Not A Blog

Max Headroom Returns

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 23:48:04 GMT

Remember Max Headroom?

Sure you do. If you're old enough.

M-M-Max was a king, once upon a time.

Twenty minutes into the future... thirty years into the past... it was 1987, and Max was the hottest television personality in the world, with the hottest television show. Actually, he had several shows. He started out in the Uk introducing music videos. Then he got his own talk show, also in the UK. And then a ground-breaking British television movie. New Coke made him their official spokesman. Then Max crossed the Atlantic to get his own sf show on ABC. He made the cover of NEWSWEEK, was parodied on the cover of MAD, did a guest appearance with David Letterman.

Alas, alack, Max Headroom's reign as the king of popular media proved as short lived as New Coke. His series on ABC was hailed as innovative, startling, ground-breaking, original... like nothing else on television... the first cyberpunk television show... but it proved to be way WAY ahead of its time, starting strong and falling fast, surviving for only two short semi-seasons, an initial run of six episodes, and a second season of seven. Then ABC pulled the plug, and Max vanished from the airwaves, surviving only in the hearts and minds of science fiction fans.

Thirty years have come and gone since that glorious year of 1987, and once again we're going twenty minutes into the future... in Santa Fe, at least. So mark the dates May 13 - May 20 down on your calendars, and be sure to swing by the Jean Cocteau Cinema.

That's the week we're having our M-M-M-MAXATHON!!!

Yes, that's right. We've having a whole week of Max, to celebrate his 30th anniversary. We'll be screening all fourteen episodes of his show: the original British pilot, "Twenty Minutes Into the Future," and the American remake of same, plus every one of the ABC hours that followed. You saw them once on your little-bitty 1987 tv set. Now see them again on the Cocteau's ~~big~~ medium-sized screen. With our world famous popcorn... and maybe we can even find some New Coke!

Some very special guests will be coming to Santa Fe to help us celebrate the anniversary. Head writer STEVE ROBERTS, who scripted the British pilot and crossed the pond to head the writing staff for the ABC show, will be flying in to join us, and MICHAEL CASSUTT, another of Max's writer producers will be with us start to finish. After thirty years, they're ready to spill all the secrets. But wait, there's more... Max himself is coming too. Yes, MATT FREWER, the one and only Max Headroom, will be on hand for the last three days of the M-M-M-Maxathon.

Oh, and one more thing. We'll also be featuring, for the very first time anywhere, two Max Headroom episodes that have never been seen or heard before anywhere, two episodes written by a guy you won't find listed anywhere in the credits for the show: me.

Yep. That's right. MAX HEADROOM is the great "what if" in my own television career.

For me, MAX came along after my stint on TWILIGHT ZONE and before BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. When ABC first greenlit the US show, they ordered six original scripts to follow the pilot, almost all of which ended up getting assigned to writers just coming off TZ. I was one of those. Mine was supposedly to be... hmmmmm, let me see now... the fourth episode of the series. My title was "Mister Meat." Now, TV writing in those days was a two-step process: "story with option to teleplay," they called it. You wrote a 'story,' a short plot outline with all the major beats and characters. Then, when the showrunners, studio, and network all approved it, you went on to write the teleplay.

"Mister Meat" never got that far, alas. The showrunners and my fellow Maxxies loved it, as I recall, but when ABC saw the story they reacted with horror. Way too disturbing and offensive, they announced, driving a spike firmly through my concept and sending me on my way. Which I why I never got hired onto MAX HEADROOM and wound up on staff on BEAUTY AND THE BEAST instead.

I got a second chance when MAX was picked up for a second season, however. As a freelancer, I got the choice assignment of writing the Christmas episode. And this time I went to town. Wrote the story, rewrote the story, wrote the teleplay, revised the teleplay. "Xmas" was the title of the episode, and it got as far as pre-production...

And then the show was cancelled. Rather suddenly and unceremoniously, I must say. America was spared from celebrating Xmas with Max.

Ah, but with strange aeons even death may die... and like all good writers, I never throw anything away. So as part of our Jean Cocteau M-M-M-Maxathon, the world will meet "Mister Meat" and "Xmas" for the first time. "Mister Meat" is just a short treatment, so I will be reading it myself on the third day of the marathon, in the slot it would have filled if it had been filmed. Come and hear the episode that ABC deemed too offensive and disgusting for Ronald Reagan's America.

