Dispatches from the Flying M

Men of Mystery

I was supposed to spend tomorrow at an event called Men of Mystery in Irvine, CA, which I would be attending as a guest author.  Unfortunately, I'm too sick to fly, much less be witty and charming.  If there's anyone at the event looking for me, that's why.  The much more witty and charming Maryelizabeth will be there (Mysterious Galaxy is always the bookseller for the event, and she'll be standing in for me.  My books will still be available, and I signed a bunch in October at the store so they might even be signed copies.

I deeply regret missing the event, and look forward to being healthy in time for next weekend's TusCon!

Flattery?

If imitation is truly the "sincerest form of flattery," then IDW Publishing has some major admirers among smaller comic book publishers.  Their Presidential Material comics have earned the most press coverage of any comic book event in years, with only the death of Captain America even coming close.  And now we're seeing that imitation is also the sleaziest display of naked greed.

IDW announced its comics at Comic-Con in July.  The first publicity blitz started then, including my appearances on CNN and Fox News Channel.  Those comics were serious pieces, extensively researched, worked through line by line to make sure they were accurate and informative as well as nonpartisan.

Shortly after it was obvious that the comics were generating huge press, a small publisher jumped onto the bandwagon by announcing a Hillary Clinton bio-comic, with a cover design almost exactly identical to the IDW covers (except that on its first version, this publisher's American flag, flying behind Hillary, had 14 stripes, so it had to be redrawn.  In the press release announcing the new cover, Hillary's name was consistently misspelled.  So much for accuracy.

This week, yet another small press has released two comic book bios on Obama and McCain.  They are called Obama: The Comic Book and McCain: The Comic Book--as if there were only one Obama comic, and that is it.  They're in black and white, not color, and apparently have few illustrations and lots of blocks of text, all for the same price as the IDW books.  The timing of their release, 6 days before the election, proves that they were rushed out after the first presidential comics were proven attention-getters. The company's goal is clearly to have their books in stores so that if the real books people are still looking for are sold out, consumers who don't know the difference will pick up theirs instead.

Trying to make a living as a small press is a difficult thing.  But here's a novel concept--how about doing it like IDW did, by coming up with an original idea, executing it well, and promoting it?  Copying your betters and trying to scam unsuspecting consumers into picking up inferior goods is no way to build a loyal customer base.

Cow sounds

This morning, before the sun came up, we could hear the sounds of cattle--many cattle, not just a few, like when Moofus and Ghostface Killa and their friends come around, but lots and lots.  They were agitated.

We have some neighbors helping local ranchers drive their herd to winter range in the Pedregosa Mountains, which are one range back from the one directly behind the Flying M.  It seemed unlikely that they would be that close, but I'm not sure where the ranch is that the herd originated, so I don't know what route they would take.

Just in case, I dressed and took a walk to some rocky hills behind our place, where I'd have a good view of a couple of valleys.  It was still about 45 degrees, and the eastern sky was just beginning to lighten.  I hauled my camera along, and may post some pictures later today.

I never did see the noisy herd, but once I was up in the hills, it sounded like a smaller group than the migrating herd would be, so I don't think it was our friends.  But it was a lovely morning walk, and sitting on the rocks looking out toward the Flying M, I was reminded that no matter how bad things get on some individual days, like yesterday, I'm fortunate to live in a beautiful spot where wild animals and raw nature can bump up against modern vestiges of the old West, like horseback cattle drives.  And to have the kind of life and career that allows me to take advantage of such mornings, when the need arises.

Repulsive

Just when you think the McCain campaign can't scrape any lower, that even they wouldn't want to soil their hands on what's left in the bottom of the slime bucket, they manage to outdo themselves, to prove that they would do absolutely anything to get elected.  Now they're running a web ad showing Barack Obama in front of a map of Iran, with Middle Eastern music playing in the background.  Trying to make people wonder if he's some sort of Muslim plant after all, I guess.  Their tactics turn my stomach.

I hope McCain is punished badly at the polls for this sort of thing.  He's already lost his reputation and his dignity.  Now he's losing his very humanity.

The no good, very bad, etc. etc. day

I don't usually use this space to complain about life.  Politicians, airlines, bad service, bad movies, yes. 

But today is one of those days that comes around every now and then (the radio is trying to mock me by playing Led Zep's Kashmir, a song that rarely fails to raise my spirits, as I type this).

