Date: 2008-05-04 18:48 Subject: Cinco Security: Public

I know nothing about Mexico.

(Wife) Anne and I were at the annual 5th of May party held by a (largely) Mexican friend (who is very cool).
She's living way out in Harlem on the East side somewhere near the tracks.  (In your standard New York weirdness, the neighbourhood includes abandoned lots and empty buildings with cinderblocked windows, as well as condos with high, wide balconies).

In any case, she had a couple of people on hand to wait tables and hired a mariachi band to play.  (I'd never attended a house party with loud live music before -- its great fun, but takes a bit of adjustment).

In any case, I learned that I know nothing about Mexico whatsoever.  (We were quizzed).  And got to see the mariachi band lugging their instruments home on the subway.  (Why did the smallest one have the biggest guitar?)

The guys (in their shiny ivory boots and bangled trousers) passed a scrawny subway musician (possibly Jamaican).  The guy was crabbed over a set of drums, pounding away and howling out songs that might have been reggae... until he sees the band, when he hollers "Mariachi!" and lurches into La Bamba.  The mariachi guys smile.  And a couple of them even lean in for a chorus.

But subway drumming guy keeps going.  And the mariachis shift uncomfortably on their high heels. 

One sings another chorus (an increasingly false grin on his face).

And, when the subway musician swings around for another verse, even this last brave mariachi slips away.

(Clearly, under the skin, we are all the same).

~Dave

PS:  Type of accordion played by mariachis?  Weltmeister.  Love that name.

Date: 2008-05-02 06:50 Subject: Ramble Security: Public Tags: interview

There's an interview of Yours Truly up at Shaun Farrell's Adventures in Scifi Publishing. 

This was a bit of a weird one.  It's the first time I had an interview in the middle of a long conversation.  ie.  He calls.  We're chatting.  He does the interview.  We chat.  (I'm not entirely sure which bits end up on the podcast!).

The interview itself is in a show with Tobias Buckell and Pyr's Lou Anders, and might be worth a listen for that alone!

~Dave

Date: 2008-04-23 16:16 Subject: Olde Weird Security: Public

Writers and editors around the world have been talking subgenre today on the Hinternet.   (Wife) Anne put me in the loop.

The crux of the matter?  It seems that the claws come out when folks start setting their stuff apart.  SF writers cease to be polite as new movements tear themselves free with unnecessary violence, and the old guard crosses its arms and thunders.  (Think New Weird, Mundane SF, and other subgenre moves).
 
I always think of poor old Polonius at such times.  You remember, the old fellow was in a good mood.  (Speaking part in Hamlet, he hadn't even seen an arras yet, and he was cracking on about genre: “Tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical-pastoral.")

I've decided that I write Olde Weird.  Anyone have any candidates for the new Olde movement?

~Dave

Date: 2008-04-19 17:13 Subject: Comic Con New York Style Security: Public Tags: appearances conventions

So, I'm back from my whirlwind visit to Comic Con in Manhattan.

I was on a panel discussing the influence of New York on writers from New York -- an intriguing experience all round. 

First off, no one running the con really showed up.  (Including whomever was meant to moderate). 

And second, a couple of us were definitely alien interlopers.

Me and fellow panelist Mr. Gilman, for example, aren't New Yorkers.  (Canadian, me.  Londoner, him).  We live in Gotham, mind you.  But neither of us really writes Metropolis fiction, exactly.

Gilman, thankfully, has penned a book about a vast and confusing supernatural city.  (Nice one too).  But I'm really writing about the Middle Ages and New York only sneaks in the way any experience in a writer's life sneaks in: a shifting of the world view, a change of diction, a new sense of what people are.  A sneaking sense that certain buildings on the horizon are creeping slowly towards one like the gargantuan brick linebackers of Godzillas nightmares.

Still, I tried for droll and introspective.

Best super person?  A Hulk less than 5'6".  The Credible Hulk, I decided.

He had the purple pants, though, and that's the main thing.

(And thanks to the gang at Tor for setting up my little journey into Comic Con Manhattan).

~Dave

Date: 2008-04-17 20:10 Subject: New York Comic Con Security: Public

Hey folks,

Glancing up from the grind of New York's long trench-warfaric stretch before April's wee holiday, but there's news:

Yours truly is paneling at New York Comic Con.  Saturday.  Saturday - 2-3 PM - 1E08  (I am assuming that last number is some sector within the Javits Center). 

I'll be talking about New York as one of its authors.  (Still an odd thought).  We're meant to talk about New York's stamp on our work.  I'm not sure how easily I'll be able to stick-handle around the fact that I'm far more heavily influenced by Britain, France, and the Canadian Prairies than Gotham, but there it is.