As for "Xmas"... hell, we have a whole finished script of that one, so we're going to be performing it, live, on the tiny little stage at the Jean Cocteau. Lenore Gallegos will direct, and the parts of Edison Carter, Bryce, Theora, Blank Reg, Max himself, and all the rest of the gang from Network 23 and the ZikZak corporation will be performed by a fearless cast of local actors... whoever ends up playing Max will HAVE to fearless, to play the part with Matt Frewer in the audience.

May 20. Be there, or forever rue your absence.

Oh, and as usual, the screenings will all be FREE.

((But we will charge admission for the performance of "Xmas"))

May 13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20. Don't m-m-m-miss it.

Lovecraft in the Land of Enchantment

Tue, 28 Mar 2017 06:47:43 GMT

We had a great time last week when H.P. Lovecraft returned from the grave to visit us here in the Land of ~~Yig~~ Enchantment.

If you missed it -- shame on you -- well, it turns out that HPL recorded a couple of segments of his "Ask Lovecraft" YouTube series while he was here in town.

Seeing HPL at Meow Wolf was especially fun, since there are a couple of... ahem... decidedly Lovecraftian touches to be found in the House of Eternal Return.

If you ever get a chance to see Leeman Kessler perform as HPL, do catch him. It's the next best thing to a shuggoth on your doorstep.

The Martians Have Landed

Mon, 27 Mar 2017 00:18:47 GMT

Well, not really. But our friend Andy Weir did drop by this afternoon for lunch. And Andy, as you all know, is the author of THE MARTIAN. Andy is in the Land of Enchantment overseeing the filming of the pilot episode of MISSION CONTROL, his new series for CBS. Melinda Snodgrass and I had the opportunity to visit the set last week, and I have to say, it's looking great.

Of course, we couldn't let Andy escape our clutches without making him autograph some books. He was kind enough to sit down and scribble his name on forty hardcover copies of THE MARTIAN... which we can now offer for sale through the JCC website, while the supply lasts.

If you want one, move soon... last time Andy came by, we sold out all the autographed copies in a few weeks. It's first come, first served, as ever.

The Jean Cocteau has all sorts of other signed books for sale as well, for all the autograph hounds out there. Here are a few of them.

(And yes, we have a bunch of signed books by the Martin guy as well).

Happy reading.

Author, Author, Author, Author

Sat, 25 Mar 2017 21:08:42 GMT

We love writers at the Jean Cocteau Cinema, and April is going to be one of our biggest months ever for author events, with no less than four of them scheduled.

First up, on Sunday April 2, we'll be hosting the editors and contributors for the GUNS, an original anthology about... yes, you guessed it, guns. Editor Gerald Hausman will be joining us for the evening, together with writers Trent Zelazny, Jane Lindskold, M. Scott Momaday, Rebecca Godfrey Poe, Peter Lauritzen, Peter Eichstaedt, Jim Terr, and Alice Carney.

One week later, on Sunday April 9, we'll once again be hosting one of our favorite people, the one and only CONNIE WILLIS. Connie's got a new book out: CROSSTALK, her long-awaited romcom, and as usual it's a delight... as is she. Of course, we'll have her other books as well, the many Hugo- and Nebula-award winners, and the one or two that were only runners-up.

Just a few days later, on Saturday April 15, we will have the honor to host one of New Mexico's own treasures, JOHN NICHOLS, the author of THE MILAGRO BEANFIELD WAR. There's never been a writer who captured the soul of northern New Mexico like Nichols, and the Jean Cocteau is thrilled to have him.

Last but not least, JOHN SCALZI will be hitting town on Monday, April 17, with his new novel THE COLLAPSING EMPIRE. (And rest assured, we'll have his older books on hand as well, including his Hugo award winning REDSHIRTS).

Remember, the Jean Cocteau has only 130 seats, and some of these events are already filling up fast. To reserve a book, and a seat, go to the Jean Cocteau website http://jeancocteaucinema.com/ and get in your order now.

See you at the ~~movies~~... er... the booksignings.

Magic Times Three

Tue, 21 Mar 2017 01:35:09 GMT

If you're a fan of magic, we have some great shows in store for you these next few months, right here in ~~River City~~ Santa Fe.

First up, at the Jean Cocteau, the amazing FRANCIS MENOTTI will be returning for three more shows. Francis is the guy who stumped Penn & Teller, and he'll be performing the "stumper" for us as well, along with a host of other tricks, on Friday April 21 and Saturday, April 22.

Next up, all the way from Down Under, will be a pair of young Aussie lads who call themselves... yes... THE NAKED MAGICIANS! The Jean Cocteau is co-sponsoring this one with the Lensic, since our stage is way too small (and way too close) to hold an act as... revealing... as the Naked Magicians. The Lensic, with its big auditorium and huge stage, will do just fine.

