Yesterday, while searching for something completely differently, I came across correspondence I’d received from the Comics Code Authority in 1976 which ordered Marvel Comics to change a panel in an issue of Omega the Unknown I’d written.

I’d referenced this incident about Omega the Unknown #7 (March 1976) when artist Jim Mooney passed, but back then I didn’t have my hands on the CCA note. Now I do!

And you can read it below …

But before you do, look more closely at the villain in that panel as he runs off. Notice anything odd and clumsy about his gait? Or about the position of his right hand?

Well, that’s because something was once in that blank space to his right—a policeman swatted aside by Blockbuster.

A policeman the Comics Code requested we remove.

Why?

Well … (more…)

I’d thought I’d shared all the gems from my Marvel Comics days which I have squirreled away in my subterranean vault … until a query from a Dave Cockrum fan proved me wrong.

I got an email an hour ago asking about a villain I’d come up with for Captain Marvel #55 (March 1978)—Deathgrip!

I’d previously told you how I’d seen artist Dave Cockrum design that character’s costume, and he wanted to know whether any of Dave’s preliminary drawings still existed. And that made me suddenly realize …

Why … yes.

Not sure why I never thought to let you see this aspect of Dave’s genius before, but here it is now—Deathgrip as we in the Marvel Bullpen first saw him.

Amazing, isn’t it?

I’m so glad Dave’s dream—which I recently discovered expressed in an interview published in Fantastic Fanzine #10 (1969)—came true.

Aren’t you?

During last year’s Readercon, I recorded four episodes of Eating the Fantastic—one-on-ones with Resa Nelson, Jeffrey Ford, and F. Brett Cox, plus the extremely popular Donut Spectacular, which featured 12 donuts and 15 guests in a beautifully anarchic lightning-round episode. This year, however, I’d only planned to record two—which was a good thing, because hardware malfunctions ended my attempt to record with John Kessel just as we began, sending me scrambling around Massachusetts in search of replacement equipment.

I was able to locate a new H4n Zoom digital recorder in time for dinner with this episode’s guest, James Patrick Kelly, and my Friday breakfast with John was rescheduled to come off as a Saturday dinner instead, so all’s well that ends well, but still … I could have done without that kind of heart-stopping terror.

When I’d asked Jim which kind of cuisine he’d prefer for our chat—because as you may have noticed, I do try to keep my guests happy, the better to loosen their tongues for you—he admitted to a weakness for Fettuccine Carbonara. That led us to Quincy’s Gennaro’s Eatery, which didn’t have Fettuccine Carbonara on the menu, but as the place served both Tortellini Carbonara and Fettuccine Alfredo, that seemed close enough.

James Patrick Kelly is a Hugo and Nebula Award-winning writer who recently published a career short story retrospective as part of the Centipede Press Masters of Science Fiction series. And had I not been turned down by the Clarion Science Fiction Writers Workshop in 1974, I might have shared a dorm room with him! (But don’t worry. I was accepted in 1979.)

We discussed the reason he needed to attend the Clarion Science Fiction Workshop twice—and why the rules were then changed so no one could do it again, the suggestion Kate Wilhelm made that saved one of his short stories, why his reaction to comics as a kid was “Marvel, yes, DC, feh,” how the science fiction field survived the Cyberpunk/Humanist wars of the ‘80s, why he takes an expansive view of fanfic, how Cory Doctorow inspired him to enter the world of podcasting early, what allows him and frequent collaborator John Kessel to work together so well, his advice for how writing 10 endings to a story in progress will help writers find the right ending, and more.

Here’s how you can join us for the feast— (more…)

Last week, Irene and I were in St. Petersburg, Russia for a post-Helsinki Worldcon trip, and on our first night, as we wandered the Nevsky Prospekt, who should we run into but—George R. R. Martin!

Well, not the real George R. R. Martin. Rather, a larger-than-life version in a bookshop window.

He was plastered there because he was scheduled to sign around the corner from our hotel at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, Agust 17th, as was verified by a sign near the escalators leading to the area where his books were stocked.

I headed upstairs and checked out the science fiction and fantasy section, where I discovered something unusual about George’s books. (more…)

I returned home yesterday from my trip to Helsinki, where I attended the 75th World Science Fiction Convention, but news of what I did there and with whom will have to wait, for today is all about the Nebula Awards weekend which took place in Pittsburgh earlier this year.

There, I brunched with A. Merc Rustad at DiAnoia’s Eatery, which in December was voted one of the best new restaurants of 2016 by Pittsburgh magazine, and was included in Eater‘s list of the city’s hottest new restaurants. And who can resist fried dough filled with nutella?

