Almost every sci-fi/fantasy cover of almost every pulp mag post 1960-ish has that Frazetta composition: the thick-legged damsel in distress (often in foreground, dagger in hand), the broadsword-wielding hero in midpoint (broad shouldered, vein-strewn biceps), the dragon/long-fanged gorilla/green alien looming in the back.

I love Frazetta’s work. I love that in his later years he suffered a stroke and taught himself [...]]]> Frank Frazetta died. He introduced me to Conan. The barbarian, that is. Without Frazetta we would not have this:

Almost every sci-fi/fantasy cover of almost every pulp mag post 1960-ish has that Frazetta composition: the thick-legged damsel in distress (often in foreground, dagger in hand), the broadsword-wielding hero in midpoint (broad shouldered, vein-strewn biceps), the dragon/long-fanged gorilla/green alien looming in the back.

I love Frazetta’s work. I love that in his later years he suffered a stroke and taught himself to draw with his left hand. I love that a first edition of his Conan portrait just sold for 1 million. Mr. Frazetta, may the afterlife hold plenty of thick-legged damsels. You will be missed.

The Facebook Fan Push begins. My publicist complains that I’m not doing enough to hype my Facebook fan page. Okay, okay–it starts here. Here’s the page. Click and become a fan. Our first goal is 1,000 fans by December 1st. ‘Nuff said.

“The Mensch” is in the hands of Those Who Can Do Something With It. All we can do is wait. One quick email–relevant to the topic, actually–and then I must go to bed:

Hi Micah:

What happened to your screenplay? Is it being made into a movie, and if not, why not? I heard that 98% of screenplays don’t get made into movies. Does that include stuff written by authors?

I didn’t like the end of your book, but the beginning and middle were okay.

-Danny

The 98% stat sounds anecdotal–hell, let’s just call it so–but the percentage is certainly high. Last I checked, my screenplay had gone to the screenplay graveyard (I’d like to envision a misty hill, the howl of wolves, a pale moon, etc., but it’s probably just some closet in a producer’s office). And that, my friends, is the last I’ll speak of this topic. Seriously. People love asking about screenplays; the reflected glory of a project that might somehow touch the mouths of celebs seems to summon more curiosity than a dozen novels.

I liked the end of my first book. Many people did, some people didn’t, which is the best I can hope for. Danny, I’m glad you at least made it through. At a reading in Seattle some guy ate the free cheese I’d set up near the book table, took one glance at the cover, and asked me, “What’s this about?”

“A young man goes to a wealthy college and gets mixed up with a group of hyper-intelligent rich kids,” I said. “They research alchemy and something bad happens.”

He shrugged, popped another cheese cube in his mouth, and said, “Fiction never sounds believable.”

Kinda’ awesome, right? I should’ve come back with that whole fiction-is-the-lie-that-tells-a-greater-truth. But I was tired, and pissed that he was eating all the cheese.

Wise words from Oscar Wilde’s dad.

It is hot today. My writing shed still holds the evening cool, but I feel heat encroaching. Right now, as I type, a cluster of hornets bangs against my [...]]]>

You do not stand still. A man of genius should be like a young boy who is never, never and never will be a grown up. He must have a new style and new methods. Not for fashion’s sake, but because he has outgrown the old ways.

Wise words from Oscar Wilde’s dad.

It is hot today. My writing shed still holds the evening cool, but I feel heat encroaching. Right now, as I type, a cluster of hornets bangs against my window screen. Scout lies in the dirt, kong by his head, eyes narrowed.

So the year is almost finished, and the MFA program concludes, and I have a pile of stories in the middle of my floor. No idea what to do with them. Edit, maybe. Then send somewhere. Or just post them on this site. Other tasks beckon louder–copy edits for LOSING GRACELAND (galleys in June), movement on the graphic novel, and a two-week writing frenzy on the screenplay adaptation of THE MENSCH. There’s also the matter of novel #4. Seventy pages in it’s not terrible, and that’s all the incentive I need to stick with it. For now. A fickle bastard, I am.

