infinitydog

So, as of yesterday it became official: the channel formerly known as SCI FI has rebranded itself as SyFy.

I think the following image sums up the change perfectly:

“You bastards! You did it! You finally went and did it!”

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

Well, I got my program schedule for Shore Leave, and it’s a train wreck, just like last year’s.

Friday, July 10

7pm–9pm: The Roast of Keith R.A. DeCandido for Charity
Hunt Ballroom — Don’t miss this rude, crude, hilarious tribute to tie-in fiction’s newest Grand Master.

10pm–Midnight: Meet the Pros
Hunt/Valley Foyer — Stop by for chit-chat and book signings with me and lots of other authors. I’ll be premiering my new original novel The Calling here 11 days before it officially goes on sale!

Saturday, July 11

No program items.  Yup, you read that right; it’s not a typo. I have nothing to do on Saturday.  Anyone want to get lunch?

I was scheduled on a “Farscape Continues” panel with Greg Cox and Keith DeCandido, but I begged off because … well, there’s no reason for me to be on that panel.

Saturday will be all about me hawking The Calling at the book-seller’s booth. I might also go off-site to see a movie.

Sunday, July 12

10am–11am: Star Trek Mirror Universe: Shards and Shadows
Salon E — A discussion with several authors of the recent Mirror Universe short-story anthology.

11am–12pm: Writing to Music – The Muse That Inspires
Hunt Ballroom — The panel’s title pretty much sums it up.

12pm–1pm: Classic Star Trek: What Gene Knew
Hunt Ballroom — This will be me, Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore, and editor Margaret Clark extolling the virtues of the original series.

1pm–2pm: Post-Destiny — Now What Will the Federation Do?
Hunt Ballroom — Speculation and vaguely informational teases about upcoming books will abound at this TrekLit panel.

The above is also not a typo; I have been scheduled for four non-stop hours of programming on Sunday morning, a time when everyone knows I’m such a joy to be around on during a convention weekend (or any other weekend).

What I find especially vexing about this is that it’s pretty much the same thing they did to me last year. Really, it’s not that hard to put a few TrekLit items on Saturday and a few on Sunday, so what the hell?

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

It’s 4:36am and I have just turned in the completed ms. of Star Trek Mirror Universe: The Sorrows of Empire (Expanded Edition). Now, to bed.

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

Breaking news from the BBC’s Earth News Bureau —

Ant mega-colony takes over world

Matt Walker
Editor, Earth News

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

It’s 3:15am and I have just finished the manuscript for the expanded edition of my previously published short novel Star Trek Mirror Universe: The Sorrows of Empire.

As TV producer Hans Beimler once said to me upon my delivery of a first-draft teleplay for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, “Great! Now the writing can begin!”

Tomorrow I shall write the acknowledgments, paste in text for “About the Author,” and begin my polishing draft and revisions. Woo, and might I add for emphasis, hoo.

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

Lots of news today!

First, check out Sci Fi Chick’s review of The Calling on her web site! The money quotes:

“The supporting characters are vivid and mysterious. … [T]here are several twists to the story, with some revelations at the end that leave it open-ended for a sequel. Here’s hoping!”

“The Calling is an exciting, dark and suspenseful urban fantasy tale. Fast-paced and thrilling, this is definitely one of my favorite original novels of the year. This is a must read for urban fantasy fans.”

Second, I’ve added pages, descriptions, and cover art on my web site for three upcoming books — The 4400: Promises Broken, Star Trek Vanguard: Precipice, and the expanded edition of Star Trek Mirror Universe: The Sorrows of Empire.

Look for more news in a couple of weeks, after Shore Leave!

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

All I’m going to say is this: How cool would it be to get an acceptance letter such as this one?

Congratulations Human, You’ve Been Accepted to Singularity University

Our curricula will challenge your mind and encourage you to ask not just questions like “Is there life on other planets?” but also “Will those creatures have sex holes?” and “How can I monetize that?”

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

Congratulations to the newest junior senator from the great state of Minnesota, Senator Al Franken!

Minn. court rules for Franken in Senate fight

Republican Norm Coleman concedes the election

About time, I say.

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

I’ve just posted the second and third chapters of The Calling, my upcoming first original novel that is scheduled for publication in a few weeks.

Here’s a short tease from Chapter 2:

“Your dog showed us why we can’t have new furniture.”

“You know, it never ceases to amaze me,” Tom said. “When Scout does something useful, like chase a raccoon out of your garden, she’s ‘our’ dog. But when she wrecks something, she instantly becomes ‘my’ dog.”

