Dispatches from the Flying M

A New #Podcast!

I'm an old-school guy. When podcasts came on the scene, I was living on the ranch in the middle of nowhere, with dial-up internet, then satellite--neither of which were conducive to streaming video or audio. As a result, I never got onboard the podcast train. Now that I'm able to stream, I still rarely do--when I'm working, I listen to music, and when I'm not working I'm usually spending time with the family, cooking, or reading.

That said, I know podcasts are incredibly popular these days. I understand the appeal, but just don't partake.

But occasionally, when asked by somebody who I think has something worthwhile to offer, I'll take part in one. I did that this week with my friend Scott Haskin, a multi-talented writer/composer/musician/producer (who, incidentally, produced the audiobooks of my novels Cold Black Hearts and The Devil's Bait, both read by actress/producer Tamara McDaniel). Scott knows a ton of creative people, and lives in Las Vegas--which, for all its bad reputation, is really one of the creative powerhouse cities of the U.S., right up there with NYC, LA, and Nashville. Each week he interviews a different creative individual, and his podcast is really catching fire.

Here are some links, so wherever you listen, you should be able to find this episode. And of course, keep checking back for more of Scott's work!

Scott's Website:
http://www.scotthaskin.com
Then click the podcast link in the upper right corner.
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/3hr9NNZSe6Q9tFOjD5bX8j?si=Tqme3XQXQXq8Qo4EDE2rjw
https://open.spotify.com/show/3hr9NNZSe6Q9tFOjD5bX8j
iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/haskincast-podcast/id1437772872?mt=2

KJZZ Holiday Storyfest and Author's Showcase

Next Saturday, December 1, Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell and I will be presenting authors at the KJZZ Holiday Storyfest and Author's Showcase! All the deets are at the link. We'll be speaking from 4:45-5:15, but we'll be there from the time the doors open at 2 until they close at 7. We'll have a table with a buncha books to sell and sign--and of course, if you bring your own books from home, we'll sign those, too. Whether we wrote 'em or not!

KJZZ is Phoenix's great public radio station (the #2 button in the car I drive most often). The event is a fundraiser for Sun Sounds of Arizona, a not-for-profit service that creatively applies technology and talent to make sure that every person with a print disability can access the current and local information they need to live a self-directed, productive life. Broadcast via the subcarrier waves of public radio stations, Sun Sounds boasts a team of volunteers who read local and national newspapers, magazines, and local ads.

Tickets are only $10, unless you're a public radio member, in which case they're $5. Kids under 12 are free. There's storytelling for kids, and Santa, and character appearances. And of course, we're not the only authors--the day is packed with them. Our friends from Bonny Books will be selling books, in addition to whichever authors are selling their own.

Here's where to find it:

Glendale Civic Center

5750 W Glenn Dr, Glendale, AZ 85301

 

We'll have copies of 7 SYKOS and NARCOS: THE JAGUAR'S CLAW and lots of other goodies! Hope to see everyone there!

 

TusCon Update and Tucson Comic-Con Wrap-up

So, even though last week I wrote that we'd be at TusCon this week, we're not, and we won't make it (and we're bummed not to see our old pal, the great Joe R. Lansdale his own self). Turns out Tucson Comic-Con took more out of us than anticipated, and we're just not up to another weekend on the road and con fun so soon. Two in a row is hard to do these days.

TCC was a blast, though. We saw lots of old friends, made some new ones, discussed some cool projects, and had some terrific panels. There are a few pictures below.

In other news, my newest novel--the last for 2018--officially went on sale this week. Published by Titan Books, it's the first official tie-in novel to the hit Netflix series NARCOS. If you like the show, or you just like thrillers with nonstop action and suspense, give it a try!

TCC Pics:

Tucson Comic-Con

Because Tucson Comic-Con is the only comic convention Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell and I always attend, early November, not summer, is "con season" for us. The week after TCC is TusCon, about which more next week. Then early December brings a new event for us, the KJZZ Holiday Storyfest & Author's Showcase, about which more in a few weeks. But for now, we're here to talk about Tucson Comic-Con.

