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Something Old, Something New...
... or rather, the old becomes new again tomorrow, when Tor releases the latest volume in their series of Wild Cards reissues: DEAD MAN'S HAND, the seventh book in the original sequence.
I've had some readers complain about my name being featured on the covers of the Wild Cards books because I "didn't write them." That's a bullshit complaint, IMSHO. No, I am not the sole author of the Wild Cards stories, I am only one of... ah, lemme see, I believe it was forty-one writers at last count.
I am, however, the editor of every single one of the twenty-three volumes published to date, and the new ones in the pipeline as well... the guy who recruits all those writers, determines the 'overplots' of the triads, solicits proposals, accepts and rejects, and gives extensive notes on rewrites. (And there's a LOT of rewriting in Wild Cards, to make all the bits fit together so the whole will be more than the sum of its parts). It's a lot more work than any other sort of anthology, believe me... though I love it, so I don't complain... too much. I earn those credits, and to suggest that my name is just being 'slapped on' the covers while someone else does the work is as ignorant as it is offensive.
Besides which, I DO write for Wild Cards, in addition to editing the series. More so in the early days, admittedly, before Westeros and Ice & Fire arose to eat up almost all of my writing time. Truth be told, I'd love nothing better than to write some more Wild Cards stories. I have some old favorite characters I'd love to revisit (Popinjay, the Turtle), and some newer characters that I've hardly written about at all (Lohengrin, Hoodoo Mama)... and I have stories to tell. But all that will need to wait until I've finished WINDS OF WINTER, and maybe DREAM OF SPRING as well.
Which brings me back to DEAD MAN'S HAND.
If you're one of those who hasn't tried Wild Cards because there's not enough of my own writing in it, well, here's your chance to hop in. Because this volume has LOTS of my own writing. The typical Wild Cards mosaic novel features work by half a dozen or more writers and as many characters, but on this outing there were only two of us. DEAD MAN'S HAND is a sort of noir mystery novel, as two very different detectives attempt to unravel a grotesque murder in Jokertown. The stars are Yeoman, the ace of spades vigilante, written by John Jos. Miller... and my very own Popinjay, Jay Ackroyd, a rumpled private eye and projecting teleport.
The Tor reissue has a great new cover from Michael Komarck as well.
DEAD MAN'S HAND goes on sale tomorrow, at your favorite local bookstore and/or online retailer.
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Aces, Jokers, Artists
The Wild Cards reread continues over at Tor.com, with an insightful new post by Katie Rask about the many various styles of art in JOKERS WILD, and the meanings behind all of it.
Join the discussion at:
http://www.tor.com/2017/06/07/heres-what-art-tells-us-about-the-world-of-the-wild-cards/
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Saying Farewell
Last weekend Parris and I drove up to Denver to attend the memorial service for our friend Ed Bryant, who died in February.
It was a long drive and a sad occasion, but I'm glad we went. It's still hard to believe that Ed is gone. The last time I saw him was in November, in Tucson, when he was toastmaster and I was guest of honor at Tuscon. The first time... that must have been '73 or '74, as best as I can recall, at Harlan Ellison's house in Sherman Oaks. A lot of years, a lot of cons.
Connie Willis emceed the event, eliciting both laughter and tears from the large crowd that had gathered to say farewell, most of them in Hawaiian shirts and baseball caps.
Many others rose to speak as well, including me. Ed left a lot of friends.
Ed was a talented writer and a great workshopper, who mentored and encouraged many writers younger than himself and helped them on their way. He was one of my Wild Cards authors, creator of Sewer Jack and Wyungare. But most of all he was a sweet, kind man, with a warm smile and a gentle wit. Science fiction and fantasy will be poorer without him.
Memorials like this are not for the deceased so much as they are for those left behind, I believe. It was good to get together with so many others who cared about Ed, and to share our memories of him, with laughter and love.
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Snod, on Rusty
A new post went up today on the Wild Cards blog, the latest installment in our series, "My Favorite Wild Cards Character (That I Did Not Create)."
This time it's Melinda Snodgrass, singing the praises of Wally Gunderson, better known as Rustbelt. Check it out at http://www.wildcardsworld.com/my-favorite-wild-cards-character-that-i-didnt-create-2/
Wild Cards fans, sound off... who is your favorite character from the series?
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A Poem, on Memorial Day
I have posted this before, but it comes to mind every year on Memorial Day and Veteran's Day.
Kipling said it better than I ever could.
Words to keep in mind.
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Wild Carders Rule
It's awards season, and some of my Wild Cards writers have been covering themselves with glory.