A. Merc Rustad has published fiction in Lightspeed, Uncanny, Shimmer, and other magazines, and their short story “How To Become A Robot In 12 Easy Steps” was included in The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015. They were on that weekend’s Nebula ballot in the short story category for “This Is Not a Wardrobe Door,” which is included in their debut short story collection So You Want to Be a Robot, described by Publishers Weekly as “unmissable.”

We discussed some terrible writing advice which messed with their head and the way they got over it, how the Redwall series by Brian Jacques turned them from a reader to a writer, why some fan fiction doesn’t get the fan fiction label while other fan fiction does, the reason the animated television series Beast Wars: Transformers was such a major influence both professionally and personally, why they almost destroyed their Nebula-nominated story “This Is Not a Wardrobe Door,” the secrets to assembling a short story collection, and more.

Here’s how you can eavesdrop on us — (more…)

The fact the Nebula Awards were handed out in Pittsburgh earlier this year meant I was finally able to visit a restaurant I’d been wanting to check out for years. Which was excellent timing, because as it turned out, I got there only a week and a half before it closed.

Conflict Kitchen was based on a fascinating concept—only serve, on a rotating basis, the cuisines of countries with which the U.S. has been in conflict—such as Cuba, North Korea, Iran, and Afghanistan, for example. Unfortunately, after seven years, Carnegie Mellon University decided it would no longer provide administrative support, and so Conflict Kitchen was forced to close its Schenley Plaza restaurant location, perhaps only temporarily, but maybe for good. Luckily, though, not before my guest and I were able to get there for an al fresco Palestinian meal.

Brooke Bolander was on Nebula ballot that weekend in the short story category for “Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies,” and is also on the current Hugo Awards ballot for that same story, one of the most talked-about tales of 2016. Her fiction, which has appeared in Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, Nightmare, Uncanny, and other venues, has been honored by nominations for the Locus and the Theodore Sturgeon awards as well. The Only Harmless Great Thing will be published by Tor in 2018.

We discussed how she ended up as a writer rather than a paleontologist, why the videogame Ecco the Dolphin terrified her but taught her to love science fiction, her early days writing fan fiction, how anger over the electrocution of Topsy the elephant and the deaths of the “radium girls” inspired her newest novella, why she avoids rereading her own writing, what broke the writers block that had gripped her for several years, and more.

Here’s how you can join us for falafel— (more…)

I’ll be heading to the Helsinki Worldcon next week, and I hope to see some of you there—but I also know most of you won’t be able to make it. That’s why it’s a good thing the Baltimore Book Festival is just around the corner!

I took part in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s programming there each of the past two years, and had a great time interacting with readers while enjoying Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Last year, I even managed to record episodes of my Eating the Fantastic podcast with Nalo Hopkinson and Sam J. Miller. I might try for a couple more this year, either at the festival or at Baltimore Comic-Con, which will take place the same weekend a few blocks away.

Here’s where you’ll be able to find me—

Turning Old Monsters Into New
Saturday, September 23, 4:00 p.m.
Still scared of the Boogie Man? Our panel resurrects the monsters you grew up with, talks about all the monsters you grew up with, from fairy tales to urban fantasy to myths and legends and the thing underneath your bed, discuss how modern fiction is reinterpreting them.
with Ruthanna Emrys, Craig Laurance Gidney, Vivian Shaw, and Ruth Vincent

Beyond Stew and Replicators: Food in Science Fiction & Fantasy
Saturday, September 23, 5:00 p.m.
Sensory details are the hallmark of great science fiction and fantasy, and nothing brings that home quite like the food! Join our panelists as they discuss what goes right and wrong with food in their favorite books. We guarantee you’ll leave hungry—unless they start talking about soylent green.
with Lara Elena Donnelly, Ruthanna Emrys, Lawrence M. Schoen, Fran Wilde, and Denise Clemons

Podcasts & Audiobooks
Sunday, September 24, 11:00 a.m.
Love to read but don’t have time? Try audio! This panel is all about discovering science fiction and fantasy you can listen to, as well as podcasts that interview your favorite authors.
with Kate Baker, Jeremy M. Gottwig, Sunny Moraine, and K.M. Szpara

I hope you can make it!

This year’s World Science Fiction Convention begins in 18 days, and you want to know how to find me there, don’t you?

Worldcon has taken me out of the U.S. to many wonderful destinations since I started going as a kid back in 1974—including London, Glasgow, Melbourne, and Yokohama—but this will be my first time in Helsinki. I’m looking forward to hanging out with old friends (and making new ones) there.

