Mabfan's Musings

It's been a few weeks since I've managed to blog here; as I hope people can imagine, the kids still take up a lot of time in our lives. Nomi and I continue to enjoy being parents, and I find myself torn between wanting to post every update about the kids and not wanting to deluge the readers of this blog with all those details. I would post about other things going on in my life, but as I noted recently on Twitter and Facebook, there's not much else going on.

Well, that's not entirely true. We're working, of course, and I'm always trying to make progress on some writing project or other. We're continuing to clean the apartment; in particular, every day we make a little more progress in the kids' room so it will one day be entirely theirs. And we socialize a little bit, although that's mostly close to home. We did make it to a wedding last month, and we're going to another one this month, but any trips out of the house involve so many logistical details that they have to be considered carefully before implementing. (I sound like a military general.)

Amidst all the current chaos that is our lives, however, I didn't want to let two anniversaries pass today without mention.

A year ago today, on Sunday, November 2, 2008, was the official publication day of my collection I Remember the Future. It's hard for me to believe that the book has been out for a whole year. I blogged about publication day last year in my post The Publication Party, and I noted how wonderful it was to have so many people turn out for the celebration.

In honor of the first anniversary of the book's publication, the Open Book Society website is featuring an exclusive interview with me. I discuss a variety of topics, including my thoughts on the current state of the publishing industry and how having twins has affected my writing. Feel free to check it out.

(Also, although I'm probably preaching to the choir here, keep in mind that the book is still in print, and would make a great gift for Chanukah or Christmas. And check out all the other books Apex has for sale.)

Ahem.

So that's one year ago. Nineteen years ago... well, nineteen years ago my father died. And oddly enough, that's true this year on both the Gregorian and Hebrew calendar. Dad died on the evening of November 2, 1990, after sundown, which means that he died on the 15th of Cheshvan in the year 5751. As it so happens, the 15 of Cheshvan began last night and lasts all day today until sundown – and today is November 2.

I've discussed my father here before and how much he influenced me – in fact, I did so again just last year in the post Joel David Burstein for anyone who wants to be reminded about him. Yesterday evening, when I went to shul to recite the Mourner's Kaddish, I contemplated how far I've come from that night in college when Dad was taken from me.

For many years, I defined myself as an adult who had lost his father. Then, in 2007, I had to learn to redefine myself as an adult who had lost both his parents, and that was at an age when most people still have their parents around. But this past summer, I began to redefine myself again, as a father to twins. Last night, as I held my two daughters and thought about how they've both been named in a way that honors my parents, I thought about how joyously Dad would have held the two of them were he alive today.

I wish they could have met my parents, their grandparents, and I hope I'll be able to impress upon them the kind of people they were.

One year ago, and nineteen years ago.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, Tuckerization is the term given to the act of naming a character in a work of fiction for a real person. It was named for writer Wilson Tucker, who did it often. I've Tuckerized people in some of my own stories; in fact, I offered two Tuckerizations in a raffle for when I Remember the Future was being pre-ordered, and both of the winners had their names (or names of their choosing) appear in the book.

Ten years ago, I answered some questions for Robert J. Sawyer as he was writing the novel Flashforward, which has now become a TV series on ABC. Rob mentioned me in the acknowledgments and gave me a minor Tuckerization on page 150, under the assumed name of Michael Burr, a name that James Patrick Kelly had used when he Tuckerized me in "Think Like a Dinosaur."

And yesterday, I picked up the novel Iron Man: Femme Fatales by Robert Greenberger, and found out on page 58 what I'd be doing with my life if I lived in the Marvel Universe; apparently, I'd be working for Stark Industries:

"Michael, it's good to see you," Stark said enthusiastically as he rose. Rounding the desk, he accepted the new mug in his left hand while shaking Burstein's hand with his right.

"Good to see you, too, sir," Burstein said in a soft voice. He was in his mid-thirties, slightly overweight, and prematurely balding, and he wore a colorful yarmukle pinned to his thinning hair. His clothes never seemed to fit right, nor did he ever wear a tie – an affectation Stark allowed. After all, comfortable people were productive people.

