Book News: 'Ender's Game' Author Responds To Boycott Threats

Orson Scott Card poses at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, in 2008.

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.
The Ender's Game author and anti-gay activist Orson Scott Card responded to boycotts threats against the upcoming film adaptation starring Harrison Ford. The queer geek group Geeks OUT is organizing boycotts and "Skip Ender's Game" events in several U.S. cities because of Card's views on homosexuality. He wrote in 2008 that "marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government and bring it down." Card responded to the backlash in a statement to Entertainment Weekly: "With the recent Supreme Court ruling, the gay marriage issue becomes moot. ... Now it will be interesting to see whether the victorious proponents of gay marriage will show tolerance toward those who disagreed with them when the issue was still in dispute."A few weeks after a historic collection of black history books was discovered in a dumpster outside a school in Highland Park, Mich., protests continue and a school board member has resigned. City Emergency Manager Donald Weatherspoon said the collection had been thrown away by accident but noted that the city didn't have the resources to maintain it, according to The Detroit Free Press. Residents pulled about a thousand books on black culture and history from the trash. The collection was started after the civil rights movement, when demand began to grow for a school curriculum that included black history.Amazon announced Tuesday that it will launch a comics and graphic novels imprint called Jet City Comics. One of their first publications will be a comic adaptation of George R.R. Martin's short story "Meathouse Man," which Martin says is "one of my strangest, darkest, and most twisted short stories."GOP Colorado Senate candidate Jaxine Bubis was recently revealed to be Jaxine Daniels, author of steamy erotic novels. Bubis joins a list of porn-dabbling politicians, including Scooter Libby and his 2005 novel The Apprentice.Rejoice, unhappy spinsters of America — the "Princeton mom" is writing a self-help book to help you "avoid an unwanted life of spinsterhood with cats."Reed Johnson writes about the enigmatic "Voynich manuscript," a medieval text written in an unbroken code, noting "the perverse sway that the book has over its would-be conquerors." He writes: "But as much as each of us strives to be the one to crack the code, I think few of us would truly like to see it solved ... the book's resistance to being read is what sets it apart. Undeciphered, the manuscript exists in a sort of quantum indeterminacy — one that collapses into a single meaning the moment the text is finally measured and understood. And no matter how thrilling such a text might be, it will remain a disappointment for being closed off, completed — for being, in the end, no longer a mystery."According to The Mumbai Mirror, Hamish Hamilton, an imprint of the newly-merged Penguin Random House, has asked the author Vikram Seth to return a $1.7 million advance for failing to turn in his manuscript for A Suitable Girl, the sequel to his hugely successful (and, at about 1,400 pages, huge) novel A Suitable Boy. Seth's agent told The Mirror by phone that "Vikram has been known to take his time with his books. Our aim is to settle this new date with Hamish. If we can't, then Vikram will decide what he wants to do next."

Robert Pattinson Parties with 'Fifty Shades' Author E.L. James

Rumors that Robert Pattinson could be in line to play Christian Grey in the movie adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey were refueled when the actor was spotted partying with the book's author, E.L. James.

James was reportedly among the guests at a birthday party for director Nicholas Jarecki, hosted by the Twilight star at his Los Feliz, Calif., home on Saturday.

Heather Graham, Michelle Rodriguez and Ellen Page were also at the bash, People and E! Online report.

James revealed last week that Sam Taylor-Johnson would direct the Focus Features and Universal movie adaptation of her best-selling book.

STORY: 'Fifty Shades of Grey' Movie Secures Director

Writer Kelly Marcel is currently working on a script for the film that's set to be produced by Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti.

Casting choices have not yet been announced, but Alex Pettyfer, Ian Somerhalder and Ryan Gosling have all been mentioned as possible candidates for the male lead.

 

Iconic Sci-Fi Author Richard Matheson Dies at 87

Richard Matheson, the author of classic sci-fi stories such as The Shrinking Man and many iconic episodes of The Twilight Zone, has died. He was 87.

Matheson died at his home in Calabasas, Calif., of natural causes.

Brooklyn-born Matheson graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in journalism and moved to California in 1951, but he was already on the path of a fantasy and sci-fi writer: He sold his first story, "Born of Man and Woman," to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1950.

