An Interview with Robert of Kashmir
Tell
us a bit about your character, Robert of Kashmir, and what inspired you
to create him?
The name was originally inspired from the music of Led Zeppelin. The song Kashmir whose poetic lyrics were written by Robert Plant. I’ve always been intrigued by the story behind the writing of those lyrics. That Robert was inspired during a train ride in North Africa. *LOL* Of course I’d like to know what he was smokin’ to get from the Sahara to Kashmir in the Himalayan Mountains.
I first used Robert of Kashmir at the novel Fallout Shelter, which did not return after the Great 2004 Crash of Pan. Not having Fallout Shelter return was the final straw leading up to the creation of the novel Alas, the Folly of Man.
The current form of this character in the novels Stargate SG-1 and my own Alas, the Folly of Man was a creative way to bring this character into SG-1. Robert had been asked to join by one of the original MoB’s of SG-1 and I was trying to work out how to deal with the name when I happened across the movie Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid. In that movie there is an Indian tracker called Lord Baltimore. Toss in some conflict with his 60’s flower-children parents and I had the character’s origins. At Bob’s birth his father was too high on peyote and Jack Daniel’s to remember Lord Baltimore. With a nurse standing over him with a clipboard demanding a name, the song Kashmir comes on the radio and Robert of Kashmir is born.
Abandoned to his grandparents, Bob was raised traditionally on their ranches in the Black Hills of the Dakotas. A serious student, he’d become a Doctor of Veterinarian Medicine when he had a big fight with his parents. To spite them, he went down to the nearest recruiting office and signed up. The Air Force in its infinite wisdom made him a Para-Rescueman. Combining what he’d learned from his grandparents with his medical skills, Bob became the Air Force’s best tracker and medic. Which led to his arrival at Stargate Command to become SG-1’s medic as that novel was first created at Pan.
Fast-forward 200 years and enter the dark future of Alas, the Folly of Man. Last year’s Halloween contest has the details of how SG-1’s Sergeant Kashmir became Sir Robert of Kashmir. Caught in nuclear attacks Bob and others have been cursed with a genetic mutation causing them to regenerate, even after dying. Sounds like a neat super-power, until you realize that it does nothing about pain. Nor does it provide any psychological help. Which is why all the Alas Immortals are a bit crazy. This also drives to the central theme of Alas, how do people deal with the strange new post-apocalypse world it is set in.
You are a member of StarGate SG-1, and Alas, the Folly of Man. What was it about these characters, and the Sci Fi genre that appeals to you?
I think the SciFi Channel’s “What If” ad series really nails my attraction to this genre. I love taking on the challenge of dropping a character into a twisted situation and exploring how I think they would react. Stargate allows me to draw on my military background and training, then take a character and drop a big “what if” on them. Like what if they met a big alien warrior with a feline genetic origin (played by SG writer Djali)?
I should point out that Bob and several other characters that are in both SG-1 and Alas are the exact same people in both novels. So things that happen in one novel have to be accounted for in the other. As dreams and flashes of memory make reference to posts in both novels the complexity of the characters become deeper. Of course there are opportunities for some wicked humor and anyone reading only one novel is likely going to have “what the $@%#…?” moments. It is this type of plotting that makes the SciFi genre so interesting to me.
What is your favorite part about being a member at Pan? Do you have any favorite novels, or reference books?
Pan is the people who call it home. I could open Word and write. I come to Pan to be with the people here. I’m sure hard-working Wyatt will call me the next time he needs something done with 80-column punchcards. I’ve got Calliope’s PanErotica bead hanging by my PC, the PanHistoria trio went to my wife (A PH Editor who introduced me to Pan). Tank Girl with her total disdain for political correctness who will always be my friend, ain’t we just a pair? And the growing list of friends like Karamy, Brigit, Tancorix, and Pink.
I’ve grown really attached to a couple of novels at PanErotica. I write four characters at Empire telling the contemporary tale of the 70’s glam-rocker Poppinfresh on Drugs making a comeback album in today’s Los Angeles. Also was asked to MoB at the insightful Cirque d’Erotique created by Pink and Sky. But Alas, the Folly of Man being my own creation is still my favorite novel.
While visiting your home I noticed that you have quite an extensive badge collection that you have received from Pan. What was it about this community, and writing in general that appeals to you?
I’ve touched on how special Pan is already. As for writing, I’ve found that over the years I’ve been drawn to the writing aspects of whatever I was doing. The military demands a great deal of writing and it needs to be good. The needs and strictures of writing to a very wide range of styles to meet different situations taught me a great deal about the mechanics and styles of writing. I’ve since become a civilian, working as a logistics engineer where my ability to write has become a central part of the projects I’m assigned. I’m doing a growing amount of editing and technical writing, even for projects I do not do the technical design work for.
As my health forced me indoors I finally listened to my wife and joined Pan. It reawakened my love of writing fiction after nearly 20 years away from it. The award badges on my Profile Page reflect my passion for taking on writing challenges. Pushing at my skills to make them better. Creating the character The Major and believably writing her was an aspect of that. Yup, sorry folks. The sexy ‘toon with the gothic bustier is written by a 45 year old guy. I still look to the Dailies for the writing competitions to see what can make me reach beyond where I’m comfortable. Also to get a laugh, check up on what’s going on around Pan, and see what’s new with the bloggers.
I also saw that you are a member of The Tenth Muse. What kinds of poetry do you like to write? What inspires your Poems?
I have a love of music that has strangely never translated into learning how to play an instrument or even learning how to read music. The lyrics of song are really a form of poetry. Deconstructing the lyrics of songs has long been an interesting diversion for me. Trying to understand the viewpoint or the author. Or connect to the emotions that inspired them. Like the Zeppelin lyrics. They are all about sex. But they had to be written coyly because of the mainstream views of the times. They are really quite inventive to get around the censors back then.
More song lyrics and other unpublished work of songwriters should be gathered into poetry collections. As John Lennon showed, musicians tend to be artistic people first and performers as a way to express their art. I’d love to dig into the work that never made it into recorded songs of Jimi Hendrix, Barry White, Elton John, Muddy Waters, and other great songwriters.
It was Sky who convinced me to try writing poetry and to join The Tenth Muse. I really appreciate the help she’s given me with her mastery of the subject. As for my poetry, it tends to be on darker themes. I find I need to have a strong emotional attachment to the subject to write good prose and most of those emotions right now are coming from my personal struggles.
One last question…What are your greatest accomplishments, either here or in RL?
I’ll quote a line from my 1995 Meritorious Service Medal: “A key player in the response to the 1992 downing of a United Nations humanitarian transport, he coordinated provision of Electronic Warfare (EW) equipment for 81 unscheduled aircraft installations within 10 months, critical to continuation of the Sarajevo airlift.”
Does it get any better than doing something like that, that helps save lives?
