Didn't you guys write NIGHTKILL together?

Right...20 years later.

Right...20 years later.

Collaboration is a mysterious process. I've written a couple of lyrics with other guys, but it was always face-to-face with our legs under a table, steaming Irish coffee on the top of it, smokes at hand, and BLONDE ON BLONDE playing to create the writing mood. That makes it easy to toss ideas and lines back-and-forth, to finish something both are happy with. And when arguments arise (they always do), good-natured insults like "Ah, yer grandma wears Bootsy Collins glasses" and SAD-EYED LADY OF THE LOWLANDS restore perspective.

I cannot imagine how fictioneers do it at long-distance.

We both had our first SF novels published around the same time by the same publisher. We met at a publishing party back then and hit it off. We've been friends ever since.

He seems like a really great guy.

Thanks for the mention of ICE MEN. I've read it twice so far, and as you said it has LOADS of heart -- and great character development as well.

Sleeper was also a fascinating read. Now I'm waiting for my copy of PARADOX PLANET to arrive.

Ken V.

Thanks for the good words, Ken. I honestly can't remember any more what F. Paul might have borrowed but it's very flattering indeed to be reminded I'd had any influence on his highly original work. Dydeetown Girl takes me back a few years, for sure. I wrote SLEEPER under the Steven Harriman pseudonym because I was a Doubleday author at that time and they didn't want another publisher competing. I was really surprised at the great reception on Amazon -- 40 reviews with a 4-star average. Paperback originals don't usually get that much push from readers. Anyway, I hope all who read ICE MEN and SLEEPER will enjoy. I'll try to keep better tabs on Paul's forum. Thanks, Paul, for pointing out the posts, and thanks for posting, folks.

Thanks for the good words, Ken. I honestly can't remember any more what F. Paul might have borrowed but it's very flattering indeed to be reminded I'd had any influence on his highly original work.

I just reread DYDEETOWN WORLD, and of course I started with the acknowledgments. This was after having read ICE MEN, so this time I recognized your name. So my copy of PARADOX PLANET is winging its way to me.

Dydeetown Girl takes me back a few years, for sure. I wrote SLEEPER under the Steven Harriman pseudonym because I was a Doubleday author at that time and they didn't want another publisher competing. I was really surprised at the great reception on Amazon -- 40 reviews with a 4-star average.

I'm not surprised. SLEEPER was a wonderful novel. I'm probably not alone in trying to figure out what's coming when I read a novel. And I'm probably not alone in NOT being able to see what's coming in SLEEPER. And it was not a matter of misdirection as it sometimes is in other novels. (People will have to read it themselves to understand it.) It has a great plot, and what I especially enjoy -- great character development. And as with Paul's novels; characters that I really CARE about.

In addition to the fascinating story, that was also one of the things I really like about ICE MEN -- characters that you really care about.

Ken V.

a couple of JACK: SECRET CIRCLES reviews:

from Kirkus:

JACK: Secret Circles
Author: Wilson, F. Paul

Review Date: JANUARY 01, 2010
Publisher:Tor
Pages: 288
Price (hardback): $$15.99
Publication Date: 2/1/2010 0:00:00
ISBN: 978-0-7653-1855-8
ISBN (hardback): 978-0-7653-1855-8
Category: CHILDREN'S
A month ago, 15-year-old Jack and his best friend Weezy found a small, mysterious pyramid and a body in the huge wasteland called the Pine Barrens (Jack: Secret Histories, 2008). The body led to other deaths; and though Weezy was certain the pyramid was linked to her obsession, the secret history of the world, they lost it. Weezy thinks it was stolen by members of the Ancient Septimus Fraternal Order. Now as the two find a stone structure similar to the lost pyramid in the Barrens, a local five-year-old goes missing and there are sightings of someTHING in the swampy bog. Is the visiting circus involved? The Septimus Lodge? And what, if anything, can Jack do about Mr. Vivino, who is abusing his wife and daughter? Set in 1983, Wilson's second in a trilogy about the teen years of his Repairman Jack character is a periodically breathtaking thriller. Readers of the adult RJ novels will enjoy bringing their background to this reading, but, luckily for kid readers, knowledge of the series is not vital to enjoying this smart, spooky mystery adventure. (Thriller. YA)

...and another from our old friend, Russ Madden: http://www.russellmadden.com/Truth_Is.html

a couple of JACK: SECRET CIRCLES reviews:

from Kirkus:

JACK: Secret Circles
Author: Wilson, F. Paul

Review Date: JANUARY 01, 2010
Publisher:Tor
Pages: 288
Price (hardback): $$15.99
Publication Date: 2/1/2010 0:00:00
ISBN: 978-0-7653-1855-8
ISBN (hardback): 978-0-7653-1855-8
Category: CHILDREN'S
A month ago, 15-year-old Jack and his best friend Weezy found a small, mysterious pyramid and a body in the huge wasteland called the Pine Barrens (Jack: Secret Histories, 2008). The body led to other deaths; and though Weezy was certain the pyramid was linked to her obsession, the secret history of the world, they lost it. Weezy thinks it was stolen by members of the Ancient Septimus Fraternal Order. Now as the two find a stone structure similar to the lost pyramid in the Barrens, a local five-year-old goes missing and there are sightings of someTHING in the swampy bog. Is the visiting circus involved? The Septimus Lodge? And what, if anything, can Jack do about Mr. Vivino, who is abusing his wife and daughter? Set in 1983, Wilson's second in a trilogy about the teen years of his Repairman Jack character is a periodically breathtaking thriller. Readers of the adult RJ novels will enjoy bringing their background to this reading, but, luckily for kid readers, knowledge of the series is not vital to enjoying this smart, spooky mystery adventure. (Thriller. YA)

...and another from our old friend, Russ Madden: http://www.russellmadden.com/Truth_Is.html

Can't wait... can't wait.. can't wait!


Great review from Russ Madden. It really got me wound up and even more anxious to read the book, especially when he says, "this tale for younger readers will grab them by the throats, shake them without mercy, then leave them limp and trembling by the time the story is told." Wow!

What great reviews. The Madden one will drum up interest left, right and centre. What more could you ask for than great reviews to draw the crowds in.

Those reviews will definitely help sell the book.

Stephanie

You know, Ken, I was just setting up Dydeetown World for Kindle and saw that mention...but for the life of me, I can't remember what I borrowed (with permission, of course). Maybe Steve will remember, but if you spot it, let us know.

I finished reading the novel today, and there's a definite connection between THE PARADOX PLANET and DYDEETOWN WORLD.

It has to do with the children/urchins. Without giving anything away, there is something being taken from the children in THE PARADOX PLANET, and Neuronex was taking a different something from the urchins in DYDEETOWN WORLD.

Ken V.

Ah, yes! I remember. Thanks.