The Middle of the Dark

I've had the first issue of Buffy Season 9 for two weeks now.  I live and die by Joss Whedon.  I love Buffy.  I love Buffy in comics even more. I couldn't be moved to write anything about this issue. Not that there is nothing to say.  There's actually quite a bit.  Buffy flirts or possibly flirts with everyone in the cast (more on this in a sec).  She has moved to San Fransisco to work in a coffee shop.  Her friends have moved with her.  She gets drunk and acts stupid at a party. She never mentions Giles is dead. 

The Elizabeth short story for the collection next year has turned into a murder mystery of sorts. The story dimensionalizes let's say the larger Elizabeth universe and gives some perspective on the next novel. It does break by default rule #13 though... but rules are made to be broken. Looking forward to it as my mom has always been a mystery nut and by extension so am I. By the way, this is my first post from an iPhone for the blog. Definitely need some more features for this app.

Sometimes I feel like this guy trying to plug my novel, but the downside of being an independent writer is that I am my own business.  I have to shill, as uncomfortable as it makes me sometimes.  This somewhat tongue in cheek post over at TNH doesn't really have anything to do with my own situation as a writer.  Not really.  But just the same, stepping out of my comfort zone, if you have read The Book of Elizabeth , and if you enjoyed it, help an independent writer out by doing some of the following things: 1.  Order a copy.  Pick your poison: paperback , Kindle , or Nook .  iPad and more coming soon. 2. Write a review.  This is huge for indie writers.  Word of mouth is everything.  Post a review at Amazon , Goodreads , and Barnes & Noble . 3.  Attend an event.  I'm working on possible readings/things in the near future.  Check back for details. 4. LIKE my Facebook page .  Even if you hate the new Facebook.  5. # Fridayreads and #followfriday him @Darbyharn on

Woke up way too early with the need to puke (thanks Ben ).  Spent the morning compiling a draft manuscript of a short story collection I will publish after the new year.  I've wanted to do this for a while, but for some reason or another haven't.  This book collects most of my published stories, as well as a few new ones, and a few poems and short pieces for good measure.  I laughed a little too as I realized I will be editing some of the published pieces.  I have been protesting George Lucas doing this to Star Wars recently.  Thankfully no one cares about the original versions of these stories. The collection may also include a brand new short story set in the Elizabeth universe.  The thought occured to me that it might be a good idea, and a fun way of tiding over anyone who might be wanting more, as it is going to be a long wait for the sequel. The reason for that is because the sci-fi John Hughes project has become two novels.  The writing is going very well - 116 pages

My very amazing coworkers threw a bit of party for my book today (along with a bon voyage for our friend Nicole, who is leaving us for another department).  Check out the doodle art by fellow sup Teaya.  Very cool.  It was very, very wonderful of them to do this.  We had amazing cupcakes from Scratch and Andy Rooney - I mean Pat - interviewed me a little about the book. I am so lucky to work at such an amazing place, and to have such wonderful colleagues. Thank you all!

I should really post something about writing here.

Bumming around on Ben's blog I found this old, very low quality video of a newscast from 1983, featuring a toy aisle from Toys R Us, on the day Return of the Jedi came out: You got to love this. 

I picked up the new version of Batgirl today (good thing I had Mike put it in my pull box, because it vanished off the shelves) and wanted to share some thoughts. There's been some controversy over this book, mainly because as part of the DC reboot , and also because Barbara Gordon is back in the costume after 20 years. And walking. For those of you who may not know, Barbara was shot and paralyzed in The Killing Joke back in 1988. This event, along with the contemporaneous arrival of Watchmen, Swamp Thing and Batman: Year One, ushered comic books into the modern, 'adult' age. Barbara has spent the last two decades in a wheelchair, as Oracle, a sort of computer hacking expert and intelligence officer for Batman's extended crime-fighting operation. Oracle represented a lot of things; real-life consequence to what had been child's play; it doesn't always work out at the end of the issue; and a hero, a symbol, for people with disabilities in stories dominat

Harry Knowles, whose reviews I generally avoid for their lack of perspective, provides quite a bit on the new Star Wars Blu-rays over at his website. The discussion among fans has basically reduced the films, particulary the original trilogy, to the sum of its parts. As George Lucas has dissected the films, amputated them and grafted on new parts, a large group of fans have done the same. These films have been broken down and analyzed to the breaking point. People forget why they loved them in the first place - or they identify what they loved, and consequently, their childhood - with the parts Lucas excises.

