A little birdy (one I trust completely) dropped this little nugget on me:

The Wizard Universe store had CGC-graded copies of Captain America #25 on sale first thing on Wednesday morning.

Why is that a lil magical? Well…Marvel says they let NO ONE KNOW about what was going to happen with the book before Wednesday, other than the NY Daily News (as their Page 3 coverage was predicated on them having an exclusive, which Marvel couldn’t risk losing).

If that’s the case, then how could Wizard have gotten wind of the full specialness of the issue and have copies CGC-graded in time to post for sale Wednesday morning?

The pricing was lower when the issues first went up for sale, with the resulting demand driving them up to their astronomical levels (that still aren’t quite as astronomical as some eBay auctions won by your less-than-savvy speculators).

But something doesn’t completely jive between Marvel’s statements about how close-to-the-vest they were with information about the issue’s contents and the seemingly-contradictory actions of Wizard.

Hmmm……………

Edit: You know…totally unrelated to potential leak items…I thought I’d point out that the lovely people at Wizard are trying to sell a 9.9 CGC-graded Captain America #25 (Epting cover) with a BUY IT NOW price of $1000. Could it be due to the fact that their sales have continued to go south since the speculators were driven out of the market?

Edit 2: Screenshot proof, just in case something happens to the auction:

Garner Loudermilk had some really quizzical comments over on ICv2:

“I’m sorry, I do not agree with John Riley. I’m glad that Marvel hasn’t over printed this book. Has everyone forgotten the Death of Superman fiasco? A reported 4 million books printed. A great many times more than normal was printed, and now the book is barely worth a little over cover. If Marvel has learned from DC’s mistake then I for one am glad of this. If they over-printed the book then there is no chance of the book rising in value.”

Wow…just wow. Having enough copies to satisfy readers is bad? Underprinting books to juice the speculator market is good? Did someone invent a working time machine and drag me back to the early 90s while I was asleep last night?

“And if comic store owners didn’t see this coming, then they have lost touch with their product and their customer base. Don’t blame Marvel or Quesada, because you misjudged the market, the buck stops with you, PERIOD! Quesada obviously did an excellent job, on his part, making a story that everyone wanted. Where it went wrong is store owners failing to capitalize on it. Don’t blame the industry, blame yourself. You knew it was selling, you read three months ago in Previews when it said someone was going to die. If you failed to order up on it and are losing out on sales, it’s your fault.”

Retailers misjudged the market? Many of the people coming in to buy the book weren’t PART of the market prior the full court press media coverage that Marvel had planned in advance.

I do think that Joe Quesada did a great job getting a story like this to the market. But someone ABOVE the retailers screwed up the potential for this event. Marvel would have seen orders boosted if they simply revealed that they were anticipating a media push like they had on Civil War #2. That’s a fact.

A whole ‘nother nugget of info from ICv2 mentioned by Edward Sherman was overshadowed by his reactionary call for Joe Quesada being fired:

“I’d like to respond to John Riley’s comments on Captain America. Diamond was sold out of Captain America on Sunday night. I always do my re-orders on Sunday night and when I went to increase my orders on Captain America #25, they were already sold out. So obviously there were dealers who had inside information about this book. It must be nice to have inside information like that. There have always been extras on all of the Civil War books except this one. Hmmmmm! Sounds like a scandal to me. But that is the beauty of a one distributor system!”

(thanks to Kevin Melrose at Blog@Newsarama who pointed out the Loudermilk article)

Boy…did I have a weekend!

It all started with car repairs.

What? Doesn’t make sense? You try driving from the NC/VA border to NYC on bad brakes and bald tires and tell me how much sense that makes! So…the repairs make sense…but the hold for the repair costs being placed on my card TWICE didn’t…and it kept me from locking in last minute hotel deals.

So, when I hit the road Thursday evening, I had to crash with family. Got in around 2am or so…got to sleep after 3am…woke up at about 6:30am…and headed into the city to meet up with the man behind Newsarama.com, Matt Brady, at about 9:30am. Covered my first panel, unexpectedly, at 10am. Didn’t leave the convention until sometime after 9pm. Can’t remember when I got to crash on the floor of Brady’s hotel room (sometime after midnight). I can only remember that I didn’t sleep too well (spending more time awake than asleep) before heading back into the con some time before opening the next day.

Saturday saw me working the convention from just before 9am until sometime after 8pm. From that point, it was finally one of what I’d hoped would be a highlight of the weekend for me: convention after parties! Thanks, again, to The Brady, I was able to attend the C.B. Cebulski/Marvel party (at The Irish Rogue). I was around a lot of talented people having a lot of potent beverages…I just wish I had a legitimate conversation to strike up with a few of them. The one creator I had a real chance to conversate with was more than good enough: Christos Gage. He couldn’t tip his hand on anything he had coming up, but he was a down-to-Earth guy who shares some of my views on writing techniques (expressly as it applies to decompression).  I, also, got to share a few brief words with Frank Tieri as a bunch of us were walking back towards the New Yorker after the party. Matt and Frank discussed how Frank was responsible for adding a new word to a young boy’s vocabulary that afternoon (hoooooooo boy, was it a good one).

Then there was the Crazee Comics indie after party. I’ll try to blog more about that tomorrow, but it was a doozy. It needs its own blog to address all of that stuff.

Sunday wasn’t quite as hectic for me, but at that point, I was dead and the day was shorter. I didn’t get to sleep until 4am or so and, again, spent most of the overnight awake instead of asleep. I had the chance to spend some time as a fan on the floor of the convention and at some panels. I, also, got to sit down with Cheryl Lynn from Publisher’s Weekly and http://www.digitalfemme.com at the PW booth and discuss the con (which will lead to an interview popping up at Newsarama soon).

It was a great wrap to an amazing convention that…as the title of this blog would indicate…I’m just now recuperating from. God bless Matt Brady, though…he ran through the convention in NYC last weekend and just finished up doing the same at Wonder-Con this weekend…I still don’t know how he does it.

