I know I've been absent for a while now, but there are reasons, especially in
regards to B5:TMoS. In a project of this nature, and this size, there's stage
one (let's do this) stage two (let's make everybody's deal) and stage three
(making it). We're hip-deep in stage two just now, and it's taking a freaking
long amount of time to get through it all. Stage two is also the most
unnerving and nerve-wracking stage when there's a lot of money involved, as
there is in this situation.

So every day is a case of "Are we there yet?" and being told yes...almost.

I swear, it's the kind of thing that could lead a monk to murder.

Thing of it is...there's a LOT happening right now in the B5 universe, on a
multitude of fronts, some of it in response to TMoS, some of it coming up
completely on its own. All I can say at this moment is that if you've been
waiting for new stuff in the B5 universe, you may be getting your wish in
spades very soon.

Soon, I promise, all will be made clear. I don't like being Mr. Mysterioso on
this, but if I say too much, the-powers-that-be will use my head to make a
2.35:1 sized hole in the wall.

On other fronts....

Ibooks/Simon and Schuster just delivered the final production galleys on
Straczynski Unplugged (originally called JMS Unplugged, which I recommended
over Straczynski Unplugged because I couldn't imagine anyone Asking For It By
Name without blowing out an incisor or two, but who listens to me). It
includes some stories from my Twilight Zone anthology, plus "Say Hello, Mister
Quigley," "Cold Type," "We Killed Them in the Ratings" and "The Salvation of
Lyman Terrell," which have appeared in various publications but have never been
gathered together before in one book, plus a new introduction. I think it
should be hitting stores sometime in the coming month.

Ibooks/Simon and Schuster are going to be putting together a whole line of JMS
books, including a shared universe series of novels and other stuff...more when
I can talk about it.

For those who've been considering getting into the Supreme Power series, Marvel
published a graphic novel containing the first 6 issues last month (it ended up
at #3 out of the top 100 titles). It's a good jumping-on point for the series,
which I'm eminently proud of. (I know, a dangling participle, what can I say?)

I'm doing two other books for Marvel, one of which I think they should be able
to announce soon. The other is the Dream Police book, which I brought over
from Top Cow. Mike Deodato is doing the art, and it's just beautiful. (Mike
is also doing the art on Amazing Spider-Man during John Romita Jr's leave of
absence, and it's very nice indeed.) The first scripts are in on both the new
project, and for the Doc Strange miniseries, and artists have been selected,
but it's up to Marvel to release that info.

Finally...for those who want to support a worthy cause...recently I heard about
a high school in Hawthorne, New Jersey (not far from Paterson, where I was
born) which was having a small comic convention to raise funds for its art
program. The high school arts program for the coming year had to be cut
entirely due to lack of funds, to the point where this past year people
literally had to scrounge in junk yards for wire for sculpture classes.

Initially, I was going to just donate to the cause, but the more I looked into
this, the more it became clear that I had to kind of do something. So I'm
going to be flying out for the day to be at the fund-raiser convention for the
school. (I know, I know...I pass all the big conventions that pay big bucks
and I do this instead...I'm not wired up right, I admit it, but...sometimes you
just gotta do what's right, you know?) It's not an alma mater for me or
anything, but in hailing from Paterson (also Newark and Matawan) when I was a
kid I probably got in fights with kids from Hawthorne, so I figure I owe
something, right?

I got my real start as a writer in high school, through teachers who saw in me
something more than a kid from the streets. Those teachers -- specifically
Rochelle Terry and Joanne Massie at Chula Vista High -- gave me the support I
needed to start following my dreams, so it's a crucial time for others as well,
a time that needs our support, particularly at a time when so many schools are
suffering from similar cuts.

The convention is May 8th, Saturday, and I'll be there to talk, answer
questions, and sign autographs. Now, we usually try to limit signatures to 5
or so per person, but I'm taking the cap off...and in another break with
tradition, in which I never ask for a fee to sign stuff, this time I'll be
charging one buck per autograph, with all of the money going to the high
school. So for those of you in the area with twenty copies of various comics
or books or whatever...this is your chance to stock up. There will also be an
auction to further help raise funds.

