I accompanied my wife this weekend to New Jersey so she could attend the annual NJ Romance Writers convention, and while she was occupied there, I dashed into Manhattan and Brooklyn for adventures about which more will be revealed later. But we joined together yesterday for what to me is always the highlight of any trip to the New York City area—a visit with our comics friend Marie Severin, my favorite among all the people I met in comics. (Well … except for my wife.)

While typing these words, it occurred to me that I’ve known Marie for most of my life, even longer than I’ve known Irene, with the weekend of the 1972 EC Fan Addict convention being the latest possible date we would have met. And I’ve loved her from the start. If you knew her, too, you’d know … how could anyone not? (more…)

Whenever I attend a convention, there’s always the official con, and then the con away from the con, which typically involves at least one great meal. And that’s the way it was with Capclave, which was just held in Gaithersburg, Maryland. I took part in four panels—three to which I’d previously been assigned plus one I was added to at the last minute to replace a panelist who couldn’t make it.

I enjoyed sharing what wisdom I could on such panels as “Building Your Audience”—which ended with me invalidating all the advice I’d given during the previous hour when I quoted William Goldman’s maxim that “Nobody knows anything”—and “Food In Fiction”—during which I explained why Rene Redzepi uses ants in his New Nordic cuisine.

While I found all of that to be fun—you know me, put a microphone in front of me and I won’t shut up—the most important panel was probably the “Tiptree Retrospective,” which was captured above in a photo taken by Barbara Krasnoff. That’s Jim Freund, Julia Rios, Sarah Pinsker, me, and David Hartwell (who’d been Alice Sheldon’s editor and had actually visited her at home) reminiscing about that great writer in this, the year in which she would have turned 100. (more…)

Each day of this past weekend was split between the Baltimore Book Festival and Baltimore Comic-Con, and while that first event felt forward-thinking, the second was all about the past. Not only did I wander a dealers room in which I recognized every comic published or piece of original art created before 1980 or so, I also managed to catch up with seven people I’d worked beside during my time as a professional in the field.

And some I hadn’t seen in more than thirty years!

My nostalgia ride began with artist Ramona Fradon, whose work I’d loved as a child on titles such as Metamorpho and Aquaman.

Here we are posing with a copy of House of Mystery #273 opened to a story of mine which she drew in 1979! Not only was it a thrill to work with one of my idols, I couldn’t and still can’t imagine any artist more perfectly suited for that particular story. (more…)

I spent the weekend at the Baltimore Book Festival (combined with multiple visits to Baltimore Comic-Con, about which more later), where the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America hosted a tent featuring panels and readings from Friday through Sunday. That’s me to the left on the event’s homepage below, where I appeared for a few seconds at a time in rotation with the many other featured writers.

I was programmed for two items Sunday, but spent many additional hours beyond that at SFWA’s tent as well, enjoying (among other things) the Dangerous Voices Variety Hour gameshow, which put both authors and audience on the spot in amusing ways. You can check out my photos from the weekend over on Flickr.

Unfortunately, I forgot to hand my camera over to anyone to snap any pics of me, but luckily, the Internet provides … (more…)

This year’s list of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants has just been announced, and though I didn’t hit as high a number of honorees here as I did for the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, I’m happy to see I made it to what’s considered #2 and #3, plus #25 as well.

And man, do I want to get back to #2!

To find out why, and to see what I thought of the other two restaurants I visited, click on the links below. (more…)

Capclave is only two weeks away, so if you don’t get enough of me at this weekend’s Baltimore Book Festival, come track me down then in Gaithersburg.

Here are the three panels—all scheduled for Saturday, October 10—on which you’ll be able to find me.

Tiptree Retrospective
10 a.m.
Alice Sheldon, who wrote as James Triptree Jr. was born 100 years ago. She was a complex individual who kept her true identity secret even from the many writers who communicated with her by mail. Robert Silverberg famously wrote that only a man could have written Triptree’s stories. What did she have to say and what was her best work? Why is she important to the field?

Small Press Vs. Self-Publishing
2 p.m.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of small press compared to self-publishing? Why did you choose one over the other? How will the rise of both affect the creation and distribution of books?

