I completed the manuscript for The Flash: 100 Greatest Moments in mid-July, ahead fo schedule, and DC Comics was quick to review the manuscript. Their comments, delivered by Andrew Martino, an assistant editor who I knew long before through two different mutual acquaintances, were cogent and helpful. The manuscript is off to copy editing while […]
Last day of the summer break. My next project got delayed from starting and the editing Iwas told to expect in late July has yet to arrive. So, rather than get deepinto something else or seek out other projects, I have been noodling on anarticle not due until February. How am I spending this final […]
Last year was tough. A decade is a solid block of time. Notthat eleven years is any lighter, but doesn’t have the same psychic weight. We continue living a day at a time, often getting stopped inour tracks by music, a line from a movie, a reference overheard. All bring backmemories of Robbie. Time certainly […]
Since Christmas, I had been setting aside my summer reading,I had purchased one tome and received two others for the holiday, giving me afoundation for my summer. Whereas most people seem to prefer lighter, undemanding works for their summer pleasure, I knew that without lessons to plan and papers to grade, I could really dive […]
The Lecture Hall we used for the week-long Project-Based Learning class. Three weeks from today, I report back to St. Vincent Pallotti to begin my third year of teaching there. And yet, as this week began,I already began planning out lessons so the next few weeks will be a hybrid of relaxed summer time and […]
While sixty felt momentous last year, sixty-one feels like just another day. Yes, there are cards and tons of well-wishers on social media and trust me, it all reminds me of how many connections I have out there. Today, I am at the National Archives, part of a week-long professional development class on project-based research. […]
With all the talk of my freelance life and conventional life,I haven’t had much time to talk about domestic life. And there have been thingsgoing on since school ended in early June. First, we finally acted on our desire to fill the gap left in our lives when Ginger died last August. We had discussed […]
Shore Leave 41 was a great experience but I was left withregrets which is not how things usually shake out. First of all, the con was fun and despite more than a few ofthe regulars being absent for one reason or another, it was good to be there. As I discussed last week, we moved […]
I first came up with the idea for what has become Thrilling Adventure Yarns in late 2017. It was generated in short order when there was concern among some of the Crazy 8 Press team that one of our other books might not make the schedule. While that crisis was averted, the notion of a […]
So, come Friday night at the Meet the Pros event, I will be representedin not just Crazy 8 Press’ Thrilling Adventure Yarns, more on thattomorrow, but three other releases. eSpec’s Mike and Danielle Ackley-McPhail had some personalissues that slowed down their momentum and growing line of titles, the perilsof self-publishing, but they have gotten back […]
My love for Shore Leave has no bounds as it enters its fifth decade of existence. It has grown and prospered, evolving to meet the ever-changing needs and desires of the fans. I love how it has earned and maintained a reputation for being a fun, fan-run show where the media guests are comfortable. This […]
I’m doinga deep clean of my filing cabinet and am unearthing some things I have longsince forgotten. Among them was a copy of a chain letter that I received inJuly 1993 and actually copied and sent on to five friends. I’mflipping through it and am utterly amazed at who preceded me dating back to May1992. […]
When I haven’t been in the classroom, I have been home, at the desk, writing and editing. There have been the usual Westfield Comics columns and reviews over at ComicMix, but there have been some projects occupying my time. Back in February, the Kickstarter campaign for Thrilling Adventure Yarns came to a rousing conclusion. Since […]
It’s pretty amazing how fast three months can zip by. I havehad every intention of writing here but life keeps getting in the way so by thetime I think about writing a post, I’m worn out and resort to a shorter notationon social media. With the school year winding down, my summer goals include postinghere […]
“A re you sure you want to go that high?” Mike asked me. “Absolutely. Given what Kickstarter takes, and what my fixedcosts are, I need $4500.” “Okay, let’s see what happens.” And with that, my Quixotic campaign began, seeking $4500 toallow Thrilling Adventure Yarns makesome advance money, allowing me to buy rights to an unpublished […]
Somehow we’re already one month into 2019 and just days away from the first convention. I, along with most of Crazy 8 Press, will be at Farpoint in lovely Hunt Valley, Maryland. The big thrill for me personally is having the chance tohear and hopefully meet Wallace Shawn. While beloved for his work in The […]
I’ve often spoken of discovering comics when my mother gaveme an issue of Superman (or maybe Action) when I was six. In short order,I began devouring larger-than-life heroes in earnest. Thankfully, DC and Marvelwere able to keep up with my growing appetite and it wasn’t long before myfather convinced me to add actual books to […]