The boys from down under will be in town for ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY on Tuesday, May 30. For tickets, you will need to go to the Lensic website at http://tickets.ticketssantafe.org/single/EventDetail.aspx?p=3965

Last, but far from least, one of our favorites returns to the Jean Cocteau for her third time: MISTY LEE, straight from LA's famous Magic Castle. Catch her at the JCC June 9-10, for three shows.

For this visit, Misty has promised to STAB an audience member!

Tickets for Misty Lee and Francis Menotti can be purchased from the Jean Cocteau Cinema website, at http://jeancocteaucinema.com/

Don't miss you, or we'll turn you into a toad!

Wild Cards Gets Wilder

Tue, 21 Mar 2017 00:25:02 GMT

A couple of cool new additions to our Wild Cards website went up today.

On the blog, John Jos. Miller talks about gaming in the Wild Cards universe... and his own life story. Check it out at: http://www.wildcardsworld.com/the-secret-origins-of-the-wild-card-universe/

And over in our video section, our own March Madness... in August. Which is to say, the highlights from the Wild Cards Cage Matches from MidAmericon II:

http://www.wildcardsworld.com/wild-cards-media/

((The Amazing Bubbles still insists that she was robbed)).

Bad Journalism

Sun, 19 Mar 2017 19:03:03 GMT

I am no fan of what passes for journalism on the internet, but I've got to admit, I have been taken aback by the sheer amount of bullshit that's been proliferating all over the web about our Stagecoach Foundation initiative... some of it posted on what I would have previously regarded as reputable news outlets with familiar names, but almost all of it off-base and, well... wrong.

There seems to be some sort of grotesque echo chamber effect going on here. These stories are not only full of errors, but they are the same errors. Rather than checking facts with the primary sources, the writers here (I will not call them 'reporters') are just copying from one another.

When I was in journalism school at Northwestern, we were drilled in the head every day with Joseph Pulitzer's famous maxim, "Accuracy, accuracy, accuracy." That seems to have gone out of favor, at least on the internet.

Instead I am put in mind of Jonathan Swift, who said, "Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it."

So please allow me to come limping up long enough to say:
-- the Stagecoach building is not 30,000 square feet. Someone pulled that number out of their ass, and dozens of other reports have repeated it. That's a rough approximate figure for MEOW WOLF, an entirely different place on the other side of Santa Fe. The Stagecoach building is perhaps a third that size,
-- I did not "build" Stagecoach. David Weininger did that in 1999, as the headquarters for his compnay, Daylight Chemical Information Systems,
-- I am not "opening a film studio." Stagecoach is a non-profit foundation dedicated to bringing more film and television production to Santa Fe, it is not a film studio,
-- there are no sound stages at Stagecoach (though there are several here in town, at the Santa Fe Studios and the Greer Garson Studios). It's an office building, and will be used primarily for pre- and post-production purposes,
-- I am not going to be "running" a foundation, much less a studio. That task I've given to a dynamic young lady named Marisa X. Jimenez, who helped open Santa Fe Studios here in town, and who will have total charge of the day-to-day operations of Stagecoach, under a board of directors.

If there are any real journalists out there who would like to do an accurate story about the Stagecoach Foundation and our plans for it, Marisa is the person to contact, at Marisa@stagecoachfdn.org. She'll be glad to send you our press release and answer your questions. In the meantime, hey, can people please stop making shit up?

Meow Wolf at One

Sat, 18 Mar 2017 22:54:13 GMT

Meow Wolf celebrates its first anniversary today.

What an amazing year it's been.

When we opened on March 18, 2016, the hope was that we would draw 100,000 visitors to the attraction annually. Instead Meow Wolf drew more than 400,000 visitors during its first year, and became one of Santa Fe's leading attractions, revitalizing an entire neighborhood.

https://meowwolf.com/2017/03/first-year-numbers-post/

If you haven't been yet, you really don't know what you're missing.

And rest assured... the best is yet to come.

March Madness

Sat, 18 Mar 2017 21:56:58 GMT

No, I'm not talking about basketball. I'm a football guy, mostly. A little baseball on the side. But I don't follow basketball, or hockey, or soccer, or tennis, or golf.

My own March has been pretty damned mad, however. Hard to believe half the month is gone already.

We had two great nights at the JCC with Leeman Kessler and ASK LOVECRAFT. His YouTube videos are a lot of fun, but he's even better in person. If you have a chance to see him at a con, don't miss it. Some of his bits are funny, but he also has moments (as HPL) that are moving and profound.

