Tracy Hickman's Blog, page 9

We Sing the Ideal

Laura and I have been watching the ABC television series 'Once Upon a Time' here in the United States. It is about an Evil Queen in a fantasy world filled with fairytale characters all of whom she curses with the most terrible of magical spells … condemning them to live their lives in our reality and not remembering their true, better selves.

It is, indeed, a terrible curse.

The conflict between what we desire — our fantasies — and what we perceive as real has been a long standing one. Recently, Laura and I watched the traditional holiday movie 'Miracle on 34th Street.' Avoid the modern version, the only true Santa Claus is found in the 1947 version with Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O'Hara, John, Payne and the perfect Natalie Wood. The curse is found here, too, in Maureen O'Hara's character of Doris Walker when she addresses John Payne's Fred Gailey on the subject.

WALKER: But I think there is harm. I tell her Santa Claus is a myth, you bring her here… and she sees hundreds of gullible children… meets a very convincing old man with real whiskers. This sets up a very harmful mental conflict within her. What is she going to think? Who is she going to believe? And by filling them full of fairy tales… they grow up considering life a fantasy instead of a reality. They keep waiting for Prince Charming to come along. And when he does, he turns out to be a…

GAILEY: We were talking about Suzie, not about you.

Mrs. Walker is condemned to live her life within the confines of her own perception of reality … and only comes alive when she takes off these blinders and considers being open to something more and find hope once more.

As a writer, I've come to believe that there are there is apparent truth and desired truth. Reality, I believe, is found in both but not fully explored or understood by either.

We think of apparent truth as reality but what is apparent isn't always real. It was apparently true to the ancients that the world was flat. Science has down through the ages changed its perspective, broadened its understanding of the universe and, with each new perspective, the apparent truth of yesterday is replaced by the apparent truth of today. Reality has not been altered but our perspective on it has changed. Consider that science, in order to progress beyond our current understanding, must accept that it does not yet have a complete perspective on reality — and so our apparent truth of today is incomplete. 'Here be dragons' continues to lurk beyond our apparent understanding.

Desired truth is not just a wish … it is a hope for a reality that is better than the one which is apparent. Desired truth acknowledges that there is an ideal to be achieved beyond the imperfect trappings of our perceived reality.

Some men see things as they are and say why – I dream things that never were and say why not.

– George Bernard Shaw

A friend of mine was speaking a few days ago about our church hymns. He said, "We don't sing about what's real … we sing the ideal." That thought has stayed with me these last few days. We are coming into the holiday season with a day of Thanksgiving and the many religious holiday celebrations in December. It has made me reflect on the purpose I have in writing.

There are many, I know, who believe that our literature should be about the reality — I would say 'apparent truth' — of our existence and should reflect who we are in honest examination. I believe that is only partially true; we should examine the apparent truth of our lives but we must do more than just wallow in our sorrows, inhumanity to man or the bleakness of troubled economic times. I believe that the real value in the written word comes not in our apparent truth but in our desired truth — in telling us not who we are but who we can become.

One of my favorite poems is by Robert Frost written in 1947. It's called 'Choose Something Like a Star' and it is about our desire to understand and how we are inspired to rise above ourselves.

O Star (the fairest one in sight),

We grant your loftiness the right

To some obscurity of cloud –

It will not do to say of night,

Since dark is what brings out your light.

Some mystery becomes the proud.

But to be wholly taciturn

In your reserve is not allowed.

Say something to us we can learn

By heart and when alone repeat.

Say something! And it says "I burn."

But say with what degree of heat.

Talk Fahrenheit, talk Centigrade.

Use language we can comprehend.

Tell us what elements you blend.

It gives us strangely little aid,

But does tell something in the end.

And steadfast as Keats' Eremite,

Not even stooping from its sphere,

It asks a little of us here.

It asks of us a certain height,

So when at times the mob is swayed

To carry praise or blame too far,

We may choose something like a star

To stay our minds on and be staid.

Story, as Joseph Campbell saw it, exists not so much to tell us who we are as to show us who we should be.

