But first: your too-long deferred fix of Emma Dog. Because we all know she’s really the draw here to the blog. I just need to face facts.

Emma looks absurdly [...]]]> So, since my most recently recounted (and most triumphant!) adventure, I had a very busy week. Too busy to take time off and, you know, blog.

But first: your too-long deferred fix of Emma Dog. Because we all know she’s really the draw here to the blog. I just need to face facts.

Emma looks absurdly happy about her heating pad (concealed under the fleece. Also the dog.)

Every winter Emma has a problem with her right rear hip. It seems that cold causes it to hurt. Walking warms her up, but she often feels sore afterward.

So I bought her a doggy-bed heating pad. And, now that she finally seems to be realizing that the unnatural hot spot on her sofa (pictured above) won’t actually disintegrate her, and to actually lie on it some, it seems to be doing her some good.

Yay! (Also hit the above pic, or indeed here, for a Flickr album of shots of Emma on her couch, taken just a few minutes ago.)

Otherwise I’ve been busy with the usual occupations (writing, walking aforesaid Emma) as well as socializing.

Lots and lots of socializing.

Thanksgiving my friends John Jos and Gail Gerstner-Miller kindly drove me up to Santa Fe and back (again!), along with their friend Lynn Kaczor, for a dinner at Steve and Jan Stirling’s house, along with Walter Jon Williams and his wife Kathy Hedges.

(And, sorry, not linking to anybody’s web site or info this time, either. I am tired and need to get this post put to bed, and then me. Google is our friend.)

It was delicious. Also fun. hard to beat the company.

But last night at the very least gave it a run for its money. Saturday my dear friend Melinda Snodgrass threw herself a party for her 60th birthday, and good on her. (Some people, I am given to understand, object to others holding their own birthday parties. Screw those people.)

John and Gail kindly hauled me along with them again. (Again!) And … it was swell. Among those attending were George R. R, Martin and his wife Parris, Ian Tregillis, Sage Walker and Hank Messinger, Rhea Golden, Pati Nagle and Chris Krohn, and Royce “Chip” Wideman. Patricia Rogers and Jayné Franck for English-style high tea, which was what this fandango technically was. (Nobody does dress-up like Pat. Although Jayné …. well, there were no flies on Jayné, either.)

Plus this time we were joined by little-known Colorado SF author Connie Willis, along with her daughter Cordelia and her husband Courtney.  Who are also swell. As were all the other people there, whose full names I never caught, and to whom I apologize for not listing them. Apologies as well to the friends who were there whom I am morally sure have slipped out of my head, and who are consequently plotting my demise for leaving them out.

Melinda insisted on publicly blaming me again, this time. Some people….

And – wait. I just now saw I neglected to mention the last time. It was at the Wild Cards Cocktail Party (read all about it!) thrown last Saturday by Kay McCauley. Toasts were proposed, to Kay for her work on our behalf and for hosting the affair, and also to Melinda, for fighting the good fight against crushing odds until at last she sold the damn Wild Cards rights to Hollywood.

Then Melinda took the floor to offer special thanks to two men. First she thanked George, without whom none of this would have happened. As obvious as it was just. Then she said she wanted to thank … me.

And I naturally said, “What did I do this time?”

I honestly had no idea. Until she mentioned that I was the one who gave George the Superworld role-playing game we all played so obsessively – mostly the campaign game-mastered by GRRM himself – from which the whole weird, wonderful, and long-lived Wild Cards project sprang. Which, while true, was kind of her to mention.

So what did she blame me for yesterday at her party, in front of God, Cthulhu, and everybody?

Telling her she ought to think about giving writing a try. Professionally, that is.

And … yeah. Guilty as charged.

Again.

By the way, Melinda’s actual birthday is today, November 27th. In case you wanted to, you know, wish her a happy one. Yeah, I know it’s late. Deal.

