Jan 9, 2012
Marvel: Avengers Alliance
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...
Jan 5, 2012
Coming in 2012 (So Far)
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:
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:
Dec 16, 2011
Mare Ultima Art
Here are the front and back covers for Mare Ultima, a novella coming in 2012 from PS Publishing. Art by Ben Baldwin.
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Oct 28, 2011
To Transformers Fans
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!
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!
Jun 21, 2011
Android Apps of Four of My Novels
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.
Apr 23, 2011
PKD's Exegesis Coming in October
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.
Apr 2, 2011
A Supernatural Viewing Party, with Prizes!
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!
Mar 7, 2011
Capital Punishment and Organ Donation
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:
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.
...
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
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!).
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!).
Mar 2, 2011
Moe Berg Is 109, and Still Can't Hit
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.
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