We may write what is real … but when we do, let us be sure to sing the ideal.

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Will the Real Vampire Please Stay Dead?

The Vampire has always been with us. It is found in the writings of the Babylonians anciently and is thought to date even to prehistoric times. They are usually described as sub-human or rotting corpses wishing to drink the blood of cattle or humans or whatever seemed to be a convenient walking food source.

The myth grew up in the early 1800's when the first sophisticated vampire sprang to un-life. He was born of the unholy union of lurid-living and the need for quick cash.  The parent was John William Polidori, a young doctor, and the traveling companion of scandal incarnate; the poet, Lord Byron. Byron was described by a mistress, Caroline Lamb, as "Mad, Bad and Dangerous to know."

Polidori was supposed to write out his memoirs of his travels with Byron and send them to the publishers.  But instead, after his travels with Byron were at an end, he wrote a fictional piece.

The Story that Polidori wrote called 'The Vampyre', is loosely based on a character from the abandoned story by Byron, called 'Fragment of a Novel'.  When Polidori's book was first published, it was accredited to Byron, and though Byron tried to dispel the rumor, it persisted.

This work is the first popularization of the sophisticated Gentleman-Vampire.  Did Polidori, write it to give shape to Byron's monstrous behavior? Had the unspeakable found a voice?  If so, then we find subject matter couched politely in the vampire genre fiction that is truly frightening above all else; man's inhumanity to man.

Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' was published in 1897.  Here is an even more polished vampire.  Here is the blood-sucking gentleman-of-the-manor in full bloom. Slick. Handsome.  Good with the ladies.   It is   thought the story is sub-textually about the abuse of women in the Victorian Era culture as well as other sociological problems of the day.  Victorian's loved wild Gothic adventure stories and the genre called Invasion Literature.  Interestingly, Dracula though highly praised was not an overnight success.  It was not until it flickered onto the silver screen many years later that it surged in popularity and is now iconic.

Vampires remain in the popular culture, unchanged and unrepentant in nature.  They all want living blood.  They are all users and abusers.  Bad boys to the last, they claim they can't help themselves.  It's there nature. Right.

Don't get me wrong. I love a good vampire, especially a dead one.  (Just like Strahd at the end of Ravenloft). I say give the poor fellow the relief he needs and deserves.

So get that garlic around your neck, hold up that mirror a little higher and stand by with the wooden stakes.  Oh wait, here comes the morning sun… This is gonna be easy.

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War on Horror

It is that haunting time of year. October brings with it a heightened interest in the macabre. My daughter, Tasha, is currently moonlighting (a somehow appropriate term) in a local 'Haunted Circus' attraction in our community where tents and an unending chain of connected semi trailers — sort of a portable haunted house — are sending sought after thrills and chills up and down spines of all ages.

A haunted circus is appropriate. Bill Tancer analyzed the most frequent online search queries that involved the phrase, "fear of…". His top ten list of fears consisted of flying, heights, clowns, intimacy, death, rejection, people, snakes, success, and driving. By my estimation, then, a hot-air circus zeppelin filled with love-seeking zombies covered in snakes who refuse to date victims with money and expensive cars might be a big hit.

The truth is that it isn't about fear; it's about horror, terror and suspense … and the proper engineering that elicits a thrilling response.

Horror and terror are related concepts in literature and film. Terror refers to the feeling of dread that we have anticipating and preceding a horrifying experience or event. Horror itself, on the other hand, refers to the feeling of revulsion that we feel after we've witnessed something frightening or revolting. It include 'awful realization' of the significance of the fearful event. Basically, terror anticipates the fearful event while horror reflects on it afterward. According to Devendra Varma in The Gothic Flame (1966):

The difference between Terror and Horror is the difference between awful apprehension and sickening realization: between the smell of death and stumbling against a corpse.

Suspense, however, is a more complex achievement. Suspense deals with anxiety about the outcome of actions. We in the audience see the choices that the characters are making and experience suspense as we become anxious over the results that these decisions portend.

Horror and Terror are concerned with the effect while suspense focuses on the causes.

