Author Archive for ecmyers

alternate wednesday: Star Trek (2009)

Posted by ecmyers on 05/15/2013 at 8:37 PM in Film and Science Fiction and Fantasy.

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I’m pretty excited about finally getting to see Star Trek Into Darkness tomorrow night. I’ve been dodging internet spoilers like it’s my job, and I’m one of the devout Star Trek fans who really digs J.J. Abrams’ take on the franchise. It doesn’t take a lot to please me: Give me time travel, alternate timelines, and Leonard Nimoy, and I’m a happy geek. (Props to Abrams and Fringe for also delivering on all three!)

I just re-watched the 2009 Abrams film, which (spoiler!) I did like a hell of a lot, and I’m happy to say I still enjoy it. In honor of the release of the new film, here’s my non-spoilery review of Star Trek from way back in 2009, which launched me on my Star Trek Re-Watches at Tor.com and The Viewscreen. In the comments, let me know what you think of the Abrams’ films, but no spoilers on Into Darkness until 10:00 p.m. EST tomorrow night, please.

Continue reading ‘alternate wednesday: Star Trek (2009)’

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upcoming events

Posted by ecmyers on 05/02/2013 at 8:00 AM in Novels and Writing.

I have a couple of appearances lined up this month:

OrigamiYoda_poster_200x300May the 4th Be With You
First, if you’re anywhere near Rosemont, PA, come to the Rosemont Book Festival this Saturday, May 4. The first annual book festival at Rosemont College will be held at Connelly Green and in the library with workshops, readings, panels, and signings from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

I will be on a panel about young adult books with fabulous authors Beth Kephart, April Lindner, and Tiffany Schmidt from 11-12, with a signing afterward. Books will be available for purchase at the event courtesy of Children’s Book World. Hope to see you there!

Rare (First!) West Coast Signing
I will be attending the 48th Nebula Awards Weekend later this month, which includes a mass autograph session on Friday, May 17 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the San Jose Hilton, 300 Almaden Blvd, San Jose, CA.

The autograph session is open to the public and Borderland Books will be selling books by the authors in attendance. This will be my first signing on the West Coast!

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celebrating two great things today!

Posted by ecmyers on 04/18/2013 at 1:45 PM in Books, Film and Radio.

As I mentioned in my post this week at the League of Extraordinary Writers, today is World Amateur Radio Day. I hope all you hammies are taking to the airwaves and celebrating in style! The Kim family’s old ham radio ended up being a much bigger plot point in Quantum Coin than I’d originally planned, and I think the novel was better for it.

April 18 also marks the 75th anniversary (observed) of Superman, my favorite superhero. He first appeared in Action Comics #1, which bears the date June 1938 on its iconic cover. All these years, I’d thought that was the month the magazine was published, but that’s actually the “sell by” date–when it was supposed to be taken off the newsstands. Find out more about the history of it at Bleeding Cool.

Superman was such an important, formative part of my childhood, it’s very likely that I wouldn’t be the person I am today if he didn’t exist. Growing up without a father, I think Superman sort of became a role model for me and helped provide some of the moral guidance that I needed to become a decent human being.

I wrote about what Superman means to me in a very personal letter that originally appeared in a collection called Talking Back: Epistolary Fantasies (ed. L. Timmel Duchamp, Aqueduct Press, 2006). Writer/Editor Cat Rambo was kind enough to reprint it in Fantasy Magazine three years later, and it’s still online, so if you have a couple of minutes, please feel free to check out “Dear Superman.”

And to bring it all together, I snuck a quote from one of my favorite films, Superman: The Movie (1978), into Quantum Coin. I didn’t expect anyone to notice, but if you’re a fan of the film, see if you can spot it on pages 265-66!

SPJO_10.1

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links to the past

Posted by ecmyers on 04/17/2013 at 8:00 AM in Business, Novels, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Short Stories, Television and Writing.