Here’s where you’ll be able to find me—when I’m not in the bar or wandering the exhibit hall and dealers room, that is!

Collecting (Worldcon) memorabilia and what to do with it
Friday, August 11, 13:00 – 14:00
with Kent Bloom, Tara Oakes, David Haddock, Ben Yalow
Many of us collect Stuff. The panelists discuss their joys in collecting as well as the potential pitfalls they have encountered.

Monsters and the Monstrous
Friday, August 11, 18:00 – 19:00
with Natania Barron, Julie McGalliard, Magdalena Hai
What makes a monster? Why do we preoccupy ourselves with the monstrous? What stories challenge us, and what stories frighten us? A look at what lurks in the dark.

Strolls with Stars
Saturday, August 12, 09:00 – 10:00
Join Scott Edelman on a Stroll to the near-by garden area! Max 60 minutes in duration.

Food Lies
Saturday, August 12, 16:00 – 17:00
with Fran Wilde, David G. Shaw, Aliette de Bodard, Nalo Hopkinson, Barry Goldblatt
Food described in speculative fiction is often speculative itself: things that aren’t possible, or haven’t been, or turn out to sound great but are illusions. Our panelists talk about food lies in everything from The Night Circus to Sendak’s In The Night Kitchen, Narnia (and, yes, that food) to all the various birds baked into pies dishes (Hardinge’s upcoming Face Like Glass has birds whose songs are baked right out of them).

Signing
Sunday, August 12, 11:00 – 12:00

I hope to see you there. If you see me first, be sure to come over and say hello!

On the final day of the second annual StokerCon—which took place in Long Beach, California aboard the now permanently docked Queen Mary—I disembarked with one of the Guests of Honor to record the fifth and final Eating the Fantastic episode of the weekend. We headed to Thai District, which serves dishes from Northern Thailand, as opposed to most of the other Thai restaurants in the area which tend to focus on that country’s central region.

I’ve known this episode’s guest in the flesh for decades, and on the page for even longer, going back to my earliest days in comics fandom. George R. R. Martin is a multifaceted talent, with a list of credits so vast, many might only be aware of a fraction of them.

Some of might know him from the superhero short stories such as “Manta Ray Meets the Executioner” he was publishing in the ’60s in one of the greatest fanzines of all time, Star Studded Comics (which is where, as a young teen, I first encountered him), or as the creator and editor of the long-running Wild Cards series of mosaic, multi-author novels, some may know him better from such award-winning short fiction as “Sandkings” and “The Pear-Shaped Man,” or novels like Fevre Dream and The Armageddon Rag, while still others might know him best from his TV work … like … you know … The Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast—and don’t forget Max Headroom!

We discussed why he was annoyed Marvel Comics printed his letters but DC never did, the reason Gardner Dozois was responsible for his first science fiction short story sale, how the rock ‘n’ roll novel Armageddon Rag got him a job on the rebooted Twilight Zone, what he learned from the arc of Stephen R. Donaldson’s career, how losing the John W. Campbell Memorial Award got him his first editing gig, why he almost became a realtor, the time Harlan Ellison convinced him to apply to be the editor of Analog, and more. PLUS: Hear a snippet from an interview I did back in 1993 in which he makes an amusing admission about “a fantasy novel I’ve been working on off and on for awhile.”

Here’s how you can join us for our Thai feast— (more…)

On the final day of StokerCon 2017, I woke ridiculously early for a breakfast recording of Eating the Fantastic at Roscoe’s House of Chicken & Waffles—to the great skepticism of almost everyone I’d told at the con, who doubted those two foodstuffs were meant to be ingested simultaneously.

Luckily, my guest this episode was not a skeptic, and enthusiastically accompanied me for the greasy goodness. Five-time Bram Stoker Award winning-writer Nancy Holder had been the Toastmaster during the previous night’s ceremony, is the author of the young adult horror series Possessions, and has written many tie-in works set in such universes as Teen Wolf, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Smallville, and Wonder Woman.

We discussed her somewhat secret origin as a romance novelist, why her first horror convention made her burst into tears, how she got off on the wrong foot with acclaimed editor Charles L. Grant, what caused her Edgar Allan Poe obsession to begin, why she was a fan of DC Comics instead of Marvel as a kid, what Ed Bryant might have meant when he called her “the first splatterpunk to chew with her mouth closed,” and more.

Here’s how you can take a bite out of that chicken and waffles, too— (more…)