Books By Eric Bickernicks
Ultima Thule Nut Clusters
Science Fiction Short Story
It's 2184 and there are no more places to explore, except one: Pluto. Like Everest to Hillary, this distant outpost motivated our explorer to make the eight-year trip.
So why does “Tenny”, the ship board AI, insist on turning around?
Higher Strangeness
Science Fiction
In some eccentric corners of Cape Cod, away from the tourist traps and clam beds, conspiracy theories are more than an internet pastime—they're a way of life. After a bizarre incident at a local diner, Ken Wakeman, a skeptical UFOlogist, and his quirky sidekick, Noodles, find themselves caught in the dark web of the M-Oron network and a shadowy government agency known as OCULUS.
Alien crystals become the new stimulant of choice, transforming those who come in contact with them into intellectual elitists with a taste for jazz. Reporter Melissa "Mel" Howard struggles with the crystals dark side, while conspiracy talk show host Zeke Brandon undergoes a transformation that no one could have predicted.
But when Derek Ungluck, identified as ’The Last Stupid Man On Earth’ resists conforming to the new world order, Ken and Mel must combat this last refuge of irrationality. Is the dream of an intellectual utopia just that—a dream? Dive into this satirical sci-fi adventure, where conspiracy, comedy, and cosmic interference collide.
High Strangeness
Science Fiction
Something strange has arrived on Cape Cod, and it’s not just the UFOs.
Ken Wakeman, a skeptical UFOlogist who seeks the truth about paranormal phenomenon, struggles to discredit the myriad of crackpot theories out there. Melissa "Mel" Howard, a reporter for a small Cape Cod newspaper, copes with the seasonal tourist invasion and its accompanying anxieties. When the Cape becomes the national focus over a rash of UFO sights, they join forces to get to the bottom it.
Despite denials from town officials and the military that UFOs have landed, mass hysteria overcomes the seaside community. In addition to the frantic humans, Astro, Ken’s Golden Retriever has also been acting strangely.
Joining the invasion is Klick, the promiscuous leader of a spandex-clad UFO cult whose members want to “amalgamate” with the Fornacisians when their spaceship lands. Mel learns that when dealing with wing nuts, the truth isn’t necessarily “out there”. Tom Frasier, an infamous proponent of crashed saucers and frozen alien bodies, claims the local military base houses some intriguing secrets. After a visit from the FBI gives legitimacy to Tom’s story, Ken will ultimately decide how far he’s willing to go to witness humanity’s greatest close encounter.
Too fidgety to read a 281 page novel? Then how about the quicky 110 page script? I actually conceived of High Strangness AS a movie script, but figured I'd never get it produced on my own, so I did the novel first.
It's amazing how hard it was to boil down a 79,000 word novel into a 20,000 word film script - and I was thinking it would be a script all along! Guess what? The novel IS better than the script - and I wrote both of the suckers! Oh yea, and it passes the bechdel test with flying colors.
July, 2019 - OK, if there isn't anything below this entry, then you know how all this played out. (in failure) The Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting just contacted me that High Strangeness is one of 365 quarter finalists in their selection of their 7,302 entries. These guys are a major deal, if you are one of the (5) finalists, they give you $35,000 to write another script and shepard you to Hollywood. This all happened after spending $800 on film script festival entries and getting a string of rejection notices.
Oh yea, High Strangeness was also nominated at the Massachusetts Independent Film Festival. Those guys won't even return my email to tell me how many others I beat out to get nominated. (I suspect very few.)
Artifice
Fiction
Would you like a couch with that painting?
Obscurity is a way of life for Gavin Vonn Getch, a painter who works at a frame shop in a small New England town. His life changes when billionaire Gary Eastman enters his shop and becomes the ultimate patron: a lifetime commission for all his work in exchange for a crap-load of money.
Some of his artist buddies envy him and others think he’s sold out. Curious as to where his paintings are being displayed, he makes a trip to the DLC headquarters, where a shocking discovery forces him to reevaluate his deal with Eastman and his identity as an artist.
Why does an artist create? What alternatives are there to completely selling out? Is there no genius—only marketing? The book is a satirical, and sometimes surreal look at the art world.
Alt.Film Journal!
How I Made A Low-Budget Indie Film for $35,000
Based on a blog I kept at the time of filming, Alt.Film Journal!, is the story of my foray into the world of independent filmmaking. I basically give a candid, no-holds-barred account of my experience, sprinkled with advice to a new generation of would-be filmmakers.
I wanted to make something that wasn't disposable like all the corporate videos I’d done up till then. So I jumped on the indie filmmaking carousel and went for the golden ring, only to have my body thrown from the ride.
Ketle Corn Business Journal
An entrepreneur's start-up guide to running a home-based food concession business.
I've been making kettle corn for a while under the name of Velma's Kettle Corn.I write about my encounters with unusual customers, relentless health department officials and inept event coordinators. I documented everything on video, and this ebook links to over eighty videos which show exactly what the hell happened.
I also have a full blown training course which takes you through the steps needed to start your own kettle corn business.
Beat Carnival Games
OK, this one I couldn't let go. This was the start of my big marketing career back in 1990 when I was 28 years old. I figured out how to exploit a certain carnival game, so I ended up winning a few dozen large stuffed animals for my girlfriend, and then when she got bored with all of them, my mother. I wrote this whole thing up with diagrams, layed it out on an Amiga computer, printed it up and then paid for advertising in a bunch of comic books. I barely broke even. Eventually I just put the whole thing up online, which was promptly ignored. It then ended up as an ebook on Amazon, which still sells horribly to this day, but God damn it, I'm still gonna make this one work. Here's my about the author page from back then.