Having been to the enormous San Diego Comic-Con for 30 years straight--since before it was enormous--and having been to cons around the country (and out of the country), large and small, for me, TCC is just the right size. It's big enough to attract fantastic guests like Denny O'Neil, Carl Potts, James Owen, Brian Pulido, and many more, and small enough that you can actually meet and talk to those people. Plus there are great programs, gaming, costumes, movies, and loads of vendors.

The con runs from November 2-4, and is always out in time for Tucson's moving and memorable All Soul's Procession on Sunday evening. When the rest of the country is getting chilly, Tucson is warm and welcoming.

Marcy and I will be at tables AA65 and AA80--next to each other, despite the numbering scheme, on the end of an aisle. And as a special treat, our son David Mariotte--an editor for IDW Publishing and writer of the Hanazuki comics from IDW--will also be a special guest this year, though not situated by us.

We're also doing panels--including David, on one of them--so when we're not at the tables you'll find us here:

Sat, Nov 3
Does Creativity Run in Families?
Writers Stephen King and Tabitha King are the parents of writers Joe Hill and Owen King. In comics, everyone knows John Romita and JR jr, and husband-and-wife Arthur Adams and Joyce Chin. Are creative people drawn to each other? Do they pass those traits down to their kids? Our panelists--a married couple, parents and son, all writers and editors--will explore the family ties of creative life.
4:30 - 5:20
Marsheila Rockwell, Jeff Mariotte, David Mariotte

Sat, Nov 3
The Horror Culture
Creating horror in art and art writing. The new appreciation of the genre in pop culture. Telling stories to get the blood racing. Why horror? What is the appeal? Horror trivia, past and present.
5:30 - 6:20
Marsheila Rockwell, Jeff Mariotte, Jenn Corella, Cynthia Gerriets

Sun, Nov 4
Playing in Favorite Sandboxes
D&D: Eberron. CSI. Xena. Mafia III. Narcos. Buffy. Spider-Man. Conan. Star Trek. What do these well-known properties have in common? Marsheila Rockwell and Jeff Mariotte have worked on all of them, and more, as editors, writers, or both. They'll share the joys and the pitfalls of working on tie-in books and comics, and tell you how you can do it, too!
2:30 - 3:20
Marsheila Rockwell, Jeff Mariotte, David Mariotte

 

 

 

CoKoCon Schedule

CoKoCon is koming--er, coming! It'll be held August 31-September 3 in Phoenix, AZ. If you're there, wish me a happy early birthday (I like chocolate cake).

Here's my panel schedule:

Sunday, Sept. 2:

11-noon

Not Dead Yet

Jeff Mariotte, Harry Turtledove, David VanDyke, Thomas Watson

Print is dead! No, e-books are dead! Traditional publishing houses are dead! No, self-publishing is dead! Bookstores are dead, except indies of course! And now pundits are declaring the death of the library. But folks are still reading, so it seems like the publishing industry isn’t ready to go on Monty Python’s proverbial cart any time soon.

6 PM

Signing (with my wonderful wife and writing partner, Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell).

Monday, Sept. 3:

12:30-1:30

Making Monsters

Making Monsters

Canyon 3, 12:30pm - 1:30pm

Tags: Books & Authors

Bruce Davis, Tom Leveen, Jeff Mariotte, Marsheila Rockwell

What makes a great monster? And from what twisted mind do they come from? Our panelists delve into the darkest recesses of their minds and conjure forth terrifying creations. And they share their Frankenstein-esque secrets with you.

3:30-4:30

Childhood Favorites

Beth Cato, Tom Leveen, Jeff Mariotte, Marsheila Rockwell

What books inspired you to become a writer? What are the cherished stories and beloved authors that provided the muse for our panelists? They will reminisce about their favorites and maybe discuss a few current favorites as well.