Details about the fund-raiser and the other fine guests can be found at:

http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12223

This is the first appearance I've made at any kind of East Coast convention in
years, and the first time I've been in New Jersey in over 30 years, so there's
no way to know how long it'll be before I get into town again. And admission
is only $3, so how can you go wrong?

It's a worthy cause. So if you're in the vicinity, stop by, step up, and do
some good.

If you can't make it, and can't help, check into your local schools and see if
they need help. Because odds are they do.

jms

[ The following text is in the "windows-1252" character set. ]
[ Your display is set for the "ISO-8859-1" character set. ]
[ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ]

It?s been a while, I know...but things have been awfully crazed at
this end of the modem.

I was there for the premiere of Changeling (no the name isn?t going to
change) at Cannes, and it was, overall, perhaps the most surreal
experience of my life. I was ensconced at the Hotel du Cap
overlooking the French Riviera, just abaft from Clint Eastwood and
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and Mick Jagger (who came to dinner with
the bunch of us that Friday) and surrounded by sights I could never
have imagined myself seeing. Day-trip drives into the South of France
for shopping, into Monaco and Monte Carlo where I dropped five hundred
Euros at the casino because, well, you pretty much have to...and the
premiere.

Imagine for a moment: a procession of twenty one cars preceded and
followed by French police running lights and sirens to get the
motorcade through the streets of Cannes en route to the press
conference and, several hours later, the premiere. A sea of popping
flashbulbs. Paparazzi and TV cameras and microphones, reporters from
all over the world, and everyone shouting questions, to look this way
or that way. The red carpet, long and broad as the ocean. The
theater, three thousand seats filled with tuxedoes and gowns and
stars. Smiles and tears at the right moments as the film rolled by.
A ten minute standing ovation. Proclamations and prophecies of
Oscars.

Surreal. Dream-like. Impossible. Was any of this really happening?
To me?

Impossible. But there it was.

Then: after more days of interviews and press and screenings and
stunningly positive, glowing reviews, on to Berlin, where my script
for Ninja Assassin was being filmed. Brilliant stunt work. Dinners
in the cool German evening. Then off again to London for meetings
with several production companies regarding TV projects, and a meeting
with director Paul Greengrass on They Marched Into Sunlight, for Tom
Hanks? company, before flying back to LA for four days of massive
jetlag.

Never give up, folks. Never stop trying. Never surrender dreams.

Because sometimes they come true.

Two asides before I crash.

First, on the plane ride home, I?d picked up the July issue of T3
Magazine, which contained in the mylar packet a subsidiary slim issue
about future tech and jargon and looked ahead to gadgets yet to come.
I meant to take it with me off the plane for research on another
project, but left it behind and it doesn?t seem to be available
anywhere here; I may have missed the issue. Point being, could one of
our UK friends scan that magazine (it was only like 20 pages) and
upload it to me? If you do volunteer, could you note it here first to
avoid lots of folks duplicating the efforts? Accept my thanks in
advance.

Second, keep an eye out for Daily Variety on June 19th. Another
surprise yet to come.

This is the dream. This is the fairy tale we all expect but so rarely
get. I am at peace. Go figure.

jms

On Jun 8, 4:12=A0pm, Amy Guskin <aisl...@fjordstone.com> wrote:
> >> On Sun, 8 Jun 2008 01:36:00 -0400, thus spake jmsa...@aol.com (in artic=
le
>
> <b4acccc9-8f4e-443c-ac62-53bb55bd0...@w5g2000prd.googlegroups.com>):
>
>
>
> > It?s been a while, I know...but things have been awfully crazed at
> > this end of the modem.
>
> > I was there for the premiere of Changeling (no the name isn?t going to
> > change) at Cannes, and it was, overall, perhaps the most surreal
> > experience of my life. =A0I was ensconced at the Hotel du Cap
> > overlooking the French Riviera, just abaft from Clint Eastwood and
> > Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and Mick Jagger (who came to dinner with
> > the bunch of us that Friday) and surrounded by sights I could never
> > have imagined myself seeing. =A0Day-trip drives into the South of France=

