A Day to Remember

December 21, 2024 at 8:48 am

Sometimes you CAN go home again, no matter what Tom Wolfe said. At least for a visit.

For me, home was Bayonne, New Jersey, just south of Jersey City, on a peninsula sandwiched between New York and Newark. We had I was born in Bayonne in 1948, and spent my childhood there, most of it in the federal housing projects on First Street, with the lights of Staten Island across the waters of the Kill Von Kull. Bayonne was my world until 1966, when I went off to college at Northwestern, the first time I ever went beyond the borders of Jersey and NYC (except in books and comics, of course, where I could often be found on Trantor, Barsoom or Mars, or wandering the mean streets of Gotham City).

After college, I remained in Chicago to do two years alternative service with VISTA, and a couple of additional years directing chess tournaments. My years in Iowa came after that, and finally Santa Fe in 1979. I spent time in Hollywood as well. I still had family in Jersey, though, so I returned as often as I could. Once or twice a year, most years. It was always nice to come back, see my sisters and their kids and grandkids… and remember. Bayonne has changed some over the years…the city has lost all its movie houses, and Uncle Milty’s Amusement Park where I had my first job… but the projects are still there, and Brady’s Dock, and Mary Jane Donohoe School on 5th Street… the candy store on Kelly Parkway where I bought my comic books and Ace Doubles is still there, and so is the Fifth Street Deli-Ette… oh, and Hendrickson’s Corner, and Judicke’s sprinkle Donuts…

And the public library remains… changed some, yes… but better than ever.

I remember the library. I always will.

And it would seem that the library remembers me. They have just completed some renovations, and did me the honor of naming one of the new rooms after me: the George R.R. Martin Room for Popular Fiction. To mark the occasion, they declared October 15 to be George R.R. Martin.

That is… so cool, so… so… well, words fail me. I have won a lot of awards over the course my career: Emmys and Golden Globes, Hugo Awards and Nebulas, Dragons and Bram Stokers, World Fantasy Awards, (I have lost a lot more, to be sure, but then that’s only fitting for a guy who helped found the Hugo Losers Club)… but I have never had a day before. Few have. After all, there are only 365 of them.

James (Jimmy) Davis, Bayonne’s mayor, presided over the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Old friends and new attended.

Of course, we had a great turnout from the library staff.

The library also added a wonderful mosaic dragon to its decor.

I was asked to say a few words, and was thrilled to do so. Given the circumstance I could probably have talked for hours. So many memories, so much to say. But I resisted the impulse. We shook a few hands, and then went down to Hendrickson’s Corner.

This was a very special day for me. One I will longer remember.

Current Mood: loved loved

Tags: awards, bayonne, speeches, travel

Lose One, Win One

June 29, 2024 at 7:07 am

You win some, you lose some, some get rained out.

That’s how it goes in baseball, and in the awards game as well.

VOYAGING, Raya Golden’s lovely graphic novel adaptation of “The Plague Star,” the opening novella in my Haviland Tuf series, was a finalist for this year’s Locus Award in the category of Illustrated or Art Books. The awards were presented on June 22, and, alas, we lost. (Or you might say we were “differently victorious,” as the toastmaster did at the 1998 Nebula Awards).

The winner was The CULTURE: The Drawings, by Iain M. Banks, published by Orbit in both the U.S. and U.K.

It was an honor just to be nominated. Congratulations to the winner (Iain M. Banks is terrific, by the way).

In other awards news, back in May of 2023, SFWA presented its Nebula Award for Game Writing to ELDEN RING, from Bandai Entertainment and From Software. I did the worldbuilding for that project; Hidetaka Miyazaka and his team did all the rest. We were both honored with trophies. I was not at the awards banquet, however, and in any case only one trophy was on hand for the event. That one went home to Japan, where it truly belongs.

The other Nebula was completed a few months ago, and made its way to Santa Fe just in time for our solstice party. It was presented to me on June 22… so as fate would have it, I was winning a Nebula and losing a Locus the same night, almost simultaneously.

My thanks go to SFWA, to all the members who voted for me, to all the members who did not, and to Hidetaka Miyazake and his incredible team at From Software, who made ELDEN RING the best-selling (and best) game in the world for 2022.

Oh, and about those rumors you may have heard about a feature film or television series based on ELDEN RING… I have nothing to say. Not a word, nope, not a thing, I know nothing, you never heard a peep from me, mum mum mum. What rumor?

This is my third Nebula, for what it’s worth… and the first in thirty-nine years, since “Portraits of His Children” in 1985.

I did lose quite a few in the intervening years, including the Best Novel awards for A GAME OF THRONES and A CLASH OF KINGS. (I think. Might be getting that wrong).

It’s an honor just to be nominated, though. Gardner Dozois said that, laughing, when he welcomed me into the Nebula Loser wing of the Hugo Loser Club, along about 1974.

