When You Stop Believing in It, It Doesn't Go Away

Like Daredevil? Read French?

2012-01-26T11:40:00.000-05:00

Then you should have this book:

Captain Insano State Legislator Hall of Fame

2012-01-25T21:38:00.001-05:00

Today, this guy made it on the CISL HoF ballot on his first try, introducing a bill to prevent the use of aborted fetuses in food or food additives.

Really. Read the story. Ralph Shortey, I salute your utter lunacy.

The CISL HoF does not yet exist, but with your help it will. Add your own loony state legislators in the comments. Please! In these dark times, we could all use the laugh. But only add true kooks. We must set the bar very high.

The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature

2012-01-25T09:27:00.000-05:00

Those of you with any kind of scholarly interest in the literatures of the fantastic should grab this book as soon as possible. It's out next month, and as you can see from the TOC below, it's got a terrific lineup of essays. I can't wait to get my copies. My own contribution is on urban fantasy. Among other things, it's a quiet attempt to reclaim that term from its unfortunate diffusion to include every book with a tough woman in leather pants on the cover, but it's also an exploration of the relationship between ideas of the urban and ideas of the fantastic.

Here's the full listing on the Cambridge University Press web site. If you're an academic, encourage your library to order this book. Or get one yourself! This is the Amazon link, but of course you should buy local if you can.

Introduction
Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn
Part I. Histories:
1. Fantasy from Dryden to Dunsany Gary K. Wolfe
2. Gothic and horror fiction Adam Roberts
3. American fantasy, 1820–1950 Paul Kincaid
4. The development of children's fantasy Maria Nikolajeva
5. Tolkien, Lewis, and the explosion of genre fantasy Edward James
Part II. Ways of Reading:
6. Structuralism Brian Attebery
7. Psychoanalysis Andrew M. Butler
8. Political readings Mark Bould and Sherryl Vint
9. Modernism and postmodernism Jim Casey
10. Thematic criticism Farah Mendlesohn
11. The languages of the fantastic Greer Gilman
12. Reading the fantasy series Kari Maund
13. Reading the slipstream Gregory Frost
Part III. Clusters:
14. Magical realism Sharon Sieber
15. Writers of colour Nnedi Okorafor
16. Quest fantasies W. A. Senior
17. Urban fantasy Alexander C. Irvine
18. Dark fantasy and paranormal romance Roz Kaveney
19. Modern children's fantasy Charlie Butler
20. Historical fantasy Veronica Schanoes
21. Fantasies of history and religion Graham Sleight

Talking Avengers Alliance with Mediabistro

2012-01-23T11:35:00.000-05:00

Follow this link to an audio interview I did with Mediabistro's Jason Boog for their Morning Media Menu podcast feature. We talk Avengers Alliance, and speculate a little on what new spaces are emerging in the borders between social and RPG-style gaming. (There is much more to be said on that latter topic, by the way. It's a pretty exciting time to be looking at the evolution of gaming.)

The interview is excerpted here, along with links to the Alliance trailer and a recent GalleyCat story on video-game writing.

An Open Letter to the Fathers of Cub Scouts

2012-01-22T11:36:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I got up at 3:45am and drove from Maine down to Massachusetts for the fifth and final Pinewood Derby of my older son Ian's Cub Scout career. I have been saving these sentiments up since Ian's first Derby, and this last one--combined with the irritation of having to drive back through a snowstorm--really set me off.

Here's why. There were three cars in Ian's Webelos heats at yesterday's Pinewood Derby that looked like they had come out of a concept lab at GM (or, more accurately representing their style, Ferrari). It was absolutely clear to everyone in the school cafeteria where the race was taking place that the kids whose names were on those cars had hardly ever touched them. I'm not talking about cases where the kid and dad collaborated; more about that in a minute. I'm talking about cars clearly shaped (and shaped perfectly) using saws that no 10-year-old kid in the developed world is allowed to use. I'm talking about millimeter-perfect engineering in all kinds of shapes that 10-year-olds can often envision but rarely create so symmetrically. I'm talking about paint jobs that looked like they came out of a professional garage.

Now, I am aware that the experience of building a Pinewood Derby car is shared. This year, for example, my dad and Ian roughed out the shape of his car. Ian sanded it for days and painted it. He and I glued on weights and made sure the wheels were even. Ian lubricated the wheels. My wife painted the flourishes on the car and gave it the personality Ian wanted. This all happened over the course of a month or so. Then, yesterday morning, Ian got the car to weight by prying off some of the little lead pieces we'd glued to the bottom. Before weighing it in, he ran off to show his car to his friends. It was a cool-looking car, deep red, with the legend The Mad Monster across the top and cartoony bared teeth painted across its conical front.

But when the races started, there was never any doubt who was going to win.

*

It was ever thus, or words to that effect, said a friend of mine when I was ranting at him about this last night. Maybe so. But I've got a real problem with it, and the Cub Scouts need to do something.

DO YOUR BEST

That's the Cub Scout motto, right? Not

TURN YOUR SON INTO A VEHICLE FOR YOUR OWN HYPERCOMPETITIVE IDIOCY

or

DO AS MUCH AS YOU WANT TO UNTIL YOUR DAD GETS SICK OF YOUR CRAP AND FINISHES THE JOB HIMSELF

or

WIN

No. The motto is DO YOUR BEST.

I mean, yesterday I saw a father repeatedly pushing his son away while he worked on the son's car.

*

Those three cars I mentioned finished 1-2-3 in their division, well ahead of the rest. Ian's car won one heat, finished last in his other three heats, and didn't make the next round. Sour grapes? No. Twice in five years, Ian's car went on to the elimination rounds. We've done all right before, and I'm proud of how he learned a bit more each year about how to put the car together.

You know what else I'm proud of? That I can honestly look at each of those cars, from Green Lightning to Mad Monster, and say that he made them and he did his best.

And that's what brings me to the open-letter part of this screed:

Fathers of Cub Scouts.

When you bring a car to the Pinewood Derby and it's obvious that you made it with only minimal input from your son, the basic unfairness is reprehensible, but that's not even the worst of it. The worst of it is the message your actions transmit to your kids and everyone else in the pack.

You are teaching your son that it's okay to take credit for things he didn't do, and you are teaching my son that his honest effort will always be trumped by the people who are willing to cheat. And on top of that, you are teaching every kid there that the whole Cub Scout motto is, like so many other mottos adults teach to children, lip service to an ideal that adults don't really believe in. You might as well hold up two fingers and cross the fingers of your other hand behind your back.

The Pinewood Derby isn't about you, dads. It's about your sons and their fellow Scouts. It's about them doing their best, not you making sure they win. My son deserves better, and so does yours.

Cut it out. Give the Pinewood Derby back.

