As some of you may know, I wrote a biography of Joanie Laurer a.k.a. Chyna that was published in 2000. Because it was unauthorized, I never interviewed her, and so assembled the book based on the facts I already knew from editing a pro wrestling magazine plus what I could pick up through research, which I combined to tell the arc of her life up until then.

On hearing of her death, I went back and skimmed what I’d written, which led me to the following paragraphs near the end of the book—

When Joanie Laurer transformed herself from an uncertain teenager into Chyna, the Ninth Wonder of the World, she became many things, not all of them expected. If life went as she had planned and hoped from the beginning, she knew that she would have money and fame without limit. But it is doubtful she could have foreseen that she would not only become a celebrity, but she would also be taken up as a role model and a feminist icon. We expect wrestling to be entertaining, not inspirational. How refreshing that Joanie Laurer was able to surprise us all by doing both.

The corporate world has its infamous glass ceiling, and though this woman warrior went in for the Federation instead of the corporation, Joanie Laurer has burst all expectations in her own way, by ripping through wrestling’s canvas ceiling.

Hyperbolic much? Yes. But hey, why shouldn’t writing about pro wrestling be hyperbolic?

In any case, however purple the prose, I stand by those feelings, which remain sincere.

I liked her before I was contracted to write Warrior Queen, and in the writing of it, came to like her even more. I’d hoped she’d live into her 90s, like Mae Young, but alas, she only made it half as far.

R.I.P. to the Ninth Wonder of the World.

Back in February, I revealed the title of a story of mine which was to appear in the next issue of Postscripts. It’s my second-longest title ever, falling one word short of my longest—”How Amraphel, the Assistant to Dream, Became a Thief, Lost His Job, and Found His Way.”

Well, the issue containing “The Man Without the Blue Balloon and the Woman Who Had Smiles Only for Him” is now available from PS Publishing, and here’s the cover, which eerily captures the volume’s subtitle, “The Dragons of the Night.”

For the full Table of Contents, check out my earlier post, or take a look at this full cover spread, which includes the authors and story titles on the inside front cover flap.

The marks my fifth short story publication in Postscripts. Pete Crowther and Nick Gevers have been good to me. I hope that when you read “The Man Without the Blue Balloon and the Woman Who Had Smiles Only for Him,” you’ll feel that confidence has been justified.

Andy Duncan and I got together Wednesday at the Princess Cafe—where Harry and Bess Truman had lunch one Father’s Day more than 60 years ago—and recorded the sixth episode of Eating the Fantastic while seated in the same booth they’d once occupied.

Andy’s an award-winning writer many times over, having won a Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, a Nebula Award, and three World Fantasy Awards. Plus he’s also been nominated for the Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson Awards. His collections include Beluthahatchie and Other Stories (which came out in 2000) and The Pottawatomie Giant and Other Stories (published in 2011).

We discussed the profound influence of Richard Pryor on his writing, why he loves playing with real-world historical characters and events in his stories, what it was like to collaborate with Ellen Klages on their award-winning novella “Wakulla Springs,” what, if anything, writing teachers can teach, and more.

Here’s how you can join us— (more…)

I love opening nights, and not just when it comes to the theater. When a restaurant opens its doors for the first time, there’s a mood created which no longer exists later on once the unfamiliar rhythms settle into a perfected routine. Both staff and customers are filled with excitement and wonder, and as they’re both experiencing the venue for the first time, maybe even a tickle of uncertainty as well.

Will it all come together? Will confidence be rewarded? At the outset, you can never be sure. But one always begins filled with hope.

Which is why, when Aaron Silverman announced that Pineapple and Pearls—his spinoff from Rose’s Luxury—was going to open in April, I knew Irene and I had to be there. After all, Bon Appétit had judged Rose’s Luxury to be 2014’s best new restaurant in America, so Pineapple and Pearls promised to be something quite special.

And it was.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Pineapple and Pearls opened its first phase—a coffee shop serving amazing sandwiches and sweet rolls—on February 12. Though I wasn’t able to get there for its opening day, I was able to pop in exactly one week later, when I was in D.C. to record an episode of my Eating the Fantastic podcast, and I checked out the entire menu.

To experience the coffee shop, all I needed to do was show up. But to get a table for the fine dining component, I had to work my Internet magic the moment reservations opened. Luckily, I was able to grab a table for the first seating on the first night.

And so, at 5:01 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, we arrived at Pineapple and Pearls—me wearing a pineapple, Irene wearing the pearls—and were immediately handed mint juleps. (Sans alcohol, of course, for we had chosen the non-alcoholic pairings, as we always do.)

Once we were led to our table, I peered over to the kitchen and spotted what felt like a historic moment which cried out to be captured—head chef Scott Muns and chef/owner Aaron Silverman conferring as service began. (more…)

March was another month which brought fewer dreams than usual. What it all means, why the drop-off, I don’t know. I’ve been gathering the dreams I’ve tweeted and sharing them here since December 2009, attempting to keep them a little less ephemeral. But now that I think about it, perhaps all this dream tweeting has made them more ephemeral.

