Robert Mellette contacted us earlier this year and asked if we would be interested in interviewing him about his (now newly published) book, Billy Bobble Makes a Magic Wand. Mellette was better known to us old-timey Xena fans as Xenastaff on the MCA/Universal Web forum, so we said, “Gladly”. Naturally, everything broke down on our side from that point on. We did eventually conduct the interview and now here we are, more than a week after the book was published, ready to roll out the interview. Sorry, Robert. But you know what? Maybe this will help stimulate ongoing interest in the book.
For those of you who were not yet online in the 1990s, there would be no Xenite.Org if it were not for Xena: Warrior Princess. We took our domain name from the collective name that fans adopted for themselves (they voted on “xenite” and “xenaphile”). Xenite sounds like an imaginary mineral from the Star Trek universe but it won out. I am kind of glad it did, even though I voted for “xenaphile” because I’m not sure how popular Xenaphile.Org would have been compared to Xenite.Org.
We don’t do as much with Xena as we used to, although you can browse the current format of Xena Online Resources here. Our old Xena Web directory once listed more than twice as many sites as Yahoo! or any other major directory. We had thousands of listings. So it’s a big thing for us to connect with anyone who was associated with the old shows.
Although Xenastaff was just a production assistant’s role, Robert Mellette created one of the most interesting parts of the official Website, the Xena Scrolls; later one of the clips episodes was made out of the idea, which was based on exchanges of messages between archaeologists who had discovered the real history behind Xena. Television shows use “clip” episodes, where they replay scenes from past episodes as part of a narrative or storyline, in order to save production time and money. Many clips episodes fall flat but “The Xena Scrolls” was pretty creative (and controversial).
After leaving the world of Xena: Warrior Princess Robert moved into making independent films. He has written, directed, and produced a lot of films. He has also worked the Dances With Films Festival. He has some interesting stories to tell.
But we have two Websites (Xenite.Org and SF-Fandom) and after thinking about how to publish and promote the interview I decided to break it into two articles, one published on each Website. I hope you’ll enjoy reading them both.
About BILLY BOBBLE MAKES A MAGIC WAND: “E = mc2 is no longer the most powerful force in the universe. Your wand is.” Twelve-year-old Billy Bobble and his best friend Suzy Quinofski didn’t mean to change the universe. Billy, a quantum physics prodigy, just wanted to find a way to help his hoarding, schizophrenic mother – and maybe impress a coven of older girls in high school. Suzy, his intellectual equal, wanted to help her friend and cling to her last remnant of childhood, a belief in magic. Together they made Billy a real, working, magic wand, and opened a door to the Quantum World where thoughts create reality, and all things – good and bad – are possible.
Where did you get the idea for a quantum physics-based magic wand?
The idea for the book started in a few ways. First, I got tired of seeing vampire & werewolf books in the Science-Fiction section of bookstores. Don’t get me wrong, I love fantasy stories, but they aren’t Sci-Fi, not by a long shot when one is a true Science-Fiction fan. Around that time the movie The Craft came on cable for the umpteenth time, so of course, I watched it thinking, “Where were those girls when I was in high school?” Then I thought about it and realized that a coven of witches wouldn’t give a science-geek kid like me the time of day. All I would do is talk about how believing in magic is stupid and piss them off – which made me laugh. I figured that might make for a good story, then added my desire to tell a Sci-Fi story in a fantasy realm, and the ball started rolling.
How did I get from there to quantum physics for magic? It’s not a big leap. Reality on the quantum level is so messed up, that it might as well be magic. Quantum physics is God’s gift to Sci-Fi writers.
How much quantum theory is appropriate for a book targeting the mid-teens? Does the story dwell much on the theory? How do you make it approachable for a young audience (especially considering most adults don’t really grok quantum stuff)?
First – kudos for the Heinlein.
I think quantum theory is the new dinosaurs. When I was 10, 11, 12, I could tell you all about the latest archaeological finds, almost any kid could. From there, we all moved to Black Holes, then quantum mechanics. Today, I think kids get to the quantum level quicker. From Schrodinger’s Cat to the Uncertainty Principle, kids know their quantum mechanics. I have a feeling some of them will give me a hard time for quoting some outdated theories. I had to throw in a quick holographic universe model to keep up. I worry more about the adult readers getting lost when Billy goes on a Quantum rant. I’m betting most of the kids will just cheer him on.
The trick for a Sci-Fi writer is not the real science, but trying to slip in the sleight of hand without getting caught. That, and not getting bogged down in technical explanations. The story is more important than the science.