The HAP & LEONARD premiere was also terrific. It's always great to see Joe Lansdale, and the second season of the show looks to be even better than the first.

And of course on Tuesday we brought together the Santa Fe film community up on the hill, and rolled out the Stagecoach Foundation. That was exciting as well.

(Though I have to confess, reading some of the various reports about Stagecoach on line makes me want to bang my head against the desk and bewail what passes for journalism in this age of the internet. Back when I was a journalism student at Northwestern, some of these clowns would have gotten themselves a "Medill F." They don't even get basic facts right. mutter mutter mutter)

Besides all that, there's been the huge new Wild Cards deal, the Wild Cards reread, lots of stuff with HBO that I cannot talk about yet, and of course -- always, always -- WINDS OF WINTER.

So much to do. And the days go by so quickly. I love my work, all my work, all my projects, all my children, but sometimes it seems as if the harder I work, the further behind I get.

Maybe things will calm down soon. But I am not holding my breath.

Stagecoach Rolls Out

Thu, 16 Mar 2017 21:30:59 GMT

Now it can be told.

On Tuesday everybody who is anybody in the Santa Fe film community gathered up the hill at the former headquarters of the Daylight Chemical Information Systems for the official rollout of the Stagecoach Foundation, dedicated to bring more film and television production to the City Different and the Land of Enchantment. We're very excited.

Stagecoach will be a non-profit foundation. Our dream is to bring more jobs to the people of Santa Fe, and to help train the young people of the city for careers in the entertainment industry, through internships, mentoring, and education.

Once upon a time, before airplanes, before railroads, it was the stagecoachs that brought people to Santa Fe. Our hope is that Stagecoach will do the same.

And none of this would be possible without the generosity and visions of the late David Weininger, who passed away in November... but whose legacy will live on.

The Clock Is Ticking

Wed, 15 Mar 2017 21:39:38 GMT

Hugo nominations need to be in before March 18.

Only a few days left to let your voice be heard.

This is fandom's own award, the oldest and most prestigious of my myriad awards for science fiction and fantasy... but it is only as important as we make it.

You don't have to nominate in every category, or fill every slot... but if you're read any books or stories that you liked last year, or watched any television and film, you should be part of this.

Go ye forth and NOMINATE.

Carrie Abroad

Mon, 13 Mar 2017 23:09:16 GMT

For all those of you benighted souls who do dwell in the Land of Enchantment, and therefore could not be on hand for Carrie Vaughn's recent to the Jean Cocteau... here 'tis, in the living color.

Enjoy.

Autographed copies of MARTIANS ABROAD and many of Carrie's other novels are available via mail order from the Jean Cocteau. Check out our website for a full listing, prices, and shipping costs.

HPL at the JCC

Mon, 13 Mar 2017 22:14:24 GMT

Yes, it is true.

That which is dead does not eternal lie, and with strange decades even HOWARD PHILLIPS LOVECRAFT may rise!

And we'll have him Thursday and Friday at the Jean Cocteau Cinema

Learn the secrets the Mad Arab knew, and gaze into the face of Azathoth, the blind idiot god at the center of our universe.

And have some popcorn too! It comes to us strait from Leng!

Hap, Leonard, and Joe

Sat, 11 Mar 2017 19:43:08 GMT

JOE LANSDALE will be returning to Santa Fe on Monday, and we'll be having fun times at the Jean Cocteau Cinema.

We'll be doing an advance screening of the second season premiere of HAP & LEONARD, starring (as one of my fans pointed out) Mark Antony and Omar. Mucho Mojo! The first season was great fun, and I expect the second season will be as well.

But don't take my word for it. Come see for yourself. Admission is FREE.

Joe will introduce the episode, and take questions afterwards.

And hey, OF COURSE he will be signing books as well.

Should be a hoot and a half. Don't miss it.

(And keep an eye out for our forthcoming author events as well -- John Scalzi, Connie Willis, John Nichols, and H.P. LOVECRAFT! Getcha tickets now!)

Did I mention that admission is FREE?

No, No, No

Fri, 10 Mar 2017 23:32:46 GMT

Jay Cutler?

Please no.

Let it be a rumor. Let it be a lie.

Not Jay Cutler.

Say it ain't so.

Coax Brett Favre out of retirement. Bring back Mark Sanchez. Bring back Chad Pennington. Sign Fitz for another year.