Karen scowled jokingly over her shoulder. “Your point?”

“No point,” Tom replied.

“Get used to it,” Karen said. “Same rule goes for kids.”

And here’s a brief bit from Chapter 3:

Tom jolted awake in the dead of night, all but knocked from his bed. All the prayers he’d ever heard had come to him as whispers.

This one had fallen with the force of a command.

Seven words echoed in his mind as he scrambled from bed wearing just his frayed green sweatpants.

Enjoy! And if you dig what you read, pre-order The Calling from Amazon.com while it’s on sale!

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

Lifted from @kevindilmore on Twitter: the greatest piece of film criticism ever written —

Michael Bay Finally Made An Art Movie

By Charlie Jane Anders

Here’s a taste of CJA’s incandescent critical brilliance:

LaBoeuf projects a pathetic, wall-eyed dorkhood, when he’s not babbling like a tumor removed from Woody Allen’s prostate that somehow achieved sentience.

And then there’s this gem:

Transformers: ROTF is so long, you’ll need to wear adult diapers to it. But the movie’s pure celebration of the primal urge, and unfiltered living, will make you rejoice in your adult diapers. You’ll relieve yourself in your seat with a savage joy, your barbaric yawp blending in with the crowd’s screams of excitement.

If there were a Pulitzer prize for Sarcasm, I’d say Charlie Jane Anders just earned it. Brava!

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

It all started with a linen jacket.

Years ago I bought a cheap but very comfortable linen sportcoat at The GAP. It wasn’t fancy, but I liked it. I got to wear it maybe a dozen times or so that I recall. Then something nasty and sticky and red — maybe barbecue sauce, maybe ketchup, maybe the blood of inspiration trickling from my forehead — stained the front right flap.

Despite efforts to have the stain removed by professional cleaners, the jacket never came clean. I suspect the first cleaner might have treated the stain improperly and ended up setting it rather than removing it.

Since then I have often lamented my ruined linen jacket. A few days ago, I became determined to replace it before the Shore Leave convention.

When my wife heard that I planned to go to Macy’s on a shopping expedition to find a new linen jacket, she recommended that our friend (and next-door neighbor) Brenda go with me. Brenda works for a company that makes costumes and suits for Broadway shows. She is a professional shopper, costume-maker, and dresser of people. I felt fortunate to have her along to guide my search.

We met this evening at 5pm in the Manhattan branch of Macy’s. We got home at around 10pm after a second excursion to the Queens Mall branch of the store.

I found my new linen jacket. Sort of. It’s 70% wool, 20% silk, and 10% linen. But it feels right, and it looks right. It was such a great jacket, I actually bought two, so that I would keep one as a spare.

Of course, thanks to Brenda’s expert counsel, I also returned home with a new Ralph Lauren black suit; a DKNY black sportcoat with a subtle black-on-black pinstripe that catches the light beautifully; and two new dress shirts with French cuffs that will necessitate a future purchase of cufflinks (something to help my wife round out her shopping list come Yule.)

I guess I should count myself fortunate that we managed to avoid buying me any new shoes.

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

It’s funny, the way one’s concept of entitlements changes when one becomes one’s own boss.

When I worked for large companies, I strove to take as few sick days as possible, and never for frivolous purposes. If, however, I awoke one morning and was legitimately sick, I did not hesitate to make proper use of my paid sick leave. I never felt guilty about it; taking a day to recover so that I could return to work as soon as possible made sense.

Now that I am self-employed, however, I detest taking sick days. I think of them as “lost time,” “wasted days” that interfere with my ability to meet my deadlines. Sometimes I try to push through my discomfort and write anyway. Every now and then it works.

Today was not one of those days. I awoke sick to my stomach, my head throbbing with pain. All day I’ve been taking pain relievers and antacids, trying to calm my gut and clear my thoughts enough to work. No dice.

Midnight approaches. I’ll have to accept today as a lost day. And I hate that.

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

After being up until the wee hours writing, then rousing myself briefly from 6:30am to 7:00am to help my wife get ready for work, I finally rolled out of bed at 10:30am, shaved, and took a shower.

Exciting, I know.

Then I grabbed a quick breakfast of cereal and coffee, after which I hurried out of the apartment. I took the subway into Manhattan and got my hair cut by my usual stylist around 1:00pm. By 1:45pm I was at my publisher’s office, picking up a few early copies of my new novel, The Calling.

