Write On!

I'm very proud of my literary boys this week. Mike finished the second draft of his science fiction novel about accidental time travel. I read the first draft and was pleasantly surprised at how engrossing it was even for me, a non-sci fi nerd. He's sending copies out to friends and family now for input before he starts soliciting agents. He has started writing at least 3 novels since we've been together but this is the first that he has actually completed so I'm especially proud of him, even if it never gets published beyond the Kinko copy he is carrying around doing line by line edits as we speak.

A great inspiration for Mike's perseverance is one of his best buddies Brian Katcher. This shot is from our New Mexico Adventure last summer with he and his super sweet wife Sandy. Brian has had 2 Young Adult novels published with another on the way next year. He's also working on a sci fi series with another publisher but I'm not sure about that release date. Brian recently won the 2011 Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award, which is given to "works of exceptional merit for children or teens relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience."

“A young adult novel about a transgender girl—told from the perspective of the straight boy who falls for her—“Almost Perfect” is exceptional. The writing is sensitive, haunting and revelatory,” said Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Award committee chair Lisa Johnston.

He's been getting a ton of great press since the award including this write up in the St. Louis Post Dispatch and even a mention on the Onion AV club. It really couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Brian and Sandy are probably the most easy going and non-judgemental people I've ever been fortunate to know.

If you have teenagers I would highly recommend his first two books, including Playing with Matches, which is actually my favorite by a slim margin of the two so far. Kai lists Brian as his favorite author on Facebook and has actually read Playing with Matches multiple times which is unheard of for him.

Unexpected Visitors

So I saw this online the other day and I've been obsessed with it ever since. It is from the footage of a Charlie Chaplin premier in 1928 which filmmaker George Clark, discovered on the outtakes. It appears to show an old woman/man in drag walking down the street talking on a cell phone. There is a flat black device in her hand which she is talking into with no one else around. Some are saying it could be a time traveler but I'm sure there is some explanation we may never really know since everyone there is dead now.

I've always loved time travel movies/TV shows and ironically Mike has just finished a rough draft on a book involving accidental time travelers tentatively titled Unexpected Visitors. He has started 3 sci fi/fantasy novels since we've been together but this is the first that he's actually finished. He let me and our friend who has been published read the rough draft. I was worried that it would be crap and I would have to be supportive and lie but it's actually very well done. I pointed out some plot problems which he can easily fix and he's hoping to have it ready for submission by the end of the year. It could easily be done into a series if things go well which is the plan. There is actually a market for pulpy science fiction so there is always a chance it could be published.