| Keith R.A. DeCandido January 12, 2008 |
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.
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