What all this has led me to is to contemplate the misuse of the term 'War on Terror.'

It seems to me that the emotionally-charged term terrorism (as we know it today) is not about terror at all: while we dread the possibility of future acts of terrorism these events are, by their very nature, unpredictable (or we would have stopped them) and only effective AFTER the fact. It is our contemplation of the after effects of these horrific acts of violence that gives them any power. Therefore, by definition, they are not so much acts of terrorism as acts of 'horrorism' doing something that will cause fear after the fact.

While this may seem like a trivial exercise in semantics … and I'll admit that the phrase 'War on Horror' isn't nearly as catchy as 'War on Terror' … the distinction leads us to an important distinction. For over a decade now, the citizens of the United States have been waging a 'War on Terror' by projecting military might to the furthest reaches of the globe — filled with dread over the mere possibility of another horrific event. But on reflection, I think we have really been waging a 'War on Horror' — so filled with dreadful reflection on the truly horrific events of 9/11 — that we have lost the belief in our own future, disillusioned by our own government and plundered by the very institutions — Wall Street and Banks — to which we looked to provide financial security and prosperity.

We are distracted overseas about terror when we need to deal with the horror at home.

I propose that we fight this War on Horror instead. If our house seems haunted and we think there's a killer in the basement then it's time we turn on the lights, get rid of the shadows and the secrets and don't let anyone get separated form the group or leave anyone behind. If we absolutely have to face the monster in the basement, let's do it together with every pitch fork, axe, shotgun, crucifix and preferably a large canister of liquid nitrogen if that's what it takes.

We need to win this 'War on Horror' in our lives with joy, hope, determination and the faith that good people of differing views can come up with solutions to our problems if they are less interested in protecting their brooding castle of didactic ideologies than forwarding the good of all.

We all like a good horror movie now and then … but no one wants to live in one.

 

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When a Dancer Falls

The beautiful woman on the left. I'd like to introduce you to her … her name is Laurie Payne.

Laurie was born with a passion for the arts. She received a BA from BYU in Theatre Secondary Ed, with a Dance Teaching Minor. She grew up performing and learning stage craft under the mentoring of Jerry Elison and Syd Riggs. Her vocal background includes 10 years of vocal training with Gayle Lockwood and Marilyn Rudolph. Favorite acting roles include Aldonza in Man of La Mancha with Robert Peterson, The Baker's Wife in Into the Woods, and Nellie Forbush in South Pacific opposite her husband Marvin Payne at Sundance Theater, where she played principle roles for several seasons. She has performed with Marvin in his two person musical comedy Wedlocked, and co-directed with him in pioneer musical Trail of Dreams.  Currently, she has been following in the footsteps of her mother, the magical Joan Koralewski, teaching dance to children. Laurie was raised on ballet and the Virginia Tanner philosophy of dance and learning, and is teaching for BYU's Children's Creative Dance program. Laurie was looking very much forward to teaching acting at RMTA – doing what she cares about most: igniting a love of learning in young people and helping them discover the very best in them at the On Broadway Music Theater Academy in American Fork, Utah.

Laurie is married to Marvin Payne. Marvin is an actor, author, playwright, songwriter, and recording artist. He has released eighteen albums of original songs, has co-authored seven widely-produced musical plays, and a folk oratorio that has enjoyed ninety separate productions. He has acted professionally in about forty films (Disney, PBS, the major networks, a Heartland Award winner, etc.), about forty plays, and over a hundred audio adventures for children.  Marvin lives in a cabin with his lovely singing actress wife Laurie, magical daughter Caitlin Willow, atomic John Riley, and funny five-year-old Adwen Lea. For fun, he rambles long distances in the Wasatch mountains rehearsing lines to vast audiences of bewildered squirrels.

Now, I have been listening to Marvin Payne's music since the 1970′s. His 'Planemaker' album was cherished by me and still makes me tear up. In recent years, I've gotten to know Marvin and Laurie more personally and we've all been trying for months now to get together, burn something on the grill and spend an evening together.