Hey Everybody–

I have a few new pieces up at Newsarama–my interview with Steve Niles covering his work on 28 Days Later: The Aftermath from FoxAtomic; as well as some news on some of his upcoming projects including City of Others from Dark Horse which debuted today in stores bringing him together with horror artist icon, Bernie Wrightson. Spread the zombie love!

Also, I was fortunate enough to cover Mega Con’s honoration of Dick Giordano, former editor-in-chief for DC Comics, and one of the greatest inkers to have ever worked in the comic book industry. It was really nice and fun. I’m so glad Newsarama decided to share it.

Coming up–Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray are talking about Jonah Hex and the return of the Western to comics. Also, I’ve just been informed that I’m attending a private, advanced showing of Frank Miller’s 300 next week so look for that piece to be on Newsarama Thursday morning.

Still working on my A-Ha piece for the Shotgun–there’s a lot of music to listen to beyond their initial album that spawned their one commercial hit in the US–”Take on Me”. I’ve decided to not only go over their discography but to compile a nice mix CD which I will list for any who are interested. They’re really good!

Go check out 803 Studios, I covered their anthology–Sequential Suicide, last week on Best Shots. They have open submissions for their next anthology. Daryn Beasley and I are getting to work tonight on our submission. I will be keeping a running log of our progress here.

Finally, a piece I’m finishing up titled, “Memoirs of an Electronic Lothario” may see print in the inaugural issue of Smith Magazine. Fingers crossed!

Have a great Wednesday guys! Just bought my books–this week is gonna be a doozy!
Steven Eks

Here’s a little interview I did via e-mail with Mr. Larry Niven, writer of books like Ringworld, Tales From Known Space, Protector and Crashlander. It’s short, and Mr. Niven’s answers are concise and to the point… but the most embarassing part is my fanboyish sucking up… I can’t help it… Oh, BTW, the interview was done in late November, early December.

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Greetings and welcome to the new ShotgunReviews.com. Since 1999, we’ve done our best to give you worthwhile (and often funny) reviews and columns, and it’s time to shake off the rust and do it a little differently. We’ve kicked around a few ideas regarding how we’d do this new thing, and we hope you like what you see.

The new design comes to us from Barb Hallock, a student of mine with the appropriate attitude for this place (that is, bad). The more bloggish format puts us more on par with the current landscape. After all, we’ve been doing this almost eight full years. It was time for a big change. I think that you’ll agree that the new format, with a huge list of categories and easy searching, is a good one.

As part of that big change, we’ve brought in an influx of new talent from a variety of places. The entirety of our Best Shots team, responsible for the Best Shots column that runs every Monday at Newsarama.com, is now operating here in several capacities. You’ll also meet several talented young writers, including Barb herself, who will be tackling a variety of topics.

However, if you’re one of the rare folks that has read us since 1999, don’t get too worried. Shawn Delaney will still grace us with terrific music reviews, as will Jonathan Birdsong and the Lyrical Lounge crew. The Russ is back on wrestling coverage in full force. L.I. Rapkin’s already kicking in some culture. Eric Barker’s already opened the film vaults. And they aren’t the only familiar faces lurking around.

In the next few days and weeks, you’ll see the roster expand a little more and you’ll see some new recurring columns and features that we hope will become favorites. If you want to check out the old stuff, the old site currently still exists in its full glory under the archive button. If you want to talk about any of the stuff, old or new, visit our newly established forums.

So there’s my big speech. Enjoy yourselves, express yourselves, and invite friends. ShotgunReviews.com never went away, but we are most certainly back. Thanks for your time.

I mentioned the other day that I’m fed up with a lot of what’s gone on in wrestling, and here is a little treatise that I wrote on my grown-up opinions of the wrestling industry, the dirt sheets, and all of us people that ragged about WCW all those years ago. This review appeared on my blog last month, and it’s not often that I get kudos from the author.

I’m also hoping to get an advance copy of Mick Foley’s new book coming out March 6. I’ll let you all know how that goes.

®

The true story of a long shot race horse who became a cultural hero during the Great Depression, and of the people who believed in him.

A confluence of many superb talents on both sides of the camera with an archetypal American story about perseverance and courage, Seabiscuit is old-fashioned Hollywood filmmaking at its best, a wonderful movie-movie for an uneven summer season.

It would have been hard to screw it up. The saga of Seabiscuit and his people is so naturally compelling, Laura Hillenbrand’s book about them has been a continual bestseller from the moment it was published in 2001, an amazing true story frequently noted for its ability to make grown men cry (and we all know what tough nuts grown men are, huh?). Seabiscuit, the book, is such a darned good read, it’s tempting to wonder why no one has written it before now, but the story needed a teller of Hillenbrand’s vision, skill and wit before it became special.

By himself, Seabiscuit would be enough classic material for a whole novel: the runt offspring of a famed champion from a long line of ill-tempered winners, he was abused by his original owners, declared incorrigible, raced too often and then rejected. In his first four years of life he had grown from a good natured colt into a vicious, embittered soul who attacked the grooms and resisted all attempts at befriending him. This was the precise moment that Fate, always a better storyteller than mere mortals, brought him together with three unlikely saviors. (more…)

The Big Question with RJ Sawyer
Interview with: Li Rapkin

Li talks to author Robert J. Saywer about alternate history, writing, and why it’s great to be Canadian.

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The Big Quesiton with Dr. Catherine Asaro
Interview with: Li Rapkin

In which Li has coffee with the lovely and talented Dr. Catherine Asaro — physicist, dancer, mother, and award-winning science fiction author.

THE BIG Q&A

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The Big Question with Jack McDevitt
Interview with: Li Rapkin

THE BIG Q&A

Q1. Aspiring writers hear a lot about self-discipline, dedication, and professionalism when the pros talk about writing. An English or journalism degree is a great start, but new writers have a lot to learn that academia doesn’t cover. What are some of the things you’ve learned in the field, as opposed to the classroom?

