Tag Archives: Pangaea

Pangaea II is Fully Funded and Coming This Fall

Pangaea 2 CoverWith six minutes to go, our Kickstarter campaign for Pangaea II hit its mark. By October, backers will have the book in their hands (or, you know, in their reading devices).

Why is this important?
Because science fiction needs to survive, and it needs to do so in written form.
Sci fi movies are great. TV shows too. Believe me, I love ’em as much as the next guy. But they’re telling a story on a clock. And they’re subject to the tyranny of budget restrictions. And they’re produced by studios who usually err on the side of caution in all things.
pen and paperWhich is why some things are better said in print.
The problem, as we’ve seen in recent years, is that booksellers are under pressure. I hope we agree that there’s nothing like browsing in a bookstore. And if you’re a writer, there’s nothing like seeing your latest title on the shelf. But if bookstores–or at least many of them–go away, I don’t want books to go away too. I want them to be around forever because I like reading them and I like writing them.
That’s why the Kickstarter success of Pangaea II is important. Because it allows 15 science fiction writers to reach out to readers with their stories, without any reliance on traditional publishers or bookstores (and, by the way, to share equally in the revenues after expenses). It blazes a trail for others to follow. It gives courage to the next science fiction writer or anthologist, who might otherwise have looked around at the traditional publishing landscape and despaired.
Pangaea II is hardly the only worthwhile anthology that’s ever sprung from crowd funding. There are others looking to hit their mark right now. Take a moment and check them out. Give them some love.
teamworkWe’re in this together, readers and writers. As I’ve said before, that’s where the magic happens. That’s the relationship we need to preserve at all costs.
I’m proud of Pangaea II. I’m proud of the stories my colleagues are even now starting to write. But most of all, I think, I’m proud of you for making it happen.

Crazy 8 will be at Farpoint

Farpoint logoPeter David, Michael Jan Friedman, Bob Greenberger, Glenn Hauman, and Aaron Rosenberg will be attending Farpoint in Timonnium, Maryland over President’s Day Weekend. Russ Colchamiro and Paul Kupperberg are unable to attend this year, staying home to keep writing (or so they tell us).

Pangaea 2 CoverFriday evening at 10 will be the usual author’s book event so you can get your shopping done early, collecting autographs along the way.

Our panel will be Saturday at 4 where we will discuss our plans for 2016, starting with the current Kickstarter campaign for Pangaea II.

Meantime, here is a handy guide where to find us during the show:

Kathleen David

Fantastical Shows and Where To Watch Them
Friday, 5:00 PM

How’s Twelve Doing?
Saturday, NOON

Peter David

51FayIbj2BLLAutographs: Rigel Ailur, Peter David, Dave Galanter, Allyn Gibson
Saturday              10:00 AM

Readings: Peter David, Jennifer Povey, Joseph Berenato
Saturday              11:00 AM

Aliens: Beyond Pointy Ears & Bumpy Heads
Saturday              3:00 PM

Crazy 8 Press
Saturday              4:00 PM

Autographs: Joseph Berenato, Peter David, Keith DeCandido, Dave Galanter Saturday   6:00 PM

Star Trek Turns 50!
Sunday                 10:00 AM

What’s Changed with the All-New All-Different Marvel Comics
Sunday                 NOON

World Building 101
Sunday                 2:00 PM

Michael Jan Friedman

The Seeker and the SwordAutographs: Ben Anderson, Mike Friedman, Heather Hutsell, David Mack
Saturday         NOON

Crazy 8 Press
Saturday              4:00 PM

Star Trek Turns 50!
Sunday                 10:00 AM

Readings: Mike Friedman
Sunday                 11:00 AM

Autographs: Joseph Berenato, Mike Friedman, Marc Okrand, Jennifer Povey Sunday     NOON

What is New in the MCU?
Sunday                 2:00 PM

Bob Greenberger

MatterOfFaith2Bob Greenberger
Saturday              10:00 AM

Writing Workshop
Saturday              NOON

Holy Golden Anniversary, Batman!
Saturday              3:00 PM

Crazy 8 Press
Saturday              4:00 PM

The Bob & Howie Show
Sunday                 11:00 AM

Sci-Fi Fights!
Sunday                 1:00 PM

Glenn Hauman

Bob Greenberger
Saturday              10:00 AM

Crazy 8 Press
Saturday              4:00 PM

Aaron Rosenberg

51k7j83bmXLChanges In Business Of Speculative Fiction
Friday, 6:00 PM

Crazy 8 Press
Saturday              4:00 PM

Writing for the Game Industry
Sunday                 11:00 AM

Collaborations
Sunday                 1:00 PM

Pangaea II: The Rise of Dominjaron Kickstarter Campaign Launches

Pangaea 2 CoverCrazy 8 Press is following up on the success of its first Pangaea anthology with Pangaea II: The Rise of Dominjaron, which features an expanded and more diverse cast of writers.

A Kickstarter campaign was launched on January 24 and runs through February 25. Rewards for the $8000 goal run from prints of the cover by South American artist Caio Cacao to tuckerizations.

“This time we’re digging even deeper into the history of our fictional supercontinent,” said editor Michael Jan Friedman, “and we’re doing it with the help of four new writers–Ron Marz, Ilsa J. Bick, Kirsten Beyer, and Marie Lillian Vibbert. Ron will be a welcome name to pretty much anyone who reads comics, Ilsa’s a master of dark fantasy, Kirsten’s one of the top writers in the Star Trek book publishing program, and Marie is a rising star in the field of science fiction. I couldn’t be more pleased to let them loose among the civilizations we’ve established on Pangaea and see what kinds of stories they come up with.”