So I hope you all had as fine a Thanksgiving and subsequent weekend as I did. No finer group of friends exists than mine, though I am willing to acknowledge the possibility that equally fine sets exist. (And I would be remiss if I failed to mention I’ve also muchly enjoyed the extra time spent hanging with my best friend Joseph Reichert, who isn’t a part of the SF set and doesn’t much hang with them.)

And yes, now I see Emma lying full-out on her heated fleece on the sofa. Yay! I was going to take a picture of that, because she looked cute, but I let my camera battery run down and it needs recharged. Ah, well!

Be well, folks. Be happy. And as always – thanks for reading!

And you know what? It [...]]]> So last night I got to attend the exclusive “Cocktails with the Wild Cards Chic and Luminaries of the New Mexican League of Authors” party, hosted by our representative, SF and fantasy super-agent Kay McCauley, at the Hotel Santa Fe. (Which, it will surprise you to learn, is in Santa Fe.)

And you know what? It was swell. Even if we did get totally thrown out of the hotel for being rowdy.

Gail Gerstner-Miller and That American Tolkien Guy at dinner afterwards.

It does not suck to be me.

But since you get to share in it after the fact, as beloved friends and fans, it doesn’t suck to be you, either.

The guest list was appropriately stellar: George R. R, Martin and his wife Parris, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Ian Tregillis, James S. A. Corey and his lovely wives, Steven Gould and Laura Mixon, Kat and Daniel Abraham, Ty and Jayné Franck, Jayne’s brother-in-law Dan (I hope I got that right; had trouble hearing), Sage Walker and Hank Messinger, John Jos and Gail Gerstner-Miller, Rhea Golden and her friend Tyler, Pati Nagle and Chris Krohn, Jane Lindskold and Jim Moore. And, well, me.

(I apologize for not linking to the above luminaries’s sites. I need to learn to lavish less time on these damn blog posts. Maybe then I’d, you know, write more of them.)

John and Gail kindly drove me up through a lovely evening – it’s a pleasant drive anyway. And thanks to them kindly for hauling my mass up to Santa Fe and back. Not for the last time in this busy week o’ socializing – have I mentioned how much I love the freaking holidays?

The Hotel Santa Fe is a lovely place with an old-timey feel in downtown Santa Fe near the Plaza. Although given Santa Fe isn’t huge, “downtown” and “near the Plaza” are kinda redundant. Also, no matter how self-consciously quaint it is, downtown Santa Fe is darned pretty. Plus some places had Christmas lights up already – which, Grinches notwithstanding, I love. In fact I hope to get to Santa Fe sometime in December to see their Christmas display in full glory. Although not enough to miss Christmas Eve here in Albuquerque, which I love.

So this was the second time I’ve met our hostess Kay in person, and the first since she became my agent and sold The Dinosaur Lords for me. Also the first time she’s seen me since I became … half the man I used to be (and a far better man because of it!) She professed herself favorably impressed with the change. For which I thanked her.

She happened to be hanging with her client Ian when I came in. She bragged on his current novel project, which she termed “brilliant” and unlike anything we’ve seen. I agreed and whined that he hadn’t sent in any more to our writers group. He claimed he would. (And I’m holding you to that, Tregillis, you son of a bearded mountebank*, you!)

She also bragged some on the prospects for The Dinosaur Lords (hint: she thinks highly of them. As do I.) She told me she’s talking to the foreign rights people next week. So please: fingers crossed!

And … a wonderful time was had by all.

Or by me, anyway. And everyone else seemed to be enjoying their danged selves.

I am learning to enjoy as much of my life as possible (short form: I reckon that’s the damned point.) But I enjoyed this fandango as much as I’ve enjoyed anything of late. Including Pat Rogers’ and Scott Denning’s Halloween Party, which is the best thing ever.

The key thing is that, along with being the Science Fiction and Fantasy Capital of the Known Universe, NM boasts a very tight-knit bunch of writers – and not just the Original Wild Cards Mafiosi. For all practical purposes, they, the fans, and a few others constitute my family.

