PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 8, 2020

Everything is going well on the writing front.
Am now over 20,000 words on my SHERLOCK HOLMES short story novelette "THE ADVENTURE OF THE UNIMAGINABLE".
While I am definitely getting TOWARDS the end, I'm not there yet.
Still have a couple of more twists and turns to put Holmes and Doctor Watson through before I can say the story's done and send it on to my friendly neighborhood beta-proofreader.

ROBERT CONRAD: 1935-2020
There are many different kinds of heroes, from the brave in real life to those who save the day against tremendous odds in the various genres and formats of the entertainment industry.

Having been born in 1962, naturally I started out with my father, followed by the historic moon landing of Apollo 11 and its crew Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, who I always thought got shortchanged by having to stay in orbit above. Then again, Collins was standing by in case of emergency, so...

A lot of the classic television programs of the 1960s I don't remember first run.

Robert Conrad and Ross Martin

The original Star Trek, Batman (and I had such a crush on Yvonne Craig in junior high!) and more I didn't see until syndicated airings in the 1970s.

One of those (re)discovered gems was The Wild, Wild, West.
The show may have never been 100% historically accurate, but overall it was a fun and entertaining adventure, especially the James West and Artemus Gordon episodes (for actor Ross Martin suffered a heart attack, making him miss the latter half of Season 3 and the beginning of Season 4).

Yet through it all Robert Conrad's West kept right on going through fights, death traps, and other trials and tribulations to bring the villains to justice and maybe even getting the woman at the end of each episode too.

My dad had a slightly different opinion though. The Wild, Wild, West was "okay", but Conrad as Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington in Baa Baa Black Sheep was his favorite and he watched every episode that was on TV, even if it was a rerun! Considering he thought reruns were a waste of time when you could either be watching or doing something else, that was high praise coming from him.

Sadly, we lost Ross Martin in 1981, and Conrad passed away yesterday: February 8.
The Wild, Wild, West, along with its leads, have had a bit of influence in my writing over the years.
When I need to show a long term friendship between two characters, my mind drifts at some point to West and Gordon.
In "The Rebel" for Jaime Ramos' Singularity: The Rise of the Post-Humans, I had a Gordon designed West like weapon amongst the title character's arsenal.
There are hints of both West and Gordon within the title character of SOLITAIRE, although I can't say more about this work in progress at the moment without spilling some serious secrets.
The one thing I have yet to do, that has been on my mind for quite some time, is to write a "buddy" adventure featuring a two character team. If I ever come up with just the right tale...

In any event, take care, and I'll see you around the Internet.
Lee Houston, Junior
9 February, 2020