Sincerely,

A Proud and Angry Father of a Son Who Did His Best

Etymological Musing on Poe's 203rd Birthday

2012-01-19T09:34:00.000-05:00

As a critic in the 1830s, Edgar Allan Poe was referred to as the Tomahawk Man. I got curious about this and looked up the origins of the phrase "hatchet job." Turns out (he said, after an entire three minutes of research) that "hatchet man," as someone who does unpleasant tasks, dates (probably) from the mid-18th century, but "hatchet job" as a harsh attack on someone doesn't become common until (probably) after the Civil War. So, one wonders if Poe's nickname played a role in the development of that phrase from one meaning to another. If so, that's one more originary role for the guy who gave us the detective story. Dale Peck and all other critics who take pride in the sharpness of their literary invective should now claim Poe as a literary ancestor, if they haven't already.

Avengers Alliance News Aggregate

2012-01-15T00:11:00.000-05:00

Here, for your delectation, is a delicious stack of articles about Marvel: Avengers Alliance...

...also, I'll be glad to not hear about Tim Tebow for a while. Maybe one of these days he'll be a good quarterback. Tonight's despair along the Front Range might be hard to take, but Broncos fans should always remember to blame Pat Bowlen. Just for the "predominantly orange" remark if nothing else.

...also also, I wish the Tigers would sign Matt Garza.

Marvel: Avengers Alliance Trailer

2012-01-09T10:54:00.000-05:00

Marvel: Avengers Alliance

2012-01-09T10:05:00.000-05:00

A quick note bringing some (to me) exciting news: this USA Today article announces Marvel: Avengers Alliance, the game I've been writing for the last year or so. If you like social games, you're going to love this one. And if you like Marvel, you'll dig the story. It's a much richer storyline than most social games have, and it's going to tie into some other as-yet-unannounced projects down the road...

Coming in 2012 (So Far)

2012-01-05T20:12:00.000-05:00

Because a goalkeeper scored in the Premier League this week, it must be time for a blog post. (See what I did there?) So, forthwith:

February

An awesome project I still can't talk about even though it's about to happen.

September

Two books this month. One will be my first Star Wars novel, which is about Nomi and Vima Sunrider. No title yet, but there should be soon (after some--ahem--false starts).

The other will be my first ebook original, a Dungeons & Dragons book called Demon Weave. You like the drow? You'll like this book.

Sometime

My novella Mare Ultima will arrive at some point this year too, from PS Publishing. If you read either of the F&SF novelettes "Wizard's Six" and "Dragon's Teeth," you'll know part of this story. But if you want all of Paulus' story, this is where you'll find it.

That makes three books and some nebulous awesomeness, plus other things I didn't mention because I'm not done with them yet and I don't know when they're coming out. And it's only January 5th. Who knows what else will happen? I will try to post more often than EPL keepers score from here on out.

And here's the video, because you really should see it:

Mare Ultima Art

2011-12-16T11:58:00.003-05:00

Here are the front and back covers for Mare Ultima, a novella coming in 2012 from PS Publishing. Art by Ben Baldwin.

To Transformers Fans

2011-10-28T10:30:00.002-04:00

An announcement, because many of you are asking:

Someone else is going to be picking up the reins on the Transformers novels from here on out. I enjoyed writing Exodus and Exiles, and enjoyed the conversations with fans even more. Time for me to go do some other things, and for another writer to dig into the rich history of Cybertron and its valiant refugees. (And their dastardly enemies, of course!)

If you liked Exodus and/or Exiles, check out my other books. Here's a good listing to get you started.

Thanks for reading!

Android Apps of Four of My Novels

2011-06-21T18:47:00.003-04:00

Here are Android apps of Buyout, The Narrows, One King, One Soldier, and A Scattering of Jades. Get 'em. Read 'em. If I had a Android device I'd do it too.

PKD's Exegesis Coming in October

2011-04-23T11:15:00.002-04:00

I cannot wait to see this. 1000+ pages of Phil Dick's "great and calamitous sequence of arguments with the universe," as Jonathan Lethem says on the cover.

A Supernatural Viewing Party, with Prizes!

2011-04-02T12:53:00.002-04:00

If you're a Supernatural fan, check this out...I'll be giving away some books and there are other excellent prizes as well. May 20 is the date!

Capital Punishment and Organ Donation

2011-03-07T14:38:00.004-05:00

A friend, John Lovell, sent me this link the other day to a NYT op-ed by a death-row inmate who wants to donate his organs after he is executed. Take a second to read it, then come back.

...

Don't know about you, but my first reaction was a very deep unease at the direct-but-dismissive way Longo deals with his crime and his abandonment of efforts to pretend he is anything but a murderer. Thinking about it now as a long-time teacher of writing, I find that a strange strategy for someone who's trying to convince an audience of his credibility, good intentions, and seriousness.

But I think it works. By pointing out that he has nothing to gain because he is no longer making any pretense of innocence, Longo is able to keep his focus on the various broader issues related to the post-execution donation of inmates' organs. Most interesting to me is the question of coercion, alluded to briefly in this paragraph:

Aside from these logistical and health concerns, prisons have a moral reason for their reluctance to allow inmates to donate. America has a shameful history of using prisoners for medical experiments. In Oregon, for example, from 1963 to 1973, many inmates were paid to “volunteer” for research into the effects of radiation on testicular cells. Some ethicists believe that opening the door to voluntary donations would also open the door to abuse. And others argue that prisoners are simply unable to make a truly voluntary consent.

Here's where I think he soft-pedals a particular difficulty concerning consent. Rumors have circulated for decades that prisoners in other countries are routinely executed for their organs. It's unlikely that would happen here, but a more insidious possibility is that the opportunity to harvest a prisoner's organs would create more pressure to put people on death row. If Longo (and the other death-row inmates he says share his desire to donate) succeeds in passing his organs along, it's not hard to imagine that immense pressure would spring up to make post-execution organ donation not only possible but mandatory. After all, there is a huge demand for organs and death-row inmates are a ready source of relatively young organs that can be harvested under controlled conditions.

In the best of all possible worlds, I would completely support--and even salute--the desire of a death-row inmate to donate organs. The problem is that this is not that world, and situations like this are tailor-made for not just abuse but well-intentioned misuse.

How long would it be before there was pressure to increase the supply of death-row inmates and the speed of their executions because the need for organs is so desperate?

And let's not forget that organ transplants are very, very expensive. Per this report, the average healthy adult is walking around with potential surgical and post-surgical care costs of millions of dollars inside his or her torso. Someone makes a ton of money from organ transplants. You think those people, who stand to gain so much, wouldn't do everything they could to ensure supply? You think they won't quietly lobby for more death-penalty cases, quicker execution, reinstatement of capital punishment in more states...?

This is, of course, kind of what I was writing about in Buyout. But the Golden Needle remains a science-fictional conjecture. Prison organ donation is very real possibility, and despite Christian Longo's good intentions, a very real danger--not because a murderer can't want some good to come from his execution, but because the market will not care.

Notable Persons of Ypsilanti: My Brightest Diamond

2011-03-07T12:23:00.003-05:00

In my ongoing effort to point out to the world all the ways that Ypsilanti is cool, I give you this recent video from My Brightest Diamond, whose Shara Worden is a YHS grad.

If the video isn't embedded here due to some weirdness with Pitchfork's code, you can click on either of the links above to get it (and more!).