I was delighted to be surprised by this Tuckerization for a few reasons, beyond the enjoyable egoboo. For one thing, I could see myself in that position. For another, years ago there was a scientist in the Marvel universe named Noah Burstein, so maybe we're related. For a third thing, Bob has done a good job of interweaving diversity in his character cast throughout the novel, and the offhand mention of the yarmulke just adds one more tiny note in showing that humanity isn't monolithic.

(And for those of you who would point out that technically this isn't a Tuckerization, since the character does appear to be me, albeit an alternate version of me, well, you're right too.)

Bob, thank you. I can't wait to find out what happens to my alter ego. Hopefully, I won't get killed by Hydra.

Someone in my life recommended to me the book I Sleep at Red Lights: A True Story of Life After Triplets by Bruce Stockler, and for the life of me I can't remember who recommended it. If you recommended it, would you let me know? I'm enjoying it a lot.

On Thursday night, Nomi and I had our first night out since the children arrived. We went to the Boston Public Library to hear author Lev Grossman read from and discuss his new novel The Magicians.

Author Lev Grossman Holds Up a Book Not His Own Lev Grossman, author of Warp, Codex, and The Magicians, holds up a copy of I Remember the Future by his college classmate Michael A. Burstein. Photograph copyright ©2009 by Michael A. Burstein. All rights reserved.

As I mentioned here shortly after Readercon, Lev is actually an old friend. He and I spent our freshman year of college in the same dorm. We talked about lots of different things that year, but after freshman year we drifted apart. As it so happens, in 1997 I spotted his first novel, Warp, in a bookstore and I picked it up and enjoyed it a lot, even though it wasn't the usual sort of book for me to read. His second novel, Codex, was a lot closer to my kind of fiction.

The Magicians, as it turns out, is a novel written to appeal very strongly to the fantasy reader, especially one who holds tightly onto the nostalgia for the fantasy novels they read as a kid. I'm writing a review of The Magicians (complete with disclaimer) for SF Scope, so I don't want to go into too much detail here, but I do want to give the gist. Expect to see some of the following incorporated into my review.

The premise of the book is that a college-bound student named Quentin discovers that magic exists, and he is recruited to matriculate in a college called Brakebills devoted to magic. Much of the book is set at Brakebills, and the comparisons to Harry Potter are likely to be inevitable. Indeed, Lev knows this; although he originally got the idea for the novel before the Harry Potter series took off, he understands that his characters live in a world in which the Harry Potter series exists, and so it is necessary for the characters to acknowledge it.

That said, this novel is nothing like Harry Potter, although I expect that Lev will quickly become sick of the number of times the book is referred to as "Harry Potter for adults." If anything, the book is more a reaction of Lev's love for the Chronicles of Narnia, as Quentin is constantly reminded of a five-book series called Fillory and Further, about a family of English children who find themselves visiting a magical other world over and over. Amusingly enough, Lev (or someone in the publisher's marketing department) has put together two fan sites for the imaginary Fillory series; one, Welcome to Fillory!, is for fans of the series; the other is the official author site for Christopher Plover, the purported writer of the series.

Again, I should point out that the Fillory books, as far as I know, exist solely in the Borges Library. But Quentin has read them, and when he discovers that magic is real, he can't help but wonder if Fillory is real as well. Needless to say, that becomes much more important as the book goes on...

I'll link to my review when it finally goes up, but I didn't want to delay recommending the book to everyone out there. I wouldn't be surprised to see The Magicians nominated for the Hugo, the Nebula, and the World Fantasy Award next year.

Despite being so incredibly busy with newborn twins, I couldn't let today pass without noting the following passing.

William Tapply was a New England mystery writer who was most well-known for his series of mysteries featuring lawyer Brady Coyne as the detective. Nomi has been a fan of Tapply's for a very long time, and a few months ago, when Tapply was going to be on a panel at the Public Library of Brookline, we went to the panel so we could meet him.

