Posts Tagged ‘blogging’

My 6th Self-Pub Authors Post

Posted: September 15, 2013 in Journalism, Writing
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I’m on a writing craze lately. In the past two days, I’ve finished a chapter of Laura Horn, wrote an entire chapter of Video Rage, and even did an entire article for Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors. This time around, I did a little research on The Length Debate, seeing all the opinions on how long a piece of flash fiction, a short story, a novel, and/or everything in-between should be. It was a fun article to research, and I hope you read it and share your thoughts on the debate too.

And as always, I encourage you to subscribe and follow Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors. If you independently publish, it’s a wonderful site full of information for authors on everything from creating your own cover to information on developments with CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing to just general tips on writing fiction of any sort. I’m sure you’ll find it extremely helpful and informative, just like I did the first time I logged on.

Oh, before I forget and sign off, I just wanted to let you know I updated the About Me page on this blog. It’s just a little bit more general information, but if you’re curious, go ahead and check it out. You’ll find my somewhat-funny bucket list among the material I’ve added there.

See you in the morning, everybody. Have a good night, and I hope you don’t have any dreams about people with schizophrenia performing exorcisms in the street like I did last night (yes, I dreamed that. It seems even in my dreams I can’t escape the weirdness that is my somewhat macabre interests and hobbies).,

Snake: One-Quarter Through The Final Draft

Posted: September 8, 2013 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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Rather disconcerting, isn’t it?

I’ve mentioned in many previous posts that I am working on a novel called Snake, about a serial killer in New York who is hunting down members of a powerful mafia family. In the most recent posts, I may have also mentioned that I am working with my friend and fellow writer Angela Misri of the blog A Portia Adams Adventure to edit Snake and make it ready for publication in Spring or Summer 2014.

As of this evening, Angela and I are officially a quarter of the way through the hundred chapter book and are getting the book done on schedule and will probably be done by New Years. I’m very happy with how speedy the process has been and how diligently Angela’s been working on looking through and critiquing my manuscript. Thanks for your hard work and taking time out of your schedule Angela!

Also, I would like to mention that just because the book’s a hundred chapters doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read it. Each chapter is less than ten pages, so I wouldn’t be surprised that by the end of this, the whole book will be less than 400 pages (we’ll see). The only reason you shouldn’t read it is if you think it’s not your type of book (follow this link to see if it is).

I’ll let you know when there’s more news on the editing and publishing front. Wish us both luck and definitely check out Angela’s blog. It is definitely worth a read.

I Was Plagiarized

Posted: September 8, 2013 in Living and Life, Reflections
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I’m going to share with you a story that’s been developing all this weekend, and has had me pretty steamed off every time I think about it. I had one of my blog posts plagiarized. Yes, plagiarized. Someone took one of my blog posts and tried to pass it off as my own work. Anyone who creates something, puts their heart and soul into it, and gives it to the world fears that someone will try to take advantage of their work for reasons we can’t understand. And it happened to me.

I found out about it because I left links to other blogs and blog posts in my post. Whenever someone on WordPress gets their blog or their blog post linked to another blog or blog post, they get a funny little comment in their comment box that shows how the link was used. You know, it looks like this:

[…blah blah blah, this was the link, blah blah blah, are you smiling reading this right now?…]

One of the links in a recent blog post I wrote linked to another post on my blog. So when someone decided to copy and paste the text and pictures from my blog onto a post of their own, they inadvertently pasted in a link to my blog and I was alerted that someone had left a link in the form of one of those comments. I followed the link to the blog of the person who had used the link to my blog, and imagined how surprised and then angry I was that someone was trying to pass off my work as theirs. Because there was the blog post in its entirety, against a green background and with the author’s name at the bottom of the post, trying to suggest he wrote it.

I looked up Word Press’s policy on this and I sent a warning to this guy, whose name and blog I will not mention because A) he doesn’t deserve getting mentioned and B) I’d like to think he’ll learn from this lesson, so a public shaming won’t be very conducive to that. It was suggested by WordPress that I leave a comment asking him to take down the post. I did so, but I never heard back. So I told the DCMA, the authorities who monitor WordPress blogs for this sort of stuff. They were on it and within a day they’d taken down the post and notified me.