Moe Berg Is 109, and Still Can't Hit

2011-03-02T11:17:00.004-05:00

Or would have been, anyway, if he hadn't died 39 years ago. On the occasion of what would have been his 109th birthday, I talked with Ron Kaplan of the New Jersey Jewish News about Berg and my short story "Agent Provocateur," in which Berg plays a more decisive role than he usually played on the field.

Ron's blogs (Kaplan's Korner on Jews and Sports, and Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf) are cool and you should read them if you're interested in sports, Jews, and/or baseball books.

A Not-Serious Proposition on Charlie Sheen

2011-03-01T15:37:00.003-05:00

Inspired by Walter Kirn.

Charlie Sheen is the most interesting crazy guy pretending to be crazy in a way other than the way in which he's actually crazy since Hamlet. And, since Joyce informed us that modernity remade Everyman in Hamlet's image, Charlie Sheen is Everyman.

Which in turn means that we're all doomed, without getting to indulge in the hookers and blow along the way.

Influences Bubble Up: The Silver Chair and Karga Kul

2011-02-24T21:36:00.002-05:00

So last year when I was writing The Seal of Karga Kul, I came up with this swell scene involving a collapsed bridge -- Iban Ja's Bridge -- magically held together, spanning a gorge thousands of feet deep and ending in a highland road that cut through a forest and quickly up into broken territory and then mountains. The scenes around that bridge and right after the characters cross it were some of my favorites in the book.

Then a couple of days ago I was reading C. S. Lewis' fourth Narnia book, The Silver Chair, to the kids, and we got to the part where Eustace and Jill, with Puddleglum, see the giants' bridge...which is ancient and partially collapsed...and spans a gorge thousands of feet deep...and leads into broken highlands...

The descriptions in The Silver Chair even sounded oddly like my recollection of how I narrated the Iban Ja bits, or imagined them while I was writing. It's striking, how persistent some submerged influences can be.

It's also striking to have your 9-year-old son read a book you wrote and be mad at you because you killed his favorite character--as it happens, at Iban Ja's Bridge. When I had read the giants' bridge part in The Silver Chair, I looked at him and said, "Man, that's Iban Ja's bridge, isn't it?" and he said, "Yup." Then he yelled at me for killing his favorite character again.

Even the stuff you think you made up, you probably didn't make up.

A Diversion You Will Not Regret

2011-02-23T13:22:00.000-05:00

Courtesy of Joe Hill:

When Nixon Went After PBS...

2011-02-21T15:27:00.000-05:00

...Mr. Rogers was there to make the case for public broadcasting.

Who will be Mr. Rogers for us now? (I mean that seriously.)

Boskone

2011-02-19T20:23:00.001-05:00

Haven't been in at least five or six years, but I'm going to zoom down to Boston tomorrow and catch up with some old friends at Boskone. See you there...

'Supposed' Being the Key Word

2011-02-19T11:11:00.002-05:00

Some interesting words from Albert Einstein, encountered in the course of research:

“In our time the military mentality . . . leads, by necessity, to preventive war. The general insecurity that goes hand in hand with this results in the sacrifice of the citizen’s civil rights to the supposed welfare of the state.”

That's from a 1947 essay in The American Scholar called "The Military Mentality." You read stuff like this and think: man, we were warned, weren't we?

Indie Pick of the Month...

2011-02-18T08:05:00.003-05:00

...from Comic Buyer's Guide is:

You should check this book out, perhaps.

A Funny Comment on an Idiotic Comment

2011-02-17T14:14:00.001-05:00

Brian Keene reports:

What isn’t being reported is the real reason why Borders (and others) are in such bad shape. For example: “I wrote much of my first novel at Border’s in Roseville, CA. Then it closed. So I went to the other Border’s across town. Then I moved to L.A. and began going to the Border’s in El Segundo. But their ridiculously loud music and arctic temperatures drove me out. So now I go to Starbucks. Why don’t retailers make their stores more user-friendly? For example, it’s a friggin lottery trying to find an electrical outlet so as to plug in one’s laptop… Panera bread offers free Wi-Fi and an electrical outlet at every booth. And free coffee refills. Border’s charges for the refill, which is stupid because I’ve already paid for the cup and the surcharge to cover the labor for filling it. If you can’t give people what they want, you don’t deserve to be in business.”

You’ll note that not once does the commenter say he went there to buy a book. Instead, he went there to write a novel, demand free coffee refills, and complain about the lack of electrical outlets and overall ambiance. Perhaps if he had PURCHASED A FUCKING BOOK UPON OCCASION, the situation wouldn’t be so dire.

I'm not sure I have anything to add, although Brian's commenters certainly do.

The Way Life Should Be...Even After Peak Oil

2011-02-17T12:45:00.003-05:00

If you saw Flippy Day (or even if you didn't), you should know about another project by some of the same people. What would happen if the US government, strapped and desperate, consolidated population, resettling people out of the least populated states and letting those territories go? That's the premise of Vacationlanders, a webisode series intended to premiere on Earth Day this year (that's April 22 if you're marking your calendar). This link is to the Kickstarter page, where you can check out a trailer and also make the project go!

And if you haven't seen Flippy Day, here it is.

Mind Meld and Supernatural in Brazil

2011-02-16T08:53:00.002-05:00

Here's a link to the latest Mind Meld from SF Signal, in which I and a number of my literary colleagues talk about the books we reread.

And for Supernatural fans who happen to speak Portuguese or have an interest in things Brazilian, Gryphus is putting out the monster book and John's journal in Brazil, just in time for there to be a Brazilian Supernatural convention.

Win Signed Copies of The Seal of Karga Kul

2011-02-15T11:59:00.004-05:00

That Transformers: Exodus giveaway was cool. So here's another one. This time I'm giving away inscribed copies of my Dungeons and Dragons novel The Seal of Karga Kul.

Here's how you enter: Follow me on Twitter using either that link or the widget in the sidebar here. If you already follow me, tweet about this giveaway so I know you're interested. Ask me questions on Twitter or Formspring if you want. I'll give one copy away every day from tomorrow through Monday--five copies in all, signed and delivered to five lucky winners by a surly tiefling specifically conscripted for that purpose.

Iron Man: Rapture, the Big Finish

2011-02-15T10:39:00.003-05:00

After some trifling delays, the fourth and final issue of Iron Man: Rapture is out tomorrow. Here are some preview pages.

Buddy Holly Is Alive and Well and Living on Ganymede

2011-02-11T08:17:00.002-05:00

Someone is making a movie of this excellent novel by Bradley Denton. Outstanding. (Although my favorite Denton is Lunatics, which was much on my mind while I wrote Chickenbus, my one and only unpublished novel...someday.)

Before you see the movie, sometime next year, you should read the book!

Want a Free Copy of Transformers: Exodus?

2011-02-09T18:23:00.002-05:00

I'm giving away 5 copies over the next 5 days, signed inscribed etc. To put yourself in the running, follow me on Twitter (@alexirvine). To prejudice matters in your favor, send me something cool.