Just not Jay Cutler, nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Season 7 Is Coming

Fri, 10 Mar 2017 21:36:34 GMT

Seven gods, seven kingdoms, seven books (eventually)... seven seasons.

The seventh season of GAME OF THRONES is on its way. HBO has released their first teaser.

Enjoy.

Oh, and I almost forgot... HBO has also announced the premiere date: Sunday, JULY 16.

There will be gala premieres as usual, of course. Not sure of the details on those yet. But I do know that we hope to have another premiere party right here in Santa Fe, at the Jean Cocteau Cinema... and that we will be running a Season 6 marathon in the weeks running up to the new season, so you can refresh yourselves on what happened last year, and enjoy all the action on our ~~big~~ medium-sized screen.

And speaking of season 6, if you enjoyed the show and would like to nominate us for a Hugo Award, you have only eight days left. Nominations close on March 18. GAME OF THRONES is eligible in two categories. You can nominate the season as whole in Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form (which is what I favor, personally), or you can nominate individual episodes in Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. (Or you could do both, if you were so inclined). If you are inclined to take the second course, the episodes most likely to make this year's (extremely competitive) ballot are "The Door" and "Battle of the Bastards" IMNSHO. "Battle of the Bastards" won Emmy Awards for both writing and directing this year, and "The Door" was also a finalist for directing.

((And though I am of course hopelessly prejudiced toward GOT, I will be the first to proclaim that this was an outstanding year for drama in both categories. The first seasons of WESTWORLD and STRANGER THINGS are also worthy of being nominated for Long Form, along side last year's best SF movie, ARRIVAL. In Short Form I loved "Leviathan Wakes," the final episode of season one of THE EXPANSE, and two great episodes of BLACK MIRROR, "San Junipero" and "Hated in the Nation." I would love to see all of them earn spots on the ballot... along with GOT ))

But enough about last year. A new season is coming.

July 16. Mark your calendars.

WILD CARDS Rocks On

Tue, 07 Mar 2017 18:57:07 GMT

PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY just broke the story here http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/book-deals/article/72958-book-deals-week-of-march-6-2017.html so now that we've gone public, I'm jazzed to be able to announce a huge new deal for WILD CARDS.

Our uber-agent, Kay McCauley of Aurous, has just come to agreement with the good folks at Tor for nine (yes, count 'em, nine) more volumes, a combination of old and new titles that will keep the series going until 2020, at the least.

Five of those titles will be reissues. Tor will be bringing out new trade paperback editions of volumes eight through twelve from the original series run: ONE-EYED JACKS, JOKERTOWN SHUFFLE, DOUBLE SOLITAIRE, DEALER'S CHOICE, and TURN OF THE CARDS, all of which have been out of print for more than twenty years (as the escalating prices on ebay have demonstrated). That quintet contains the first two solo novels in the run of the series. DOUBLE SOLITAIRE was a solo by Melinda M. Snodgrass, a space opera in the grand style starring Dr. Tachyon, Popinjay, Cap'n Trips and his friends, and the most despised villain in Wild Cards history, Blaise Andrieux. TURN OF THE CARDS was Victor Milan's solo outing, featuring Trips and friends. In between we have a full mosaic in DEALER'S CHOICE, the climax of the Rox War, with storylines by Edward Bryant (Wyungare, Cordelia, and Sewer Jack), Walter Jon Williams (Modular Man), John Jos. Miller (Carnifex), Stephen Leigh (Bloat), and yours truly (the Great and Powerful Turtle).

Before any of those three, however, we have ONE-EYED JACKS and JOKERTOWN SHUFFLE, volumes eight and nine, which set up all that follows. With those two, our intent is to add some new original never-before-published stories, just as we did with the reissues of volumes one and four, to sweeten the pot and turn the excitement right up to eleven. Stay turned for more news on that front.

In addition to the five reissues, Tor will also be releasing four new books in hardcover.

One will be a collection. FULL HOUSE will reprint all the of the Wild Cards stories that have appeared on the Tor.com website, the first time any of those tales have been on paper. The table of contents will include work from Daniel Abraham, Cherie Priest, David D. Levine, Walter Jon Williams, Paul Cornell, Carrie Vaughn (x2), Caroline Spector, Stephen Leigh, Melinda M. Snodgrass... and a few more players to be named later. Watch this space for more details, and Tor.com for more stories.

Last but not least, we will have three more originals. Assuming FULL HOUSE slips in there as volume twenty-seven, the new books will be volumes twenty-eight, twenty-nine, and thirty of the overall series. (Though, as ever, you do NOT need to read all the books that have gone before to read and enjoy the new ones.).

