Cooters In Atlanta

May 19, 2023 at 7:17 pm

This year’s Atlanta Film Festival was held April 20-25 in Atlanta (natch), Georgia. I was on hand, along with some friends, minions, associates, and, of course, our cooters, to present a special screening of our short film, NIGHT OF THE COOTERS, based on Howard Waldrop’s classic short story.

The film was very well received, I am pleased to report. (I do wish Howard had been on hand to enjoy the applause, but alas, he’s still in Texas and not able to travel for the present). Vincent d’Onofrio, who directed the short and starred as Sheriff Lindley, took a short break from playing the Kingpin and flew down from New York to join us.

I don’t think I have been back to Atlanta since worldcon went there, many years ago. It was great to be back. The weather was perfect. We got to enjoy a Braves game from one of the owner’s boxes, and they brought me out onto the field to the sound of the GAME OF THRONES theme to start the game by shouting “Play Ball.” (I was tempted to shout “Let’s Go Mets” instead, but (a) the Mets were not playing, and (b) the Braves fans might have stoned me to death). It was a great day for the Braves, fwiw: they won 11-0, with five home runs, and the pitcher had a no-hitter going for seven innings or so.

We stayed at the historic Clermont Hotel. The festival folk were wonderfully hospitable, and we got to visit some great old movie theatres… I have a soft spot for old movie palaces. A ballroom at the historic Fox theatre was the site of the festival’s awards presentation. Very cool.

Vincent and I were honored with a couple of awards from the festival: his was the Phoenix, and mine the Originator. We were in great company. Jimmy Carter was also presented with an award, accepted for him by one of his grandsons and Francis Ford Coppola.

Baseball games and awards are wonderful, of course, but the real highlight of the visit was getting to have dinner with Francis Ford Coppola, one of the greatest directors of this, or any other, age. A fascinating guy, and I loved our conversation. He spoke with such passion about the film he is now making that I can’t wait to see it.

Current Mood: cheerful

Tags: awards, film festivals, films, night of the cooters

Dark Winds Wins Wrangler

April 16, 2023 at 9:31 am

The Wrangler Awards have been presented annually since 1961 by the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, to honor individuals who “have made significant contributions to Western heritage through creative works in literature, music, television and film that share the great stories of the American West.”

This year’s awards were presented April 14-15. I’m very pleased to report that “Monster Slayer,” episode one of the first season of DARK WINDS on AMC, was honored as best Fictional Television Drama.

https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/collections/awards/wha/monster-slayer-dark-winds/

The episode was scripted by Graham Roland and directed by Chris Eyre, based on Tony Hillerman’s classic Joe Leaphorn/ Jim Chee detective novels (LISTENING WOMAN and PEOPLE OF DARKNESS were the main sources for our first season). Chris and Graham were among the Executive Producers for the season as well, along with Robert Redford, Tina Elmo, Vince Gerardis, Anne Hillerman, Wayne Morris, Vince Calandra, Zahn McClarnon (who also starred as Joe Leaphorn), and… yes, yours truly.

(Does this mean I need to start wearing my cowboy hats instead of Greek fisherman caps?)

Tony Hillerman was a friend, an amazing author, and a giant in the mystery genre. In Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee he created two iconic characters, and his books introduced millions of readers to the wonders of Navajo Country and the American Southwest. It was a great honor for me to have played a small part in helping to bring his stories to television. To see them so well done, and so well received, is hugely satisfying. I like to think that Tony would have been pleased as well. Zahn and Jessica and Kiowa and the rest of our cast have done such an amazing job, and Chris Eyre (who directed four of the six episodes) is one of the best directors I’ve ever worked with.

The first season on DARK WINDS ran last June on AMC. If you missed it… hey, check it out, you can still catch it streaming on AMC+.

Our second season, filmed here in New Mexico at Camel Rock Studios, and on the Navajo reservation, wrapped last month and is now in post. No date has been set yet for the season two debut, but we’re thinking June or July are most likely.

