Posts Tagged ‘The Persistence of Memory’

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.)

coldequationsAs 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.

 

Meet the 2012 Scribe Award nominees

The International Association of Media Tie-in Writers (IAMTW) has just announced the nominees for its next round of Scribe Awards, which recognize excellence in the field of writing for media tie-in franchises (such as Star Wars, Star Trek, or any property that exists in another medium, such as comics, games, film, or TV).

This year’s big surprise: something I wrote actually received a nomination. Which means that when the winners are announced this July at the IAMTW’s panel at Comic-Con International in San Diego, I will get to say the immortal words, “It’s an honor just to have been nominated.”

Here is the full list of this year’s nominees, by category:

Original Novel
Star Trek: The Rings of Time by Greg Cox
Tannhäuser: Rising Sun, Falling Shadows by Robert T. Jeschonek
Star Trek: The Next Generation – Cold Equations, Book 1: The Persistence of Memory by David Mack
Darksiders: The Abomination Vault by Ari Marmell
Pathfinder: City of the Fallen Sky by Tim Pratt
Dungeons and Dragons Online: Skein of Shadows by Marsheila Rockwell
Mike Hammer: Lady, Go Die! by Mickey Spillane & Max Collins

Adapted Novel
Clockwork Angels by Kevin J. Anderson
Batman: The Dark Knight Rises by Greg Cox
Batman: The Dark Knight Rises (YA novelization) by Stacia Deutsch
Poptropica: Astroknights Island by Tracey West

Audio
Dark Shadows: The Eternal Actress by Nev Fountain
Dark Shadows: Dress Me in Dark Dreams by Marty Ross
Doctor Who: Companion Chronicles: Project Nirvana by Cavan Scott & Mark Wright

My congratulations and best wishes go out to all the other nominees, especially my friends Greg Cox and Kevin J. Anderson.

 

Cold Equations on the Locus list

Just noticed that the Locus Magazine list of bestsellers for February 2013 has just been posted, and that two spots in the “Media-Related Fiction” segment are occupied by volumes from my Star Trek: The Next Generation trilogy Cold Equations.

Book II, Silent Weapons, has snagged the No. 2 spot on this month’s list, while my first New York Times bestseller, Book I: The Persistence of Memory, currently holds the No. 3 spot.

Not too shabby, my friends! Here’s hoping that The Body Electric gets to join them on next month’s list.

Interview on 2012writersALIVE

This afternoon at roughly 2:30pm EDT, I spoke for half and hour with host John Byk of the 2012writersALIVE podcast about my new Cold Equations trilogy, my writing process, and my feelings regarding collaboration. We hung up the phone at 3pm — and half an hour later, the interview was live. That’s some fast turnaround!

Anyway, I had fun chatting with John, so give the interview a listen.

(P.S. — I apologize for the fact that I sound like I’m shouting from the far end of a tunnel. Next time I grant an interview by phone, I’ll use my land line instead of my cell phone.)

 

The Good-News Round-Up

Today I’m excited to bring you two pieces of good news. First, my latest novel, The Persistence of Memory, has garnered another very favorable review from Matthew Rushing at Trek.fm. (Before you click the link to read Matthew’s review, be advised that it contains MAJOR SPOILERS.)

In even bigger news, my friend Bryan Anderson, whose Iraq War memoir No Turning Back I co-authored, has just won a Chicago/Midwest regional Emmy for “Outstanding Achievement for Human Interest Programming” as the host of the documentary special Reporting for Service with Bryan Anderson.

Congratulations, Bryan!

 

 

Nominate my books for a Nebula—if you dare

The nominating period is open for the next round of Nebula Awards. And would you look at that! I have four novels eligible for consideration, including my New York Times bestseller, The Persistence of Memory. (The others are Star Trek Vanguard: Storming Heaven, released in March, and my two upcoming titles, Silent Weapons and The Body Electric, which go on sale in November and December, respectively.)

I know the vast majority of my fellow SFWA members will reflexively recoil from the the notion of nominating any of my eligible works, simply because their titles include the words Star Trek. They would react the same way to any book published under the label of Star Wars, or any other licensed brand, such as HALO or World of Warcraft.

So I’m going to ask my fellow SFWA members who are also tie-in authors, or friends of tie-in authors, to do something unprecedented: nominate tie-in novels this year (preferably mine), just to see if we can get one on the final ballot and make the SFWA membership’s collective head explode. (Although some tie-in works might have made preliminary ballots in years past, no tie-in novel has ever reached the Nebula final ballot.)

Also, I’m pretty sure SFWA has an obscure by-law that says if a tie-in novel wins the Nebula, the organization’s current slate of elected officers must commit seppuku with ballpoint pens at the award ceremony. If that’s not reason enough for y’all to throw me a nomination for The Persistence of Memory, I don’t know what is. So, c’mon — let’s get nominating!

My book made the New York Times list!

After more than a decade of writing published novels, it can be easy to become jaded, to wonder sometimes whether I’m banging my head against the wall for no reason, whether anyone even notices when I have a new book out. And then there are awesome days like today.

I’ve just received word from my editor at Simon & Schuster that my latest novel, Star Trek: The Next Generation — Cold Equations, Book I: The Persistence of Memory, has debuted at #30 on the November 18, 2012, New York Times extended bestseller list for mass-market paperback fiction!

Henceforth, I can officially be described as “New York Times bestselling author David Mack.” Maybe now I’ll even get to sit at the cool kids’ table and get invited to the cool parties!

In a word: W00t!