Show Notes: F. Paul Wilson

Discussion: Opposite ends of the tech spectrum: advanced technology in Mike S’ new phone scares him, and Mike M is still lugging around ancient technology with him. Both of them reminisce over ancient computing technologies and fond tech memories.

Help us help Mike M let go of his old stuff.

Interview: We chat with F. Paul Wilson, author of over 40 novels including the seminal Repairman Jack and Adversary Cycle series, about his newest book, a young adult entry about Jack’s teen years, Jack: Secret Histories. He gives us a history on building Jack up by going back to his teen years in the Pine Barrens when he’s slowly discovering his abilities as well as defining his loyalties to his friends.

Paul also tells us stories about the mystique of the Pine Barrens, the Jersey Devil, and the supernatural unknowns that might still be lurking deep in the lands untouched by humans.

If you’ve never experienced a Repairman Jack novel, you don’t know what sort of fun you’re missing, and Jack: Secret Histories is a good place to start.

Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know! “Cover to Cover” has it’s own call-in line, 206-350-READ! That’s 206-350-7323, or just email Michael with a comment you’ve recorded yourself!

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now the penthouse suite of Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49. Come see the castle roof pool!

FarPoint Forums: Head on over to the FarPoint Forums and join in the discussions on Dragon Page topics, and for most of your favorite FPM shows!

Promo: Star Wars: Codename Starkeeper
Promo: Variant Frequencies
Link: Repairman Jack: F. Paul Wilson’s Official Website

 

 Cover to Cover #325A: F. Paul Wilson [31:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2118)

Review by Lora Friedenthal

Summary: Canadian teenager Ned Marriner accompanies his father, a world renowned photographer, to Provence, France, where he is shooting for his new book. But Ned finds more than beautiful landscapes and picturesque ruins recounting history in their scarred stones. He finds a story thousands of years old. A story of lovers, murders, and sacrifice. Of souls caught in a wheel, living out their tragedy in each new age. But this time around, Ned and his friends are pulled into their tale, and Ned, all of 15, must outsmart two ancient foes who have had centuries of practice at waging war and killing those who get in their way.

Commentary: Ysabel is my first Guy Gavriel Kay book. He’s one of those authors that I’ve always heard about. Maybe it’s the memorable name, I don’t know. But he was always just kind of out there as one of those authors that I knew I was supposed to read and simply hadn’t.

In case I was wondering, I guess, if he was worth the hype, Kay opens Ysabel with a 3-page prologue that was, simply, stunning. It was delicate prose lovemaking to the region of Provence. Can he write? Oh, yes. He can write. And even though the rest of the book is not done in the same style as this prologue, it was the best possible introduction I could have asked for from an author I did not know.

Unlike many of the books I read, Ysabel is self-consciously a story being told. At times, more so in the beginning than toward the end, there is the voice of a narrator infused into the text. This narrator knows how Ned will feel about the current situation tomorrow, when he’s thinking back. Some readers may find that this style knocks them out of the story. I think that what it does, though, is help to emphasize a major theme throughout the book: that everything is a story.

The three characters from the magical realm that Ned encounters repeat the same tragedy over and over. The woman, a native Celt, loved one of her own people but chose to marry a stranger who sailed to Provence from Greece. The two men warred for her affection. And they have been warring, ever since. Sometimes they do so with armies behind them. Sometimes hundreds of thousands die.

But as is said time and time again, it is not just their story. The story of these three characters, whose names always change, is the story of a country with two possible futures, the old ways it has always known or the new ways brought by foreign influence, new thinking, a new paradigm for understanding the world. Their names change because they could be anyone, because throughout history, people are faced with this choice again and again, from kings to peasants.

On a much smaller scale, Ned learns that personal stories matter, too. The history between his mother and the aunt he never knew. The history of the people who risk their lives for him, even though he’s only ever seen them as “Dad’s coworkers.” In their personal lives, people are often faced with the same choice as the souls living out the history of Provence: act as you have always acted or try something new.

