Sunday, May 27, 2007

Suppose I ought to have posted this here ...

Got an email the other day saying Kate Nepveu had written an open letter to me -- I didn't know about it, since I've been offline and only a couple SF-related people even had my email. I've had about 30 emails since poking my head back up again -- I have to admit, it's touching to be remembered that clearly across the time that's passed with no work and not much word from me.

Anyway, I posted this at Kate Nepveu's livejournal blog (or journal, I guess):

~~~~~

Sorry I haven't responded to you previously -- I've been offline having a life for about two years and only a couple people had my e-mail. I put up a blog at DanielKeysMoran.blogspot.com -- just went live a couple days ago -- and got an email mentioning your "Open Letter." I don't see it in this thread and don't quite understand how to navigate livejournal, so I hope you don't mind my replying here.

AI War was done, once -- I tore it up years ago to rewrite and left it in a torn-up state. Still, it wouldn't take a lot of work to get clean. The last year I've been writing -- a crime series proposal, a tv pilot about the Revolt of the Angels -- both those proposals are done and ready to be shopped. The next thing I'll be working on is AI War.

Now ... the book is still under contract to Bantam. I doubt they want it, but who knows? I'm going to call Bantam in June and find out -- all the people I was unhappy with at Bantam have been gone over a decade; if Bantam still wants that book, I'll let them publish it. If they don't, I'll find out what they want to kick it free. In any event, AI War is the only thing I'll be working on this summer, and once it's clean, I'm going to roll into the concluding sequel -- it's been years since I've written SF, but I am going to publish AI War and its sequel, Crystal Wind, before the people who care about it succumb to Alzheimers.

Take care.

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

Daniel,

It is so good to see you back online and even better to read your intention to publish AI War and it sequel! I've been waiting a mighty long time for more DKM material.

Thank you for hanging in there and coming back.

Anonymous said...

Hi Daniel,

It is so good to see you online again and talking about getting AI War and its sequel published.

I'm so pleased I could do a happy dance!

SouthPaw said...

Thank you Daniel for more "The Continuing Time".

Any chance of you doing "The Continuing Time" books in audio book format?

Anonymous said...

Hi Daniel. Can't say how long I've been waiting for an actual DKM sighting "in the wild". _The Long Run_ is one of my favorite books.

Can you set up a PayPal button? I think I can make an educated guess that there are numerous people who would be willing to support your literary endeavors with donations.

Sean Fagan said...

That would definitely be happy-dance material!

Anonymous said...

Dan,
I have a copy of the TLR screenplay which you signed for me and wrote, "To Pete, he of infinite patience and tact." I believe my wife and children would disagree with you strongly on that, but I will say that I will wait patiently, if not always tactfully, for your next work, no matter what it is. If it's a bit of CT, so much the better.
It's damned good to see you back in the wind...

Atergoboy said...

Welcome back! You have been missed...

I'm looking forward to AI War. The last thing I read was The Long Run; I missed the books after that one. Any chance of a reprint at the same time as AI War?

Anonymous said...

Speaking as someone who's read all the text fragments on kithrup.com multiple times, I will happily wait a little while more for AI War and more of the Continuing Time series, if it's actually gonna come out. It was when it wasn't gonna come out at all any more that I was very unhappy. You're in my buy-on-sight-in-hardback-if-needed category, which isn't all _that_ large.

Anonymous said...

All goood things come to he who waits, right?

Just last week I was snooping around the net for news, updates, anything that would lead me to believe that you were still alive and writing. When I heard the news today that you were back to your authoring ways I danced a jig in the kitchen.

The news brightened an otherwise fine day.

Cheers

(Go ahead and attach my name to the list of people who almost learned russian for the A.I. War)

Neil said...

Dan,

I read The Long Run my freshman year of high school (in the '80's), and it's still a book a reread on occasion. I think I can safely say I am one of your oldest fans (but probably one of the less fanatic).

I'm thrilled to hear that you're writing again, and even more thrilled that you are working on AI War.

Anonymous said...

Great to hear that you are working toward publishing AI War and a sequel. My anticipation has been building with the wait. I recently re-read TLR and Dancer and they are still fresh. Good luck with Bantam, either way!

Also great to hear the Lakers' struggles haven't driven you underground. It is becoming a soap opera (or has been since Shaq's last couple years).

John Stracke said...

I would gladly pay $50 for The AI War. Maybe if Bantam doesn't want to do it, you could get them to let you do a limited edition through Quiet Press. They get a cut, they don't have to promote it, and if it makes money they retain the right to publish it themselves.