Speaking of bastards, remember good old JACK? Well, I do. And he’s not gone. Just shelved, temporarily. I received an interesting email from–oh, hell. I’ll just put it up.

Mr. Nathan,

I finally got around to watching KILL BILL and it reminded me a little of the book you keep talking about. “Jack The Bastard.” Was this on your mind when you were writing it?

I too am from Buffalo. Thought you’d like to know that.

-C. Wiktor

Picasso said good artists borrow, great artists steal. Years ago–before KILL BILL–I watched a nice little Japanese flick called LADY SNOWBLOOD and thought to myself: “Self, this would make a good plot line.” I’d always wanted to write something set along the Tex-Mex border (a female classmate recently asked what the Tex-Mex border was; doesn’t everyone know the Tex-Mex border? It’s lawless, liminal, and one other L word…maybe licentious?). So I added one part female revenge tale to one part Tex-Mex spaghetti western, and you get the genesis of JTB.

For a graphic novel it’s an easier sale. For a novel, not so much. Hence the delay. And I knew a C. Wiktor in Buffalo, but I doubt it’s the same guy. If it is, what’s with the “Mr”?

But if [...]]]> Last night I had a dream in which my previous life was revealed. I was a naturalist/explorer with a penchant for obscure martial arts, exotic food, and jungle-enshrouded cities. This revelation explains everything, from my minor obsession for preserved specimens (some research reveals the octopus-in-a-jar I recently obtained from a private seller originates from the South Seas, circa 1890) to my love of all things hermetic, to my Spartan workout habits involving feats of unusual strength (two-finger pushups, etc.).

But if I was a naturalist/explorer in a previous life, then my travels took a toll–my seasickness, my bold eating habits resulting in endless bouts of food poisoning. I love home and don’t believe in travel for the sake of travel, so my vacations all have to mean something . There has to be a goal or a quest. There has to be something waiting for discovery, which also explains why I fought against Las Vegas for so many years, and when I finally went…well, it was everything I thought it would be. Las Vegas offered nothing. Carrot Top has already been discovered.

Here in Buffalo the summer is timid–cold nights and warm days that feel more like early May than mid July. We’re in town for a quick visit with friends and family, before editing work begins on Memphis is Burning. The good news is it won’t take long, and the other good news is I’ve nearly finished the partial screenplay. The well-funded, independent producer I’ve been working with actually made my job easier–no small thing considering their usual function is to obscure and delay. But this producer considers himself a throwback, back in the days when studio heads slipped money under the doors of their writers at the end of every week. At some point every writer should feel a little like Ben Hecht, even if we can’t match his talent.

I’ll post The Love of Tigers next week, under the Essays section. Even though it’s not an essay. I’m working on fixing the menu.

My short story “Simulacrum” is a finalist for DIAGRAM magazine’s Innovative Fiction Contest, which means you can find my [...]]]> The rain continues and my yard is turning Cambodian by way of New England. Our Dutch farm wall is surrounded by lush green hyper-growth, algae creeps along the side of our house, and insects the size of staplers cling to our window screens. Let the whiners and moaners complain about weather. I like the rain. All of it.

My short story “Simulacrum” is a finalist for DIAGRAM magazine’s Innovative Fiction Contest, which means you can find my short published in their summer fiction issue. I’ll do the usual website thing…wait a month or so before posting it here. Or you can check out their site.

Remember that script I mentioned a few weeks ago? I put finger to keyboard this weekend. My last experience with an indie producer left me a bit skeptical (Dimension Films had nothing to do with said skepticism) but this time around feels different. Because I’m getting paid upfront. Amazing what an advance does for one’s idealism.

As a published author do you have to deal with rejection and if so how do you do it without tearing out your hair?