Given an odd quirk to the school calendar, I return toschool on Thursday with three days to teach before mid-terms. Given that two ofthose days will be review, that leaves a dangling day for mop up duty andgetting everyone, myself included, back into school mode. The first semester has been fulfilling and challenging andfrustrating. I […]
It hasn’t been a bad year overall. Deb and I remained relativelyhealthy as we both hit 60, celebrating with our big trip to Scotland andIceland. We saw movies and plays, visited museums and libraries, and traveled to see family and friends. Throughout the year, we’ve upgraded portions of the townhouse, notably the Master Bathroom, but […]
A parent didn’t show for a conference so I checked in with the rest of the world and discovered Stan the Man had left for Valhalla. I had wall to wall meetings until a little while ago and as I drove home, I finally had time to process his loss and his place in the […]
The tour company that booked me to interview William Shatner after screening Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan got back in touch with me in August and inquired if I’d like to interview John Cusack. He’s been touring the country since January, screening Say Anything, and then doing the same Q&A.I have admired Cusack’s […]
Time is flying.Our second quarter began October 25 and I have been meaning to reflect back on it ever since but here we are a week later and I’m finally getting to it.Given religious and national holidays, the first quarter felt long. The prolonged summer heat didn’t help, keeping kids longing to be back outdoors. […]
In 2012, as Barack Obama was completing his first term, Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom debuted on HBO. In the incendiary opening scene, Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) is asked before a college crowd to explain why America was the greatest country in the world. After the other speakers said it was because of freedom, McAvoy unloaded.After […]
One reason I have come to love living in Maryland is because each year I get to attend the Baltimore Comic-Con, a large, wonderful show about comic books. I don’t book a table so I can wander freely and visit with old friends wherever they may scattered around the convention center.I’ve become a regular and my Westfield Comics […]
The 2018-19 school year began on Tuesday and this year, I will be teaching six classes. Like last year, I have three sections of American Literature but only one section of Honors British Literature, and one section of standard British Literature, plus Journalism. Unfortunately, I had only seven students for the elective, but it lays […]
My school year was done at the beginning of June and the students report tomorrow morning for the first classes of the new school year. I’ve been back in the building since last Wednesday and will admit that I was lesson planning in bits and pieces throughout the summer.But it was also a time to […]
Most of the time, I fervently subscribe to the notion that age is merely a number. I paused at fifty, though, since reaching the half-century milestone was worthy of pause and reflection.Here I am at sixty and am taking the time once more to see where I am.As the joke goes, at least I have […]
Shore Leave 40 has come and gone. So much has been happening that my normal after action report got waylaid.The show was tremendous fun with plenty of nice touches to make it memorable. The Friday night Meet the Pros party went better than usual and all weekend long I received nice compliments on the Oral […]
When Robbie was sick, I sat with him and poured myself into work. This week, as my friends left town and Ginger began to fail, I also focused on work. It’s a useful coping mechanism.As a result, I managed to complete a few projects, clearing the decks for the moment.One was an interesting ghostwriting assignment […]
Ginger died a few minutes ago. Losing a pet never gets any easier. In fact, this time it was harder because she was my pet.I first spied her in January 2009 as I was still processing the loss of Robbie. She was a rescue, found under a porch without tags. She needed to be socialized […]
In 1981, I was working at Starlog Press and I received a call from my pal Howard Weinstein. He’d just been invited to be a guest at a new show called Shore Leave. It was their third outing and he thought I’d make a good (and cheap) guest, coming down to talk about SF movies […]
At Farpoint in 2017, we were enjoying our usual Crazy 8 Press panel, when somehow the event ended with the team agreeing to write an anthology where every author would find some gruesome way to kill our member Glenn Hauman.You have to understand, we love Glenn. But, he can’t get out of his own way […]
And just like that, the first year at St. Vincent Pallotti High School has drawn to a close. This has been finals week so all I needed to do was proctor three exams and grade the tests my five classes took. I have until Tuesday to lock the grades and will do that today or […]
