Ketchup

I've been meaning to write this up, too, some fun and success on the short fiction front. My novelette “The Frozen Sky” was given an honorable mention in the new The Year’s Best Science Fiction by Gardner Dozois. Unfortunately, it was credited to another writer. There’s a guy named Bruce Carlson who also got the nod… for two stories... the second of which is mine. That’s fine. I’m happy just to see the story recognized.

Bruce, where are you, man? Maybe we should start a club or something.

In the meantime (and blame this one on British Steve Gaskell) I’m continuing to have success selling the audio rights of old short stories to various podcasters. Podcasting is the new, hot thing, I guess.

“Gunfight at the Sugarloaf Pet Food & Taxidermy” (Asimov’s, January 2007) went to Starship Sofa, who can be found, unsurprisingly, at www.starshipsofa.com. That’s my second piece to them.

“Enter Sandman” (Artemis Magazine, Spring 2002) went to Dunesteef, a new podcasting outfit at http://dunesteef.com/

And “Monsters” (Space and Time #97, March 2003) went to Horror Addicts, also a new upstart, which can be found at http://www.horroraddicts.net/

Exciting stuff!

Labels: podcasting, Short fiction, Years Best Science Fiction

Running late as usual. It was one extra crazy week. There were a bazillion distractions with the release of the book trailer, plus we’re gearing up for a book release party at my local Borders. If you live in the east Bay Area, come and stop by! It’s Tuesday night, 7/29, starting at 7pm at the Pleasant Hill store

One of those distractions was an email from a producer of a radio station who’d seen the trailer and wanted a live interview on their morning show… on Kiwi FM in New Zealand. That was a first! Naturally I said yes, and I think it went well, except that I forgot until afterwards that it would have been polie to translate my measurements into metric. 10,000 feet is 3,024 meters, I believe.

The DJ had an outrageous accent, which was hilarious, and he’d watched the trailer, too. He thought it was obvious that the Plague books would make an excellent movie and an excellent video game, and I can’t argue with enthusiasm like that.

In the meantime, I did manage to have a solid if not spectacular week writing. That’s proving to be the biggest challenge for me – getting enough sleep, keeping my head straight, and minimizing distractions. It’s a lot of fun to hype your work and get hundreds of excited, exciting emails and exotic interview requests, but the main thing is to keep producing. I’m on a deadline! And I have a lot of other projects I’d like to get to next.

That’s sort of an interesting feeling. I’m very much enjoying Ruth and Cam’s next adventure (man, do those guys get into a lot of trouble!), and yet at the same time, there are other people and scenarios waiting to come to life in my brain.

I didn’t quite finish the chapter I was working on, which was frustrating. Those damn New Zealanders! Interrupting my Thursday! But (again) it turned out that this particular chapter is running over thirty-five pages, so I found a nice high point in the middle of it and lopped that baby into two. Shazam. So this week, suddenly, it turns out that I finished an entire chapter and nearly completed a second besides.

If I could just write four-page chapters, I would have written five of ‘em just this week! Ha ha.

Labels: book signing, Mind Plague, radio, the writing life

I thought I'd try to make this a regular part of the blog, too. A lot of time, I get a number of emails on the same topic -- a new short story, a new book, etc. Since the trailer came out, I've had a lot of fun emails from people about certain points, so here's a few answers!

Q1: Did you guys CGI the bird into the first shot on the mountaintop, too, like you did with the space shuttle? (CGI = computer generated imagery.)

A1: No. A raven happened by at just the right moment, adding that lonely, above-it-all dark spectre to the background, which was a nice touch. You'd think we trained it, right? The raven had been skimming around while we were setting up, and Adad even said, "Man, I wish I could get a good shot of him..." but we didn't even notice the raven during the take. It was after we were editing the footage that we realized how perfectly helpful the bird had been.

Q2: Who's the guy who got brained with the shovel? Your father?

A2: What, do you think I'm sick? Jeez. I love my dad! Our poor victim was Chuck Keen, an old family friend and sometime screen and stage actor who lives in the area. He's the "Special Thanks To Charles Keen" in the credits.

Q3: What's going to happen to that guy at the end of the trailer?

A3: I'm gonna eat him. Hmmm. Spare ribs.

