get my Klingon trilogy for two bucks each!

Star Trek Books has a promotion going where you can get each of my three I.K.S. Gorkon novels for two bucks each!

Published from 2003-2005, these three novels follow the voyages of the Starship Gorkon — it’s mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, and to conquer them for the greater glory of the Klingon Empire!

Featuring several guest Klingons from episodes of TNG and DS9 (Klag from “A Matter of Honor,” Kornan and Leskit from “Soldiers of the Empire,” Kurak from “Suspicions,” Toq from “Birthright,” and Rodek — really Worf’s brother Kurn — from “Sins of the Father,” “Redemption,” and “Sons of Mogh”) as well as appearances by Chancellor Martok and Ambassador Worf, plus nifty new characters like Dr. B’Oraq and Leader Wol of the Fifteenth Squad, these are some fun looks at the Trek universe through Klingon eyes. So check them out!

my updated schedule at the Ghost Town Writers Retreat

I’ll be one of the featured speakers at the Ghost Town Writers Retreat this coming weekend in Georgetown, Colorado. The full schedule has been posted, and here is my part of it:

Friday

3-4pm: “Making Time to Write” (Heritage Center, Room 1). New writers often say “I can’t find time to write,” as if it rolled under the couch or something. I discuss time management and how to carve out time to get those words cranking.

5-5.30pm: Book Signing Event (Heritage Center, Rooms 1-3). All the authors will be selling and/or signing their books.

Saturday

3-4pm: “It’s a Career Whether You Make Money or Not” (Heritage Center, Room 3). A professional writer is also a single-person small business. I explain what that means, what the pitfalls are, and how you have to manage your career as a writer, regardless of whether or not you make your living at it.

6-7pm: “Playing in Someone Else’s Sandbox” (Heritage Center, Room 2). I’ve been writing and editing licensed fiction and shared universes for 25 years, and I share insights on how the creative process differs when someone else created the world you’re writing in.

Sunday

11am-noon: “Navigating the Submissions Minefield” (Heritage Center, Room 1). Okay, you just finished your story or novel. Now what? I discuss the many options and routes to publication.

 

There are also going to be readings throughout Saturday morning, and I may be doing one of them.

Hope to see folks there!

 

I’m in the next Outside In book!

ATB Publishing has been doing a series called “Outside In,” which has hot takes on a particular bit of pop culture. The first two covered Doctor Who, which was followed by Outside In Boldly Goes, which covered all of the original Star Trek.

This September, in time for the 30th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation, ATB will release Outside In Makes It So: 174 New Perspectives on 174 Star Trek: TNG Stories by 174 Writers, edited by Robert Smith?

I mention this mostly because I’m one of those 174 writers — I’m covering “The Big Goodbye,” the first-season episode that introduced Picard’s Dixon Hill holodeck program.

The book is available for preorder from ATB, and will likely be on other online booksellers soon…..

buy my books

It’s a limited supply at the moment, as I’m low on inventory, but I do have a bunch of my books for sale. If you wish to buy them, you can PayPal me the total of the cover prices for the books you want, plus $6 shipping (if you’re in the U.S.; if you’re outside the U.S., just send the cover prices and I’ll bill you for the shipping after I go to the post office, as international shipping rates vary wildly) to keith at decandido dot net, or mail a check or money order made out to Keith R.A. DeCandido to PO Box 4976, New York, NY 10185-4976. Let me know who you wish me to autograph the book to.

Here’s what I got:

Aliens: Bug Hunt — $17

Baker Street Irregulars — $17

Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars — $8

Orphan Black: Classified Clone Report — $50 (this is a preorder for the hardcover, which will be available in mid-August)

Ragnarok and Roll: Tales of Cassie Zukav, Weirdness Magnet — $17

SCPD: The Case of the Claw — $15

Without a License: The Fantastic Worlds of Keith R.A. DeCandido — $15

Young Hercules: Cheiron’s Warriors and Young Hercules: The Ares Alliance — $3 for one, $5 for both

Star Trek The Original Series Rewatch: Star Trek Beyond

Kirk is bored, Spock is conflicted, McCoy talks about horseshit, Sulu takes off in a gravity well, Uhura figures out who the bad guy is, Scotty meets a nifty new character, and Chekov doesn’t keep vodka in his quarters. The TOS Rewatch does the final movie in the series, Star Trek Beyond.