By encapsulating Ned’s story, of finding out who his family is, who these strange souls are, and who he can be, inside a story being told as a story, readers are encouraged to see that coming of age is also a tale we all know, a tale we all share, and one that goes back beyond memory. This story, too, is not just one person’s story. It is the details that matter, the subtle shifts that make each repetition interesting, even though the path is the same.

Amazingly, despite all of what I’ve just said, Ysabel also strikes me as an original book. The way real life blends into this other world of the Celts was fresh, and the sense in which there was no “bad guy,” no real enemy also made for an interesting dynamic between the main players. Ysabel is not typical fantasy; it may fit into the magical realism category best, if one needs categories. Mostly, I think, it is a book that I admire, enjoyed, and therefore recommend.

Lora Friedenthal

Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay
Published by: Roc Trade (February 5, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0451461908
ISBN-13: 978-0451461902
Genre: Fantasy

Show Notes: Books, For You

The Library: The first Library segment in the new studio!

Elric: To Rescue Tanelorn by Michael Moorcock; Pirate Sun by Karl Schroeder; Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait by K. A. Bedford; Acacia by David Anthony Durham (mmpb release); Vacation by Jeremy C. Shipp; Shadow of the Scorpion by Neal Asher; Lachlei by M. H. Bonham; The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson; The First Patient by Michael Palmer; The Company by K. J. Parker; Jack: Secret Histories by F. Paul Wilson.

Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know! “Cover to Cover” has it’s own call-in line, 206-350-READ! That’s 206-350-7323, or just email Michael with a comment you’ve recorded yourself!

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now the penthouse suite of Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49. Come see the castle roof pool!

FarPoint Forums: Head on over to the FarPoint Forums and join in the discussions on Dragon Page topics, and for most of your favorite FPM shows!

Promo: Dragonlance Canticle

 

 Cover to Cover #324B: Books, For You [21:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1913)

Show Notes: Feedback, From You

Voicemail: Trampas would like to know if there’s a rule of thumb on when and how to use cussing in a story; Craig in PA would like to hear more about the SF/F series that are being adapted for television and film; Elena in Las Vegas comments on the use of contemporary language in “The Blade Itself”; Ben in Tampa comments on the plans for the “Joust” movie; ADD Todd adds a little twist to the idea for the murder mystery plot; Justin from Dead Robots Society has questions about what to expect as the moderator of a podcasting panel at Dragon*Con; Clay from AL on some of the drawbacks of serialized fiction; Trampas has a question for Mike S about “I, Jedi”; Jaime from NY applauds the Library Section for influencing his book buying choices; Anna the Librarian adds her insight on textbook publishers, used bookstores, and e-books; Anna adds her recommendation for Jasper Fforde’s novels; Anna comments on the need and wish for a portable, cross-platform electronic format for libraries; Mark from Liquid Weird Podcast expresses his disappointment about Frederick Pohl’s recent comments on fantasy writing being easier and not as challenging as science fiction writing.

Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know! “Cover to Cover” has it’s own call-in line, 206-350-READ! That’s 206-350-7323, or just email Michael with a comment you’ve recorded yourself!

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now the penthouse suite of Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49. Come see the castle roof pool!

FarPoint Forums: Head on over to the FarPoint Forums and join in the discussions on Dragon Page topics, and for most of your favorite FPM shows!

 

 Cover to Cover #324A: Feedback, From You [34:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2165)

The winners of the Vicious Circle giveaway are:

Natalie Waddell-Rutter, North East PA
Mike Natale, Cumberland RI
Lowell Lutman, Columbus OH
Lathrop Preston, Des Moines IA
Nathan Ryer, Lakeland FL
Kathryn Oldford, Eureka CA
Brad Adams, Nashville TN
John Mosman, Madison WI

Congratulations! You should be receiving your books in the next week or two.

Show Notes: Franchies, Tie-Ins, and Zombies, oh my!

Voicemail: Tim Low adds to Laurell K. Hamilton’s comments on sex; Lejon wonders if authors can trademark themselves in order to prevent publishers from continuing stories in their universes after they’ve shuffled off this mortal coil; Jordan wonders what the difference between authors writing in a franchise and authors who continue stories in another author’s creations; Matt Selznick takes Stackpole to task over his stance on “zombie” novels, given the Conan novels that he’d written.