Tapply was very gracious and generous with his time. He signed a few books and accepted our praise with equanimity. I had only just started reading his books, but I was looking forward to catching up with the novels and getting to meet Tapply again at future events and signings.

Late this morning (we tend to be up at odd hours now due to the babies), Nomi was reading the Boston Globe and was shocked to come across an obituary for Tapply. He was 69 years old, and when we met him, he seemed to be strong and healthy. Apparently he had leukemia and died on July 28.

I am very glad we got to meet him and tell him how much we enjoyed his work. His death has reminded me that there are other writers whose work I appreciate whom I want to contact, and as soon as possible. Because you never know when one day, one of them will be gone.

I am very grateful, however, that I have lots of his books left to enjoy.

My condolences to Tapply's friends and family.


Links:
William G. Tapply Online
Boston Globe obituary: William Tapply, 69, prolific writer of mysteries, nonfiction
Boston Herald obituary: New England Mystery Novelist Wiliam Tapply

I tweeted and Facebooked these this morning, but here there are on LJ.

First of all, Nomi pointed this article from the Boston Globe out to me this morning: Kate's Mystery Books to close.

This is a real shame. Kate's has been a stalwart of Cambridge for two decades, and a real center for Boston mystery fandom.

Secondly, ReadWriteWeb has begun a series of posts about the future of the publishing business.

Part one can be found here:
Bits Of Destruction Hit the Book Publishing Business: Part 1

Part two can be found here:
Bits Of Destruction Hit the Book Publishing Business: Part 2

Some sobering stuff in those posts, especially on a day where McGraw-Hill has announced some layoffs.

My review of C.C. Finlay's Traitor to the Crown series, which consists of the three novels The Patriot Witch, A Spell for the Revolution, and The Demon Redcoat, has been posted at SF Scope at the following link: http://sfscope.com/2009/07/the-british-are-cominga-review.html.

If you don't have time to check out the full review (although I did try to keep it short, even though it's for a three-book series), here's the upshot quote:

"The Traitor for the Crown series is a delightful blend of historical fiction and fantasy, with a clever idea well executed. Seek it out; you'll be glad you did."

So, a few weeks ago, madwriter asked me if I wanted a Hebrew copy of Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions that had come into his possession. Now, while it's true that I can pronounce Hebrew, I don't read it too well, but I figured why not. After all, Nomi could read it, and maybe one day I'd be able to.

Dangerous Visions in Hebrew Photo copyright ©2009 by Michael A. Burstein

Dangerous Visions in Hebrew, Frontispiece Photo copyright ©2009 by Michael A. Burstein

Danny explained to me why he wanted me to have the book, though, and when he did, I felt a lump in my throat. I said to him, "I'm touched you would consider this gift for us. Rest assured we will treasure the book and keep it with all the other important books in our library."

Here's why:

Book Provenance Photo copyright ©2009 by Michael A. Burstein. Text copyright ©2009 by Danny Adams.

In case it's hard for you to read, here's the text on the page:

This book previously belonged to my uncle, science fiction author (and anthology contributor) Philip José Farmer. I brought it from his home in Peoria, Illinois on June 9, 2009. From there I offered it as a gift to fellow sf writer Michael A. Burstein and his wife Nomi.

Thank you, Danny.

Boosting the signal here...

Apex Publications, the publisher of I Remember the Future, is holding a lottery with a cool premise. The Apex Author Lottery consists of a variety of prize packages centered on specific Apex authors or staff members.

My author's stack consists of two books. The first is a hardcover, signed copy of I Remember the Future, of course.

The second book is a hardcover, signed copy of The Coming Convergence by Stanley Schmidt. Stanley Schmidt is the editor of Analog, and he wrote the introduction to my collection. I blogged about his book last year; it's very thought-provoking and a logical companion in the prize package.

Tickets for any lottery prize package are $1 each, and if you choose to buy ten tickets for any one package, that's only $8. Or, if you want to try your luck on all 19 prize packages, for $15 you can buy 19 tickets, one for each package.

Click here for details on the Apex Author Lottery.

Click here for a list of all prize packages.