A1. The kind of knowledge we’re talking about is hard to put into words. If you could, people could acquire their skills in an academic setting. But trying to become a writer by taking classes in creative writing is like trying to learn to drive by reading the driver’s manual. There’s literally everything to learn, and most of it simply cannot be taught.

The aspiring writer has to know how to stage dramatic moments, has to acquire a sense for the flow of language, and for the flow of dialogue. He has to learn how to get critical information to the reader without slowing the narrative down, or bringing it to a dead stop. He has to learn how to create human beings and get them down on a page. He has to be able to construct a plot that makes sense, how to motivate his characters, how to create characters that people will root for.

There’s a lot more, but none of this is very easy to put into a lesson plan. The best approach is probably to read as widely as one can –history, science, the great novels, probably some Greek drama– to write, and to watch the life around us. Watch how people react to problems and how they celebrate success. Listen to the way they speak. Get into their minds. Empathy is one of the basic tools anyone needs who plans to write fiction.

Q2. Have you ever considered writing for a visual medium-TV, film, or theater? Why or why not?

A2. No. I enjoy working with prose fiction and just have no ambition to go elsewhere. I like what I’m doing. Anything else would take time.

Q3. NASA, which is a civilian agency, has run into funding problems with its programs, resulting in the “faster, better, cheaper” paradigm and use of 20-year-old space shuttle technology. The Soviet Union funded its space program as part of the military, and while it had its problems, its status as a military agency had quite an effect on funding. What’s your take on civilian and/or private vs. military funding for space science, exploration, and development?

A3. I assume by military funding you mean that the government underwrites the expenses. Considering the costs involved, and with no serious prospect for offsetting profits, it seems to me that a national effort is the only way to go at present.

Q4. You’ve mentioned in some other interviews that as a kid, you enjoyed Flash Gordon serials. Were you or are you also interested in comics?

A4. I learned to read from Superman and Sheena back in 1940. Before I got to school. I’ve always believed that a lot of kids in my generation did the same. The comic readers were always way ahead of the vocabulary lists. At present I still have a fondness for the old comics. I enjoy reading an occasional JSA update, but it’s mostly nostalgia.

Q5. In the Foreword to the Meisha Merlin edition of Hello Out There, you wrote, “Who today would believe that a major power might seriously consider launching a pre-emptive strike over a question of weapons development, a scenario that was front and center in the original Hercules Text? Somehow it seemed not entirely implausible in 1985.” Now, President Bush wants to “update” the 1972 treaty that prevents the U.S. from developing a “Star Wars” missile defense system, despite the fact that even our allies are opposed to the prospect. Are we back where you started?

A5: I sincerely hope not, although in some ways the world in 1972 was less dangerous. The Atlantic carried a cover story some years ago titled “Why We Will Soon Miss the Cold War.” Its thesis was that, with the Soviets, we always knew who the bad guys were, who we had to negotiate with, and what the risks were. It made for stability.

I’m no fan of Soviet premiers, but they do deserve some credit. A long line of them combined with U.S. presidents to keep out of a hot war, and we owe our lives to their joint restraint.

Joint restraint is a lot harder to come by when you increase the number of participants (”players,” as the term seems to be), and everybody holds his cards under the table. The risks that armageddon may happen are, I think, considerably reduced from the 1970’s, but the possibility of isolated use of mass weaponry has increased. So it’s not a return to 1972, but we seem instead to be on a bus to a place with its own unique hazards. Not as potentially devastating, but more difficult to control.

Q6. You’ve written about archaeology in several of your novels-what about the subject captures your attention? Have you ever visited a dig?

A6: I’m fascinated by aliens. They are romantic, mysterious, edgy, utterly unpredictable. They are the reason we are so hooked on starflight. If we were somehow to establish that there are no aliens, that we are alone in the universe, most of us would immediately lose all interest in going to Vega.

But the problem with the alien is that as soon as you bring it on stage, it becomes a guy in a rubber suit. This is true whether we’re talking about movies or books. And at that point all sense of mystery and romance is lost. Some writers try to get around the problem by creating exotic logic systems, but then the creature simply becomes a guy in a rubber suit who is also incomprehensible to the reader.

My own solution is to keep the little green men offstage. That can be done by leaving them at a distance (as in The Hercules Text, where they’re a million light years away), or by arranging to have them either dead or missing. That’s where the archeology comes in. A ruin once inhabited by aliens is to me far more interesting than a full-blown civilization with alien patrols and alien taxis.

I’ve never been on a real dig, although I once participated in a mock dig on Mars (with real archeologists) during a meeting of the Asimov Seminar some years ago.

Q7. In the beginning of Infinity Beach, scientists are preparing to turn several stars into supernovae as part of a plan to search for intelligent life. One of the main objections from the opposition is that humanity will attract the wrong sort of attention. What’s your opinion of projects such as Voyager and SETI, which could attract the wrong sort of attention in real life?

A7: The universe would obviously be a safer place if we were the only ones in it. But I think the possibility of intelligent aliens being both hostile and (relatively) nearby is extremely unlikely. The level of reason required to achieve interstellar travel should be sufficient to preclude any possibility of attack, especially when one tries to imagine a motive for such an assault. Why would they bother? Surely we have nothing they can’t manufacture themselves. Even the notion of humans serving as food (think “To Serve Man”) for creatures with a different kind of digestive tract is far-fetched.

I’ve wondered how we’d respond as a society if SETI struck gold. And I suspect while the science and SF communities would get excited, the rest of the population would behave more or less in the same way they would if a new tribe were discovered along the Amazon.

Q8. What have you been reading lately?

A8: Pax Brittanica by Jan Morris; Dreamcatcher by Stephen King; A History of the American People by Paul Johnson; the Benjamin Franklin edition from the Library of America; The Great Design by Robert K. Adair; and Laurie King’s The Moor.

