Richard V. Rupp

June 1, 2022

Good Wednesday morning! It's the 1st of June, and we are already halfway through 2022. Actually, I think many of us will be glad when this year is over.

 

I'm novelist Richard V. Rupp, writing from Burbank, California. Welcome to RUPP'S NOTES/FBI SPECIAL AGENT HARTMANN SERIES posts.

 

For us living in Southern California, it's time for June Gloom. That's when our weather pattern results in cloudy, overcast skies with cool temperatures. This year, the phrase could apply to our entire nation or even the world because of what is happening.

 

In THE NEW YORK TIMES, I noted a quote by George Carlin about the American Dream that seems to apply to what we are experiencing - "It's called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it."

 

Each of us has a different "perspective" on things (a way of looking at or thinking about something)." It is formed by each individual based on past experiences. Still, a perspective can be manipulated by propaganda (ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or damage an opposing cause). It appears to me that the digital world (screen time) has tipped the scales to where propaganda has become heavier than grounded past experiences. It takes you in a new direction without rational thinking.

 

My solution to get away from today's craziness is to write fictional stories. That allows me to evade the real world and make up and control characters in a fantastic imaginary world. Right now, I'm living and breathing the manuscript of a sci-fi novel titled SKYWARD.

 

Speaking of perspective. I'm taking an acting class. I must admit that part of today's post is a copout as I'm filling space with material from the class. No, I have no plans to become an actor. Not my personality. But the class does help me with perspective on developing characters for my writing.

 

The instructor paired us up in my acting class and gave each pair an untitled single page of lines. Based on the lines, we were instructed to develop the Who, What, When, Where, and Why. I assume we will be asked to act the lines next week. Here is what I came up with. See if you agree.

 

Here are the lines we were given –

 

ONE – So, are you hungry?

 

TWO – No.

 

ONE – Oh, ok. . .are you sure?

 

TWO – How can you ask me if I'm hungry right now? . . .Seriously? . . .No!

 

ONE – I'm just trying to be helpful.

 

TWO – Well, stop.

 

ONE – Fine.

 

TWO – You really want to be helpful? . . .Then suck it up!

 

ONE – You really don't have to yell.

 

TWO – It seems like I do. Nothing is getting through to you.

 

ONE – Well, stop yelling, and maybe it will.

 

Here's what I came up with –

 

From my writing class notes –

 

• Who is driving the story? Who is it about? Who is affected? Who benefits? Who loses?
• What has happened? What are the consequences? What does this mean for the reader?
• Where is this taking place (building, neighborhood, city, country)? Where should readers go to learn more?
• When did it happen (time of day, day, month, year)? When was the last update? When can you expect to learn more? When will the effects be felt?
• Why did this event take place? Why is this important in the big picture? Why should readers care?

What I read into the scene lines provided us for ONE and TWO -

 

• The lines remind me of the T.V. Show "All In The Family."
• The pitch for that show was - A working-class bigot constantly squabbles with his family over the important issues of the day.
• So the characters in my mind would be like Archie and Edith Bunker.

OR

 

• Two Millennial Roommates who have shared an apartment for too long.

 

OLDER COUPLE -

 

     WHO – Middle-aged couple. Reflects the tensions between them that have developed over time.

     WHAT – Just another day of loving dispute. No big deal. It's the way things are.

     WHERE – Living room of couples apartment. ONE is in a chair, and TWO is stretched out on a couch.

     WHEN – Early evening. ONE is checking on what to prepare for dinner. TWO is responding from his usual don't bother       me mode.

     WHY – It reflects the attitude developed over the years between an older couple. It conveys that this is just a normal           conversation for them. It's the way they are.

 

OR

 

MILLENNIALS ROOMMATES –

 

     WHO – Millennial roommates who had an initial romantic relationship and moved in together. ONE thinks she has             made a mistake and is ready to move on. TWO is just an ass.

     WHAT – The attitude reflects things are ready for a change. A breakup is on the way.

     WHERE - Living room of roommates apartment. ONE is preparing breakfast in the kitchenette, and TWO is entering           the room.

     WHEN – Early morning. ONE is in the process of frying eggs. TWO is in one of his usual bad moods.

     WHY – It's time for a change. ONE is ready to move on.

 

* * *

 

After meeting with my acting partner in this adventure, here's what we agreed on – A middle-aged married couple who disagreed with their daughter's selection of a boyfriend. The husband does not like who she has picked, and the wife has a wait-and-see attitude. Once we agreed on this, we tried the lines with this relationship in mind. I think we both got into character.

 

What would you come up with?

 

Continuing from previous posts with the Bowman Lunar Colony Plan, here is some information about how structures would be constructed. Designing habitable space for a lunar colony would be drastically different from creating a structure here on Earth. Most of the structures on Earth are designed to withstand the forces and weights due to Earth's gravitational pull pushing down on them, while the structures on the moon would need to be designed to withstand a strong upward force from the high pressure inside the habitat necessary to create the pressurized environment needed for humans to survive. Any structure on the moon would need to be pressurized and pumped full of breathable air to make it livable for humans. In addition, the habitats would have to be designed to be airtight and to protect their inhabitants from radiation and drastic temperature changes.

 

Additionally, before the structures can be built from local materials, they will have to be light enough to be efficiently transported to the moon and easily constructed by the colonists. The moon structures would need to be covered in a layer of lunar soil up to five or six feet thick. This layer would protect the lunar settlers from solar radiation, offer some insulation from the drastic temperature shifts, and protect them if small meteorites or other debris struck the structure.

 

More on this in my next post.

 

Until next Wednesday,

 

Cheers,

 

Richard V. Rupp, Author

Website – www.richardvrupp.com

Email – rupprisk@gmail.com

Copyright©2022 by Richard V. Rupp