Now I know how it feels to be Ed McMahon. Last night was a touch surreal, a touch magical, and most memorable.William Shatner is currently touring the country, screening Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and then chatting with a moderator for an hour or so. When I saw he was coming back in […]
There’s a lot being written about Marvel’s cinematic universe turning ten this summer. It’s a cause for celebration, especially considering their track record, and creative accomplishments. For a number of reasons, we couldn’t see Avengers: Infinity War opening weekend (6:40 p.m. this Friday), and we’re very excited to see a cinematic experience.However, this week, and […]
I was six and stuck in bed, once again suffering from bronchitis. For whatever reason, my mother thought I would like a comic book for company and brought home a Superman comic. The year was 1964 and I wish I could remember which my first comic was.What I do know is that I was hooked.The […]
On April 2, we noted the fifth anniversary of actually becoming homeowners in Maryland. However, today is the anniversary of moving in and truly living here.It’s largely been a successful transition. We still miss friends and family in Connecticut and the tristate area. We’ve noted how this distances us from Deb’s family in New Hampshire […]
Robbie entered the world thirty years ago this evening, around 11:30 at night. We were thrilled to have a son, feeling this completed the family. As with his sister, we had no idea what to expect. We obviously wanted him to thrive and be successful and we’d support him, but we weren’t going to fill […]
Sometime in April, the actual 80th anniversary of Action Comics #1 will arrive but the celebration is already underway. Last night at the Library of Congress, the Washington Post’s David Bettencourt interviewed Paul Levitz and Dan Jurgens before a few hundred interested people. Since this was nearby, I was invited to hang out with the […]
I love baseball. I wish I could throw and therefore play the game, but I grew up watching the New York Mets with dad, being taken to Old Timer’s Day for my birthday, and enjoying the entire experience.Some thirty-two years ago, Bob Rozakis invited me to join his Federal League, in the early days of […]
I have not planned to let so long pass without writing here.As usual, life gets in the way. Deb recently described me as having two jobs and I really never saw my freelance as a second job. While teaching, I always see it as a way to stay creatively engaged, stretching muscles I wouldn’t be […]
Work has been progressing on Justice League: 100 Greatest Moments, the first in a three volume set from Chartwell Books. Design work on the interiors has been continuing since I first announced the project, but now I have a DC-approved cover to show off.It’s a fine illustration of the current incarnation and should look just […]
I love having Goodreads’ Reading Challenge to help measure the kind of reading year I’ve had. I upped my challenge from 2016 to 75 and then midway through the year made a fundamental change in my comics reading.It became increasingly obvious that my comic book writing work has not been about contemporary matters so didn’t […]
We have just five days left to the first semester at school then we go into mid-terms. The transition from teaching in a public school and a private school has been an interesting one with many differences.The biggest adjustment may well be the schedule where most weeks we have a shortened teaching day to accommodate […]
You can’t buy it yet, nor is there a final cover, but over at Amazon, my next project has been posted. The title they have is The 100 Greatest Moments From The Justice League, which has since been modified to Justice League: The 100 Greatest Moments. It’s a 304-page hardcover from Chartwell Books, showing a […]
As you know, my Captain America novel has been out a week. I haven’t heard any feedback yet but I wanted to have this available to those curious to the various shout outs, references, and details. I had fun mining the Marvel mythos for people, places, and events. Hopefully, it makes for a better read […]
I first pitched a Captain America novel on October 31, 2016. The first notion was considered too political and controversial, as was the tweaked second pitch. I finally tried something entirely different and that met with approval from Marvel. A revised outline was submitted for review in January and in February, an expanded outline was […]
One reason I have failed to write here with more regularity is that I have been busy. Not only am I coming up to speed on teaching in my new environment, but I have been writing as time has permitted, tidying up old and existing projects.As a result, I thought it appropriate to update my […]
It’s hard to believe that we’re hurtling toward the end of the first quarter already. Sure, we started August 24 but wow, it feels fast.I was asked recently what it is like to teach in private school compared with public. First of all, no two private schools are identical so I can only speak about […]
I had just hit the show floor at the Baltimore Comic-Con when I received word that Marvel had approved the cover art and copy for my forthcoming Captain America novel, The Never-Ending Battle.Since covers sell the book and entice you to read it, I present it to you now.