Plus, for some reason, they tend to be … kind of interesting people to talk to.

So we all chatted and drank from the open bar – I hit the ice water and the Diet Coke particularly hard, but then, I wasn’t driving – and the snacks they laid out. Thew few items of which I was able to eat (that low-starch, low-sugar thing) were highly tasty.

So then they had to close up the room. So those of us who remained, which was most of us, wound up gathered in the hallway outside chattering away. Until a hotel functionary politely and firmly threw us out because our rowdiness was disturbing the Native American flute player in the lounge.

At the moment Parris and John were outside chatting. When I came out and gave them the news, Parris triumphantly crowed, “Thirty-five years in fandom and we can still bring it!”

Indeed.

Next, with Parris as our trusty guide – Santa Fe is notoriously difficult to navigate; and since it’s been almost half a century since I lived there, I was no damned help – we went off for dinner, also downtown (hence, near the Plaza.) Our first destination turned out to be closed until March – inconsiderate of them – so we wound up at the San Francisco Street Bar & Grill. Which turned out to be pretty good. Also – which is astonishing for Santa Fe – the prices were reasonable, for pretty substantial portions. While they seemed a bit nonplussed by the sudden onset of a mob of mostly middle-aged SF writers and their friends and significants other, they managed to take us in stride.

They didn’t throw us out, anyway. Although we were still adequately raucous. Because that’s how we roll.

(Click the image up top to check out my modest set of photos commemorating the event on Flickr. Or just click here. The reason there are no pictures of the party proper is that I forgot I had a nifty new camera until Gail and Parris started comparing theirs at dinner.)

We announced ourselves to the waiter as SF writers. He asked who the Trekkers among us were. While none of us would cop to that, John and Gail pointed out that I’d written an Original Trek novel. (Wait! It’s available on Kindle? Why wasn’t I told of this? Also, where are my royalties? Dammit!)

And when Parris told him Melinda had written the Next Generation episode “The Measure of a Man,” he almost died of squee (yes, I can write that; I am a professional), and wasted no time shaking her hand.

Even the wandering Cuban trio managed to come to terms with us. They even bravely assayed the Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil,” after Gail, Parris, and I gave them some help by singing the lyrics. If “help” is what you want to call it.

Then … we all came home, and are presumably all living happily ever after!

Most emphatically not The End. Stay tuned for the continuing adventures of me and my madcap friends!

*When I read that on his website – which, seriously, you should visit; it’s breathtaking – I thought he was being facetious. Then he told me he really is the son of a bearded mountebank. Indeed do many things come to pass.

And the answer is yes. Yes, we will.

Would Wild Cards stoop to using sex to sell?

We – that’s all official Wild [...]]]> While linking to yet another rendition of my current favorite story on Facebook, my friend Aaron Birenboim asks the musical question, “Will the other Wild Card contributors be getting a piece of this pie?”

And the answer is yes. Yes, we will.

Would Wild Cards stoop to using sex to sell?

We – that’s all official Wild Carders – get paid for this according to our contribution to the project.

And that’s one major reason Wild Cards has hung on – against all odds – for a quarter of century.

I may be telling tales out of school, here, but I’m about to tell you how and why that works. After the jump….

I attribute Wild Cards surviving for twenty-five years – and not just surviving, but as of yesterday attaining palpably greater success than ever – to three main factors:

1. Awesome writers.
2. Love.
3. The Consortium.

Now I would call the first of those – the talent – the least significant reason. I mean, sure – it doesn’t hurt that the original members of your superhero team include perennial award-winners like George R. R. Martin or Ed Bryant, to say nothing of the late Roger Zelazny – arguably, with all regard to the multi-talented Rachel Bloom, the greatest SF writer ever. Nor is it bad to have onboard the likes of (then) young up-and-comers Melinda Snodgrass, Walter Jon Williams, Stephen Leigh, Lew Shiner, and, uh, me. (And, fair warning, you’re gonna hear way more from that there John Jos. Miller pup when he finishes his damn vampire novel.)