I checked the blog for the last time to see if my stolen post was still there. It wasn’t. And I felt such a well of happiness, like all that simmering anger had been swept away.

I’m telling you, plagiarism is a nasty thing to happen to you. But the good news is that I was able to handle it in a mature way, that the guy made no money off of it (which would mean his troubles would be far from over if he had made money off my work), and that now I can put it all behind me. And if, God forbid, any of you get plagiarized, you can  fight back. Not just for blog posts, but for any work you create (helps to get a copyright for things you intend to make a profit off of, by the way).

But right now, I’m glad this business is behind me and I won’t have to deal with it again, at least not any time soon. And for anyone who’s been plagiarized before, you have my sympathy and my understanding. It’s horrible when it happens, but we can fight back. And we become stronger when we do.

The Impact of Imagination

Posted: September 5, 2013 in ideas, Living and Life, Reflections, Writing
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Writing is a mostly mechanical exercise, making practiced movements with a pen and paper or seeking the correct key on a keyboard. And putting those words together is part of the higher mental powers given to the human species through millions of years of evolution. But the act of imagination, the power it gives us to bring those words together into a coherent narrative and even tell stories with those words, to me that it is transcendent of all the abilities we’ve garnered from evolution. To me, it’s almost a gift of the soul.

I keep three separate lists on my flash drive. One list has short summaries and blurbs of novels, films, TV shows, comic books, and even video games I’d like to write. I’m up to sixty-one ideas at the moment. The second list gives short descriptions of short stories I plan to write (seventeen at the moment). And the third list has subjects for articles I can write for Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors (great blog, by the way. Totally recommend it). That’s a total of eighty-eight ideas, and all of them are possible through my imagination. Heck, I wouldn’t have any of the ideas for stories I write if it wasn’t for imagination.

And imagination is influenced by so many things. Everyday life influences imagination, allows it to be transformed into stories. I read an article about efforts to stop forced marriages with metal spoons and I got an idea for a short story from that. When I went to my science fiction class, I had an idea for a novella that I had to blog about almost immediately (see this post for the actual article). Speaking to some friends about the recent death of an actor to suicide, I thought of an idea for a crime novel. When the lights in the Super Dome went out early this year, I got an idea from that too.

And not just events in life fuel the imagination. When I read or watch TV or a movie, I get ideas from them too. Just today, a book I’m in the middle of reading gave me an idea for a short story taking place in Jerusalem. Watching a favorite episode of Doctor Who the other day, I had an idea for a six-book series featuring Agatha Christie (Whovians, I bet you can guess which episode that is). I even have an idea for a movie to bring back a TV franchise I used to love as a kid. And how many fairy tales and childrens books have I taken and turned into new stories that boggle the mind and scare the soul? All this is possible through these works’ influences on my imagination, and my imagination’s influence on me.

Imagination. It is the ability to absorb events or old ideas and–pardon the adjective used–regurgitate it into a new form. It is the application of ideas and concepts in a new light, in a new way. It’s the churning of our subconscious, which spits out, like in a Greco-Roman Creation myth, something new and fabulous and beautiful. It is a force that I contemplate, that I look at and wonder about its complexity.

And perhaps one day I’ll write a story about its impact…oh wait. I’ve already got one or two ideas based on that! Never mind.

The point is, the imagination is something that is such a benefit to the act of writing, the act of living, that without it life would be so much less beautiful and powerful and amazing. It’s given me a ton of ideas, and I hope it’ll give me some more in the future. Because if my imagination can allow me to create a large body of work to leave me behind, even if I don’t get famous off of it all, I’ll feel like I’ve left behind an amazing legacy for the world.

Though if I can get famous I won’t complain.

What’s your view on the imagination and its impact on writing and on life?

Reborn City: The Book Trailer

Posted: August 30, 2013 in Living and Life, Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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Reborn City

I don’t know if book trailers really increase book sales. I’m pretty sure that when I did the book trailer for The Quiet Game (see it here, if you dare). So when I finally had a release date for Reborn City, I had to ask myself, “Do I really want to spend an hour or two making a freaking video that probably create a viral sensation, let alone bring in some revenue for me?”