Three initial points:

1. Being published does not make me rejection-proof.

2. Being published is evidence of frequent rejection.

3. I’m 35 and I still have all my hair, so why mess with a fortunate thing?

A dozen or so agents passed on my first novel. My second novel took me one year to write and three years to [...]]]> Hi Micah:

As a published author do you have to deal with rejection and if so how do you do it without tearing out your hair?

Three initial points:

1. Being published does not make me rejection-proof.

2. Being published is evidence of frequent rejection.

3. I’m 35 and I still have all my hair, so why mess with a fortunate thing?

A dozen or so agents passed on my first novel. My second novel took me one year to write and three years to sell. So I’ve come to treat rejection as a non-issue. Really? Yes. Really. You see, we’re not dealing with any absolutes in this business. If we were—and of course we all still quest for those absolutes, from writers to editors to publicists to readers—then every book bought by a publishing house and shipped to your local bookstore would sell by the truckload. We would have the answer , and know which books are worthy and which are not. Awards would be foregone conclusions. The NYT bestseller list would be redundant.

Of course we can tilt the odds in our favor; write about a dog, put a skinny girl wearing red pumps and carrying a shopping bag on the cover, mention something in the flap copy about a brilliant serial killer and the young Fed on his trail. But we’re all still guessing, and wishing, and (hopefully) writing what we love. And when it comes time to get your work out there someone (or several someones) will say “Not for me.” Your role is to grin and bear it. Move on. Keep writing. Keep reading. And keep submitting. “Submitting” in the sense of getting your work out there, not submitting in the sense of lying-in-the-bathtub-curled-in-the-fetal-position. Though if that’s your chosen method of catharsis, who am I to judge?

I almost enjoy rejection because it lets me know I’m not playing it safe. It would have been easier to write another book in the style of my first, the literary coming-of-ager set against an academic backdrop. Toss in a few Gatsby references, some allusions to dead languages, and voilá: the sophomore effort is born. Would it have sold quicker than Jack the Bastard? Than Memphis is Burning? Maybe. Probably. But I didn’t want to write something just for the sake of selling it. I wanted to write something that got me excited rather than mold something in the hopes of finding the answer.

So yes, I deal with rejection. And if you decide to make a go of the writing life, rejection will be your constant companion. Get used to it. Pour it a drink, ask it for some advice, and when it comes time to get back to work, politely show it the door. Or throw it the hell out. Just know it will always return.

What is that next book? Who can say. A few ideas are currently battling it out, during those fews hours every day that I’m not working on the destruction of poison ivy in our forest. My God [...]]]> We have a publication date for MEMPHIS IS BURNING and that date is June of 2010, which sounds far away but really isn’t. Editing begins later this summer, then we work on the cover, and then I turn my attention to the next book.

What is that next book? Who can say. A few ideas are currently battling it out, during those fews hours every day that I’m not working on the destruction of poison ivy in our forest. My God that stuff is resilient. I feel like that guy in 300, laughing with joy at the Persians because he’s been searching his entire life for a worthy foe. And now I have found my worthy foe: Three shiny leaves attached to a legion of vines.

My almost-award-winning-short story is in The Bellingham Review this month. In mid-June I’ll post the short on this site though I do recommend you purchase a copy. Literary mags are in short supply these days, and literary mags of note are in even shorter supply. 12 bucks gets you a one-year subscription. That price is almost criminal, so be a criminal and take full advantage.

Ah, HARLEM SHOGUN. My pet project about a hitman living the samurai-inspired life in the bowels of 1970’s Harlem is currently in the hands of some fine publishing types who just might turn it into a graphic novel. We should have the answer soon, as in by the end of the summer. Which is really fast in publishing terms. Trust me.

One last thing: the cousin Larry Block hit the Craig Ferguson show a few weeks back. Check it.