And that’s just the start. Tony wrote eighteen Leaphorn and Chee novels, and his daughter Anne has continued the series, penning eight more books since Tony’s passing. I’d love nothing better than to adapt all of them.

Tags: awards, Dark Winds, television

The Globe of Gold

April 12, 2023 at 4:36 pm

All of us at HBO and HOUSE OF THE DRAGON were thrilled when Hot D won this year’s Golden Globe Award as Best Dramatic Series. I was pretty surprised as well. It was great to be nominated, as it was in past years when GAME OF THRONES was selected as one of the finalists by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, but GOT had never won, and I did not expect that HOUSE would either. The competition was fierce.

But hey, I have seldom been more pleased to be wrong.

I was not able to attend the awards ceremony in Hollywood (I did attend some in past years, including the year when Ron Perlman won his Globe for his portrayal of Vincent on BEAUTY & THE BEAST). Milly Alcock, Emma d’Arcy, and Miguel Sapochnik were on hand to accept on behalf of the show.

The Hollywood Foreign Press and HBO were kind enough to ship the Globes to those of us who were not able to attend, however, and mine has now turned up at the Water Gardens here in Santa Fe.

(I have to say, it is one impressive trophy. Beautiful… and HEAVY. Much heavier than any other award on my shelves, even the Emmy, which is also heftier than you might think. You could bludgeon someone to death with a Globe very easily, and I am sure some cop shop will have that happen on an episode one of these days).

((Not that I would ever need to do that. My house is full of swords)).

Anyway… my thanks to the Hollywood Foreign Press, to everyone who voted for us, to our fans and viewers, and of course to the astonishing cast and crew and writing staff of HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, who brought the beast home at last.

Current Mood: happy happy

Tags: awards, hbo, House of the Dragon, television

A Globe! A Globe!!

January 11, 2023 at 2:53 pm

Here’s a post I did not expect to be writing.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON won the Golden Globe last night, as the Best Drama of 2022!

It was, of course, an honor just to be nominated, but I never expected that we would win. After all, GAME OF THRONES had been nominated five times, and had never actually taken home a Globe (Peter Dinklage did win one, as Best Supporting Actor, but never the show itself). I was in attendance at the Beverly Hilton for several of those nights, but I did not fly out to LA this time, because… well, I have a lot to do, I am way behind with much of it, and anyway, no one expected us to win. We faced some very formidable competition. THE CROWN had won twice before, so we knew how much the Hollywood Foreign Press loved that show. BETTER CALL SAUL and OZARK were both up for their final seasons, and usually a show that is bowing out gets a boost from that. Last chance, and all. And SEVERANCE was also in the category, one of the hottest new shows of the past year. Against that field, I figured we were the longest of long shots.

But when the envelope was opened, it was HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, and…

Miguel Sapochnik, Milly Alcock, and Emma D’Arcy were on hand to accept for us. Emma was also a nominee, for Best Actress, but Zendaya took that Globe, so… it was great to see them get up there. Ryan Condal could not make it, he’s off in London deep in pre-production on HotD season 2, but I know he’s as thrilled as I was. My hat is off to our amazing cast and crew; this is their Globe as well. And of course congratulations are due to all our friends at HBO, who made the show possible. Thanks as well to the Hollywood Foreign Press and everyone who voted for us… and everyone who voted for THE CROWN, SEVERANCE, OZARK, and BETTER CALL SAUL as well. Amazing shows, every one.

And thanks as well to all of you, our fans, viewers, and readers.

Dracarys.

Current Mood: excited excited

Tags: awards, House of the Dragon, television

Lords of Fantasy

July 30, 2021 at 8:55 am

The upcoming World Fantasy Convention has just announced the winners of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Awards:

MEGAN LINDHOLM and HOWARD WALDROP.

I could not possibly think of two more worthy winners.

Megan Lindholm, writing under the name Robin Hobb, is one of the premiere fantastists of the last thirty years. Her Farseer novels, featuring Fitz and the Fool, are classics of high fantasy. If you have not read them, you don’t know what you are missing. She has also done some great work under the Megan Lindholm byline, stories that fall more in the realm of urban fantasy and magic realism, just as engrossing and memorable as her epics. She was long overdue for some major recognition.