Q9. Deepsix just came out in March…what have you got in store for your readers?

A9: Live From Babylon will be out next year from Ace/Berkley. Priscilla Hutchins, from The Engines of God and Deepsix, gets into more trouble. More archeological trouble, I should add. This time with a very old starship.

Q10. You’ve had quite a variety of “day jobs”–customs inspector, taxi driver, English teacher, to name a few. Which was your favorite, and why?

A10: There were two. I enjoyed being an English teacher (and theater director). My former students still track me down on occasion. I had the good fortune to introduce some of them, when they were actively resisting reading, to Ray Bradbury and The Martian Chronicles.

It was magnificent to watch them come alive when that exploratory ship lands on Mars, near a town that has picket fences and a church steeple. And they open the hatch and hear a distant piano playing “Beautiful Dreamer.”

Doing supervisory and management training for the Customs Service was also rewarding. They have good people, and we used to spend our time talking about how you get employees (or kids) to work hard and produce results. Mostly, of course, it has to do with leading the way.

Q11. The Deep South has a reputation in other parts of the country as somewhat lacking in culture, and especially higher learning. How’s the view from early 21st Century Georgia?

A11: We’re looking at a bright future. The areas of the South with which I’m familiar are actively seeking to upgrade education. And the region that produced Willa Cather, Richard Wright, and William Faulkner, must be doing something right.

Websites:
http://www.sfwa.org/members/McDevitt
http://www.asisem.org/1996/jack.html
http://www.booksnbytes.com/authors/mcdevitt_jack.html

Family: Married to Maureen McDevitt.

Former Day Jobs: Naval officer, Philadelphia taxi driver, customs officer, motivational trainer, English teacher.

Hobbies: Chess, bridge, theater, movies, reading mysteries, lunch.

Professional Organizations: Science Fiction Writers of America

Awards: Arthur C. Clarke Award Finalist, Engines of God
2000, Phoenix Award for body of work
2000, Nebula Award nomination, Infinity Beach
1999, Nebula Award nomination, “Good Intentions”
1998, Darrell Award, Eternity Road
1998, SF/F Editor’s Choice, Moonfall
1998, Nebula Award nomination, Moonfall
1997, Nebula Award nomination, Ancient Shores
1996, Hugo Award nomination, “Time Travelers Never Die”
1996, Nebula Award nomination, “Time Travelers Never Die”
1991, UPC International Prize, “Ships in the Night”
1986, Philip K. Dick Special Award, The Hercules Text

Publishers: Eos
Harper Prism
Tachyon Publications
In Europe, Voyager

Novels

Deepsix, 2001
Infinity Beach, 2000 (UK Title; Slow Lightning)
Moonfall, 1998
Eternity Road, 1997
Ancient Shores, 1996
Standard Candles, 1996 (Anthology)
The Engines of God, 1995
A Talent For War, 1989
The Hercules Text, 1986 (Ace Special No. 7)
Hello Out There (contains a rewritten version of The Hercules Text and A Talent For War)

Novellas & Short Stories

“The Emerson Effect”, 1981
“Cryptic”, 1984
“Ships in the Night”
“Time Travelers Never Die”
“Good Intentions” (Co-written with Stanley Schmidt)

Nonfiction

“Twelve Blunders”

As Mick Foley begins his second journey towards the top of the nonfiction best-seller list, it’s astounding to see how much he’s grown and learned as a writer. In Mick’s first book, Have a Nice Day, Mick basically scrambled to put together the story of about 20 years of his life and cram it into 500 pages. While Foley Is Good tips the scales at about 50 less pages, half of the book covers the last two years of his life, including the actual process of writing his first book, his retirement, and his subsequent return to the World Wrestling Federation. However, the other half of the book is kind of a “World According to Foley” manifesto. Mick tackles issues in and out of wrestling, thus proving that his latest novel will entertain both wrestling fans and non-wrestling fans alike.

The book begins immediately where the original leaves off in 1999. Mick discusses his first reign as WWF Champion and learning to live with Barry Blaustein following him around to film the documentary Beyond the Mat. He goes on to discuss working with the original ghostwriter on his book and how his writing style didn’t exactly mesh with the way Mick wanted the book to appear. He also goes through his recovery from knee surgery in preparation for his final run in the WWF in late 1999/early 2000 and the night that he was almost forced into retirement by Vince McMahon and the reasons why it was held off in favor of his final run with Triple H.

Mick says that of all his accomplishments in his life, the fact that he wrote a book and that it became a best-seller is one of his proudest. It’s interesting to see Foley (a literary outsider) having to deal with book editors, marketing people, book signings, and book critics. Despite having a number one book, he was disappointed that he couldn’t get booked on such shows like The Late Show, The Tonight Show, Oprah, and Rosie O’Donnell, although he goes into great detail on appearing on Howard Stern and Larry King.

However, it is the frank and candid discussion of such topics as backyard wrestling, parental responsibility, and the assault on wrestling by the media and the Parents Television Council. In fact, most of Mick’s 78-page epilogue is a research paper “In Defense of the World Wrestling Federation”. First, he discusses the Indiana University research study that was released a couple of years ago about the number of references to drugs, sex, satanic activity and extreme acts of violence in a year’s worth of Raw episodes. Mick conducted a similar study of his own (though probably not scientifically valid) with the help of Linda McMahon and some old tapes of WWF shows and came up with fewer results. Mick then called Dr. Walter Ganz, the man who headed the study, to discuss his results and what he based his findings on.

In comparison, Mick watched General Hospital, Cheers and both Home Alone movies to see how they measured up with Raw. Yet again, he found more instances of offending material on a soap opera that airs at 3 in the afternoon, an all-time classic TV show, and two movies that are rated PG. The Home Alone study proves to be interesting, as Mick asks a doctor to compare the possible real-life injuries resulting from violence in wrestling compared to the violence in Home Alone. Here’s a spoiler: most of the Home Alone stuff involves the word “death”.

