Post Meeting Write-up
Face the Fiction started the year off by setting the bar high. Guest speaker, Keith R.A. DeCandido
(that's Robert Andreassi for the unknowing disenfranchised - lol) was entertaining, "effulgent" (a
nod to a Buffy character, Spike, who used the word in a poem and was mocked - Spike is the
main character of Mr. DeCandido's book Blackout) and quite energetic.
The evening began with Steve S corralling us into some semblance of submission and giving
the rundown of any news needing to be mentioned. He then introduced our guest, Keith R.A.
DeCandido - we should have known we were in for it when he said he was a Bronx boy! Keith is
an International best-selling author of over thirty novels, most of them media tie-ins. His work
has appeared in the worlds of Star Trek. Keith has written novels, novellas, comic books, short
stories, and eBooks, and edited several anthologies (Corps of Engineers eBook series). Keith
edits the monthly Star Trek eBook line. He has also written in the worlds of Blizzard Games,
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who, Farscape, Gene Roddenberry' s Andromeda, Marvel
Comics, Young Hercules, Supernatural, Resident Evil and many more. He started off by telling
us he always lets the audience guide the presentation. He immediately opened the floor to
questions and we were off. He answered each and every question fired at him for well over an
hour before we took pity and begrudgingly gave him a break, kinda, we bought the books (you
know I got my copy of Nevermore the Supernatural tie-in) and had him sign them, then gave him
a few seconds to breath before making him entertain us again (what! we gave him bottled water
and only cracked the whip once).
Mr. DeCandido discussed everything from the titles he gets to work on, pitching ideas to
publishers, the politics of publishing, why writing fast is a boon when writing tie-ins, his favorite
books to work on, upcoming titles, comics, authors he reads in his spare five minutes, TV shows
he likes (smart man, he likes Supernatural and The Shield. Not so much Flash Gordon - his
"yeah, I've been watching Flash Gordon. It's gotten better, that's not to say it's good, it's just gotten
better." followed by "when will they realize Eric Johnson can't actually act?" had the audience
nodding in agreement and feeling bad that he's watching it!!), outlines, plots, "foofy" crews, yes,
"foofy", and killing off the red shirts. His Star Trek work garnered much attention, as did his
Spiderman work (do not get him going on the "new" direction of Spiderman - he is not a fan of
erasing Mary Jane and the whole marriage thing and offered this bonmot: "she's saved his life
how many times? so, if the marriage never happened in this deal with the devil, as soon as it's
erased, Spiderman dies without Mary Jane there to save him). His reason for setting his
Supernatural book in NYC (because it's not Vancouver - you had to be there) led to a fun aside of
realism in writing and Capt. Kirk.
Mr. DeCandido kept us laughing and interested for three hours! This has to be a record. We
never ran out of questions and he never ran out of answers. Before wrapping up, Keith let us
know about his upcoming work (a complete list will be posted this week, until then, here's a few
of the titles to be looking out for): Star Trek: Klingon Empire - A Burning House (within the next
couple of weeks), March - Enterprise/Slings and Arrows Book 6: Enterprises of Great Pitch
and Moment, May - CSI: Four Walls, September - Supernatural: Bone Key, and he edited a Dr.
Who Anthology coming in the spring, Quality of Leadership. A busy man indeed.
We had about 5 minutes to get out of the store before they locked us in for the night, so we got out
of Dodge and headed to the Suburban Diner. As you can imagine, the dirty stay- outs were at it
again which is why I'm up and writing this at this ungodly hour (sanctuary, some kind soul provide
me sanctuary)! Our guest joined us at the diner and may even be joining us later this month at
Modern Masters for his book, Blackout. Guess he had a good time. Conversation at the diner
was, as usual, diverse and engaging - I swear it was not my fault that Mr. DeCandido's shake
almost flew across the room, all I did was mention Baby Huey. Chris tried in vain to convert Keith
into an Abba fan. Taras had an interesting "guest", Paul had a fun new toy, Bill tried to run under
a truck, new member "the other" Bill took it all in - he must be hearty, he attended the meeting and
still ventured out to the diner with us, Thomas Purdy was up to no good, Mike held center stage
and I behaved. I am going to go start reading my new book, Nevermore now. Then, maybe, if I'm
lucky, sleep. Join us next month when we welcome guest Jonathan Maberry.
PS - Keith, Jo and Chris - thanks for the seat!
Face the Fiction started the year off by setting the bar high. Guest speaker, Keith R.A. DeCandido
(that's Robert Andreassi for the unknowing disenfranchised - lol) was entertaining, "effulgent" (a
nod to a Buffy character, Spike, who used the word in a poem and was mocked - Spike is the
main character of Mr. DeCandido's book Blackout) and quite energetic.
The evening began with Steve S corralling us into some semblance of submission and giving
the rundown of any news needing to be mentioned. He then introduced our guest, Keith R.A.
DeCandido - we should have known we were in for it when he said he was a Bronx boy! Keith is
an International best-selling author of over thirty novels, most of them media tie-ins. His work
has appeared in the worlds of Star Trek. Keith has written novels, novellas, comic books, short
stories, and eBooks, and edited several anthologies (Corps of Engineers eBook series). Keith
edits the monthly Star Trek eBook line. He has also written in the worlds of Blizzard Games,
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who, Farscape, Gene Roddenberry' s Andromeda, Marvel
Comics, Young Hercules, Supernatural, Resident Evil and many more. He started off by telling
us he always lets the audience guide the presentation. He immediately opened the floor to
questions and we were off. He answered each and every question fired at him for well over an
hour before we took pity and begrudgingly gave him a break, kinda, we bought the books (you
know I got my copy of Nevermore the Supernatural tie-in) and had him sign them, then gave him
a few seconds to breath before making him entertain us again (what! we gave him bottled water
and only cracked the whip once).
