David Rozansky sits down with John to discuss his publishing company, Flying Pen Press, and its philosophy, goals for 2010, and content.  Make sure you comment on this and every episode of the 12 Days of Riftmas in the forums.  You can rate this particular episode at the bottom of the page.

David A. Rozansky is the publisher of Flying Pen Press LLC, a Denver-based small press that is giving flight to great books. He is a freelance writer, editor and publisher whose experience in publishing goes back to 1989.

His interests include aviation, science fiction, mystery novels, poker, and role-playing games, and these interests are reflected in the books his company publishes. Rozansky has been reading science fiction enthusiastically since he first learned to read, and has been playing role-playing games since 1973. He was the president and league director of the Adventure Role Playing League. He has professionally written more than one million words under his byline, and has published Rocky Mountain Air Traveler and American Cabby Magazine. He was also a bush pilot in Central America. David is originally from Denver, where he currently lives.

Mr. Rozansky is seeking writers and novelists. His company is seeking novels and anthologies, particularly science fiction, fantasy, romance, mystery, Western, thriller, horror, and contemporary fiction. Flying Pen Press is also seeking writers for game books and books about games, for its game-book imprint; it is especially interested in role-playing-game books and books about poker. Mr. Rozansky is interested in publishing new writers as well as established authors.

John speaks with Hugo and Nebula award winning author, Robert J. Sawyer about the TV adaptation of his novel, Flash Forward, as well as the first novel in his latest trilogy, Wake.  Make sure you rate the episode at the bottom of this page and leave a comment here.

Robert J. Sawyer has been called "the dean of Canadian science fiction" by The Ottawa Citizen.

He has won many major awards, including:

• he 2003 Best Novel Hugo Award — the top international honor in science–fiction writing.
• An Arthur Ellis Award from the Crime Writers of Canada
• Eight Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards ("Auroras").

Rob's novels are top–ten national mainstream bestsellers in Canada, appearing on the Globe and Mail and Maclean's bestsellers' lists, and they've hit #1 on the bestsellers' list published by Locus, the U.S. trade journal of the SF field. His seventeen novels include The Terminal Experiment, Frameshift, Factoring Humanity, Flashforward, Calculating God, Mindscan, and the popular "Neanderthal Parallax" trilogy consisting of Hominids (winner of the Hugo Award), Humans, and Hybrids.

Rob has taught writing at the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, Humber College, the National University of Ireland, and the Banff Centre. He has been Writer–in–Residence at the Richmond Hill (Ontario) Public Library and the Toronto Public Library's Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy. And he edits Robert J. Sawyer Books, the science-fiction imprint of Calgary's Red Deer Press.

Rob has given talks at hundreds of venues including the Library of Congress and the National Library of Canada, and been keynote speaker at dozens of events in places as diverse as Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Barcelona. He was born in Ottawa in 1960, and now lives just west of Toronto with his wife, poet Carolyn Clink.

John sits down with Bob Greenberger to talk about his past, present, and future works, as well as his political career to date.  Make sure you comment on the episode here as well as rate the episode at the end of this listing.

Robert Greenberger (born July 24, 1958) is a writer and editor.

Greenberger was born in Brooklyn in New York City, the son of Edwin L. Greenberger and Joan Greenberger. A lifelong fan of comic books, comic strips, science fiction and Star Trek, he drifted towards writing and editing, encouraged by his father and inspired by Superman’s alter ego, Clark Kent.

While at SUNY-Binghamton, Greenberger wrote and edited for the college newspaper, Pipe Dream, moving from general assignment writer to Arts Editor, Managing Editor and ultimately Editor-in-Chief.  He served an internship at Gannett’s Binghamton Sun-Bulletin as a feature writer and reviewer.

Upon graduation, he worked for Starlog Press as Managing Editor ofFangoria.  He was also an Associate Editor for Starlog and while there, created Comics Scene, the first nationally distributed magazine to focus on comic books, comic strips and animation.  The magazine lasted 11 issues before its first cancellation at which time Greenberger went to work on their sports magazines.

