If Your Title is a Volcano, How Do You Expect Your Newsletter to Bloom?
Let No Man Thirst for Good Subtitles
This is the sixth edition of Assorted Nonsense, the official newsletter of Donovan Street Press.
My titles are making less and less sense with each passing newsletter, but they sure are fun to write.
Smashwords
Smashwords is having a sale on ebooks to celebrate 2024 Read an Ebook Week from March 3 - March 9.
It just so happens that I have three ebooks on Smashwords right now. In my case, each title will be 50% off the normal price for that week. Click on the titles and follow the links to see the books on Smashwords.
A Time and a Place
"ENTERTAINING, CHAOTIC ADVENTURE." ~ Publishers Weekly.
Adventures in the Radio Trade
Adventures in the Radio Trade documents a life in radio, largely at Canada's public broadcaster. It's for people who love CBC Radio, those interested in the history of Canadian Broadcasting, and for those who want to know how to make radio.
Other Times and Places
What do a thief, wizards, a platypus, ghosts, soft drink salesmen, God, the devil, and a spaceman all have in common? Together they will make you laugh, think, sleep better, open your mind, spark your imagination, and quite possibly improve your complexion* as Joe Mahoney brings them all vividly to life in this humorous and thoughtful collection of seven tales of the fantastic. *Individual results may vary
Larry Niven
Hey, here’s something kinda fun you may not have heard in a while, if ever.
Back in 2003 at the 61st World Science Fiction Convention (Torcon) in Toronto I had a brief chat with science fiction author Larry Niven. Larry was a big name writer to me, having written the Ringworld series and The Mote in God’s Eye and many other fine works, so it was a great privilege to talk to him.
I was producing a short documentary for CBC Radio's The Current at the time. Snippets from my chat with Larry definitely appeared on that.
A few words about that short doc: a producer had been assigned to help me, a well regarded fellow by the name of Dick Miller. I had just finished reading Alfred Bester’s The Demolished Man when I started work on the doc, and I had only just met Dick, who wasn’t based in Toronto. The hero of Bester’s novel is Lincoln Powell.
One day when I was working on the doc, Dick popped into the studio to say hi. A friend of mine was present, so I introduced them to one another. Unfortunately, I introduced Dick to my friend as “Dick Powell.” Immediately I thought, that’s not right, but Dick didn’t say anything. Only later did I make the connection with character in the Bester novel. Sorry Dick!
Later, when I’d finished the doc, I appeared on CBC Radio’s The Current to present it to the nation. I think the host at that time as Avril Benoit, but she was off that day. Canadian actor, writer and filmmaker Don McKellar was guest hosting, so he interviewed me instead. The idea was Don and I would talk briefly about the doc to put it in context and then play the doc. I remember he started asking me questions about making the doc but early on I asked him a question and before I knew it I was interviewing him rather than the other way around. And then we played the doc.
I will post the entire SF doc another time. In the meantime, here’s the conversation with Larry. It’s just audio, no video. You may have to follow the link to YouTube to actually hear it. If there’s an issue, lemme know in the comments.
Donovan Street Press News
After a lot of hemming and hawing and conversations with many knowledgeable people and consulting crystal balls and closely examining the entrails of chickens* I’ve decided to turn Donovan Street Press Inc. into an actual publisher. I mean one that publishes books other than mine and those of my family.
At first, a part of me hoped that one of those knowledgeable people would talk me out of it. Tell me that it was a horrible idea. But none of them did. Oh, there were cautionary tales. Tons of good advice. But as one said, “It’s the most fun you can have in publishing aside from writing books.”
I like writing books, and I will continue to do that, but I think I will also like publishing other peoples’ books.
Of course, when I say “actual publisher” I don’t mean that it’s going to become Tor Books or Random House overnight. It may never become anything close to those esteemed publishing houses. I have a lot to learn. To quote my old pal Bill Howell, I don’t know what I don’t know. It will start as a micropress, and then, if possible, scale up from there. I have some ideas to distinguish Donovan Street Press from other such ventures. Ideas to help make quality books, and how to sell them.
It won’t just be me. I’ve got a partner (whose identity is secret for now). We’ve already got the beginnings of a team. Which is what I want to make Donovan Street Press. A team. A collaborative, friendly team helping one another write, publish and sell books. And not just books, but other media as well. The more astute among you will have noticed we already have one podcast, Re-Creative, and I hope to produce more in time.
It’s going to require a lot of hard work, but I think it’ll be fun too. We’re currently considering books to add to our roster, which right now consists of a mere four titles. More to come on that.
Wish us luck.
Tips welcome in the comments section.
*No chickens were actually harmed in the making of this decision.
Stupid Questions
Stupid: From Middle French stupide, from Latin stupidus (“struck senseless, amazed”)
Many times I’ve started to ask someone a question by saying, “So, ah, stupid question…”
And the inevitable response is, “Joe, there’s no such thing as stupid questions.”
Well, there are.
And I ask them.
I know why people say that there’s no such thing as a stupid question. It’s to make people feel okay about asking questions, even ones that might seem a bit silly on the surface, or something they should already know. It’s not “stupid” in the sense that it’s smart to ask such questions, so that afterward the questioner is more knowledgeable than before. It would be stupid not to ask them.
I just like to admit up front that some of the questions I ask are, in fact, stupid. I think it’s important to be honest about their stupidity so that we can overcome any shame about asking them. Simply pretending that they’re not stupid doesn’t help because later we’ll think of some other stupid question and be too ashamed to ask it because, well, it’s stupid. And no one likes to look stupid.
