After a little more than a week of playing with spec work, it’s been back to the paying work and it’s been an intense week or so.
First of all, I have been asked to write a different Fairfield-based column since Fairfield News Online more or less ceased operation. I gather they’re regrouping but haven’t heard anything but someone else asked me to participate in a new venture, debuting in mid-March and since they were offering cash not fame, I accepted. As a result, I’ve been writing the first four columns, which will appear weekly, getting my bearings, and establishing a tone.
Secondly, work has begun on the next issue of Who’s Who, as I work slightly ahead for a number of reasons, the least of which has to do with the recent executive changes at DC. This way, I’m building a cushion to give them plenty of breathing room as assignments are juggled and people come up to speed. Details to follow.
I’ve also begun work on the second artist retrospective for Dynamic Forces. Obviously, this takes time to do research and since January I’ve spoken with the subject for about four hours . Once I receive the final transcription I can begin the serious writing, but the researching continues along with collection anecdotes and testimonials from peers.
Similarly, I’ve begun work a new article for a future issue of Back Issue, something I haven’t done in a year and it’ll be fun. So far, three of the four interview subjects have agreed to reminisce with me.
I just polished off my two March columns for Westfield Comics, recommending Showcase Presents Suicide Squad and Thor: Warriors Three.
It also appears I have successfully pitched an essay for a forthcoming anthology — details when it becomes a reality.
I do need to circle back to the spec collaboration. After we did the world building, we reworked the outline to reflect the changes and flesh out our protagonists. My partner then eagerly leapt at his sample chapter while I have yet to begin writing, although scenes are conjuring themselves up in my mind. Once I clear the decks and actually begin writing, it should flow nicely. Unless I read my partner’s chapter and want to hide in a closet for fear of disappointing him.
One week from today, Deb and I will be en route to Spain. Why, you wonder. Because we were invited.
Back in 2001, I became acquainted with inker Edu Alpuente and we’ve remained colleagues and friends ever since. He’s switched from inker to artists’ agent so he makes trips to America every now and then and we always get together. I’ve hired his artists for numerous projects over the last few years so it’s been a very nice relationship.
Among the many things he does is help book the American guests for the annual Comic Convention held in Grenada. Get this – this is a show sponsored by the Spanish government, which respects the arts. For 15 years, 40,000 people have flocked to the town for four days of con fun.
This year, Edu invited me to be one of the American guests along with:
Joe Kubert
Rick Veitch
Ellen S. Abramowitz – MOCCA
Tom Raney
Pornsak Pichetshote – Vertigo
Dave Elliot – Editor Freelance, Radical Comics
I love the idea of getting to spend quality time with Joe, who I have not really chatted with in some time. And Tom is an old pal with Pornsak a former colleague. Dave and I have done a little work together and Ellen will be someone new to meet. Rick and I go back years although we’ve never really spent much time together.
For the first time, the convention is partnering with the University of Grenada for an academic symposium and I will be also be giving a paper at the conference. Nifty!
My talk will be on the American comic book market: a bit of history and a look at the current state of the market, focusing on the top six companies. I’ve done a few drafts and have no idea how well this will work or what sort of audience I’m getting.
We’ll be touring Madrid and Grenada in addition to working at the show since the convention has a reputation for taking good care of their overseas guests. There will be reports from the road. But, should any of you readers actually be in Spain next week, come on by.
A few days back, I opened the floor for questions from you, my friends, family, and fans.
Ed McKeogh was the only one of you to ask and he was passionate enough about it to ask twice.
He wanted to know when the Howard Chaykin Retrospective will be coming out.
Just this week, Ed, I got word from Dynamic Forces that manuscript editing has begun so with luck, I’ll get their feedback shortly, revised, update and deliver so it can be copyedited and designed.
The best I can tell you is that the book has been pencilled in for fourth quarter 2010 release. Exact date, size, shape, page count, and cover price all to be announced in the coming weeks.
And I have already begun working on a second retrospective for Dynamic so this is fun.
The temperature in Fairfield may be in the 30s, but Spring is in the air.
Today is one of the most anticipated days of the new year as stop complaining about the cold and snow and begin looking ahead. We take comfort in knowing that further south, in Port St. Lucie to be exact, pitchers and catchers are reporting.
Pitchers and catchers is the first tangible sign of spring (forget the Groundhog) and better times to come.
Pitchers and catchers have started arriving in Arizona and Florida with full squads to follow in about a week. For this household, the arrival of players at the Mets’ spring training complex means we can finally forget about last season.
