The New York Times ran an article today about how artist John Romita Jr. was jumping from Marvel Comics over to DC to draw Superman, calling it “the equivalent of Derek Jeter leaving the Yankees to play for the Mets.”

I was touched to see that John mentioned me by name in the piece, repeating a comment of mine which he’s shared many times before. (more…)

On Friday, Irene and I drove more than 300 miles to the small town of Chilhowie, Virginia for dinner. Why? It was a celebration of sorts for the 40th anniversary of the day we met, June 24, 1974, which was when I started at Marvel Comics.

But why Chilhowie?

The New York Times asked the same question back in 2009 when chefs John Shields and Karen Urie, who’d worked at Alinea and Charlie Trotter’s, chose to open Town House there rather than launch a Las Vegas Charlie Trotter’s spin-off. And what they whipped up at Town House earned them raves from bloggers and John a nod for Best New Chef from Food & Wine.

John and Karen left Town House a few years ago in the hopes of opening a restaurant in Washington, D.C., a plan which they’re still hoping to pull off. But until then, they’ve decided to offer dinners a few nights a month—only three each in June and July, for example—at Riverstead, a beautifully renovated 1903 home on 30 acres. It’s an intimate experience, with a maximum of 14 diners per seating, I believe, and only two rooms for overnight guests.

Once we realized that the June 20th opening night was close to to the date of our anniversary—and exactly how luxurious the renovated accommodations would be—and that it would be a straight shot for us down I-81—we snapped up a reservation. (more…)

Over at eBay, someone just picked up a bound volume of Incredible Hulk 167-182 which had my name embossed on the cover in gold. (The cognoscenti among you will recognize that run as including the origin of Wolverine.) And he wondered … what’s up with that?

I’ve only been asked about this sort of thing once before, by someone who wanted to know whether receiving bound volumes of comics was a perk regularly given to Marvel Bullpenners in the ’70s. (As if!)

So why does this artifact exist? The short answer is … it seemed like a good idea at the time. (more…)

Daniel Keyes, author of the classic short story “Flowers for Algernon” as well as the best-selling novel that followed, died Sunday at age 86. He deserves accolades not just for the tale itself, but also for his determination to resist those who wanted him to turn its tragic ending into an upbeat one, a change which would have robbed the story of its power.

I was privileged to have met him in 2000 when I was Toastmaster at that year’s Nebula Awards weekend, where he was presented with SFWA’s Author Emeritus award.

When I learned earlier today of his passing, I suddenly remembered that though I had a recording of that night and had previously shared with you the presentation of the Best Short Story, Best Novella, and Best Novel awards, as well as my introduction of then-president Paul Levinson and my singing of an Elvis standard, I had never uploaded any video of Keyes being given that honor.

Sadly, it’s now time to correct that omission. Watch as he explains how the character of Charlie Gordon came to be …

“P.S. please if you get a chanse put some flowrs on Algernons grave in the bak yard.”

R.I.P. Daniel Keyes.

It seems as if I’ve barely gotten back into the rhythm of my regular life after the one-two punch of the World Horror Convention and the Nebula Awards on consecutive weekends. But since it’s summer, there are two more cons around the corner to discombobulate and energize me—Readercon in Burlington, Massachusetts and Loncon 3, the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention, in London.

The con committees have released their tentative schedules to the program participants, which obviously will be subject to change as the final tweaks are made. But just to tease you, here—as of today—is where you’ll be able to find me during these two events. (I’m leaving out my co-panelists for now, since that’s also subject to change.)

First up—Readercon.

The Shiny, Candy-like Zombie: Commoditizing the Undead
Friday, July 12, 3:00 p.m.
On Twitter, M. John Harrison wrote about the appeal of zombies: “You can hate them without feeling wrong. You can kill them like eating sweets. Then you’re hungry again & you can kill more. They’re fully dehumanised. There’s no off-season, no moral limitation. They’re the *enemy*. What’s not to love? They’re what we really want.” So do we like zombies because they’re the consumer-friendly, ambiguity-free face of implacable evil? Are they, in fact, the most perfectly commoditised monsters?

Reading
Sunday, July 14, 9:00 a.m.
I’ll read my new story, “And, Behold, It Was Very Good”

(more…)

Judgment Day and Other Stories, reprinting 23 classic EC tales drawn by Joe Orlando, has just been published by Fantagraphics Books. The volume contains many science fiction classics, including “Judgment Day,” an anti-racism allegory that ended up being the last story in EC’s last comic book, plus many adaptations of Earl and Otto Binder’s Adam Link robot stories.