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Matheson became a master of the short story, penning dozens and dozens of stories during the course of his 40-some-odd-year career, including 1953’s Hell House and, later, 1971's Duel, which were adapted for big screens and small. (Duel, which like many of Matheson's stories he adapted himself, was the ABC telefilm that elevated a young Steven Spielberg and showed the suspense chops that he'd bring to Jaws.)

"Richard Matheson's ironic and iconic imagination created seminal science-fiction stories and gave me my first break when he wrote the short story and screenplay for Duel," Spielberg said in a statement. "His Twilight Zones were among my favorites, and he recently worked with us on Real Steel. For me, he is in the same category as Bradbury and Asimov."

In 1956, Matheson wrote The Shrinking Man, which was turned into the classic sci-fi film The Incredible Shrinking Man. The film also gave him his debut as a feature screenwriter. “My original story was a metaphor for how man’s place in the world was diminishing. That still holds today, where all these advancements that are going to save us will be our undoing,” Matheson told THR when MGM acquired the rights to develop a new movie. Matheson was writing the new screenplay with his son, Richard Matheson Jr.

Matheson’s work often has been adapted for the screen: Somewhere in Time, What Dreams May Come and Stir of Echoes have all been movies, but his sci-fi vampire novel I Am Legend was the basis for three different adaptations: 1964’s The Last Man on Earth, the 1971 Charlton Heston movie Omega Man and the 2007 Will Smith movie, I Am Legend.

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Starting in the late 1950s, he entered the television realm -- writing for series like Star Trek, Wanted Dead or Alive, Combat!, Kolchak: The Night Stalker and The Alfred Hitckcock Hour -- but it was with his 16 episodes of Twlight Zone that he influenced a future generation of storytellers such as Stephen King, Anne Rice, Damon Lindelof, Steve Niles and Seth Grahame Smith. (One of those episodes, "Steel," was expanded into the 2011 Hugh Jackman movie Real Steel.)

Among the episodes was the unforgettable 1963 installment Nightmare at 20,000 Feet starring William Shatner. Matheson talked about his inspiration for the story during a 2002 interview with the Archive of American Television.

“I was on an airplane and I looked out and there was all these fluffy clouds and I thought, ‘Gee what if I saw a guy skiing across that like it was snow?’ because it looked like snow. But when I thought it over, that’s not very scary, so I turned it into a gremlin out on the wing of the airplane.”

"We were all with him when he passed," said Matheson Jr. "It was very peaceful. Even though we were sobbing, it was beautiful in its own way. He was a majestic talent and he was every bit as wonderful as a father, a friend and a husband."

Lindelof, who co-created the TV phenomenon Lost, credits Matheson as a huge influence:

"Richard Matheson was a juggernaut of genre... But his writing never lost sight of the characters who inhabited the incredible worlds he created.  Every time I fly, I look out at the wing, just in case.  He will be profoundly missed."

 

Author Richard Matheson 'I Am Legend' Writer, Dies At 87

Author Richard Matheson, whose injection of humanity into science-fiction tales engaged audience for more than five decades, has died. Matheson's work included The Shrinking Man
, I Am Legend, and numerous other movie and TV scripts, including episodes of The Twilight Zone.
Matheson was 87. His death Sunday was announced online after his daughter, Ali, wrote of his passing. The genre website Shock Till You Drop quotes her, citing author John Shirley, who posted her statement on Facebook:

"My beloved father passed away yesterday at home surrounded by the people and things he loved...he was funny, brilliant, loving, generous, kind, creative, and the most wonderful father ever...I miss you and love you forever Pop and I know you are now happy and healthy in a beautiful place full of love and joy you always knew was there..."