 Full programming deets are here. Here's Marcy's panel schedule.

We'll have a few books on sale at Duncan's Books and More in the dealer's room, but if there's any book of mine you want to pick up, leave me a comment or drop me an email and I'll make sure to bring it along. Hope to see you there!

Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

I do.

After graduating from high school in Germany, I moved to San Jose, CA for college, eons ago. San Jose was where I had my first piece of writing published (an interview with ex-Monkee Michael Nesmith), won my first literary award (a Phelan Award, 3rd place, for a short story), attended my first con and worked on my first con committee (the Fantasy Symposium), worked my first job in comics (night clerk at a comic shop), and my first bookstore job (Books Inc.). I stayed in San Jose for 10 years and built friendships that remain strong.

Eventually that bookstore job sent me to San Diego. I did more writing, worked in comics some more, moved to Arizona, married Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell... if you read this blog you probably know all that. Point is, San Jose was formative for me in a lot of ways, including in my various professional lives.

In a couple of weeks, Marcy and I will be in San Jose, for our first visit together. We're officially going for WorldCon 76, the world science fiction convention (and home of the Hugo Awards), and most of our time will be spent there. But we'll try to check out some of my old haunts, as well. We signed up pretty late, so don't appear to have been added to any programming [but there's been a bit of a brouhaha over programming, which may or may not (but probably won't) result in us getting added]. If that changes, I'll update.

Over Labor Day weekend, we'll be at CoKoCon 2018, here in Phoenix. Programming hasn't been finalized yet, but I'm sure we'll end up on something. Again, I'll post an update when I know.

 

Suggested musical accompaniment to this post.

MegaMania 2018!

It's MegaMania time again! Every year, Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell and I make the trek down to Tucson for the great one-day con put on by the Pima County Library. This year's con is on Saturday, July 14, at the Pima Community College Downtown Campus, 1255 N. Stone Ave.

Here's our schedule for the day:

1 PM: Researching Your Book
Marsheila Rockwell, Jeff Mariotte, K.S. Merbeth
CC251

2PM: Writing Comics
Jeff Mariotte, Lee Francis, Adam Yeater
CC255

3PM: Signing
Marsheila Rockwell, Jeff Mariotte
Signing Table

The good folks from the library always provide us some books to give away (!), and we'll have others for sale at the signing. If you're in Tucson, I hope you'll come by. It's family-friendly and there are tons of activities throughout the day.

In other news, I've seen a couple of editorial/licensor passes on my NARCOS novel, and it's all going smoothly. I still expect one more, after a copy editor gets to it, but it's on track for early November publication.

In August, Marcy and I will be at WorldCon in San Jose, CA, where I went to college and started my bookselling career. Can't wait!

 

Announcing the First #NARCOS Novel!

I can finally announce my latest writing project: I wrote the first licensed novel based on the Netflix TV series NARCOS.

It's an incredible show from Gaumont International Television, a division of the French company Gaumont (the oldest film company in the world--read about its seriously cool history here: http://www.gaumonttelevision.com/index.php/about/who/). The novel will be published in early November by Titan Books (https://titanbooks.com).

The first two seasons of NARCOS focus on Colombian cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar, and that's the period in which my novel--NARCOS: THE JAGUAR'S CLAW--is set. The book will introduce some new characters, including the titular Jaguar, and define some of the history of Don Pablo and his crew that we haven't seen onscreen. It's a fast-paced thriller, for which I did tons of historical research on the era, the cocaine trade of the 1970s-80s, Colombia, and more.

It's already available for pre-order at online bookstores everywhere, or you can drop into your local bricks-and-mortar store and ask them to order it for you. Every pre-order helps! A few links:

Indiebound

Amazon

Target

Barnes & Noble

Here's the official sales copy: "The first official NARCOS tie-in novel. THE JAGUAR'S CLAW tells the story of Jose Aguilar Gonzales, an idealistic young Medellín police officer who finds himself drawn into service to Pablo Escobar. He becomes one of Escobar's top sicarios--before exposure to the human costs of the cocaine epidemic, combined with personal tragedy, turn Aguilar against his former patron. Through Jose's eyes, we see the inner workings of the Medellín Cartel and get to know the powerful, charismatic, and murderous man at its head."