Comment: Author Michelle M. Welch gives us a little more history and back story about Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next book, and the series it belongs to. Don’t let the confusing and off-putting back cover copy dissuade you.

Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know! “Cover to Cover” has it’s own call-in line, 206-350-READ! That’s 206-350-7323, or just email Michael with a comment you’ve recorded yourself!

The Library: New this week: The Age of Conglomerates by Thomas Nevins; Bitten to Death by Jennifer Rardin; The Risen Empire by Scott Westerfield; Flight: Volume 5 by Kazu Kibuishi; City at the End of Time by Greg Bear; The Living Dead edited by John Joseph Adams; The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas.

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now the penthouse suite of Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49. Come see the castle roof pool!

FarPoint Forums: Head on over to the FarPoint Forums and join in the discussions on Dragon Page topics, and for most of your favorite FPM shows!

Promo: The Babylon Podcast
Promo: Deep Geeking
Promo: SFF Audio
Link: Charles Stross

 

 Cover to Cover #323A: Franchises, Tie-Ins, and Zombies, oh my! [31:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2412)

Show Notes: Charles Stross

Discussion: Keeping the e-book reader debate going! Jason on the road, commends Mike Stackpole on the iPhone app books, and thinks that a cross-platform media format for ebooks isn’t a bad thing, and it isn’t.

Interview: Hugo Award nominee and winner Charles Stross is in studio to chat about his latest book, Saturn’s Children. Charles explains how the story is really a Heinlein styled period piece, an homage to Heinlein’s late period, and tells the story of an android designed to be a sex robot for humans, only humans have gone extinct before she rolls off the assembly line.

Why else would a robot have been built with nipples?

The talk ranges from the appeal of Heinlein, the book sales percentages in the UK, and about the next few books he is working on, a sequl to Halting State, and more in the Merchant Princes series.

Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know! “Cover to Cover” has it’s own call-in line, 206-350-READ! That’s 206-350-7323, or just email Michael with a comment you’ve recorded yourself!

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now the penthouse suite of Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49. Come see the castle roof pool!

FarPoint Forums: Head on over to the FarPoint Forums and join in the discussions on Dragon Page topics, and for most of your favorite FPM shows!

Promo: Dragonlance Canticle
Promo: Variant Frequencies
Link: Charles Stross

 

 Cover to Cover #322A: Charles Stross [37:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3012)

Show Notes: Creating a Feeling

Discussion: Michael, Summer and Michael continue the chat with Tom Corwin and Craig Frazier about the creative process that went into creating Mr Fooster, Traveling on a Whim.

From a comment from Tom, about “writing in a way to let the text breathe,” we launch into a discussion about finding a certain level of lightness and space in both the writing and the illustrations, to allow the readers to also find their own pace and breath while reading the book.

Listener Review: C.A. Sizemore gives us a review of Nathan Lowell’s audiobook series, The Golden Age of the Solar Clipper, which so far is comprised of the stories Quarter Share, Half Share, Full Share, South Coast, and Double Share.

Voicemail: Clay from AL sends his thanks, and tells us about Blade of Tyshalle by Matthew Woodring Stover, a book that changed his life.

Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know! “Cover to Cover” has it’s own call-in line, 206-350-READ! That’s 206-350-7323, or just email Michael with a comment you’ve recorded yourself!

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now the penthouse suite of Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49. Come see the castle roof pool!

FarPoint Forums: Head on over to the FarPoint Forums and join in the discussions on Dragon Page topics, and for most of your favorite FPM shows!

Promo: BuzzWire Newscast: The Moonlight podcast
Promo: The One Tree Hill Connection

 

 Cover to Cover #321B: Creating a Feeling [28:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2845)

Show Notes: Tom Corwin and Craig Foster

Mike, Summer and Mike are joined in studio by CA Sizemore, and Chris Lester of Metamor City Podcast. Chris tells us all about his podcast, and of finishing up volume one, and preparing for the next volume.