Last week, that changed… when Marvin found his dear wife lying still on the floor, her heart and breathing stopped by an arrhythmia. The songs, dance and artistry all seemed to have come to an end.

But extraordinary measures and new techniques were employed — including an abundance of miracles — and somehow Laurie came back to us. It will be a long road, a difficult road and … because of the world in which we live today … an expensive road.

Artists, musicians, authors … we of the tribe of 'the makers' … are almost always self-employed. In America today that almost always means without adequate insurance if we have any at all.

So, next Monday, September 26th, at 6:00pm, Laura and I will be Timberline Jr. High in Alpine to hear great entertainment and to benefit the great cause of these good friends. There will be a silent auction held at 6:00 pm (including items donated by Laura and me) and a concert at 7:00 pm. Performers include Sam Payne, former Young Ambassadors, Marvin Payne, violinist April Moriarty and Todd McCabe, On Broadway Academy Companies, Utah Glee Club, The Dance Conservatory, and the Alpine Community Theater.  If you are anywhere near the Provo/Salt Lake City area, I personally urge you to purchase tickets and come out to support this cause. 100% of the proceeds from the concert and the auction will go directly to Laurie's medical costs.

If you are too far away to help these good people in person … please go to the ticket page, scroll down and make a donation. ALL donations are tax deductible and go 100% to Laurie's medical expenses.

Come join Laura and I in supporting the talented artists in their moment of need.

Sometimes it takes a little help from each of us to lift the dancer to her feet once more.

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Dragon*Con 2011 Report

Well, Laura and I are both home from Dragon*con … the amazing and sometimes frightening convention in Atlanta, Georgia held over every Labor Day Weekend. It was something of a miraculous event for us this year, marking our return after several years absence.

Thursday, September 1st

Laura and I started the day early, rushing to get to the airport on time. We had previously mailed to ourselves at our destination hotel in Atlanta two boxes from Indianapolis, Indiana and one box from our home in South Jordan, Utah. The Indianapolis boxes were from our GENCON appearance (where our Kokomo crew kept them for us rather than ship them back to Utah and then have to ship them to Atlanta) while the additional box contained some additional 'Eventide' books. Since airlines have decided to charge for everything including the nuts on their flights, it's cheaper to send these things ahead via UPS or FedEx Ground than to pack trunks of them in luggage. The downside is, of course, that with two separate shipments of three boxes AND us coming to the hotel all at the same time … there was some question as to whether we would all arrive in the same place at the same time.

View from our room — floor 70!

At the airport I realized once again how we had lost the War on Terror … as I trudged through the Kafka-esque process of getting through Homeland Security and its moment at the end where I must hold my ticket in one hand, my ID in my second hand and my belt-less pants up with my third hand while allowing myself to be unconstitutionally search and scanned. Air travel was once exciting and fun … it has now become a dystopian reenactment of 'Metropolis.' We flew to Houston, foregoing purchasing a 'snack box' and managing to survive only on a half can of Coke Zero, ice and our own snacks packed by the resourceful Laura. George Bush International Airport in Houston, however, offered us immediate solace in the form of a Pappadeaux Seafood restaurant. A little Andouille Sausage and Seafood Gumbo and a shared plate of Shrimp Etouffee and we were set for the rest of the day, walking onto our flight just as it was ready to leave.

We arrived exactly on time in Atlanta, worked things out with the Dragon*Con transportation representatives and were on our way to our hotel along with Michael Stackpole, renown author in his own right and another pioneer in the field of e-publishing.

Much to our amazement, every one of the boxes we had shipped from various locations around the country had arrived and were waiting for us. It was a great omen for an incredible weekend to come.

Friday, September 2nd

It's Killer Breakfast time! Laura and I emptied one of our suitcases and packed it full of Killer Breakfast materials then, madly, set off in search of a Kinkos where we could print out copies of the character sheets. This turned out to be four blocks in the wrong direction. Eventually feeling the weight of the roller back behind us we staggered into the Killer Breakfast room in the Hilton. There we were delighted to be surprised by Richard Garriott. I first met Richard at Dragon*con twenty-five years before and it was great to see him again. Richard is perhaps better known to you as 'Lord British' from his Ultima computer games and, more recently, from his incredible adventure flying into orbit aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and spending ten days on the International Space Station.

