Not a Blog

Hap & Leonard Are Coming…

February 23, 2018 at 6:39 pm
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Hap & Leonard are coming back to the Jean Cocteau Cinema, and they’re bringing Joe Lansdale with them.

Put it in your calendars. Thursday, March 1, 7:00 pm at the JCC. We’ll have a special screening of the premiere episode of HAP & LEONARD, season 3.

Joe Lansdale His Own Self will be joining us once again, to shoot some sh*t with me, answer your questions, and sign a bunch of his books.

Joe is always a hoot and a half, and we’re thrilled to have him back in Santa Fe. Come join the fun.

Current Mood: excited excited

California Dreamin’

April 26, 2017 at 12:32 pm
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I am off to California tomorrow.

First stop will be Long Beach, for Stokercon, the annual gathering of the Horror Writers Association and the presentation of the Bram Stoker Awards. (That’s the one that looks like a creepy house, as opposed to the new World Fantasy Award, which looks like a creepy tree). This year’s Stokercon will be on the Queen Mary, which I last visited for a Nebula Awards banquet in… ohmigod, could it really have been 1996? Where do the years go? (Thinking back, that must have been a few months before A GAME OF THRONES was published. Little did I dream how much my life was about to change).

I love old ocean liners (modern cruise ships not so much), so banqueting with my brothers and sisters in horror on the Queen should be a hoot and a half.

After that, it’s down to San Diego for a fundraising event for Clarion. I’ll be having a conversation with Kim Stanley Robinson.

Alas, I’m told the event is already sold out.

And, sorry, no, I will not be signing… just talking.

Scalzi Speaks!

April 26, 2017 at 11:57 am
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We’ve updated the video page of the Jean Cocteau website, and you can now view my interview with John Scalzi at http://jeancocteaucinema.com/exclusive-video/ — along with a number of the older author events, for you poor benighted souls who live beyond the borders of the Land of Enchantment.

All the videos are also available on the JCC’s new YouTube channel.

Autographed copies of THE COLLAPSING EMPIRE, REDSHIRTS, and OLD MAN’S WAR are available for mailorder from the JCC website, along with hundreds of other .

John was a great guest, and a terrific interview. Here’s hoping we can lure him back to New Mexico again in the future, maybe as GOH at a Bubonicon.

More Author Videos

April 19, 2017 at 1:51 pm
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We’ve added two more videos from recent author events at the Jean Cocteau to the JCC website:

CONNIE WILLIS, interviewed by Melinda M. Snodgrass

JOHN NICHOLS, interviewed by Lorene Mills

If you weren’t able to be with us in person, you can check them out at

http://jeancocteaucinema.com/exclusive-video/

Connie and I have known each other for decades, of course, and she’s always a delight. John Nichols, however, I’ve only met once or twice previously, and the last time was probably twenty years ago at an event up in Colorado organized by Ed Bryant. Nichols is a fascinating man, however, and he had a lot to say. Even if you don’t know his work, you should find him interesting.

The video of my own talk with John Scalzi is not ready yet, but should be up soon.

Autographed books by Connie Willis, Melinda Snodgrass, John Nichols, John Scalzi, and myself are all available from the JCC website, of course. Along with lots more from other authors.

A recent comment from a “fan” said, in rather strong words, that he was not interested in the Jean Cocteau or anything that went on there. Fair enough. No one said you had to be. Maybe you should skip the posts with the JCC icon on top.

Thing is, though, that Santa Fe cares about the Jean Cocteau… I’ve had many people tell me that they love our little theatre… and more to the point, I care as well. The Jean Cocteau doesn’t bring me big wheelbarrows of money. Far from it. If we ever manage to get it into the black, I may die of shock. It is, however, a source of joy… for our patrons, for our city, and certainly for myself. And in the end, we all need some joy in our lives.

Scalzi in Santa Fe

April 18, 2017 at 2:11 am
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Bestseller, Hugo Award winner, former SFWA president, blogger, bon vivant, and the world’s leading expert on taping bacon to cats… John Scalzi is a man of many parts.