We're in very early days in planning the new books, so I cannot tell you much about them as yet... but I will share a few tidbits, so long as you promise not to hold me to 'em. (Things do have a way of changing in this game). One of the new books is going to be another solo novel, from a terrific writer we have not seen nearly enough of in WILD CARDS. Another one promises to take the action back into space. And the third will move the focus across the Atlantic, to the British Isles. To help us write that last one, we've added some exciting new writers to the madhouse that is Wild Cards. Wait till you meet their characters!

Oh, and for all our Wild Cards readers on that side of the pond... HarperCollins Voyager will be publishing the three new books as well, I'm pleased to announce, as well as the three books that precede them, MISSISSIPPI ROLL and LOW CHICAGO and TEXAS HOLD 'EM.

With the television show in development, the new web site, the reread going on over at Tor.com, and all these new books in the pipeline, this is an exciting time to be a Wild Cards fan. (And we do hope that you will remember Wild Cards when making your Hugo nominations too!)

We can't die yet! We haven't seen the Jolson Story!

2018 SoI&F Calendar Artist Eric Velhagen #GRRMinion

Tue, 07 Mar 2017 16:30:16 GMT

This is Minion Raya speaking to share some exciting news on behalf of GRRM.

George is proud to be the first to announce production and progress on the official SONG OF ICE AND FIRE calendar for 2018 which will feature brand spanking new illustrations by painter Eric Velhagen.

It’s a new year and we here at Fevre River are far too exited to keep this news to ourselves and wanted to share some of the next year’s fantastic art.

And here it is, the new cover for our 2018 calendar featuring Victarion Greyjoy in his armored splendor and giving us all that iron islander realness we would expect from one of the Greyjoy boys.

Eric's loose painterly style will also bring eleven other moments from Westeros to life for your viewing pleasure.

And Victorian here is just the beginning!

Here is another one of Eric’s wildly talented paintings to wet your appetite till next year.

And a link to the rest of Eric’s outstanding body of work:

https://ericvelhagen.carbonmade.com

-THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MINIONS OF FEVRE RIVER-

Wild Card Blogs and Samples

Mon, 06 Mar 2017 23:26:34 GMT

A few odds and ends on the Wild Cards front...

For those curious about the history of Wild Cards development in Hollywood, Melinda Snodgrass has a new post up on the Wild Cards blog at http://www.wildcardsworld.com/its-a-long-and-winding-road/

Over at Tor.com, the Wild Cards ReRead is well under way, presided over by Katy Rask. They are discussing book one. Join in at http://www.tor.com/2017/03/02/wild-cards-reveals-a-dark-reflection-of-our-post-war-reality/

Meanwhile, on my own website, I've got a new sample up from the next Wild Cards original in the pipeline, MISSISSIPPI ROLL. Get a taste of "Wingless Angel" by John Jos. Miller; Carnifex and the Midnight Angel in New Orleans. You'll find it at http://www.georgerrmartin.com/wild-cards-excerpt/

Happy reading, aces.

Thor Joins GAME OF THRONES

Mon, 06 Mar 2017 22:46:19 GMT

By Odin's Beard! This is too cool.

Thor himself turned up in Spain, to do a cameo on GAME OF THRONES.

http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2017/03/03/217803762/

Loved hearing that he's a fan of the show. After all, I've been a Mets fan since 1962. Hell, one of the highlights was my life was attending Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. We had seats in the fourth row on the first base side, just beyond the dugout, and close enough to the field to count the stitches on the ball as it rolled between Bill Buckner's legs.

My dream, of course, is that Noah and his teammates will lead the Mets to another series, and give me a memory to go with '86 and '69.

(The Mets don't win often, but when they do, it is glorious).

Re-Read Time!

Fri, 03 Mar 2017 22:05:34 GMT

The Wild Cards Re-Read has kicked off over at Tor.com.

First up: book one, WILD CARDS. That makes sense.

Go join the fun at http://www.tor.com/2017/03/02/wild-cards-reveals-a-dark-reflection-of-our-post-war-reality/#comment-651329

To Jetboy!

Jets? Jets? Jets???

Fri, 03 Mar 2017 21:59:08 GMT

What the hell are the Jets doing?

Damned if I know. "Cleaning house," some say. Maybe so. From where I sit, "Getting rid of all of my favorite players" would be more accurate.

Brandon Marshall. Darrell Revis. Nick Mangold. And there are rumors that Eric Decker may be next.

That's their best two receivers and their best lineman. Yes, Nick was getting old, and he was injured last year. Yes, Darrell was not the shutdown corner he was. Yes, all of them were expensive, and old, or getting old.