In 1984, he joined DC Comics as an Assistant Editor, working with Len Wein and Marv Wolfman on DC’s Golden Anniversary projects Who’s Who andCrisis on Infinite Earths.  He went on to act as assistant editor to numerous titles for each editor until he was promoted to editor.  During his tenure, his titles included Star Trek, Suicide Squad, Warlord, Doom Patrol, Lois Lane, Action Comics Weekly, Time Masters, Secret Origins, The Hacker Files and others.

By 1990, he had given up editing to become the company’s Editorial Coordinator, helping grow the Editorial Administration department.  When he left the company, he was Manager-Editorial Operations.

In March 2000, he left DC to become a Producer for Gist Communications, television news and listings web site. After ten months there, he learned some new skills and got out before the dotcom bubble burst.

In January 2001, he joined Marvel Comics as Director-Publishing Operations.  During his year with the company, he oversaw editorial schedules, Production, Manufacturing, the Print Library, and other departments.

In January 2002, he left Marvel and rejoined DC in May 2002 as a Senior Editor-Collected Editions.  He helped grow that department, introducing new formats and improving the editions’ editorial content. He also managed DC’sElfQuest publishing program.

He left DC in January 2006, becoming a freelance writer and editor.  His clients included Weekly World News, Platinum Studios, scifi.com, DC and Marvel. By June, he was offered the post of Managing Editor at Weekly World News where he helped transition the newspaper from being produced jointly in Florida and New York to just NYC.

When the paper folded in August 2007, he resumed his freelance career which continues to this date.  Along the way, he helped revitalize Famous Monsters of Filmland and served as News Editor at ComicMix from August through December 2008.

He is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America and theInternational Association of Media Tie-In Writers.  He served on the final Nebula Short Fiction Jury.

Greenberger joined Fairfield, CT’s Parking Authority in 1999, serving until June 2006. He resigned from the Authority to join the Cable Advisory Council for Area 2 in Connecticut.  In November 2005, he was elected a Representative to Fairfield, Connecticut’s Representative Town Meeting. In November 2007, after winning re-election, he was voted to preside as its Moderator.

John sits down and learns more about the upcoming television series, The Fixer, from creator and producer John F. Merz.  Don't forget to rate the episode at the bottom of this listing and make sure you comment on it here.

As a writer, Jon F. Merz has published over a dozen novels including four Lawson Vampire adventures (2002-2003) with Kensington's Pinnacle Books, the Jake Thunder mystery/thriller DANGER-CLOSE (2004) with Five Star Mystery/Thorndike Press, and eight installments in the internationally bestselling adventure series Rogue Angel (2006-present) with Harlequin's Gold Eagle line. His latest thriller PARALLAX debuted in March 2009 as an exclusive ebook. Praised by bestselling authors like Robert B. Parker, Douglas Clegg, and Thomas Monteleone, Jon's novels will continue to thrill readers for many years to come. His short fiction story "Prisoner 392" (appeared alongside Stephen King in FROM THE BORDERLANDS, 2004, Warner Books) earned him an Honorable Mention in 2004's Year's Best Fantasy & Horror edited by Ellen Datlow. Jon has also co-authored two non-fiction books: LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER with Nancy Merz Nordstrom (2006, Sentient Publications) and THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO ULTIMATE FIGHTING with Rich "Ace" Franklin (2007, Alpha Books/Penguin/Putnam) In October 2009, Jon will partner with author Joe Nassise for the debut of HELLstalkers, a new action series in conjunction with Blackbetty GmbH in Vienna available for cellphone users exclusively on the Vodafone network.

As a producer, Jon has formed New Ronin Productions with longtime friend Jaime Hassett to create television and feature film projects in the New England area. Their first project is THE FIXER, a new supernatural action series based on Jon's Lawson Vampire novels. Filming of the pilot begins in May 2009.

As a ninja, Jon has studied authentic Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu/Ninjutsu for almost twenty years under Mark Davis of the Boston Martial Arts Center. He has also trained with senior Bujinkan instructors both in the United States and Japan. During a trip to Japan in February 2003, Jon earned his 5th degree black belt directly from the 34th Grandmaster of Togakure-ryu Ninjutsu, Masaaki Hatsumi. In addition to traditional training, Jon has also taught defensive tactics to a wide range of clients, including civilian crime watch groups, police and EMS first responders, military units, and federal organizations including the US Department of State, the Department of Justice, and the Bureau of Prisons.