You win some, you lose some, and some get rained out.

Current Mood: cheerful

Tags: awards, comic books, games

Awards Season

June 11, 2024 at 8:14 am

CONGRATULATIONS

to Eboni Booth, winner of this year’s Pulitzer Price for her play, “Primary Truth.”

https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/eboni-booth

Never having won a Pulitzer Prize myself, I am at a loss to explain why the medal shows Ben Franklin rather than Joseph Pulitzer, but Eboni has promised to fill me in after the ceremony. She’s an amazingly talented young playwright, and a joy to work with; when not writing and producing her prize-winning plays on- and off-Broadway, she has been kept busy by me and HBO, working on a new pilot for TEN THOUSAND SHIPS, a GAME OF THRONES spinoff about Nymeria and the Rhoynar. We’re all very excited about this one… though we’re still trying to figure out how we’re going to pay for ten thousand ships, three hundred dragons, and those giant turtles.

And CONGRATULATIONS as well to composer Kevin Kiner, who took home this year’s BMI TV/ MUSIC for his work on DARK WINDS , our Navajo Detective series on AMC, based on the novels of Tony Hillerman, and starring Zahn McClarnon, Kiowa Gordon, and Jessica Matten. It’s great to see DARK WINDS getting some awards attention at last; it’s long overdue. (Some Emmy love would be nice, hint hint, nudge nudge. The third season is shooting even now, at Camel Rock Studios north of Santa Fe, and this year we’ll have eight episodes instead of six. Meanwhile, the first two seasons are available to be binged on AMC+.

I count myself very lucky to have worked with so many talented people during my years in film and televison, from my earliest jobs in the mid 80s on TWILIGHT ZONE and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, to my current outings with HBO and AMC.

Current Mood: pleased pleased

Tags: awards, television

Women of the Press

April 22, 2024 at 4:34 pm

Last month I zipped down to the Isleta Resort south of Albuquerque for an afternoon, to deliver the keynote speech for the 75th anniversary luncheon of the New Mexico Press Women, and to receive their Courageous Communicator Award.

That was a singular honor, and one that really set me to thinking. Our world needs courageous communicators more than ever in these dark divided days, when so many people would rather silence those they disagree with than engage them in debate and discussion. I deplore that… but had I really done enough, myself, to be recognized for courageous speech?

I am not sure I have, truth be told. Yes, I’ve spoken up from time to time, on issues both large and small… but not always. It is always easier to remain silent, to stay on the sidelines and let the storms wash over you. The more I pondered, the more convinced I became that I need to do more. That we all need to do more.

I started by delivering a 45 minute keynote address, on the subject of free speech and censorship. Which, I am happy to say, was very well received (I was not entirely sure it would be).

After the luncheon plates had been cleared away and the speeches delivered, retiring NMPW president Sherri Burr handed out the awards, including the Courageous Communicator.

The text on the trophy reads, “New Mexico Press Women On the Occasion of its 75th Anniversary Bestows its COURAGEOUS COMMUNICATOR AWARD on March 15-16, 2024 to George R.R. Martin for building new worlds and creating strong, yet nuanced, women characters in his books and television shows.”

My thanks to Sherri, and to all the members of the NMWP.

Current Mood: contemplative

Tags: awards, speeches, writing

Wrangled Again!

March 23, 2024 at 3:40 pm

I am thrilled to announce that DARK WINDS has won a second Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, for the best television drama of 2024. This is the second year in a row that DARK WINDS has taken the prize.

The winning episode was “Hozho nahasdlii (Beauty is Restored),” the finale from our second season, shown last spring on AMC and AMC+. Chris Eyre directed, from a script penned by John Wirth and Graham Roland, based on the novel PEOPLE OF DARKNESS, by the late great Tony Hillerman. Zahn McClarnon starred as Joe Leaphorn, with Kiowa Gordon as Jim Chee, and Jessica Matson as Bernadette Manuelito. The producing team includes Chris, Graham, Zahn, Jim Chory, Anne Hillerman, Vince Gerardis, Tina Elmo, and me.

https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/collections/awards/wha/hozho-nahasdlii-beauty-is-restored-dark-winds/

Here’s yours truly with last year’s Wrangler. This year’s trophies will be presented in Oklahoma April 12-13.

(It’s a pretty formidable trophy, all in bronze).

Meanwhile, we are moving ahead with the third season of DARK WINDS, which will start shooting this week in Santa Fe, at the Candle Rock Studio and on location around the state. And AMC is giving us EIGHT episodes this season, rather than six as with seasons one and two! More Hillerman to savor!

If you haven’t seen DARK WINDS yet, check it out. The first two seasons are streaming on AMC+. It’s a damn fine show, and I think it’s past time Zahn McClarnon got an Emmy. Maybe next year,

Current Mood: cheerful

Tags: awards, Dark Winds, television

Eight Is Enough?