Working with this property is a huge thrill for me. If you haven't watched NARCOS yet, you can still catch up before the book comes out--and if you have seen it, then I know you're already excitedly awaiting this next chapter in the story. Season 4 launches around the time the book comes out.

Tucson Festival of Books Wrap-up

The 10th annual Tucson Festival of Books has come and gone. Marcy and I spent most of our time in our booth, meeting readers old and new, signing books, and talking with friends (or covering and uncovering our books on Saturday afternoon, when the rain came). We saw a smattering of the 350+ authors in attendance, but a high point was meeting and chatting with Greg Iles, whose Natchez Burning trilogy sits near the top of the heap in terms of the quality of books I've read in the past few years--just amazing thrillers. Read 'em!

We also had a terrific panel with Jonathan Maberry, Gail Carriger, and Myke Cole, moderated by our friend Lupita Chavez. The room was packed--I'd say standing room only, but they didn't allow standing, so people who wanted to come in had to wait outside until somebody left.

As mentioned, this year was the 10th. I've been a presenting author every year, so I got a cool hat and pin to commemorate that.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

The Panel

Marcy & Me

SRO

Marcy in Our Booth

 

Rainy Saturday

 

Sunny Sunday

 

It's Nice to be VIPs

 

The Hat

 

And the Pin

Thanks for ten great years, Tucson Festival of Books! Here's to the next ten.

 

The Return of #TFOB

I've been writing professionally for 30 years. But I was in the book business, as a bookseller, for years before that, since 1980. And I started attending conventions of various kinds even before that, in college. During those decades, I've made it to just about every kind of book-related event there is, from local or regional comic-cons to gigantic international expositions like the San Diego Comic-Con, the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, science fiction and fantasy's WorldCon, the mystery and thriller world's ThrillerFest, and the big book industry show Book Expo America.

But my favorite of all these events is the one coming up this weekend: the Tucson Festival of Books, held on the beautiful University of Arizona campus.

It'd be a hard one to top. It features hundreds of authors, working in every genre. It encompasses what must be many hundreds of booths, offering everything a reader could want. Best of it, it attracts a crowd of some 175,000 people who love books and reading, and want to share that love with one another. This year is its 10th anniversary. Over those years, it's raised $1,650,000 for literacy organizations.

Some of the marquee names appearing this year (there are way too many to list, but you can find them here) include: Mitch Albom, Paolo Bacigalupi, Dave Barry, Philip Caputo, Billy Collins, Robert Crais, Jenna Fischer, Greg Iles, Craig Johnson, Nancy Kress, T. Jefferson Parker, Thomas Perry, Douglas Preston, James Rollins, R.L. Stine, Amy Tan, Katy Tur, Scott Turow, and Luis Alberto Urrea,

Of more immediate interest to this blog is that my beloved wife and writing partner Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell and I will, once again, be there all weekend. We will, of course, have a selection of our books with us to sell and sign. We're located in Booth 109, except when we're trying to catch up with other favorite authors or appearing on our panel.

Said panel is called "Spies, Assassins, and Special Ops." It takes place on Saturday, March 10, 11:30 am-12:30 pm, in the Student Union's Santa Rita Room. We'll be signing afterward in the UA Bookstore Tent, on the mall. Our fellow panelists are Gail Carriger, Myke Cole, and Jonathan Maberry, and our moderator is the ever-thoughtful Lupita Chavez.

I hope you can join us in Tucson for 2018's best book event!

 

Marcy in our booth in 2017

 

Be sure to like our author pages on Facebook: Marcy & Jeff! Follow us on Twitter at @MarcyRockwell and @JeffMariotte!