Many of Matheson's stories placed otherwise normal people in extreme or fantastic circumstances — a hallmark of The Twilight Zone
, for which he wrote more than a dozen episodes. He also wrote a short story about a trucker tailgating a driver, which he then used to create a screenplay for the 1971 Steven Spielberg film Duel, starring Dennis Weaver.
At io9, Rob Bricken summarizes some of Matheson's other career highlights:

"Along with I Am Legend, Matheson

wrote What Dreams May Come, A Stir of Echoes, and The Shrinking Man, all of which became Hollywood movies (in the case of I Am Legend, more than a few times). He was also one of the original Twilight Zone's greatest screenwriters, penned the classic William Shatner-starring episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet." His Twilight Zone episode "Steel" became the basis for Real Steel, starring Hugh Jackman."
Another film adaptation of I Am Legend
was 1971's The Omega Man, with Charlton Heston in the lead role. In 2011, NPR readers voted the novel No. 65 on a list of the Top 100 science fiction books.
Matheson also took up the essential questions of the human condition in his 1993 non-fiction book The Path,
based on the concepts of Harold W. Percival.
Member station KPCC reports, "Writers from Stephen King to Anne Rice cited Matheson as an influence. In 1984, Matheson received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. In 2010, he was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame."

As for how Matheson viewed his work, Io9 pulled this quote from a 2007 interview with CinemaSpy:

"I think we're yearning for something beyond the every day. And I will tell you I don't believe in the supernatural, I believe in the supernormal. To me there is nothing that goes against nature. If it seems incomprehensible, it's only because we haven't been able to understand it yet."

 

Author Anne Rice Defends Paula Deen Against 'Lynch Mob Culture'

Author Anne Rice has come to the defense of former Food Network chef Paula Deen following her admission that she has used the "n-word" in the past.

In a Facebook post, Rice -- best known as the author of the Vampire Chronicles books -- questioned whether the criticism lobbied at Deen is justified.

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"What's happening with Paula Dean? [sic] Is it fair? I never heard of her until today, and wow, this looks like a crucifixion," Rice wrote, adding: "I may be wrong but aren't we becoming something of a lynch mob culture? Is this a good example of that?"

A total of 1,808 people have "liked" the post, with commenters split on whether they agree with Rice.

Wrote Melinda Barrett: "For this to come out about something being said years ago is a bit much of a witch hunt."

Replied Rice: "Also it was a private remark to a caterer. It wasn't something she wrote on her FB page or on a billboard."

Commented Anton Brown: "ass a black man.i say leavwe her alone.rappers and comedians use tge qord everyday and no one said or says s--t [sic]."

Replied Rice: "Appreciated. I honestly don't think she meant to hurt anyone. She made the remark privately to an employee who is now suing her. Pretty ugly stuff, law suits."

STORY: Food Network Won't Renew Paula Deen's Contract 

Yet others disagreed with Rice and her supporters.

"If I boasted to a public forum about using racial slurs I would be fired too, and deserve it," wrote Netanii Natalie Jean. "She's been FIRED, not lynched."

Still others were harsher in their comments.

"Anne Rice, really?!! As an African American educator and New Orleanian I am offended that you would assume the Ms. Deen is being crucified!" Tia J. Crowley wrote. "Did you not read, the words she spoke? If not, please do. African Americans fight for equal rights everyday. I live in. state - Louisiana - where if you drive to the Northshore, you can easily find people who think like Deen, herself. You disappoint me."

Wrote Adwoa Amoah: "Crucified? This woman is not Jesus. And did you really use the word 'lynch' to describe a woman being fired for being a racist? How utterly absurd. The Food Network has every right to no longer want to be affiliated with Paula Deen. She is reaping what she's sown. And the word n----r was not used with anything but malice, derision and hate. You are of course all entitled to your opinions but that makes you as racist as this unemployed woman. Disgusting."

STORY: Paula Deen Defends Use of N-Word: I 'Was Born 60 Years Ago' 

Meanwhile, Jeri Milburn quipped: "More shocking than these allegations against Paula is the fact that Anne has never heard of her until today!"

The Deen controversy began Wednesday when a transcript of a videotaped court deposition was unearthed. In the deposition, Dean admitted to using racial slurs in the past. She and her brother Bubba Hiers are being sued by the former manager of their Savannah restaurants, Lady and Sons and Bubba’s Seafood and Oyster House. The suit claims Deen and her brother committed multiple acts of violence, discrimination and racism.

In the wake of the revelation, Deen has been dropped by Food Network and lost her endorsement deal with pork company Smithfield, but fans have flocked to her restaurant Lady and Sons and talked about boycotting the channel to show their support of the chef.

She's scheduled to appear on NBC's Today on Wednesday.

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