Missing Fiction

Posted by Bob Greenberger on March 30, 2006

I’ve been hammering away at various and sundry writing projects, with plenty of irons in the fire for a change. While chatting with Deb on the phone earlier, she heard what I had going and asked about fiction.

The answer caught me by surprise.

While I have some fiction irons in the theoretical fire, I have nothing right now. Unless you count Matt Daemon’s adventures in The Weekly World News but those are really short, shorts and highly formulaic. (Side note: the first two Daemons are now in print. Anyone check them out yet?)

I do miss the fiction. Much of the fiction I’ve written the last few years has been short stuff such as the Star Trek short stories. When I start my next big fiction project, it’ll be like stretching some really unused muscles. The requirements of a novel are very different than a short story and you train yourself to work with an economy of words and space. In theory, the next long piece will be a media tie-in collaboration so at least I’ll have someone to help ease me back into the process.

Yeah, I know, I should be devoting some time to the original urban fantasy outline so it can go to market. Once I finish writing about careers in Artificial Intelligence. Honest.

Governing the Town in 15 Minutes

Posted by Bob Greenberger on March 28, 2006

It was the lull before the storm.

Last night the RTM meet and the meeting was over in fifteen minutes. It’ll make up for the marathon nights to come as the budget progresses.

First, in lieu of the normal political caucuses, three sub-committees met in joint session for a presentation regarding the one and only item on the RTM Agenda. Our waste processing plant, which takes treated sewage and wood chips from the yard waste recycling center and turns it into high grade mulch, is crumbling and needs our approval to spend $1 million to rebuild the structure and upgrade the equipment. We were treated to a 20 minute PowerPoint presentation and afterwards we had a few questions. The sub-committees then trundled off to separate corners; everyone had not only a quorum but a unanimous “aye” vote. Thus, it went on our consent calendar, which meant avoiding hearing committee reports and hastening the meeting.

After a brief caucus, the RTM got started at 8. Julie Chu, goalie for the US Women’s Olympic Hockey team (which took silver in ’02 and bronze in ’06) and Fairfield native, led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. We quickly approved last month’s minutes, took up the matter of the appropriation and called it a night.

Normally, I join my fellow members for a “sociable soda” at the Angus but it was early enough that I went home and spent actual awake time with Deb and Robbie, which was a nice treat.

It certainly won’t be that way when we get to the budget in May. Right now, the hearings from department heads are done. The Board of Selectmen restored some money to the budget and now the Board of Finance will hold executive sessions next week to consider what they want to do with the budget. And finally, in April, our sub-committees will discuss the final shape of the budget before voting on it at a special RTM session the first week of May. Should be interesting although less contentious than last year’s budget session.

The I-Con Report

Posted by Bob Greenberger on March 27, 2006

Busy, full and tiring weekend. But fun.

On Saturday, Robbie and I took the ferry to I-Con. While I read, Robbie and his girl friend Stephanie played cards. This was going to be Stephanie’s first show but she loves playing a lot of the themed card games such as Munchkin so was looking forward to the Gaming Room.

We got the con without incident, got all the freebies unloaded and immediately started running into people we knew. Despite the con containing something like 6000 fans and over a hundred speakers and signers, it still feels like a social gathering.

With so many people here, all the programming rooms were well attended. The program book showed four dozen tracks of programming/films with most of the tracks filled simultaneously. So, I was very pleased by the consistent turnout both days.

The first panel, “Everything Changes, Except in Comics” was my first chance to meet Greg Pak, one of the rising writers at Marvel. Nice guy, good speaker. He held his own with veteran con guests Peter David, Michael Uslan and yours’ truly. Nice conversation that stayed on topic for a change.

A little later, I did my first Trailer Park and despite the usual technical glitches, we showed everything and got to take plenty of questions. We, by the way, were me and Glenn Hauman, our webmaster. Glenn helped with the technical stuff and actually had a few answers that eluded me.

I managed to catch a little of The Brobdingnagian Bards before hurrying off to do the Ring of Fire panel.

Now, Comics Track assistant leader Matthew Weinberger told me this was an experiment in fan-run programming. Chuck Rozakis, scion of Bob, and I were given the title and ran with it. Chuck came prepared with a list of things using that name and we allocated six minutes and it turned into an amusing stream of consciousness panel. Best, we actually had some people attend who were neither Chuck’s fiancée or my son.

(Stephanie was so enchanted with the Gaming Room, playing in a Munchkin tournament and decided to play and skip the panel. She came to the con, checked out the Dealers’ Room and the Gaming and decided that was fine for a first time.)