Mick then goes after the PTC and the relationship of leader L. Brent Bozell’s father to a certain Joe McCarthy. He then makes a valid point of comparing the threatening tactics of the PTC to those of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Unfortunately, he couldn’t reach anyone at the PTC, because they’re told not to speak to anyone from the World Wrestling Federation. He also researches Bozell’s other past activities with the Conservative Victory Committee, where in support of Clarence Thomas’ nomination to the Supreme Court, he attempted to run an advertisement that assaulted Ted Kennedy’s character in regards to a certain auto accident that we all know about. Even President Bush tried to get Bozell to stop running the ad, but he wouldn’t. Mick basically makes the argument that the reason the PTC picks on wrestling so much is because it’s an easy target that no one will come to the defense of in the media.

Mick himself admits that his second-go-round features less wrestling, foul language, and blood than Have a Nice Day. However, it’s all the other stuff Mick says that should make wrestling fans stand up and take on the PTC. Mick basically feeds everyone an argument to use for whenever you happen to see one of these unrealistic, moralistic creeps or you hear about them targeting an advertiser or whatever they try and do to censor television programming. The idea that parents should take responsibility for what their children watch on television instead of letting it be a babysitter is not a new one, yet when Foley makes the statement, he’s got plenty of authority given he’s a wrestler and a father. Foley Is Good and so’s this book, and it should appeal to fans and non-fans as well as his first one.

The Big Question with Harry Turtledove
Interview with: Li Rapkin

THE BIG Q&A

Q1. You’ve often described Byzantine history as one of the least marketable fields out there. What about the subject captured your attention so thoroughly as to result in a doctorate?

A1. I was about 15 when I found Lest Darkness Fall in a secondhand bookstore. I didn’t know much about this stuff then, and started trying to find out how much the author was making up and how much was real, and ended up getting hooked. So, basically, my academic career (and much of my writing, and my meeting my wife and having the kids I have–details, details) is L. Sprague de Camp’s fault.

Q2. A vast number of alternate history novels are set in (or based on) World War II, the American Civil War, or prehistoric times. What do you think makes these three eras so appealing as settings for alternate history?

A2. Don’t know about prehistoric times; that covers a lot of ground. But the Civil War is the great chokepoint of U.S. history; we are what we are, for better and for worse, because of what happened and how it happened in those four crowded years. Had it happened differently, in a variety of different ways, we’d be different now. People think the same thing about WW2. It’s certainly true, but WW2 is only the second act of the 20th century. The First World War is even more important, but overshadowed in our memory by the more recent conflict.

Q3. What other historical periods or events do you think hold a lot of potential for alternate history?

A3. World War I, as I noted above. The “fall of the Roman Empire.” A possible industrial revolution in Hellenistic times, and what might have come from it. A Spanish victory in the Armada. A world where Bolshevism didn’t succeed in Russia. A world where nuclear physics didn’t get off the ground, and we’ve already fought a conventional WW3.

Q4. It seems to me that one of the most difficult parts of writing alternate history would be extrapolating the results of a single change, while keeping your story believable, especially considering how many improbable and unbelievable events have occurred in “real” history.

A4. This is certainly true. All history has to do is happen. Fiction has to be plausible, too. If anyone wrote a novel in 1999 setting out the 2000 election in detail, no editor would have bought it because it would have seemed too unlikely.

Q5. What do you consider a promising “breaking point” from real history? For example, what made the dropped dispatch a better jumping-off point for How Few Remain than changing the outcome of a battle?

A5: The point is, if the despatch hadn’t been lost, the battle would have happened somewhere else, and under different conditions, which is the key to the breakpoint. Changes should be made at places that are both interesting and would have important consequences if they happened differently.

Q6. You’re a frequent guest at science fiction conventions, including your turn as Toastmaster at last year’s WorldCon in Chicago. What’s your perception of the fan community?

A6: They’re bright people who like to think, like to read, like to find books that make them think, and like to get together with others of their own kind. I fit into that group fairly well, I believe, though I’m more social caterpillar than social butterfly.

Q7. How does the experience of collaborating with another author compare to writing solo?

A7: A collaboration, somebody said, is a book where both partners do 100% of the work. With luck, you manage to get both writers’ strengths and neither writer’s weaknesses. I’ve done relatively little, but I’ve been pleased with The Two Georges and especially with Household Gods, my recent work with Judith Tarr.

Q8. Your wife is also a professional writer, and one of your daughters won a writing contest at Chicon 2000. Any comments on the ups and downs of writing as a family business?

A8: If you can do it, writing is the best job in the world. You set your own hours, you can wear whatever you want, you get to run full-sensory movies in your head and write down what your characters see and feel and experience, and they pay you for it. What could be better? Whether the kids will be able to make a living at it remains to be seen. They have the talent, I think; they also need the desire and the discipline to make it go. Only time will tell if those are there, too.

Q9. For the past few years, you’ve had several series going, as well as producing stand-alone novels, short stories, and editing. How do you keep up with your publishing schedule?

A9: The short answer is, I’m obsessive-compulsive, probably in the clinical sense. People laugh when I say that, which doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

Q10. How do you think the publishing industry is going to look ten or twenty years from now, given that there are so many relatively new media, such as the Internet and e-books?

A10: As far as I know, nobody is yet making a living from the Internet or e-books. I have no idea what things will look like 10 or 20 years from now. I look forward to finding out.

Q11. Read any good books lately?

A11: Things I’ve read lately include Sabatini’s Scaramouche, le Guin’s The Telling, an oral history of Japanese life during WW2, and the letters of Mary Wortley Montagu, the wife of the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in the early 18th century. High on the to-read pile are a book about man-powered flight and another on the history of science in the Hellenistic period. I read all kinds of weird stuff, in other words.

