Philadelphia weekend

Hey folks!
Sorry about not blogging for a week-plus-- had a real busy weekend in Philadelphia with Kat and her cousins. It was a 23rd birthday party and much celebrating was done.
Philly is a pretty cool place to wander around. We were a few blocks from the Art Institute (aka the Rocky steps), across from a really terrific fountain. If I can find out how to download all the shots in my cell phone, you'll see what I mean.
One big plus: the Franklin Institute is having a huge STAR WARS show, with costumes, models, props, and a load of audio-visual supplementary material. It costs $20 for an adult to get in (not including an extra $5 to go into the Millennium Falcon recreation), but after 5pm, that drops to $10. So go late!!
Anyway, terrific weekend and I hope to put up some pics soon.
BTW, loads of great new stuff in this month's SFRevu, including an interview with three Wild Cards writers, an interview with David Cornish (writer of Monster-Blood Tattoo) and plenty of reviews.
Hope you're all great out there!
Drew

Been Awhile!

Hey folks, been awhile since I last posted, but I've been busy.
First up, I'm working on a ton of reviews (already) for March's SFRevu. We had an editorial conference on Sunday and figured out a bunch of upcoming stuff, much of which involves yours truly. Got a lot of legwork to do this next week.
Not only that but:
1- the kittens are getting spayed tomorrow;
2- our condo is getting sprayed tomorrow (taking advantage of the kittens' absence to do a thorough bug-bombing);
3- we have our Virginia primary tomorrow;
4- I'm going to coordinate a big interview in BPD and SFRevu to support the new Wild Cards website from Tor and comic from Dabel Bros.;
5- probably have "shockwave" therapy for a kidney stone (one that is doing some internal harm) on Wednesday;
6- gotta try to set up an interview with Ray Bradbury this month;
7- I get to sleep sometime around Thursday.

As you can see, a lot going on.
Hope you're all doing great and that you'll comment soon.

Lots of Stuff Coming Tonight!

Okay, there is a LOT going on to blog about.
Kat and I went to World Fantasy in Saratoga Springs, NY, this weekend and had a fantastic time (no pun intended).
Some highlights:

• Kat and I interviewed Jane Yolen (a sort of "what's coming next?" conversation), then George R.R. Martin and Melinda Snodgrass about the upcoming relaunch of the Wild Cards series (we're VERY excited!)
• We also had an unparalleled opportunity to sit and chat with Charlaine Harris (truly one of the nicest writers we've ever met) about all kinds of things; SFRevu did a great interview with her but we hope we'll have the chance to chat again soon
• Had a get-together with the editorial staff of SFRevu for the first time (John Berlyne--a really terrific guy-- was attending from England; it was a genuine pleasure making his acquaintance, and here's hoping we'll see him again soon!)
• Caught up with (or at least said hi to) a bunch of friends and acquaintances-- it was worth the trip twice over to see Holly and Theo, Jeff and ME, Chris G and Tom S, plus a big bunch more
• Got to meet some really wonderful writers-- a big shout-out to Sarah Beth, Cassandra, Mary T, Ian, and (again) a big bunch more (I promise I'll update this as I dig up my notes from the weekend)
• Also got to see beautiful Saratoga Springs, NY, best known as a resort and racetrack, but there are lots of great stores and it's just plain lovely-- so go see it!

We have some pictures AND I'll be uploading the ghost short story I wrote (and read, at 3am) for an open mike night last Friday. When we record it, I'll upload the audio as well (Kat says it's better heard than read-- gee, thanks).

And of course, there's more news to come.

later!

Some Favorite Interviews, Pt 1

I did a lot of comics-related journalism back in my day. It started in 1988, with an offer from COMICS SCENE magazine (well, from editor Dan Dickholtz, my best buddy from college) to write a short article on the comic adaptation of Harold Coyle's WWIII-themed book TEAM YANKEE. The comic was to be written by David Drake, who became a star with combat sf titles (primarily the HAMMER'S SLAMMERS series).

Getting the assignment sheet, I interviewed Drake, wrote up the review... and what do you know, it got published--my first article for a national magazine. Mom was very proud.

A whole lot of interviews followed after that. I think the single best one was interviewing Archie Goodwin about his Wolverine arc with John Byrne. He was one of the nicest guys I've ever interviewed. We met in his office, chatted about a few things and wrapped up the interview very handily. It was a great piece and Marvel's Steve Saffel (hey, Steve!) provided us with terrific Byrne art to accompany the article. (Steve is now a freelance editor and one heck of a guy as well.)

A great interview that led to getting work was with Steve Jackson. I wrote an article about roleplaying games for STARLOG, having been a roleplayer since about 1978, and Steve was one of the subjects of the interview. He was generous with his time and followed up my mentioning an interest in writing by sending me a copy of a GURPS supplement, which he had inscribed "Now start writing!" I wrote GURPS: Magic Items 2 for him in 1990, earning a professional credit that helped me get work with TSR, but my work showed a lot of rookie mistakes (and some rushed lack-of-polish), which left Steve disinclined to work with me again. I don't believe there's any ill will on any part, and who knows? If I get my act together as a writer, I may end up writing for him again one day.

In the next installment, I'll describe how I made a total fool of myself when I first met Isaac Asimov.