The crowd was already lined up outside the conference room when we arrived and after getting all the equipment properly placed and checked out, we brought them in. Richard graciously agreed to help us with the opening part of the performance as Laura and I launched into 'Phantoms of the Ravenloft.'

This year's performance included a tavern in Barovia complete with storm troupers (players begging them to shoot AT them since storm troupers never hit what they are aiming for) and the crash landing by Richard of a Soyuz spacecraft on top of the tavern. There was yet another encounter with Zombies Anonymous (Zomanon) and a rather exciting and confused piece of dungeon crawling through the 'Hall of Silence.'

Laura also got to sing her rendition of 'Don't Kill Me Now Dungeonmaster' and run the game show 'The Dying Game'.

That afternoon I performed a reading from 'Eventide'. This was by acclamation from the audience who, I was surprised, wanted to hear this gentle tale over selections from my upcoming Batman novel. You can watch this reading here if you like…

Tracy Hickman reading at DragonCon from tyanna taylor on Vimeo.

After the reading, I sold all the copies of 'Eventide' that I had carried with me to the signing … and even promised one more to a wonderfully patient woman for the next day. This made me late for my scheduled  World Building Panel with Jason Bulmahn of the Pathfinder RPG from Paizo and with Mike Capps with Epic Games — creator of the Unreal Engine for computer games. It was a heady experience being on a panel with both of these fabulous creatives.

What could have made the day absolutely perfect for Laura and me? That would be an elegant dinner with Richard Garriott which was one of the most enjoyable evenings we had experienced in a long time. Perfect day.

Saturday, September 3rd



Kaylee Dress and me!

Up early and a good thing as Laura bravely blazed a path through the packed crowds lining the street for the Dragon*con parade. This so that I could get to an autographing session being held DURING the parade. Not the best of timing for that exhibit booth signing.

This, however, was followed by our official signing … and what a wonderful signing that was! So many great fans coming by … and suddenly Laura and I had run out of Eventide novels AGAIN. Laura rushed back to the room (literally) that was several blocks away and brought back every copy we had left. Only two remained by the time we were finished … and a good thing since I still owed that nice woman from the day before!

Many of our fans came in costume … and this was our favorite and most incredible costumes I think I have ever seen…

After the incredible autographing session we were — again — late for our Old School D&D Seminar. Richard Garriott had come to watch the seminar … and we found him there running it for us when we arrived and joining us on the panel. That's absolutely appropriate since Richard is very much an Old School D&D man himself. After the panel, Laura and I connected with the woman from the previous day and finally got her the book she had been trying to buy for two days. We even sold the last of our books … and sadly had to turn away a final fan.

Then came our XDM seminar with Howard Taylor — which was so crowded that Laura had to give up her seat to a fan and LEAVE THE ROOM! Then came the rush to get to the writer's seminar in the Hyatt on Characters that Come to Life. This turned out to be with Eugie Foster, John D. Ringo, Lynn Abbey, Nancy Holder and a surprise moderator … me.

Pressed again for time, Laura and I went straight from this seminar to the Awards Banquet. There was saw William Shatner receive two separate awards. (Laura and I sat at the table kitty-corner from his — we felt so cool!) Then James Darren came onstage and sang three remarkably great numbers. He had starred in the Time Tunnel, 'T.J. Hooker' with William Shatner and had even been a hologram on DS9. The many really still has a great set of pipes!

So, how was Dragon*Con? I was SHINY!

 

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Forum for Creativity

It's time we talked … or at least time we enter into a conversation!

Laura and I are proud to introduce our shiny new forums right here on our Tracy Hickman website. While we have administered forums specifically for our Scribe's Forge authors and our subscribers in our Dragon's Bard series … as well as our Xtreme Dungeon Mastery friends … we decided it was time to open up the floor to all your questions about our worlds, works, creative life and projects. This way we can answer your questions about our various (and multiple) endeavors, including our Scribe's Forge writing seminars, workshops and our publishing program or our Dragon's Bard series of exclusive, limited-edition novels from our own private printings.