Click here for my own prize package.

Last night ended my participation as a Book of the Month Club author in Joseph Mallozzi's book club, which he runs on his blog.

Joe runs the book club as follows. First, he announces the book a few months in advance and encourages everyone to go read it. Then, when the discussion week arrives, he posts his own thoughts about the book and encourages his readers to comment and ask questions. He passes along those questions to the author, who has as much time as needed to compose answers to the questions. Finally, Joe posts those answers on his blog, and the book club moves on to the next book.

It's been a lot of fun having I Remember the Future selected as one of the books for the month of May. I discovered that Joe's readers, while sometimes critical and analytical, are also very respectful. Whether or not they like a story, they explain exactly what worked for them and what didn't. And I have to admit that it was a thrill to have the book chosen by a producer of one of my favorite television show franchises. Joe noted my love of Stargate as well, in his introduction to the post with my answers:

When it comes to making a selection for our Book of the Month Club discussions, I like to take several things into consideration: recommendations, reviews, an intriguing premise, and, of course, whether or not the author is a Stargate fan. Well, when I learned that author Michael A. Burstein was an avid follower of the Stargate franchise, I was delighted to pick his book, I Remember the Future, for a May discussion. Michael is not only an established SF writer and fan of the show, but a blog regular as well and so it gives me great pleasure to turn today’s entry over to him.

Because I'm a fan of Stargate, I had an idea for an appropriate picture to go along with the post. Nomi agreed to the idea, and our friend Ari Baronofsky graciously agreed to take the picture and let us use it.

So the "author photo" that went along with my answers is a picture of Nomi and me posed with our DVD box set of Stargate SG-1: The Complete Series, which we purchased as a present to ourselves when it was released.

Anyway, here's the link if you want to see the picture for yourself, and maybe even read my answers:

Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog: Author Michael A. Burstein Answers Your Questions

And for any of Joe's readers who make it over here, a bonus question and answer. No one asked me what my favorite episodes of Stargate SG-1 were. So, in order of broadcast, here they are: 1969, Window of Opportunity, 2010, 2001, Wormhole X-treme!, and 200. Yeah, I tend to flock to the fan favorites....

What's that? My favorite episodes of Stargate Atlantis? That'll have to wait for later.

Folks may recall that back in March, I announced that Joseph Mallozzi had chosen I Remember the Future as one of his Book of the Month Club selections for the month of May.

Again, for those of you unfamiliar with his name, Joseph Mallozzi was one of the executive producers of the TV shows Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, and is also an executive producer of the upcoming Stargate Universe. (And, as I've mentioned a few times, Nomi and I are big fans of the franchise.)

Mr. Mallozzi has just posted his Book Club blog entry at Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog: I Remember the Future by Michael A. Burstein. He has some fascinating things to say about the stories; some of them worked for him, and some didn't, for quite legitimate reasons. Like many other readers, Joe Mallozzi compares my writing style to that of the Golden Age writers, and it's a comparison I do not shy away from.

Anyway, if anyone reading here still has questions to ask me about the book, feel free to go over there and post your questions. He's going to collect them all for me and I'm going to try to answer them within the week (or the month). And while you're over there, check out what else he has to say; he's a very funny guy, he knows a lot about good food, and sometimes his dogs give away big Stargate secrets.

I've been meaning to let people know about all of the following, just haven't had the time. None of this is Earth-shattering, but it might be of interest.

First of all, I reviewed the play The Superheroine Monologues for SF Scope. Unfortunately, at this point the play's run is over, but if you're interested in my opinion, you can find it at The Secret Lives of Superheroines – a review of The Superheroine Monologues: A Parody of Super Proportions.

Secondly, and a little more timely, I had an opinion piece appear on SCI FI Wire (soon to be Syfy Wire?) about tonight's season finale of the TV show Heroes. I managed to snag quotes from Paul Levinson, Bob Greenberger, and Miranda Thomas about the show; I thought Miranda's point about a need for a big battle was a good one. You can find the article at 5 things Heroes must do to deliver a killer season finale.