I can’t believe so much time has passed since I last posted and for that I apologize, I’ll be talking about school next time, but right now I am excited to talk about this weekend’s Baltimore Comic-Con.I’ll be there all three days without a table to man, so will be wandering and catching up with […]
I have either one week or two days in the books depending upon how you look at things. After a long, tiring drive home Sunday, I reported for work first thing Monday. The faculty had an off-site retreat to discuss the more spiritual aspects of teaching high school students. I was, thankfully, not the only […]
I was at the first few Terrificion’s when it was a newbie and my how it has grown. After hearing how cool last year’s show was, I angled to get invited to this year’s shindig. It’s this weekend at Mohegan Sun Casino in the wilds of Connecticut.What makes this year special is that it has […]
Nine years.For whatever reason, it hangs heavy this year. Not quite the decade milestone but certainly we’re feeling it more keenly than last year. Go figure.We’ve been down in Maryland four years now and increasingly our circle of friends are people who never knew him. I’m about to work at my second school and there, […]
Thanks to Deb and accommodating friends, I have been fortunate to see more movies than usual this summer. Some of it was to decide for myself if the buzz was accurate or because I was already predisposed to go and love the film.But, there was also the new feeling of necessity. The time theaters allow […]
This morning I signed the contract and have formally joined the faculty at St. Vincent Pallotti High School. This is the school where I was a frequent substitute teaching between October and May, allowing me to get to know the students, faculty, and administration. They’re a small school compared to Owings Mills and their English […]
My Aunt Helene passed away passed away last week and while not unexpected, it still was a surprise. She died a month shy of her 91st birthday and had been in an assisted living home the last six years. We spoke infrequently but when we did talk, she relived her teaching days or talked politics, […]
Things may seem quiet on the Veil Knights front, but as it turns out, we’ve been quietly biding out time.When the dozen of us comprising Rowan Casey planned our launch, there were compelling reasons to go exclusive with Amazon’s Kindle publishing program. By going that route, we had a really strong sense of how we […]
I’m tired, plain and simple.We were away in Italy for a pilgrimage, returning on July 4 and then on the 7th, it was the Shore Leave marathon. As a result, the late nights required by the con and a special event Sunday has left me worn out.But the con was good.Shore Leave remains a fun […]
It’s hard to believe it’s time for Shore Leave 39 already. I’ve been coming steadily since SL 3 back in the early 1980s and I delight at how it has grown but retained its intimate, fan-centric experience.I’ve got a rather packed schedule along with playing emcee most of the weekend. For those attending, here’s where […]
I tend not to write here or elsewhere about current events, not because I have nothing to say, but more because I am not interested in being attacked for having an opinion that others may not agree with.That said, I am rather appalled at what is happening in America, not because of who sits in […]
This coming weekend I will be at Awesome Con, a show I’ve come to enjoy. I had to skip last year due to my graduate classes but am back. I will have a table in Artists’ Alley, selling an assortment of books and chatting with whoever stops by.Additionally, I will be moderating three panels over […]
In January 1966, I was seven years old and thrilled beyond belief when Batman debuted on ABC. I was fairly new to comics but was already drawn to the Caped Crusader and bought every wacky thing about the live-action series.West had the right vocal tone, the right demeanor so his ultra-straight portrayal worked for my […]
Once the chapter by chapter outline for Captain America; The Never-Ending Battle was approved by both Marvel Comics and Joe Books, I set myself a schedule to ensure that I could have the book done in time for at least one beta reader and still meet the June 15 deadline.I allocated 20 writing days for […]
Out today is the seventh volume in the Veil Knights saga, White Mountain Rising. As you know, Rowan Casey is pseudonym used by the dozen writers behind the series and we have been working in a very collaborative manner.Working with the team has been an education as they parse and analyze marketing ideas and sales […]
