Richard Lee Byers's Blog, page 43

I am now a professional comics writer

Today I received my first check for scripting the graphic novel I'm working on. I guess this means I am now officially a professional comics writer as well as a professional prose fiction writer. For a lifelong comics reader like me, that's pretty cool.The graphic novel in question is an adventure of the characters Basil and Moebius created by Ryan Schifrin. If you don't know Basil and Moebius, you can find out about them here:http://www.whoisthecollector.com

My updated Gen Con 2013 schedule

As I've mentioned previously, my schedule for this year's Gen Con is a work in progress. Here's the most current version:Thursday10 AM: What should I write? (Writer's Symposium programming track)11 AM: Heroes and Villains (Writer's Symposium)7 PM: A Night with Dungeons and Dragons (Wizards of the Coast programming track)Friday8 AM: Worldbuilding 101 for Writers (Writer's Symposium)Noon: Government and the Rule of Law (Writer's Symposium)Saturday8 AM Sharing Worlds (Writer's Symposium)10 AM: Horror (Writer's Symposium)11 AM: Urban fantasy (Writer's Symposium)4 PM: The Fate of the Forgotten Realms (Wizards of the Coast)

THE REAVER: THE SUNDERING BOOK IV now available for pre-order

You can now pre-order THE REAVER: THE SUNDERING BOOK IV. Check out the cool cover.http://www.amazon.com/The-Reaver-Sundering-Book-IV/dp/0786964588/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370320892&sr=8-1&keywords=the+reaver+the+sundering+book+iv

I need to say, "Thank You."

As some of you may know, Night Shade Books, publisher of my urban fantasy novel Blind God’s Bluff, has had some financial difficulties. This has resulted in Night Shade being acquired by another publisher, Skyhorse.

Night Shade authors had the option to transfer their contracts to Skyhorse. As I understand it, some chose not to. I opted in. I did so partly to increase the likelihood of sequels to Blind God’s Bluff. I hope to write those by and by.

Thanks to Mary Robinette Kowal and all of SFWA for working behind the scenes to help the deal go through in a way that was fair to the authors involved. SFWA taken some heat of late, and perhaps deservedly so, but this is a reminder of the valuable work it does on behalf of its members.

Thanks also to my agent Andrew Zack, who blogged about the deal initially offered to writers and subsequently discussed the terms with Skyhorse. He too worked to ensure that authors received fair treatment.

So did Michael A. Stackpole and others who contributed to the online discussion of the sale and what it might mean for the authors involved. Thanks to all of you.

To read more about the Night Shade/Skyhorse deal, click here:

http://io9.com/its-official-the-sale-of-night-shade-books-is-going-t-511100636

Thor: the Dark World web site

There is now a web site for Thor: the Dark World. There's not much there yet, but you may want to bookmark it and check back every once in a while:

http://marvel.com/thor#/home?LSID=4003003%7C10859501%7Cn8bgak3qmjea

I got your Star Trek right here

Love it or loathe it, Star Trek: Into Darkness makes it clear that instead of giving us stories that are completely unfamiliar, the rebooted franchise will proceed by reimagining story elements from the original ST continuity and constructing new plots around them. Now that that we know this, I have concepts for the next three films:The Enterprise travels back in time to the Big Band era to prevent the extinction of certain majestic marine animals in Star Trek: Jump, Jive, and Whale.After his orders result in an embarrassing fender bender with a Romulan bird or prey, Kirk consults the Starfleet optometrist in Star Trek: First Contacts.Chekhov's inept and interminable efforts to master what he believes to be a traditional Russian musical instrument produce tension on the bridge in Star Trek: The Accordion of Forever.Call me, J. J. Abrams!

My next convention appearance is in July at Southern Media Convention

With Oasis 26 now concluded, my next convention appearance will be in July at the Southern Media Convention in St. Petersburg, FL. I will be participating in the Brit programming track on Saturday, offering my (we can hope) insightful opinions on Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who, H. G. Wells, Ripper Street, James Bond, the Saint, etc. But if you buttonhole me when I'm not on a panel to talk about my own writing or get a book signed, it's a pretty good bet that I'll be amenable to that as well. You can find info on SoMeCon here:

http://southernmediacon.org/1801.html

Thank you, Oasis 26

Thanks to Oasis 26 for having me as a program participant. The con was great fun as always.

Brave New Kindle Worlds

"Brave New Kindle Worlds" is my new column on Airlock Alpha:

http://airlockalpha.com/node/9677/brave-new-kindle-worlds.html

Oasis 26 is here (and I am there, virtually)

I will be at Oasis 26 in Orlando this weekend. (In just a few hours, actually.)http://oasfis.org/oasis/index.php