Enjoy the Misery of Marlon de Jesus

2011-02-09T11:36:00.000-05:00

Courtesy of The Spoiler:

Nostalgia for the Out-of-Print

2011-02-08T16:09:00.003-05:00

I saw the other day that a Goodreads group, Endicott Mythic Fiction, is doing my first novel, A Scattering of Jades, for their February read. They are of course all buying the book for a nickel because it's been out of print for a while. I got a little maudlin about this and then started thinking about favorite out-of-print books...remember when (for example) lots of Phil Dick's books were out of print? My favorite out-of-print book as of right this minute is probably Michael Kandel's Captain Jack Zodiac. Yours?

You've Already Seen This, But...

2011-02-07T11:08:00.001-05:00

...watch it again.

Talking Transformers

2011-02-07T09:02:00.003-05:00

If you care to, you can read this interview with Kevin Lukis of Unicron.com, wherein we talk Michigan football (back when I still thought Les Miles would return to Ann Arbor) and various Transformers-related things, including some little tidbits about the next book.

Speaking of Michigan football, rough night for Wolverines last night, what with Chuck Woodson breaking his collarbone and all the other Michigan guys in the game playing for the wrong team...

Rough Day for Mascots

2011-02-06T09:56:00.000-05:00

Dark Sun #2 Cover and Preview

2011-02-04T15:44:00.003-05:00

From IDW via Wizards of the Coast, this cover (by Andy Brase; interior art by Peter Bergting, colors by Ronda Pattison). Spiffy, no? Click for preview. And look for the book itself next Wednesday...

Any One of Us Could Be a Mimic Octopus

2011-02-04T11:53:00.002-05:00

I am awestruck by this. Especially the last transformation. (Not sure how I feel about the simile used to describe it, though.)

Amen

2011-02-01T08:20:00.002-05:00

In other news, looks like Daniele Serra and I are going to be doing an illustrated...well, narrative art book? Not sure how to describe it...with PS Publishing. It's mighty cool.

Jeff Jones Documentary Project

2011-01-28T10:01:00.001-05:00

If you dig the art of Jeffrey Catherine Jones, you should check out (and support!) this Kickstarter documentary project by MaCab Films.

Favorite Pic of the Day So Far

2011-01-24T07:48:00.003-05:00

Most "Jesus Was A Capricorn"-style stuff annoys me, but this one is pretty good...

Thanks to Johnny Rog!

Public Service Announcement

2011-01-23T13:29:00.001-05:00

You should all eat these cookies, made by my most excellent wife. I have. A bunch of them. And now I'm going to go eat more.

The Seal of Karga Kul

2010-12-07T20:07:00.003-05:00

...is out!

Brave New Worlds Cover and TOC

2010-11-22T09:05:00.003-05:00

From editor John Joseph Adams comes the cover and ToC for Brave New Worlds, his anthology of dystopias. I mention this because my Salon.com and F&SF story "Peter Skilling" is part of the anthology, which is due out from Night Shade Books in January. Most excellent company to be in, as you'll see in a sec...

* Introduction — John Joseph Adams
* The Lottery — Shirley Jackson
* Red Card — S. L. Gilbow
* Ten With a Flag — Joseph Paul Haines
* The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas — Ursula K. Le Guin
* Evidence of Love in a Case of Abandonment — M. Rickert
* The Funeral — Kate Wilhelm
* O Happy Day! — Geoff Ryman
* Pervert — Charles Coleman Finlay
* From Homogenous to Honey — Neil Gaiman & Bryan Talbot
* Billennium — J. G. Ballard
* Amaryllis — Carrie Vaughn
* Pop Squad — Paolo Bacigalupi
* Auspicious Eggs — James Morrow
* Peter Skilling — Alex Irvine
* The Pedestrian — Ray Bradbury
* The Things that Make Me Weak and Strange Get Engineered Away — Cory Doctorow
* The Pearl Diver — Caitlín R. Kiernan
* Dead Space for the Unexpected — Geoff Ryman
* “Repent, Harlequin!” Said the Ticktockman — Harlan Ellison®
* Is This Your Day to Join the Revolution? — Genevieve Valentine
* Independence Day — Sarah Langan
* The Lunatics — Kim Stanley Robinson
* Sacrament — Matt Williamson
* The Minority Report — Philip K. Dick
* Just Do It — Heather Lindsley
* Harrison Bergeron — Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
* Caught in the Organ Draft — Robert Silverberg
* Geriatric Ward — Orson Scott Card
* Arties Aren’t Stupid — Jeremiah Tolbert
* Jordan’s Waterhammer — Joe Mastroianni
* Of a Sweet Slow Dance in the Wake of Temporary Dogs — Adam-Troy Castro
* Resistance — Tobias S. Buckell
* Civilization — Vylar Kaftan
* For Further Reading — Ross E. Lockhart

Dark Sun #1 Covers

2010-11-19T12:40:00.005-05:00

Coming in January...covers by Wayne Reynolds and Andy Brase, interior art by Peter Bergting.

Political Advice from H.P. Lovecraft

2010-11-01T16:17:00.002-04:00

Not sure how much social commentary you want from a guy who had a cat named Ni**er-Man, but this is a pretty excellent rant.

As for the Republicans—how can one regard seriously a frightened, greedy, nostalgic huddle of tradesmen and lucky idlers who shut their eyes to history and science, steel their emotions against decent human sympathy, cling to sordid and ...provincial ideals exalting sheer acquisitiveness and condoning artificial hardship for the non-materially-shrewd, dwell smugly and sentimentally in a distorted dream-cosmos of outmoded phrases and principles and attitudes based on the bygone agricultural-handicraft world, and revel in (consciously or unconsciously) mendacious assumptions (such as the notion that real liberty is synonymous with the single detail of unrestricted economic license or that a rational planning of resource-distribution would contravene some vague and mystical ‘American heritage’…) utterly contrary to fact and without the slightest foundation in human experience? Intellectually, the Republican idea deserves the tolerance and respect one gives to the dead.
- Letter to C.L. Moore, August 1936 quoted in “H.P. Lovecraft, a Life” by S.T. Joshi, p. 574

(from Mark Tiedemann)

Maybe I Should Have Set Buyout in Arizona

2010-10-29T00:09:00.002-04:00

I was thinking about influence and insurance and politics one day back in 2000, and I started a book that I thought would be called Buyout. About eight years later, after many fits and starts, I finished it and it came out in 2009. If you haven’t read it, Buyout tells the story of a private corrections company that creates new laws in the state of California to keep a constant supply of prisoners coming through their prisons, and to make sure those prisoners are from the most profitable demographics.

Now come these pieces in Salon (“Private prison industry helped draft Arizona immigration law”) and on NPR (“Prison Economics Help Drive Ariz. Immigration Law”) about a private corrections company that essentially created new laws in Arizona...to make sure they would have a steady flow of inmates.