Immediately after, I participated in a panel celebrating I-Con’s 25th anniversary. Many of those who ran the con in the earliest days were there and people brought the first few program books. The stories flew fast and furious and the wall-to-wall audience enjoyed it.

That evening, I attended a party at Peter and Kathleen David’s house where I finally got to see some of my pals. It was relaxed and a tremendous amount of fun.

Sunday morning started with breakfast with the Davids and George Takei. George and I have known each other since 1974 and more recently we tend to wave at each other at cons as we follow our schedules. This was our first extended conversation since Peter and Kathleen got married, so it was terrific. It was also Robbie’s first chance to chat with him so he was pleased.

After detouring far out of the way to avoid the marathoners, we got the con just in time for The Brobdingnagian Bards’ morning performance. Of course, we showed up in the Lecture Halls only to discover a number of events got rescheduled since a small fire from the day before did a little damage.

The Bards’ were shocked that so many people turned up for an 11 a.m. performance and they were loose, relaxed, and very playful. It was a delight for us and, I think, for them.

After a brief visit to the Green Room to collect some lunch for later, it was back to the Lecture Halls for the next Trailer Park. From there, I participated in a panel on “Transitions: Successfully Adapting a Story to Other Media”. Once more, Greg Pak, Peter and I were put together, and moderator Aaron Rosenberg kept things on track. I then crossed the hall to conduct my “One Panel Later” discussion which showed the audience was mostly pleased with DC’s One Year Later, currently rolling throughout their line.

And then, after three straight hours of programming, I collected Robbie and did a quick (and my only) tour of the dealers’ room and then it was off to the Ferry. He napped while I checked in with Kate. She missed the convention to compete in the NJ Dancesport Classic Spring Fling. There were four couples and she did very, very well. She and her partner Mikey placed fourth in one dance, seventh and eighth in others and had an absolute blast. Deb was there all day Saturday, snapping pics and providing snacks.

It’s a new week and it’s back to the routine with no cons scheduled until July.

Another Week Winds Up

Posted by Bob Greenberger on March 24, 2006

Productive week despite constant interruptions. I set Monday aside to take care of every household, personal and related project that needed time and attention. Thought I’d blow through it all and have the afternoon to write.

Tuesday morning, I finished the list. Admittedly, phone calls take time and you don’t want to do a lot of other things while concentrating. Also, I always seem to be underestimating how long things take. Dinner on Wednesday ran something like 20 minutes late because slicing and dicing took forever. At least it was tasty.

Still, I managed to complete two update projects for Rosen plus put a polish on the Suicide Bombers book. Additionally, I wrote three pieces for Weekly World News and helped brainstorm up some other stuff for them. Also did a little of this and that on some other freelance and continue to wait for numerous things to be approved so I have more to write (and chat about).

Networked, applied for jobs, nagged people and the like. Our cars are now both serviced, stuff shipped, e-mails answered, books read and stuff like that. Things are in good shape as Robbie and I head to I-Con and Deb drives to New Jersey to watch Kate and the GWU ballroom dance team compete.

Monday, it’ll be into the City for some meetings, which hopefully will lead to interviews and wonderfulness.

I-Con Schedule

Posted by Bob Greenberger on March 21, 2006

Minutes ago, I-Con finally posted their schedule. I’m not on every panel that would be fun to do and I’m opposite people I want to see or hear but I’ll live. At least I’m not booked opposite myself as in past years.

If you haven’t been, come, it’s fun. If you’re attending, make sure you say hi.

SATURDAY

11am-12pm – SAC 306
“Everything Changes, Except in Comics”
B. Greenberger, P. David, G. Pak, M. Uslan

No clue what we’re talking about so I hope Peter has an idea. Looking forward, though, to meeting Greg Pak and sharing a table with Mike Uslan.

1pm-2:30pm – Javits 100
Trailer Park

I’ll be showing an assortment of upcoming trailers and taking questions and having some fun.

3pm-4pm – SAC 306
“Ring of Fire”
C. Rozakis, B. Greenberger, R. Greenberger Jr.

Yes, that’s right, Charles — son of Bob — Rozakis and the father-son tandem return for more silliness. When I saw the title, I e-mailed Chuck: “I see we’re scheduled to spend an hour discussing the works and life of Johnny Cash. I’m figuring we should both wear black as seems appropriate.”

He responded: “Oh, see, I figured it was a discussion of our favorite Dungeons & Dragons magical items. I was planning to wear full plate armor.”

We’ll find common ground and kill an hour.

4pm-5pm – SAC 302
“Peter David Presents: The Founding Fathers: The Best/Funniest Stories from the Stone Age of I-Con”
P. David, B. Greenberger

I hope Peter has some funny stories.

