Keith R.A. DeCandido's Blog, page 7

irons in the fire update

Supernatural Crimes Unit: NYPD. I have proofread the galleys for Book 1: The Thin Blue Ley-Line, and those corrections have been made. The book is on track to be on sale at the end of October as planned (please please please, preorder the book now!). The audio will be recorded by an excellent reader (not me, but the reader’s audition was magnificent) this month some time — I have to go through and vet the pronunciation guide. Don’t know yet if Blackstone will pick up the option for further books (you guys all preordering the book will help with that, ahem ahem), but I’ve written a broad outline for Book 2, which will need to be fleshed out into a chapter-by-chapter outline so I can dive right in as soon as they pick up the Book 2 option (he says, optimistically). I’ve also written a prequel story for Weird Tales #372, “The Exact Nature of Our Wrongs,” which will be out later this year. I will be doing the audio reading for this story. I’m also gonna be doing a blog post for The Strand web site about this series.

Dragon Precinct. I’m working on Dragon Precinct: Origins, the short story collection I Kickstarted earlier this year. I’ve written the stories that spotlight Torin ban Wyvald (detailing Torin’s life in Myverin before he left) and Iaian (a story of his somewhat corrupt life as a lieutenant in the Castle Guard before it was made into a policing agency). Next up is the Dru & Hawk story (which will tell the story of how they went from being guards to being detectives). I have a long overdue short story to write for Kickstarter supporters of Phoenix Precinct as well, and at some point I’ll need to write Manticore Precinct…

Original superhero novel series. This is not completely official yet, but it should be soon. I’ve been talking with a publisher about doing a series of superhero novels taking place in New York City in the 1970s. I’ve already written a prequel short story in this setting — “Order Up” in Weird Tales #371 is the origin story of one of the people in the book. More on this once the paperwork is paperworked.

Tales of Cassie Zukav, weirdness magnet. The publication of Ragnarok and a Hard Place has been delayed by personal issues being suffered by the folks at Plus One Press, but I’m hoping to have this out this year.

Signora Spada. You don’t know who this character is — but you will! She’s a 19th-century swordswoman who hires herself out as a bodyguard. She is the main character of a story I’m writing for Weird Tales #373 (the story is called “Sir Steam”), and she’ll be in each of the next two Forgotten Lore anthologies that eSpec does in conjunction with the Tell-Tale Steampunk Festival.

The Adventures of Bram Gold. I have to write a short story for Kickstarter supporters of Feat of Clay, and at some point I also have to write the as-yet-untitled Book 3 in the series. In addition, I’m going to be writing another Systema Paradoxa novella set in this milieu.

Super City Police Department. I’ve gotten the rights back to the three novellas I did for Bastei Lubbe in the mid-2010s. Through WhysperWude, we’re going to be reprinting the three of them in a single volume entitled Secret Identities. We’ll also be as reprinting my 2011 novel The Case of the Claw.

Sherlock/Shirley Holmes. Christopher D. Abbott and I have a bunch of Holmesian projects in the works including: another Eliminate the Impossible, which will have a new Shirley Holmes/Jack Watson story, a “flip book” with related Sherlock novellas by each of us (Chris did one of these with Aaron Rosenberg already), and a Sherlock novel of my own.

Star Hoppers. I have written seven novellas in this work-for-hire space opera series. Waiting to hear from the guy who hired me if he wants to still do it or not. (His original conception of the series was — he says vaguely — based on things that aren’t really a thing anymore.)

Collaborations with Dr. Munish K. Batra. Our second novel, Pigman, is still making the rounds. Meanwhile, work continues apace on the comic book adaptation of Animal. We’re not going to schedule the book until all five issues are complete. JK Woodward is working on the art for #4, and when he’s close to done, I’ll finally sit down and write the script for #5. Munish and I have another novel we want to do together, but we’re nowhere near my having the time to write that…..