Websites:
http://www.sfsite.com/~silverag/turtledove.html
http://www.scifan.com/writers/tt/turtledoveharry.asp

Born: June 14, 1949, in Los Angeles, CA

Education: Ph.D., Byzantine History, UCLA, 1977. Dissertation: The Immediate Successors of Justinian: A Study of the Persian Problem and of Continuity and Change in Internal Secular Affairs in the Later Roman Empire During the Reigns of Justin II and Tiberius II Constantine (A.D. 565-582)

Family: Married to Laura Frankos, who writes mysteries. They have three daughters, Alison, Rachel, and Rebecca. Allison was born right before the 1984 WorldCon in Los Angeles, the first convention Dr. Turtledove attended.

Former Day Jobs: Professor of Byzantine History; Technical Writer for Los Angeles County Office of Education. Dr. Turtledove has been writing full time since 1991.

Professional Organizations: Science Fiction Writers of America (Treasurer 1986-1987)

Awards: 1996, Sidewise Award for Alternate History, Honorable Mention, World War series
1996, Hugo Award, Best Novelette, “Must and Shall”
1996, Nebula Award, Best Novelette, “Must and Shall”
1995, Sidewise Award for Alternate History, Honorable Mention, “Must and Shall”
1995, Sidewise Award for Alternate History, Honorable Mention, The Two Georges
1994, Hugo Award, Best Novella, Down in the Bottomlands
1993, John Esthen Cook Award for Southern Fiction, Guns of the South
1990, HOMer Award for Short Story, “Designated Hitler”

Pen Names: Mark Gordian, Eric Iverson, H. N. Turtletaub

Publishers: Baen Books, P.O. Box 1403, New York, NY 10471
Del Rey Books, 201 East 50th Street, New York, NY 10022
Tor Books, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
In Europe, PO BOX 244, 1150 Vienna, Austria

Novels

1999, Household Gods (with Judith Tarr)
1998, Between the Rivers
1998, Justinian (as H. N. Turtletaub)
1997, How Few Remain
1997, Thessalonica
1995, The Two Georges (with Richard Dreyfuss)
1993, The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump
1992, The Guns of the South

Series Works
Gerin the Fox (as Eric Iverson)

Wereblood, 1979
Werenight, 1979
The Prince of the North, 1994
King of the North, 1996
Fox and Empire, 1998
Wisdom of the Fox (Werenight and The Prince of the North), 1999
Tale of the Fox (King of the North and Fox and Empire), 2000

Time of Troubles

The Stolen Throne, 1995
Hammer and Anvil, 1996
The Thousand Cities, 1997
Videssos Besieged, 1998

Tale of Krispos

Krispos Rising, 1991
Krispos of Videssos, 1991
Krispos the Emperor, 1994

Videssos

The Misplaced Legion, 1994
An Emperor for the Legion, 1994
The Legion of Videssos, 1987
The Swords of the Legion, 1987

War World

“Tribute Maidens,” War World I: The Burning Eye, 1988
“The Field of Double Sowing,” War World II: Death’s Head Rebellion, 1990
“Juchi the Accursed,” War World III: Sauron Dominion, 1991
“Hang Together,” Codominium: Revolt on War World, 1992
Bloodfeuds (with S.M. Stirling, Judith Tarr & Susan Shwartz), 1993
Blood Vengeance (with S.M. Stirling, Judith Tarr & Susan Shwartz), 1994
“Those Who Lose,” War World IV: Invasion, 1994

World War

In the Balance, 1994
Tilting the Balance, 1995
Upsetting the Balance, 1996
Striking the Balance, 1996
Colonization: Second Contact, 1999
Colonization: Down to Earth, 2001

Great War

American Front, 1998
Walk In Hell, 1999
Breakthroughs, 2001

Darkness

Into the Darkness, 1999
Darkness Descending, 2000
Through the Darkness, 2001

Fantastic Civil War

Sentry Peak, 2000
2 additional titles in work

Novellas & Short Stories

2000

“The Catcher in the Rhine”, The Chick is in the Mail
“A Different Vein”, Chicon 2000 Guest of Honor Book
“Farmers’ Law”, Crime Through Time III
“The Last Word”, Drakas!
“The Lieutenant”, The Touch

1999

“Drang von Osten”, First to Fight
“Forty, Counting Down”, Asimov’s
“Myth Manners’ Guide to Greek Missology #1″, Chicks ‘n Chained Males
“Twenty-One, Counting Up”, Analog

1998

“La Différence”, Did You Say Chicks?
“Ils Ne Passeront Pas”, Armageddon
“The Phantom Tolbukhin”, Alternate Generals

1997

“Elder Skelter”, George
“The Seventh Chapter”, Fantasy & Science Fiction

1995

“The Bleeding Moon”, Orphans of the Night
“Goddess for a Day”, Chicks in Chainmail
“The Maltese Elephant”, Analog
“Must and Shall”, Asimov’s
“Suffer a Sorceress”, Ancient Enchantresses

1994

“They’d Never–”, Alien Pregnant by Elvis

1993

“Down in the Bottomlands”, Analog
“Vermin”, Fantasy & Science Fiction

1992

“Breakups”, Unnatural Diplomacy
“Deconstruction Gang”, Amazing
“The Decoy Duck”, After the King
“The Green Buffalo”, The Ultimate Dinosaur
“In the Presence of Mine Enemies”, Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine
“In This Season”, Christmas Bestiary
“The Last Reunion”, Amazing
“A Massachusetts Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”, Alternate Kennedys
“Mebodes’ Fly”, Fantasy & Science Fiction
“Ready for the Fatherland”, Alternate Wars
“Secret Names”, Analog
“Two Thieves”, Tales of Riverworld