Anyone can read the entries on our forums and all you have to do is log in to the site in order to post your questions. We personally administer these forums so there are a few ground rules. While we strongly encourage discourse and debate — and want everyone's views to be expressed — we believe that disagreement needs to remain in the realm of ideas and persuasion. Convince us with your reason and your thoughts if you can … but bad language, hate-speech or personal disparagement are grounds for being banished to your room and away from our kitchen table … or forums. Be respectful of others here and you'll be respected. Try using  a flamethrower and your existence will not be acknowledged again. Laura and I are nice folks and we expect you to behave in our house accordingly.

If there is a group or a forum topic that you feel needs to be included, then feel free to post it here in the Forum Suggestion Box. We'll be happy to oblige you as best we can. And, of course, answer your questions, too.

That said, let the posting begin!

 

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The Best Government Corporations Can Buy

The other day I got an actual, physical letter from CREDO wanting to know if my phone company wanted a 'Tea Party' president.

Now CREDO is, itself, a telecommunications wireless company based out of San Francisco. As a company it is very active in what you might call either 'progressive' or 'left-wing' politics depending upon your current leanings. According to the Wikipedia, they have raised over $65 million for "nonprofit organizations such as Greenpeace, Planned Parenthood and Democracy Now.

Their argument to me: switch my phone service to CREDO so as to put my money behind progressive political change rather than supporting AT&T or Verizon who, according to them, support  Tea Party and/or Republican candidates and such 'dangerous views' as 'wives, be submissive to your husbands', 'intelligent design' and 'counseling centers that (try) to turn gay men into heterosexuals through prayer.'

When my wife read this letter to me I was filled with anger, outrage and despair. Not because of any party affiliation on my part or allegiance to either 'progressive' or 'conservative' views. In fact, I support a number of progressive ideas and ideals.

No, I was outraged because this is the next logical step in the death of the American Republic.

CREDO is simply acknowledging a more efficient way of capitalizing and monetizing democracy.

Private capital tends to become concentrated in … a few hands, partly because of competition among the capitalists, and partly because technological development and the increasing division of labor encourage the formation of larger units of production at the expense of the smaller ones.

The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society. This is true since the members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who, for all practical purposes, separate the electorate from the legislature. … Moreover, under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights.

Albert Einstein (1949)

Einstein's caution of fifty years ago has become today's reality. You cannot get elected to office without a boat-load of money. The only entities who have enough cash to get politicians elected are corporations. So politicians enact laws to help pay back the corporations that get them elected (or bail them out when they should have failed like all those other businesses that were too small to have paid enough to elect anyone).

A 2003 documentary film The Corporation by Mark Achbar asserts that the corporation exhibits many of the traits found in psychopaths:

Callous unconcern for the feelings of others.
Incapacity to maintain enduring relatioinships;
Reckless disregard for the safety of others;
Deceitfulness: repeated lying and conning of others for profit;
Incapactiy to experience guilt;
Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behavior.

And yet, as Chris Hedges points out in his book 'Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle', under the American legal and political systems, corporations have the same legal rights as individuals. Worse, because they have access to vastly greater sums of money than individuals, their political contributions … which U.S. politics now demand in titan-sized numbers for the success of any candidate … corporations have vastly greater influence on which candidate you hear and see the most as well as which candidates you NEVER hear of because they have no bucks to become Buck Rogers.

One might argue that this means our government is essentially being chosen for us by psychopaths.

But now, thanks to CREDO, we no longer have to pretend. Instead of bothering to go to the voting booth to select from a field of candidates determined by which corporation gave the most money to their campaign, all we have to do is CHOOSE OUR CANDIDATE THROUGH WHICH CORPORATIONS WE SUPPORT. Then the corporations that are the most successful can chose for us the candidates that they prefer on our behalf … and buy them for us.