Sometimes people expect SF to predict the future. I don’t, and I certainly didn’t predict this. Buyout began as a thought experiment and expanded into what I think is a pretty good novel, but it’s no effort at prediction. To me, it's a story about a guy who thinks he has a chance to do the right thing and get wealthy in the process...and, of course, nothing is ever that simple. It's a story about the rationalizations we live by, and their consequences. (Plus kind of a homage to some of the things I love about Philip K. Dick.) Even so, by the time I finished writing the book, the scenario seemed more real to me than it had when I started. Now, thanks to this Arizona story (and this one about Pennsylvania judges taking kickbacks to funnel youth prisoners to their private-prison cronies), it’s a little more real yet.

Megatron Vs. the Reaper!

2010-10-28T21:36:00.002-04:00

Over at Suvudu, they're doing a series of cage matches between the great villains of SF and fantasy. Most recently, on Wednesday, they threw Megatron and the Reaper (of Shannara) into the cage, and you can vote on the result!

Here's my take.

Here’s the way this plays out. The Reaper comes in low…

…oh, wait. That’s the only way it can com in against Megatron, who’s four times its height.

Um. The Reaper’s claws slash at…

…oh, wait. The Reaper is a prisoner of the Forbidding, sprung so it can kill a bunch of elves on its way to meeting its maker at the hands of Will Ohmsford. Its claws are great against flesh and bone—and even steel—but it’s never come up against alloys that are powerful enough to endure millions of years.

The Reaper shows Megatron its face, which only those about to die ever see…

…oh, wait. Megatron doesn’t have a soul for the Reaper to take. He’s got a Spark instead, which is part of the AllSpark, which is nothing like a soul, really, and what would the Reaper do with it if it got it?

So here’s how it breaks down.

Magic won’t work on Megatron. Fear won’t work on Megatron. The Reaper’s claws would be like the toenails of a gerbil against Megatron’s armored hide.

Killing is what the Reaper was made for…but the Reaper’s creator never imagined it coming up against a thirty-foot-tall sentient mechanical life form whose body is capable of walking away from the impact of a Sidewinder missile. With all due respect to demonic bringers of death and psychopomps everywhere, the Reaper’s bringing claws to a battle where the opponent has a fusion cannon. The Reaper has claws and powerful magic. Megatron has a weapon that essentially fires pieces of stars.

The Reaper’s never seen anything like that in the Forbidding, or even in the hands of Will Ohmsford. I mean, let’s face it. The Blue Elfstones are pretty badass, but they don’t really match up to a portable fusion cannon, now, do they? Megatron can fly. Megatron can turn himself into a tank. The Reaper's got no answer for that.

So where were we? The Reaper come after Megatron, all claws and terror and impending doom, and Megatron vaporizes it where it stands. Then, because he’s Megatron, he looks down at the shreds of the Reaper’s cloak and says…

…you know what he says.

“I STILL FUNCTION!”

Me at NYCC

2010-10-01T15:53:00.002-04:00

Signing schedule for NYCC is shaping up. Right now, it looks like:

Fri 3-4 Signing at IDW booth #2115
Sat 11-12 Signing at DK booth #2415
Sat 4-5 Signing at Del Rey booth #2122
Sun TBD Signing at DC booth #2243

Could be other things going on too, but if you have stuff you want me to deface, I'll definitely be at the above locations at the above times. (Also, there might be free books at the Del Rey signing...)

See you there!

Transformers in Detroit

2010-09-24T12:34:00.001-04:00

From the Detroit Free Press:

On Titles and Thinking Out Loud

2010-09-07T21:32:00.001-04:00

I see that my maundering about a possible title for the Star Wars book has caused more of a ripple than I'd expected, or intended. Just so we're clear: That's not anything like a final title. That was me thinking out loud. No telling yet what the final title of the book will be.

Apologies if I've given a different impression...

New and Forthcoming, September 2010 Edition

2010-09-03T15:26:00.002-04:00

In loose chronological order:

September 9: The Murder of King Tut #4
October 13: The Murder of King Tut #5
November 3: Iron Man: The Rapture #1
November 17: Iron Man: The Rapture #2
November: Murder of King Tut collected (I think)
December 7: The Seal of Karga Kul
December: Iron Man: The Rapture #3
January: Iron Man: The Rapture #4
January: Dark Sun: Ianto's Tomb #1 of 5

The Star Wars novel, tentatively titled Mandorla, is now scheduled for December 2011...and there's a lot more in the hopper, dates TBD.

DC Comics Year by Year

2010-07-26T16:21:00.002-04:00

A glance at Ryan Sook's cover for DC Comics Year by Year, a chronicle written by (in chronological order) Daniel Wallace, me, Mike McAvennie, Matthew Manning, and Alan Cowsill. Cool. Look for it in October!

Tentative SDCC Schedule

2010-07-17T10:24:00.002-04:00

Friday

10-11 Signing at Del Rey table. Free copies of BUYOUT and IRON MAN: VIRUS!
11-12 Signing with fellow MURDER OF KING TUT folks Chris Mitten and Ron Randall at IDW booth
12-1 Hasbro/Wizards panel, wherein we will talk about D&D, Transformers, GI Joe, etc. etc.

Saturday

11-12 Signing TRANSFORMERS: EXODUS at the Hasbro booth
2:30-3:30 From Words to Pictures Panel, wherein a bunch of novelists will talk about writing comics

More details to come...and something will probably change.

Booklist on Transformers: Exodus

2010-06-28T14:51:00.002-04:00

It's pretty rare for licensed fiction to get reviewed in the trades, but Booklist took a look at the Transformers: Exodus, and seemed to like what they saw:

Transformers: Exodus is precisely the origin story that the franchise needed. It’s entertaining, filled with the sort of epic battles Transformers lend themselves to, and keeps the reader breathless with anticipation even though we already know how it ends. Megatronus was a gladiator, until he got his name and started thinking about the way Cybertron’s caste system diminished the “bots’” potential. Orion Pax was a data-worker—-a librarian, really—-under the master archivist. The Archivist is more than he seems, and provides a great deal of context for the history of Cybertron, and a few key deus-ex-machina twists. Orion Pax, now known as Optimus Prime, is an honest character, who never asks for the greatness that is forced upon him; Megatron, on the other hand, is an egomaniacal tyrant. But in the framework of a political revolution and the civil war that overthrows a system that had practically calcified, there are terrible fights, friendships made and broken, and the beginnings of a genuine epic; above all, it’s fun to read.

Why Soccer Is Theatrical, in a Mathematical Nutshell

2010-06-27T11:10:00.003-04:00

Size of NFL field: 48000 square feet.
Number of players: 22.
Number of guys with whistles: 7.
Formations: Players largely concentrated in one part of field.
Probability of something illegal happening: high.
Official eyeballs per player: 0.636
Official eyeballs per acre: 14/(48000/43560)=14/1.102=12.705

Official Eyeball Coverage Quotient; 0.636*12.705=8.080

Avg. size of FIFA regulation field: 81000 square feet.
Number of players: 22.
Number of guys with whistles: 1.*
Formations: None. Players all over the field at all times.
Probability of something illegal happening: high.
Official eyeballs per player: 0.273
Official eyeballs per acre: 2/(81000/43560)=2/1.859=1.076

Official Eyeball Coverage Quotient: 0.273*1.067=0.294

8.080/0.294=27.484

So it's 27.5 times as likely that a ref will see a foul on a football field as on a soccer field. If you were a player, you'd try to get that ref's attention too. Then there's the question of how widely spread the players are...difficult to quantify, but another factor that would increase the differential.