Short stories. The anthology The Green Hornet & Kato: Detroit Noir City with my story “Everybody was Kung-Fu Fighting” should be published soon — waiting on the interior artwork to be finished and approved, plus I haven’t seen galleys yet. I’m going to be writing a story for the next Defending the Future military sci-fi anthology, another Ticonderoga Beck and the Stalwart Squad story for the next Thrilling Adventure Yarns anthology, and a story for the next HERitage feminist alternate-history anthology. I also might try to write a story for the next Brave New Girls charity anthology of STEM stories featuring smart girls who do science.

Tie-in novel. At present, I have no tie-in fiction under contract, which may be a first for me in my professional career. Several proposals and queries I’ve sent over the past few years have been either ignored or rejected. (There is a tie-in anthology that I’ve been asked to participate in if the deal goes through, but the deal hasn’t gone through yet…..) I do, however, have a proposal in with a publisher for a tie-in novel, but at present it’s very much a long shot.

Nonfiction. Currently for Reactor Magazine I’m doing the weekly Babylon 5 Rewatch (almost done with season 3) and weekly Star Trek: Strange New Worlds reviews for as long as season 3 runs. I’ll also be writing a couple of pieces on the Star Trek: Khan audio, a review of the first episode and an overview of the whole thing once it’s done. I also have a notion for a SNW article that I may pitch to them. Meantime, I’m obscenely behind on my Patreon TV and movie reviews. Sigh.

Mystery novel. I wrote about 25,000 words of this spec novel before it became clear that I needed to focus on work that had guaranteed money attached to it, which has been the constant refrain since I first conceived this story over a decade ago. Sigh. Maybe next year….

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’s “A Space Adventure Hour”

It’s a holodeck-gone-wrong episode that actually explains all the future holodeck-gone-wrong episodes and is funny as hell to boot — especially the original series parody The Last Frontier. My review of the latest Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode, the delightful “A Space Adventure Hour.”

An excerpt:

Much more interesting is Number One’s conversation at the end with Scotty. First of all, I love that finally this season we’re seeing Commander Chin-Riley actually being the first officer of the ship. Unlike Pike and Spock, we have no idea of what Number One’s future is, and that gives them room to play with the character. We keep being told she’s the best first officer in the fleet (most notably in the episode that highlighted her, “Ad Astra per Aspera,” also perhaps not coincidentally SNW’s best episode to date), so it’s nice to see her actually being that. In this case, she reminds Scotty—who has spent the entire episode trying to fix everything all by himself, aside from a clandestine plea for assistance from Uhura—that he’s part of a team. The reason why the Enterprise functions is because they all work together. Scotty’s own recent history as chronicled in “Hegemony” when he was the only survivor of a Gorn attack on a ship that was much smaller than Enterprise comes into play here. He was more autonomous there out of necessity, but that’s not the case here, and Number One has to remind him of that. It’s a fantastic scene, one that shows off Number One’s talents as first officer and Romijn’s talents as an actor, both of which have been criminally underused prior to this season.

ask me anything!

I’m in a mood, soooooo…….

ASK ME ANYTHING!

I will answer every question posed, but be aware that the answer might be, “I won’t/can’t answer that.”

Have at it!

a nice “retro-review” of Star Trek: A Singular Destiny

This was a pleasant surprise that popped into my Google Alerts: Over on TrekNews, Kyle Hadyniak has done a very nice “retro review” of my 2009 Star Trek novel, A Singular Destiny, the followup to David Mack’s best-selling Star Trek: Destiny trilogy.

An excerpt:

A Singular Destiny excels in its portrayal of diplomatic maneuvering and the subtle and not-so-subtle power plays that define interstellar relations at this point in the Star Trek literary universe. It’s a book that rewards careful attention, inviting the reader to piece together clues (an element the book’s cover alludes to) and anticipate the next strategic move of its various characters. For those who appreciate the intellectual depth of Star Trek‘s universe and are eager to see its non-canonical boundaries pushed, this novel is a good choice. It’s a testament to the enduring appeal of Star Trek‘s political landscape, proving that compelling storytelling doesn’t always require phaser fire but can thrive on the quiet intensity of galactic chess. 

Tuesday’s dead

The title I use for my Tuesday posts — taken from an old Cat Stevens song — is particularly appropriate, as we’ve lost three great musicians, from three radically different portions of the musical spectrum, in the last week.