It started this morning with a 5 am dog fight.  No, it probably started earlier this morning, when I was awake between 1 and 3, knowing I should be asleep because I'd have to be up before 5.  That was probably the universe's way of telling me just to stay in bed today.

But all three dogs got into it outside.  We got them apart before serious damage was done, and then they got along again, as dogs tend to do. 

I had to drop my car off to be serviced at 8, a trip that'll cost somewhere between $550 and $600. 

Shortly after getting home from that chore, Maryelizabeth's modem cable stopped working.  I replaced it.  No problem, and we already owned the spare, so no expense.  If only the day had gone like that...

Because I was working on my Mac a little later, and it just died.  No warning, nothing.  Wouldn't come back on.  After a little troubleshooting I deduced that it's the logic board.  Which, when it's replaced, will make the third logic board this machine has needed in four years.  Something's not logical about that.  It's a Mac, for god's sake!  It's supposed to run forever like all the other Macs I've moved on from because they became obsolete, not because they didn't work.

I fully intend to try to get a new logic board for free, because otherwise it's another $600+ out of my pocket.  Not to mention the fact that I have to make the 4-hour round trip to Tucson to drop it off.  And once again, to pick it up when it's done.  Which adds more expense, in lost work time and gas.

And for some reason, although I backed up on Monday, I didn't back up the project I'm currently working on.  So I wrote seven chapters since the last back up, which might be gone unless the Macheads can retrieve them.  Which means more time gone.

Geez, just writing this stuff is depressing.  And I'm getting a cold...

So here's the lesson--back up your work!  Every day!  And then some!

It's Obama in the swing states!

At least in North Carolina.  At least in terms of comic book sales.  According to this piece in the Greensboro News Record: "Thus far, the Obama book has been the most popular of the two, outselling the McCain comic by a margin of about 4 to 1 at Parts Unknown.

'I've had a couple of Obama supporters come in and actually insinuate that I must be voting for McCain, because I have McCain comics but I don't have any Obama comics,' Hitchcock said. 'I tell them, "You don't understand. I sold out of the Obama comics."'

At Acme Comics, the Obama books have also done very well, outselling McCain by about 2 to 1, Mayer said."

The most thankful men in America

For most of us, Thanksgiving doesn't come around for another month.  But Tom Ridge, Tim Pawlenty, and Charlie Crist--all shortlisted as possible McCain VP picks--must be like men who missed the plane, only to have it go down in the North Atlantic somewhere.  They're probably picking out nice holiday gifts for whoever introduced McCain to Sarah Palin.

Joe Lieberman, however, missed the plane but grabbed a seat on the wing.  He is not breathing a sigh of relief like the others.  Gee, I hope he doesn't get too wet...

Spider-Man: Requiem

It's been showing up various places for the last couple of weeks, but today is the "official" publication date for Spider-Man: Requiem, so it should be available wherever the best books are sold.

It's a Spider-Man novel, but it's also a supernatural horror novel and the perfect antidote for anyone who was disappointed in the Spider-Man comics event "Brand New Day," which erased years of continuity and resulted (through an excessively lame gimmick) in Peter Parker and Mary Jane no longer being together.

Here's the back cover copy, and the great cover art by J.H. Williams III.

A previously unknown translation of an ancient grimoire, the Darkhold, has been unearthed by archaeologists in South America. But this chilling discovery will have far-reaching effects. Halfway across the globe, the Darkhold is relentlessly pursued by the Cabal of Scrier, an organization devoted to achieving ultimate power through whatever means necessary. And it is through their actions that a darkness from beyond the grave will return to haunt the Spectacular Spider-Man in the form of one of the most frightening and dangerous foes he's ever encountered....

Drudge

I'm not someone who ever recommends the Drudge Report, since it's not even as useful as the National Enquirer or the New York Post in that you can't line a bird cage or start a fire with it, but like those, it's inordinately fond of running with "news" stories that aren't true.

But on its front page today, without apparent purpose (there's no link, no story), they're using the cover of Presidential Material: Barack Obama as artwork. Since they're helping to spread my worldwide fame, I guess I have to give them the benefit of the doubt today.

Political jack

Presenting my jack-o-lantern comment on the political season.  Meet Joe the Pumpkin.