What follows is a draft of the annual newsletter I plan to send out to my long list of email addresses people have submitted to my guestbook. It is a dismally laborious process, finding all the bad-syntax addresses (my email progrom only complains, but never helps to spot them!) And eliminating bad addresses by hand. Drek!
Anyway, suggestions are welcome. Please feel free to pass this on to any other fans you know!
==YOUR ANNUAL DAVID BRIN NEWS-o-GRAM!==
Announcing the latest book from David Brin. Quick, run for your lives and buy….
“King Kong Is Back! : An Unauthorized Look at One Humongous Ape!”Does this tome disgracefully exploit the arrival of Peter Jackson’s movie remake? Oh, well, sure. Still, it’s cool. A perceptive reviewer says…
“One of the delightful things about the upcoming King Kong remake is we get a treat such as David Brin has worked up in King Kong is Back! We have reminiscences by James Gunn in "King Kong and 1930s Science Fiction", a very funny essay by Bruce Bethke on why KK must always be a period piece, an extremely informative piece by Bob Eggleton on how the film was animated, an absolutely HYSTERICAL send-up on all those silly behind-the-scenes-in-Hollywood PR fluff pieces by David Gerrold entitled "King Kong, Behind the Scenes"...and I could go on... Brin has crafted a nice rhythm, well-paced in continuity and imaginative, so the book can be absorbed in one sitting, or just nibbled. I found this collection an absolute delight and recommend it highly to any and all who love Kong in all his permutations.”
==OTHER NEWS!==
* A NEW PROGRAM - Amazon Shorts - offers my latest essays, articles and short stories for handy download (like iPod music files), starting in the nonfiction category with "Beleaguered Professionals vs Disempowered Citizens" about a looming 21st Century power struggle between average people and the sincere, skilled professionals who are paid to protect us. See: Amazon.com/shorts (nonfiction)
Another article - "the Power of Proxy Activism" - shows how busy people, who are distracted by jobs and daily life, can help make a better world. (I'm donating my proceeds to worthy causes.)
Soon to follow - in the "Science" category - will be one about how the Mississippi River may someday win its struggle to escape human control.
Plus, possibly soon, a serialized novel!
(Look for more postings to be announced at http://www.davidbrin.com/)
* Also, jot a reminder in that new 2006 calendar. Next June, sci fi impresario Jim Baen will be launching a major online science fiction magazine -- Baen’s UNIVERSE Magazine. The editor, Eric Flint, aims to recreate the excitement of magazines like Astounding/Analog and Galaxy - in the 40s, 50s and 60s - but with modern edge and fresh ideas. Watch for Brin stories in many issues, starting next June!
* Even longer range, the World Science Fiction Convention will be held in Yokohama at the end of August 2007 (I am author guest of honor). And now there are plans to add science fiction festivals in Beijing and other Asian cities. It could be a memorable month to go see if the East is rising! Of course the 2006 World Science Fiction Convention will be held in Los Angeles, which throws the greatest worldcons ever. It will be a great show. See: http://www.laconiv.org/
* While we’re world-hopping, The Life Eaters (DC Comics) was a finalist for a major French “bande dessinee” award. Those wanting this fabulous graphic novel (art by Scott Hampton) may not have much time left. A sure collector’s item.
==IN THE RUMOR MILL==
Next spring, keep eyes open for a new show on the History Channel called "Future Tech." I just finished a location shoot in the Mojave, riding Army humvees and brainstorming on camera, helping design "vehicles of tomorrow." The show should be fascinating and loads of fun!
By contract, I can’t tell yet about the next movie to be filmed from a David Brin novel. But news will percolate in the next few months at http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/ so drop by.
Also next spring; Steve Jackson will re-issue the classic role-playing game TRIBES, with revised rules. Using real anthropology, it simulates many of the problems our ancestors faced, surviving and raising the next generation. (Tell that anthropology prof you know, that it makes a great classroom tool!)
==FINAL NOTES AND REMINDERS...==
Books for direct sale (signed) and other offers are at http://www.davidbrin.com/books.html
Blog fans! Drop by my award-winning blog at http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/ Among many high-level themes covered: “Modernity and its Enemies.” Be prepared for unique perspectives.
Schoolteachers who want to use science fiction to help kids might look at Reading for the Future, as well as articles on Teaching Science Fiction.
Other scientific matters - including the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence -are discussed at http://www.davidbrin.com/realworld.html
That’s it for now.
But be sure to keep checking in for more Hot News at http://www.davidbrin.com/ !
Thrive and help make a great civilization.
3 comments:
I can vouch for TRIBES.
It isn't a play-every-week roleplaying game campaign type of thing, but it is great fun for parties and conventions. Simple, elegant rules that result in a lot of interesting interaction.
* * *
I was very pleased to see that the ORIGINAL King Kong has finally been released on DVD, all cleaned up and digitally remastered. The pinnacle of un-selfconscious, non-ironic pulp entertainment. That and a copy of "King Kong is Back" would probably make a great gift combo.
Stefan
A quote from the editor of Baen's Universe:
[I]""We want writers, especially popular writers, writing stories with that market in mind. We are, [to be] blunt, not interested in stories that seem to be mainly written to win an award or get good reviews. If that makes me sound like a hopeless lowbrow, so be it." [/I]
Yeah... it kinda does.
I guess I'm sad that Sci Fiction, which tended to publish the kind of stories I want to read, is on the way out while an admittedly more 'poppy' online magazine is on the way in. Though if they have Brin stories qeued up, maybe they aren't so 'lowbrow' after all.
Your email problem is easily solveable with a quick program to find the bad addresses. If you want you can either send me the list and I'll validate them for you, or you can send me a portion of the list and I'll write a program to validate them and send you the program to run yourself.
I'll send you details in email. I'm just posting here so that you know to look for the email in case it doesn't pass your spam filter.
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