📚 A Bookish Chat with 'Cyber Fighter' Author William Joseph Hill | Author Interview | @cyberfightermov #AuthorInterview #BlogTour #Interview
When interviewed, the author tells us his life story, “I’ve actually been writing since elementary school. I always liked writing my own science-fiction stories, though my early work was derivative of TV shows I loved like SPACE: 1999 and the 1970s version of Buck Rogers. When my family moved to Hawaii (my Dad was a Captain in the U.S. Navy), I started making my own movies first with a Super-8 camera and then our family’s VHS camcorder. In high school I wrote, directed, and starred in my very first feature Law of the Ninja, with my siblings as co-stars and the neighborhood kids as background actors.
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.
TWL: Welcome to The Writer's Life! Now that your book has been published, we’d love to find out more about the process. Can we begin by having you take us at the beginning? When did you come up with the idea to write your book?
William Joseph Hill: Originally Cyber Fighter was a feature film screenplay that I wrote as a martial arts action movie that I will be starring in, back when I was temping at an aerospace company. Through the years, the story changed and evolved, while periodically getting shelved when I was working on other acting or writing projects. When self-publishing technology became 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 for the eventual movie. Cyber Fighter is the first book in an intended trilogy exploring a wider story arc for my main character Brian Baldwin.
TWL: Who is your publisher and how did you find them or did you self-publish?
William: I self-published through Amazon, using their Kindle Create software to not only format my e-book, but also my paperback and hardcover.
TWL: Is there anything that surprised you about getting your first book published?
William: I learned a lot about the publishing business. One thing that surprised me was how expensive ISBN numbers were. But since my plan was always to release on Amazon, I decided to go with their ASIN number instead. My big takeaway from this process is to have a distribution plan for your book before you go live. Decide what platform/market you want to go with and that will help you determine what you need to invest in. Amazon made the process a lot easier than it used to be a decade ago.
TWL: Do you believe a book cover plays an important role in the selling process?
William: Absolutely! A great cover design can help get a reader to want to read your book. There are certain elements specific to genre that you will want to incorporate. With Cyber Fighter, since martial arts was a big part of the story, I knew I wanted to have the picture of me throwing a jump spinning crescent kick on the cover.
TWL: What other books are you working on and when will they be published?
William: I’m currently mapping out the next book in my Cyber Fighter series. I’m at the very early stages, and part of the process is creating a short story prequel that takes place in the early 1980s decades before the original novel. I don’t have a target date for publishing yet as I am also working on a short film adaptation of the novel of which we are in pre-production currently. The short film is a proof-of-concept to help build an audience for the feature script. We’re hoping to go into production later this summer.
TWL: What’s one fact about your book that would surprise people?
William: Back when I was writing the manuscript, I was acting in a feature film project. With acting in movies, there’s a lot of downtime while you’re waiting to shoot your scenes. So a big chunk of the book was written on my laptop from the green room in between my work on set.
TWL: Finally, what message are you trying to get across with your book?
William: 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.
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.
I’m hoping that my readers have fun reading 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.
TWL: Thank you again for this interview! Do you have any final words?
William: I’d just like to say to your readers that if they’re fans of action movies and/or sci-fi writing that explores the world of virtual reality, similar to Ready Player One and The Matrix, I think they’ll like this book. Cyber Fighter takes a humorous look at the martial arts and cyberpunk genres, similar to Monty Python or another favorite book of mine The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I enjoy reading great sci-fi authors myself like Ray Bradbury and Issac Azimov, especially their short stories. Reading is a great escape. Thank you!
Title: CYBER FIGHTER
Author: William Joseph Hill
Publisher: Independent
Genre: Scifi/Martial Arts/Action/Adventure
BOOK BLURB:
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:
Updated February 2022; originally Published November 21, 2019. Publisher: Independently Published
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/
The Writer’s Life
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