Still... is there anyone on the roster to replace them? Gang Green created tons of salary cap room with these moves, but does that help anyone but Woody Johnson? Salary cap room is great if you use it to bring in blue chip free agents, but what free agent would want to come to the Jets now?

Maybe the idea is to lose ALL the games next year, to get the number one draft pick. I haven't even paid much attention to the 2017 draft yet, the 2018 draft is completely off my radar. Is there some new John Elway/ Peyton Manning/ Andrew Luck calibre can't-miss quarterback prospect that the Jets are looking toward a year and a half out?

I fear I am in for a lot of painful Sundays next fall.

Coming to Santa Fe

Thu, 02 Mar 2017 22:37:05 GMT

We have some really cool events scheduled for the Jean Cocteau in March and April.

On Monday, March 13, we'll be screening the second season premiere of HAP & LEONARD, and Joe R. Lansdale his own self will be returning to Santa Fe to host the show, talk some, and scrawl in some of your books.

Then, just a few days later, on Thursday March 16 and Friday March 17, H.P. LOVECRAFT will be returning from the dead, to our stage. That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die. Aiee aiee shub niggarath, the goat with a thousand young...

On Saturday, April 8, we have a special screening of the classic animated film WATERSHIP DOWN. We're doing this one in connection with Rabbit Rescue, who will be offering free pet bunnies for the attendees to take home. C'mon, boys and girls, help Hazel and Bigwig find a new warren.

On Saturday April 15, JOHN NICHOLS, author of the MILAGRO BEANFIELD WAR and many other great titles, will be visiting us for some conversation and booksigning, and we'll be screening the film of his novel in honor of his visit.

Just two days later, on Monday April 17, JOHN SCALZI will be in town on his COLLAPSING EMPIRE book tour. We'll talk, he'll sign, a good time will be had by all.

And on April 21-22, we'll have a return visit from the magician FRANCIS MENOTTI, who stumped Penn & Teller and filled the JCC the last time he was in town.

A number of these events are a good bet to sell out, so if you'd like to join us for any of them, I'd advise going to our website to secure your tickets now.

It's Publication Day...

Tue, 28 Feb 2017 21:15:46 GMT

... for the long-awaited Tor reissue of ACE IN THE HOLE, volume six in the Wild Cards series. Look for it on the shelves of your friendly neighborhood bookstore, among the trade paperbacks, or from whichever online bookseller you prefer.

Set during a dramatic week in Atlanta during the 1988 Democratic National Convention, as a religious fanatic and a secret psychopath struggle for the nomination, ACE IN THE HOLE is one of our full mosaics, featuring the work of Melinda M. Snodgrass, Victor Milan, Walton (Bud) Simons, Stephen Leigh, and Walter Jon Williams, deftly edited and interwoven by yours truly.

The stars this time around are Dr. Tachyon, Mackie Messer, Demise, Puppetman, and Golden Boy. That's Mackie coming through a Hartmann poster on the stunning new cover by Michael Komarck.

This is one of our best, if I do say so myself. The full mosaic form is incredibly demanding, for the writers and editor both, but I think the results are worth it.

Don't be frightened, though, ACE IN THE HOLE is purely fiction. No way any presidential candidate so malicious and deceptive could ever be nominated by a major party in real life. Right?

Hugo Thoughts: Best Series

Tue, 28 Feb 2017 01:26:59 GMT

This year a new category has been added to the Hugo Awards: Best Series.

It's not a permanent category yet. Though the idea behind the category has been discussed at various worldcon business meetings over the years, it has yet to be passed and ratified. But worldcon rules permit each concom to add one category of their own choosing each year, and the Finnish fans decided to add Best Series... rather as an experiment, I guess, to see how well the category might work.

Honestly, I have mixed thoughts about adding Best Series to the Hugos as a permanent new category. Being an old guy, I can remember a time when most science fiction novels were stand-alones. If they were popular enough, they might spawn sequels, but the series novel was the exception rather than the rule. Today the reverse is true. It has become increasingly hard to find a science fiction or fantasy novel that is NOT part of some series.

So do we need a Best Series Hugo? I don't know. Being part of a series has not stopped the last three Best Novel winners from taking home the rocket, so it is not as if series books are being overlooked. And what is a "series," actually? The difficulty of defining that term is one of the reasons so many worldcons have spent so long wrangling over it.