But then I discovered that you can make videos on your YouTube account. Yeah, I found that out just this week. I have no idea if that’s a new thing or if that option’s been around for a while and I’ve just been oblivious. But yeah, I sat down today, I pulled up YouTube, started creating a video on YouTube. Took me about twenty minutes and then all I had to do was upload it onto YouTube while I went to have Shabbos dinner.

This video is about twenty-five seconds long and features music by the rap group “Triple C’s”, with there song “Where Ya From?” Hey, they even have a song that uses the West Reborn dialect! I just noticed that. Also, the photo of “Reborn City” is actually a shot of the Las Vegas strip. I know, I know, but what do you want from me? I can’t afford to create my own original picture of my conception of Central Reborn. I do what I can.

In any case, I’m very satisfied with the results. Heck, I’ll try and make another video some time, see if I can improve for the next book trailer. Yes, I said the next book trailer. If I can get one done in twenty minutes, imagine what I can get done with an hour and some practice! Snake‘s trailer will be the s**t!

So, without further ado, here’s the official trailer for Reborn City. And subscribe to my channel…as it is. Comments welcome.

Fall Semester 2013: What’s Going On Leading Up To It

Posted: August 18, 2013 in Living and Life, Poetry, Writing
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It’s happened folks, I finally did a post about my school life that doesn’t have a sports metaphor or analogy to it.

In four days, I will start my third year at the lovely Ohio State University. Yes, my Michigan relatives, I said “lovely”, and don’t use the fact that we’re without a president to troll. Our football team will still kick your butts come Thanksgiving weekend, so go watch Downton Abbey and be glad the people on that show never get hit by giant football players wearing scarlet and grey!

So now that I’ve sent some wolverines running with their tails between their legs, let me tell you what I’m looking forward to this semester: first, I’m taking five classes this semester, though it feels like six since one is split up into a lab and a lecture. That class happens to be Introduction to Biology, which I’m predicting will be my most challenging class this semester. However I’m determined to get all A’s this semester, something that I’ve been trying to do ever since I got here. On the off-chance that doesn’t happen, I’m making sure to come away from this class with at least a B.

Another class I’m taking is an online Introduction to Sociology class. It looks like it’ll be a challenge as well, but if it’s anything like my Anthropology and Psychology classes of past terms, I’ll most likely get anywhere between a B- and an A, which is what I plan to work towards. I’m also taking an English class required by the English department called Writing For English Majors. You think with a title like that the class would be self-explanatory, but it’s not. Trust me, I’ve read the description and it probably won’t make sense till I read the syllabus. How typical is that?

And there are two classes that I’m really psyched up for this semester: a class called Science Fiction and Fantasy that’s a literature course, and Holocaust as History. The first one is as its title suggests, a class that examines themes in sci-fi and fantasy fiction and applies it to what we read and our world. There are some very interesting books in this class, and we’ll also be watching 2001: A Space Odyssey for class. Looks like I’ll be able to pull out my HAL 9000 impression for this class. And it’s also a chance to possibly advertise Reborn City.

The other class is also pretty obvious from its title. The Holocaust is the focus of my History major, so I’m looking forward to the subject matter. We’ll be reading, among other books, both volumes of the comic book Maus, which if you haven’t read I seriously suggest you do. I’m hoping to learn a lot about the Holocaust from this class, more than I already know, though I don’t think you can read or learn anything about the Holocaust without learning something new.  I can’t wait for it!

Some other things are coming up that I’m looking forward to: my roommate Morgan and I moved into our new apartment a couple days ago, so it’s going to be an adjustment for the both of us, paying rent and bills, cooking and cleaning, getting along with another person in the same living space (though we seem to get along pretty well already). Plus we’re the resident managers of our building, so there are responsibilities for that. Hopefully we can hack it!

Also there are the usual things with classes, getting homework done and doing all my requirements for my classes and whatnot. Plus I have work three days a week, so I want to get a lot done with that and keep my paycheck, maybe earn a little extra with a few extra shifts. And I want to finish Video Rage and Laura Horn, get RC out and finish the final edits on Snake.

