infinitydog

Over at the top-notch Star Trek news site TrekMovie.com, Robert Lyons has posted his review of my new Star Trek Vanguard novel, Precipice, which is scheduled to be released next Tuesday.  His review of the book was quite favorable; I hope it’s one that many of the book’s readers share.

For the curious, here are my favorite “money quotes” from the review:

“[A]n enjoyable and well-paced read. … [Cervantes] Quinn’s [arc] is spectacular, carving out for the reader a much deeper perspective on his past.

There are other surprises to be found between the covers of Precipice, all of them worth your time. Mack’s visit to the Taurus Reach definitely satisfies a momentary thirst, but will invoke a new hunger in the hearts of Vanguard fans who want to see more. Here’s hoping that the ‘more’ will be on its way very, very soon!”

Color me pleased.  And keep an eye on TrekMovie, because next month they’ll be reviewing my expanded version of my Star Trek Mirror Universe novel The Sorrows of Empire.

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

NEWSFLASH: read Chapter 1 of my upcoming novel Star Trek Vanguard: Precipice on TrekMovie.com.

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See and hear me talk with comic-book historian Alan Kistler about “Remakes, Reboots & Sequels” on a new episode of his web video series, Crazy Sexy Geeks! Also featured in this episode are actor-director Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica) and musician-filmmaker Rob Zombie (the new Halloween films).

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

Over the past few months since the new Star Trek movie opened, I’ve noticed a strange reaction by some of its detractors. They start by ranting that the new movie has erased all of Trek as we know it — that the timeline since the birth of James T. Kirk has been overwritten, meaning classic Star Trek as we knew it, as well as The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and their literary spin-offs “never happened.” And dadgummit, that makes the fan so MAD!

Putting aside the obvious rejoinder that this is all just fiction and none of it has ever happened, some fans try to reassure their frothing-angry peers that the characters in the new movie explicitly said the technobabble had created “an alternate reality,” which means that the Trek they know and love is still out there, intact in its own universe, and the new Star Trek is free to chart a new course in its universe.

You’d think that would make the complainers happy, to have an on-screen justification for believing the Star Trek they profess to love is alive and well. But this is what perplexes me: trying to tell them this just makes them angrier.

Like semantic olympians, they surmount one logical hurdle after another to refute this helpful explanation, digging into Star Trek canon to justify their fury, and they discount any episode (usually TNG: “Parallels”) that might contradict their rage-gasm. To paraphrase one aggrieved fan’s reply, “I don’t care — I’d rather be angry.”

So let me get this straight, Mister Furious: You could accept an explanation that would let you continue to dismiss this film you find so offensive and still “believe” in your unsullied geek religion, but you’d rather scream and stomp your feet?

There’s just no pleasing some people.

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

I had a pleasant day yesterday.

I got up early, saw my wife off to work, then made pancakes for my breakfast. After running some simple errands, I did a bit of work reviewing the copy edit on my upcoming expanded edition of Star Trek Mirror Universe: The Sorrows of Empire, and I received an e-mail from an editor about a possible new writing gig (we’ll have to see if it works out; I need to submit some writing samples to earn the job).

Around 3pm I met with Keith R.A. DeCandido and Marco Palmieri for lunch at an Irish place in midtown Manhattan. It was just a friendly get-together, though we talked shop because we couldn’t help ourselves.

After lunch, I walked up to the Barnes and Noble store on Fifth Avenue at 45th Street. I was pleased to find that they had several copies of my novel The Calling on the new fiction table at the front of the store. I asked a manager if it would be okay for me to sign copies of the book, and she graciously allowed me to do so. Then she put snazzy “autographed copy” stickers on the covers and moved them out to the front edge of the table, where they’d be more visible. So anyone in the New York area who wants a signed copy of The Calling, hurry on over to B&N on Fifth & 45th!

My next stop was Midtown Comics at 45th Street and Lexington, where I met my friend Alan Kistler to record a segment for an upcoming episode of his new web video series, Crazy Sexy Geeks, the first installment of which features Amber Benson and premieres Wednesday, August 5.

