Ten Forward Archives

Posts Tagged ‘Ten Forward’

Hear me and others gab about The Fall

Last weekend, I took part in a roundtable discussion with fellow New York Times bestselling authors Dayton Ward, David R. George III, and James Swallow. We yakked with host Sina Alvarado of the Ten Forward podcast about our work on the recently published five-book Star Trek literary miniseries The Fall.

We also spend more time than we probably should have discussing our preferred beverages to quaff while writing.

I have it on good authority that the highlight of our hour-long conversation is the five-minute roll of bloopers and outtakes at the end of the show, so make sure you stick around for that auditory treat.

Yak Alert: I talk about “A Ceremony of Losses”

Apparently, I am constitutionally incapable of refusing an opportunity for shameless self-promotion. That’s how I explain my role in yet another podcast discussion of my work with the fine folks of Trekmate.org.uk — specifically, Sina and Michael of Ten Forward.

In this latest audio gabfest, we talk about my latest New York Times bestseller, A Ceremony of Losses, as well as my previous novel Zero Sum Game, to which Ceremony is in many respects a sequel, and my upcoming project Section 31: Disavowed, which will continue the story arc of ZSG and ACoL.

I also touch briefly upon my support for Athena’s Daughters, a Kickstarter project to fund a female-written anthology of original SF and fantasy short stories about compelling female main characters. I am excited to report that this Kickstarter reached its $24k stretch goal in just 10 days, which means I and many other male authors will get to tell our original tales about strong female main characters in a companion anthology, Apollo’s Daughters. (If the Kickstarter reaches $38k, Apollo’s Daughters will have a limited print run in hardcover, so keep those contributions coming in, folks!)

Listen to my latest turn on the Captain’s Table podcast and donate to the Athena’s Daughters project (note: this Kickstarter ends January 8, 2014).

Talking about Cold Equations

I recently took part in another recorded interview on trekmate.org.uk‘s podcast program Ten Forward. This time, co-hosts Michael Clark and Sina Alvarado invited me on the show to talk about my New York Times bestselling Star Trek: Cold Equations trilogy, whose three volumes they’ve reviewed over the past few months. (Listen to the spoiler-laden, in-depth critical discussions of Book I: The Persistence of Memory; Book II: Silent Weapons; and Book III: The Body Electric.)

As always when I chat with Michael and Sina, it’s a fun conversation, full of digressions and tangents. We talked about the genesis of the trilogy, one of my original ideas for the trilogy that ended up needing to be abandoned, and my reactions to their show’s previous analyses of the books. In addition, we discuss some of my upcoming projects. Give it a listen and find out why Michael and Sina’s Ten Forward is one of my favorite podcasts.

New reviews of my work

Though it has been several months since the publication of my Star Trek: The Next Generation trilogy Cold Equations (September–December 2012) and will be months until my next novel hits shelves (Star Trek: The Fall, Book III — A Ceremony of Losses, in November 2013), a spate of new reviews of my work have hit the Internet this week.

Over at the United Federation of Charles on blogspot.com, reviewer Charles Phipps shares his in-depth reactions to all three volumes of the Star Trek Destiny trilogy. I’ve been pleased to see how thoroughly he enjoyed the trilogy, and that many of his favorite parts as a reader were my favorites as the author.

A couple of great excerpts. First, from his review of Gods of Night:

“David Mack does a wonderful job with twists in this plot. When there’s conflict with Erika Hernandez and her crew about the new aliens, I was sympathetic to both sides. However, I squarely came down on the side of those who wanted to escape the Caeliar’s planet at all costs–and against those who disagreed. Seeing how this situation turned out was one of the few times I was genuinely stunned as a reader.”

And this snippet is from his review of Mere Mortals:

“Erika Hernandez is a complicated character as she’s able to bond with the Caeliar in a way her crew can’t and this occasionally makes her an unsympathetic character. Erika Hernandez might have decided to stay with the Caeliar of her own free will but the others hate them for holding them indefinitely, despite there being no malice. Erika, herself, starts to comprehend this only after her crew begins dying off. Watching her rediscover her humanity at the end was genuinely heartwarming.”

Read Charles’ full reviews on his blog:

Star Trek Destiny, Book I: Gods of Night

Star Trek Destiny, Book II: Mere Mortals

Star Trek Destiny, Book III: Lost Souls

On the audio podcast front, my friends Michael and Sina at The Ten Forward Book Club on trekmate.org.uk —ably abetted by fellow podcaster Melissa— dig into a detailed discussion of Star Trek: Cold Equations, Book I: The Persistence of Memory. It’s a spirited discussion, with Melissa coming to the book cold, not having read any of my previous work, nor any of the recent Star Trek fiction. It’s interesting to see how she reacts to a Star Trek universe and characters who are very different than what she remembers and expects, and noting which make sense to her and which don’t.

As always, Sina, Michael, and their guest Melissa are incisive and insightful commentators, and their discussion of the book’s story, themes, philosophies, and characters is lively and spot-on. They present some superb literary review and criticism, and I encourage everyone to settle in and listen to this podcast, because it is ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT.

You can find The Ten Forward Book Club’s podcast review of The Persistence of Memory here.

#SFWApro

My “Desert Island Treks” podcast

Join me and hosts Michael and Sina of Trekmate.org.uk‘s podcast Ten Forward on this special “David Mack’s Desert Island Treks“ episode, in which we discuss what five episodes from all of televised Star Trek I would choose to represent the franchise as a whole.

My top five episodes were:

5. TOS – “Mirror, Mirror”
4. DS9 – “Duet”
3. TNG – “Tapestry”
2. DS9 – “Our Man Bashir”
1. TNG – “The Offspring”

And my “honorable mention” close runners-up were:

A. DS9 – “The Visitor”
B. DS9 – “Trials and Tribble-ations”

To hear the reasoning behind these selections and their respective rankings, listen to the podcast — then listen to previous “Desert Island” episodes featuring the choices of fellow novelist Dayton Ward and comic-book scribe Scott Tipton.

The Ten Forward podcast talks Destiny

I just want to give a friendly tip o’ the hat to hosts Michael and Sina at TrekMate.org.uk‘s Ten Forward Book Club podcast, and their guest Matt Rushing (from Trek.fm‘s Literary Treks). They’ve served up three in-depth, well-considered, and truly insightful discussions about each book in my Star Trek Destiny trilogy. Follow these links to download or stream each show:

Destiny, Book I: Gods of Night
http://bit.ly/XKKCTR

Destiny, Book II: Mere Mortals
http://bit.ly/122nfMr

Destiny, Book III: Lost Souls
http://bit.ly/X5ik7F

If you’re curious about the trilogy and don’t mind spoilers, or just want to hear a good literary criticism roundtable, check out their show. It’s good stuff.