Author Profile: Meet Bill McCormick

Splice by Bill McCormick

Greetings everyone! Today on Writer Wednesday, we catch up with Bill McCormick.

Polite On Society: Who is Bill McCormick? Tell us a bit about yourself.

Bill McCormick: There is an ancient Hindu saying that a man must live five lives to have lived. I think that is true. I started out playing in punk bands as a teen and saw a nice chunk of the world that way. Then I was a DJ who wrote for local music magazines. Then I wrote a sports blog that was cited in numerous national publications. Then I ran a record company and then, after a messy divorce and going broke (I had less than $3.00 in the bank), I decided to get the demons in my head to do something useful. So I started writing science fiction.

POS: What motivates you to write science fiction? Is it your favorite genre?

BM: Science fiction, at its most basic, allows me to comment on the world today without having to go down the swirling drain of modern politics. I want people to be able to step back from the rawness of it all and consider things more fully. Science fiction allows me to do that. Horror also gives me some room to move, but I prefer Sci-Fi overall.

POS: What is the premise of Splice? How did you come up with the idea?

BM:

SPLICE: HIT BIT TECHNOLOGY is the story of a ten year old, African-American, kid abandoned in Omaha. His parents consisted of a dad who pimped his mom for drugs and drink money. I wanted to create a world that showcased the anonymous underbelly of society, so most of the characters don’t have names, including SPLICE. He grows up to become one of the most feared supervillains of all time. How he made that journey and what obstacles he faced are the through the thread of the story. It involves the mob, the marines, and ISIS, so it’s not a traditional action story.
I came up with the idea when ©Watchdog Entertainment®, LLC hired me to review a series of comics they’d released. There was this McGuffin named SPLICE in the background of every story. The stories were okay but I found myself fascinated by him. I proposed writing a comic based on him and they asked me to write a movie script instead. Then, after some back and forth, I followed that up with the novel. Not the traditional path, I’ll admit, but it worked for me.
POS: What are the state of your plans to bring this story to life visually?
BM: Well, the pandemic has wrought havoc on indie film companies. The insurance requirements are justifiably insane. Of course, killing people is bad in real life, so the limitations make sense. Even if they are inconvenient. ©Watchdog Entertainment®, LLC had secured funding prior to all hell breaking loose. Now we are entertaining all options. Of course, if things can settle down, I imagine we’ll be off to the races.
POS: If you had one tip for an aspiring science fiction writer, what would it be?
BM: Admit that the first thing you write will be horrid. Let it. Read it, learn from it, and then write more

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