Then again, it’s not as if the other original science fiction and fantasy shared-world projects that surfaced in the Eighties – the likes of Thieves’ World, Heroes in Hell, or Merovingen Nights – were written by random schools of fish netted out of some harbor, either. They had their mighty sharks too. Yet we’ve pretty much out-swum the lot. (And … gratefully following the Catch and Release Metaphor Program here….)

The second factor – shared passion – is to me easily the most significant component in our success. It’s also the most straightforward: all of us, from the Original Mafiosi who played the game that spawned it all, to the confounded (and confoundingly capable, as well as good-looking) new kids George has asked in – like Danny Abraham, Carrie Vaughn, Cherie Priest, and David D. Levine, to name but a few – write for Wild Cards because we totally freakin’ love it. We love the world, love the conceits, love the characters. Love the stories that arise from same. And I believe there is no end of the stories we can spin from that Wild Cards stuff.

It originated with a shared obsession – namely, The George’s Superworld campaign. But it’s stayed a shared obsession. For all of us who have stuck with it, Wild Cards is a labor of love.

Which brings us, long last, to the answer to Aaron’s question that set this thing off: The Wild Cards Consortium. And yes, it’s a biggie too.

Speaking of Thieves’ World, I honestly don’t think we’ve ever approached that series’ sales at its peak of popularity. Yet it self-destructed, largely due to a conflict of egos in which writers competed to see what horrors and indignities they could visit upon one anothers’ characters short of actually killing them – which was forbidden.

And the reason we avoided that fate is largely thanks to the kind and generous advice of the very founders and proprietors of Thieves’ World, Bob Asprin and Lynn Abbey. During the formative stages, when Wild Cards was transitioning from a role-playing game we all spent way too much time and energy on to a shared-world series (i.e., something we could get paid to do) they sat down in the bar at some con with George and Melinda and shared with them all the mistakes they’d made as pioneers.

And GRRM and Weeds were wise enough to listen closely to the voice of experience. And drawing upon Melinda’s lawyerly training they created the Consortium.Which has basically kept going – and kept us going – ever since.

Here’s how it works: if you write for Wild Cards, or even just create a character in the Official Canon – we have several non-writer members – you become part of the Consortium. And for writing stories, and crucially, for permitting your important characters to be used in other peoples’ stories, you get Consortium shares. Which accrete over time.

And the income which the Consortium receives for Wild Cards properties is disbursed according to how many shares you have. Which finally answers poor Aaron’s question.

And here’s why it keeps us alive as a project: first off, to use a character in any significant way in your Wild Cards yarn, you must obtain the creator’s consent. Now, the first two factors play heavily here too: we have splendid writers, who know good story, and love the project. So we’re likely to sign off on anything up to and including killing a beloved character if it serves the story.

But also – you get paid for letting someone off your beloved character.

To be real: that’s a factor.

And that’s why and how the Wild Cards Consortium contributes to the unlikely survival of the series: it’s basically the mechanism by which everything runs. Well and smoothly for the most part.

Nothing’s perfect. But, oh, yeah – did I mention we just sold the freaking movie rights?

===

On a more personal (and, trust me, brief) note, to celebrate last night I took some good friends – Roslee Orndorff, Steve and Kathy Kubica, and Michelle Foley – out to dinner at India Palace, a favored haunt of ours. Then, after Michelle ditched us to pursue her heedless young-person social whirl, we repaired back to Casa Kubica to watch the Blu-Ray of X-Men: First Class, which I had not seen.

Or, as I put it – see how the competition’s doing. Heh, heh.

Darned well, I must admit. Unlike Kathy I don’t call it Iron Man good. But that’s one of my favorite movies, period – a pretty high standard. The newest X-Movie is very good indeed.

And it’s still sinking in that Universal Pictures now has its long-craved superhero franchise to compete with the likes of X-Men – and, HOLY SHIT, IT’S US!