Building Your Audience
6 p.m.
Now that you finished your book and found a publisher, how do you get people to read it? What promotional devices work and what turns potential readers off? And, after you’ve published three or four books, what can you do to expand your readership and get readers of your newest book to look at your older ones?

I hope to see you there!

I was hoping to spend all day Saturday at the Small Press Expo in Bethesda—which I last attended two years ago, where I felt privileged to meet civil rights legend John Lewis—but life intervened, and I was instead only able to spend a few short hours there on Sunday. My abbreviated time that day was because I had to leave early to get to—and I’m sure you’ll understand—a ukulele jam. But my visit, though short, was still fun.

The high point this year was the brief time I got to spend with Bill Griffith, whom I’ve been reading since I was a young teenager.

I first encountered him through his cartoons in the pages of the East Village Other, which spoke more to my sensibilities when I was a kid growing up in Brooklyn than did the Village Voice. And I bought at least one of his underground comics at my first convention. Which means I’ve been reading stories of his most famous creation, Zippy, for about as long as Griffith’s been drawing him. (more…)

Mike Grell was born 68 years ago. So happy birthday!

Also, a little more than 42 years ago, when I was but a fanboy wandering conventions with a pad under one arm, begging artists for sketches, he drew me this. So add a thanks to those birthday wishes!

Based on the date—July 6, 1973—Grell would have been 26 and I would have been 18 when I approached him the Friday of one of Phil Seuling’s famed July 4th weekend comic conventions at the Statler Hilton Hotel.

I can no longer tell, from this distance of more than four decades, whether that’s supposed to be Green Arrow or Warlord, neither of which he had yet drawn professionally.

Warlord wouldn’t appear until two years later, in 1st Issue Special #8 (Nov. 1975), and I don’t think he had a chance to tackle Green Arrow until 1987.

Based on that beard and mustache, it could be either of them. But I’ll choose to believe Grell was giving me a glimpse of Warlord, long before the rest of you got to see him.

Hope you’re enjoying your birthday, Mike! And thanks again for putting up with the annoying fan I most certainly was.

While being interviewed the other day by Shaun Clancy about Captain Marvel for an article which will appear in an upcoming issue of Back Issue magazine, I got to talking about my first published comic book—which also happened to be the first appearance of Marvel’s Scarecrow. And when Shaun mentioned in passing that the character came out of a painting, right, I told him that, yes, he did, and I have that painting.

Which may leave you thinking … huh? But the painting from the story wasn’t real … was it?

If you ever read the initial Scarecrow story in Dead of Night #11, you’d have seen that painting as the fifth page of story by artist Rico Rival, which is first an action scene and later an object being auctioned.

But what you never saw, unless you were working beside me in the Marvel Bullpen back in the ’70s, was the original art for that page. (more…)

As some of you may recall, I arrived in Spokane last month for Sasquan several days earlier than necessary, which allowed me to spend nearly every waking moment the Monday before Worldcon doing something super sekrit which I could not share then but promised I’d share someday.

That someday is today.

Because tonight, the second season of Z Nation premieres on Syfy at 10/9 Central. And if you keep tuning in each Friday night, eventually you’ll see this guy.

Recognize him?

Here’s how I turned from the me you know into that shambling wreck above.

Craig Engler, who was my boss at Syfy for more than a decade as I edited Science Fiction Weekly, SCI FI Wire, and Blastr, plus a print magazine, is the co-creator and co-executive producer of Z Nation, which coincidentally films in the city that hosted this year’s Worldcon. Once I realized this many months ago, I asked whether it would be possible for me to watch filming one day.

Because I love zombies. How much do I love zombies? So much I’ve got a collection out featuring nothing but zombie stories.

After I asked whether I could witness some zombie action, Craig promised he’d do better than that—he’d see if I could actually be a zombie, assuming zombies were needed during filming when I’d be in town.

And lucky for me, they were!

That’s all you’ll get out of me for now, because I wouldn’t want to spoil any of the scenes in which you might spot me. I’ll share more once my specific episode airs and giving you more details wouldn’t ruin it for you.

For now, just enjoy my official set photo above … and try not to say, “gee, I guess they didn’t need that much makeup” … OK?