SUNDAY

1pm-2:00pm – Javits 100
Trailer Park

I’ll be showing an assortment of upcoming trailers and taking questions and having some fun. (R)

2 pm-3 pm – S311
“Transitions: successfully adapting a story to other media.”
Rosenberg(M), Pak, Greenberger Osborne, David

I get to spend an hour with my pal, Aaron Rosenberg, who I don’t see often enough. Even better, Terri Osborne will be there to keep us in line. Greg Pak has no idea what he’s getting himself into.

3pm-4pm – Harr. 108 “1 Panel Later”
B. Greenberger

I guess since I’m not at DC anymore, they’d just toss me out there to talk about current events in the line as opposed to the traditional “What’s New” slide show.

Star Trek: Constellations

Posted by Bob Greenberger on March 20, 2006

Pocket Book’s Marco Palmieri has announced the plans for celebrating Star Trek’s 40th anniversary. Included is this project, which finds me in very good (and very familiar) company.

Back from the Con

Posted by Bob Greenberger on March 19, 2006

Lunacon was a lot of fun, possibly our best family experience there yet.

We arrived on Saturday in plenty of time to get oriented to the new hotel before my 10 a.m. panel. The Hilton is about a month behind on its renovations so it had a spiffy if unfinished look and feel. Changing many of the room names at the last minute seemed to confuse matters but we all managed.

The hotel management, though, left something to be desired with last minute charges that meant no coffee in the Con Suite and shifting the Green Room to a small room without coffee, something most of the panelists desperately needed. Also, the hotel had one restaurant which was too small and too pricey for the budget conscious congoer so that caused some concerns.

My first panel was on Comics, no surprise. We gamely talked about what made a hero, what made for a compelling story and the role of continuity. Given the universe redefining events at DC and Marvel now happening, we certainly had plenty to chat about.

Later in the day, I sat next to Rich White and did an hour of autographing duty. Didn’t sign a single book. In fact, I signed no autographs all weekend, which was a first. I watched Rich chat up with UConn students and wished I was watching the GWU-Duke game with Deb and Kate. I knew GWU had an uphill fight but they still should have made it more competitive.

I followed that with the obligatory Star Trek panel which included John Ordover, Dan Kimmel, and Misty Pendragon among others. It was a spirited discussion from the table and from the audience. The consensus is that we still love the concepts that helped make Trek unique but it needs a total rethinking before they go back to that particular well again.

I switched from panelist to audience participant for an hour of West Wing chat which was tremendous fun.

Later that night, I did my trailer park presentation as the Masquerade halftime show and got a good response but ran out of time before I could finish the videos or take questions. Some of the costumes were absolutely jaw-droppingly fabulous and you missed out on some neat craftsmanship.

I visited a few parties, getting a chance to chat with Artist Guest of Honor David Mattingly, whom I haven’t seen in years. I got dispirited at the lack of energy at any of the WorldCon bid parties and turned in relatively (for a con) early.

This morning, after a shoddy workout, I did my final panel, this time on the Year in Comics. We once more had a spirited discussion that was stimulating and the hour flew by.

At noon, I got to sit and watch the Boogie Knights perform. The entire gang was there and the room was packed. They went overtime and had fun performing and they sounded great. Adding the extra voice and adding some percussion has really enriched the overall sound. The audience, still somewhat new to the band, seemed to enjoy themselves.

After lingering to chat with our pals a bit more, we loaded up and headed up as Kate went south, her spring break at an end.

A final note: our webmaster, Glenn, took ill at the con and here’s hoping he’s on his way to a speedy recovery.

The Big Sleep

Posted by Bob Greenberger on March 17, 2006

Last night was our second session in the Mystery book club. Unlike the first, we didn’t really talk to the topic, the eternal triangle between the writer, the characters and the reader. We did, though, get a lot of interesting information about Raymond Chandler and the writing of The Big Sleep.

Our leader comes very well prepared, but seems so in love with his notes that he doesn’t really engage us in a discussion. It was very much like a college lecture in which he’d give us a theme, ask for some comments on the theme, read to us from the book in support of the theme, get another comment and move on. Some in the audience, markedly lower than the previous session, still had things to contribute but he barreled ahead. There was at least one case where a comment didn’t fit his point and he ignored it and continued on his way.

During the break, I wandered over to the one guy I recognized from the baseball book talks. He and I agreed that our baseball leader engaged us in much more of a discussion. While he came equally well prepared, he was ready to put his notes aside and let the people have their say until he needed to direct the conversation once more. I later asked the librarian if we’d have more baseball talks and she admitted the thought had crossed her mind so here’s hoping…

The Big Sleep is very much a product of its time, 1939, the tail end of the Depression. It fit the requirements of noir fiction and we did delve a bit into noir and the pulps. We traced some of the American fiction themes back to Edgar Allen Poe but also got into the film work of Alan Ladd and the Lone Ranger so it was interesting hearing our leader’s perspective.