Ozzy Osbourne finally lost his long battle with Parkinson’s, going out on his own terms, his last big thing in life leading a charity concert with some great musicians. I grew up in the 1980s when heavy metal was in its heyday, and that entire subgenre was pretty much created, and definitely popularized, by Osbourne and his bandmates in Black Sabbath. He was a great singer, a stupendous performer, and a huge personality, and the world is a dimmer place without his fuck-you persona.

Tom Lehrer, the satirist responsible for defining the sense of humor for several generations, died at the ripe old age of 97, having five years ago put all his work into the public domain, an act of great musical generosity. Lehrer mostly retired from songwriting and performing in the late 1960s, having decided that there was no point in satire in a world where Henry Kissinger gets a Nobel Peace Prize. (I shudder to think what he’s made of two Trump presidencies…) Having said that, one of the times he came out of retirement was to do songs about grammar for the 1970s kids show The Electric Company, which was my introduction to Lehrer’s work as a little kid. I didn’t find out about the other stuff like “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” and “The Masochism Tango” and “The Vatican Rag” and “Fight Fiercely Harvard” and “So Long, Mom (A Song for World War III)” and the rest until much later. But I did fall in love with his other work, too. He was a great voice of humor in a world that always needs it.

Finally, getting way less fanfare, is Chuck Mangione, one of the great jazz musicians of all time. His soulful hypnotic flugelhorn playing could absolutely make you cry in all the best ways. His “Feels So Good” was a radio staple when I was a kid, and every time I hear that riff, I’m ten years old…..

Rest in peace, you guys.

On my end, I had to take a pause on writing Dragon Precinct: Origins to do an intense proofread of Supernatural Crimes Unit: NYPD Book 1 to make sure everything is perfect. I’m so very happy with how this book came out, and I hope you guys have all preordered it (if not, click here to do so!)

Once that was done, I finished “The Shipment,” the Iaian story in DP:O. I’ve already finished Torin’s story, “Dispatches from Myverin,” and next up is Dru & Hawk’s story, which is called “Ambush.”

But before I start on that, I’ve got another story to write, which is due on the 5th of August. Wheeee!

Meanwhile, I’m dealing with a foot issue that has recurred. A few years ago, my right Achilles tendon was in constant pain. I was able to manage it and get it better with the help of a podiatrist. Then when I went hiking in the spring, both Achilles tendons started to hurt, the left worse than the right. I had another podiatrist appointment two weeks ago, where he gave me prescription anti-inflammatories, which have helped immensely, as did taking a week off from karate, though the feetses still ache (they don’t hurt to anywhere near the same extent, however). Today is my followup, and we’ll see what he says….

Finally, here’s three bits of music from the three folks who’ve died. Magnione doing his signature song “Feels So Good” in 1979, one of Osbourne’s final concerts earlier this year with Black Sabbath performing Osbourne’s signature song “Crazy Train,” and Lehrer doing one of my favorite songs of his, a 1967 live performance of “The Vatican Rag.”

(And yes, I know Hulk Hogan died, too, but he was a racist, sexist, union-busting piece of shit. Even Andre the Giant — who loved everyone — hated his guts. So the hell with him.)

Babylon 5 Rewatch: “Grey 17 is Missing”

Sure, the titular half of the plot is so terrible that J. Michael Straczynski is still apologizing for it three decades later, but the Ranger half of the plot is actually quite good. The Babylon 5 Rewatch finds something to like in “Grey 17 is Missing.”

An excerpt:

First of all, you’ve John Vickery being awesome as Neroon. I especially like that his argument against Delenn gaining more power is one I agree with in principle: a religious zealot gaining military and political power is a recipe for disaster. We know as viewers that Delenn doesn’t have the ambition Neroon accuses her of, but her actions are very easy to interpret that way. 

Then you’ve got Bill Mumy beautifully playing Lennier’s loyalty, as he does everything he can to save Delenn and also save face. That’s matched by Jason Carter’s dedicated Ranger. Carter’s performance here is phenomenal, modulating from amusement at Lennier’s convoluted justification for coming to him to righteous indignation and determination as soon as Lennier makes it clear that Delenn’s life is in danger. Cole’s dedication to the cause is thorough and complete, and Carter sells the character’s willingness to do the second half of the Ranger credo regarding the one.