Thirdly, John Joseph Adams has chosen to reprint my Jews versus vampires story, "Lifeblood," in the anthology By Blood We Live (Night Shade Books). I suspect it's going to be a somewhat different take on vampires than the other stories in the book. "Lifeblood" originally appeared in the 2003 DAW Books anthology New Voices in Science Fiction edited by Mike Resnick, and I'm glad to see it come back into print.

Fourthly, Apex Publications announced that they're doing a book collection of stories from Apex Magazine, and it turns out that they're including the two stories I selected for the special issue as part of the book: “Waiting for Jakie” by Barbara Krasnoff and “The Last Science Fiction Writer” by Jamie Todd Rubin. If you want to learn more about Descended From Darkness: Apex Magazine volume 1, read their blog post Apex Magazine antho: Update.

And finally, the Falmouth Public Library in southern Massachusetts has invited me to participate in their SCI FI Author Panel on the evening of Wednesday, June 17. I'm particularly pleased to be invited to speak at a library because of my own connection to libraries in Massachusetts. One of the other panelists will be my good friend Jennifer Pelland, so I expect the audience that comes to the event will hear a lot of brilliant repartee. (At least, I'd like to think so.)

The Chronic Rift has announced the winners of the 2008 Roundtable Awards on their latest podcast, and I am delighted to be able to announce that I Remember the Future is the winner of the Best Anthology award.

My thanks to all listeners to the Chronic Rift who voted for the book. If you listen to the podcast, you can hear my recorded thanks as well.

I'm also delighted to announce another win that took me by surprise as I was listening to the podcast. Back in December, I entered a radio script adaption of my story "Decisions" into the contest that the Chronic Rift was running. They were looking for a script to perform on the show. Well, they've chosen to produce "Decisions" as an audio play. I'm very much looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

(The Chronic Rift: Spotlight - The 2008 Roundtable Awards)

A year ago today, the world got the news that the last of the Big Three science fiction writers, Arthur C. Clarke, had died.

Growing up, I wasn't much of a Clarke reader. I loved Asimov's work, though, and Asimov himself used to say that people who liked his work also liked Clarke's. But for the most part, I never enjoyed Clarke's books as much as I did Asimov's. However, I did find Clarke's ideas mind-blowing, and I did enjoy Clarke's short stories more than his novels. (Who could forget "The Star" or "The Nine Billion Names of God"?)

I also loved Clarke's essays on science and the world. He seemed to have an innate inability to grasp the direction in which we were going as a species.

Oddly enough, when he died last year, I was in the middle of trying to figure out the plot of a new short story, the story that would give its title to my collection I Remember the Future. As I said in the book, Clarke's death somehow triggered in my mind exactly what I needed to write the story, and so I dedicated it to him.

As I noted last year when Clarke died, many people liked to quote his Third Law ("Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic") but I was more interested in exploring the ramifications of his Second Law: "The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible."

It's something I try to do every day.

Remember just a few days ago when I pointed people toward Joseph Malllozzi's weblog?

I am pleased to announce that Joseph Mallozzi has chosen I Remember the Future as one of his Book of the Month Club selections for the month of May.

For those of you unfamiliar with his name, Joseph Mallozzi was one of the executive producers of the TV shows Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, and is also an executive producer of the upcoming Stargate Universe. Nomi and I have been fans of the Stargate shows for a few years; in fact, as a present to ourselves, when Stargate SG-1 came to an end, we bought the full-series DVD set so we could go back and watch our favorite episodes over and over.

So I was delighted when a few weeks ago, Mallozzi asked me if I'd be willing to answer questions in the month of May about I Remember the Future for his Book of the Month Club. Besides being a writer of science fiction, Mallozzi is also a voracious reader of science fiction. Every month he selects books for his Book of the Month Club and encourages his blog readers to read the books and then discuss them and ask questions of the author. I'm looking forward to having a new audience enjoy my stories, even though I have slight feelings of trepidation regarding what questions they may ask. (Gulp.)