Except me. I don’t mind looking stupid. I honestly don’t care if you think I’m stupid. I am stupid sometimes and I’m okay with that. There is no way we can’t be stupid sometimes because there isn’t a one of us who knows everything. Ergo, there has to be some stuff we’re stupid about.
What’s NOT okay is STAYING stupid when you have a chance to get smarter. Staying stupid would be… stupid.
The fact is, it takes courage to ask questions that you know are stupid.
Be brave! Cultivate the courage to ask those stupid questions. Admit your question is stupid. Ask it anyway.
It will make you smarter.
Now, can someone please explain to me the appeal of the Super Bowl?
Star Trek: The Enemy Within
Being the 5th episode of the first season of Star Trek: The Original Series. Which, you might recall, I’m re-watching in order, cuz I’m a nerd. (And also because Donovan Street Press publishes some science fiction and fantasy. So it’s on brand.)
A transporter malfunction splits Captain Kirk into two versions. One is a kind, gentle version increasingly incapable of making decisions. The other is all raw instinct, primeval urges, little more than an animal. Not the kind of Kirk you want to take out in public. This nasty version of Kirk is… the enemy within.
This is a cool episode. One of the reasons it’s cool is because it was written by Richard Matheson, who is famous for his novel I am Legend, which was the basis for the Charlton Heston film The Omega Man (I am Legend was also made into movies with Vincent Price and Will Smith. I much prefer the Heston version). Leo Penn directed this episode. The very same Leo Penn who sired actor Sean Penn (and Sean’s brothers Michael and Chris).
There’s a bit of overacting off the top of the episode as Transporter Tech Wilson (Garland Thompson) gives people funny looks. Apparently Garland was more of a stage actor than a television actor. It shows, though according to IMDB Garland does have a few screen credits. I don’t mean to pick on him; it’s kind of charming.
Weirdly, the nice version of Kirk is a bit abrupt to Yeoman Rand. Though nowhere near as bad as the nasty Kirk, who literally sexually assaults her. And neither version of Kirk likes to let Yeoman Rand finish a sentence. Are all guys that rude and sexist in the future? I hope not.
While the drama plays out largely on board the Enterprise, Sulu and his fellow crewmates are stuck on the freezing planet below. Where the temperature plummets to 120 degrees below zero F. The coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth is 135.8 degrees below zero F in east Antarctica. The coldest I’ve ever experienced is -39 Celsius (about -38.2 F) in Rankin Inlet. I’m thinking there is no way Sulu and the gang would have survived that.
Shatner really chews the scenery here as nasty Kirk, but he chews it terrifically. Because there are two versions of Kirk wandering around the Enterprise liberal use is made of doubles. You probably couldn’t tell so much in the television sets of the 60s, but the double doesn’t look much like Kirk.
Nimoy still hasn’t quite toned down Spock. Still playing the Vulcan a bit big. And some of his dialogue is on the nose: “If I seem emotionally insensitive to the agony of your ordeal, Captain, please understand. It’s the way that I am.”
The sweat and makeup is overly visible (see nasty Kirk’s pick above); again, probably not noticable on early television sets.
Amazing how well these episodes hold up, though, despite my nitpicking. The colours are beautiful and creatively, artistically directed. Sean Penn’s father knew what he was doing. They’re well acted, well written, with cool ideas and great music.
The Kirk, Spock, McCoy dynamic is perfect here. Oh, and we have McCoy’s first “He’s dead Jim!” in this episode.
Spock concludes the episode by telling Yeoman Rand that the imposter (the nasty version of Kirk) had “interesting qualities.”
He says this to Rand, who has just been sexually assaulted by the imposter.
No wonder Yeoman Rand didn’t stick around.
James Blish’s version of The Enemy Within didn’t appear until his Star Trek 8 compilation, released in 1972. I can’t be sure, but it’s possible he’d seen the televised version of The Enemy Within by then. He’d certainly seen at least some Star Trek episodes.
His version hews pretty closely to the televised version with some extra tidbits. It gets even colder on the planet for Blish: 250 degrees below (he doesn’t specify Fahrenheit or Celsius or some other scale). He identifies Yeoman Rand as 20 years old (Grace Lee Whitby, born in 1930, would have been about 37 while filming The Enemy Within).
Blish seems to be trying harder in this adaptation. He gets deeper into Kirk’s head than usual. Spock’s, too. Of course, he’s referring to Matheson’s script; I wonder how much Matheson put in there.
Or maybe he’s just responding to the depth of Matheson’s material.
Appearances
I was featured on CBC Radio Moncton, Fredericton, and Halifax’s Information Morning shows this past Tuesday February 13th on World Radio Day, talking about my past in radio. You can listen to each segment via the following links:
I’ve been invited to appear at the Dieppe, New Brunswick location of Chapters (just behind the Champlain Mall) for a signing event on February 25th between noon and 4pm.
I’ve invited myself to Curt’s General Market at the Riverview Lion’s Club March 2nd (my birthday!)
And I’ll be at the Riverview Lion’s Club for the Athena’s Touch Craft Fair March 23rd
C’est tout pour maintenant. A la prochaine!
Joe
I had to suppress a laugh when you refer to the poor acting *early* in the episode considering the ****ACTING*** that Shatner is doing all episode long.
It puts me in mind of Bruce Campbell in 'Army of Darkness ' and the awesome line "Good, bad...I'm the guy with gun!"
A few things:
-My books are all on Smashwords, too, and have been registered for the sale as well. We might consider collaborating on promotion.
-If Donovan Street opens for submissions for anything, will you let us know?
-I wondered if "Star Trek" ever did that blessed '60s/'70s trope, the Evil Twin. I guess it did.