Did they have a good Winter? No. They let too many potential free agents go elsewhere so Atlanta and Philadelphia are stronger in the Eastern division. Omar Minaya, the Mets’ General Manager, held pat and decided the class of available players wasn’t worth overspending or trading away their meager prospects. He’s got one eye on his team playing healthy, unlike 2009, and one eye on 2010’s free agent class which looks far more interesting.
I think the team will train and play Spring Training games and then see who is healthy and who has lost something. The key to the rotation appears to be Oliver Perez. If he’s really back in 2008 form, we have a stronger chance. If he’s erratic all Spring, you’ll see some panicky moves.
Behind the plate, they’ve decided to give Omir Santos a shot and I applaud that.
Pitchers and catchers. I just love the sound of that.
Oddly enough, I have not built a world in quite some time.
Since so much of my writing the last year has been non-fiction, I had forgotten how much fun it can be.
My buddy and I conceived a project together when a particular publisher let it be known they were looking for new stories for their franchise. He’d written for them already and while the editor and I kept chatting about my working for her, nothing ever came of it. By teaming up, I figured it would force my way into their lineup and I could then solo.
Way back in 2008, he and I worked up some ideas and crafted a proposal. However, by the time the outline was ready, the editor was told to stop buying. Well, so much for that. But, all we had to do was tweak a few elements and we suddenly had an original fantasy we could shop almost anywhere.
Since then, we have contacted editors and watched months slip by before one or another finally got around to passing. One wrote, “I quite like what you’ve got here. I’m not at all surprised given who is cooking up the plot.
“The problem isn’t the concept but the economy. I wish I could take this project on as it sounds like a lot of fun. But things are really tight right now as you well know. I hope this gets sold so I can get to read it.”
Another rejected it on August 5, 2009 and again on September 1 — just to make certain, I guess.
Finally, my partner got himself an agent and he’s been working hard, getting him assignments. He agreed to push this but wanted sample chapters to accompany the outline and we agreed that made sense. I told him I was clearing my schedule for projects like this and two days ago was all set to begin.
However, when I reread the outline, I realized we had a story but no world. In the course of six e-mail exchanges, my buddy and I bandied ideas back and forth. I tried to come up with variations on the traditional tropes and he eagerly glommed on to this and began adding his own notions.
When you build a world that is Earth-like but not Earth, you need to figure out equivalent eras and societies as a starting point and then figure out one or two things that make them different and run with it. For example, let’s say our story is set in the Bronze Age (it isn’t) but on our world, it’s still one super-continent, not seven. Most of the countries would be landlocked, what does that do to society, economy, trade, and war? Once you begin theorizing, your world begins to take shape.
Since we had a story, we needed a world where our story could still be told and as we began building, B and C plots began suggesting themselves. We’re now a lot closer to a world we can use and apply to the outline so the actual sample writing can begin soon.
Sunday wound up being a day where I did my best to appear energetic but my pals all saw I was tired. Two late nights with poor sleep meant I was flagging and energy depleted.
Still, the annual Bob & Howie Show went well as we chatted about our careers, our experiences and then played some related NPR radio excerpts to entertain the crowd. I then had an hour to kill before my final panel.
Since the movie trailers are so popular, Farpoint scheduled a second hour this year and I was paired with my pal/colleague/webmaster Glenn Hauman. We were in a small room which we mostly filled and everyone enjoyed what we showed.
I was then asked to play fill-in emcee so I went down the hall and introduced the crowd to actress Mira Furlan. As she regaled the audiences with stories, Deb and I snuck out of the hotel for a quick lunch. We got back in time to greet Mira backstage, chat with her for a minute and then wished her a safe trip.
She was followed by Felicia Day and I realized she didn’t need a long intro. Instead, I admired her 1.7 million twitter followers (receiving a shocked look from her when she heard I had yet to break 400 followers) and introduced her as the $5000 Woman. She took the stage, laughing, and began with, “I don’t know if I want to be known as that.” Her first question was “How was lunch?” It turns out that the man who bid so much money for the privilege has actually worked on Felicia’s Guild series and they had never met.
I then wandered over to do my autographing stint where I signed two autographs, twice as many as Saturday. At least I got to chill next to Mike Friedman and was stationary so others could come and hang out with us. The show was winding down and things got more relaxed so the hotel atrium became a giant lounge as we hung out. By 4, though, most of our friends had left so we returned to the room to chill for a bit.
Our Valentine’s Day dinner was at a nearby Irish Pub which was packed and lively. The food was fine, if unexceptional, but quite filling. We returned to the room and watched the Olympics, unwinding before departing this morning.
The committee puts on a good, solid show. They make a strong effort for the fans and guests to be relaxed and unstressed. It is very hard to run a show, harder to run a good show and the current team makes us all feel wanted and welcome. It was quite the fun weekend but now, sadly, it’s time to go back to work.