The anthology’s other writers are Michael A. Burstein, Peter David, Kevin Dilmore, Friedman himself, Robert Greenberger, Glenn Hauman, Paul Kupperberg, Kelly Meding, Aaron Rosenberg, Lawrence M. Schoen, and Geoffrey Thorne.

Pangaea II: The Rise of Dominjaron, like the first Pangaea anthology, explores a world in which all of humanity is confined to a single landmass, and has been so confined for all of its recorded history. There is no imperialism, no reliance on fossil fuels, and a surviving Neanderthal population.

“It’s even more of a shared world this time around, so pretty much every story is something of a crossover. I can’t think of any format that’s more fun for the reader,” said Friedman.

Should the project successfully fund, the new book will be released in September.

Michael A. Bustein Talks Writing The World Together

By Michael A. Burstein

517dBviDsyLWhen Michael Jan Friedman asked me if I would contribute a story to Pangaea, I was delighted. I have never been part of a shared world anthology before, and this seemed like a good opportunity to try my hand at it. I’ve also been a big fan of Michael’s for many years now, very much enjoying his Star Trek tie-in novels, his comic stories, and his original work.

Michael sent me a copy of the Pangaea “bible,” which is the document that describes what the shared world is like. I read through it, searching for a hook that would tie into my own interests.

I was particularly intrigued by his description of a land called Wymerin and chose to set my story there:

“These people are like the Amish in that they remain as isolated as they can from the rest of the world, adhering to what outsiders think are antiquated values. They embrace technology only to the extent that they must in order to compete, seeing machines as a necessary evil.”

As I wrote my story, I found it a difficult process. Michael helped me by advising me that I could make up my own details about the Wymerin society and culture. He would edit my story accordingly to make sure it fit into his general view of the world. Thus was my creativity freed, and I was able to tell my story.

I remember that Peter David told about the time he wrote a line in a Hulk comic establishing that the hero Doc Samson was Jewish. His editor called him up and asked him if this had been established before. Peter replied that they were establishing it now. To which the editor said, “We can do that?”

I had forgotten that Michael would be there with his net to catch me if I fell too far out of his vision for Pangaea. Which he did. I’d like to thank him for that, and for bringing me to Pangaea in the first place.

I also want to thank two former students of mine, Betsy Cole and Deborah Sacks, whose support of Pangaea was rewarded by my naming the characters in “The World Together” for them.

Pangaea is now available in digital and print editions.

One Continent … and the Hearts of Murder

517dBviDsyLWhen we at Crazy 8 Press decided to embark on Pangaea, the brainchild of our very own Michael Jan Friedman, I wasn’t sure which way I wanted to go with my contribution. The anthology is based on one big idea — what if there was just one super continent — and big ideas typically lead to big stories.

So I went in the opposite direction.

My tale, “The Kites of Alogornae”, is small. It is, for the most part, a two-character play, consisting of two men forced together by circumstance, crossing the great continent, with a particular mission in mind.

In theory these traveling companions are on the same side, but in reality … well … it’s fair to say that at least one of them, if not both, have murder in their hearts.

Will there be deaths in this tale? I won’t say. But I can tell you that my inspiration came from the thoughts of trekking a long way on foot, during the days of continental discourse, and the roles that two otherwise unknown men might play during this divide.

Pangaea is its own world, and in this world, relationships are forged whether the characters want them to be or not.

Let’s see how this one plays out.

Pangaea is now available in digital and print editions.

Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore are on “The Ardent” in Pangaea

 

By Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore

517dBviDsyLIt’s entirely possible that we did this all wrong.

When Mike Friedman first told us about the Pangaea concept, there were a myriad of things that could have grabbed our attention. Stories set within societies of humans that developed on a theoretical supercontinent never separated by geodynamic processes? Okay, we’re listening. Characters of humans descended from Neanderthal as well as Cro-Magnon ancestors who live contemporarily? Yep, still got us. Plot lines driven in a culture shaped by technology roughly equivalent to that on 1980s Earth?

Okay, we’re totally in.

Mike asked us to create our story as a link between his, which begins the anthology, and Peter David’s, which concludes it. Since the baton we needed to pass was a clue in a criminal investigation, we knew it had to be a buddy-cop story evoking our favorite such tales from the ’80s. Most especially, we took a new look at Alien Nation, the single-season TV series inspired by the feature film of the same name. The relationship between that show’s main characters, human police detective Matthew Sikes and his Tenctonese partner, George Francisco, provided more than a bit of inspiration for the “odd couple” pairing of our buddy cop characters. Our guys work together despite their disparate backgrounds, navigating the various culture clashes between Pangaea’s Sachi and Fojoa sects, and it’s this relationship that’s at the heart of our tale.

When it came time to tell our story, we might have deviated from the norm just a little bit. Rather than present our tale from a narrative perspective that spent time detailing the world of Aristaya for a reader from our world, we leapt right into a view through the eyes of Ames, a Sachi and veteran Homicide detec—er, Peacekeeper partnered with the only Fojoa Peacekeeper on the force. Ames’ views on his partner, his assignment and his world would read as his—not ours—with the goal of creating a story that might have been written by authors from Pangaea for readers from Pangaea, complete with the slang of the dark alleys of the district. We had fun telling our story; we hope you have fun reading it, too.

See you on the streets, pal.

Pangaea is now available in digital and print editions.