I have in my hot little hands an advance copy of the August issue of Romantic Times Book Reviews. Yes, I write manly end-of-the-world thrillers… and, yes, I’m excited to be included in their round-up again (last summer they gave a big thumbs-up to Plague Year.) They’re a nice big national publication with a nice big national audience.

Plague War does in fact have a romance as a subplot, a romance that becomes a triangle! Sordid and hot! And here’s the review:

Carlson’s nightmarish landscape presents a chilling albeit believable picture of a post-apocalyptic world devastated by a nanotech plague. This is the second of his trilogy, but it can still be enjoyed as a stand-alone. The carefully crafted plot is a mix of sci-fi, military adventure, and political intrigue. Strong, dynamic characters brng the story to a conclusion you won’t see coming.

Holy crap on the stick! That is AWESOME!!!!

I'm especially excited that the reviewer felt that War works as a stand-alone novel, which is something that I worked at very hard. If you've read Year, you know that a LOT of stuff happens. It was a real trick to pick up the story afterwards, get the new book moving quickly, and still have it make sense to new readers without bogging down in the history of this fractured world and its characters. You know, the ones who are still alive. Bwah ha HA ha ha ha.

Plague War is also given four out of five stars… and I see that only John Scalzi’s Zoe’s Tale garnered more in their science fiction round-up, with four and a half. Man, is that guy like the Beatles or what! :)

Labels: Romantic Times Book Review of PLAGUE WAR

Look at this! I actually know what I'm doing. And thus, I post the PLAGUE YEAR / WAR book trailer in its YouTube version:

Please let me know what you think!

Let's see if this works...

My publicist forwarded a review of PLAGUE WAR today from book blogger Kimberly Swan at Darque Reviews, who had these fine, exciting things to say about the novel:

"A well-written and riveting tale... Nicely paced, tension-filled, and thoroughly believable."

Shazam. What an afternoon! :)

The full review can be found at
http://darquereviews.blogspot.com/2008/07/plague-war-by-jeff-carlson.html

Labels: Book review of PLAGUE WAR

This week I'm part of the ongoing Mind Meld series over at SF Signal along with genre folks like Jim Minz, Peter Watts, and others for a round-robin on the most controversial sci fi and fantasy books, both past and present. Fun stuff!

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/006901.html

Labels: controversial sf/f, Mind Meld essay, SF Signal

I’ve had several emails lately encouraging me to talk about what I’m working on now, my writing process, and so forth, so here it goes. I’ll try to make this a regular feature of the blog.

Colony High is mostly done. David’s even busier than I am, though, which is frightening, but our agreement was always that CH took second place to our solo work. We’re currently in editing mode. The manuscript is out to our pre-readers for comments and feedback. It still needs the final chapter, too, which I can safely say without ruining the story is full of gigantic scary curl-your-nose-hair action. Yes, it’s that good. In fact, you may actually need to shave your entire body after reading it, just to avoid becoming ensnarled with your clothes. Nice! Also, I don’t anticipate any trouble whatsoever in banging through the final scenes, because that’s the best fun of the book. I’m very excited about seeing Colony High breathed into life, but I can’t say yet when it will be available. Ideally in 2009.

I have a detailed outline for my fourth novel that I’m continuing to expand and polish. Alas, this project is top-secret project. I won't even tell you the working title! All I’m willing to say publicly at this point is that the concept is bigger and more Earth-shaking than the idea that the only safe places on the planet are above 10,000 feet. That’s right. Be afraid.

As for Mind Plague, I’m currently a third of the way through the first draft, which by my reckoning is at least a fourth of the way home. What? Well, it’s the third book in a trilogy that’s seen five billion people dead, thousands of animals species extinct, adventure, betrayals, romance, nanotech weapons and… oh, wait… you haven’t read Plague War yet, have you?

(Being a writer constantly involves time travel. In the next few weeks, I'll begin a series of summer book signings to promote Plague War, talking about a book that, for me, was finished nearly a year ago, which is especially mind-croggling when you're currently writing another book set in the same world with the same people. Me and them have already gone places that no one else knows about, but I can only talk about where we've been.)

Anyway. Plague War. It's safe to say there’s going to be a war in that book, right? So now that I'm writing Mind Plague, which follows Year and War, there’s a lot of back story to cover and characters to reintroduce, all without bogging down, and yet at the same time Mind Plague needs to work as a stand-alone novel for those readers who (foolishly!) haven’t read Year and War. It can be a real juggling act to get the book like that off the ground, especially when you want it to be a blood-pumping non-stop thriller...