I liked the book and appreciated how it fulfilled the obligations of the form. I now more clearly see how Chandler’s work informs that of Robert B. Parker, the only mystery writer I seem to follow regularly.

Apparently the library was surprised by the high sign up so there aren’t enough copies of the next book available. I’ll keep checking, thankful that we have three weeks before the next session.

Quick Thought

Posted by Bob Greenberger on March 16, 2006

Writing can be a fluid process and at times a mysterious one.

Today I was reviewing all my research to date on the Artificial Intelligence book and then found myself starting to cut and paste information into the skeleton I created for the book. Before I knew it, I had pretty much drafted the introduction, chapter one and most of chapter two. All told, a quarter of the book more or less assembled itself.

Now, the next two chapters will be tougher since, having reviewed the research, I see there’s more specific things I need to look up and people to contact (that includes you Tom G.).

Having completed the Suicide Bombers project, I figured this one on AI would take a while and now I’m well into it. Odd.

Meantime, I have also gotten two pitches out for short projects, one of which has me very excited. Once approved, I’ll shout from the mountaintop, but until then I’ll sit here and smile.

My Political Star Rises

Posted by Bob Greenberger on March 14, 2006

Everyone knows about the Democratic and Republican parties on the national level. But, I suspect most of you don’t realize there are local versions of the same in every town across America. These Town Committees follow the by-laws as passed by their State Central committees which in turn subscribes to the rules of the national committees. They’re the ones who actually figure out how to run the campaigns for the various elected officials from Mayor to Dog Catcher.

I got sucked in to local politics through the Fairfield DTC. While I had eschewed entreaties to run for the Representative Town Meeting for some time, Ken Flatto, the town’s three-term First Selectman, did manage to recruit me for the DTC. He did so in order to make certain he’d gain the nomination at the DTC’s nominating convention that summer. Since there were vacancies, I happily volunteered to help Ken out since he assured me all I had to do was attend one meeting a month and pitch in as the mood pleased me.

The irony is, that year I joined the nominating convention conflicted with the San Diego Comic-con and the DTC’s rules didn’t allow for absentee ballots. Turns out, Ken didn’t need my vote but since I knew people on the DTC from around town, I stuck around.

Which is kind of how I finally succumbed and joined the RTM when a vacancy occurred there.

What never ceases to amaze me is how much backroom lobbying and discussion takes place, even at the small town level (and despite a population of 57,000, we still like to think of ourselves as a small town). It turns out, Pat Jacobson, the District 8 leader had decided she had other obligations that required her attention and after eight years, was ready to hand over the leadership. This had been on her mind since the DTC election back in January (yeah, turns out you run for these slots and rarely are there more candidates than slots so it’s pretty much a done deal – the number of slots is based on party registration after the most recent town wide election; District 8 swelled from 15 to 18 positions).

In looking over the 15 names on the newly elected District 8 roster, it seems the power brokers decided I was a good candidate to step up. The notion of my stepping up in the party has been mentioned to me ever since I won the RTM election in November; not quite a mantra but close. So, Pat asked me if I was interested, and I made the right noises. It seemed that was going to be that and at the first meeting of the newly elected body, last night, we’d vote, I’d lead and that would be that.

Until last week. Last week, Sue Barrett, a longtime member of the DTC and hard working member of the party, decided that not only did she want to run for the role of rep to State Central; she wanted to also be district leader. Scuttlebutt had it she wanted the role to ensure she would be at the State Convention in May to vote for Joe Leiberman’s candidacy for Senate.

That sort of got my competitive juices going and I decided I really wanted to lead the district and realized I was going to have to lobby a bit. I walked into last night’s meeting and began chatting up people in the District. The consensus seemed to be that Sue should be the state rep, which was fine by me. But since there was a race on, I needed someone to nominate me. I wound up asking Helen D’Avanzo, the woman I replaced on the RTM, and she agreed.

Our meeting wore on last night, as we heard from various committees and people and then voted for the DTC leadership. We were also told who the DTC leadership picked to attend the various political conventions for the November election – I was named an alternate to the State Convention. Finally, we broke into districts to elect leaders and deputies. As I walked over to District 8’s conclave, Sue looked over and said, “I’ll support you here if you support me in the state.” Deal. Sue wound up nominating me, to Helen’s surprise.

Effective last night, I am the District 8 leader in the Fairfield Democratic Town Committee. One day, I’ll figure out what this means beyond attending district leader meetings. Maybe they’ll even let me in the backroom.