> > for shopping, into Monaco and Monte Carlo where I dropped five hundred
> > Euros at the casino because, well, you pretty much have to...and the
> > premiere. <<
>
> Wow -- it all sounds _amazing_, Joe. =A0And I'm going to ask the question =
that
> I know is on everybody's mind, but they're just too shy to ask: how were M=
ick
> Jagger's table manners?
>
> My guess? =A0Fastidious. =A0:-)
>
> Amy
> --
> "In my line of work you gotta keep repeating things over and over and over=

> again for the truth to sink in, to kinda catapult the propaganda." - Georg=
e
> W. Bush, May 24, 2005

He seemed a right proper gentleman in every regard.

jms

On Jun 8, 10:21=A0pm, Dan Dassow <dan_das...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Jun 8, 9:36=A0am, Jan <janmschroe...@aol.com> wrote:> In article <b4acc=
cc9-8f4e-443c-ac62-53bb55bd0...@w5g2000prd.googlegroups.com>,
> > jmsa...@aol.com says...
>
> > >This is the dream. =A0This is the fairy tale we all expect but so rarel=
y
> > >get. =A0I am at peace. =A0Go figure.
>
> > >jms
>
> > Welcome back. =A0Congratulations. =A0And thanks for sharing.
>
> > Jan
>
> Joe,
>
> Congratulations! As I read your post I gathered that you have not
> stopped grinning.http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p278/elenopa/jmstux.jp=
g
>
> Dan Dassow

Not so much grinning as just shaking my head in slow disbelief....

jms

On Jun 8, 10:21=A0pm, Dan Dassow <dan_das...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Jun 8, 9:36=A0am, Jan <janmschroe...@aol.com> wrote:> In article <b4acc=
cc9-8f4e-443c-ac62-53bb55bd0...@w5g2000prd.googlegroups.com>,
> > jmsa...@aol.com says...
>
> > >This is the dream. =A0This is the fairy tale we all expect but so rarel=
y
> > >get. =A0I am at peace. =A0Go figure.
>
> > >jms
>
> > Welcome back. =A0Congratulations. =A0And thanks for sharing.
>
> > Jan
>
> Joe,
>
> Congratulations! As I read your post I gathered that you have not
> stopped grinning.http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p278/elenopa/jmstux.jp=
g
>
> Dan Dassow

And if anybody else has some great screen grabs, feel free to send 'em
along.

jms

On Jun 9, 11:51=A0am, slamaina <slama...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Is this the magazine?
>
> http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/store/displaystore.asp?sid=3D476&...=

>
> Slam

Yeah, that's the issue, but unfortunately when I enter my info it says
I can't place an order from the US. You can place an order FOR the US
FROM the UK but not the other way.

jms

On Jun 10, 10:48=A0am, Ranger Elenopa <elen...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> On Jun 10, 1:50=A0pm, Graham Smith <gsm...@dca.net> wrote:
>
> > On Jun 10, 3:52 am, "jmsa...@aol.com" <jmsa...@aol.com> wrote:
>
> > > Yeah, that's the issue, but unfortunately when I enter my info it says=

> > > I can't place an order from the US. =A0You can place an order FOR the =
US
> > > FROM the UK but not the other way.
>
> > I have friends in the UK that can order it for you. =A0Is that the July
> > issue?
>
> Or, I am in the UK and would gladly order it for you.
>
> Ranger Elenopa

Yep, that's the issue, it's on the stands in the UK as well, and if
somebody could get it for me, no preference on who/how, that would be
terrific.

jms