Apologies for the lack of my Alternate Wednesday posts of late; oddly enough, it’s a matter of not having enough time for them. I thought the biweekly schedule would be manageable, but with a novel to revise and multiple deadlines for various projects (including several other blogs I contribute to–see below), it has been the easiest thing to put aside. But I enjoy writing them, and I hope some of you enjoy reading them, so they will continue–but perhaps on a sporadic basis for the moment.

"Yesterday's Enterprise"That said, I’m double-dipping this week. It’s no surprise that many of my favorite episodes of Star Trek (in all its incarnations) involve time travel and/or alternate realities. So last week I was happy to cover one of the very best of these in the ongoing Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch at The Viewscreen: “Yesterday’s Enterprise“. Here’s an excerpt:

But I tell you, this episode is exciting, not least because it fills in some of the time between Kirk’s era and the TNG years, with the introduction of the Enterprise-C. (It hits some of the same buttons for me that “Babylon Squared” on Babylon 5 does, my favorite episode of the first season in which the Babylon 4 station reappears due to a temporal anomaly…) And I love this vessel, a beautiful melding of the best features of the Constitution-class and Galaxy-class designs. “Yesterday’s Enterprise” also has high stakes, gruesome deaths, and it looks and sounds more cinematic than anything on the show previously. I’m also a sucker for stories in which one ship or one person makes a huge impact for others–even in failure; we always root for the Enterprise to survive, but the idea that one crew’s sacrifice could still be a victory of sorts is gratifying.

Pop over there to see my episode recap and read reviews by me, Torie Atkinson, and our fine commenters.

I also had two other guest blog posts this week, if you haven’t had enough of me:

And finally, here’s a link to download a free PDF of Sybil’s Garage No. 7, which among many fantastic pieces includes one of my favorite short stories that I’ve written, “My Father’s Eyes”. It’s even kind of YA-ish, though with a slightly older main character, a photographer named Ambrose. And here’s the editor talking about the issue, Anne Frank, Justin Bieber, and the band Neutral Milk Hotel.

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Finalist Fantasy II

Posted by ecmyers on 03/26/2013 at 8:00 AM in Novels and Science Fiction and Fantasy.

bsfslogoMy dreary Monday was interrupted by the exciting news that Fair Coin was selected as a finalist for the 2013 Compton Crook Award! Named for author Compton Crook (the pseudonym of Stephen Tall), since 1983 this award has been presented by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) to the best first novel of the year in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Past winners include T.C. McCarthy’s Germline (2012), Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl (2010), and Naomi Novik’s His Majesty’s Dragon (2007).

It’s an honor to be considered for the same award as all those talented writers and to share this year’s shortlist with Heather Anastasiu, Myke Cole, Jay Kristoff, and Jeff Salyards. Though I can’t find a list of finalists from previous years, I’m pretty happy to see a good range of fantasy and science fiction here, including three young adult titles. The BCFS membership will continue to read nominees and vote through April, and the award will be presented to the winner at Balticon in May.

And I’m still bouncing over the Andre Norton nomination… If you’re a member of SFWA, don’t forget to cast your votes by Saturday, March 30! Most of the Norton-nominated books are free in the Nebula Voter Packet, including Fair Coin, so you still have time to catch up! Right now I’m reading through as much of the Nebula-nominated short fiction as I can before the deadline.

I’ve also been meaning to mention that you have until April 15, 2013 to cast your ballots for the Locus Award. Anyone can vote for the Locus Awards, with no special membership or subscription requirements, so I’ll hope you’ll take a moment to do so. You’ll notice that Fair Coin is not listed among the fantastic YA Books or First Novels on the ballot, but you can write in up to five books you want to vote for.

And that’s all I’ve got on awards for now… :) Thanks to everyone who has read, considered, and nominated Fair Coin. I’m thrilled to get every bit of recognition because I know how hard it is to for a debut novel to be noticed, especially with so many excellent books being published every year. I hope you’ve enjoyed it!

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