All that being said, for this year at least there will be a Hugo for Best Series. And I'd guess that almost all the leading contenders for the Best Novel rocket are ALSO contenders for Best Series (yes, there will be a few exceptions). So the only series that I am going to submit for your consideration is one that will NOT also be competing for The Big One: my own.

No, not that one. A SONG OF ICE & FIRE had no new installment published in 2016, so it's not eligible. Besides, I don't consider A SONG OF ICE & FIRE to be a series, not as I define the word (yes, I am aware, the rules define the term more broadly). I consider A SONG OF ICE & FIRE to be one single gigantic story published in multiple volumes. (Seven, I hope). LORD OF THE RINGS was not a series either, nor a trilogy; it was a single novel published in three volumes.

But I do have a series, a true series, one that I've been working on even longer than I have ICE & FIRE, one that I am very proud of: WILD CARDS.

You know. This series here:

WILD CARDS is no stranger to Hugo competition. In 1988, when the series was only three books old, the New Orleans worldcon added a new category called "Other Forms," just as Helsinki has added Best Series, and we were one of the five nominees. We lost to Alan Moore's landmark graphic novel WATCHMEN, which surprised no one, least of all us... but it WAS an honor just to be nominated, and we had a great time at the Hugo Losers Party afterward.

Alas, "Other Forms" did not survive as a Hugo category, and the Wild Cards books, though they continued to be popular, never fit comfortably into any of the other categories. We called them mosaic novels, and some were indeed six- or seven-way collaborative novels, but they were never going to contend for Best Novel. Other volumes were more akin to anthologies... but the Hugo Awards have never had a 'Best Anthology' category (though if truth be told, I'd sooner see them add that than Best Series). I would sometimes get some votes for my editing, but never enough to make the final ballot (one year I finished seventh out of five, as I recall, but that was the closest I came). Individual stories from the books were nominated for awards and one such, Walter Jon Williams "Witness," was a Nebula finalist. That lost too. Oh, and one year S.P. Somtow presented Wild Cards with his Icarus Award.

I can hardly be objective about WILD CARDS, but I do think we're worthy of consideration. This year we are celebrating our thirtieth anniversary, a considerable achievement all by itself. All the other shared world series of the 80s are gone, but Wild Cards continues... and I think that most of those who have stuck with us over the years will agree, we're better than ever. We have entertained millions of readers over those three decades, the books have been published in the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Russia, Germany, Brazil (with more countries coming up). WILD CARDS has given birth to two role-playing games, two comic book series (three more graphic novels in the works), and soon, I hope, a television series. We've had twenty-three books published to date, three more finished and delivered and in the pipeline for publication in 2017 and 2018, more to come.

But it's not just longevity. Together with WATCHMEN, WILD CARDS helped redefine the treatment of superpowers and superheroes in popular culture, taking a grittier, more realistic, more adult approach to the subject, with an emphasis on characterization. And with the full mosaics we only dared attempt every third book, we went way beyond any other shared world to create a whole new (and very demanding, I may add) template. And there's been some cool world-building too, as my team played the alternate world concept central to the series.

We have had ups and downs, of course -- hey, with twenty-three books and a couple hundred stories, how not? -- but overall, I don't know many other series that have maintained a similar consistencey of quality over half as many book, and I like to think that when we've been good, we've been very very good. Especially in those full mosaics: JOKERS WILD, ACE IN THE HOLE/ DEAD MAN'S HAND, DEALER'S CHOICE, BLACK TRUMP, SUICIDE KINGS, HIGH STAKES.

I've only been a small part of that, of course. I may the conductor, but I've had a hell of a band. Over the decades, I've had the honor of working with some truly gifted and innovative writers. Howard Waldrop, Roger Zelazny, Daniel Abraham, Edward Bryant, Stephen Leigh, Victor Milan, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Carrie Vaughn, Laura J. Mixon, Sage Walker, William F. Wu, John Jos. Miller, Lewis Shiner, Cherie Priest, Walton Simons, Caroline Spector, Walter Jon Williams, Michael Cassutt, Paul Cornell, Ian Tregillis, David Anthony Durham, David D. Levine... the list goes on and on... and of course, Melinda M. Snodgrass, who has been my right hand since the start.

And wait till you see the new writers we have in store for you in the books to come, and the characters they've created for us. The best, truly, is yet to come.

WILD CARDS. Best Series? That's up to fandom. If you've liked the books, nominate them. But once again let me say that whatever you choose to nominate, you should NOMINATE.

((If you haven't read any Wild Cards and would like to try a small sample before shelling out for a book, check out the FREE stories on Tor.com)).

Clear skies and tail winds.