I’m an eleven-time loser!

At San Diego Comic-Con yesterday, the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers announced the winners of the Scribe Awards, given to excellent work in licensed fiction. For the twelfth time, I was nominated for an award — in this case for Best Graphic Novel, for Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness–The Beginning.

And for the eleventh time, I didn’t win. (My one victory was in 2018 for my short story “Ganbatte” in Joe Ledger: Unstoppable.) Instead, the award went to Anthony Horowitz, Antony Johnson, and Amrit Birdi for their adaptation of the Alex Rider novel Snakehead into graphic novel form.

Here’s the full list of winners:

Best Adapted Novel: Terrifier 2: The Official Novelization by Tim WaggonerBest Audio Drama: (tie) Doctor Who: Archipelagio by Tim Foley and Star Cops: Blood Moon by James SwallowBest Graphic Novel: Alex Rider: Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz, Antony Johnson, and Amrit BirdiBest Original Novel, General: Legend of the Five Rings: A Bitter Taste by Josh ReynoldsBest Original Novel, Speculative: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Asylum by Una McCormackBest Short Story: (tie) Star Trek: The Next Generation: “Family History” by David Mack and World of Warcraft: “The Lilac and the Stone” by Catherynne ValenteBest Young Adult/Middle Grade Novel: Disney Fairies: Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft

Congrats to all the winners and condolence to all my fellow non-winners!

talkin’ The Chronic Rift on The Best Stuff in the World

I’m on the latest episode of The Best Stuff in the World, hosted by the mighty Kevin Cafferty, who talks with me and Calvin Watts III about doing public access talk shows on genre topics. I wax nostalgic about doing The Chronic Rift on the Manhattan Neighborhood Network 35 years ago, while Calvin talks about doing Star Trek: The Unofficial Fan Club and the still-running Sci-Fi Journal up in Rhode Island.

Check it out!

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’s “Shuttle to Kenfori”

It’s the SPACE ZOMBIES! episode — but despite that, it’s also a really good examination of consequences of past actions, including a fantastic guest turn by my fellow Bronx native Christine Horn. My review of the latest Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode, “Shuttle to Kenfori.”

An excerpt:

I am well and truly sick of the cliché of the maverick officer who disobeys orders because she gets shit done. In fact, disobeying orders is more likely to turn things to shit than get shit done, which is exactly what happens here. Too often, the characters get away with this insubordinate behavior because the act of disobedience turns out to be critical.

But it isn’t in this case! And I love it! I also love that there will be consequences to Ortegas for this, as she’s taken off the duty roster and has to go through chain-of-command training. I cheered when Number One announced that, because one of the more unfortunate hallmarks of Star Trek over the past nearly six decades is that nobody actually suffers consequences when they do stupid shit, whether it’s Spock committing a dozen regs violations in “The Menagerie” or Data being compromised and taking over the ship in “Brothers” or the entire senior staff of DS9 disobeying orders and going into enemy territory for no compellingly good reason in “The Die is Cast” or Archer getting command of Enterprise after doing things that should’ve gotten him kicked out of Starfleet in “First Flight.”

Babylon 5 Rewatch: “Walkabout”

Franklin wanders around downbelow and gets laid, while Sheridan tests the notion that Shadows are vulnerable to telepaths. Plus: Garibaldi gets not one, but two crowning moments of awesome, one each with Mollari and G’Kar. The Babylon 5 Rewatch goes “Walkabout.”

An excerpt:

After watching the episode with my wife, I remarked to her that it’s amazing that, even when he’s not being a doctor, Franklin makes bad medical decisions. That’s not entirely fair—James’ behavior pretty much screams “addict looking for a fix,” so it’s not a huge leap for him to think that, even though it’s so totally wrong. I like James’ wanting to spend her remaining days bringing joy to people who don’t have much of that, and no one ever went wrong letting Gimpel just sing and be awesome, but Biggs’ limitations and Franklin’s general incompetence make it hard to get one’s arms around this particular plotline.