What all of this means is that, for me, the opening is the toughest part.

Fortunately, by this time I’m very comfortable with the setting, the pacing, and the characters of the Plague books -- the characters who are still alive, you know. ;)

I really hit this book running. In seven weeks, I wrote seven chapters. Shazam. The mayhem continues for our poor survivors. Unfortunately, two weeks ago, I hit a speed bump. It’s been nine weeks now and I only have seven and a half chapters. Why? Well, I have a life, for one thing. And then last week was the Fourth of July. Sleep deprivation robbed me of Tuesday, because my brain moves no faster than a sea slug pickled in maple syrup when I don’t get enough rest, and then Friday the schools were closed, grumble, grumble, and I ended up spending Wednesday and Thursday talking or corresponding at length with a mechanical engineer, a real-life nanotech researcher, and a Special Forces major.

Yes, research. It’s got to be done if you’re not writing about boy wizards and ring-hunting elves. Hairy-toed dwarves. Whatever.

Life intervened again this week, robbing me of one working day, and I typically only have four days a week to write. Yep. That’s why I was so damn smug with myself for seven chapters in seven weeks. They’re short weeks!

Anyway, I had to go back and fix a couple scenes for authenticity. This did not involve ripping them out completely, which might have been easier, because, alas, I’d gotten most of it right. But I had to work my way through again correcting some technical details, which in one instance had a cascade effect on the rest of that chapter. Mind Plague will be the “fastest” of the three Plague novels. Plague Year covered a time span of thirteen months and change. Plague War, as you’ll see, happens in about eight weeks… and Mind Plague will take place in a few days. A compressed time-line like that is another juggling act right there when you’re balancing multiple points of view in different locations. Everything needs to match up. It’s all about the details. Fortunately, I’m a detail freak. I like focusing on every little part of the puzzle and trying to hold it all in my brain at the same time.

Jedi Master, that’s me. More soon.

Labels: Mind Plague, the writing life

My short-short “Exit” has just been released as a podcast by the good folks over at Drabblecast and can be found at http://web.mac.com/normsherman/Site/Podcast/Entries/2008/7/9_Drabblecast_72-_Exit_by_Jeff_Carlson.html

The story begins several minutes into the cast, after a nasty and bizarre discussion of evolving intestinal parasites. I’m not sure which is more fun and scary! :)

Jeff
http://www.jverse.com

I just got word of the cover art for the upcoming Fast Forward 2 anthology from Pyr Books, due in October, illustrated by John Picacio. The version on the left is pure art. The next shot is the final cover itself. Good-looking stuff! My name's not on the front of the book, but I'm excited to be included with this group. Advance word is that the hot(est) story in the anthology is the collaboration between Benjamin Rosenbaum and Cory Doctorow, surely an evil genius combo if there ever was one!

Labels: Cover art Fast Forward 2

Yep, it's true. And I expect this will be my favorite part of the con. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends, doing some business, and getting the new Joe Haldeman novel autographed... but seriously! We're going into Cheyenne Mountain!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: John Joseph Adams | johnjosephadams@gmail.com | 732-925-6115

Science Fiction Writers Get VIP Tour

of Top-Secret NORAD Facility

On Thursday, August 7th, during the 66th annual World Science Fiction Convention, this year in Denver, a select group of science fiction writers will embark upon a VIP tour of the NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) Alternate Command Center at nearby Cheyenne Mountain.

The group--which will total around 25 people--includes bestselling authors Kevin J. Anderson, David Brin, Walter Jon Williams, and Robert J. Sawyer, among others. Brin and Williams are also members of the SIGMA think tank--a group of SF writers working with the Department of Homeland Security on how science fiction can apply to critical thinking and benefit the nation in preparing for future events.

The tour is the result of two worlds colliding. The World Science Fiction Convention is a yearly gathering of sci fi fans and professionals from around the planet. Recent host cities include Yokohama, Japan, and Glasgow, Scotland, but with the convention in nearby Denver in 2008, invitations for VIP passes into NORAD were immediately sent to Brin, Williams, and the rest.

