“First, forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not…Forget talent. If you have it, fine. Use it. If you don’t have it, it doesn’t matter. As habit is more dependable than inspiration, continued learning is more dependable than talent… Finally, don’t worry about imagination. You have all the imagination you need…Persist.”—Octavia Butler, “Furor Scribendi”
the_red_shoes has one of the sweetest, loveliest, tributes to Octavia Butler I have found thus far. So go and read. And read her books if you have not already – although I can bet the experience will be bittersweet, knowing that there won’t be anymore to come.
***
I’m finishing up the revisions for The Red Heart of Jade, the monster book that never ends. Oh, and as you can guess, I survived NY Comic Con. Let me tell you guys something, I have never seen anything like it in my life. Within the first two hours of opening, they closed registration and began turning people away because the crowds were becoming a fire hazard. Standing room only in the corridors, especially those leading to the big Marvel and DC areas (I know, because I became lodged between two very large men, which was not nearly as interesting—thankfully—as it could have been). The line to enter the convention itself wrapped around the building and crossed the length of the Jacob Javits center. State troopers had to be called in to control the crowds. The only reason I managed to enter at all was because my editor, Jen, had an extra Exhibitor badge that I could use.
Picture taken by the very cool David Mack (no relation to the artist, although David Mack did do the beautiful cover art to David Mack’s upcoming Wolverine novel).
But here’s a bit of good news: Gargoyles, the wonderful animated series produced by Disney in the late nineties, is coming back in comic book form, and will be written by no other than Greg Wiseman, the original creator! You can read more about it here.
Yay! More Goliath and Elisa!