So first thing I see on Facebook this morning is this tidbit Friend Martin Stankard threw onto my Wall.

Go check it out. I’ll wait. Believe me, you want to.

Now coming to a silver screen near you!

So I guess that cat’s out of the bag, huh?

Yep. Thanks to That American Tolkien [...]]]> Okay, now. This is big.

So first thing I see on Facebook this morning is this tidbit Friend Martin Stankard threw onto my Wall.

Go check it out. I’ll wait. Believe me, you want to.

Now coming to a silver screen near you!

So I guess that cat’s out of the bag, huh?

Yep. Thanks to That American Tolkien Guy, George RR Martin, and the indefatigable efforts (over freaking decades) of Melinda Snodgrass, Wild Cards is making the trip to Hollywood.

No sudden but inevitable betrayal here; this thing’s pretty nailed-down, meaning the contracts are signed. We Wild Carders’ve known about it since July. But for various reasons it could not be revealed.

Until now, I guess.

Oh, and – you can breathe now. You know the SyFy Channel, that we all love to hate? This is a different entity. It’s (I’m told) a new division devoted to big-screen productions – not your standard SyFy Original (to use the term loosely) fare.

The key words here are Universal Pictures. They’ve been the only one of the Big Three studios to lack a superhero franchise of their own, and have been looking on in jealousy as their rivals coined money from Marvel and DC properties.

(And no, I’m not gonna take the trouble to link to any of them. And if they’re unfamiliar to you, I hope you enjoy your recently-begun visit to our planet!)

Also key words: Melinda and George. They’re co-producing. And Weeds is writing the screenplay. They’re the people who originally turned our obsessive-compulsive Superworld RPG campaign (and yes, it’s mentioned in the linked Wikipedia article) into the longest-running shared-world franchise. They’ve edited every Wild Cards volume to hit print. Plus, oh, yeah, minor note, written some of the most beloved characters and stories in the wacky world of aces and jokers.

There aren’t better hands, friends. You know that. I know that.

Sure, lots can go awry. But – this is big.

Indeed, now that it’s out in the open I can let myself – OH HOLY GOD THEY’RE MAKING A WILD CARDS MOVIE!!1!

Yeah. It’s hard to process. Been so long. And this has been a few weeks for me, personally, of big news piled on big news. Fortunately, it’s good news.

(And yes, I shamelessly class being able to breathe with both The Dinosaur Lords and Wild Cards Goes to Hollywood at last becoming really real. Because – hel-lo, it’s breathing.)

So. Whoa. Got things to do today – writing, rewriting (yes, that), and finally getting a damn map done for DinoLords. So – breathe deep, concentrate. Go.

And – ho-lee shit! WE’RE GONNA BE A MOVIE!

Could happen!

Or maybe I totally will. Depends on what’ll get me the biggest audience reaction. Because that’s just how I roll.

To find out which I do, click this handy link to check out my con schedule.

Of course having done so (does anybody else hate screwing [...]]]> Come see me at Bubonicon and I won’t do this*:

Could happen!

Or maybe I totally will. Depends on what’ll get me the biggest audience reaction. Because that’s just how I roll.

To find out which I do, click this handy link to check out my con schedule.

Of course having done so (does anybody else hate screwing with pdf files as much as I do?) you’ll notice right you’re not seeing just my schedule. Because you’re smarter than other people, which is why you read this blog.

And I know, right? You’re wondering why they’d clutter up the beautiful simplicity and symmetry of my schedule with all that extraneous stuff, like panels and auctions and Guest of Honor presentations. Because I’m a big guy, though, I am able to admit: there’s a lot of cool people attending and stuff going on that isn’t me.

But this is still about me. Because it’s my blog. And because you’re reading it, you’ll be gratified to know that if you search the pdf for “victor” you will find me! At least, when my location can be determined by science. Which, thank Heisenberg, isn’t that frequently.

