On April 23rd, we’re going to launch a virtual convention–what we hope will become a perennial event–to promote our Phenomenons shared-world anthology series!
There will be two live, one-hour components–one at 4:00 p.m. EST and a second at 5:30 p.m. EST, each one featuring Crazy 8 members who are making big contributions to Phenomenons, as well as a special guest. In the first session, that guest will be Alex Segura, who’s taking the world by storm with his new novel, Secret Identity—and who’ll be contributing to the Phenomenons oeuvre starting with Volume 2! In the second session, our special guest will be Dan Hernandez, co-writer of the Pokémon Detective Pikachu and The Addams Family 2 movies–and a Phenomenons stalwart from the beginning!
Everyone will need to sign up for one session or the other in advance. Afterward, both sessions will be available on YouTube.
“Tickets,” which are free, are available first come first served. In this first attempt at a virtual con, as there are a lot of moving parts, we fully expect some glitches and maybe even some missed opportunities. Rest assured that we’ll do our best to improve on them going forward. As always, we’re grateful for your support–and Phenomenons Con is one way we intend to show it.Continue reading
Way back in 2010, Mike Friedman walked out of the Men’s Room at Shore Leave and wound up creating Crazy 8 Press, making its debut at the show a year later. And here we are again, back with more news, new books and lots of fun.
As you know, we killed our co-founder Glenn Hauman. We did this with malice aforethought and everyone is now arguing who had the most fun. The discussion will no doubt continue throughout the weekend.
Russ Colchamiro, Peter David, Mary Fan, Mike Friedman, Bob Greenberger, the late Glenn Hauman, and Aaron Rosenberg will be participating in a variety of panels and events but you can also find the collective at the following events:
Come pay your respects as we celebrate a life lived to its utmost, pissing people off, angering them into a murderous rage, suing him for all he’s worth (joke’s on them), and worse. The body will lie in state and members of the professional community will offer up eulogies.
Workshop 1: Worldbuilding, Noon-1:00 p.m., McCormick Suite
Bob, Glenn, and Mary will take teen writers through the process of creating a reality that suits the needs of your story.
Crazy 8 Press, 3:00-4:00 p.m., Salon F
Here we are at the 2011 launch panel.
They did it. They killed Glenn Hauman. He will be lying in state during their annual presentation so make sure you pay your respects. Learn what is coming, dead or alive, from your favorite writers. Peter David (M), Russ Colchamiro, Kathleen David, Mary Fan, Michael Jan Friedman, Bob Greenberger, Glenn Hauman, Aaron Rosenberg
Workshop 2: Group Story 4:00-5:00 p.m., McCormick Suite
Mike, Peter, and Bob have been working together and will bring their collaborative experience to the teen writers as they walk everyone through the steps of creating a story on the spot.
Sunday
Workshop 3: Character Creation 11:00 a.m.-Noon, McCormick Suite
Aaron and Russ are joined by our fellow author (and teacher) Kelli Fitzpatrick as they teach teen writers what goes into making interesting, unique, and fascinating characters for your stories.
For our last big group convention of the summer, we at Crazy 8 Press gathered for our annual pilgrimage to Shore Leave in Cockeysville, Maryland. As usual, it was a smashing success.
We launched our newest anthology — Love, Murder & Mayhem (which is on sale now and available here) — spoke or moderated a few dozen panels between us, hung out with fans, laughed it up with friends, and just had a great time.
But Crazy 8 Press also made a big announcement, one we’re thrilled to share with you now. When we started this author experiment there were, as the name suggests, eight of us. Due to some twists and turns, we pared down to five for a while, then ramped back up to seven.
Well…we thought it was time for us to live up to our name again and add an eighth member. So we did.
We are thrilled to announce that Mary Fan is now an official member of Crazy 8 Press!
Yep. There’s another inmate at the asylum.
For those of you unfamiliar with Mary, she writes science fiction and fantasy geared predominantly towards a YA audience and typically featuring a host of smart, creative, and ambitious female characters. She’s written several novels and contributed to various anthologies — including Love, Murder & Mayhem — and will soon be announcing her first book through Crazy 8 Press.
