When I came to Hollywood, I not only continued with my acting career, but also used my writing skills to pen some screenplays, a few of which I was hired to write from an indie producer. CYBER FIGHTER was originally intended as a vehicle for my acting career, but gradually developed into a bigger story which my debut novel tells. It is my very first book that I’ve ever published.
My wife Pamela and I started our own production company Four Scorpio Productions, and we have our own YouTube channel where we began making short films and then developed our own web series sitcom That Darn Girlfriend which is in its third season. It’s a quirky fun parody of classic 1960s/1970s sitcoms, done in that style as well. We’ve built an audience of over 3,500 subscribers. I also share my filmmaking/VFX knowledge with a tutorial series that I produce and host on the channel as well: https://williamjosephhill.com/ and http://fourscorpio.com/ and https://www.youtube.com/fourscorpio.
William Joseph Hill’s book CYBER FIGHTER, with its big screen adaptation underway, is a sci-fi/martial arts/action-adventure story that will engage readers in this action-packed “page turner.”
Said the author Mr. Hill, “I’m hoping that my CYBER FIGHTER readers have fun with the story and have a few good laughs, along with being thrilled by the action sequences I have in the story. I’d also like them to think about the scientific possibilities that the story explores. As we spend more and more of our lives online, the idea that you could learn skills via Virtual Reality is becoming less science fiction and closer to actuality.”
Cyber Fighter is the story of a clumsy temp Brian Baldwin who takes a job at defense contractor Kirkman Enterprises, where he volunteers to test their latest software program on himself by getting black belt fighting skills downloaded directly to his brain via a Virtual Reality immersive experience, turning him into a human weapon.
When Brian discovers that the eccentric main programmer Humbert Cloogey has sold him off to the Army for induction, he makes his escape, assisted by his only ally Dr. Kate Rand, a neuroscientist who works for the company, but who has some secrets herself.
Simultaneously as Brian is undergoing the experiment, a Triad crime boss and part-time cloning engineer Lau Xiaoming, operating out of North Korea, hacks into the U.S. server hosting the software, planting a Trojan program into Brian’s brain that holds the secret to “Project Starfish”, his plan for world domination.
Brian finds himself pursued by not only the U.S. Army, and FBI, but also by Xiaoming and his minions, all looking to grab him for their own exploits.
The core of my story is Brian’s journey, going from a middle-aged man who gave up on his dreams, to suddenly finding himself empowered with skills he never thought he’d ever achieve. Almost overnight he acquires a superhero status. But he discovers that he apparently hasn’t achieved any more control over his life than before. In fact, his life seems pretty much out of control now.
Plans for a CYBER FIGHTER feature length movie from William Hill lie ahead. He said, “I am also developing CYBER FIGHTER into a feature film. Part of that process includes doing a short film version for a proof-of-concept for my vision of the full feature. I am hoping to produce and shoot the short film this summer and have it go to festivals. I also did a comic book adaptation of that short film version that is also for sale on Amazon. Learn more at this link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08ZL6X6W6
“Cyber Fighter is a fun and engaging read…Multiple strands and characters -as well as many pop culture and martial arts references…”
“Cyber Fighter takes you on a wild ride that is funny and a wonderful escape from all that is currently going on in the world. “
“The Matrix on steroids!!!”
“For fans of Sci-Fi, a-la Monty Python”
“A great read for the Martial Artist”
“It’s Matrix meets Die Hard, and definitely keeps the action going”
Book Information:
Release Date: Updated February 2022; originally Published November 21, 2019.
Publisher: Independent
Number of pages: Hard Cover/206 pages/ASIN: B09QP6QPG8 ISBN-13: 979-8727262665, Paperback/284 pages/ASIN: 1082737933-ISBN-10: 9781082737930-ISBN-13:19781082737930Kindle e-book/286 pages. Kindle — ASIN: B081SJRMJ1
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081SJRMJ1
Audio version Links: Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/cyber-fighter-unabridged/id1531248640?uo=4&mt=3; Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Cyber-Fighter-Audiobook/B08DJBL4WX
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/CyberFighterMovie Twitter: https://twitter.com/cyberfightermov Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamjosephhill/
We welcome you to My
Bookish Pleasures! Can you tell us how you got started writing fiction?
I actually began writing stories in second grade. My teacher had our class do creative writing, and I’d write my own sci-fi stories inspired by my favorite TV show Space: 1999. In our school’s library, there’d be books on space exploration from the 1950s, imagining what life on other planets would be like. So, most of my elementary school stories dealt with Commander Koenig from the show piloting the Eagle 1 to other planets. Then Star Wars came out, and that got me dreaming about becoming a filmmaker. When my family moved to Hawaii, I started writing and creating my own movies once I got into high school. At the same time, I began training in martial arts. My high school adventures were very much “ninja epics”. In fact, I actually made a ninja movie between junior and senior years. I knew I wanted to have a career in Hollywood, so when I went to college, I took a lot of writing courses which helped me develop my craft. Once I made the move to Hollywood, I started acting in film and TV professionally, while also writing on the side. I was hired to write a few screenplays and started writing my own specs, including CYBER FIGHTER which began as a feature script before I turned that into the novel.
