No big news here, but it has been a week or so since my last blog post, so I thought I would say hi.\u00a0\u00a0 I am still up in the mountains, doing the social distancing rag, and writing WINDS OF WINTER.\u00a0\u00a0 I have good days and bad days, but I am making progress.<\/p>\n
Most of the world remains closed, including my theatre and bookshop, the Jean Cocteau Cinema and Beastly Books.\u00a0\u00a0 I had originally announced that we would re-examine the situation come April 15.\u00a0\u00a0 That date is now upon us, and it is obvious that I was wildly optimistic in hoping we might even consider re-opening then.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Won’t work.\u00a0\u00a0 We’re going to remain shut until JUNE 1.\u00a0 Then, once again, we will revisit the question, once we see what state the world is in.<\/p>\n
I am continuing to pay my staff during this closure, something I wish more small businesses would do.\u00a0\u00a0 Beastly Books is still selling signed books by mailorder.\u00a0 Every order helps keep us afloat, so please take a look at our offerings: https:\/\/jeancocteaucinema.com\/product-category\/signed-books\/<\/a><\/p>\n Along the same lines, though we cannot of course open our theatre to the public while coronavirus still rages, the JCC has gone virtual, and is screening new and old movies that way.\u00a0 For details on our Virtual Feature of the Week, go to https:\/\/jeancocteaucinema.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n Hollywood has largely closed down as well, at least as far as actual production is concerned.\u00a0 (If this pandemic goes on long enough, I wonder if the pipeline will go dry, and we will start to run out of new films and television shows.\u00a0 If so, sheltering in place is going to get an order of magnitude harder.\u00a0 Television right now is doing a lot to keep us all sane — and no, not the news, which has the opposite effect).\u00a0\u00a0 But while nothing is being filmed right now, development is continuing apace, since writers can still write at home.\u00a0 The only thing I am writing<\/em><\/strong> myself is THE WINDS OF WINTER, as I have said many times… but with my producer’s hat on, I am still involved in a number of exciting new shows for HBO, and a few film projects as well.\u00a0 When and if any of these make it to the screen, well, that’s always the question… but I do know that Ryan Condal and his team are roaring ahead on the scripts for HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, and that one has a full season’s order from HBO.\u00a0 As for the other stuff I may or may not be involved in, I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you all.<\/p>\n Oh, of course, I am doing a lot of reading these days.\u00a0 Rereading too.\u00a0 Some of my favorite writers are Robert A. Heinlein, Roger Zelazny, Tony Hillerman, Nnedi Okorafor, Howard Waldrop.\u00a0 Oh, and that GRRM guy did some good stuff too, before he started that fantasy series.\u00a0\u00a0 Some of his old stories might even make good movies, donchaknow.\u00a0 (No, seriously, you guys should check out DREAMSONGS.\u00a0 Signed copies available from Beastly Books).<\/p>\n I have also been trading emails with my friends down in New Zealand. \u00a0 CoNZealand, this year’s World Science Fiction Convention, has also gone virtual in response to the crisis. \u00a0 A prudent move, but a challenging one. \u00a0 As this year’s Virtual Toastmaster, I am still going to be hosting the Hugo Awards… virtually.\u00a0 That should be… interesting.\u00a0 Especially for me, since I am one of the least tech savvy guys in fandom. \u00a0 I still write my novels with WordStar 4.0 on a DOS computer, after all, and when I interface with the internet it is mainly through this blog.\u00a0 (Good thing Howard Waldrop isn’t going to be hosting.\u00a0 He still works on a manual typewriter).<\/p>\n Anyway, the Kiwis have some smart guys working for them, and they assure me everything will go fine. \u00a0 They are working out the tech now, and we hope to have several trial runs before The Big Night.\u00a0\u00a0 We are all certainly going to try to do our best.\u00a0 I expect there will be glitches and mistakes, many of them doubtless mine, but I do hope all those looking in will be patient and understanding.\u00a0 In any case, the rockets will be handed out one way or t’other, though the actual delivery may have to be entrusted to DHL or Federal Express.<\/p>\n Some cool stuff happening with WILD CARDS that I should mention.\u00a0\u00a0 Check out our Wild Cards website, if you haven’t seen it in a while.\u00a0 Lots of great content there for you to explore, including a new blog post every two weeks by a rotating cast of our amazing Wild Cards writers.\u00a0 You will find it at https:\/\/www.wildcardsworld.com\/\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n We also have a brand new Wild Cards original coming out at the end of this month from Harper Collins Voyager in the UK.\u00a0\u00a0 The title is THREE KINGS, and it’s a full mosaic,\u00a0 was edited by Melinda M. Snodgrass (yours truly assisting), and features contributions from\u00a0 Peter Newman, Peadar O’Guilin, Caroline Spector, Mary Anne Mohanraj, and Melinda herself.\u00a0 It’s a sequel to KNAVES OVER QUEENS, and like that volume it is set entirely in the British Isles and features an English and Irish cast.\u00a0\u00a0 (More on that one in a later post).<\/p>\n There’s more, of course.\u00a0\u00a0 There’s always more.\u00a0\u00a0 But this post has grown long enough, and Westeros is calling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" No big news here, but it has been a week or so since my last blog post, so I thought I would say hi.\u00a0\u00a0 I am still up in the mountains, doing the social distancing rag, and writing WINDS OF WINTER.\u00a0\u00a0 I have good days and bad days, but I am making progress. 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