Out Today

Posted by Bob Greenberger on August 17, 2004

In case anyone’s interested, today is the street date for You Did What? : Mad Plans and Great Historical Disasters . Edited by my old pal Bill Fawcett, it contains essays on disastrous decisions that probably made sense at the time. I have three essays in the book including the New Coke, the David Begelman scandal at Columbia Pictures, and the Iranian Hostage Rescue disaster. I’m joined in the book by a variety of people including colleagues Paul Kupperberg, Laura Ann Gilman, Keith DeCandido and Brian M. Thomsen. I’m getting my sole contributor’s copy in a day or so and look forward to seeing how it all came together.

Also, I just got my page proofs for the Godzilla book from Rosen. At 6000 words, it’s my shortest book for them, but the one that needs the most attention. The filmography runs over twice the allotted space given how many features the big guy’s starred in. Also, the copy editor seems confused by the differing timelines employed by the film series, which I discuss in chapter three, so I need to be clearer. At least the pictures are fun. I’m also amused by the captions someone added as placeholders. The one under a picutre from the 1998 Tri-Star disastrous version of the legend read, “1998 Version that Sucks,” which more or less sums it up.

At Blog Speed

Posted by Bob Greenberger on

There are times I am amazed at how fast news travels. When I first posted, a mere few weeks back, I happily told a circle of firends I share a mailing list with. But, from there, it grew. Mark Evanier directed people my way, someone at the DC Comics message boards also announced its arrival and so on. Before I knew it, I was receiving e-mails and calls from people who made sure to mention that they had seen it. One benefit was it reconnected me with my old pal Diane Duane, who has, to my surprise, added me to her list of blog links.

So my original goal of staying connected with people between publishing appearances, seems to be working.

On the other hand, I am also reminded that these are not private notes and discussions with my pals. Anyone can type in the address and see what’s on my mind. Yesterday I got some opinions and support for my frustration with Cablevision. However, had that been me bìtçhìng publicly about my job, DC would have every right to be pìššëd at me.

I’m reminded of all this by this interesting article in The Washington Post about Jessica Cutler. As portrayed here, she posted thinking only her gal pals would be reading about her sexual exploits on Capitol Hill. Instead, others found it and shared the link and suddenly she was fired. This unwanted celebrity has resulted in her posing for (who else) Playboy and a book contract. Still, there are other examples in the piece to remind us of the responsibility and yes, even risk, that comes with posting.