*3 if you count linesmen, who occasionally call fouls but are mostly there to flag offsides and out of bounds; when and if they wave their flags to make calls, the ref can wave them off and allow play to continue. But even if we grant 3 "refs" in soccer, the difference is still nearly a factor of 10.

June 12 Cannot Come Soon Enough

2010-06-03T09:17:00.002-04:00

The Wrong Guy to Point a Fake Gun At

2010-05-19T12:55:00.000-04:00

A Funny

2010-05-13T12:28:00.000-04:00

From the Eschaton blog:

Both Virginia and Tennessee have passed bills allowing people to carry a concealed handgun into establishments that serve alcohol. (It turns out that Plaxico Burress was a freedom fighter with a bad sense of timing and place. Who knew?)

Transformers: Exodus Cover

2010-05-13T11:30:00.002-04:00

Click to view full-size...

Everyone Must Watch King Crab Attack

2010-05-12T15:59:00.001-04:00

Viking Jesus Rides a Raptor

2010-04-28T11:41:00.004-04:00

Either that, or it's a T. Rex and Our Savior is 20 feet tall. There were giants in the earth in those days...(yes, I have confused my testaments--on purpose!)...

(image seen in this Gawker comments thread)

In Which I Crowdsource a Syllabus

2010-04-27T17:51:00.001-04:00

Gentle readers: if you were to teach a course in the American novel, and you had for reasons of your own decided to use only novels that run approximately 200 pages or less, what would be your top ten? I'm particularly interested in what you think is the best recent work at that length.

A Pake Recipe for Jeff Parker

2010-04-16T09:11:00.003-04:00

...because no! You do not have to choose between pie and cake!

In a pan or skillet, melt a stick of butter.
Whisk in 1cup flour and 1cup sugar.
Add 1cup milk. Let it get hot again.
Add 1 egg if custardy pie-like texture is desired, 1tsp baking powder (or more if a cakey texture is what you're after), and whatever fruit you have lying around.
Bake at 350 (or whatever) until done.

It's different every time. Pake!

Clint Dempsey Golazo

2010-03-18T17:36:00.000-04:00

The Personalities of Children, Divined Through Their Letters to the Tooth Fairy

2010-03-17T18:04:00.004-04:00

Emma, about a year ago:

Hi tooth fairy
This is my third tooth.
I love losing teeth.
Sinserly toothless Emma

Ian, 10 days ago:

Dear tooth fairy I just pulled my tooth out It hurt a lot but I did it It feels realy weird to not have a tooth there but this only the second tooth I've lost here. Sincerely, IAN

In other news:

Ahem.

Ladeeeeez and Gentlemen,

BSCreview's annual Tournament of Books is underway, with a mighty field of contestants. A key first-round matchup: In this corner, CS Friedman's Wings of Wrath. And in this corner, Buyout (out, out, out) by Alexander C. Irvine (ine, ine, ine)...

Vote!

Rocket Go Boom

2010-03-14T19:50:00.002-04:00

This is an old video (well, three years) and maybe you've seen it already, but wow.

Your Photo of the Day

2010-03-03T15:50:00.002-05:00

A Chance to Do Some Good

2010-03-03T09:24:00.002-05:00

My sister-in-law writes:

We need your help! We've applied for a grant to help connect 10 libraries in Kenya, and the top 10 finalists are chosen through an open vote! You can learn more about our work by visiting our website: www.mariaslibraries.org.

Vote for Maria's Libraries! Just register, click on the link below, register and go to "Digital Inclusion" and look up Ariel Schwartz's project among top ideas: "Reducing space through digital inclusion": Each vote counts for ten points, so we're not that far behind! Please vote for us!

Please take a moment and do this. Then tell everyone you know!

If You Were Following This Blog...

2010-02-26T21:42:00.002-05:00

...I just changed all of the settings because there was something wrong with them, so now you have to follow it all over again. The widget is down and to the right.

Five People Who Made Me Want to Be a Writer

2010-02-26T07:51:00.001-05:00

This question is not the same as my five favorite writers or the five writers I admire the most. Also, it's possible that if asked tomorrow, I might change two or three of the names. But here are today's five:

Harlan Ellison
Stephen King
Jack Kirby
Don Martin
Sam Shepard

Who are yours?

Some Questions about the Appification of Buyout

2010-02-24T18:38:00.004-05:00

Nobody at Random House told me that Buyout was going to be an app. I've never talked to anyone at ScrollMotion, who designed the app. There are many things I don't know. Why is Buyout twice as expensive, for example, as some of the other books on the list? (It's $16.99. Worth every penny, I might suggest, but still more than the actual print book.) How will I be paid for the apps that sell? Does it say in the contract that those app rights are even Random House's to sell? Some of this stuff I could look up, probably, if I went into five-year-old files and found the contracts. But those contracts are probably silent on the question of apps, since, well, apps didn't exist.

Also, how come I don't get a free one?

Lit Mags Are Dead. Long Live Lit Mags. But Maybe Not Pure Psychological Realism.

2010-02-22T11:18:00.002-05:00

Everyone with an interest in fiction should read this piece at Mother Jones, if you haven't already. Times are hard for litmags (most of them, anyway; but more about that in a sec). This piece has been out for a while, but I'm thinking about this now because it's gotten tied up in my head with this other piece, by Ted Gioia, called "Notes on Conceptual Fiction," at the website Conceptual Fiction.

Read them both and ask yourself: are litmags dying not because people don't read, but because litmags are clinging to literary models that are historically transient but assumed by the literary-academic establishment to be permanent? (I ask this question from a perspective within said establishment. I'm not hostile to it. But I do think that it, like any other respected and powerful institution, is very slow to react to cultural changes, and has a set of blinders that it tends not to notice until they are pointed out...like, say, by the death of literary magazines.)

I think it's no coincidence that the strongest literary magazines right now are the ones least beholden to an editorial vision centered on psychological realism and the standard kind of beautifully arid atmosphere pieces that seem to be the primary product of intense MFA-program workshopping.

And, putting on my genre-nerd hat, let me say that I love the Gioia piece because it avoids the cheerleading instinct so common to genre apologia. It is possible, indeed desirable, to talk about what genre fiction does well without falling prey to zero-sum thinking and arguing that because genre fiction does some things well, literary or realist fiction does not, cannot, must forever be considered the wan and lonely spinster of the family of literatures. Everything can be good. Most things aren't.

I Keel Keeng Tut

2010-02-16T07:31:00.003-05:00

As USA Today notes this morning, I am doing an adaptation for IDW of The Murder of King Tut, James Patterson's conspiracy-minded take on the death of the boy pharaoh. So I am neck-deep in ancient Egypt. Cool. Here's the first cover:

Beaker Sings Dust in the Wind

2010-02-09T19:29:00.001-05:00

I come up for air long enough to present you with this...

Now back to book with Friday deadline.

