) had changed, and I had to accept or reject said T&C to continue.
Good Lord, I just wanted new music, but now had to wade through a 1000 pages of legal jargon to do so!
OK, not a 1000, but still.
I canceled out.
“Legally,” all this stuff says, we have to read it all before accepting–but how many of us do so?
(Hand raised) I do.
Do you really know what you’re agreeing to? Are you certain there’s no embedded clause in there that says you’re not signing away your first born or your soul? Or worse, that “they” now have a right to track every little thing you do to “better market” to you (and you wonder why you have so many Viagra and lingerie ads…)? Oh, sure, there’s the now-standard “don’t do bad stuff to our stuff” jargon, but, really, isn’t that already part of existing law? I mean–and correct me if I’m wrong–but doesn’t existing law already make it a crime if you commit a crime?
When we visit a doctor’s office, do we have to sign T&C’s like these? When we talk to a police man or woman, do we have to sign anything? Drink from a public water fountain, buy groceries, or phone a friend–what do we sign? Don’t we all understand we could catch a disease, eat spoiled food, or our phone service could go down and our friend could give us faulty advice?
If we talk to a stranger on the street, or eat in a restaurant–where are our ubiquitous T&Cs we need to sign in order that we understand that if we throw a punch, poison the food, or defame a company or person, we’re headed for court and/or jail? That when we talk with anyone, what they say or do might not be exact or perfect or even correct?
When you stop by this or any other blog (and I do thank you for doing so!), you understand–it’s a given–that anything here is my opinion, and my opinion only, unless I cite sources. That I might well be full of shit, but I might also have something interesting to say. Perhaps I’m even (occasionally) entertaining. My “Running Off at the Mouth” pretty much says it all, I think (though I just changed the subtitle to my blog header to put you and all the lawyers all better at ease), and thank your religious deity I don’t make you read and click off on any T&C every time you visit here.
So, those of you out there smarter than me on this stuff: is all this jargon really needed? Is it really necessary to inundate all our lives with yet more stuff that I’d wager most people do not read–yet are wholeheartedly agreeing to? If any of us break any law, if any of us misuse anything in the public or private disinterests, we’re all gonna be pinned to the wall and held accountable. Why the heck do we need to have pages and pages of legal jargon to wade through every time we access something on the internet?
Maybe we all just like the misery. Like being kicked in the face.
[Added Aug 31:] BTW, check out this related article from Kristine Kathryn Rusch.