Describe your writing
process. Do you plot or write by the seat of your pants? When and where do you
write?
I tend to be more plot oriented, but I often find that I will hit writer’s block when I focus too much on the plot. That’s when I’ll switch gears and become more of a pantser, writing a passage or two as a character, giving their inner thoughts. I usually write on my laptop in my home office, which I also do all my other work from as well. I’ll block out scheduled time to write, and I try to stay disciplined to that. I’ll put some music on in my headphones, usually a movie soundtrack, or something ambient that helps me get in the mood of the story I’m writing.
Can you tell us about
your most recent release?
CYBER FIGHTER is the story of a clumsy temp Brian Baldwin who takes a job at
defense contractor Kirkman Enterprises, where he volunteers to test their
latest software program on himself by getting black belt fighting skills
downloaded directly to his brain via a Virtual Reality immersive experience,
turning him into a human weapon.
When
Brian discovers that the eccentric main programmer Humbert Cloogey has sold him
off to the Army for induction, he makes his escape, assisted by his only ally
Dr. Kate Rand, a neuroscientist who
works for the company, but who has some secrets herself.
Simultaneously
as Brian is undergoing the experiment, a Triad crime boss and part-time cloning
engineer Lau Xiaoming, operating out of North Korea, hacks into the U.S. server
hosting the software, planting a Trojan program into Brian’s brain that holds
the secret to “Project Starfish”, his plan for world domination.
Brian
finds himself pursued by not only the U.S. Army, and FBI, but also by Xiaoming
and his minions, all looking to grab him for their own exploits.
The
core of my story is Brian’s journey, going from a middle-aged man who gave up
on his dreams, to suddenly finding himself empowered with skills he never
thought he’d ever achieve. Almost
overnight he acquires an almost superhero status. But he discovers that he apparently hasn’t
achieved any more control over his life than before. In fact, his life seems pretty much out of
control now.
My message to the readers is to not just keep dreaming, but also be prepared for when you do achieve those dreams. Because there will be forces out there looking to use you for their own means. This story is also a satire on the U.S.’s military industrial complex and how it’s run almost like a corporate entity - completely profit driven. I’m also sending up popular action movie tropes in a fun, comic-book way.
How did you get the idea
for the book?
Originally CYBER FIGHTER was a feature film screenplay that I wrote as a martial arts action movie that I want to star in, back when I was temping at an aerospace company (that became the inspiration for the fictitious Kirkman Enterprises). Through the years, the script developed. The story changed and evolved, while periodically being shelved when I was working on other acting or writing projects. When self-publishing technology became easier and more user-friendly, I decided to adapt the screenplay into a novel and publish it before making the film. My intention was to put the story out there and build an audience, much like J.K. Rowling did with her Harry Potter series. CYBER FIGHTER is the first book in an intended trilogy exploring a wider story arc for my main character Brian Baldwin.
Of all your characters,
which one is your favorite? Why?
My favorite character in CYBER
FIGHTER is my main villain Lau Xiaoming, the Hong Kong Triad crime boss and
cloning engineer. He fancies himself a
Hip-Hop personality and often quotes Eminem when “eliminating” his
enemies. It’s very much a dark comedic
take on the action genre, heavily inspired by Monty Python.
What was the most
challenging aspect of writing your book?
Going through the
rewrites and editing process, I think.
Once you’ve reached that point, you go through a period where it seems
endless and that every time you fix something, there are several more holes or
errors that pop up. At some point,
you’ve fixed everything you can and have to get up the courage to go to publish
and make it live. I think the quote “Art is never completed, only abandoned” is
very fitting!
What projects are you
currently working on?
In the writing world, I
am mapping out the next books in the CYBER FIGHTER series as well as
writing a short story prequel that takes place in the early 1980s which
explores the origins of the technology.
As a filmmaker, I am working on a short film proof of concept for the
feature for CYBER FIGHTER. I’m
directing and starring in that, and at the moment am heavily into
pre-production. We hope to shoot the
short film later this summer.
What advice would you
offer to new or aspiring fiction authors?
Just write! But also work on your craft. The great thing is that self-publishing has
opened up doors to aspiring writers that were previously closed. There’s nothing stopping you from getting
your work out on Amazon or other platforms.
But the caveat of that is you must make sure to put out the best work
that you can. There are a lot of
wannabes who just crank something out and upload it, just to say that they’ve
“been published”. But there is a craft
to writing and definitely a craft when it comes to publishing your work. You need to understand formatting and
editing, or hire someone who can step in and do that for you. In my case, though I was able to do my own
formatting and editing, I also hired an editor as a last step before releasing
my book. It pays to have another set of
eyes look at your work and give you feedback or corrections that you may have
missed. Also, like with any skill, each
new book will be better than your last, as you will have learned new things. To use a martial arts metaphor, you begin
writing your first book as a white belt.
When you publish it, you’ve reached black belt status, but that’s really
just the beginning of your journey. A
black belt is only a master of the fundamentals; true mastery comes with years
and years of training. The same comes
with writing. If you can cultivate a
lifelong love of the process of writing, you will go far.
Great interview William! Very inspiring!
ReplyDelete