Finches Rock

2010-02-08T09:06:00.001-05:00

Best SF/F v.4 Cover

2010-02-06T14:28:00.002-05:00

Man, I can't wait to read this. I missed a lot of good stories this year:

Anno Iron Man Continues

2010-02-05T12:35:00.002-05:00

Here's the cover for my novelization of Iron Man 2, appearing in your neighborhood bookstore on April 1:

Anatomical Figuration of Amazon/Macmillan

2010-02-03T09:36:00.000-05:00

Bookninja, which is always worth reading, on the Amazon/Macmillan kerfuffle that will determine the course of Western civilization: "Somewhere around the duodenum, Amazon’s foot, which had apparently entered through its own mouth, met Macmillan’s foot which, as we saw yesterday, entered through Amazon’s rectum, and the two are having a kungfu battle amid the half-digested remains of America’s mid-list novelists. Heady stuff."

As one of those mid-list novelists (I think), I feel threatened by this image but consider it appropriate.

100 Stories for Haiti

2010-02-02T13:27:00.002-05:00

Buy this book when it comes out. Not because I have a story in it ("Snapdragons," reprinted from the Vestal Review), but because it's a good thing to do.

Indomitable Iron Man B&W #1 Preview

2010-01-30T10:19:00.002-05:00

A couple of pages--cover and title--snatched in the dark of night (actually on a brilliant and frigid seaside morning) from Comic Related.

Alanis Morissette is the Dark-Haired Girl

2010-01-29T14:06:00.002-05:00

This conversation with writer/director John Alan Simon has me real real interested in this movie version of Radio Free Albemuth, which occupies a strange place in the PKD canon. Odd to see it being the first of his books to get a serious and faithful* film treatment.

*(Blade Runner being serious but not ultimately faithful due to the absence of Mercerism and Joe, and...well, lots of things, among them electric sheep. Read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? if you don't believe me.)

The Perils of Eclecticism

2010-01-28T18:04:00.002-05:00

Quoth Paolo Bacigalupi in a recent Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast:

I think almost all of the big respectable science fiction and fantasy magazines have the same exact problem which is that they're eclectic. And, eclectic products have a much harder time finding an audience who will follow them.

Part of me wants to work out a reasoned and thoughtful response to this. Part of me wants to kind of despair because I think Paolo is (mostly, more often than not) right, and my output is nothing if not eclectic. But if I had to write the same kind of story over and over for the rest of my career, I'd quit writing. Apparently eclecticism will doom me one way or another.

[from io9]

Every City Its Own Genre!

2010-01-25T09:03:00.002-05:00

The most excellent supernatural/noir novelist Charlie Huston tells the Austin American-Statesman that LA is a more SFnal city than NYC, which is one reason why his most recent book, Sleepless, is SF. He moved to LA, it seems, and the SFness of the place overcame him.

This got me thinking. Which is America’s most science-fictional city?

After trying out a number of candidates, I realized I couldn’t decide because there were so many cities that seemed SFnal in different way. From this realization I formulated a theory that goes something like this: All American cities are in some way science-fictional, but that each city in America has a kinship with a particular subgenre of SF.

So here’s an experiment. Below is a list of the thirteen largest urban agglomerations in the United States, per the Census Bureau. Next to it is a list of thirteen SF subgenres. Match ‘em up!

New York

LA

Chicago

DC/Baltimore

Boston

Bay Area

Dallas

Philadelphia

Houston

Atlanta

Detroit

Seattle

Minneapolis

Space opera

New Wave

Cyberpunk

Apocalyptic

Post-apocalyptic

Utopian

Dystopian

Steampunk

Retro-futurist

Transhumanist

Alternate history

Dying Earth

Edisonade

(Another way to play this would be to look around you and create your own genre for the city where you live. But that’s another post, and probably one you should write…)

A Toothache-Fueled Rant

2010-01-22T09:15:00.003-05:00

Dear Internet:

I do not care about your cat.

Your baby is cute. Your impulse to tweet about it constantly is not, and smacks of desperation. And just so you know, everyone hates the following things: waiting in line, stupid people (especially at work), work, not having any work, dating, not having anyone to date, bad food, things that are too expensive, politicians you disagree with, government inefficiency, bad behavior, corporate corruption, human misery, lack of courage on the part of those we want to admire, people who don't do what they said they would do, the Yankees. It’s not just you. We don’t need to hear about it.

Internet, not only do I have no interest in the function of your gastrointestinal system, your commitment to making sure I am informed as to the function of your gastrointestinal system makes me think you have problems with narcissism. I can also tell when you’re complaining about something just so everyone will know that you are So Cool you have this particular Cool Kid problem. This is also narcissistic. Not to mention masturbatory.

Dear Internet, sometimes I think you do not have my best interests at heart.
I have all kinds of awesome Bejeweled secrets, but I’m not going to tell you what they are. I have to have something to keep to myself.

Dear Internet, I want to put all of the lost baby unicorns and Hot Teens in My Area and ambitious mobsters and shiny jewels and imprisoned Nigerian princes and iHearts and magic weight-loss pills and cretinous citizens of Zoo World together in a burlap bag big enough to contain all the disappointments and resentments of everyone I care about. I want to set that bag on fire. I want to tweet about setting that bag on fire. I want my new profile picture to be a picture of that bag on fire. I want to turn that burning bag into its own YouTube channel and eventually into a book deal.

Here are some truths, Internet. Your idiot status memes do not fool anyone into thinking you care. Well, except for I guess they do. Internet, someday you will reach China and even Myanmar in your full pornographic and limitless glory. This will be a great day because then many more people will become citizens of Yoville and Ashton Kutcher will have many more followers on Twitter.

Internet, the stupider you get the smarter you make me feel. But before I can feel smart I must deal with the fact that because of you I want to rescue all of the following: the baby emperor penguin, the lost Nigerian princeling, Firefly, the books Borders is about to throw away (but not the people Borders is about to throw away), the victims of today’s natural disaster in Unluckyplacetobebornistan.

Internet, I really feel like sometimes you’re not very concerned about truth, and the only good thing about that is that the more time I spend around you, the less concerned I am about truth.

Internet, I sort of feel like you needed to know that. You're kind of clingy.

But mostly what I wanted to say is that I do not care about your cat.

Blogging at Barrelhouse

2010-01-21T20:41:00.003-05:00

The sadly misguided souls over at Barrelhouse, that most excellent magazine of literature and pop culture, have enlisted me to blog for them on a regular basis from now until whenever they figure out what an awful mistake they've made. This may result in decreased frequency of posting over here, but who knows? Maybe my capacity for yammering will expand, following Boyle's Law, to fill whatever yammering space is made available.

If you have ideas about the kind of thing that a guy like me should blog about at a site like Barrelhouse, let me know. Comics? SF/Fantasy? Books in general? Soccer? Baseball? What's interesting?

And if I were any kind of real writer, I would tell everyone that Iron Man: Virus started to show up in bookstores today.

Animation of a Ring System Around Earth

2010-01-20T21:39:00.001-05:00

From NPR's Picture Show blog. Wow.