Coordinating the tour is retired Lt. Colonel Brian Lihani, a former Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station Air Warning Center Commander. Lihani said, “So few people get to see this Top Secret installation. It’s an honor to show the Mountain to such famous authors, and to have members of the SIGMA think tank visit helps them understand the mission we do here at Cheyenne Mountain AFS.”

SF writers have always had a direct influence on the public perception of technology, the future, and the dangers of weapons of mass destruction. Nuclear proliferation and nuclear war both have long-standing resonance in science fiction, and NORAD has often been featured in novels, television, and film. Walter Jon Williams, author of Implied Spaces, said, "I've encountered fictional representations of Cheyenne Mountain all my life, from Seven Days in May to Doctor Strangelove to War Games. In the movies there's always something going badly wrong, but in reality everything went right. I'm interested in seeing that reality."

Rollback author Robert J. Sawyer added, "One of my all-time favorite science fiction films is War Games, large parts of which took place in a fictionalized version of the Cheyenne Mountain complex, so of course I'm curious to find out what the real thing is like--a very personal case of science fiction becoming science fact! And many people forget that NORAD is a joint Canadian-American effort. As someone who lives in Canada, I'm delighted to get a chance to see this great example of high-tech international cooperation."

The Cheyenne Mountain Division of NORAD-USNORTHCOM is located at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station (CMAFS), a short distance from NORAD headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, CO.

In 1956, at the height of the Cold War, the idea of a hardened command and control center was conceptualized as a defense against long-range Soviet bombers. The Army Corps of Engineers supervised the excavation of Cheyenne Mountain and the construction of an operational center more than 2,400 feet underground. The Cheyenne Mountain facility, then called the NORAD Combat Operations Center, became completely operational April 20, 1966.

Over the years the installation came to house elements of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), U.S. Strategic Command, U.S. Air Force Space Command and U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM). Eight centers supported the NORAD missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control, and provided warning of ballistic missile or air attacks against North America.

The Cheyenne Mountain Division (CMD) is one of the most unique installations on the planet. Apart from the fact that it is housed 2,000 feet beneath a mountain, CMD is also different from most military units because it is a joint and bi-national military organization comprised of professional men and women from the Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, and Canadian Forces.

Supporting the NORAD mission, CMD provides warning of ballistic missile or air attacks against North America, assists the air sovereignty mission for the U.S. and Canada, and, if necessary, serves as the focal point for air defense operations to counter enemy bombers or cruise missiles. In addition, CMD also provides theater ballistic missile warning for the U.S. and allied forces. The Cheyenne Mountain Division also receives space information from the U.S. Air Force Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg AFB in California. Space control operations include protection, prevention, and negation functions supported by the surveillance of space.

A list of tour attendees follows:

• Kevin J. Anderson, bestselling author of Metal Swarm and a Colorado Springs local
• Rebecca Moesta, author of Crystal Doors
• Robert Charles Wilson, Hugo and Aurora Award-winning author of Spin
• Sharry Wilson
• David Brin, bestselling author of Kiln People and a member of the Homeland Security anti-terrorism SIGMA think tank
• Science educator Cheryl Brin, along with their children
• Benjamin Brin (16)
• Ariana Brin (14)
• Terren Brin (11)
• Lou Anders, Editorial Director of Pyr Books
• John Joseph Adams, editor of anthologies Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse and Seeds of Change
• Robert J. Sawyer, bestselling author of Rollback
• Carolyn Clink, award-winning poet
  
• Jeff Carlson, author of the internationally acclaimed thriller Plague Year
• Diana Carlson
• Walter Jon Williams, bestselling author of Implied Spaces and a member of the Homeland Security anti-terrorism SIGMA think tank
• David J. Williams, author of The Mirrored Heavens
• Jeremy F. Lewis, author of Staked
• Sean Williams, bestselling author of Earth Ascendant
  

The final list will be available as the date of the tour draws nearer.

If you would like to cover the tour, either by conducting interviews with the attendees before or afterward, or if you would like to accompany the tour yourself to cover it in more detail, or for more general information, please contact John Joseph Adams at (732) 925-6115 or at johnjosephadams@gmail.com. If you have questions about the NORAD facility itself, you may contact Lt. Colonel J. Brian "Bear" Lihani directly at (719) 554-2282 or Brian.Lihani.ctr@northcom.mil.