Well, this is a moment for me. Pardon me while I absorb it.
Okay, done.
Twenty-eight years and two months ago, I stood there in the science fiction section of a Barnes and Noble bookstore in Forest Hills and beamed at The Hammer and The Horn–all five copies of it. The cover was painted by Rowena Morrill, a most talented and acclaimed artist for whom I have the greatest personal admiration. But it wasn’t quite right. The antagonist on the cover was too small, too apelike, too spectacularly dressed. The hero was smiling when he shouldn’t have been. And there was orange in the background. A ton of orange.
Quite frankly, it bugged me. Not just then, but for the last twenty-eight years.
And it wasn’t until now that Caio Cacau, a crazy-talented Brazilian artist you’re going to be seeing a lot of, has come forth and un-bugged me. The cover he lovingly rendered for this re-release of The Hammer and The Horn is full-on, take-no-prisoners dynamic. The hero doesn’t look like he’s having fun–and why should he? He’s fighting for his life. His adversaries are big and brutish-looking, as they should be. And, perhaps best of all…orange? Not so much.
The universe is once again in balance. And Caio is busy working on another spectacular cover for me, embellishing a most unusual tale of a most unusual hero–but that’s a story for a different day.
Three years ago, at Shore Leave, my frustration with the changes in traditional publishing finally amounted to something.
Great stories were lying around untold because publishers, pressured by an increasingly treacherous marketplace, were hewing more and more to the “sure” thing, refusing to take a chance anymore on anything even slightly outside the box. At the same time, advances in internet tech were making it possible for writers to publish their own books. For the first time, we could reach the reader without a middle man if we were clever enough. I had been obsessed with the possibilities for some time, and couldn’t stop preaching them to anyone I could buttonhole. Finally Bob Greenberger, who was probably just tired of my chewing his ear off, convened a gaggle of writers on the convention floor. “All right,” he said, “we’re listening.”
And that was the beginning of Crazy 8 Press.
In July of 2011, we launched with our first book, Peter David’s wry and witty The Camelot Papers. A month later, Aaron Rosenberg debuted No Small Bills, the first entry in his quack-a-minute DuckBob Spinowitz series. I followed in November with Fight The Gods, a roller coaster of a contemporary fantasy anchored in Greek mythology.
Two years later, Crazy 8 Press is putting out books like we’ve been doing it forever. Books I’m really proud of, from the quality of the stories inside to the quality of the paper they’re printed on. Like Peter’s Pulling Up Stakes. Like the popular ReDeus anthologies. Like Bob’s novella, A Matter of Faith. And next month I’ll be re-releasing the first books I ever wrote, a trilogy steeped in Norse mythology called The Vidar Saga.
How long can we keep all the balls in the air? Well, take that 8 in our logo and turn it on its side. That long.
Providing, of course, that we continue to get the kind of support we’ve gotten from our readers. Because we’re in this together, you know. When great stories get told, it’s not just us writers who benefit. It’s you. And with you in mind, we go forward.
For a long time I’ve been hearing great things about the York Emporium, a 19,000-sq.-ft. repository of pulp magazines, vinyl records, and other fun stuff at 343 West Market Street in downtown York, Pa. — which is why I was happy to accept an invitation to speak at the Emporium’s annual Sci Fi Saturday on June 15th.
The action gets underway at 10 a.m., so plan on walking the dog a little earlier that day. Proprietor Jim Lewin tells me he’ll be airing Resistance, my Voyager first-season episode, which features a brilliant performance by canny veteran actor Joel Grey. And at some point in the afternoon, you might — just might — see me pit my 1970s-vintage Division One fencing technique against a horde of light-saber-swinging Jedi knights.
A couple of weeks ago, my pal Ilsa Bick asked me if I wanted to do the Big Blog Hop. What’s a blog hop? I asked. Turns out it’s an elaborate game of tag. Ilsa tags me, I talk about my latest book, then I tag someone else, who talks about theirs. If you’re nice enough to play along, you get to meet one author after the other until you’re dizzy and you throw up.
Or something like that.
Ilsa, by the way, is one of the spookiest writers working today. Her latest book is The Sin-Eater’s Confession. Get it, read it, tell all your friends how good it is.
But in the meantime, check this out…
1) What is the title of your latest book?