An excerpt:

However, the best parts of the entire film are the scenes with Spock and McCoy. Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban have both done a great job filling the shoes of Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley, but Urban has been criminally underused to date. This film finally rectifies that, and gives us the Spock-McCoy banter that was one of the best parts of the original series and their followup movies. One of the things that gave me hope for this movie in the trailers was the scene where McCoy says, “At least I won’t die alone,” then Spock is beamed away, and McCoy grumbles, “Well, that’s just typical,” and I’m pleased to report that that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In particular, the horseshit conversation is the highlight of the entire film.

a nice review of Bone Key

Having already reviewed my Supernatural novel Nevermore earlier this month, JL Gribble turns her attention to my second novel featuring Los Bros Winchester, Bone Key. She gave it five out of five stars! Yay!

Money quote:

The author’s familiarity and love for Key West show through the words and description, and it’s always very cool to see the brothers in an environment that’s not a Midwestern small town with a vague resemblance to Vancouver.

I also really appreciated a seeing mythology that wasn’t based in generic Judeo-Christian stereotype. At the same time, this Native mythology was well-research, far from generic, and most importantly, felt respectful (despite being the villain). (I am not an expert, so your mileage may vary.)

Monday music: “Then the Music Begins”

Back in the 1990s, I was part of a band called the Don’t Quit Your Day Job Players, which started out as a trio: Peter J. Heck on lead guitar and vocals, David M. Honigsberg on rhythm guitar and vocals, and me on percussion and backup vocals. We were later joined by Alexandra Elizabeth Honigsberg on violin, viola, and backup vocals and Rik Cleary on bass. We recorded our first CD in 1996, called TKB with that lineup, along with Nat Andreassi on drums.

In 1998, Pete quit the band and Steven L. Rosenhaus joined up. Steve not only sang lead and backup both, but also plays guitar and mandolin. We also used a series of guest drummers, mostly Nat, Tom Laubenthal, and Don Daley. Rik quit after we recorded our second CD, Blues Spoken Here, in 1999, and we went through a few bassists after that — Fred Andreassi, Pat O’Brien, and Bonnie Bowers. The band finally split up in 2000.

Sadly, that was before YouTube, so none of our music is saved there, though I may someday work to get at least the tracks from the two CDs on there. In the meantime, both David (before his tragic death in 2007) and Steve made solo CDs after the band split, and I was fortunate enough to provide percussional accompiment on three of the cuts on Steve’s 2003 release, A Man Like Me.

One of the three is a song we did with the DQYDJPs: “Then the Music Begins,” which Steve often describes as “The Gipsy Kings meets Stephen King.” Here it is, with Steve playing some beautiful Spanish guitar, James T. Oakar (who also produced the CD) doing the classical guitar solo, and me on the bongos.

my Ft. Lauderdale SuperCon schedule

I will be one of the many guests at Fort Lauderdale SuperCon this coming weekend, from Thursday the 27th to Sunday the 30th. I’ll be spending most of my time at the Bard’s Tower table in the Celebrity Autograph Area, alongside Kevin J. Anderson, Kevin Ikenberry, Josh Vogt, J. Scott Savage, and Anthony Dobranski.

However, they’ve got me doing some programming, too…..

Friday

12.45-1.45pm: “Professional Geek: How to Turn Your Passion Into Your Career,” w/Kevin Ikenberry & Josh Vogt, Room 124

 

Saturday

4.30-5.20pm: “Adapting & Expanding Worlds in Comics & Novels,” w/Kevin J. Anderson & Georges Jeanty, Room 305

 

Sunday

1.45-2.35pm: “Writing 101: Ask Anything,” w/Kevin J. Anderson & Kevin Ikenberry, Room 124

 

Looking forward to seeing folks there!

 

Friday fanfare: “La Grange”

ZZ Top doing a growlin’ blues song. Bliss.

throwback Thursday

Eleven years ago, me, Shihan Paul, and three other students (Senpai Dorian and Senpai Charles, who are fellow black belts, and Kenny, who made it to advanced green belt, but then stopped coming to class; no idea what happened to him, though that’s not unusual — people disappear all the time….) at our dojo went on a hiking trip to New Paltz. It was a great trip, one I enjoyed immensely.

Here’s a picture Shihan took of us sitting on a very high rock on that foggy afternoon in 2006: Kenny, Senpai Charles, Senpai Dorian, and me.