Daniel Keys Moran said...

SouthPaw42 said...
>Any chance of you doing "The Continuing Time" books
>in audio book format?

Me personally? No, no time. If there were a market for it, sure, but no one's contacted me -- of course, no one's been able to contact me.

David Bilek (dtbilek@ca.rr.com) said...
>Hi Daniel. Can't say how long I've been waiting for
>an actual DKM sighting "in the wild". _The Long Run_
>is one of my favorite books.

>Can you set up a PayPal button?

Nope. :-) This isn't a cash flow issue (except generically; I work for a living doing SQL Server backends for busy websies, and it's a full-time job. No paypal button is going to replace that, and anything less than that is almost surely more trouble than it's worth.) But it's kind of you to ask.

eponymous said...
>I have a copy of the TLR screenplay

:-) Hi, Pete.


Atergoboy said...
>Any chance of a reprint at the same time as AI War?

Most likely. If Bantam wants to publish, I expect they'll want the earlier books -- I have the rights to them. If Bantam doesn't, I'll make the books available as e-books. I'll call them in June, probably the week of the 18th -- we've got court with Alan Rodgers prior to that point. (See http://thealanrodgersexperience.blogspot.com for details.)


bob d. said...
>great to hear the Lakers struggles haven't driven
>you underground.

Don't know, man. Between Jim Buss, Kobe (who just put Jerry West in an impossible position -- I love Kobe, love the intensity, the drive, the desire, but the kid's judgement is for shit) -- the soap opera of Jeannie, Phil, and just-got-arrested-for-drunk-driving 74 year old Jerry Buss (who had a 23 year old companion with him when he got busted -- props for that, anyway) ... it's hard to remember sometimes there's a game that takes place between the lines.

Max Kaehn said...

Excellent! I've been looking forward to The AI War for years. Count me in among the folks who will happily buy it in hardcover or limited edition.

Khyron said...

Glad to see you thinking about the CT again!

I was at Balticon this past weekend (mostly because Niven & Pournelle were the joint guests of honor, and because my wife had never been to a con) and asked every book dealer if they had any Daniel Keys Moran. None did, but all of them remembered your name. I was hoping for a replacement copy of TAB - I left mine in the seat pocket of a 747 within a year of getting it.

Anonymous said...

yeah, I treasure my hardcover Continuing Time novels from Wildside Press. Never read 'em, when I've re-read The Long Run and The Last Dancer I always go back to the paperbacks to keep the hardcovers in perfect condition.

I have no paperback of Emerald Eyes, though, and have never actually seen a copy of the original paperback.

Anonymous said...

I'll be checking back for updates - The Long Run has been one of my favorites since it came out. I still remember when you stopped in Seattle and hung out with fans at...The Elysium (brew pub)?

Glad to see you around!

Dave Aitel said...

Welcome back!

I read The Long Run when I was a kid and then grew up and started a business and when it was time to name our product, which is software that hacks into computers for you, I named it CANVAS, partially because it is a base to write an Image on.

In any case, can't wait to see AI War. It's been far too long!

-dave
www.immunityinc.com

toby said...

All I can say is -
Yay!!!
Perhaps that's a bit silly but I've been a fanatic of your writing for almost two decades now and still tell people the story of getting a phone call from you after my letter worked its way through some amazing list of publisher's assistants. :)

I'll echo the paypal comment and note that you have a significant following in the information security community (perhaps something about Trent ;) ).

Welcome back. Please let us know when we can pre-order the books.

Anonymous said...

I first read The Long Run about 10 years ago, and have since re-read each of the three novels of yours I have half a dozen times or so. Certainly favourites of mine. It would be great to have something fresh from you to read. Hope this is possible.

Anonymous said...

Fat Sam is back!

Even though I'm crazy late to this comment list and haven't even yet read any other posts here since....

Sweet!

Do consider a paypal option for other reasons. If you choose to do some public in-progress sampling (like at http://www.korval.com/fledgling) to generate some buzz or the like, it might just be cool for you to let your fans (though the majority of us remain ignorant of your re-emergence) foot the bill for something we'd enjoy having access to.

Anyway, Welcome Back!

Anonymous said...

Neither my wife nor I will give up our individual copies of "The Last Dancer"

I am looking forward to any future novels.

Anonymous said...

Hey there... I was wondering if you were still alive. I just found a copy of "The Last Dancer" at a used bookstore. I've had and enjoyed a copy of TLR for a long time.

Found THIS site through the Wikipedia article on you.

And, along with everyone else, I'm looking forward to "AI Wars".