1991

“Gladly Wolde He Lerne”, Analog
“The Great Unknown, Part I”, Analog
“The Great Unknown, Part II”, Analog
“The Great Unknown, Part III”, Analog
“The Long Drum Roll”, The Fantastic Civil War
“Thirty Pieces”, Phases in Chaos

1990

“Designated Hitler”, Fantasy & Science Fiction
“The Emperor’s Return”, Weird Tales Spring 1990
“The Field of Double Sowing”, War World II: Death’s Head Rebellion 1990
“Half the Battle”, There Will Be War IX: After Armageddon 1990
“Island Of The Gods”, The Diplomacy Guild, 1990
The Pugnacious Peacemaker, Tor SF Double No. 20
“Reincarnation”, Amazing
“The Summer Garden”, Kaleidoscope

1989

“Counting Potsherds”, Amazing
“Curse of the Three Demons”, Arabesques 2
“Departures”, Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine
“Festival Night”, Spells of Wonder
“Islands in the Sea”, Alternatives
“Nasty, Brutish, And…”, Analog
“Nothing in the Night-Time”, Analog
“Pillar of Cloud, Pillar of Fire”, Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine
“Precious Treasure”, Friends of the Horseclans 2
“Ten Times Over”, Amazing
“Trantor Falls”, Foundation’s Friends

1988

“After the Last Elf is Dead”, Weird Tales
“The Banner of Kaviyan”, Arabesques
“Batboy”, Fantasy & Science Fiction
“Clash of Arms”, New Destinies IV
“Freedom”, Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine
“Gentlemen of the Shade”, Ripper!
“The Girl Who Took Lessons”, Playboy
“King of All”, New Destinies VI
“The Last Article”, Fantasy & Science Fiction
“Lure”, Analog
“Not All Wolves”, Werewolves
“Trapping Run”, Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine

1987

“Crybaby”, Twilight Zone
“Images”, Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine
“The Irvhank Effect”, New Destinies II
“Last Favor”, Analog
“The Report on Bilbeis IV, Part I”, Analog
“The Report on Bilbeis IV, Part II”, Analog
“The Report on Bilbeis IV, Part III”, Analog
“6+”, Analog
“Superwine”, Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine
“The Weather’s Fine”, Playboy

1986

“And So To Bed”, Analog
“Around the Salt Lick”, Analog
“The Barbecue, The Movie, & Other Unfortunately Not So Relevant Material”, Analog
“A Difficult Undertaking”, The Dragon
“The Eyes of Argos”, Amazing
“The Iron Elephant”, Analog
“Second Survey”, Analog
“Strange Eruptions”, Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine
“Thicker Than Water”, Fantasy Book
“Though the Heavens Fall”, Analog

1985

“Archetypes”, (as Eric Iverson) Amazing
“Bluff”, (as Eric Iverson) Analog
“The Castle of the Sparrowhawk”, (as Eric Iverson) Fantasy Book
“Hatching Season”, (as Eric Iverson), Analog
“Les Mortes d’Arthur”, (as Eric Iverson), Analog
“Noninterference”, (as Eric Iverson), Analog
“Notes from the General Secretariat”, (as Mark Gordian), Analog
“The R Strain”, (as Eric Iverson), Analog
“The Road Not Taken”, (as Eric Iverson), Analog
“Unholy Trinity”, (as Eric Iverson), Amazing
“Vilest Beast”, (as Eric Iverson), Analog

1984

“Herbig-Haro”, (as Eric Iverson), Analog
“Hindsight”, (as Eric Iverson), Analog

1983

“Blue Fox and Werewolf” (as Eric Iverson) Amazing
“Traditions”, (as Eric Iverson), Amazing

1982

“The Summer’s Garden”, (as Eric Iverson), Fantasy Book

1981

“Death in Vesunna”, (as Eric Iverson, with Elaine O’Byrne), Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine

1980

“Report of the Special Committee on the Quality of Life”, (as Eric Iverson), Universe 10
“Honeymouth” Pulphouse 9
“Gilgamesh and the Home Boys” Pulphouse 11

Nonfiction

2000, “Catherine Crook de Camp: An Appreciation”, Locus
2000, “Hox in Box”, The Bulletin
2000, “L. Sprague de Camp: An Appreciation”, Locus
1999 Essay on Writing How Few Remain, SFWA Bulletin
1999, with Geoffrey Landis and John Barnes, “Science: Looking Backward, One Must Be as Forward Thinking As When Looking at the Future,” Science Fiction Age
1998, “How I Do What I Do,” SFWA Bulletin
1997, editor, with Stanley Burstein, “Meeting with a King of Axum,” Ancient African Civilizations: Kush and Axum
1996 “Introduction” Lest Darkness Fall & To Bring the Light, L. Sprague de Camp & David Drake
1995, “How the Worldwar Series Came to Be,” Science Fiction News: Crystal Tower Issue 1
1992, with Laura Frankos Turtledove, “Pros and Cons of Being a Writer Couple,” SFWA Bulletin
1992, “Thank You,” Requiem, edited by Yoji Kondo
1987, “Historical Realism, or, Oh my God, Not Another Movement”, OtherRealms
1985 “The Date of Composition of the Historia Syntomos of Patriarch Nikephoros,” Byzantina kai Metabyzantina, 4: Byzantine Studies in Honor of Milton Anastos
1984, with Mary D. Martin, Patricia Cabrera and Joseph F. Payne, The Green Book: A Manual for School Districts on Developing Proposals for Special Funding
1983, editor, The Chronicle of Theophanes
1983, “Justin II’s Observance of Justinian’s Persian Treaty of 562,” Byzantinische Zeitschrift 76:2, pp.292-301
1983, “The True Size of a Post-Justiniac Army,” Byzantine Studies/Études byzantines 10, 216-22

The Big Question with Steve Beai
Interview with: Troy Brownfield

To say that I’ve made some interesting friends over the years would be a serious understatement. One of the funnier people that I’ve ever met is Steve Beai. When I met Steve, he was playing drums with my good friend Blind Jimmy Blues. Steve, James, site designer Shawn and I spent many evenings in the Coffee Grounds in Terre Haute prior to my finishing grad school and moving to Indy.