He made a whirlwind visit to Santa Fe yesterday, and the Jean Cocteau was thrilled to host him.

He did not actually sing in the rain. But he did play a ukulele. And he talked. And laughed. Ate a churro and some carne adovada. And signed a LOT of books.

(That’s me and Steve Gould with him in the picture)

If you couldn’t be there, hey, no problem. We’ll be putting up a video of our talk. And we made him sign stock before we let him go, so you can get your autographed copies of THE COLLAPSING EMPIRE, OLD MAN’S WAR, and REDSHIRTS (winner of The Big One) from the Jean Cocteau website.

http://jeancocteaucinema.com/

Next up: magician Francis Menotti.

Cool Times at the JCC

April 17, 2017 at 12:45 pm
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We had a great event on Saturday with John Nichols. Terrific writer and fascinating guy, whose work truly captures the sights, sounds, and spirit of Northern New Mexico. Lorene Mills did a wonderful job interviewing him. We should have the video up on the Jean Cocteau website soon.

And tonight, at 7pm, we have JOHN SCALZI flying in. John’s touring for his new novel, THE COLLAPSING EMPIRE, and we’re thrilled to have him.

See you at the theatre!

Authors on Video

April 10, 2017 at 4:01 pm
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We’ve been doing our author events at the Jean Cocteau Cinema since 2013, but until recently they’ve only been available to those who could attend in person.

This summer, however, in response to numerous requests, we’ve begun taping the events.

And now, for all of you who were not able to be there, we’ve uploaded some of the videos to the Jean Cocteau website. You can find them at http://jeancocteaucinema.com/exclusive-video/

There’s some fun stuff there, including my talks with Carrie Vaughn and Stephen King, our HAP & LEONARD event with Joe Lansdale, and — from last summer — the big big WILD CARDS event where an all-star lineups of Wild Cards authors try to play their characters.

Check it out.

And for those of you who ARE in New Mexico, don’t forget the events we have coming up this week: JOHN NICHOLS on April 15 and JOHN SCALZI on April 17. Reserve your books (and your seats) for those two early, if you haven’t done so already. They’re both filling up fast.

Connie Is Coming! Again!!

April 8, 2017 at 4:34 pm
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That Willis Woman is descending on Santa Fe once again!

Yes, it’s true. CONNIE WILLIS will be visiting the Jean Cocteau tomorrow (Sunday) night, to tell us all about her new novel, CROSSTALK. MELINDA SNODGRASS will be on hand as well, to interview her… and of course I’ll be hanging around, to make faces at them from the audience.

CROSSTALK is Connie’s romcom. She’ll talk about the book, about romantic comedy in general, about her favorite romcoms, about the ones that didn’t work. She’ll may talk about the Hugo Awards as well, and Donald Trump, and how much fun it is to live in The Weed State, and… well, really, anything you ask her about. We’ll be opening the floor for questions.

And then we make her sign. If you can’t be there, you can get a signed book via mailorder.

And if you CAN be there, the fun starts at 7pm.

The King of Horror

June 22, 2016 at 3:25 pm
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Here’s that video I promised.

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Enjoy.

((Those signed copies of Joe Hill’s THE FIREMAN I mentioned are available from the Jean Cocteau website, while the supply lasts. Sorry, we have no signed Stephen King books to offer)).

The King and I

June 17, 2016 at 1:40 pm
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What a great time last night in Albuquerque, at the Kiva Auditorium.

Stephen King is on tour to promote his new novel, END OF WATCH, the third and concluding volumes in his ‘Mercedes killer’ trilogy, and the good folks at Bookworks were kind enough to ask me to sit down with him for an hour of conversation.

We talked about childhood, writing, reading, naked day, the nature of evil, and rats.

Went for an hour, but we could have gone for ten. Steve’s an amazing guy, and a great writer.

(We hope to be able to offer a video soon. Watch this space).