In his past, Jon served with the United States Air Force, worked for the US government, and handled executive protection for a variety of Fortune 500 clients.

Keith recently sat down with the man himself, Paul Cornell, and discussed Doctor Who and writing for comics.  Make sure you take a moment to rate the episode at the bottom of this entry and comment on it in the forums.

Paul Cornell is a novelist as well as a comics and TV writer.  He is best known for his work on Doctor Who in both literary and television formats.  In addition, Paul created Bernice Summerfield, a fan-favorite in the Doctor Who universe.  His comic works include Captain Britain and MI-13 as well The X-Men:

Andrea Lipinski sits down with Bill Corbett of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax to discuss the latter's upcoming live performance of a riff on the classic Ed Wood film, Plan 9 from Outer Space.  Plus, we take a listen to our feedback line.  Make sure you rate the episode at the bottom of the page and comment on it here.

Bill Corbett is a former writer for the cult TV show MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000. He was also a performer on the show, providing the voice and puppetry for the robot Crow (v. 2.0); as well as playing the all-powerful but clueless alien The Observer (a.k.a. "Brain Guy") and occasional other strange characters. He’s now a principal writer and performer for the comedy website Rifftrax.com. Corbett is also a screenwriter and playwright. His screenplay STARSHIP DAVE, co-written with Rob Greenberg, was made into the Eddie Murphy movie MEET DAVE in 2008. His play THE BIG SLAM has been produced at numerous theaters across the U.S., including Woolly Mammoth in Washington, D.C.; ACT in Seattle; and actor Jeff Daniels' Purple Rose Theater in Chelsea, Michigan. His play HATE MAIL, co-written with Kira Obolensky, was produced at Primary Stages in NYC and dozens of theaters since. He has been a contributing writer to National Public Radio's PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION and ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, and is co-creator of the animated web series POKER NIGHT on Icebox.com. Corbett has also been an actor in the resident acting companies at the Guthrie Theater and the Berkshire Theater Festival, and has taught playwriting and screenwriting at Kenyon College in Ohio, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, the Playwrights’ Center, and many other universities and schools. He's a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, where he earned an MFA in playwriting and screenwriting. Before that, he received a BA from Yale College. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Corbett lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with his wife Virginia and two children.

We start with the first in our somewhat reformatted episodes as we present book, comic, and movie reviews.  Comment on the episode here and make sure you rate the episode at the bottom of the page.

SEGMENT ONE: Bringing it to the Table

6:05 - Orenthal talks about the rebranding of the Sci-FI Channel.
14:10 - Judy explains why she thinks Billie Piper's Secret Diary of a Call Girl is limited in its premise.
16:14 - Andrea wonders why we celebrate Fred Rogers Day.
20:25 - Promo for the March 29th episode of Better in the Dark podcast.

SEGMENT TWO: Reviews

22:49 - Andrea reviews the latest from Stephen King.
28:25 - David takes a look at the latest offerings in the funny books, including Marvel's Noir series and IDW's Star Trek.
33:41 - Derrick reviews Watchmen.
48:10  - Promo for Geek Jesus podcast.
49:10 - Promo for Let's Watch Movies podcast.

SEGMENT THREE: The Wrap-Up

50:50 - Orenthal glows about the Golden Age of Comic Book Movies in his "Popfiendish" segment.

LINKS

Here are the sites Andrea mentioned in the episode:

"Won't You Be My Neighbor" Day - http://www.fci.org/neighbor

NYPL's Stuff for the Teen Age List - http://www.nypl.org/books/sta2009/

John and Keith chat with author Jeff Mariotte and media tie-in fan Steve Roby about this particular subgenre.  Is it legitimate?  Is it your gateway to mainstream literature?  Is it unfair to look at it as not original?  Make sure you rate the episode at the bottom of this entry and comment on it - here.