And Howard Waldrop… what can I say about Howard Waldrop? (That I have not already said in my introduction to his collection HOWARD WHO?) What can anyone say about Howard Waldrop? H’ard (as Gardner Dozois liked to call him) is one of a kind. There has never been another writer like him, in fantasy, in science fiction, in literature. Over the course of a career just as long as my own, he has only produced two novels… and one of those a collaboration… but he has turned out reams of short stories.

And WHAT short stories! “The Ugly Chickens” won the Nebula and the World Fantasy Award (a long time ago, when it was still the Howie) and lost the Hugo. A great story, but Howard has produced many other tales just as good. “Heirs of the Perisphere.” “Night of the Cooters.” “Custer’s Last Jump.” “Black as the Pit, From Pole to Pole.” “A Dozen Tough Jobs.” “Fin de Cycle.” “God’s Hooks.” “Save a Place in the Lifeboat for Me.” “Do Ya, Do Ya Wanna Dance?” “Flying Saucer Rock ‘n Roll.” “Mary-Margaret Road-Grader.” “Heart of Whitenesse.” “Ike at the Mike.” “Man-Mountain Gentian.” “Thirty Minutes Over Broadway.” Oh, and more, and more… I could go on and on.

Waldrop never writes the same story twice. He writes stories that no one else could possibly write. Funny, and sad, and whimsical, and erudite, and… words fail me, but they never fail H’ard. In a just world, he would have a dozen Nebulas and as many Hugos by now. SFWA would have named him a Grand Master ten years ago, and some worldcon would have made him its Guest of Honor. But such accolades seldom come to short story writers, no matter how singular and amazing they may be. This year’s World Fantasy Award panel of judges deserve kudos for recognizing this genius in our midst.

This year’s World Fantasy Convention will be in Montreal in early November. I hope that both Howard and Megan will be able to make it, to accept their Trees in person. I doubt that I will be able to make it myself… though I am tempted, I am so tempted… but that sound you hear will be me, applauding madly from afar.

(Oh, and watch this space. I hope to have some more exciting Howard Waldrop news soon).

Current Mood: happy happy

Tags: awards, conventions

Back to the Midwest

July 16, 2021 at 4:09 pm

I am so far behind in my Not A Blogging. This post should have been posted back in June, but… better late than never, right?

ANYWAY… I was on the road for ten days back in June, to Evanston (where I went to school, 1966-1971), Chicago (where I lived after school, 1971-1976), and Dubuque (where I taught school, 1976-1979). It was the first time I’d left home and/or cabin in a year and a half, since the start of the pandemic and the quarantine. I have to say, it was great to get away from my office chair, even if it was only for a few days.

First stop was Northwestern, and the convocation for the graduates of the Medill School of Journalism, where I was given an honorary doctorate. Professor Emeritus Roger Boye gave me a very kind introduction, and presented me with my new hood as Doctor of Humane Letters. And then it was my turn.

The Northwestern campus has changed a great deal since my days as a student, half a century ago. So has the city of Evanston. Old landmarks gone, new buildings everywhere… but still, enough remained to give me some vivid flashes of memory of years gone by and friends and lovers and teachers who changed my life and… for good or ill… helped make me the person I am today.

Thomas Wolfe said that you can’t go home again. Maybe so, but you can visit. Thank you, Northwestern. It was nice to be back, however briefly.

After Evanston, I spent a few days in Chicago, accompanied by my loyal minion, Sid. That was great as well. Of course, we had to visit Greektown for some saganaki at the Greek Islands, where I first learned to love flaming cheese while still a student at Northwestern. OPAA! OPAA! I also got to enjoy dinners with Mary Anne Mohanraj, one of my wonderful Wild Card writers, and Eve Ewing, who presented me with the Carl Sandburg Award on my last visit to Chicago, both of them amazing writers. That was fun too.