To learn more about Mary, here’s her website and various social media links where you can follow her adventures:
As part of our annual tradition, our Crazy 8 Press team of Aaron Rosenberg, Russ Colchamiro, Glenn Hauman, Peter, David, Robert Greenberger, and Michael Jan Friedman will descend on the Hunt Valley Inn for Shore Leave 39 from July 7-9, where we’ll be in full force (sans Paul Kupperberg, who is hiding out in the wilds of Connecticut concocting his next act of authorly mayhem).
Speaking of mayhem …
There wouldn’t be a Shore Leave without a Crazy 8 Press anthology, and we hope this year takes the cake! Debuting at the convention is this year’s anthology, Love, Murder & Mayhem, a collection of superhero, super villain, private eye, time travel travel, AI, dream surrogate, monster mash and DuckBob murder mysteries, with stories from not only the seven Crazy 8 Press members, but many of our friends, too, including attendees Hildy SIlverman, Kelly Meding, and Mary Fan,
The party starts with Meet the Pros at 10 p.m. on Friday with all the authors on hand to sign and sell books, shake hands, take selfies, and make madness. Hey. It’s what we do best.
Peter David, Bob Greenberger, and Mike Friedman at Shore Leave 38. Photo by Jen Snyder.
On Saturday and Sunday, our six attending members (and possibly a surprise or two!) can be found on numerous panels scattered across the schedule, and we’ll be on hand to together Saturday at 3 p.m. in the Derby Room for annual Crazy 8 Press panel. Six years ago at Shore Leave, a group of writers decided to write what they wanted and publish it themselves. What have they learned since? What’s coming next? And why must Glenn Hauman die?
The C8 team shows how NOT to settle disagreements at the York Emporium.
Immediately following at 4 p.m. is the first of two Crazy 8 Press Teen Workshops. Designed for younger writers, we take you through the process, with Aaron, Bob, and Mike discussing what goes into a good plot.
On Sunday at Noon, also in the Derby Room, Peter, Russ, and Glenn will talk about characterization.
And if that’s not enough Crazy 8 Press for you, we’ll be hanging out at the bar after the sessions close, instigating our next round of mayhem.
Crazy 8 Press celebrates its anniversary, as always, at Shore Leave, the author-friendly Maryland convention, starting Friday.
Russ Colchamiro, Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman, Robert Greenberger, Glenn Hauman, and Aaron Rosenberg will be on hand. Unfortunately, Paul Kupperberg could not be in attendance.
In addition to our individual schedules, the C8 team can be found at Friday night’s Meet the Pros, 10-Midnight. Making its debut will be our annual anniversary anthology, Altered States, where we all celebrate with many of our friends.
Additionally, last year, the convention asked us to conduct a series of teen writing workshops which went over very well. So, they asked for an encore and we are happy to oblige. This year the line-up will be:
Saturday, 1 p.m. Plotting – Bob, Aaron
Saturday, 3 p.m. Character – Peter, Russ
Saturday, 4 p.m. Author’s voice/point of view – Mike, Aaron
Sunday, Noon Research – Glenn, Mike
Sunday, 1 p.m. Drafting/Revising – Bob, Peter
Sandwiched between, on Saturday at 2 p.m. is our spotlight panel in the Derby Room. Not only will we be talking about our current projects and what to expect, each of us will do a brief reading from one of our C8 books.
By all means, check us out at the C8 table or at our programming events throughout the weekend.
Hard to believe it, but we’re turning four years old this weekend. To celebrate, the team will be scattered throughout the schedule but you can find us at Fridfay night’s Meet the Pros party, starting at 10 p.m. We’ll be debuting our latest anthology, Pangaea, which was a successful Kickstarter campaign earlier this year.
Our panel, revealing what’s to come in the future, will be on Sunday at Noon in Salon F. You should attend, there will be cake.
In addition, we’re trying something new this year.we have developed a series of five short (1-hour) writing workshops aimed specifically at teenage aspiring writers. These will be scheduled throughout the convention weekend. Any teen attending all of them will receive a certificate and the chance to get a story professionally critiqued by these authors. These workshops are open to all teens (12-19 years of age).
All workshops will occur in the Derby Room
Friday, 7 p.m. Plot – Robert Greenberger, Michael Jan Friedman
Saturday, 4 p.m. Craft of Writing – Aaron Rosenberg, Michael Jan Friedman
Saturday, 5 p.m. Character – Russ Colchamiro, Glenn Hauman, Peter David
Saturday, 6 p.m. Dialogue – Russ Colchamiro, Peter David