So far, keeping this year’s New Year’s Resolution has proven challenging. I had decided that in addition to whatever other writing assignment I had, I would also carve time out for at least one short story, figuring that 12 new stories by year’s end would be lovely.It hasn’t quite been working out that way.In January, […]
Between January and July, I have five different projects coming out, which makes me sound busier than I feel.We had Planet of the Apes: Tales from the Forbidden Zone kick off the year to much acclaim and (hopefully) good sales.In March, Sequart’s long awaited Bright Eyes, Ape City: Examining the Planet of the Apes Mythos.Then, […]
I have never seen a meme spread as quickly as this week’s concert guessing game where you list ten acts you’ve seen but readers have to guess which one is a lie.It did get me tripping down memory lane, thinking about all the shows I’ve seen through the years and consider myself fairly fortunate to […]
I’m into my second week at home after the long-term sub gig and I have been rather busy. As I discussed last week, I am writing a Captain America novel. Currently, I am closing in on the completing the first third of the book and might be closer to half-done by the weekend.Just announced this […]
Once I met the Marvel Super-Heroes as a series of animated adventures playing weeknights at 7 p.m. on channel 9, I quickly fell in love with them. Ever since, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor, sticking with them through great stories and downright lousy […]
I look up and realize I haven’t posted in a while.I’ve had things happening, things to talk about, and the like but the long-term substitute assignment coupled with a busy freelance side has squeezed out a lot of leisure time.We’re in the final week of my assignment, already, and it felt good to be back […]
Once upon a time, I was DC Comics’ Editorial Coordinator, responsible for overseeing lots of things including getting all the work copied and materials shipped to our talent around the world. During my tenure, I had the good fortune for having a reasonably good eye for talent and hired quite a number of people who […]
I’ve gone from being an Eagle to a temporary Titan.My former department chair teaches now at New Town High School in Owings Mills. Oddly, there are three high schools – New Torn, Owings Mills, and Franklin – within something like five miles of each other. She reached out to me three weeks ago with the […]
Hard to believe it’s already mid-February and I’m off to Timonium for my annual visit to Farpoint. While smaller than Shore Leave it is no less fun with a more intimate environment. Fewer guests and fewer fans means more time for extended conversations.I’m really excited to see Nicholas Meyer there since the last time I […]
I like to be busy. There are some stretches where time hangs heavy without an active project, and I find that I procrastinate rather than really use the time for personal projects. That’s certainly one of the reasons I resolved to write a short story a month, something to keep me focused.Then there are days […]
Way back in ancient history, the 1990s, Brian Thomsen had left his editorial post at Warner Books to go freelance where he wrote and edited and packaged collections. We struck up a friendship when he worked a mere floor above DC Comics so when he saw I was starting to sell prose, he invited me […]
Normally, I don’t bring up politics here. The few times I have, it’s been fairly clear I would like our elected officials to represent the peoples’ will and not their personal ideologies. I’ve also pushed for them to actually be in session more days out of the year.Today, I change that by talking about Betsy […]
Today is the book birthday for Planet of the Apes: Tales from the Forbidden Zone. I’m incredibly pleased with how well my story turned out and feel I am in some most excellent company.As it says over at Amazon:The 1968 Planet of the Apes film has inspired generations of authors. Now a who’s who of […]
When I took my first steps on the path to becoming a teacher, I needed to round out my undergraduate load with a handful of classes. I wound up taking several online and others at nearby Housatonic Community College. It was my first exposure to adjunct professors, the underpaid, overworked people who grabbed as many […]
I don’t usually make New Year’s Resolutions, but as I enter 2017 without a fulltime job, I realize I have many hours at my disposal to write, seek out jobs or writing assignments, and write while also waiting for Opportunity to seek me out. So, as 2016 was thankfully on its way out the door, […]