While I was in Chicago, I did an interview with the local PBS station.

Next we took to the road, across Illinois and through the scenic and historic town of Galena (Abner Marsh’s home town) to Dubuque, where I once taught journalism at Clarke College and acted as advisor to the student newspaper, the COURIER. The reason for my visit was… ah, well, no, can’t tell you that, not yet… but I got to see a few old friends, eat chili at Mulgrew’s in East Dubuque and pizza in Dubuque proper, and… take a ride on the riverboat TWILIGHT. Okay, it’s not a real steamboat, not even a paddlewheeler, but it’s a cool boat all the same, and I loved sailing down the Mississippi for a few hours. I even got to visit the pilot house and blow the whistle.

We got back home on June 23rd. It’s always nice to be back in Santa Fe and the Land of Enchantment, but I have to admit, it was great to get away for a few days.

Of course, during my ten days on the road and away from the internet, the email piled up, and I found some eight hundred letters waiting for me on my return. Which may help explain why I am weeks late in making this post, but…

That’s all for now. The woods were lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and books to write before I sleep.

Current Mood: contemplative

Tags: awards, journalism, speeches, television, writing

Rocket Time!

June 30, 2020 at 9:10 am

Worldcon is coming up in a month’s time, down in Wellington, New Zealand…

Or at least it would be, if not for the pandemic. Which New Zealand has handled splendidly, for what it’s worth. If only America had done half so well..

In any case, there will still be a CoNZealand, but it is going to be a virtual worldcon. (Which is a damned shame for all those who will miss the chance to visit New Zealand, truly one of the most beautiful countries in the world). And as CoNZealand’s toastmaster, I am going to be there… virtually… taking part from my fortress of solitude in the mountains and my theatre (now shuttered) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The toastmaster wears many hats at worldcon, but probably the single biggest part of the gig is hosting the Hugo Awards ceremony. I am going to be doing that with a combination of live streaming and pre-recorded videos, which we will (I hope I pray) edit seamlessly together. This week I have started recording some of those videos. It has been fun, if a little surreal, to be reading off the names of this year’s Hugo finalists when voting has not actually started yet. And trying to be amusing (one hopes) while talking into a camera without the feedback of laughter (or moans, boos, or soul-chilling silence) from an actual audience is challenging as well. But so it goes.

SFWA did a great job with the virtual Nebulas. (Hats off to Mary Robinette Kowal and her team). We want to make the virtual Hugos just as much fun. An evening of joy and celebration in these dark days of plague, riot, and police brutality. We all need a little laughter. I know I do.

The Kiwis are doing all they can to make Virtual CoNZealand a success. I applaud them for their efforts, and hope it all comes out splendidly. That being said, I also hope we never have to do it again. Over the last half-century, worldcon has become an enormously important part of my life, I have come to realize. I see people online — younger writers, most often — describing worldcon as a “professional conference,” and yeah, maybe, a little bit, for them… but not for me. There are professional aspects to conventions, sure, networking and promotion and all that, but for me worldcon has always been a celebration, a party, a holiday, Christmas and Thanksgiving and Halloween all rolled up in one. Most of all it is a family reunion, a place where I get to laugh and drink and share meals with old friends, meet new friends, and catch up with so many of the people I love, people I do not get to see anywhere else. So let’s work hard on that vaccine, all you docs out there; I will be at CoNZealand in spirit, but I want to be at DC in the flesh.

((And before anyone starts to panic, “oh my god he is making videos in place of writing,” OF COURSE I am still working on WINDS OF WINTER as well. That really should go without saying, yet somehow I need to say it, or someone might make stupid assumptions. I am also doing some editorial work on three new Wild Cards books, reading scripts and making notes on a couple of exciting Hollywood projects, texting with agents, editors, and friends about this and that, eating several meals a day, watching television, reading books, and from time to time using the toilet. Just because I do not mention it in every Not A Blog does not mean it is not happening)).

Current Mood: busy busy

Tags: awards, conventions, hugo awards, worldcon

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