[7RQ] 2018 / 2019 / Too Much?

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LET IT SNOW

This is almost certainly the last one of these I’ll send in 2018, so first: happy holidays to everyone, and I hope you all have a great new year.

2018 was a weird one. Lots of stuff swirling around, very little of it concrete — though what there was, was very exciting. I finished my first screenplay gig; I started work on a big, trust-me-you’ve-heard-of-it videogame project; I wrote a non-fiction book, which is out to publishers as we speak; I began writing my next novel, a sequel to THE EXPHORIA CODE; I had an SF story published in INTERZONE; I was on the BBC (twice); and I travelled a lot, mostly to places and events I’d never been before. I’m still kind of reeling over Kazakhstan, to be honest.

On the other hand, I was also supposed to write a second screenplay, start work on an anime series, write a live action pilot, and begin pre-production on another movie. All of which either fell through, or they’re still in limbo while the gears grind slowly as ever.

(Regular readers will recall I explained a while back that this is why I don’t like to pre-announce things; you just never know.)

As for 2019? Honestly, I have no idea. All of that ‘in limbo’ stuff could still potentially start to go, and in the meantime I have that novel sequel to finish, the third COLDEST graphic novel to write, a comics miniseries to figure out, a crime fiction series I want to get started on, and another screenplay potentially in the works. It’s a living.


Two interviews to shout about this week:

WRITER EXPERIENCE PODCAST

This was a fun one to be on, with the rather dubious episode title of “How to write a graphic novel 101” — more like “random bits of advice mixed in with strange anecdotes” to be honest, but hey, Alan Dean Foster’s also been on this show and that’s good enough for me.
https://soundcloud.com/writerexperience/ep28

FORBIDDEN PLANET INTERVIEW

Short video interview with me for Forbidden Planet, talking mostly about the re-release of my SFF heist novel STEALING LIFE and, inevitably, ATOMIC BLONDE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRje9GmnQHY

VERY NEARLY AN ARMFUL

Even though there are more than two weeks left in December, Goodreads already sent out their “your year in books” emails, and this is mine. It includes a few graphic novels and novellas, so it’s not quite a full novel per week, but I’ll take it all the same.
Me on GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12863.Antony_Johnston

STAN LEE, STEM ADVOCATE

It’s often said the inventors of the cellphone grew up watching STAR TREK and wondering how they could make the Enterprise’s communicators real. I don’t know how true that is, but there’s no denying the importance of representation in entertainment.

Taking that angle, my friend Stu Nathan, in his guise as a non-nerd (well, non-comics nerd, anyway) writes a wonderful obituary for Stan Lee, reflecting on the influence he and his work had on advocating for, and encouraging, science education:
https://www.theengineer.co.uk/stan-lee-stem-role-models/

FROM STEM TO SETI

Meanwhile, an AI has discovered “fast radio burst” signals emanating from somewhere in the cosmos. Sleep tight.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/ai-fast-radio-burst/

And now, literal hours of podcasts to keep you entertained throughout the holidays:


THE INCOMPARABLE: “THE BLACK HOLE”

“Rocket Surgery” episodes of The Incomparable are allegedly about bad sci-fi films. I strongly object to this classification of Disney’s space melodrama THE BLACK HOLE — it’s flawed, no doubt, but highly memorable, and breathtaking in places — so was thankful to discover I wasn’t alone on this panel 😉 Join us as we go in… through… and beyond!
https://www.theincomparable.com/theincomparable/434/

THRASH IT OUT: “CVI” BY ROYAL THUNDER

Meanwhile, on the latest episode of my heavy metal podcast, Brian LeTendre and I tackle the first of this volume’s Listener Choice albums, CVI by southern scuzz rockers Royal Thunder.
https://thrashitoutpodcast.com/episodes/4-6

TEEVEE: DOCTOR WHO FLASHCAST

And back on the Incomparable network, I joined Jason Snell to talk about our immediate-post-watching reactions to the WITCHFINDERS episode of this season’s DOCTOR WHO, which featured imaginary forests, leaps of logic, and Alan Cumming devouring every piece of scenery in sight.
https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/499/

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GOD DAMN YE, MERRY GENTLEMEN:

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