According to Goodreads, I have read and logged exactly 100 books in 2016. The Reading Challenge was set at 65 books so I am something like 154% ahead of goal.The list does not segregate graphic novels from short eBooks from massive tomes but I’m cool with that since reading is reading. Some have been required […]
This wasn’t the year I was expecting nor am I in a place I ever imagined for myself at 58 but if I have proven anything over time it’s that I can roll with the punches and keep moving.EducationIn the first part of the year, I watched my hopes for staying at Owings Mills High […]
When I was working at Starlog, I had the pleasure to interview a number of young female stars, and among that number was Carrie Fisher. She was performing on Broadway in Agnes of God and was willing to chat about the forthcoming Return of the Jedi.The interview was scheduled between performances on a Wednesday afternoon. […]
So yesterday, I hit the end of the first draft for my contribution to the Veil Knights project. Along the way, I learned some new things and have other matters to consider before I tackle a second draft.When I began drafting the novel, it was late summer/early fall and I was working strictly from notes […]
As one academic chapter closes, another beckons.On Saturday, I completed my final course in the Fairleigh Dickinson University Master’s program in Creative Writing and Literature for Educators. This began in late June 2015 and I have plowed through seven courses since then and all of a sudden, it’s over.This final one, Comedy, Satire, and Parody, […]
Last night I finished watching the final part of the CW’s DC Universe crossover event. I give the production team kudos for trying something so ambitious. The mainstream reviews fell all over themselves to praise the four-parter and the ratings were sky high so this can be seen a legitimate commercial success.It also means this […]
This was sent to me by Sarah at Personal Income, a financial management company that at least tries to talk in language most people understand. I thought it was fun and was willing to share it with the understanding that I do not endorse their services or have been paid to run this. Anyone would […]
Some of the benefits of being part of the Veil Knights collective is that I get to see how they approach not only the writing of their novels, but how they market themselves and their works. (I also have a whole host of new authors to sample in my “spare” time.) When Rowan Casey, our […]
One of the reasons I have been pushing for people to sign up for a newsletter is so when something major happens, you won’t miss the blog post. However, too few of you signed up keeping it a work in progress.As Steven Savile and I were winding down the final stages of our Sherlock Holmes […]
To the current elected members of Congress: thank you for your service.To the newly elected members of Congress: welcome, you have some serious work ahead of you.The just-concluded election cycle is a reminder that you serve as representatives of the people, from you district, your state, and your country. Superseding their will with your own […]
My family moved from Jericho in 1978 and I don’t think I have been back to visit in a good thirty years. I’ve often wanted to take the time to return, revisit where I spent ages 3-18, but there never seemed time.This weekend, though, was my 40th high school reunion and after being hit or […]
I don’t often get pushed as a writer, forced to write in styles or about subjects outside my wheelhouse. While I want to make each work better than the last, I don’t go outside my proscribed areas of comfort and/.or expertise.As a result, my few courses at Fairleigh Dickinson have been interesting experiences as each […]
It has taken far longer than I had hoped, but a number of under-the-hood modifications have been made to the website.Things I do want to call to your attention is an improved Events pages so you can keep tabs on the big doings at a glance.I also totally revamped the Bibliography, adding covers and details […]
I’ve been writing and getting published since the 1980s, but this may be the first time I have had a work reviewed in the influential Publisher’s Weekly. And yet, a few weeks after the release of Murder at Sorrow’s Crown, we get a nice capsule review. Here’s what they wrote:By making Dr. Watson a plausible active partner […]
Away from social media, I am a political guy. Regular readers may recall all the work I did as an elected official in Fairfield. Not so much (yet) in Maryland but that doesn’t mean I don’t have political opinions. I normally keep them to myself on social media, with rare exceptions.Last week was one of […]