Just a quick rundown, for the pdf-impatient (or challenged):

Friday, August 26th at 5:00 PM in the Main Room – Chaco – which everything will be unless otherwise specified – I’ll be moderating a panel called NAME THAT BABY: Fantasy, SF, Mainstream? Or None of the Above? Panelists will be Suzy M. Charnas, Betsy James, Stephen Leigh, and David Lee Summers.

Then at 9:30 PM (because sleep is for the weak, baby!) I’m doing FOR THE LOVE OF CHEESE with those kill-crazy kids from Cheese Magnet, a blog celebrating all things B-movie and pulp culture. Which they omit to have me write for, so I’m taking my participation here as a signal honor. And also a sign that they don’t have enough actual contributors available to flesh out a panel. But they do have Scott Denning, John Jos. Miller, moderated by the Cheese Monster himself, Scott Phillips! This isn’t in the Main Room, as it happens, but in Bandelier. No, I have no more idea where it is than you do. But I’ll find it! So what’s your excuse?

Next up, Saturday, August 27th, 1:00 PM:  RE-INVENTING YOURSELF: The Use of Pseudonyms with Ty Franck, Stephen Leigh, and Carrie Vaughn. Moderator: Daniel Abraham.

Then, huh, I lied – turns out if you search for “victor” you also get STEAMPUNK DEFINITIONS: More than Victorian Clothing at 3:00 PM. Which, given that you’re attending a con whose theme is Steampunk, probably ought not surprise you. Then again, given you’re attending a Steampunk-themed con, it might also be of interest to you.

But back to me … and, well, everybody: MASS AUTOGRAPHING SESSION, 4:00 PM. Yes, including that guy. (As I said yesterday … what could possibly go wrong?)

7:00 PM it’s the Big Showpiece: the BUBONICON COSTUME CONTEST, Emceed by me! Got some great costumes and fun presentations here, people! You really oughta come. You might even get to see me vamped by hot babes! (Which should at least make you happy on my account, yes?)

Onto Sunday, August 28th (already?): 1:30 PM, back in Bandelier (nope, still no idea): it’s 25 MINUTES WITH VICTOR MILÁN. Wait! That’s me! As the name suggests, it’s 25 minutes in which you, the audience, subject yourselves to whatever happens to come out of my face. Which, I dunno – you think – may possibly concern … dinosaurs? Indeed it might even entail a reading from the first volume of my epic fantasy trilogy, The Dinosaur Lords, due out from Tor at the beginning of 2013!

After that it’s pretty much over for the shouting. Thanks for coming out, hope you enjoyed yourselves, be sure to tip your authors bartenders and servers, drive safely, and see you all next year!

And naturally – thanks for reading!

*Full disclosure: Craig Calcaterra linked to this image today over on HardballTalk, and I get such a colossal hoot out of it I had to inflict it upon share it with my beloved fans and friends!

Bubonicon 43, that is. August 26–28, 2011, at the Sheraton Albuquerque Airport Hotel.

And, of course, I will be there. You can’t have Bubonicon without me!

Well, yes. You totally can. But it wouldn’t be the same without me. Certainly not for me.

But Co-Chaircritters Craig [...]]]> Board up the kids and pets and hide the windows, because it’s coming!

Bubonicon 43, that is. August 26–28, 2011, at the Sheraton Albuquerque Airport Hotel.

And, of course, I will be there. You can’t have Bubonicon without me!

Well, yes. You totally can. But it wouldn’t be the same without me. Certainly not for me.

But Co-Chaircritters Craig Chrissinger and Kristen Dorland and the Con Committee keep asking me back, somehow, some way*. And also I seem to be MC for life of the senses-shattering Bubonicon Costume Contest. Which may have something to do with the fact I’m also perpetual Master of Ceremonies at the Archon Masquerade – which is bearing down on the Midwest in late September like a New New Madrid Quake (too soon?)