 JEFF MARIOTTE is the award-winning writer of more than thirty novels, including Missing White Girl, River Runs Red and Cold Black Hearts (all as Jeffrey J. Mariotte), horror epic The Slab, teen horror quartet Witch Season, CSI: Miami—Right to Die, and more, as well as dozens of comic books. He’s a co-owner of specialty bookstore Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego, and lives in southeastern Arizona on the Flying M Ranch.  Keep tabs on Jeff's comings and going on his website.

Steve Roby is a longtime fan of Star Trek, science fiction in general, old movies, crime fiction, historical fiction, Bugs Bunny, punk/new wave/postpunk, and a lot of other things. 

For something like ten years now, Steve has been labouring on the Complete Starfleet Library website (http://www.well.com/~sjroby/lcars/), which covers over a thousand Star Trek books, official and unofficial, fiction and nonfiction. If you want to know about Star Trek: The Poems, Going Boldly on Your Inner Voyage: The Unauthorized Starfleet Daily Meditation Manual, or Narratives from the Final Frontier: A Postcolonial Reading of the Original Star Trek Series, this is the site. 

Steve is a librarian in Ottawa, Canada, where he lives with his wife Laura and their cat Spencer.

In this episode, Orenthal and John talk a lot about Knight Rider, despite Andrea's best attempts to stop them.  In addition, Andrea gives a preview of teen vampire works (for the Twilight fans), Keith reviews Dollhouse, David rants about comic "events", and Derrick reviews Gran Torino.  Plus, Michael Burstein sits down and talks about his award nominated anthology, I Remember the Future. Don't forget to rate the episode below and to comment on it - here. Also, listen for your chance to win a copy of I Remember the Future.

Segment One - Bringing it to the Table

3:16 - Andrea talks about the Razzies and offers her prediction for the Worst Movie of 2008.

10:58 - Orenthal offers an apology to the ten Knight Rider fans as he has found the fun in the reboot.

16:20 - Promo for Doctor Who: Podshock.

Segment Two - Reviews

17:45 - Andrea offers a variety of teen vampire works for the kids.

25:08 - David rants about the evils of comic events.

34:02 - Derrick reviews Gran Torino.

37:48 - Keith reviews Dollhouse.

48:52 - Promo for the Better in the Dark podcast.

Segment Three - Michael Burstein Interview (50:48)

 Michael A. Burstein, winner of the 1997 Campbell Award for Best New Writer, has earned ten Hugo nominations and three Nebula nominations for his short fiction, collected in I Remember the Future. Burstein lives with his wife Nomi in the town of Brookline, Massachusetts, where he is an elected Town Meeting Member and Library Trustee. When not writing, he edits middle and high school Science textbooks. He has two degrees in Physics and attended the Clarion Workshop. More information on Burstein and his work can be found on his webpage, http://www.mabfan.com. Photo by Nomi Burstein.

Segment Four- Conclusion

1:22:05 - Promo for The Dome audio drama.

"In the not too distanct future way down in Deep Thirteen,
Doctor Forrester and TV's Frank were hatching an evil scheme."

For ten seasons, Joel, Mike, and the bots were tortured with the worst Hollywood had to offer, much to the delight of the viewing audience. Now, twenty years later, the show is a cult classic with DVDs being released and the tapes still being circulated. Keith and Andrea host this Roundtable discussion with Cinefantastique's Dan Persons and Frank Conniff, TV's Frank. Plus, Jay Smith tells us why zombies are "My Guilty Pleasure".

Please remember to rate the episode at the bottom of this entry. Also, please comment on the episode in our forum - here.

Frank Conniff, was best known to MST3K viewers as TV's Frank, but also participated behind the scenes as a writer and as the primary movie selector for many years. His character of TV's Frank joined Dr. Clayton Forrester at Gizmonics Institute in Episode 201 (Rocketship XM) and left the show at the end of season 6, when Torgo appeared to take Frank to "second banana" heaven. Since leaving MST3K, Frank Conniff has gone on to a variety of writing, producing, and acting projects on shows like Sabrina the Teenage Witchand Invader Zim. His current projects include Cartoon Dump, a monthly comedy/music revue, and Cinematic Titanic, a show that riffs on bad movies, along with other MST3K alums Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein, and Mary Jo Pehl.

