Every so often I open my e-mail and find a nice surprise. A few weeks back, Jeff Youngquist, a colleague from my Marvel days, dropped me a note and asked if I’d write two pieces about The Eternals, the old Jack Kirby series that is being revived by Neil Gaiman and John Romita, Jr. this […]
Normally, I don’t brag a lot about the kids, letting them either do it themselves, or work information into general posts.Today, I’ll make an exception.Kate received word yesterday that she has been selected to receive a 2006-2007 National Security Education Program David L. Boren Undergraduate Scholarship. Now, I don’t know who David L. Boren is, […]
This just in…Seems that despite getting a late start on the arrangements, I will be a guest at next month’s Balticon. It’ll be a first for the family but we’ve always heard wonderful things about the show. Being over Memorial Day weekend though, we’ve tended to stay home, either watching or marching in the annual […]
Well, that wasn’t as bad as I expected.Last night was the RTM meeting when the public got a chance to weigh in on the budget. As in the past, no one came to debate any item on the town side. Clearly, no one cares one way or the other until their tax bill arrives. The […]
Now that most of the Star Trek hoopla has died down, I wanted to comment on the fourth and final meeting of the mystery book group.We discussed P.D. James’ An Inconvenient Job for a Woman, which was written in 1972 and introduced readers to her character, Cordelia Gray. Interestingly, I found the writing good, the […]
In this small world of ours, it’s amazing how things come together. I had cut and pasted the Variety story about Star Trek and posted it to one of the newsgroups I participate with. Jackie Bundy, the moderator and all-around swell gal, dropped me a note thanking me for doing it while she was inundated […]
For the last year or so, I’ve been at various conventions and one of the recurring panel themes has been “Star Trek at 40 – What Next?” All along I held to the conventional wisdom that the franchise got beat into the ground through Voyager and Enterprise and it was time for fresh blood. I […]
A step forward, a step backward.Today, I completed and delivered the manuscript to Cutting Edge Careers: Artificial Intelligence. My editor wrote back, “WOW. THIS LOOKS GREAT. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.” So, that pleases me. She also offered me another one of their database updates, this one on growing up in an inter-faith family. […]
A whirlwind weekend. Good Friday should have been a day of rest, but instead, it was packed as I tried to fit in work around shopping and prepping for our weekend visit to Washington, D.C. to see Kate. Since we were hosting a Sunday brunch, we needed to be really well prepared to avoid a […]
And another week comes to a close.For the book on AI careers, I’ve conducted several interviews with some fascinating people. I only get the gist of what they’re talking about never having studied higher math or philosophy or programming. What they’re doing is remarkable and the changes to our lives in the years ahead look […]
Some good news for a change. Yep, one of those irons in the fire is ready to come out.I will be writing a story featuring the Ghost Who Walks for Moonstone’s forthcoming Phantom anthology. Currently, there’s enough in the works that they are projecting this as a two volume project, the first of which is […]
Well, I’ve had my dose of politics for the week and it’s only Tuesday morning.On Sunday, the Democratic Town Committee held its biggest fund raiser of the year, the Century Club (so named for the century-note, $100, it costs to attend). The event was an opportunity to honor one veteran with the Eunice Postol Public […]
We haven’t chatted about work in a while so I figured I’d clue you in.Last week was one of those critical mass weeks where a number of projects finally got done. None of them were started and finished last week, but they were done in bits and pieces, and just by chance they got wrapped.So, […]
What a long, unusual day.Saturday the 8th began at midnight as we celebrated our son turning 18. Eighteen is one of those milestone ages – the beginning of legality. He can register to vote, has to register for the draft, can actually use gym equipment without an adult’s approval.For something like two years, he’s been […]
Last night was our third book discussion in the Detective, the Reader and the Author series. We discussed Josephine Tey’s Daughter of Time, her final novel featuring recurring detective Alan Grant. (I admit, reading that name again and again kept me thinking about the long-time comics writer and acquaintance.)I enjoyed the book, moreso than the […]
I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Steven York, but we are both active members of the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers. He shared with us something he posted on his own blog. I, like many others, have found this a useful set of guidelines and with his kind permission I share it with […]
Opening Day at Shea Stadium is a tradition Deb and I have upheld since 1989. Despite my current status, we were determined to be there. Additionally, we were going to let Robbie play hooky and join us as a senior year treat.Normally, we drive to Shea in the morning, park and take the subway to […]