And there’s some new stuff this semester: in September I’ll be applying for a trip abroad to see some of the most important sites of World War II Europe, and trying to get as many scholarships for said trip as possible. And I want to be a bit more sociable this semester, instead of spending every evening in front of the TV. Meet new people, make friends, and maybe go out on a date or two. Who knows? I just want to see what happens.

But of course, the ultimate goal is to get good grades. And I will work hard for that, believe me.

Finally, I would like to leave you with a little poem in honor of Morgan and I moving into our new apartment. It’s called “Night-Night Flat” and if you can’t guess what it’s based on, then you’ve been missing out, my friend.

Nighty-Night Flat:

In the land of the Bucks,
There is a two-bedroom flat.
It’s apart of a building
Which may have bats.

In the flat there’s a novelist and an engineer
The novelist writes scary stuff,
But his roommate has nothing to fear.

There’s a Doctor in the fridge,
He doesn’t travel through time or space,
His last name is Pepper,
And he has an excellent taste.

There’s a very creepy ghost over there,
Who we hope will be good to his hosts.
You see, it’s not the renters,
But the ghost who should beware.

On the TV there are four funny nerds.
The tallest one is very absurd.
And in a large rectangular box,
Is a vacuum cleaner that totally rocks.

There are several characters running out of the novelist’s imagination,
They somehow become physical and fill the room with their talk and animation.
And in the engineer’s room is a bunch of books,
Each with a very special opening paragraph for a catchy hook.

Nighty night flat.
Nighty night bats.
Nighty night building.
Nighty night other flats.

Nighty night novelist.
Nighty night engineer.
Nighty night to all their friends and peers.

Nighty night Dr. Pepper,
With your wonderful taste.
Nighty night ghost, who won’t disturb his hosts.
He just learned that the novelist’s parents are rabbis,
And quite possibly also exorcists.

“Oh, so you’re the one who stole my boxers! You’re going to get it when I sick the cheerleading team on you!”

Nighty night nerds on the TV,
We’re not really sure what the really odd one’s girlfriend sees.
Nighty night vacuum that totally rocks.
You are powerful in the way that you suck.

Nighty night characters from the novelist’s imagination.
Nighty night engineer’s books, which are good enough to cause sleep deprivation.

Nighty night Buckeyes everywhere.
And nighty night Brutus Buckeye’s underwear.
Yes, I said that, and I went there.

The Quiet Game: One Month Later

Posted: August 17, 2013 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Review, short story, Writing
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tqg cover

It has exactly been one month since The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones came out. Yes, one month. Feels like a lot longer, but it’s only a month. A pretty crazy month too. I moved into my new apartment with my roommate Morgan, I worked most days, I saw some old friends and met some new ones, and in four days the fall semester starts (more on that later).

I’ve sold 25 print paperback copies and ten or eleven digital copies so far (there’s a guy I met who said he’s going to be downloading the book tonight. Depending on how long it takes for KDP to register a download, I may not find out till tomorrow). Also, I’ve gotten another review on Amazon, this one from Jason Haxton, owner of a box that is said to be possessed by a dybbuk, a demon from Jewish folklore. You may also know him as the author of the book The Dybbuk Box, a book detailing his experiences with the box, and the movie The Possession, which is based on Haxton’s book.

Here’s what he had to say on the book, which he gave 5 stars. The title of the review is Nailed It:

I happened across The author Rami Unger about a year ago when he was researching the paranormal online.
He nailed the Dybbuk story. Write more… soon! Jason Haxton Author of “The Dibbuk Box:.

Pretty awesome, huh? And coming from an author of a really excellent book and someone who’s experienced the supernatural before, I take it as a compliment. Plus his review has brought The Quiet Game‘s rating to a 4.5 average. I cannot complain. Oh and Jason, I have a book coming out in November. If you want me to let you know about that one too, I will.

If you’re interested in reading The Quiet Game, check it out on Amazon or Smashwords. And however you feel about the book, please write a review if you have the time. I always appreciate feedback, whether it be positive or negative feedback that I’m hearing.

Hope things are going well with you tonight. I’ve got another blog post and some writing to do before I go to bed tonight. Wish me luck.