Mr. DeCandido discussed everything from the titles he gets to work on, pitching ideas to
publishers, the politics of publishing, why writing fast is a boon when writing tie-ins, his favorite
books to work on, upcoming titles, comics, authors he reads in his spare five minutes, TV shows
he likes (smart man, he likes Supernatural and The Shield. Not so much Flash Gordon - his
"yeah, I've been watching Flash Gordon. It's gotten better, that's not to say it's good, it's just gotten
better." followed by "when will they realize Eric Johnson can't actually act?" had the audience
nodding in agreement and feeling bad that he's watching it!!), outlines, plots, "foofy" crews, yes,
"foofy", and killing off the red shirts. His Star Trek work garnered much attention, as did his
Spiderman work (do not get him going on the "new" direction of Spiderman - he is not a fan of
erasing Mary Jane and the whole marriage thing and offered this bonmot: "she's saved his life
how many times? so, if the marriage never happened in this deal with the devil, as soon as it's
erased, Spiderman dies without Mary Jane there to save him). His reason for setting his
Supernatural book in NYC (because it's not Vancouver - you had to be there) led to a fun aside of
realism in writing and Capt. Kirk.
Mr. DeCandido kept us laughing and interested for three hours! This has to be a record. We
never ran out of questions and he never ran out of answers. Before wrapping up, Keith let us
know about his upcoming work (a complete list will be posted this week, until then, here's a few
of the titles to be looking out for): Star Trek: Klingon Empire - A Burning House (within the next
couple of weeks), March - Enterprise/Slings and Arrows Book 6: Enterprises of Great Pitch
and Moment, May - CSI: Four Walls, September - Supernatural: Bone Key, and he edited a Dr.
Who Anthology coming in the spring, Quality of Leadership. A busy man indeed.
We had about 5 minutes to get out of the store before they locked us in for the night, so we got out
of Dodge and headed to the Suburban Diner. As you can imagine, the dirty stay- outs were at it
again which is why I'm up and writing this at this ungodly hour (sanctuary, some kind soul provide
me sanctuary)! Our guest joined us at the diner and may even be joining us later this month at
Modern Masters for his book, Blackout. Guess he had a good time. Conversation at the diner
was, as usual, diverse and engaging - I swear it was not my fault that Mr. DeCandido's shake
almost flew across the room, all I did was mention Baby Huey. Chris tried in vain to convert Keith
into an Abba fan. Taras had an interesting "guest", Paul had a fun new toy, Bill tried to run under
a truck, new member "the other" Bill took it all in - he must be hearty, he attended the meeting and
still ventured out to the diner with us, Thomas Purdy was up to no good, Mike held center stage
and I behaved. I am going to go start reading my new book, Nevermore now. Then, maybe, if I'm
lucky, sleep. Join us next month when we welcome guest Jonathan Maberry.
PS - Keith, Jo and Chris - thanks for the seat!
About Keith R. A. DeCandido
Keith R. A. DeCandido (born April 18, 1969 in New York, United States) is an American sci-fi and
fantasy writer. DeCandido was born in the Bronx in New York City, the son of Robert L.
DeCandido and GraceAnne A. DeCandido. He claims to have been a Star Trek fan even before
his birth, as his parents were fans of Star Trek: The Original Series. While DeCandido is best
known for his Star Trek fiction, he has written tie-ins for other popular sci-fi and fantasy series as
well, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Andromeda and Farscape,
as well as comic books (Spider-Man) and videogames (World of Warcraft, Starcraft,
Command & Conquer). He has also edited various anthologies, including OtherWere, Urban
Nightmares, Imaginings, Doctor Who: Short Trips: The Quality of Leadership, and the Star
Trek anthologies New Frontier: No Limits, Tales of the Dominion War, and Tales from the
Captain's Table. In his college years, DeCandido worked as the editor of the college
newspaper, called simply the paper. After graduation, he has worked as editor in several
publishing companies. He founded his own company, Albé-Shiloh inc., in May 1998. Along with
John Drew, in the 1990s he co-produced a public access TV show about science fiction called
The Chronic Rift, which he also co-hosted. DeCandido is also a professional musician. He was
part of the Don't Quit Your Day Job Players for the band's entire career from 1996-2000, and
played on both their CDs. He is currently a member of the Boogie Knights.
Keith R. A. DeCandido (born April 18, 1969 in New York, United States) is an American sci-fi and
fantasy writer. DeCandido was born in the Bronx in New York City, the son of Robert L.
DeCandido and GraceAnne A. DeCandido. He claims to have been a Star Trek fan even before
his birth, as his parents were fans of Star Trek: The Original Series. While DeCandido is best
known for his Star Trek fiction, he has written tie-ins for other popular sci-fi and fantasy series as
well, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Andromeda and Farscape,
as well as comic books (Spider-Man) and videogames (World of Warcraft, Starcraft,
Command & Conquer). He has also edited various anthologies, including OtherWere, Urban
Nightmares, Imaginings, Doctor Who: Short Trips: The Quality of Leadership, and the Star
Trek anthologies New Frontier: No Limits, Tales of the Dominion War, and Tales from the
Captain's Table. In his college years, DeCandido worked as the editor of the college
newspaper, called simply the paper. After graduation, he has worked as editor in several
publishing companies. He founded his own company, Albé-Shiloh inc., in May 1998. Along with
John Drew, in the 1990s he co-produced a public access TV show about science fiction called
The Chronic Rift, which he also co-hosted. DeCandido is also a professional musician. He was
part of the Don't Quit Your Day Job Players for the band's entire career from 1996-2000, and
played on both their CDs. He is currently a member of the Boogie Knights.
Keith R.A. DeCandido -- January 12, 2008
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