After all, the first dream I shared, back on November 30, 2007, took up nearly 300 words, not a mere 140 characters. So perhaps by tweeting, I’ve lost more than I’ve gained. Something for me to think about. But while I do …

In December, I dreamt of Jon Stewart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Fred Astaire, Daryl Dixon, David Hartwell, and many other surprise guest stars. And here they are …

March 2016

I dreamt I flew to North Korea on a secret mission for the government. Now that I’m awake, though — I don’t remember what the mission was! Mar 31

I dream I was collaborating with Harlan Ellison on a short story … about which I remember nothing other than Ponce de León was involved. Mar 30

I dreamt I explained to a friend the reason I was fearless as a teen was not arrogance, but naïveté. It seemed important she understood. Mar 30

I dreamt I was packing up statues Jack Kirby had made of all the characters he’d created (to send to a museum) and was afraid I’d chip them. Mar 30

I dreamt I got into a conversation with Jon Stewart about kids, ending up reciting the whole of “This Be the Verse.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rjRYSfCJvM Mar 29

Last night, I dreamt I explained a story idea at a convention. It was an intriguing idea. But awake, it’s not one I’d ever choose to write. Mar 26

I dreamt @Nalo_Hopkinson and I were hosting a fundraising marathon and had to talk and entertain for DAYS while urging people to donate. Mar 26

I dreamt I was in a Shakespeare play with Eddie Izzard and Maggie Smith, which was put on hold when he got into fight with the set designer. Mar 25

I dreamt Harlan Ellison was about to climb into the ring for a boxing match, then decided he’d rather live, so we went for deli instead. Mar 24

I dreamt I watched on set as Jamie Lee Curtis and Janet Leigh filmed an episode of NYPD Blue with Dennis Franz. Got to chat with them, too. Mar 23 (more…)

A new Eating the Fantastic is now live! Episode 5 was recorded with Carolyn Ives Gilman at Range in Friendship Heights, Maryland.

Carolyn is a Nebula, Hugo, and Tiptree-award nominated author whose first novel, Halfway Human, was called “one of the most compelling explorations of gender and power in recent SF.”

We discussed what’s kept her coming back to her Twenty Planets universe for a quarter of a century, how her first science fiction convention was “total sensory overload,” what it was like working with David Hartwell as an editor, why she’s not visible on social media, and more.

Here’s how you can listen in— (more…)

Someone who’s been in podcasting far longer than I have—after all, I only launched the first episode of Eating the Fantastic on February 10—has taken note of the file size for each of the first four episodes and suggested I begin uploading them in mono rather than stereo to save listeners from straining their bandwidth. The episodes so far, all stereo, have have ranged from 72-77 megabytes, and if they’d been mono, the file size would have been cut approximately in half.

I’ve been advised that those with capped data plans might be unwilling to download these files to their mobile devices for fear of maxing out on their monthly usage allowances, and I’d hate to lose out on potential listeners due to that. But my gut feeling is this file size won’t discourage downloads, as I assume everyone these days has access to wifi, which makes those monthly data plans not as much of a barrier as they once might have been.

As for the storage issue, I assume that others, like me, have podcast episodes deleted automatically once they’ve been listened to, so they won’t stack up and clog anyone’s phone.

The reason I don’t simply go ahead and shrink the files is because, having listened to both mono and stereo versions of the upcoming Episode 5—which will go live on April 1 and feature Carolyn Ives Gilman—I find the stereo version preferable to my ears, more filled with life, with a greater sense YOU ARE THERE to it. And yet—if potential listeners are put off by the file size, what good does that do?

Of course, there might be also be people who find the amount of ambient restaurant noise of the whole Eating the Fantastic concept distracting, and would be unwilling to put up with it regardless, but that I can’t help. That’s what this podcast is.

So what do you think about the state of podcasting today as it relates to optimal file size and the mono vs. stereo sound issue? I don’t want to be shooting myself in the foot by retaining stereo sound out of my own personal preference if the larger resulting file size keeps people away.

Any thoughts?

Last June, I told you I’d sold my 10,000-word story “That Perilous Stuff” to the anthology Chiral Mad 3, and then in August I shared the illustration artist Glenn Chadbourne whipped up for that tale.

Now that the book’s about to be released—over on Facebook last night, editor Michael Bailey announced a March 29 release date—here’s the final front and back cover, with the name EDELMAN sandwiched between CHIZMAR and GOLDSMITH.

A spooky cover for what will surely be a spooky (and awesome) book!

If you’d like a small taste of “That Perilous Stuff,” here’s my reading at last year’s World Fantasy Convention of the first third or so.

I hope it will leave you wanting more.

Writer Tom Doyle and I recorded Episode 4 of Eating the Fantastic at Ethiopic Ethiopian restaurant nearby the Capitol, the Supreme Court, and Union Station in Washington D.C.—which unless I’m mistaken has the largest Ethiopian population outside of Ethiopia after so many resettled here during the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Tom’s the author of a contemporary fantasy series from Tor which began in 2014 with American Craftsmen, returned in 2015 with The Left Hand Way, and continues in the third installment War and Craft—the manuscript of which he handed in to his editor mere days before we met.

We talked about how what was was originally pitched as a standalone novel turned into a surprise trilogy, his fascination with apocalyptic fiction, what effect the Clarion workshop had on his growth as a writer, and much more.

Here’s how you can listen in— (more…)

I find it hard to believe I haven’t shared this Al Jaffee drawing before—but perhaps I was saving it for a milestone moment like this, when I could wish the man a happy 95th birthday!

Jaffee sketched out this self-portrait for me at a National Cartoonist Society Ruben Awards banquet held at the Waldorf Astoria in 1973, to which I was invited by Bill Kresse, a cartoonist I’d met during a class trip to the Daily News. I was an annoying teen fanboy in those days (now I’m only annoying), yet he was willing to put up with me when I interrupted his chowing down on rubber chicken and presented him with my pad and marker.

Forty-three years later, I am still grateful for his patience. (And for the patience of Curt Swan, Gary Trudeau, Paul Fung, Jr., and others that night as well!)

So thank you for that, Al Jaffee—and for ensuring I own no copies of MAD in mint condition due to my inability to resist folding and creasing those famous inside back cover fold-ins of yours.

Happy birthday!