Ah well. In other writing news, I got an exciting invitation a few weeks back, which I'm now free to talk about. I've been invited to join the Wild Cards Consortium, a group of writers working on the Wild Cards superhero universe. As a bonus, the series is edited/curated by George R.R. Martin, one of my favorite writers. :-) If all goes well with the publishing gods, I may be writing a story for that universe sometime soon. My first superhero story! How cool is that??
You may not know this about me, but I am quite fond of the superheroes. I watch Smallville religiously (yes, it's more of a teen drama than a superhero show, but it has Superman, my first true love. One of them, anyway). I watch Heroes. I played the role-playing game Villains and Vigilantes in college. I read tons of superhero comics as a kid, and though my comic book tastes have tended towards other directions in recent years (Girl Genius, Sandman, Books of Magic, Strangers in Paradise, etc.), there will always be a place in my heart for superheroes. So it's going to be super-fun to write one! :-)
I'm not sure if it's kosher to post the full bio of my character yet, so here's just a little teaser about her backstory...
Kavita Kandiah, aka "Natya", is a thirty-year old ace. She's tiny and slender, but surprisingly strong. Her black hair falls to her waist, though she usually wears it in a braid or up in a messy knot. Her skin is dark brown. Kavita was born in Sri Lanka in 1978, and lived through the '83 riots, witnessing more than her share of atrocities. Her elder brother was killed. She spent several years as a starving dancer in New York, working her way up. In the last few years, since her ace powers developed, she's primarily been performing in her own solo show, a combination of spoken word, often politically-focused, and dance. Her show incorporates her powers into the dance routines....What could those powers be??? Stay tuned, folks!
Oh, and Kavita is also poly, with a kid. This is going to get interesting. :-)
This is me green with envy. I was never very into comic books until I was much older, but as a kid, I read every single one of the Wild Cards shared universe books when I was a kid. They were absolutely fantastic reading for me, and I remember Martin for them more than I do the big fantasy series which I am only just now starting to read. My favorite character was the Turtle, I think Zelazny’s creation (one of my all-time favorite authors).
Congratulations! I look forward to reading your story in that world!
Awesome! I don’t read comic books much any more, but I will certainly look for this. (Still like the name I suggested elsewhere, though…)
Hey, that’s fun news! …although I don’t know that I can justify buying 18(!) previous collections to catch up on the story. As far as you know, will this volume stand alone?
As I understand things, the series essentially ‘reset’ with volume #18, after a long break. #18 was the start of a new trilogy, with a largely new cast of characters. So that’d be a good place to start. #18 is in paperback, #19 is in hardcover, #20 was just delivered. So if a publishing deal does solidify, I’d be in #21, yet to be written. I think you’d be able to start with #21, which I think will be either a stand-alone or the start of a new trilogy? But starting at #18 might be better. 🙂
I am so excited for you. I can’t wait to read this book. Do you have any ideas on what characters you’ll be writing about? Maybe we need to get the book to find out. 🙂
Wow, I saw your post about superheroes, but Wild Cards! That’s awesome.