Update: more to the story . Read this somewhat surprising story about a team of authors finding their gay character edited out of their YA novel. A really interested discussion about traditional publishing and YA in general follows. The authors present their choices at the end, but none of them include going independent. I feel indie-publishing should be an option. I am all for getting the Big 6 to evolve, but with this story and others this week, it seems pretty clear that traditional publishing is not changing with the times. If anything, they may be regressing. Case in point: What do the girls on these covers all have in common?

Kiana Davenport writes on her blog about an incredible and discouraging ordeal she recently went through: In January, 2010, I signed a contract with one of the Big 6 publishers in New York for my next novel. The book was scheduled for hardback publication in August, 2012, and paperback publication a year later. Recently that publisher discovered I had self-published two of my story collections as electronic books. To coin the Fanboys, they went ballistic. The editor shouted at me repeatedly on the phone. I was accused of breaching my contract (which I did not) but worse, of 'blatantly betraying them with Amazon,' their biggest and most intimidating competitor. I was not trustworthy. I was sleeping with the enemy. It gets worse: Last week, I received from their lawyers an official letter terminating my contract with them, "...for permitting Amazon to publish CANNIBAL NIGHTS, etc...." and demanding back the $20,000 they had paid me as pa

And even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. - Aeschylus, 3rd century BCE

Following the lead of Joel Friedlander , I offer below my responses to the 5 keywords supplied in this interview : #ebook—When I read the word ebook, I think ‘ibook.’ Not that digital publishing is some consequence or invention of Apple, but that it’s the engine of democracy in publishing. ‘I’ finally have control, choice and opportunity. Not only in communicating my art to an audience, but it communicating my art period; the ebook is going to allow for wonderful experimentation. The book will evolve with the form. #future—Unknown. Will traditional publishing perish? Will it adapt and survive? Will the vehicles for e-publishing like Amazon or Apple just become another publishing house, and gate keepers of digital reading? Does the prospect of financial gain in e-publishing create a bubble that bursts in the end? I believe great works of literature will emerge through self-publishing and end once and for all the stigma against it. Will these works struggle to find readers? Will th

'The world-building throughout this novel is a display of unbridled imagination.'

Dear Sinead , This is in response to your ad for a new boyfriend.   I don’t meet many of the qualifications you specified, but if you hear me out, I think you will see that I am your man. ·          I am only 36, but I am an old soul like you. ·          I don’t live in Dublin or Wicklow.   I live in Iowa, but I spent a summer in Dublin studying at Trinity College.   I know a summer isn’t much but Irish hearts are made in days. ·          I am gainfully employed.   I have a pot to piss in. ·          I am an artist.   I write novels out of frustration for the songs I can’t sing. ·          I am sufficiently hairy. ·          You had me at hello (1990). ·          I am not a Brian or Nigel.   I am a Darby. ·          I stood by you back then through all the hate and misunderstanding and jokes at your expense. ·          I have no hair really on my head and am a slacker when it comes to the hair on my face. ·          I missed meeting you in Dublin by a few minutes at a restaur

Follow the link to see a truly wonderful happy birthday wish to the astonishing Freddie Mercury.

Don't know if anyone has seen the new Superman pics, but... yeah. Here's where I line up, and AMAZING artist Phil Noto brought it to life for us: Your Nice New Outfit . I've been living on Phil's Tumblr for a while now.  Great for pot stirring while writing.

I am a huge, huge, Buffy fan.  Like a lot of other people, I tripped out over the return of the character and world in comics, with Joss Whedon writing.  The show was a comic book at heart, with seasons structured like comic book arcs, with a big bad every year.  The comic started off tremendously, rolling along for three years until - it rolled along for three years.  Season 8 ran way too long and the Big Bad - Twilight - turned out to be Angel.  I had no problem at all with the villian being Angel.  I never read the IDW post-Angel series, so for me, Angel and crew died in that alley.  What happened there?  Did something make him turn evil?  He had been on a do bad things for good reasons path at Wolfram and Hart in Season 5.  Maybe this was the culmination of that. Ah, no. I still don't understand Twilight's motivations, and reading the first issue of what is technically Season 9, Angel & Faith #1, it's obvious no one does.  Not Angel and not the writers.  The Tw