My Fourth Self-Pub Authors Article

Posted: August 16, 2013 in Journalism, Writing
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It’s been a little while, but I’ve written my fourth article for that wonderful website, Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors. I wrote and posted it yesterday, truth be told, but afterwards I started moving into my new apartment, and the cable guy wasn’t scheduled to come and install the Wi-Fi until after I left for work today, and I’m only writing this now because it’s lunch break, so please forgive me for letting you know earlier.

This article, called Can & Should You Ask For Reviews?, discusses whether or not you should ask for reviews from friends and family and how you should go about it if you decide to do so. Already it’s caused quite a bit of discussion, with many people saying they disagreed with my conclusions and with some people adding onto my advice. I’m glad everybody’s discussing the article, even if not everyone agrees with it.

Go check this article out and check out the rest of the website by clicking on the links above. It’s quite a helpful website for authors of all stripes, and I can’t recommend it enough.

Why Asylums Make Great Locations

Posted: August 12, 2013 in ideas, Reflections, Writing
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The other day I was daydreaming, brainstorming, and reflecting on a number of subjects (one of the lovely things about me is that my head is in the clouds about half the time). During this particular brainstorming session, I thought up an idea for a novel where half the story is set in an insane asylum. As I wrote the idea down, i thought to myself, “Asylums are great places to set a horror story”.

And that’s when my head exploded with an idea for a blog post. And after the mess was partially cleaned up, I started thinking of all the reasons why someone would want to use an asylum for the setting of a story, especially a horror story. I realized that asylums can add many layers and aspects to a single story in terms of character development, plot points, build-up and suspense, and a variety of other reasons.

I will try to list as many of these aspects and layers as possible in this post without boring you. If I help anyone come up with an idea for a story, then I’m happy to be of service.

Okay, reasons why an asylum is a great location for a story. Here we go:

(The following post will use the terms “asylum” and “mental hosptials” or “mental wards” interchangeably. We apologize for any confusion regarding this flexibility.)

American Horror Story: Asylum’s own Briarcliff Manor. You go in…but you never come out.

1. It’s closed off to the outside world. Asylums and mental hospitals–heck, even menal wards–are like their own little words. No one can get out without express permission from someone in power or without a daring escape plan involving car chases, guns, and possibly a hidden underground tunnel from when the asylum was a TB hospital. Within the hospital itself, there is a set life that cannot be interrupted by outside forces. It’s a little claustrophobic, if you think about it. Especially when it’s a ward that occupies only one-fifth of a hospital floor.
And the intimacy of such a space–everyone’s problems, neuroses, delusions, paranoias–are apparent in such a small space. The amount of openness and lack of privacy can increase the sense of claustrophobia, almost filling up the area of the asylum with its glaring lack of privacy. Talk about terrifying!

2. Everybody who’s there has something. I hesitate to use the words “crazy” or “insane”, because labels can be damaging. But you get the idea. Everyone put in an asylum has some sort of problem that needs addressing through a combination of drugs and talk-therapy.  It can be difficult to live in such an environment, whether or not you actually are suffering from a mental illness (both have been known to happen). And if weird stuff like demons or magic or whatever starts appearing around you, you can’t be sure if you’re really seeing what you’re seeing, if this is a result of your own mental illness, or if you’re being influenced by someone else’s delusions. It can get pretty freaky, which adds to the terror and mystery.

3. The people in authority aren’t always good or wise. This is true on many points. Sometimes guards and orderlies can be overly rough with patients or take certain liberties with them that can be downright illegal. Doctors may believe that someone is sick when they are not (there have been studies that show that if a normal person went into an asylum complaining of voices, they would be instantly committed and nothing they could do to convince people they were sane afterwards worked, passed off as stubbornness or as a result of the illness). And there have been cases when doctors, management, and owners of asylums have deliberately mistreated patients in order to make the most money from the states and the family of those committed. It’s very sick, but unfortunately all these and more have been known to happen.

The voices in your head. Do they confuse you…or help you?