At the end of ReDeus: Native Lands, several of the recurring characters in our Crazy 8 Press series find themselves in New York City, 2033. All the gods from all the pantheons returned to Earth twenty years earlier. New York City was neutral ground and the United Nations was now a place where the gods […]
So, the Sherlock Holmes book has been on sale for four days and we already have two sterling reviews over at Amazon and GoodReads.Check these out:Lyn writes, “I love Sherlock Holmes stories and Mr. Greenberger and Mr. Savile have truly captured the wit and meticulous wisdom of Holmes and Watson.“They kept me reading far into […]
Yesterday, Deb and I joined an army.We were among the 1100 New York Mets fans to stuff Nationals Stadium for the final matchup between the Mets and Nationals for the regular season. (We’re still expecting to see them play one another in the League Championship series.) We sat in section 107, directly behind the left […]
Followers here know that this novel has had a long, tortured birth process but, today, you can finally judge for yourself if Steve Savile and I did a good job. Titan Books has released The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Murder at Sorrow’s Crown and what follows is something we wrote for Westfield Comics back […]
I’ve been a professional writer since 1980, but I cannot recall an assignment that has been so difficult, I have literally wasted hours avoiding it.In my Writing & Critiquing Comedy, Satire, and Parody course, we kicked things off with an analysis of stand-up comedy. This required me to work with two others and brainstorm ten […]
What feels like a million years ago but was actually more like three, I was invited to be one of 117 authors to contribute essays to a book in ATB Publishing’s Outside In series. They’ve done other media properties but tackled Star Trek aiming to have this mammoth work out in time for the 50th […]
I was so preoccupied with the action at Baltimore Comic-Con, I didn’t have a chance to proper promote my forthcoming contribution to Titan Books’ Planet of the Apes prose anthology. I knew there was a title and cover being approved, but Titan announced it via 13th Dimension before editors Rich Handley and Jim Beard could […]
It’s been a wonderful but utterly exhausting last few days. The scheduling gods must have been having a laugh at my expense.Thursday kicked things off as Deb, Kate, Mike, and I attended the Bruce Springsteen show at Nationals Stadium. I’ve been going to see Bruce since December 1975 so I’ve been to over a dozen […]
Today at noon, the United States Postal Service is hosting at event at Mission New York, the 50th anniversary Star Trek convention. They will be unveiling the four commemorative stamps celebrating Gene Roddenberry’s creation.I was contacted a year ago to consult on these stamps, mostly the written material although I did offer my thoughts on […]
I’ve quickly grown fond of attending the Baltimore Comic-Con given its primary focus has remained on comics while growing slowly, but steadily. They’d added in some media guests but haven’t gone overboard and for the most part, are integral parts of the pop culture world the show celebrates.Since attending, I’ve been fortunate enough to be […]
Spurred on largely by David Mack and Kate (and a chorus of Facebook friends), I called the FBI this morning. Being mostly equidistant between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., I tried the latter first. They sent me to the Baltimore office and I spoke with an officer, noting the Russian email, the Reno, Nevada company, the […]
Recently, I signed up with three different online tutoring services, hoping to fill in my time with some local student tutoring since it appears I will be home for a while. Shortly after registering, I received word a parent wanted to communicate with me.He introduced himself and said his son Tom, 13, needed help with […]
This week my peers at Owings Mills have reported back to work and the academic year is about to get underway. I’ll miss them and the students, especially the ones I had for three years running.It’s a weird feeling after three years of routine but I have reconciled myself to this new routine. I’ve been working […]
I woke up this morning tired and somewhat sore from loading a moving truck yesterday. I worked through the usual Sunday morning routine and went upstairs to check in with the world. I saw a comment on Facebook and was slapped in the face.So much has been going on this week that I spaced on […]
This has been a nostalgic summer on a number of levels, starting with all the attention paid to the Suicide Squad. The comic has endured and been a highlight in many people’s memories. John Ostrander, Luke McDonnell, Karl Kesel, and I have previously talked about our work way back in Back Issue! #26.On his Facebook […]