I believe in free enterprise. I believe corporations can and do make many aspects of our lives better … but I don't want my government chosen by their board of directors. Corporate products need to be in stores … not in legislatures.

The best government corporations can buy … is cheap, disposable, hazardous and potentially lethal.

GEN CON Memories

Laura and I are now back from our amazing adventures in Indianapolis at the GEN CON Convention held August 4th through 7th of 2011. It was a most amazing convention and — true to most conventions — I sincerely wish that I had seen more of it.

We had, of course, been planning this for almost a year. Our airline tickets had been purchased in February. We had shipped out our Eventide novels, our Killer Breakfast box, Blackshore t-shirts and treasure contest cards all in advance. I had authored two separate DVDs for our two Killer Breakfast events. Our careful plans were all set to be executed.

Then, the day before we were to leave, it looked like it was about to fall completely apart.

I got up on Tuesday and, as is my habit, checked my email. Included was the obligatory notice from Orbitz telling me that my itinerary had been updated. I get these all the time whenever I fly. They usually say something like 'your flight 1234 departure has been changed from 8:36am to 8:37am.' But something caught my eye on this one and I started to look closer at it.

It said we were departing Salt Lake City for Denver on Tuesday morning … then departing Denver for Indianapolis on FRIDAY???

Panic. Where's that panic button?

Four hours later we had our flights straightened out and discovered what had happened. A colossal hail storm in Denver two weeks prior had damaged no fewer than twenty aircraft of Frontier Airlines … all of which had to be taken out of service. Somewhere along the line of rebooking everyone and figuring out what to do, Frontier just moved us to Friday … which would have had us miss most of the convention.

As it turned out, they got it as straight as possible under the circumstances. We flew out on an early flight with United Airlines to Denver on Wednesday and then took what was called a Frontier Airlines flight but the aircraft itself was painted with Sun Country livery out of Miami and a Sun Country crew. They served us cookies in flight and I liked them very much. The end result was that we arrived in Indianapolis only fifteen minutes later than we originally had booked.

Thursday was the first day of the convention and I mostly saw a great deal of our booth at #1553. We were there with Howard Taylor and Jim Zubkavitch telling everyone who came by about our fabulous stories and wares. Laura and I had shipped a limited number of 'Eventide' novels to the convention and were gratified as to how well it was being received.

Friday morning brought 'Killer Second Breakfast' — which was a new event for us in a completely new location. It was well attended and a great deal of fun. We played 'Phantoms of the Ravenloft' and I enjoyed singing at the top of my lungs. That afternoon also brought our XDM seminar and my first book signings for our new Fireborn: Embers of Atlantis novel. It was on sale at the convention through the Fantasy Flight booth although it won't be available in stores until next month. You can see a little of what's going on at Fantasy Flight (as well as my own smiling face) in this convention video.

Friday also brought our Blackshore Lunch where subscribers to our Blackshore online serial novel all gathered together for a private repast. It was wonderful to see old friends again and to put faces to our new friends online.

Then came Saturday and the big traditional Killer Breakfast. It was a packed house for 'Potters of the Caribbean'. Gail Gygax took a moment and spoke about the memorial for Gary Gygax at the beginning of the presentation and then we launched into the show. The unplanned ending where a small boy threw the Holly Hand grenade of Antioch at me, blowing me up and collapsing the game universe was priceless.

Killer Breakfast Crowds
Just doing my job…

At each of our Killer Breakfast events we had a special drawing for Killer Dinner … where the winner and a guest would join Laura and I for dinner on Saturday night. Here we are in our after dinner picture with our winners after a great time that night!

(L-R) Jessica Carmody, Kevin Carmody, Tracy Hickman, Laura Hickman, Jake Baker, Sharon Lee Baker

It was an exhausting convention and now we're home … but filled with many great memories of the friends we met along the way, the game we played and the satisfaction of having lived to play another day.

Come on, get HAPPI…

Traditionally, by the time a book or service gets from the writer or producer into the hands of the audience … well, it goes through a lot of other hands in between. Each one of those hands takes a little bit of profit from of the top. Which generally means that things end up costing about five to six times what the writer or producer actually gets for creating the thing in the first place.