As fate would have it, Steve’s done some pretty cool things since. And even though he still runs Reservoir Studio, Steve’s success has come from writing. In fact, Steve’s novel, Widow’s Walk, was a Bram Stoker Award Finalist this year. That’s an amazing feat in the field of horror fiction. Steve has published over a 100 other short stories and articles, and his book on censorship, Censoring the Censors, was very well-received.

So, this famous pal of Shawn and I has dropped by to answer some questions and basically explain himself. Kids, Steve Beai…

THE BIG Q&A

Q1. Steve, on his novel:

A1. Widow’s Walk is set in a suburb outside of Kansas City. I drew much from the area where I spent about fourteen years and many of the places, such as the story’s main setting, the children’s park bordered by woods, actually exists. The main character is a county Sheriff who’s seen better days. As the book opens, he is an alcoholic, facing a divorce and certain failure at his job as he tries to unravel the mystery of a young boy’s death in the woods near the park. The more he learns about the case, the stranger things become and he begins to question his sanity as events from the past come back to haunt him. That’s all I’ll say for the sake of those who haven’t read the book except that certain reviewers have declared that I’ve pulled out all the stops, and I guess that may be true; there are creatures, both real and imagined, along with a good bit of action, a compelling mystery, and some memorable characters such as Alvy Morehouse, the teenage killer introduced in a flashback section of the book.

Widow’s Walk is available through all on-line retail channels, i.e., Amazon and Borders, and local bookstores can order the title if they don’t have it in stock.

Q2. On his Bram Stoker nomination:

A2. The Horror Writers Association honors Superior Achievement in Horror each year with the Bram Stoker Awards. Since I’m a member of the organization, I was notified via e-mail that Widow’s Walk was a Finalist. There’s a three-tiered process to the award. Works are recommended by any interested member of HWA, then a Preliminary Ballot is sent out. After an initial voting process, works in each category are cut to include only the four receiving the most votes. Then, the Final Ballot is sent to members for the last stage of voting. There were ten other novels in the category with Widow’s Walk, including Wes Craven’s Fountain Society (which didn’t make the final cut), so I was honored when the book passed all voting stages. Q3. On his initial interest in writing:

A3. I’ve been writing for a very long time, since elementary school days; my grandfather developed my love for words and what they mean and I think that consequently led to my aptitude for English and the other liberal arts. I began writing professionally in the eighties, with a short (five year!) break between then and now, as I moved around the country. Finally settling back in my home state a few years ago, I re-started my career with the release of Censoring the Censors, a paperback compilation of previously-published (and hard-to-find) columns and essays on censorship I initially wrote as an ongoing column for the national Small Press Writers and Artists Organization. (Also available through on-line and retail booksellers). Currently, my agent has two more completed manuscripts on her desk in New York (including one set in Indiana) In addition, I produce at least two short stories a month, in between working on larger projects. Of the short work, there’s over a hundred pieces out there, published in various on-line and print magazines. I’m lucky in that I manage to sell short work on a fairly regular basis, owing, I guess, to my output. I write every day. EVERY day.

Q4. On being a musician and how it impacts writing:

A4. Good writing has a definite rhythm in both what is being said to the reader and how it is presented. I think my drumming background, as well as my writing style, both came from whatever internal sense of music and rhythm I have. I listen to words as I write, following the melody, so to speak. It’s like when you read a book and are suddenly interrupted by a passage that doesn’t seem to naturally flow into the next, causing you to re-read the offending part the writer has dropped the beat. I’m always conscious of that meter, or try to be, anyway!

Q5. On his influences:

A5. I’m a big fan of both Harlan Ellison as a person as well as his writing. Harlan and I met over the phone one day when he called in response to my mailed request for a comment on Censoring the Censors. I’ve followed his work for over twenty years and point to him as the biggest influence in my own writing. So that initial call left me understandably beside myself… since then, we’ve spoken frequently–as frequently as writers who live long distances apart do–and we saw each other at the World Horror Convention in Denver this last May. Other writers I admire are Sherman Alexie, Donald Barthelme, Iain M. Banks, Philip K. Dick, Bradbury–the list is fairly extensive.

As far as filmmakers, I enjoy the work of Martin Scorsese, Tarantino, Kubrick… EVERY one of Kubrick’s films, including The Shining (which I consider a failure as an adaptation) are compelling, if even for their repellent qualities, haha! I found his final work with “Eyes Wide Shut” an effective horror story; the sexual element was, in my opinion, overrated in the publicity–but the story was fascinating from the standpoint of watching it unfold and asking yourself, “What would I do in this situation?”

Musically, I enjoy Steely Dan, The Police, Metallica. I’m not a big fan of any music from the last few years–absolutely cannot stand rap or hiphop, but I’m a big fan of R&B– REAL R&B as opposed to sampled crap. Also not too fond of most Country & Western, though I do like some of the old standbys–Willie Nelson, for instance. Hands down, the best music going from the most accomplished musicians in my lifetime has to be XTC–these guys have been putting out music for almost twenty years, yet remain largely undiscovered by the masses. And that’s a definite shame. If all musicians except XTC were to stop tomorrow, that group would be the only music I’d ever need.

We’d like to thank Steve for dropping by and discussing his work! You can get Widow’s Walk and Censoring the Censors at amazon.com or other fine outlets. Steve’s website can be found at www.stevebeai.hypermart.net. Check ‘em out.

As always, if you have any guests that you’d like to see us get, or have an indie comic that you’d like to promote yourself, let Troy know at psikotyk@aol.com.

Troy Brownfield is the Editor-In-Chief of Shotgun Reviews. Another fact about Steve is that he’s able to drink more coffee in one setting than we ever thought humanly possible. Troy’s in awe of the man.