Voicemail: Arkle wants to know more about Second Life. He’s been avoiding it, and is one of many who’s under the mistaken impression that Second Life is a video game… it’s not a gaming environment like EverQuest and World of Warcraft!!

Think of it as another place to build a community where word of mouth about your art or product can and will spread.

Interview: Mike, Summer and Mike talk with the author and illustrator of Mr Fooster, Traveling on a Whim, Tom Corwin and Craig Frazier.

Tom and Craig tell us of how they met, and how they began collaborating, and how the inspiration for the actual story was one of Craig’s existing illustrations. We also talk about the back and forth of the collaborative process, and bringing the words and the style of the art together, and growing the project into the finished version.

Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know! “Cover to Cover” has it’s own call-in line, 206-350-READ! That’s 206-350-7323, or just email Michael with a comment you’ve recorded yourself!

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now the penthouse suite of Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49. Come see the castle roof pool!

FarPoint Forums: Head on over to the FarPoint Forums and join in the discussions on Dragon Page topics, and for most of your favorite FPM shows!

Promo: The One Tree Hill Connection
Promo: Broken Sea Productions
Link: Mr Fooster, Traveling on a Whim

 

 Cover to Cover #321A: Tom Corwin and Craig Frazier [34:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2728)

With numerous appearances on podcasts and blogs, and offering new fiction downloads, award-nominated authors and podcasters Tee Morris and Philippa Ballantine have plans to make “Double Trouble” on Amazon.com. Both authors are mounting a unique promotion for their Summer releases, The Case of the Pitcher’s Pendant: A Billibub Baddings Mystery (Morris) and Digital Magic (Ballantine), by asking fans to order their new books on August 8, 2008, anytime after 8 a.m. PST-USA. Their goal: Send both titles to the top of Amazon’s charts.

“August 8, 2008, will be our day on Amazon,” says Tee. “Through podcasts, blogs, various social media outlets and traditional mailing lists, we have been letting people know about Double Trouble.” The payoff to their hard work is showing as downloads for The Case of the Pitcher’s Pendant and Digital Magic have totaled beyond 50,000 and are averaging over 2000 downloads a day. Along with the authors, Dragon Moon’s publisher, Gwen Gades is also excited. “Before his days at Crown Books, Scott Sigler brought Dragon Moon into Amazon’s Top Ten with Ancestor. Considering Tee’s and Pip’s downloads and their interviews, Double Trouble could be even bigger.” This promotion will mark the first time two authors are working together to dominate the charts. “Double Trouble is, in its own way, a worldwide event,” states Philippa Ballantine from her home in Wellington, New Zealand. “Tee is working out of Manassas, Virginia. I’m in the Southern Hemisphere. Along with our downloads, we have been giving interviews. The shows have been coming out of locations across the United States, Ireland, and even Australia.” For Pip, this kind of promotion is important, considering her location. “There is strength in numbers, even if that number is two. Tee and I are pooling promotional resources, and that does make a difference. Double Trouble is not only innovative, but stands as a great example of Web 2.0’s potential in creating and nurturing fan bases.”

(Read more…)

Congratulations to Mitch Keith from Dalton, Georgia (USA). He is our lucky winner of a hardback copy of William Shatner’s novel “Star Trek Academy: Collision Course.

Shat’s latest book continues the Star Trek novelized saga with a trip back before James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock were the famous heroes of Starfleet and the Federation to a time that brings the young teenage boys together for the first time.

Star Trek Academy: Collision Course written by William Shatner with Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens comes from Pocket Books.

Mitch, be looking in the mail for your copy within the next two weeks.

Show Notes: Reading the Writing

Voicemail: Michael and Michael discuss usage of contemporary vocabulary in period fiction, the development of slang consistent with your universe, and mixing English with words from foreign languages.

Listener Review: None this week! We need more reviews!

Discussion, continued: Summer and Lorrie join in the continuation of the discussion about what elements draw them into a story, and what elements jar them out of stories. Lorrie explains what she is enjoying about the L. A. Banks “Vampire Huntress Legend” series (which she’s halfway through in just 6 days), and Summer relates several instances that jarred her out of story continuity so bad she threw the books against the wall (and in one case, tossed the book into the fireplace).