Sunday wound up being a day where I did my best to appear energetic but my pals all saw I was tired. Two late nights with poor sleep meant I was flagging and energy depleted.
Still, the annual Bob & Howie Show went well as we chatted about our careers, our experiences and then played some related NPR radio excerpts to entertain the crowd. I then had an hour to kill before my final panel.
Since the movie trailers are so popular, Farpoint scheduled a second hour this year and I was paired with my pal/colleague/webmaster Glenn Hauman. We were in a small room which we mostly filled and everyone enjoyed what we showed.
I was then asked to play fill-in emcee so I went down the hall and introduced the crowd to actress Mira Furlan. As she regaled the audiences with stories, Deb and I snuck out of the hotel for a quick lunch. We got back in time to greet Mira backstage, chat with her for a minute and then wished her a safe trip.
She was followed by Felicia Day and I realized she didn’t need a long intro. Instead, I admired her 1.7 million twitter followers (receiving a shocked look from her when she heard I had yet to break 400 followers) and introduced her as the $5000 Woman. She took the stage, laughing, and began with, “I don’t know if I want to be known as that.” Her first question was “How was lunch?” It turns out that the man who bid so much money for the privilege has actually worked on Felicia’s Guild series and they had never met.
I then wandered over to do my autographing stint where I signed two autographs, twice as many as Saturday. At least I got to chill next to Mike Friedman and was stationary so others could come and hang out with us. The show was winding down and things got more relaxed so the hotel atrium became a giant lounge as we hung out. By 4, though, most of our friends had left so we returned to the room to chill for a bit.
Our Valentine’s Day dinner was at a nearby Irish Pub which was packed and lively. The food was fine, if unexceptional, but quite filling. We returned to the room and watched the Olympics, unwinding before departing this morning.
The committee puts on a good, solid show. They make a strong effort for the fans and guests to be relaxed and unstressed. It is very hard to run a show, harder to run a good show and the current team makes us all feel wanted and welcome. It was quite the fun weekend but now, sadly, it’s time to go back to work.
In 2003, we were snowed in at Farpoint and the con effectively ran an extra day as we took turns for the hotel’s sole snow shovel. This year, the snows came early, and often, but nothing threatened to spoil the con.
Our drive down Friday was uneventful and the minute we pulled in, we began seeing friends. Now, Farpoint is a relaxed, friendly, fan-run con that pulls in about half the Shore Leave audience so things are scaled back. Not as many marquee guests, fewer people crowding the aisles, and so on. But after coming for so many years, most everyone is familiar.
I had no obligations on Friday so took time to catch up with whoever I ran into. David Mack, Keith DeCandido, his girl friend Wren, and Glenn Hauman joined us for dinner as we trekked over to Andy Nelson’s a fine local barbecue establishment. Back at the hotel, we took over a portion of the bar, as fellow authors began arriving.
Last year, I spent a day up at our state capitol, getting a taste of government in action as I testified before a joint House and Senate committee regarding bone marrow donations. The bill was passed with strong bi-partisan support but was part of an omnibus bill and Governor Jodi Rell vetoed the bill. Her explanation did not single out bone marrow testing but the bill did not make it to an override vote and died for the third year in a row.
Undefeated, HR 5009 was submitted with Senator John McKinney and Representative Tom Drew among the sponsors. It was scheduled for a hearing today so I was invited to come back and speak out once more.
HB 5009 includes the obligation for insurance to cover bone marrow testing so more people can join Be the Match Registry. As apart of an omnibus bill, it was lumped in with other worthy causes but we had by far the most proponents, most of whom are repeat testifiers.
First up was a high school teacher whose wife of less than one year was diagnosed with leukemia and required a transplant. A donor was matched and she successfully recovered. The survivor, also a high school teacher, spoke next, followed by a woman who lost her son ten years ago and continues to fight in his memory.
And then there was me. Going fourth, much of what I had to say had been said but some questions were asked and the others didn’t have the information. I had facts and figures, plucked from online this morning, so was able to point my comments at those issues in addition to telling Robbie’s story. Senator McKinney missed the meeting, which is a shame considering his power in the senate. Tom Drew also spoke for us.
The shame of it is, of the nineteen members of the committee, only ten were present for any portion of the hearing while the reality was between five and six were there at any one time. I’m told that this happens considering the number of committees people sit on and conflicting schedules or other commitments. But still, seeing all those empty seats, all those people our pleas missed…it’s just sad.
Now we have to wait and see if it passes again and then lobby like crazy to get the Governor to sign it at last.
It’s been a while since I threw open the floor to questions. So, what would you like to know? We can cover comics, writing, politics, life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness.
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