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The Jokers Are Back

February 11, 2014 at 11:01 pm
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September 15, 1946 was the first Wild Cards Day, the day that Jetboy met Dr. Tod in the skies over Manhattan, and the wild card virus was released onto an unsuspecting world.

September 15, 1986 was the 40th anniversary of that fateful day, and a pretty eventful 24 hours in its own right.  The triumphs and tragedies of that day were chronicled in JOKERS WILD, the third volume of the Wild Cards series… and the first of our "full mosaics."  Back in 1986, when we wrote the book, we were experimenting with a form that no one had ever attempted in SF and fantasy before.  Seven writers, seven characters, seven stories… all woven together into a fully collaborative novel, wherein the whole (we hoped) was more than the sum of its parts.

And let me you, editing this one was a bitch and a half.  But well worth it.   My writers complained a lot, as did I, but the readers love the result… and so did we, after a bit of time to reflect.  So the Wild Cards series has continued to feature fully-interwoven mosaic novels ever since, albeit usually only once every three books or so, since the process of hammering these out is exhausting for all concerned.

February 11, 2014 is the day that JOKERS WILD, first of the full mosaics, was reissued by Tor books in trade paperback.  It's been out of print and unavailable for longer than I care to think about, but now once more it is available at your local bookstore, or from your favorite online bookseller.  Never looked better either, dressed up as it is in a spectacular new cover from Michael Komarck.

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The featured writers (and their characters) this time around are yours truly (Hiram Worchester), Lewis Shiner (Fortunato), John Jos. Miller (Wraith, our new cover girl),  Edward Bryant (Sewerjack), Leanne C. Harper (Bagabond), Melinda M. Snodgrass (Roulette), and Walton Simons (Demise).

(I should mention: some Wild Cards books are good entry points to the series, but this is not one of them.  JOKERS WILD is the culmination of our first triad, so you probably read WILD CARDS and ACES HIGH before tackling this one).

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Lord Justin of Bieberland

February 10, 2014 at 5:27 pm
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Here's a real hoot from MTV:

http://www.mtv.co.uk/game-of-thrones/news/game-of-thrones-cast-discuss-if-justin-bieber-were-in-the-show-watch

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Coolest Dragons Ever

February 10, 2014 at 4:52 pm
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Vermithrax-Pejorative
VERMITHRAX PERJORATIVE

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SMAUG

game-of-thrones-10
DROGON

Gotta love them dragons.

I have long maintained that Vermithrax Perjorative was the coolest dragon ever put on film… but Peter Jackson's version of Smaug, from the second HOBBIT film, may have stolen his laurels.

And I gotta say, our own baby Drogon is growing up fast.

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New Mexico Film Foundation

February 9, 2014 at 11:13 pm
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Making movies is an art, a science, a business… but most of all it's a challenge, especially for young film makers, independents, minority members, and all those who find themselves outside Hollywood and the studio system.

The New Mexico Film Foundation is a brand-new non-profit organization whose goal it will be to help New Mexico film makers with a mutual support, education, networking… and grants.  It's headed by Dirk Norris, a former member of the state Film Commission, and a long time member of the local and state film community.

RIght now Dirk is trying to raise some start-up funds with an Indiegogo campaign.  You can find the details here:

http://igg.me/at/nmfilmfoundation/x/969552

Go check it out, and if you have a few bucks, give.  Robert A. Heinlein once said he could not possibly pay back all those who helped him when he was starting out, so he believed in paying forward, and helping those who came after him.  That's what the New Mexico Film Foundation is all about.

It's a good cause, and we may get some good films out of it.

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Season Four, Foreshadowed

February 9, 2014 at 10:41 pm
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For you poor benighted souls who do not [yet] have HBO, here's the Foreshadowing that was broadcast earlier tonight, just before the latest [terrific] episode of TRUE DETECTIVE:

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Enjoy.

But, as with past previews, please do not analyze or dissect or argue about the preview here.  That's what Tower of the Hand and Winter Is Coming and Westeros and Television Without Pity are for.  (And lots of other swell sites and blogs and bulletin boards as well, sorry I could not mention you all).

For more, alas, you will need to wait until season four debuts on April 6.  (Unless you happen to live in Santa Fe… )

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The Prince of Chaos is Coming…

February 6, 2014 at 2:11 pm
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 … to the Jean Cocteau.

And no, I don't mean the Roger Zelazny novel, I mean the one by Horatio King.  Who is me.  Sort of.  But not really.

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This PRINCE OF CHAOS is a fictional fantasy novel by a fictional author who is not me (not at all, no sir, definitely not), as seen in THE CALLBACK QUEEN, a new romantic comedy out of Ireland that debuts tomorrow at the Jean Cocteau Cinema.