Aztlan: The Maxtla Colhua Mysteries.
2) Where did the idea come from for the book?
I’ve always been interested in the Aztecs, and with the “end” of the Mesoamerican calendar looming, I wanted to do something alternate-history-ish with it. On the other hand, I wanted it to be different — and what’s more different from your normal alternate history than a noire murder mystery?
3) What genre does your book fall under?
Alternate history, if it falls under any genre at all. But unlike most other alternate histories, it doesn’t deal with the events that follow immediately from the historical turning point. It takes place hundreds of years later, and all those events are merely part of the culture’s history. The focus is on the character Maxtla Colhua and the cases he has to solve as an Investigator for the Empire.
4) Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie version?
Maxtla might be played by Christian Bale. Necalli could be Harvey Keitel if he were twenty years younger. Eren could be Jennifer Garner. Calli could be Penelope Cruz.
5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
One sentence doesn’t do it justice. So…
Maxtla Colhua is an Investigator for the Empire—a 21st-century Aztec Empire that, having successfully repelled Hernan Cortes in 1603, stretches from one end of what we know as the Americas to the other. In Aztlan: The Last Sun, someone has decided to punctuate the end of the Aztec calendar with a series of grisly murders reminiscent of the pagan sacrifices carried out in ancient times. Can Maxtla find the killer before his city is ripped apart and the Last Sun becomes the death knell for the Empire? In Aztlan: The Courts of Heaven, Maxtla is looking for the missing star of a brutal Aztec ball game in which gambling fortunes are won and lost. To find the idol of millions, he will have to challenge the most powerful men and women in the Empire—or see the streets of Aztlan run red with blood. Two murder mysteries set in an exciting world that never was but could have been—collected in a single volume!
6) Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?
A couple of years ago, four other writers and I formed an indie publishing venture called Crazy 8 Press. That’s the publisher.
7) How long did it take to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I write two pages on a slow or otherwise cluttered day, of which there are many, or eight on a great day, of which there are few. So maybe 80 working days.
8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I don’t want to dodge the question but it’s really not like anything I’ve ever seen or anything I’ve written before — which is why I wanted to write it. On one hand, it has elements in common with alternate histories, but in that it’s a noire mystery it’s also like a Mickey Spillane novel. Read it and tell me if there’s anything it reminds you of — your take is as good as mine.
9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Every writer I’ve ever admired, I suppose. No one in particular because — once again — I’ve never read anything like this.
10) What else about your book might pique a reader’s interest?
Aztlan is really about relationships–familial, romantic, professional, and so on. A big one in this book is father-son. My dad passed away a few years ago and I see now that I came to grips with what he meant to me in the pages of Aztlan.
Okay. We promised you a paperback edition that brings together the novellas Aztlan: The Last Sun and Aztlan: The Courts of Heaven, and we’re delivering on that promise. In three to four weeks, depending on the whims of the publishing gods, you’ll be able to access Amazon and order Aztlan, a novel-sized work that presents the complete (well, for now) adventures of 21st-century Aztec gumshoe Maxtla Colhua.
Maxtla is an Investigator for the Empire–an Aztec Empire that, having successfully repelled Hernan Cortes 400 years earlier, stretches from one end of what we know as the Americas to the other. If you love alternate histories, if you love murder mysteries, or if you just love reading something off the beaten track…you’ll want to give Aztlan a try.
Back in March, we at Crazy 8 Press released Aztlan: The Last Sun, which followed the adventures of 21st-century Aztec gumshoe Maxtla Colhua as he tracked vicious serial killer who was cutting people’s hearts out on the eve of The Last Sun. Because you asked for it, we’ll be releasing the exciting sequel in November 2012.
In Aztlan: The Courts of Heaven, Maxtla Colhua is back, except this time he’s looking for the missing star of a brutal Aztec ball game–preferably before the guy’s fans make the streets of his city run red with blood. In the process, Maxtla realizes he’s pitting himself against a lot more than just a kidnapper. He’s going up against the very–
Hey, that would be telling.
Like its predecessor, Aztlan: The Courts of Heaven will be an e-novella available on Kindle as well as Nook. And soon afterward, it’ll come out in paperback as well.
Keep checking in with us here at Crazy8Press.com for further news.
Well, this is a moment for me. Pardon me while I absorb it.