Today I’m celebrating three friends’ birthdays —the first with a brunch, the latter two belatedly with dinner and wine. And at some point I need to get back to work: I have an audition piece to write, a magazine article to draft, a copy edited ms. to finish vetting, and a new novel to start writing. August, it seems, is going to be crazy busy here at Casa Mack…

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

For the first half of this year, new and longtime fans of the Star Trek Vanguard book series were frustrated in their attempts to buy copies of the saga’s third installment, my novel Reap the Whirlwind.

The short explanation for why the book was out of stock was that two digits in the bar code had been transposed, messing up its ISBN profile and thwarting retailers’ attempts to reorder the book. I am pleased to report the error has been fixed, and Reap the Whirlwind is back in stock on Amazon.com.

So for all who have been putting off diving into the Vanguard saga because of this missing piece, the time has come: order the first four books of the Vanguard saga today — Harbinger, Summon the Thunder, Reap the Whirlwind, and Open Secrets — and be prepared when book five, Precipice, goes on sale in November.

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

Going to Ireland seems to have had an unexpected side benefit: the shifting of time zones seems to have reset my biological clock so that I am now on a more normal schedule. I got up this morning at 6:30am to see my wife off to work, then I had my coffee and started on my day.

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.

I’ve finally started to get things here at home back on track after being away all weekend at Shore Leave.

The con was a blast, as always. It was great seeing friends from around the country all in one place, and the con staff and fans at Shore Leave are some of the nicest any writer could ever be fortunate enough to meet.

I have much work to do this week: preparations before  I leave for Ireland next weekend; a novel outline to write; domestic errands to run; a guest post appearing today on the blog of my literary representatives, The Knight Agency; and whatever other crises rear their ugly heads before I’m able to catch a flight out of the country.

Enough rambling here. Time to get back to work….

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

Okay, I’ve done as I was asked and kept my opinion of the new Star Trek movie to myself until it opened. I attended a Paramount preview screening of the film in New York City on April 23 and have been cogitating on the film ever since.

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Okay, my fellow geeks — admit you want, nay, need one of these. I know I do.

From i09: Timekeeping, the Final Frontier

It’s a handmade working Star Trek clock from Etsy seller YOUgNeek.

This beautiful clear and chrome Sterling and Noble clock boasts 12 vintage classic Action Fleet Micro Machine starships, warships and other vessels. … Each Star Trek clock is YOU gNeek and one-of-a-kind.

Truly awesome.

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Just got back from a visit to my editor’s office at Pocket Books. It was a very helpful meeting; she helped me sort out some plot conundrums in my upcoming expansion of The Sorrows of Empire, and then we filled in some gaps in the story. Thanks to her, I think the new, expanded edition of this story is going to kick some serious patootie.

Now I need to feed the cats and get ready to do some barbecuing. Just for a change of pace, tonight I won’t tell you what I’m having for dinner. Because I can be mysterious like that, sometimes.

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Point your browser at BlogTalkRadio sensation NDB Radio on May 5, 2009, at 10PM EDT, 7PM PDT to hear yours truly participate in Roger Noriega’s special two-hour show devoted to the new Star Trek movie opening on May 8.

And if you want to harass me live and for posterity, call in to the show: 914-338-0314

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Every now and then something happens to remind me just how lucky I am to do what I do for a living, and to live in New York City. A few weeks ago, I had one of those moments.

On Thursday, April 2, I stopped in to the Pocket Books office to chat with my editor, Margaret Clark. Fortuitously, when I arrived at her office, there was another visitor already there: Doug Drexler, the acclaimed and Emmy-winning CGI artist.

Clockwise from left: Star Trek books editor Margaret Clark, noted CGI artist Doug Drexler, and mildly crazed-looking author David Mack. (Photo courtesy of Doug Drexler)

Many of you probably know Doug from his work on such series as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise; or, more recently, on Battlestar Galactica and Caprica.

Less well known is the fact that Doug is the artist who brings to life the amazing cover images for the Star Trek Vanguard novels. In the photo above, if you squint hard enough to give yourself eyestrain, you can almost see some details of the cover-art-in-progress for my recently completed novel, Star Trek Vanguard: Precipice.

It’s still being tweaked, but I assure you: when it’s done, it’s going to be very cool.

Mirrored from davidmack.pro/blog.