By the way, the other book Mallozzi has chosen for May is The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll. As a long-time fan of Carroll's work, I'm delighted to be in such august company. (I just hope the readers don't decide to spend their time comparing my book to Carroll's, since in my own opinion I would get trounced.)

If you'd like to join in the fun, check out Mallozzi's latest blog post, in which he also opens up the floor to questions for questions for the Stargate art department draftsman: March 17, 2009: Expert Analysis vs. Dumb Luck, Questions for Kate, Some Stargate News of Note, and May’s Book of the Month Club Selections.

Joseph Mallozzi, a producer and writer on Stargate, has an interesting guest blog post up on the Apex Blog: I Should Have Stuck to Rubber Chickens:

Among the most common questions I get asked as an Executive Producer/Writer on the Stargate franchise are: “What sci fi shows influenced you growing up?”, “Can I send you my episode ideas?”, and, of course, “Why does my character get caught holding the rubber chicken?” In order: “None,” “No,” and “Because it’s a key plot point.”

He also keeps a regular blog, Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog, where Nancy Kress is answering questions from readers this week.

The Highlander's Book Reviews site has posted their review of I Remember the Future, and given the book a rating of four out of five. I'm particularly pleased with this part:

..if you want to find Isaac Asimov’s natural heir both in the art of short story writing but also in that connection between author and reader, look no further than Michael A. Burstein.

Given how much I do try to emulate Asimov, it looks like I'm getting it right.

Here's the link to the review: Highlander's Book Reviews: I Remember the Future.

The 2008 Roundtable Awards have been announced, and I am very pleased to note that the nominees in the Best Short Story category include both "Empty Spaces" and "I Remember the Future."

What this means is that I Remember the Future has now truly earned its subtitle, "The Award-Nominated Stories of Michael A. Burstein." Because the two new stories have now been nominated for an award, every story in the book is now an award nominee, with the exception of "Absent Friends." ("Absent Friends" is included because it bridges the other three stories in the "Broken Symmetry" series.)

I'm also amused to note that "The release of I Remember the Future" was nominated in their Best Thing of 2008 category. Certainly, it was probably the best thing of 2008 for me personally....

I would like to thank the voters in the Roundtable Awards, which is sponsored by the podcast The Chronic Rift, for their nominations. I'm honored to be up against stories by my friends Terri Osborne and Ian Randal Strock.

To see a list of all nominees in all categories, check out The 2008 Roundtable Award Nominees and listen to the podcast.

(ETA: I forgot to note that the book also got nominated in their "Best Anthology of Short Stories" category. So that's a total of four nominations for the book.)

Last night, Nomi and I met Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, the director of the Hayden Planetarium, for the second time. As I noted earlier, Tyson was speaking at the Newton Free Library to promote his new book The Pluto Files, which is all about his role in the controversy that led to the demotion of Pluto. Since Nomi and I are, respectively, the vice-president and president of the Society for the Preservation of Pluto as a Planet, also known as SP3, we felt compelled to attend.

Back, back! Neil deGrasse Tyson defends himself from the defenders of Pluto. Photo copyright ©2009 by SP3.

( Read more... )

I shook hands with Dr. Tyson after we were done, and I could tell that he'd been signing a lot of books. It kind of reminded me of my own publication party back in November.

We said good-bye to Melissa, and Andrew drove Nomi and me home. All in all, a nice start to my birthday weekend.

As for Dr. Tyson and Pluto... well, the IAU has another General Assembly this summer, in Rio de Jainero, Brazil. I suspect Dr. Alan Stern will be there to push for a restoration of Pluto's status. We'll see what happens.

But We All Share a Love for Astronomy! Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Burstein, and Nomi S. Burstein may disagree on Pluto, but we all agree that Dr. Tyson is a gentleman. Photo copyright ©2009 by SP3.

Copyright ©2009 by Michael A. Burstein.

Danny Adams, the nephew of science-fiction writer Philip Jose Farmer, reports that Farmer passed away this morning at the age of 91.

http://madwriter.livejournal.com/665507.html

Perhaps we'll see him again on the Riverworld.