4. Underfunding can make things difficult. There have been state hospitals for the mentally ill and for those with physical and mental disabilities in the past and today that, due to underfunding, have seriously hurt the people those facilities are trying to protect. There was a hospital in Pennsylvania for the mentally and physically disabled, where they had maybe two nurses for two hundred patients, and believe me there was a lot more patients than that. Because the nurses, bless them for the work they did and with so little pay or help or compensation, were so busy cleaning and getting food to these patients, they never had the time to help some of the younger patients with basic activities, such as learning how to walk. Instead, some of them just stayed in bed 24/7, until they died or became adults.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! Imagine how those sorts of problems could shape someone forced to live or work in such a place.

5. Perfect place to do a little reflection. If you want to get your head shrunk at an asylum, then by all means do so. Despite the problems with asylums then and now, they are founded with the purpose to help people sort their problems. I’m pretty sure the movie It’s Kind of a Funny Story was about a kid who used a mental ward to help sort through his problems and combat his depression. Who’s to say your character can’t do the same while s/he has been committed? Surely they could use a little character development while they’re locked up with all the time in the world to examine their minds.

That’s really all I have at this point. If I think of any others, I’ll do a second post. Until then, happy brainstorming. Don’t come up with anything that might cause a mess later.

An Open Letter to Stephen Moffat

Posted: August 9, 2013 in ideas, Living and Life, Writing
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(For all you non-nerds out there, Stephen Moffat is a writer and current show-runner for my latest obsession, Doctor Who. You may skip this entire post if you would like. I understand that not everyone is a fan of the show. Though if you are interested in checking out the show and want to know what the heck I’m talking about, please check out the show. It is mind-blowing.)

Stephen Moffat, current showrunner of Doctor Who.

Dear Mr. Moffat,

First off, congratulations on the selection of a new Doctor. Peter Capaldi, although not the actor I thought would play the Doctor, seems like a good choice and will do well with the part as long as he doesn’t wear the Master’s beard in the role.

Second, I’d like to suggest some ideas for future stories or story arcs for the upcoming series of Doctor Who. Now I know you are a busy man, and that you have enough on your plate and enough talented writers with much more experience than I do when it comes to Doctor Who. But I have plenty of ideas that I can’t just keep stuck in my head, so I thought I’d share them on my blog. If ever this letter goes viral and you stumble upon it, I hope you at the very least take a look at them, just to see what you think of them.

Okay, here’s some stuff I think could be interesting to use in Series 8 and 9:

A new villain. Yes, I know every story in DW has a villain of some sort, whether it be Vespiform, Sontaran, or Martian water virus. But I’m thinking more about an iconic villain, something on par with the Daleks or the Cybermen. With the Master dead and the Daleks and Cybermen being the most used (and therefore most easily defeated) villains, I’m thinking a new villain that will challenge the Doctor and come back several times to haunt him. Some suggestions include:

Imagine Peter Capaldi against this femme fatale.

—The Rani: A Time Lady full of evil and a love of freaky experiments, it would be a great throwback to the classic series if the Rani returned to menace the Doctor and Earth. And I know that all the Time Lords are supposed to be dead, but if the Master could survive the Time War, why can’t the Rani?
—An anti-UNIT organization: UNIT protects the world from alien invasions and works for the good of humanity. But what if there were people who collected alien technology and monitored their movements just to take over the world? It’d be Torchwood meets the Master, in a sense, with a bit of James Bond SPECTRE mixed in. It would certainly be a change of pace for the Doctor, considering he likes to see the good in all people and here he’s seeing the worst of humanity with the worst of alien tech.
—Something from the Time War: The Doctor mentions in The End of Time that the last few days of the war were hell, with “the Skaro Degradations, the Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-Have-Been King with his army of Meanwhiles and Never-Weres”. What would happen if something from that era made an appearance in the Doctor’s current time? The Doctor would have to confront some really dark memories and defeat an impossible enemy that would wreak all sorts of destruction like in the Time War.
—Something from before the Universe: In DW and its spin-offs, there have been villains who are said to have come from before Time itself (ex. The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit, End of Days, Secrets of the Stars). What if there was an arc where the Doctor encounters several different creatures and forces that existed before the Universe, and none of them being exactly good or evil? Sounds like a lot of fun, if you ask me.
—The Valeyard: An enemy of the Sixth Doctor, the Valeyard is supposed to be an amalgamation of the Doctor’s dark sides from every previous incarnation that shows up between his twelfth and final incarnations (between Peter Capaldi and whoever comes after him, in other words). Evil and scary, he could be brought into being through some wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey trick and cause all sorts of havoc, the kind the Master never could create. I’d love to see that!