Now that I think of it, there's something faintly fantastical about living in River(n)dale just beyond Kingsbridge and working within sight of the Cloisters.  Right?

~Dave

Date: 2008-03-22 21:36 Subject: Winnipeg Reading Security: Public

Well, (wife) Anne and I have made our way to Winnipeg and we have read.

This morning, we popped into a lovely, big mall location of the Winnipeg-based independent book store McNally Robinson.  We got out our books and read 'em to something on the order of fifty (maybe seventy) people.

Afterward, my folks hosted a little get-together (for about half that number) with a little champagne and a lot of chatting.

This is, by the way, my home town we're talking about.  So, there are always some "this is your life moments" when the reading gets started.

This time, my 102 year old piano teacher made it out.  (Wouldn't miss it, she said).  She's one of these steel-trap people, and, although she's fading a bit as she works her way through her second century, she's still got some of the old edges.  (She played piano along with silent movies at Winnipeg's Kings Theatre back in the silent movie days -- the movie theatre where I later saw Star Wars as a kid).  Cool, eh?  

(We also saw my third grade teacher -- who seems to be at least three feet shorter than I remember!)

(Wife) Anne and I both read nautical bits of our books, so the whole gang were likely sea sick when they went home.  

Personally, I recommend doing book launches in your home town.  (Especially if that home town is Winnipeg).

~Dave

PS: Thanks to Chadwick and the rest of the crew at the store for doing a great job. 

Date: 2008-03-20 19:16 Subject: Objects in Mirror Security: Public Tags: travel

With this weekend trip coming up (very shortly), (wife) Anne and I decided that we'd be sensible and pack carry on bags instead of great big suitcases.
Ordinarily, we don't travel this way.  (I'm not sure if I ever have).

And it meant that we had to stock up on tiny things.  So with wholly unanticipated glee, we picked out our small toothpaste, small antiperspirant, small contact lens solution, small hair goo, & etc.. 

At the cash register, they took every penny we had. 

Miniaturization must be expensive. 

I have decided that I shall feel like a spy.  (And not a tourist buying travel items on Broadway in Midtown Manhattan).

~Dave

Date: 2008-03-20 06:35 Subject: NYC KGB Security: Public

I kept it short and people laughed in the right places. 

Oh.  And Michael Swanwick knows what he's doing.

The reading went pretty well.

After finding my way down by subway, the only source of stress was puzzling out which bit of my book to read.  (I'd been mulling this over on the train for hundreds of blocks and it came down to me stopwatching three sections at an Irish bar around the corner just before I walked in).

In any case, friends showed up.  The place was packed.  (And there were even a couple of Canadians in the crowd).

Thanks to everybody who came out and to the organizers for their stalwart efforts behind the scenes!

~Dave

Date: 2008-03-12 18:25 Subject: Winnipeg Set Security: Public Tags: appearances, david keck, readings

After an odd little rough spot (where there were some personnel changes at our Canadian publicists'), (wife) Anne and I are set for our joint Canadian launch. We even have e-tickets!

With a little luck, I read in New York on the 19th, get on a plane with (wife) Anne and then read in Winnipeg on the 22nd.

It's an interesting time slot: 10:00 AM. Grant Park McNally Robinson. I'm informed that they've had good luck with this slot, but it seems a wee bit early to read harrowing scenes of soul-testing blood and thunder (or misty haunted romances, for that matter). We shall see.


View Map

If you're within driving distance of Winnipeg, we'll try and show you a good time.

~Dave

Date: 2008-03-08 11:56 Subject: Readings Security: Public

Anyone have any sage advice for a writer about to do a few readings?

I've got the KGB reading coming up on the 19th (in Manhattan) and then another scheduled for McNally Robinson in Winnipeg on the the 22nd, and I thought I'd better think about things like choosing a passage, deciding on length,  pace, obvious mistakes, etc..

Reading is an interesting thing.  I've done pretty well with it (perhaps because I've got experience reading to hostile teenagers), but it's pretty easy to screw up. 

A friend of mine (and old writer's group buddy) once told me that you've got to read from a real copy of the book, for example.  (You want the crowd to know the stuff they're hearing is really in there.  Down in the monkey brain). 

Anyone have pet peeves?  Good advice?  Say on.  I'm curious.

~Dave

Date: 2008-03-04 07:00 Subject: Dragon Page Chat Security: Public

Hey folks,

An interview of yours truly is up at The Dragon Page.  I'm the second feature in the little podcast and start my maunderings at about fifteen minutes.