To answer those who inquired recently, the cover has a matte finish, which was my preference. I think the book is darned snazzy-looking, and I’m grateful to all who worked to make it so — especially the cover artist, Cliff Nielsen, designer Alan Dingman, headshot photographer Dave Cross, and editors Marco Palmieri and Jennifer Heddle.

Books in hand, I returned to my neighborhood for a dentist’s appointment at 2:45pm. No cavities, no problems — way to go, teeth and gums!

Now I’m home, sorting through the day’s mail and decompressing before I start on this day’s batch of pages.

And I am mildly distracted by the stink of rotting vegetables, which my wife insisted on saving for our neighbor’s compost pile but that are now sitting on our kitchen table and decomposing in the humid summer air.

Ain’t life grand?

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

Snurched from the LiveJournal of Keith R.A. DeCandido, who snicked it from Neil Gaiman’s blog.

Christian group sues for right to burn gay teen novel

Rather than get into a big lather over the symbolism of book-burning, I’ll simply say that while I object to the group’s decision to sue for the right to burn a book from a public library, I would whole-heartedly support their right to buy as many copies of the book as possible and burn those.

Basically, I see it as the difference between destroying public property (a library book) and applying for a fire permit to burn one’s own property.

In fact, I support their right so fervently that I’d like to invite the suit’s plaintiffs, the Christian Civil Liberties Union, to place a massive bulk order for my upcoming original novel, The Calling, which I’m sure will have something in it to offend them. Bad language and violence for certain; perhaps heresy or blasphemy will get their dander up.

To produce a really bright, tall bonfire that will make a statement, I think they should preorder 10,416 copies of my book, and then hold a press conference before they burn them in front of TV news crews and other members of the press.

C’mon, guys. I’m begging you. Please purchase and burn 10,416 copies of my novel. That kind of publicity will really teach me a lesson.

Bulk orders (which are eligible for discount prices) of The Calling can be placed by calling Simon & Schuster’s special sales division at 1-800-456-6798, or via e-mail to business@simonandschuster.com — remember to request it using its ISBN-13 Number: 978-1416579922.

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

Snurched from the LiveJournal of Dayton Ward —

The regular updates on Doug Drexler’s blog continue to wow me. Among his latest posts are cool on-set photos from the set of Battlestar Galactica’s combat information center, or CIC; and a high-definition CGI render of the classic Enterprise that he and his associates had prepared in the hope that it might be used in the new Star Trek film.

Alas, Doug’s vision of the Enterprise didn’t make it into the new feature film, but it makes a lovely wallpaper:

Full resolution: 1280 x 800 pixels

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

If you enjoy intelligent stories about vampires, I strongly recommend you rent the Swedish feature film Let the Right One In.

Based on a bestselling novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, it follows Oskar, a sensitive 12-year-old boy who is a constant victim of bullies at his school, and Eli, a dark and serious girl who moves in to the apartment next to his and who comes out only at night.  Her arrival coincides with a series of gruesome murders and mysterious disappearances, but even as Oskar begins to suspect what Eli really is, he cannot forsake her. Despite knowing she is a monster … he loves her.

This was possibly one of the best treatments of vampire lore in a film that I have ever seen. I strongly recommend that you rent and/or buy this film at your earliest opportunity.

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

Part 55: “The Pitch Meeting”

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

At the risk of jinxing it (knock on wood), and because some of my friends have recently endured sad pet-related life events, I just thought I’d share some good news about my seventeen-year-old feline companion, Ripley.

She had her semi-annual checkup (with full blood profile, etc.) on Monday, and I’m happy to say my sweet ol’ girl is in pretty good health for a cat her age.

For the past three years or so, she has been taking a steroid called prednisone to relieve her arthritis and the pain of her hip dysplasia. The drug can sometimes cause complications with an animal’s organ functions, so its effects need to be monitored at regular intervals.

Well, so far so good (and knock on dense plant fiber again). All her blood chemistry tested as optimal; her mobility, strength, and weight are good; her teeth and gums are healthy; her appetite is good; etc.

Here’s hoping the ol’ girl has a lot of high-quality life left in her.

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

As many of my friends and some of my readers know, I like to collect movie and television soundtracks. I listen to them to set a mood and achieve the right frame of mind while writing.

Recently, for a project I was working on, I rectified a long-standing gap in my collection. I purchased some of the soundtracks from episodes of the original Star Trek TV series.

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.