Welcome to the Future

It has been a long time since I've been on this blog. In honor of Back to the Future Day, I wanted to take a minute and express my thoughts on this day, my own life, and--of course--the future.

I remember when I first saw Back to the Future II on home video and first witnessed Marty McFly heading to the far-off mystical date of October 21, 2015. I was just a little kid then, and never thought much about 2015, or where I would be in my own life by that point. In fact, as I grew up a diehard BTTF fan and watched the Trilogy on repeat for hours and hours--even as I spent nearly three years of my life writing a comprehensive guide to the chronology of the series (it's now on sale, go buy it)--I STILL gave very little thought about my own future, particularly what my life would look like on that date.

So, here we are: It's October 21, 2015. It is The Future.

This isn't where I thought I would be on this date, but I don't mean that in a negative light. For the most part, I have a great life. A steady day job, a happy marriage, great kids. Things are pretty great on that front.

But on this date, I'm also dealing with a lot of grief. Not even three months ago I unexpectedly lost one of my dearest friends, Zachary Malcolm to complications following a stroke. We talked a lot about this day, about the famed future as foretold by Back to the Future. We planned to be there together. And he's not here. I'm struggling with that a lot. Especially with this being Halloweentime, which was our time. Our time to revel in gothic Hammer Horror movies and talk about costumes and decorations and that most wonderful night when the monsters come out to play. He's not here, but I still feel him in the October Wind.

This has also been a time of great searching for me, in terms of my writing. Trying to figure out who I am as a writer. Who do I want to be, moving forward?

As I said, I always expected October 21, 2015 to just be a regular old Wednesday, but as it's turned out, this has been a very big day. Doors have been closed in my writing life--at least for the moment--while others are now widening with new possibility. No, I don't have any projects lined up--but that's the beauty of it. For the first time in YEARS, I have a clean slate. I have no stress, no deadlines, no commitments. I've been given an opportunity to enjoy my great life a little bit. To write for me. For fun, for awhile. Some things I hope to publish, others are just for me and my family to enjoy. But I've got that freedom now. I've been doing a lot of soul searching for the last few months--ever since Zach died. I've been lost, guys. And I've prayed that God would show me some direction. Throw me some clue as to what path I'm supposed to be on.

Today, He has. It's all come to a head on this day, of all days, October 21, 2015. For the first time, my future feels unwritten and I'm not scared about that. I'm hopeful, and I'm excited, and I know that God is not through me and that, together, we are not through with this writer's journey. I don't know where it's going to lead next, but that's okay. Where we're going, we don't need roads.

So I'm embracing my future, ready to push through and see what's beyond that time barrier. In the immortal words of Doctor Emmett Lathrop Brown, "Your future is whatever you make of it. So make it a good one."

I intend to.

--Greg Mitchell
October 21, 2015: The Future

It's About Time!

 

Morning, folks.

This has been a day long in coming. I am very happy to announce that my next book--this time a non-fiction reference book--Back in Time: The Unauthorized Back to the Future Chronology is available to purchase! Co-written by Rich Handley and published by Hasslein Books (the fine folks who brought you Timeline of the Planet of the Apes, Lexicon of the Planet of the Apes, and A Matter of Time: The Unauthorized Back to the Future Lexicon--all available here) the book painstakingly chronicles every Back to the Future source. From the movies, to the cartoon, to the comics, to the video games, to random commercials--it's all in there, and cataloged into a cohesive timeline so you can make sense of all the paradoxes and temporal intersections. 

Back in Time is many years in the making as I started writing this BEFORE The Strange Man was even released back in early 2011, so wow! I'm extremely proud of the final product and I think you will be too. It is essential to any fan of Back to the Future, and a perfect gift for the holidays.

Through October, it's available exclusively at bttf.com, the Official Home of Back to the Future on the internet. Starting in November, you can also find it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  Buy your copy today!

Whoa, This is Heavy!

I haven't made much mention of it around here, as I wanted to be further along in the process before I blew the whistle too loudly, but for the last three years (sheesh!), I've been working on writing a completely unofficial chronology for Back to the Future with the fine folks at Hasslein Books. I am very happy (and relieved) to announce that the book is finished--at least as far as my contribution goes. Now we're in the final editing phase as well as formatting and some amazing interior illustrations by the uber-talented Pat Carbajal.

Follow this link to read a brief Q&A with me about the book and look for Back in Time: The Unauthorized Back to the Future Chronology, co-written with Rich Handley, this fall!

Great Scott! I'm Writing 'Back to the Future'!

It is no secret that I love Back to the Future. Yes, the whole trilogy. Everything's a trilogy these days, but growing up, it was just this and Star Wars. It's actually because of Back to the Future's trilogy-status that inspired me to make The Coming Evil into a trilogy. I've seen the movie countless times, nearly memorized them, and even still make a point to sit down and watch all three movies uninterrupted periodically. I've studied those movies inside and out, absolutely in love with the characters, settings, and themes.

It is with great humility that I officially announce today that I will be working with Hasslein Books--publishers of the amazing and comprehensive Timeline of the Planet of the Apes and Lexicon of the Planet of the Apes--to co-write with Star Wars author Rich Handley not one, but two unofficial BTTF reference books!

Here's what Handley had to say on the announcement on the Hasslein facebook page:

"Novelist Greg Mitchell and I will be cowriting two reference books, similar to the style of the Apes books, about the Back to the Future films, cartoons and comics. Greg is an avid BTTF fan, and he suggested, back in 2009, that I some day tackle those films. Since that time, he's been invaluable in assisting me on the research end. Now that I'm finally doing it, I figured he'd make the perfect co-author. Luckily, he agreed.

I'm writing the first draft of a Back to the Future lexicon, while Greg is writing the first draft of a timeline book for that universe, after which we'll swap manuscripts and edit each other's work as a second draft. In that way, we'll share co-credit on both."

Rich has already broken ground on the lexicon while I'm finishing up a top secret project that I can't talk about yet. Then, I'll be pulling double duty, promoting The Strange Man, while dissecting the timeline of Back to the Future. I've never done a timeline before, and am thankful to have Rich guide me through the process. It's fun that I'm finally going to be putting all my useless BTTF knowledge to use!

Stay tuned here for updates on this and other projects. And remember, in the words of Doctor Emmett L. Brown:

"The future hasn't been written yet. No one's has. The future is whatever you make of it. So make it a good one."