Posts Tagged ‘The Calling’

More Interview Goodness on Generations Geek

Late last year, I sat for a lengthy interview by my pal Scott Pearson for his podcast Generations Geek. We had such a great and rambling chat that he ended up having to cut the interview into two parts.

Part Two

The new installment, Episode 41: “Midnight Mack,” is now live on The Chronic Rift Network. In this hour-long interview we discuss my non-Star Trek tie-in work, including my award-winning 24 novel, Rogue, and my contribution to the short-story anthology 2113: Stories Inspired by the Music of Rush.

We also dig into my original works, starting with my 2009 urban fantasy novel The Calling, and then we segué into my upcoming Dark Arts series for Tor Books, which will kick off in February 2018 with The Midnight Front.

Part One

If you’d like to listen to the first half of our conversation, in Episode #40: “Mack Trek we talked mostly about my work for Star Trek through the years and across many media, including television, comic books, video games, and novels.

Hear me answer for The Calling

I’m talking again. Listen to this interview, in which I join co-hosts Max and Mike to discuss my novel The Calling — the origins of the story, the challenges and benefits of working outside of Star Trek, and the differences between writing for the page and for the screen.

trekstars

This was a fun and sprawling conversation that follows up on their show last week, in which they talked among themselves regarding my two writing credits for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

I engage with “Digressive Obscenity”

A few weeks ago, I traveled to a gritty corner of deepest, darkest Long Island City here in Queens, NY, to sit with actor, writer, and incredibly tall guy Paul Guyet for an in-depth podcast interview unlike most others in which I’ve taken part over the years.

Though Paul steered the later segment of the podcast toward a discussion of my work as a writer for Star Trek and other properties, the first part of our conversation was much more open-ended, exploring topics about which I am rarely asked in interviews.

Here is Paul’s capsule description of the show:

“I sit down with the author of The Calling, Wolverine: Road of Bones, and the New York Times bestselling trilogy Star Trek: Cold Equations.

“We also discuss his ‘benign mental break’ which manifested in an obsession with rabbits, the intricacies of David Fincher’s ‘Janie’s Got a Gun’ music video, and how he would end things in the Star Trek universe.”

The result is a refreshingly different, offbeat, and candid interview that I think both my friends and my fans will find informative and entertaining.

So, if you’ve got a decent chunk of downtime to fill, point your browser at Paul’s Tumblr and either download or stream Digressive Obscenity, Episode 11: David Alan Mack.

 

Now you can hear The Calling

And I mean that headline literally. My first original urban-fantasy thriller The Calling is now available, complete and unabridged, as an audiobook on Audible.com.

In case you need a refresher on what this book was all about, here’s the back-cover blurbage:

Meet the answer to your prayers.

HEAR THE CALLING.
No one would guess by looking at Tom Nash that he’s extraordinary, and that’s just fine with him. A tall, broad-shouldered jack-of-all-trades from Sawyer, Pennsylvania, Tom has a knack for fixing things. He also hides a secret talent: he hears people’s prayers. Stranger still, he answers them. Maybe it’s because he’s a handyman, but Tom feels compelled to fix people’s problems. Which is all well and good — until the soul-shattering plea of a terrified girl sends him on the darkest journey of his life…

SEEK THE TRUTH.
Heeding the call and leaving his home for New York City, Tom discovers a secret world beyond the range of mortal perception — a world of angels and demons and those who serve them. With the guidance of a knowing stranger named Erin, Tom learns that he himself is one of The Called, born with a divine purpose and a daunting task: to help the powers of Heaven in the war against the agents of Hell, an army of fallen angels known as the Scorned. Thrust into an epic battle of the sacred and the profane, Tom Nash must find the girl who prayed for his help — because her fate will determine whether humanity deserves to be saved, or damned for all eternity…

So, if you prefer to listen to your fiction, I hope you’ll give The Calling a turn on your playlist someday soon.

 

 

Soon, you’ll be able to hear The Calling…

I am very pleased to report that I’ve just signed a contract with Audible.com to produce an audiobook version of my first original novel, the urban-fantasy thriller The Calling.

It’s too early to speculate who might be reading it, or even if it will be anyone of renown. For now, I’m just pleased as punch to know there will be another way for my work to reach an audience.

A big hat-tip to my agent, Lucienne Diver, for helping make this deal happen!

As soon as I have more information — release date, who’s reading it, etc. — I’ll be sure to blather about it here, there, and everywhere.

 

 

Two books on a “Best of ’09” list

I was excited to discover this morning that two of my novels made it onto the “Best of ’09” list of prolific SF/F review site SciFiChick.com.

In the tie-ins category, The 4400: Promises Broken shares a three-way split with Keith R.A. DeCandido’s Star Trek: A Singular Destiny Bill Leisner’s Losing the Peace and the novelization of Star Trek (2009) by Alan Dean Foster.

Nearer and dearer to my heart, however, my original urban fantasy The Calling made the list in the category of Series Debut/Standalone, sharing that honor with Death’s Daughter by Amber Benson.

Boo-yah!

ETA: Apologies to Keith for getting his hopes up only to dash them on the rocks of reality; I should know better than to post so early in the morning when I haven’t yet had coffee.

Nebula nominations, and other silliness

Well, I finally got around to logging on to the SFWA site and making my nominations for the next Nebula Awards.

In the novels category, I nominated Flesh and Fire by Laura Anne Gilman, A Singular Destiny by Keith R.A. DeCandido, and Synthesis by James Swallow.

In the short fiction category, I nominated “James and the Dark Grimoire” by Kevin Lauderdale and “The Moment” by Lawrence M. Schoen.

At the moment, my own novel The Calling is trailing far behind the leaders in the novel category and could use support from my friends and fellow SFWAns.  Any SFWA member who wants to read the story for awards consideration should e-mail me offline for a PDF file.

In other news, I’ve finally pushed out an outline and series bible for a new urban fantasy thriller concept. I’ve sent it to a trusted colleague who is serving as its beta reader.  Once I’ve had a chance to polish this new golden turd of mine, I’ll send it over to my agent. Fingers crossed!

To bed now.  Tomorrow’s another day.  I hope.

ETA: Yup, it’s another day, and with it comes another nomination — “Moon Over Luna” by David R. George III, in the novella category.  Good luck, Dave!