The Callback Queen Poster for Jean Cocteau

How this came about?  Well…

Hundred of actors auditioned for roles both large and small in HBO’s Only a handful were cast. Thousands more tried to get auditions, but were never given the chance to read. In the old days, aspiring stars sent off resumes and 8×10 glossies to directors, producers, and casting directors. They still do that. . . but these days some also upload their own auditions on YouTube, Vimeo, and similar sites on the internet.

Amy-Joyce Hastings was one of those, as I discovered one day when dozens of my fans and readers began to send me emails with links to a reading by a lovely young red-haired Irish actress that I’d never heard of. They liked what she’d done, and so did I, when curiosity drove me to click on one of those links and take a look. So I dropped her a note, told her the name of our casting director, wished her luck. . . and thought no more of it, until I heard about The Callback Queen.

Amy-Joyce never got to audition for GAME OF THRONES. That’s something she has in common with thousands of other actors from all over the world. Unlike all the others, however, Amy-Joyce took life’s lemons and made lemonade; she shared her experiences with her friend Graham Cantwell, an Irish filmmaker, who took her tale about a young actress attempting to land a role in an epic fantasy, and turned it into a movie… a romantic comedy about moviemakers and aspiring actors that pokes fun at the whole casting carousel… starring Amy-Joyce Hastings.

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So now the tale comes full circle.  We're delighted to be able to present the North American Premiere of THE CALLBACK QUEEN right here in Santa Fe, tomorrow evening.  Amy-Joyce Hastings and writer-director Graham Cantwell are flying in from Ireland for the event, and will introduce the film and answer questions afterwards, and we'll also be having a small post-screening reception at the Cocteau's new bar, where you can meet Graham and Amy-Joyce and sample a "Call Me For Comfort," our special CALLBACK QUEEN cocktail.

So see you there.  But don't ask me to sign your copy of PRINCE OF CHAOS.  I am not Horatio King.  (They never even asked me to audition for the role).

((THE CALLBACK QUEEN will be playing for four days only, February 7 – 11.))

P.S.  And yes, your eyes are not deceiving you, the role of the director in THE CALLBACK QUEEN is being played by Mero, the Titan's Bastard.  Someone must have sewed his head back on after Daario hacked it off.  It's a small world, it is, be it Hollywood or Westeros.

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Super Bowl Sunday!

February 2, 2014 at 10:53 am
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It's here at last!  Super Bowl Sunday, the holiest day of the year… and this year, in the swamps of New Jersey, we will get the confrontation I have so long dreamed of, the SUBWAY SUPER BOWL, pitting the New York Giants against the New York Jets for all the….

Oh, wait.  That;s not this world, that's the alternate world I like to visit from time to time, the one where GAME OF THRONES has won three Emmys in a row, THE WINDS OF WINTER was finished a year ago, there's a base on the moon and a spaceship headed for Mars, and I don't have enough space on my mantle for all the Hugos, Pulitzers, and Nobel Prizes.

In THIS world, the real one, it's the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos.

Should be a pretty good game in any case.  Offense versus defense, the classic battle.  Can Eli's big brother win another ring, to match Eli?

Enjoy the game, folks.  Enjoy the commercials, if you're not a football fan.  Enjoy the pizza, beer, brats, chips & salsa, chile con queso, hot wings, etc.

Happy Super Sunday.

AFTER THE GAME.  Wow.  Didn't expect that.  They must be dancing in the streets in Seattle.  Great defense beats great offense, once again.  Wasn't much of a game, though.  Denver looked awful.

On to the NFL Draft!

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Zoe

February 1, 2014 at 5:46 pm
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Zoe Bell is great.

We had a wonderful Skype visit with her last night at the Cocteau, after the premiere of her new film, RAZE.   Now I want to get her to Santa Fe in person, to promote whatever film she does next.

And for RAZE… it's the feel-good movie of the season…

(Well, no, not really, but it's a powerful piece of film making, brutal as a club to the guts, and Zoe is terrific in it.  PASATIEMPO didn't like it, but the NEW YORK TIMES and Roger Ebert.com did, so there.  Those who have the taste for it can catch it all this week at the Cocteau, and hundreds of other theatres… but be warned, the violence here is turned up to eleven, and it's not the stylized slow-mo carnage of 300, or the sanitized "action" of bad action movies and network television.  This is raw and ugly and emotionally wrenching.  Our barkeep has introduced a special cocktail, the Knockout Punch, in honor of RAZE… have one if you come to catch the film, you'll need it.).

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