July 24, 2023 at 9:03 am

Eight is enough, they say.

But wait a minute. Who says? Okay, okay, there was that sitcom way back when, and sure, eight is enough when you’re talking children. In fact, you could even say that eight is MORE than enough… kids.

When you are talking Emmy Awards, though… well…

It’s still pretty damn good.

Nominations for the 2023 Emmy Awards were announced last week, and I am pleased and proud to report that HOUSE OF THE DRAGON racked up eight nominations:

CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A SERIES (ONE HOUR) | “The Lord of the Tides” | Catherine Goldschmidt, Director of Photography
FANTASY/SCI-FI COSTUMES | “The Heirs of the Dragon” | Jany Temime, Costume Designer; Joanna Lynch, Costume Supervisor; Katherine Burchill, Assistant Costume Designer; Paul Yeowell, Assistant Costume Designer; Rachel George, Assistant Costume Designer
PERIOD AND/OR CHARACTER MAKEUP (NON-PROSTHETIC) | “We Light The Way” | Amanda Knight, Dept. Head Makeup/Makeup Designer; Hannah Eccleston, Makeup Artist; Heather McMullen, Makeup Artist; Kashiya Hinds, Makeup Artist; Harriet Thompson, Makeup Artist; Natalie Wickens, Makeup Artist; Bonny Monger, Makeup Artist
PROSTHETIC MAKEUP | “The Lord Of The Tides” | Barrie Gower, Prosthetics Designer; Sarah Gower, Prosthetics Co-Department Head; Emma Faulkes, Key Prosthetics Artist; Duncan Jarman, Prosthetic Makeup Artist; Paula Eden, Prosthetic Makeup Artist
PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR A NARRATIVE PERIOD OR FANTASY PROGRAM (ONE HOUR OR MORE) | “The Heirs Of The Dragon” | Jim Clay, Production Designer; Dominic Masters, Supervising Art Director; Claire Nia Richards, Set Decorator
SOUND EDITING FOR A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES (ONE HOUR) | “The Black Queen” | Al Sirkett, Sound Supervisor; Paula Fairfield MPSE, Sound Designer; Adele Fletcher, Supervising ADR Editor; Tim Hands, Supervising Dialogue/Crowd Editor; Mathias Schuster, Foley Editor; David Klotz, Music Editor; Barnaby Smyth, Foley Supervisor/Artist; Timeri Duplat, Music Editor; Paula Boram, Foley Artist
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SEASON OR MOVIE | Angus Bickerton, Visual Effects Supervisor; Nikeah Forde, VFX Producer; Thomas Horton, VFX Producer; Sven Martin, VFX Supervisor; Mark Spindler, VFX Co-Supervisor; Mark Dauth, Virtual Production Supervisor; Sebastian Meszmann, VFX Producer; Mike Bell, VFX Supervisor; Tobias Graa Winblad, VFX

All those, PLUS the big one:

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES

Additionally, House of the Dragon: Inside the Episode was nominated for OUTSTANDING SHORT FORM NONFICTION OR REALITY SERIES. Which I suppose means we are up for nine Emmy Awards, not eight, but somehow this last one counts differently, so…

My congratulations to Ryan Condal, Miguel Sapochnick, and the amazing cast and crew of HOT D. They did some amazing work, and this recognition is well deserved. Come Emmy night, I hope some of them get to take home a golden lady… but win or lose, it IS an honor just to be nominated. ((No idea at this writing when that Emmy night will be. The televised ceremony is scheduled for September 18, with the technical awards a week earlier, but if the strikes have not been settled by then, there is an excellent chance everything will be pushed back to November, or even to next year.)) ((Whether that happens or not, it is unlikely that I will be attending this year’s awards. Too much to do)).

This was a record-breaking year for HBO… well, okay, a record-tying year. In addition to HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, THE LAST OF US, SUCCESSION, and THE WHITE LOTUS were also nominated as OUTSTANDING DRAMA (along with some great shows from the other networks and streamers, of course). This is only the third time in Emmy history that one network has had four different shows in the same category. CBS did it in 1973, and NBC in 1992. And now us.

As to whether eight is really enough… well, one hates to be greedy, but I would have loved to see some of our writers, directors, and actors on the final ballot as well. You don’t get to contend for Best Dramatic Series unless you have some great actors, directors, and writers working of you. Most of our team will have other shots at the prize in seasons to come, to be sure ((I lost six Emmy Awards before I won my first)), but that’s not true for Paddy Considine, alas, not unless Ryan brings King Viserys back as a White Walker — and that’s heartbreaking. My gods, his portrayal was magnificent. He earned a shelf of trophies for episode eight alone.

We are living in a Golden Age of television, though. So much great work is being done on so many shows, it is hard to keep up.

Keep watching. The best is yet to come.

Tags: awards, emmy awards, television

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