When I proposed the title of Suicide Squad to John Ostrander, neither one of us knew what would happen. For all we knew, DC wouldn’t be interested. Instead, they were and it was rolled into the Legends miniseries so it would spinout, much as The Flash and Justice League would.And now, look, all three are […]
I’m taking two grad school courses this summer. One is Writing & Critiquing Fiction and its interesting being asked to write a short story without a premise or anthology theme. It was kind of freeing and also kind of scary as I not only wrote something from scratch, on deadline, but then submitted it to […]
James T. Kirk has never been focused on family. In the Prime Universe, he had a dead brother and sister-in-law and a surviving nephew but other than one episode, we never heard about them again. When Carol Marcus was pregnant, they agreed, he’d stay away and honored that until circumstances brought them together.In the Kelvin […]
I have fallen out of the blogging habit, something I mean to correct starting here.Shore Leave 38 is now a fond memory and as usual, I had a wonderful, albeit tiring, time. The show remains a fixture in the Hunt Valley Inn and it has become a gathering spot for my fellow author, many of […]
Shore Leave 38 kicks off on Friday and it will feel, once more, like a family reunion as I reconnect with my far-flung writing peers and see old friends. The schedule is chock full of panels I want to be on or sit in on, far more than time allows.Barring last minute changes, here’s my […]
While we savored National Donut Day and similar celebrations, it turns out there are some days that require a tremendous amount of work and effort. The day arrives and you find yourself competing with hundreds of thousands of others to be recognized. One such event is the National History Day, which is June 16, culminating […]
Today marks my final day at Owings Mills High School. On the one hand, I can’t believe three years have sped by so quickly. On the other, there was more I had hoped to accomplish.I have spent these years with a handful of students for two or three years straight and I am amazed at […]
The summer used to be filled with lots of convention appearances, as I represented DC or Marvel and I truly enjoyed being at the booth or out with freelancers. Many, many great memories were created during those years.These days, I make fewer appearances and tend to stay relatively local unless I’m brought out somewhere different […]
I have been exceedingly quiet here on the blog but that does not mean I have been in stasis. There has actually been a lot going on but for a variety of reasons, I have put off writing anything for public consumption.The last few weeks has been filled with a lot of planning, both my […]
I was an indifferent student until tenth grade. Before that, I had some fun teachers I got along with but for whatever reason, things began to click as I neared the end of my sophomore year.By junior year, I was a different student, engaged and active in class, pulling down some reasonable grades and actually […]
Variety broke the news on Friday that Nicholas Meyer had been signed to be a consulting producer and writer for Paramount’s new Star Trek series. I shared the news on my Facebook page because, to me, this gives me great confidence in the thinking going into the show. First you have Bryan Fuller, a proven […]
The voracious need to populate the schedules of hundreds of cable channels, streaming video services, and the silver screen has come to mean that nostalgia is being strip-mined in an effort to create enough familiar properties to attract people’s attention.Over the last few months we’ve been told that revivals of Star Trek, the Six Million […]
Back in July, I popped one of our assistant principals a note about my plans to switch our print newspaper to a digital one. At the conclusion I added that I had hoped we’d figure out a way to get me a writing lab so my journalists and creative writers could have consistent computer access. […]
Over the summer I had to write a piece imitating the style of the Object Lessons column from The Atlantic. I wrote about the vanishing use of the programming guide. Here’s a modified version for your consideration.Variety reported in August that pay-TV distributors lost 566,000 subscribers during the second quarter of 2015, which is traditionally […]
There’s been a lot of debate – and more than a little mockery – at the news this week that CBS was going to produce a new Star Trek series.About the only truly surprising thing is that it finally got announced. My understand all along had been that the CBS side of the Viacom split […]