So, we figure that we would rather YOU and I split that money rather than give it to all those guys in the middle.

We want you to get HAPPI … that is join our Hickman Affiliate Publishing Promotion Incentive program. We gave it that long name because we like the sound of HAPPI. We need to get the word out about our writing seminars and in the coming spring about our new direct to the reader book series. I could either pay a lot of money for worthless advertising … or I can get your help and give you the money instead.

Now before you get the wrong idea with visions of having to invite your neighbors over and pushing writing seminars on them instead of time shares, just finish reading this. I write long books and you read them, too. This little article is nothing compared to slugging down the 'Deathgate Cycle'…

Someone is going to get this money … either you or the legions of wholesalers, retailers, advertisers and middlemen. I'd rather you got it than them.
It costs you absolutely NOTHING to join. You have to provide enough information for us to pay you but it isn't any more than you would give to any other online retailer with Paypal. The only difference is that we're sending you money instead of the other way around.
You can quit at any time without any problem or penalty: if you don't like it five minutes after you sign up then quit. We'll still be friends.
Your data is secure: We don't sell your name or information to anybody. You should have known better than to even think we would do something nasty with your data.

So all we are looking to do is get your help in finding a few great writers looking for that edge that will get their words both read and sold in the age of New Media publishing … and we need your help to do it.

We are offering this affiliate program to you so you will help spread the word about our online writing seminars and workshops … and we'll pay you a commission for every new author who signs up. That's right, by joining our affiliate program we will pay you a 30% commission on our online seminars … it's easy and it's free.

All you have to do is sign up for our program. You'll need a Paypal account (we pay out commissions on the 15th of each month), a valid website and the desire to spread the word about our seminars. Once you sign up you'll receive an email tell you what you need to do to sign into your new Affiliate control panel … and from there you can get the referral links, banners and items you need to start earning your commissions through your website, blog Facebook or Twitter pages.

That's all you have to do … share those links … and anyone who signs up gets credited to you.

The system is entirely automated and administered by me (that's Tracy Hickman) personally.

Become a Scribe's Forge Affiliate … because we would rather pay YOU to help us find the next generation of writers!

 

Wayne of Gotham

I have begun work at last on my 'Batman' novel for Harper Collins. It is currently entitled 'Wayne of Gotham' and we now have a Facebook page set up for the project so that we can update you on its progress. Come join us there, like us, and we'll keep you in the loop as the book is being written.

It begins with young Thomas Wayne, the moody and resentful son of Patrick Wayne, descending into the caverns below the ancestral manor … and relishing the killing of bats. It ends with a final trip to a fateful alley behind a theater.

'Wayne of Gotham' is the story two men separated by a generation of tragedy: Thomas, the rebellious heir to the vast Wayne Empire and Bruce, his son whose life is forever altered by witnessing Thomas' death. The murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne is the torturous point on which Bruce turns to become the Batman. The 'Dark Knight's file on the case – #BCF00-001 – has long since been closed, the foundations of Bruce Wayne's secret life secure in the simple symmetry of a mugging gone horribly wrong.

These foundations are shaken, however, when disturbing bits of information begin showing up in the Batman's path that question the accepted story. Batman reopens the case file – and discovers a father and mother that he never knew. It was Thomas himself that sowed the seeds of all Gotham's evils, leaving his son to reap the harvest of his father's sins.

'Wayne of Gotham' is Batman's investigation into not only the events surrounding his parent's murder but also his quest to discover who – after all these years – is behind bringing these shattering events to light and why so many have been silent for so long.

Written in a noire-style of grit and stark contrasts, the 'Wayne of Gotham' books are set both in the present and in the turbulent decades of the 1950's and 1960's: a time of paranoia, protests, HUAC, corrupt police and even more corrupt politicians, utopian idealism, assassination, civil unrest and the Vietnam War.

We hope you enjoy this adventure as much as we are enjoying writing it!