Javier Cabrera's Blog

Last year I had the rare and distinguished pleasure of working alongside a talented group of voice-over actors in a Free Bundle Originals production that would have made the very Norman Corwin tip his hat had he worn one. Written in less than four days (and cast in much less than that), “Through The Gates of Madness” is a writer’s fantasy.

The premise goes like this:

A strange door surfaces in the middle of the South Pole. Nobody knows how it got there. Nobody knows what’s behind. Walter Gibson, a seasoned war correspondent, will be joining a group of scientists from every nation to find out. Grab your gear and accompany Walter as he walks… through the gates of madness.

This first quarter I will be again occupying some of my time by wearing the editor hat since Free Bundle Magazine is releasing a pretty impressive set of premium Digital Trading Cards themed after the great classics of literature. The first two revolve around Jules Verne and his Voyages Extraordinaries, but many more are still on the whiteboard. Though I am obligated not to say much, this I can promise: the next couple of cards will be done with the exact same love and dedication as these two.

Editing a magazine like Free Bundle has never been easy, but this year it has proven to be even more challenging, and the plague has nothing to do with it. We have moved from a website-format to a digital magazine. I have just been informed that the latest issue, the Christmas Special, has been read by 93% of our regular subscribers. That is around 2300 eyes reading our little magazine on Christmas Eve. Unreal. Best way to end a somewhat hectic year.

Since I took the seat of editor-in-chief for the Free Bundle Magazine, one of the questions I find myself answering the most is where can I sell my short stories? Many writers appear not to know the immeasurable value of their short stories, and since our payment scheme is a little different than what most Speculative Fiction magazines are offering nowadays, I decided to write an essay on Medium about it.

When CBS launched Star Trek: Discovery worldwide, I couldn’t help but writing a very critical commentary in Medium to point out the show’s many flaws and their solutions. While some of these are now out of their scope (one of the solutions was to bring award-winning screenwriters who had previously worked on the franchise onboard, like the now-deceased Harlan Ellison,) I made sure to point out the importance of recognizing the work done not only by the cast of the show’s first season but from the previous Star Trek installments as well.

Picture a young Mark Twain, newly appointed journalist seated on a teak folding chair on the starboard of the San Francisco as he and dozen passengers slowly roam downstream the Mississipi waters in a hot and humid Thursday afternoon. During a trip which, as shocking as it might sound to many because of Clemens’ inclination to story telling, actually happened1, we learn of the death of a child at the hands of cholera and his burial at the sea.

Today I’m releasing a novella I wrote back in late December 2012 and published in January 2013. MYTHOS: A Silicon Valley Thriller was born from the idea of writing a series of short novels in the style of Rod Serling’s fantastic Television show The Twilight Zone. Though the “MYTHOS DOSSIER” never happened beyond this first novella, Jack’s story survived the ax and found its way into a new kind of book series which I’ll be presenting later on this year.

Some time ago I ventured into the speculative fiction niche, not with the hopes of making a living out of the small publishers that have been resurging all over the market, but as a test to my craft. I was after the thrill all these pulp magazine writers experienced when writing short stories sixty years ago. They had to write very quick, very intensely, at late hours of the night over periods no longer than a week between the sweaty conception of the first draft and the final product.

Enough is to say that my heart was true. Mr. Graham Smith, the most remarkable man who ever was appeared out of thin air on my screen in only two days. At that time I had just meet a young environmental artist that I later had the pleasure to convince of working with us at Cabrera Brothers. This young man, who happens to also be an avid writer, became the inspiration for Albert, the narrator of the story. He also became the first person I showed the draft to and almost by accident, its official proofreader/editor.

Because of his nationality, the style and pace of the story were more than natural to my new friend, providing me with a very helpful insight on the difficult art of sounding proper English.

Although I haven't had time to continue with my experiments due to more pressing matters, my cabinets are full of unfinished stories and ideas that I plan on releasing in the near future. As for now, one of these stories --I am proud to say-- has reached print format through the hand of Silverthought Press and can also be read online here:

http://www.silverthought.com/cabrera0...

As for Luke Norman, the young man who served as both inspiration and proofreader for this story, in the immortal words of Harlan Ellison; what I know about him ...and you will understand... I cannot tell you.