Gods of Aberdeen author Micah Nathan’s MEMPHIS IS BURNING, about a recent college grad who takes a job as a driver for a mysterious old man who may or may not be a still-living Elvis, and the perilous 900 mile trip they make from Buffalo to Memphis to find his granddaughter, to Brett Valley at Three Rivers Press, by Jud Laghi at LJK Literary Management.

So [...]]]> My second novel will be on the shelves sometime within the next year. Here’s the official announcement:

Gods of Aberdeen author Micah Nathan’s MEMPHIS IS BURNING, about a recent college grad who takes a job as a driver for a mysterious old man who may or may not be a still-living Elvis, and the perilous 900 mile trip they make from Buffalo to Memphis to find his granddaughter, to Brett Valley at Three Rivers Press, by Jud Laghi at LJK Literary Management.

So there you have it. Memphis is Burning and Jack the Bastard went down to the wire, and Elvis won. This doesn’t mean my long-awaited spaghetti western/samurai revenge tale is taking a tortured route to release in the tradition of Chinese Democracy. It just means some books have a longer birthing process than others, and Jack will drop when Jack wants to drop. Of course there’s the other factor of going toe-to-toe with Elvis. The King wins every time, and Jack will just have to wait…

What else. Jetcomx has the latest installment of my monthly Throwback Thursdays column (with readership growing at a respectable, patient rate) and I have another short story making its appearance in a publication this summer. As for the pub. date of MEMPHIS, nothing is official so I won’t speculate. But seeing it in print within the next year is a safe bet, and of course the moment I know so shall you all.

There was one other thing I needed to mention…what was it…ah, yes. My cousin Larry Block’s book Step by Step: A Pedestrian Memoir drops in one month. The man is in rare form. As usual. Which doesn’t make it rare, right?

What else. Sources inform me the Russian edition of Gods of Aberdeen is selling well and I have poison ivy all [...]]]> My commentary on the curious influence of Lovecraft graces the pop-culture-riffic pages of Jetcomx this month–unto every generation will be borne those who hunger for batrachian horrors–and the spring ‘09 issue of Bellingham Review contains my short piece”The Love Life of Tigers.” Which shows that even when not much is going on something is going on.

What else. Sources inform me the Russian edition of Gods of Aberdeen is selling well and I have poison ivy all over my arms. The two are not related.

I’m attempting to build a resistance to urushiol which may work–our forest is coated with the stuff (and I’m prone to ripping it out by the handful)–so I figure it’s worth a shot. At the very least I’m learning why a cottage industry has grown around the nasty stuff. The itching is fierce and greedy. If poison ivy was half as bad people would still stay away, so all this oozing and burning is really just overkill. Enough already. You’re noxious. We get it.

When steampunk is done well, it makes me want to write steampunk. Anyone know the origin of these characters?

In other news, I’ve taken a very brief hiatus from Jetcomx, soon to return once I complete edits on several projects. Discussions of Winger will have to wait until then. [...]]]> My John Carpenter essay is up and running on the…well, Essay page. Taken from the latest issue of everyone’s favorite cinematic mag Penny Blood. And I’ve finally posted a long-overdue Comic-Con pic:

When steampunk is done well, it makes me want to write steampunk. Anyone know the origin of these characters?

In other news, I’ve taken a very brief hiatus from Jetcomx, soon to return once I complete edits on several projects. Discussions of Winger will have to wait until then. It’s hard, I know.

My cousin Larry Block’s memoir inches closer to publication. “Step by Step: A Pedestrian Memoir” hits shelves in May of this year. I had the privilege of reading an early version, and it was like having dinner with the man himself. A perfect blend of humor and poignancy, minus the trouble of figuring out the tip.

A few months before he passed away, Donald Westlake read my latest book and gave a blurb along with some excellent editorial advice. I wish I’d contacted him sooner. For completely selfish reasons, of course. The guy was generous, witty, and so humble it makes other writers who think they deserve constant adoration look even worse than they did before. And the new graphic novels based on Westlake’s books? The covers slay. I’ll post a few samples next time.