In his twenty plus years as writer and film journalist, Dan Persons has interviewed the likes of Paul Verhoeven, Wes Craven, Stuart Gordon, Satoshi Kon and John Kricfalusi; published the well-received novella, "A Game of the Apocalypse", in The Ultimate Silver Surfer, edited by The Chronic Rift's own Keith R.A. Decandido; and been an occasional, and somewhat peculiar, guest on the public access incarnation of the Rift. He presently is the host of Mighty Movies Temple of Bad, Mighty Movie Podcast, and The Cinefantastique Podcast when he isn't haunting the dining room of his local Popeye's.

Show Notes

Please take a moment to rate this episode at the bottom of this entry and to comment on it in ourforum.  Make sure you listen for your chance to win a set of the Star Trek Destiny trilogy.

Segment One - Bringing it to the Table

1:56 - Keith talks about the the television show Leverage and the related website Kung Fu Monkey.

4:04 - Andrea comments on the lack of wide release of the DVD for the documentary, American Teen.

7:24 - Jay is mostly happy to see the return of Lost.

13:37 - Orenthal and John debate the merits of the reboot of Knight Rider - well, not really.

20:41 - Promo for the third season of the Paul McGann Doctor Who audios.

Segment Two - Reviews

22:45 - Andrea makes a case for Street Gang and Wishful Drinking.

31:29 - Keith presents the first annual Taters.

41:55 - Promo for the Generic Movie podcast.

Segment Three - David Mack Interview (44:01)

 David Mack is the national bestselling author of more than a dozen books, including Wildfire, Harbinger, Reap the Whirlwind, Road of Bones, and the Star Trek Destiny trilogy — Gods of Night,Mere Mortals, and Lost Souls.

In addition to novels, Mack's diverse writing credits span several media, including television (for episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), film, short fiction, magazines, newspapers, comic books, computer games, radio, and the Internet.

Upcoming novels by David Mack include the supernatural thriller The Calling, his first original novel; Promises Broken, a novel of The 4400; and Precipice, the fifth installment of the acclaimed Star Trek Vanguard series.

Mack has been to shows in every Rush concert tour since 1982, and he finally met two-thirds of the band in 2007. He currently resides in New York City with his wife, Kara.

Segment Four

1:11:06 - Promo for Goz's Grumpy World Podcast.

1:12:50 - Orenthal is upset that another childhood favorite, The Electric Company, is pissed on.

1:23:55 - Letters from our listeners.

1:29:19 - Trivia Contest - Win David Mack's latest Star Trek trilogy.

1:31:30 - Plugs

Judy, Orenthal, and Jay Smith join Louis Trapani to discuss the predictions made by science fiction authors about our future.  Where are the moon colonies?  Where are our deep space probes?  Where's my flying car?  Just what did they get right and what feel short?  What do we attribute to these successes and failures?

Plus, Jay Smith offers his thoughts on "My Guilty Pleasure", a look at Who Wants to be a Superhero? Post your thoughts on the episode here.

 New media producer, Louis Trapani founded the Gallifreyan Embassy, a Doctor Who and British science-fiction fan organization in June 1985 after seeing that there were no local Doctor Who fan groups in the south-eastern New York area. The Gallifreyan Embassy of Long Island quickly established itself in the '80s volunteering on PBS pledge drives, appearing at conventions, interviewing various Doctor Who related cast and production members of the television series. Since that time, it now has a world-wide membership and audience. Louis has appreciated science fiction all his life and this interest goes beyond Doctor Who. He currently hosts and produces Doctor Who: Podshock, a weekly international podcast covering all of Doctor Who, The Sonic Newsdriver, a podcast covering current Doctor Who news, The Hitchhiker's Guide to British Sci-Fi, as the name implies a show which covers all British science fiction media, as well as other shows set to launch that cover broader science fiction and fantasy. Louis has majored in the media arts department at the School of Visual Arts and has worked in the creative media realm in various ways. He has spearheaded Art Trap Productions for the last 15 years in that field. He is an artist, activist, tech addict, Mac geek, producer and director.