On Thursday I had lunch with producer Barry Rosenbush and writer Chris Morgan. The director-to-be had to cancel out because of a family matter. (I can’t mention his name yet because he and Beacon are still doing the terms-of-contract dance.)

Chris is about finished with his first draft of Fast & Furious 3 and will start the Jack rewrite next week. It involves moving the back story to China, changing Kusum and Kolabati to Chinese, and the Rakoshi to some sort of ancient Chinese demon thing. Other changes will bring it further in line with the source novel.

We should have the (I hope) final script in June. The director should be signed by then. Once they have the script-and-director package completed, they plan to take it to the actors they think will make a good Jack.

The big fly in this ointment is a looming strike by the WGA which will put everything on hold.

On Friday I lunched with Hideo Kojima along with his interpreter and three folks from Beacon in Santa Monica.

For those of you who don’t know, Kojima-san is the Stephen King and Stephen Spielberg of videogames.

He’s much younger than I expected—somewhere in his thirties. It was difficult to get a sense of him speaking through an interpreter, but I have the impression he’s someone I’d like to know better. We managed to discuss a little game theory and such. I learned that both he and his interpreter are big fans of Repairman Jack.

Afterward we went back to the Beacon office to see a couple of tapes. One was a demo of the engine he’s considering using on the Repairman Jack game; the other was a trailer for the new Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. I’m not exaggerating when I say this man is a genius. MGS3 is awe inspiring -- amazingly immersive and will set a new highwater mark for videogames.

We were all in accordance that the RJ game should kick ass. He’ll be sent the new (and hopefully final) script to see if he can adapt that, or he’ll set the game post-Nightworld. (So for you who’ve wanted to know what Jack’s up to after Nightworld, this will be the only place to find out.) I think the latter scenario will give him the most latitude, but whatever he decides I know Jack will be well treated. He has tremendous respect for the character and I have tremendous respect for him.

They’re supposed to start working on the deal his week. Beacon wants him to do the game. Kojima-san wants to do the game. And since Konami wants what Kojima-san wants, this looks very, very good.

Hello everyone! Kenji is baaaack!!!

I don't know why, until now, I couldn't login, but finally I could. Now let's talk begin!!


Kenji Asakura

In the paperback version of THE HAUNTED AIR, Paul writes, "And thanks to Blake Dollens, typo master, for his help with this edition." And righteously so. Blake did a fine job. But the typo gremlin, like the Devil, will not be mocked. I imagine it was perched on Paul's shoulder as he wrote those words and thought, "Oh, really...we'll just see about that!" It couldn't subvert Blake's clean copy, so it took a subtler tack. On the "Also by F. Paul Wilson" page, the Adversary Cycle has become the Adversary Circle. And owners of the hardcover will rejoice in the thought they possess
an artifact from the future, as the copyright page assures us that the First Edition was published in September 2004! And that gets us into time-paradox difficulties you really have to be in harmony with the Cosmic Nyuk-Nyuk-Nyuk to fathom.

...err...I mean The Incredibles.

I know that it is not a new movie, but I watched Cronos last night for the first time and was mesmerized. It is by far the best horror movie I've seen recently. It has an original premise, which earns it kudos automatically in my book, that it carries off with great aplomb. I will be watching it again this evening.

Scott

P.S. It is a foreign film, so those convinced that reading subtitles detracts from the viewing pleasure shall be missing out a wonderful little gem.

The Libertarian Futurist Society just announced Prometheus Award finalists for Best Novel, and Prometheus Hall of Fame finalists for Classic Fiction. The winners will be announced at the 62nd World Science Fiction Convention, Noreascon Four, in Boston, Massachusetts, September 2-6, 2004.

2004 Prometheus Award finalists for Best Novel: (For novels published in 2003.)
(Alphabetized by author.)

Naked Empire, by Terry Goodkind (TOR Books)
The Pixel Eye, by Paul Levinson (TOR Books)
Spin State, by Chris Moriarity (Bantam Books)
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic Press)
Sims, by F. Paul Wilson (Forge Books)

Fourteen novels were nominated for this years Prometheus Award for best novel.
The other nominees were:

The Anguished Dawn, by James P. Hogan (Baen Books)
State Of Disobedience, by Tom Kratman (Baen Books)
Crossfire, by Nancy Kress (TOR Books)
Hecate's Glory, by Karen Michalson (TOR Books)
Quicksilver, by Neal Stephenson (Harper Collins)
Ruled Brittania, by Harry Turtledove (Roc/NAL/ Penguin)
Gateways, by F. Paul Wilson (Forge)
The Holy Land, by Robert Zubrin (Polaris Books)

The awards honor outstanding science fiction/fantasy that explore the possibilities of a free future, champions human rights (including personal and economic liberty), dramatizes the perennial conflict between individuals and coercive governments, or critiques the tragic consequences of abuse of power -- especially by the State.

The Prometheus Award was established in 1979, making it one of the most enduring awards after the Nebula and Hugo Awards, and one of the oldest fan-based awards currently in science fiction.

For a list of past winners see:

http://www.lfs.org/awards.htm

Notice who won the very first Prometheus Award. And two Hall Of Fame Awards -- back to back.

Ken V.

Maybe my memory is flaky, and I've loaned out my copy of The Tomb, but isn't Vicky allergic to chocolate? I could swear she was. And yet, in Crisscross, there's been at least two bits where it's mentioned that she loves, or is eating chocolate.

Like I said, maybe I'm wrong; I could be confusing books here.

Congratudolences!

See how fast and far the word gets around. Even in Iraq!

http://www.ryano.net/iraq/?618540



Best Wishes,

Ken V.

Hi all. I had read a long time ago on the old board that FPW would sign books that you sent to him, provided that you included postage back, etc. I was wondering if this is still the case.

I would have directed this to FPW himself, but I just saw that he was out of town til Monday, and I wanted to post while it was on my mind.

Thanks!