They also discuss strong scenes or elements in mediocre books that help keep books that could have been better alive and selling, and the reasons for not doing negative reviews of books.

Mike M tells us about a new book he’s fallen in love with: 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time by Dr Michael Brooks.

Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know! “Cover to Cover” has it’s own call-in line, 206-350-READ! That’s 206-350-7323, or just email Michael with a comment you’ve recorded yourself!

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now the penthouse suite of Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49. Come see the castle roof pool!

FarPoint Forums: Head on over to the FarPoint Forums and join in the discussions on Dragon Page topics, and for most of your favorite FPM shows!

Promo: The 5th Race

 

 Cover to Cover #320B: Reading the Writing [35:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2830)

Show Notes: Matthew Wayne Selznick

Discussion: Darcy’s Dad points out the Robert Asprin Tribute over at MythAdventures; PC Haring rails about the adhesive magnetic strips being put inside books at certain booksellers (could it be Borders, because new books I’ve gotten in B&N weren’t vandalized like that); Mike wonders why the WotC ebook versions of the D&D books are priced higher than HC editions on Amazon; caller lets Stackpole know how much he LOVED his 7th Son: Obsidian story; Aussie commentary on zombie books, with “Time Ships” being an exception; Elaine in Las Vegas wonders if the electronic boom might lead to more serialized fiction; Darcy’s Dad comments on the growing elimination of in-flight entertainment being provided by airlines;

Interview: This week, Michael and Summer talk with Matthew Wayne Selznick about his Internet push to promote the print version of his highly successful podcast novel, Brave Men Run. He also tells us about the many incarnations the story has gone through, as well as the plans behind the bumrush of Amazon.

Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know! “Cover to Cover” has it’s own call-in line, 206-350-READ! That’s 206-350-7323, or just email Michael with a comment you’ve recorded yourself!

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now the penthouse suite of Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49. Come see the castle roof pool!

FarPoint Forums: Head on over to the FarPoint Forums and join in the discussions on Dragon Page topics, and for most of your favorite FPM shows!

Link: Matt Selznick
Link: Brave Men Run

 

 Cover to Cover #320A: Matthew Wayne Selznick [38:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2766)

Award-nominated authors and podcasters Tee Morris and Philippa Ballantine have teamed up across hemispheres for “Double Trouble”, a unique celebration and promotion for their summer releases of The Case of the Pitcher’s Pendant: A Billibub Baddings Mystery and Digital Magic. Morris and Ballantine are asking their fans to make “Double Trouble” on Amazon.com by ordering their new books on August 8, 2008, anytime after 8 a.m. PST-USA; and send these titles to the top of Amazon’s charts. To build up anticipation, the two authors have released their new novels as downloads on their websites, encouraging bloggers, podcasters, and readers to share the free books with others. In less than a week, downloads for The Case of the Pitcher’s Pendant and Digital Magic have totalled beyond 50,000 and are still averaging for each book 2000 downloads a day.

“Double Trouble will be our day on Amazon,” says Tee. “We have been getting word out on our respective podcasts and mailing lists, and the downloads for The Case of The Pitcher’s Pendant and Digital Magic are really exciting.” Dragon Moon’s publisher, Gwen Gades is also excited. “Before his days at Crown Books, Scott Sigler brought Dragon Moon into Amazon’s Top Ten with Ancestor. Considering the downloads I’m seeing, Double Trouble could be even bigger.” This promotion will mark the first time two authors are working together to dominate the charts. “Double Trouble is, in its own way, a worldwide event,” states Philippa Ballantine from her home in Wellington, New Zealand. “Tee is working out of Manassas, Virginia. I’m in the Southern Hemisphere. Along with our downloads, we have been giving interviews.

(Read more…)

SF author Charles Stross is touring the US in support of his newest book, Saturn’s Children, and will be signing at The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale on Wednesday July 30, 7pm.

Charles has been nominated for the Hugo Award many times, most recently with Halting State for 2008, and won in the novella category in 2005 for “The Concrete Jungle”.

He’ll also be an in-studio guest for The Dragon Page, so stay tuned for that show!