David D. Levine, creator of the Cartoonist and the Recycler, just won SFWA's ANdre Norton Award for best YA novel, for ARABELLA OF MARS.
https://twitter.com/daviddlevine/status/866139052793352192/photo/1
Carrie Vaughn, creator of Curveball and Earth Witch and Wild Fox, took the Colorado Book Award for AMARYLLIS.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10212187392741323&set;=p.10212187392741323&type;=3&theater;
And one of our newest Wild Carders, Emma Newman (wait till you meet her character), made the shortlist for the UK's prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award, for her novel AFTER ATLAS.
http://spacedock.geekplanetonline.com/site-news/news/13527-emma-newman%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cafter-atlas%E2%80%9D-shortlisted-in-2017-arthur-c-clarke-awards
Congratulations, all. Well deserved.
Oh, and speaking of Carrie, check out her post on the Wild Cards blog site, a tribute to her favorite WC character (that she did not create herself), Doctor Tachyon.
http://www.wildcardsworld.com/
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Merry Xmas to All, and to All a Good Max
Our week-long M-M-Maxathon concluded on Satuday night at the Jean Cocteau with a staged table reading of "Xmas," my thirty-year-old unproduced (until now) MAX HEADROOM script. And I have to say, we went out on a high note. We had a sold-out theatre, and the audience seemed to enjoy every moment of the performance, laughing and applauding at all the right places.
After thirty years, I was not at all sure how well my old script would hold up... especially with an audience of Max Headroom fanatics, many of whom had just sat through an entire week of Max, watching every one of the produced episodes. MAX HEADROOM was a really smart show, with some fine writing... tough acts to follow. But most of the viewers seemed to think "Xmas" was just as good as what had gone before, which gratified me no end.
One of the things that brought me back to books in the mid 90s, after ten years in television and film, was the sour taste that unproduced scripts left in my mouth... and in my soul. I was making good money during those years in "development hell," but I came to realize that a paycheck was not enough. I hated spending months or years writing and rewriting a script, creating a world, a story, and characters I inevitably came to love, only to have some network or studio decide to pass. I wanted my stories told, and I wanted my teleplays and screenplays performed. Scripts are not meant to be read; to come alive, they need to be staged, acted out...
"Xmas," written in 1987, was actually the first time in my short television career that I tasted the disappointment that so many screenwriters come to know so well. I had been writing for television for less than two years, after all, and up to "Xmas," I'd had a charmed career. My only previous gig had been on TWILIGHT ZONE, where I wrote five scripts, every one of which was greenlit, produced, and telecast (though, okay, "The Road Less Travelled" got butchered on the way). "Mister Meat" had been a stumble, but I never went to script on that one. With "Xmas," I went all the way, and the script had been delivered and slated, scheduled... only to have the show cancelled abruptly.
It's been said that a writer's characters are his children. If so, then unproduced scripts are a screenwriter's stillborn children, and I have far too many of them (for my taste, at least -- those who have worked longer in film and TV have many more). To have the oldest of those, "Xmas," brought to life at long last... to hear the lines spoken, to hear the audience laugh... well, it meant a lot to me.
My thanks go out to our wonderful cast of local actors, especially Elias Gallegos, who played the starring role of Edison Carter. And to Lenore Gallegos, who did such a splendid job of putting this all together and directing. And especially to Michael Cassutt, who made this all happen, to "Max Headroom's Daddy," Steve Roberts... and to the one and only Matt Frewer, who graced our stage at the Jean Cocteau and brought M-M-Max to life one last time, hilariously.
Everyone had a good time on Saturday night, I think. But no one had a better time than me.
Merry Xmas.
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Max Meows
Max Headroom visits Meow Wolf.
Could anything be cooler?
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Something Cool
The Jean Cocteau Cinema is primarily is a movie theatre, to be sure. We also feature various live events: music, comedy, magic, burlesque, and of course author interviews and readings. And we're a bookstore as well, selling autographed copies of the titles from the various writers who have appeared here. If you're a regular reader of the Not A Blog, you know all this. I've talked about all this frequently enough.
One thing you may not know is that we're also an art gallery... well, kinda sorta. We have two walls in our lobby where we display the works of local and visiting artists, changing up every thirty days or so. I haven't talked about that aspect of the JCC nearly as much.
But this month we have something very cool and unusual on our walls, a really stunning display of glass swords by local Santa Fe artist G. Michael Smith.
        
I might not want to go into battle with a glass sword -- give me Valyrian steel -- but they sure are pretty to look at. Come by and see them in person if you get the chance.
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Fun With Max Headroom
 
The fun continues tonight and tomorrow at the JCC... with me, Michael Cassutt, Steve Roberts, and Max Headroom himself, Matt Frewer.
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