Which seems like a perfect reason to post yet another of the drawings I got when I was an annoying kid with a sketchpad who wandered conventions pestering artists. Here’s one Orlando did for me of Adam Link, years before he became my editor on such comics as Welcome Back, Kotter.

I’m not sure exactly when he drew this for me, but my best guess is that it was at the 1972 EC Fan Addict convention, where I also got sketches from Al Williamson, George Evans, and many others.

It was a much different world back then, one in which artists would happily (well … willingly, anyway) draw for fans for free. These days, all those annoying kids with sketchpads are paying for their art … which, I imagine, makes them a heck of a lot less annoying.

2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the launch of Stephen Jones’ Best New Horror series, and PS Publishing has just announced that to celebrate, it’ll start reissuing all of those volumes. I’m pleased that this will bring back into print the fourth book, which led off with my short story “The Suicide Artist.”

Even cooler is that all of the covers for the series will be repurposed art from pre-Comics Code comic books. (more…)

May was one of my lightest months ever in terms of remembered dreams, a product of attending both the World Horror Convention in Portland and the Nebula Awards weekend in San Jose—and taking redeye flights back home both times. The resulting exhaustion meant there was about a week and a half during which I remembered nothing.

I still managed to encounter Hodor, the Queen of England, Bill Paxton and Eddie Murphy, though, as the following tweets reveal …

May 2014 Dreams

I dreamt I was at a corporate meeting debating whether our Tumblr should be all images of bananas or peaches. Which sounds kinda sexual now. May 31

I dreamt my wife and I, struggling to find a restaurant we’d both enjoy, ended up at a joint which only served hoagies stuffed with fries. May 31

I dreamt I worked in a newsroom, and when there was a hubbub, I said, “That had to be because Princess Di had her baby.” And I was right! May 31

Another dream lost because this middle-of-of-night note sparks no memories — RECORDED SONG CD WOULD NOT [followed by three illegible words] May 29

I lost two of last night’s dreams because I can no longer understand the meaning of scribbled night notes. Like — 50+ YR EMP RETIRE PARTY May 29

I dreamt my son and I were at a newsstand filled with many back issues of MAD that never existed IRL — but I woke before I could read them. May 29

I dreamt I was on my way to a con panel the program book called, “Writing Characters That Aren’t Prospero.” But isn’t that 99.999% of them? May 28

I dreamt I was presented with a trophy — though I no longer remember by whom — that was a working blender with a bronze plaque attached. May 28

I dreamt I wandered a humongous Las Vegas hotel trying to find my room in its maze of halls. But I never did, and woke while walking. May 28

I dreamt I sat at a round table with the Queen of England as she very carefully, very patiently, taught me the proper way to fold napkins. May 28 (more…)

Two weeks ago, right around this time, I was in the midst of dining at the Los Gatos restaurant Manresa. I’d meant to tell you all about the meal long before now, but first I had to survive and recover from the Nebula Awards weekend, then complete my second new short story of the year, then host Geoff Landis and Mary Turzillo as they stopped here for a night on the way to Balticon, then start in on another new story. But before any more time passes, let’s get to it!

I’d made my reservation at Manresa having no idea who might join me, but sure that I’d find three other foodies at the Nebula weekend who’d want to take part. I’ve done that before with restaurants I trusted would deliver peak dining experiences, and haven’t been left with an empty seat yet. Based on what I’d been told, if I could eat only one meal in San Jose, it should be at David Kinch’s restaurant, so I knew that there’d be eager co-conspirators.

Joining me two weeks ago were Jenn Reese, her agent Barry Goldbatt (who snapped the picture above), and Jaym Gates. This was taken after we returned from our meal. Can you tell that we’re happy and satiated? Well, after spending five hours and 12 minutes at Manresa … we’d better be! (more…)

I can’t read, write, or speak in Spanish, but if you’d like to read one of my zombie short stories in that language anyway, you’re in luck. A new Spanish-language printing of the anthology The Book of All Flesh, titled El libro de los zombies, will be out shortly from Edge.

James Lowder edited the original book, which had its first English-language edition in 2001. My Thorton Wilder-inspired short story “Live People Don’t Understand” appears there as … “Los vivos no lo comprenden.”

Please let me know whether, thanks to translators José Luis Viruete and Gustavo A. Díaz, I read better in Spanish than I do in English.

I sure hope so. I need all the help I can get!