The Wall Street Journal Understands Me

2010-01-16T23:24:00.004-05:00

According to that august, um, journal (paraphrase courtesy of Deadspin):

Out of the typical 2 hours and 54 minutes of the average NFL broadcast, a whole 11 minutes actually feature live game action. So next time you want to call out soccer or baseball fans for following a sport where nothing happens, you might want to tend to your own garden.

I have been arguing exactly this point in bars (well, not just bars) across America for years. I fear decades, even.

(As the Deadspin article notes, Wired's Dave Banks did a couch-potato version of this analysis for his Geek Dad blog in 2008.)

How Artists of Loose Morals Might Exploit the Super Snake

2010-01-15T12:02:00.004-05:00

Saw this article this morning, and it got me thinking. (What especially got me thinking was the hyperbolic headline.) All over Hollywood, hack screenwriters must be trying to figure out how they can surreptitiously adapt Anaconda to the Miami-Dade hinterlands. Cue Jon Voight: "The Everglades can keel you in a thousand ways..." Would that be awesome or what? I want Super Snakes rampaging through Fort Lauderdale (Broward County, I know, but imagine the Spring Break scenes!) or South Beach. And I want Jon Voight in it as a crusty airboat tour guide who stumbles upon the mother of all Super Snakes. Maybe he could even bring Jennifer Lopez and Ice Cube along for the ride, as ecological dreamers out to stop the poaching of alligators (although he has a secret past, since when he was in college he and a bunch of drunken fraternity brothers set an African rock python loose, which started the whole mess; he'll have to die at some point to expiate this Original Plot-Generating Sin...). The Super Bowl should be involved, too, and probably a hurricane. That's what I want.

Transformers: War for Cybertron Trailer

2010-01-14T07:19:00.001-05:00

Boy, is this fun to watch:

US World Cup Draw Looks Better and Better

2010-01-12T22:59:00.001-05:00

Look at this performance by Algeria--against that powerhouse Malawi--in the African Cup of Nations. If we can't beat these guys...

It's Raining Tonys

2010-01-11T18:00:00.003-05:00

That's the title of a little prose story I wrote for Indomitable Iron Man Black and White #1, out on Feb. 3. There are also three or four short comics by the likes of Howard Chaykin and Paul Cornell. It'll be fun. Check it out. Cover and copy:

Iron Man does battle with a hyper-intelligent space probe bent on terraforming the planet! And Tony battles Titanium Man while fielding calls for Stark International! All this and more in this all-new, all-action, all-black-and-white one-shot in the spirit of the Mighty Marvel Magazines of yore, but ALL-NOW in style! The Iron Mania never lets up for a moment over these four stories by some of Marvel’s hottest writers! One-Shot/Parental Advisory…$3.99

(The title of this post could also refer to 2010, from my perspective. I just got author copies of Iron Man: Virus in the mail. It's out at the end of the month. Then there's the movie novelization, out in April or May, and something else later this year...)

Edgar Allan Poe and Clint Dempsey

2010-01-11T10:53:00.003-05:00

Have nothing to do with each other and nothing in common beyond Southern origin. Just to get that out of the way.

But there is interesting Poe-related news today, as the Baltimore Sun reports that Poe's descendants are set to declare which of the many contenders they feel has the most claim to be the City of Poe (and perhaps his final resting place, since everyone's always talking about exhuming him). One wonders if Ladbroke's has odds on this strange little competition (which many of the alleged contestants appear only dimly aware of). I'm guessing the whole thing will be settled about when I get my lakeside house on Mars.

And just because, here's a video clip of Clint Dempsey's golazo against Stoke last weekend:

Gringo Donovan Conquers Mexico

2010-01-05T10:46:00.002-05:00

From Soccer By Ives:

Who would have thought that any American soccer player--let alone Landon Donovan, whom the Mexican soccer fan has always loved to hate--would have enough of a profile south of the border to be in a commercial? Strange times we live in...

DD Noir T-Shirt

2009-12-31T09:30:00.004-05:00

Hey, here's something cool to spend your gift card on: A Daredevil Noir T-shirt at SuperheroStuff.com, featuring Tomm Coker's cover from #1. Sweet.

Also you could buy the book!

Your Year in Cryptozoology

2009-12-23T12:14:00.003-05:00

Courtesy of Portland's own Loren Coleman via his Cryptomundo blog, the Top 10 Cryptzoology Stories and Top 10 Cryptzoology-Related Deaths of 2009.

And! Check out the bikini-loving Polish Bigfoot:

We Have a Different Office for Petty Homicides

2009-12-21T16:15:00.002-05:00

From a Portland Press Herald article about the apparent murder of a guy on Saturday night: "A lawyer with the Attorney General’s Office, which prosecutes serious homicides, is working with police."

O Journalism!

Another ToC: Best SF and Fantasy of the Year vol. 4

2009-12-19T17:04:00.003-05:00

From editor (and all-around cool guy) Jonathan Strahan:

Introduction, Jonathan Strahan
1. It Takes Two, Nicola Griffith (Eclipse Three)
2. Three Twilight Tales, Jo Walton (Firebirds Soaring)
3.
4. The Island, Peter Watts (The New Space Opera 2)
5. Ferryman, Margo Lanagan (Firebirds Soaring)
6. A Wild and Wicked Youth, Ellen Kushner (F&SF)
7. The Pelican Bar, Karen Joy Fowler (Eclipse Three)
8. Spar, Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld)
9. Going Deep, James Patrick Kelly (Asimov’s)
10. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, Holly Black (The Eternal Kiss)
11. Zeppelin City, Michael Swanwick & Eileen Gunn (Tor.com)
12. Dragon’s Teeth, Alex Irvine (F&SF)
13. This Wind Blowing, and This Tide, Damien Broderick (Asimov’s)
14. By Moonlight, Peter S. Beagle (We Never Talk About My Brother)
15. Black Swan, Bruce Sterling (F&SF)
16. As Women Fight, Sara Genge (Asimov’s)
17. The Cinderella Game, Kelly Link (Troll’s Eye View)
18. Formidable Caress, Stephen Baxter (Analog)
19. Blocked, Geoff Ryman (F&SF)
20. Truth and Bone, Pat Cadigan (Poe)
21. Eros, Philia, Agape, Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com)
22. The Motorman’s Coat, John Kessel (F&SF)
23. Mongoose, Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear (Lovecraft Unbound)
24. Echoes of Aurora, Ellen Klages (What Remains)
25. Before My Last Breath, Robert Reed (Asimov’s)
26. Jo Boy, Diana Wynne Jones (The Dragon Book)
27. Utriusque Cosmi, Robert Charles Wilson (The New Space Opera 2)
28. A Delicate Architecture, Catherynne Valente (Troll’s Eye View)
29. The Cat That Walked a Thousand Miles, Kij Johnson (Tor.com)
Recommended Reading

Wonder what's in slot #3...Jonathan has a note about it in the original post.

Watch Flippy Day Now!

2009-12-19T14:40:00.001-05:00

Congrats to the gang at Big Appetite Films. There's also a Flippy Day blog...