Our Author Co-Guests of Honor – two for the price of one! Such value! – this year are Stephen Leigh and his partner in crime S. L. Farrell (whom I’m reliably informed wouldn’t be anything at all except for Steve.) Toastmaster is my good friend (in hopes he remembers that come Opening Ceremonies time) and big booster and couldn’t-have-done-it-without-him help on The Dinosaur Lords, Ian Tregillis. Our Artist GoH is John Picacio, who among other things has done some covers and a calendar or two for an obscure little fantasy series by equally obscure NM author George RR Martin.

(And yes, kids, That American Tolkien Guy will be attending too. No way that adds up to any logistical nightmares!)

Included in the stellar guest cast will be many of our Usual NM Suspects. Including me. As you suspected! And our customary contingent of the world’s friendliest fans.

Plus we tend to attract a certain number of pros and SMOFs from other states – possibly more this year, with Worldcon happening just a bit West of here this last weekend. That usually perks up attendance.

Oh – and as for that attendance thing: this year we have an unbreakable fire-code capacity of 650. So if you’re Unlucky Number 651….

So if you find yourself at loose ends this weekend – if you don’t, drop that crap and get loose! – be there. Aloha.

*Just as I keep comin’ up with funky-ass shit ‘most every single day. Just, you know, FYI. It’s a living.

As I mentioned last time, this Saturday, July 9th, 2011, I’ll be signing the latest Wild Cards “mosaic novel” at Page One Bookstore, 11018 Montgomery Blvd NE, 87111 here in Albuquerque, commencing at 2:30 PM.

Also taking part will be Melinda Snodgrass (who co-edited as well as having a story in the book), [...]]]> Fort Freak, that is!

As I mentioned last time, this Saturday, July 9th, 2011, I’ll be signing the latest Wild Cards “mosaic novel” at Page One Bookstore, 11018 Montgomery Blvd NE, 87111 here in Albuquerque, commencing at 2:30 PM.

Also taking part will be Melinda Snodgrass (who co-edited as well as having a story in the book), John Jos. Miller, and Our Esteemed Editor, George R.R. Martin. (Probably.*)

It should, of course, be swell. You should make plans to attend, yes? Also attend.

Important Public Service Announcement: George WILL NOT be signing A Dance with Dragons: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Five at this session. He wants it to be about  Fort Freak. Thanks!

In other, yet related news … please check out the nice review of Fort Freak at SFRevu Review. Also read the exclusive interview with a mess of our fine, fine Fort Freak contributors (including me.)

And last, though far from least: you’ll notice in the review, my story is listed as “…And All the Sinners Saints” by Victor Milan and Ty Franck. Now, you may wonder why, for the very first time, I co-authored a Wild Cards yarn.

You may be aware I ran into a spot of unpleasantness last year.  The two facts are not unconnected.

I was going to write a post here telling the story behind the story. But Ty himself (whom you may recognize as a sometime commenter here on Sense of Adventure, and also as George’s invaluable assistant) beat me to it. So if you’re interested, go read “How I became a freak” over at fellow Wild Carder Danny Abraham’s blog. Ty does a great job. As he did as co-author of “Sinners/Saints.”

So now I need to wrap this up and see if I can actually get some sleep tonight. I need to be brisk and bright-eyed for Saturday, after all! (Plus I got a boatload of writing to do.)

See you at the signing, Fellow Freaks!

*Full disclosure:  last I heard there seemed to be some question as to whether That American Tolkien Guy will actually be showing up. But the Page One website says he is, so that’s what I’m going with. However, please adjust your expectations accordingly.

It's gotta be great! Look at how thrilled this little guy is!

As you can see if you clicked on the image above, or the link above that, it’s got [...]]]> So commencing Friday, June 23rd (that’s tomorrow, for those as calendrically challenged as I tend to be) I shall be manifesting at the Albuquerque Comic Expo.

It's gotta be great! Look at how thrilled this little guy is!