Kirbi Fagan is the illustrator. How did you and she connect through Facebook? And at what point did you decide to get her involved with Billy Bobble Makes a Magic Wand? She is fairly new to professional illustration but was an L. Ron Hubbard award winner.
I love telling this story because it’s a good example of why I like working with a small press, and everyone succeeding by doing their jobs right.
During that year of working with Elephant’s Bookshelf Press, Matt [Sinclair, editor/publisher EBP], suggested we go with an illustrated cover. I agreed. He had an artist in mind, but that person wasn’t available so I started looking. I’m a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), so I went to their website. They have a wonderful resource where illustrators post samples and links to their webpages. I looked through a ton of fantastic samples and sent a list of 10 or 15 artists to Matt. He chose Kirbi and did the work of negotiating a deal with her agent and creating the cover. I was consulted every step of the way, but Matt and Kirbi did all of the work.
Are there any easter eggs in the story for fans of Xena: Warrior Princess?
But of course!
And you are promoting the book as for the entire family; does that mean there is a subtext or subplot that mom and dad will appreciate?
Mom, Dad, college kids, fans of Twilight. If you’re interested, you can read more about how I like to include more readers than exclude them in an article I wrote for From The Write Angle. ( http://www.fromthewriteangle.com/2012/02/good-for-whole-family.html )
It seems like everyone pretty much thinks in terms of “series” with books these days. Is that an option for Billy Bobble? If your audience clamors for more quantum magic, do you already have ideas abrewing in the cauldron of creativity?
I’m about to finish the first draft of BILLY BOBBLE AND THE WITCH HUNT… which I should get back to right now.
The Xena Scrolls Website section was your baby. Was that the first Website-to-TV concept? How much did the clips episode “The Xena Scrolls” borrow directly from the Website?
My little footnote in history is that, as far as I know, The Xena Scrolls is the first intellectual property to move from the web to television.
The Scrolls started when I ran into that friend at TVIS who was overseeing the webpages. When I told him I was working on a new show called Xena: Warrior Princess, he was the first person to NOT say, “Oh, is that a cartoon?” Instead, he said, “I’m building their website.” I asked him if he would like to do a meeting with the writers, and he said sure. R.J. Stewart, my boss, asked me why we were meeting him. I explained that he was doing the website, and I thought it would be a good idea to get together. Steve Sears had just come on board, so he sat in on the meeting as well. He got it right away. From that meeting, we came out with the idea of The Xena Scrolls, but there was no budget for it and no one available to write it. I said I would do it for free as long as Universal didn’t profit from the material. At that time, no one had contracts for intellectual property on the internet, so Universal couldn’t make money from the site. It could only be used for promotion. So my friends at TVIS and I flew below the corporate radar to create this unique way of recapping episodes and foreshadowing new ones. It was a lot of fun. The wild west days of the internet.
The “Xena Scrolls” section on the Website consists of letters (or emails) written about the scrolls. Did you actually write out the scrolls before composing the letters?
Ah… no. Each “scroll” was an episode, so I just used the scripts.
You have a lot of credits as (executive) producer for short films. How did you decide to follow that path, versus other options such as acting, directing, etc.?
All of my short film producer credits come from the Dances With Films Festival short film competition called the 2-Minute 2-Step. I wrote the rules for the competition, where filmmakers are given four hours to shoot and edit a 2-minute movie that would screen the next night at the festival. We shot 8 films in four days the first year. That was exhausting. After that, we spread them out over six days, I think. At any rate, I got producer credit on all of them as part of the deal with Dances With Films and the filmmakers. Sort of like Sam Raimi’s credit on Xena.
For those of us who don’t live on the short film circuit, where can people look for these movies besides film festivals? Are they simply uploaded to the Internet now?
Some of them end up on the internet, though I would suggest that serious filmmakers not post their shorts until after they have done a festival run. It’s hard to get people to come out to a theatre if they can watch the movie on their phone. We have a deal with Virgin Airlines now. They have Dances With Films alumni shorts available on some of their flights.
Afterword
We extend our thanks to Robert for his consideration of the Xenite.Org/SF-Fandom community, and his patience in facing all the delays we experienced in producing this article. You can follow Robert Mellette on his blog.
And please read the other part of this interview at SF-Fandom.
Hey, thanks for all the hard work! I hope all of the old Xena fans and new Billy Bobble fans have a happy Solstice Holiday!