--Jerry Wright
http://www.bewilderingstories.com

Anonymous said...

Good news indeed.

I still have my original copies of those paperbacks I bought of Armageddon Blues, Emerald Eyes, The Long Run and The Last Dancer - and my hardback of Terminal Freedom I special ordered from you. I think I'll go find them all and re-read them :)

I know you went on to other things for a long time now, but a lot of authors decide to revisit their favorite worlds later in life (like Ursula Le Guin with Earthsea, or Isaac Asimov writing new Foundation novels decades after the originals) and I still have hopes someday you'll want to write more of the Continuing time stories that sounded so wonderful when you wrote about them!

Anonymous said...

Oh, how have I missed this? Good thing i decided to look up DKM on wiki.

I have been a fan since Emerald Eyes and constantly reread Emerald Eyes, Long Run and the Last Dancer...usually about twice a year.

I can't get this series out of my head.

I hope (I don't pray) that AI War is released so I can add another fine novel to my endless cycles of rereads.

Anonymous said...

Hi Daniel,

I am glad that I still every once in a while google your name to see if anything new pops up. Gotta say that the Continuing Time Books are some of my favorite. I can't wait to see what happens next now that you are starting this back up.

Jason said...

Really looking forward to seeing AI Wars et seq. Please keep us updated on what's happening!

J.D. Ray said...

Just wanted to report that happy dancing at the office draws strange looks. Not that I care; DKM, it seems, is back in the house. Welcome back, Jimbo.

Reading through the comments, it's clear that your fans are no less vociferous (dare I say rabid?) than they ever have been. Well, "me too, me too!" Not to make any attempt at oneupmanship, but I liked The Ring as well (I know you don't, though I'm not sure why). I loaned out my copy about twenty years ago and never got it back. I keep looking for one to complete my collection, but so far there are none to be found.

Like many here, I'm virtually certain that I've read everything you've published at least once. Looking at the current crop of sci-fi on television and the trend toward sci-fi and fantasy in the theater, I would say that there's plenty of room for Continuing Time stories in screen form. Unlike Firefly and Serenity, if you started with a movie adaptation of The Long Run and produced a series after that of The Adventures of Trent the Uncatchable, it should have legs (I'm ever hopeful of another Browncoat movie or series as well, but that's another story).

I've also thought several times that the Maggie Archer story would make a good short film. Considering the quality of films being produced by people publishing on the likes of www.atomfilms.com, combined with the successes of somewhat obscure stories made into films on The Sci-Fi Channel, it seems like it would be, at the very least, worth investigating such a project. Maybe that afore-mentioned PayPal link could help fund an agent's fee to shop the story around.

So, in the intervening five months since you originally posted the announcement that The Continuing Time is continuing, how's progress? We all want to know.

Best regards,

J.D. Ray
Portland, Oregon
The Spoon

Anonymous said...

Hi, just want to leave a quick comment to say I'm really excited that the AI War is going to see the light of day, and even more so to learn that the Crystal Wind is on its way as well. Here's to the hope that they're not the last books we see in the Continuing Time!

I know I'm responding to a very old post, was just forwarded the information this weekend. I'm certainly no less excited for having come late to the good news. I've almost worn out my paperbacks of all your books, so will be looking forward to those being re-released again as well!

Anonymous said...

Mr. Moran,
I would love to see you produce and direct The Long Run into a movie. Aside from that I am ready to by any book you decide to write. I have been trying to write two books for 15 years and have not been able to capture the flavor your books have except for one chapter. You sir have spoiled me. Great Job. Tim

Daniel Keys Moran said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Daniel Keys Moran said...

I'd be happy to produce and direct a movie based on the Long Run. :-) I'd even be happy to sell an option...

It was optioned twice, but that was quite a while back.

Patrick said...

Hello Daniel,

Your book, Emerald Eyes, is what pulled me into SF (though I never found its match, except in your other novels). It always upset me that you couldn't make enough money to be a full time writer, since you are far more talented than some who do.

As everyone here, I can't wait to get a hold of AI War.

Keep writing please!

Anonymous said...

Mr. Moran

I about wet myself i was so excited to see your back to it. My entire family loves your work and have been waiting not so patiently for it. Every once in a while i pop up to see if you have made your return. Keep up the great work!

Anonymous said...

I just got a call today that this was happening. I own multiple copies of every one of the books except for The Ring. I even have one of the EE/TR books but its sealed in a plastic tub.

Thanks Dan!

Anonymous said...

Better hustle that sequel, my time's running out.