As you can see if you clicked on the image above, or the link above that, it’s got a frog-ton of guests from comic books and other media, from Peter “Chewwie” Mayhew and LeVar “Geordi la Fram Oil Filter Visor” Burton to Bernie Wrightson and Stan “the Man” Freakin’ Lee. (The “Freakin’” is legally part of his name.) (I’m lying.) Although to see Stan Lee you have to get special tickets, and they’re probably sold out, so lotsa luck there, trooper.

Also they’ll feature a couple of media guests of particular interest to me, ’70s martial-arts movie god and tennis pro Jim Kelly and the inimitable Ernie “Ghostbusters” Hudson.

They’re also showcasing local-creator luminaries, from comics artists Andy “Firebreather” Kuhn and Aaron “Green Hornet” Campbell to indie-film mavens Kurly “Burning Paradise” Tlapoyawa and my boon pal Scott “Cheese Magnet” Phillips.

Other guests abound – too many by far for me to link – some I’ve heard of, others whom you’ve doubtless heard of if you follow comics or series TV, neither of which I do.

And last but very far from least, there are your Literary Guests, who enjoy somewhat surprising pride of place on the Guest List right below the Celebrity and Media Guests (i.e., the ones people have actually heard of): Robert E. Vardeman, who’s written even more novels than I have, and who co-edited and contributed to the indie anthology A Career Guide To Your Job In Hell (which I’m also in, and which you totally ought to buy.) And there are Wild Cards writers – and not just Wild Cards writers, but Original Wild Cards Mafia members: Melinda Snodgrass, John Jos Miller, Walter Jon Williams, and Victor “Dinosaur Lords” Milan. Who, for the confused, is me.

Also there’s one Ian J. Spector; I have no idea who he is, although he’s credited with inventing the “Chuck Norris Facts” meme, but he’s the only other Literary Guest, and I’d feel like a dick if I left him out.

So us Wild Carders will be throwing a Wild Cards panel on Saturday, June 24th, at 1:30 PM in Panel Room A. We’ll be pimping a little something we like to call the brand-spanking-new Wild Cards anthology (and start of a new triad) Fort Freak, edited by George RR Martin and Melinda. (Of which expect more anon. And on, and on.) Except Walter – he’ll be on the panel, but he’s not in the latest book. So look for him to flog his latest SF novel Deep State instead.

(Sadly, That American Tolkien Guy will not be joining us. He and his trusty assistant Ty Franck are currently gadding about Eastern Europe reaping the adulation of the masses.)

We’ll also have a Wild Cards Exhibitor Table set up somewhere in the presumably vast Exhibitors Hall, so, you know, look for us.

Also feel free to wander around and, you know, spend money.

You really ought to know that Greg Derrick and Mike Thompson, who are bravely if foolishly running this extravaganza, are seriously good people. They took Melinda, John, and me to lunch to talk about the show, which automatically puts them in the good-guy category with us (there is no such thing as an author so successful she or he will turn down a free feed.)  They are making an effort to showcase us local talents. They are also working closely with Craig Chrissinger, co-chair with Kristen Dorland of our fine local SF con Bubonicon, which they’re also supporting strongly. They have also been quick to seek advice on running a con smoothly from our local experts – and have also recruited a mess of our excellent Bubonicon volunteers to gopher for them.

They are seriously trying to put on a good show – a primo experience for both participants and attendees. I think they will.

All this crunchy goodness is transpiring through Sunday at the Albuquerque Convention Center, 401 2nd Street NW Albuquerque, NM 87102, where there is ample room to house the no doubt thundering throng who will attend this senses-shattering mega-event. (Exaggerate much? Me? Not in a billion trillion years!) There’s also allegedly ample parking, although I gather it’s $6 a day. On the assumption parking will be slammed as well as cost money I may park on the street a few blocks away and hoof it. Then again, given temps are allegedly expected to hover near 100° here in the Nuke City the next couple days, I also may not.

And … enough on this: I still have major Seekrit Projekt rewriting to do. More soon on Fort Freak, and also a not-so-secret little project I like to call The Dinosaur Lords. Stay tuned!

And, as always – thanks for reading!