If you listen, you must picture me balanced on the edge of a buried dining room table deep in caverns of cardboard boxes.  (Mostly marked "living room"). 

Despite the conditions at my end of the telephone studio, I had a great time talking to Summer and Michael out there in the Internet.  (I hope some of that makes it through to the podcast).

~Dave

Date: 2008-03-02 12:30 Subject: Hometown Review Security: Public

My spies back in my home town just sent word that In a Time of Treason got a lovely little writeup in the Winnipeg Free Press.  To see more, click Winnipeg Free Press Review...

~Dave

Date: 2008-02-27 06:47 Subject: Upcoming Reading Security: Public

So, on Wednesday, March 19th I'll be doing my first official reading in the USA.

It's part of Ellen Datlow and Gavin Grant's KGB Fantastic Fiction readings.  And I'm sharing the bill with inimitable Michael Swanwick.

If you've recovered from your St. Patrick's Day hangover, pop down to the east village and the KGB bar. It all starts at 7pm, but I'm warned that it's smart to come early (the place can get crowded).

KGB Bar
85 East 4th St
New York NY 10003 (just off 2nd Ave, upstairs)

~Dave

Date: 2008-02-26 21:20 Subject: An Author Introduction Security: Public

jpsorrow (a writer of fantastic things) invited yours truly to write a little blurb on his blog.  An introduction of sorts.

The exercise intrigued me, and so I've gone and done it:  Take a look if you've got a sec.

~Dave

Date: 2008-02-26 20:36 Subject: Perceptive Paul Security: Public

There's a nice review of Time of Treason in Realms of Fantasy.  I've exerpted a minimalist exerpt on my main site.

(If anyone else happens across a cheerful review of Time of Treason, feel free to tip me off.  I don't go looking, but I like to keep a wee file to keep the ego bouyant).

~Dave

Date: 2008-02-26 06:37 Subject: Ironic Heating Security: Public

It appears that I've angered the heating gods at our new place: they've gone all ironic on us.

During the recent cold(ish) snap, we couldn't get the place above 67 degrees (on a thermometer near the stove).  Meanwhile, every time the building's heating kicked in, our apartment was full of the merry clanging of steam pipes.

We're huddled.  Steam is boiling through the building.

(Super is checking into the ironic situation for us.  Fingers crossed).

Second book still out.

~Dave

Date: 2008-02-24 19:15 Subject: Bookshelves Like Stonehenge Security: Public

After days and days living in the cardboard equivalent of a human habitrail, things are shaping up in our new co-op.

We have rugs down in two rooms.  A couple of the closets are set up.  The kitchen seems to do kitchen things. 

And I figure that between us (wife) Anne and I now have enough books to create our own bibliolithic monument. 

Today, I spent discovering a new phone jack (in the office!), plumbing cords around and behind things.  And hoisting box after box of books into various Billy bookshelves.  (Oh the pernicious centre shelf that can't be moved and how it screws things up no matter what you do).

In any case, the vast majority of our books are now arranged so that light will fall upon directly upon a single secret volume among them come next Equinox and I'm starting feel a little more human.

We are also hoping that the apartment's temperature can be made to exceed 68 degrees Fahrenheit.  (This has been a problem).

~Dave


PS: Is there any way to cause 300,000 people to buy my second book?  I feel anxious.  Numbers like that would relax me nicely.

Date: 2008-02-18 21:18 Subject: Dave's Second Book! Security: Public

Tell a  friend: Dave's Second Book hits shelves today (assuming today is Tuesday, February 19th!)

In a Time of Treason it's called.

If anyone out there has the opportunity to gush egregiously to a friend (or a generally well-disposed enormous swathe of the public), take a stab.  Perhaps we'll build momentum.  (Getting the ball rolling).

I'd love to hear from anyone who actually sees the book in a store.  (First sighting getting brownie points -- or has Rowling got the copyright on brownies these days?)

Hooray!

~Dave

PS: Moving now.  Insanity setting in.  Too much stuff.  Impossible to work out the physics.  Think the brown cardboard version of Tutankhamun.  (Maybe the end of Indiana Jones).  Tardis too?

Date: 2008-02-18 11:17 Subject: Interview Security: Public

An interview of yours truly has appeared on several interconnected websites.  If you are at all interested in how my mum changed the course of my novels.  What writer and I once wrote together in an airport.  And what, precisely, I might have meant by the phrase "the old cliff-hanger and switch 3rd person merry-go-round," well, follow this link.

Cool, eh?

~Dave