Who would work best with our new 12th Doctor?

New companions. I’m not saying you should get rid of Clara Oswald. I like her, and now that the mystery of her appearance in other eras has been solved, we can delve a bit deeper into who she is as a person, which to me is a pretty big mystery in itself. I’m thinking a companion to go with her, or to come after Jenna Louise Coleman decides to retire. And here are my suggestions for that:
—Luke Smith and K-9: Last seen at the end of The Sarah Jane Adventures, Sarah Jane Smith’s alien/human hybrid son Luke had just gone off to college with mechanical K-9 in tow. Now that Sarah Jane’s actress Elizabeth Sladen is dead, I’m wondering what happened to Luke afterwards? Perhaps he and K-9 could meet up with the Doctor and go for some rides on the TARDIS, reminisce about his dear old mum, and maybe even form a father-son bond. If you ask me, Luke’s like a younger version of the Doctor in some respects, so they’d probably hit it off as mentor and protege. And I know there may be copyrights issues with bringing K-9 on, seeing as he has his own show in Australia, but it’d still be fun to have him along.
—Someone more enigmatic than the Doctor: In some books and movies, you get a character that’s so mysterious, that’s always keeping a secret hidden, who always seems to know more than you do. They don’t lie, but their words are so wrapped up in riddles that you have to really figure through their words to understand them. Pair that with the Doctor, who always is keeping secrets even when you think you have him figured out, and it could make for some interesting conversations.
—Jenny: The Doctor gained a daughter through some weird technological bio-genetic processes in Series 3. He thinks she’s dead, but she’s still alive. What would happen if she popped back in for a visit?
—A grade schooler: I know, the Doctor doesn’t usually take anyone younger than 14 onto the TARDIS, and when he does usually it’s at the behest of one of his companions. But imagine if the Doctor was forced to take a child onto the TARDIS with him, perhaps one that has been displaced in time and space, and take care of said child for a story or two? The Doctor hasn’t had any parenting experience for a while, so at the very least he’ll be able to give us a few laughs and one or two heartwarming scenes.

New Stories. Yes, every series has new stories with new aliens and new villains and whatnot. But here’s my ideas for some new stories:
—A Visit To Earth’s First City: The Doctor stops at a Mesopotamian city that has been forgotten by history. There, he encounters aliens trying to pass themselves off as gods, and not the benevolent kind.
—The Big Race: When setting the TARDIS on random, the Doctor lands at a space port where every year there’s a space race. When the Doctor’s companion(s) are held for ransom as prizes, the Doctor has to use his wits to win the race and save the day with the TARDIS.
—TARDIS-Hunters: The Doctor encounters a group of aliens who hunt down TARDISes and their pilots. Why are they hunting TARDISes? And what do they plan to do with the Doctor’s TARDIS?
—The Convention Center: Landing in 21st century Los Angeles, the Doctor finds himself at a convention for a TV show that bears a remarkable similarity to his own life. Why does such a thing exist? And who is behind it? Or what?

Well, that’s really all I have to say in terms of what you should do for the upcoming series. I hope you like these ideas, should you ever read them. And if you want me to, I’d be happy to write some of these ideas into episodes. I’d literally hop across the pond on one foot, if that’s what it took.

I wish you luck with the upcoming episodes of Doctor Who and I hope for at least another 5-10 years of the Doctor at least.

Hoping you are well,

Rami Ungar

PS Before I forget, can you do a spin-off of Doctor Who featuring Vashtra, Jenny Flint, and Strax, aka the Paternoster Gang? Torchwood‘s on hiatus for nearly two years, The Sarah Jane Adventures has ended, and the K-9 TV series is not really a Doctor Who property, so a show revolving around Vashtra and the gang would be great entertainment, especially if they clash with Torchwood sometimes.

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