Tag Archives: Doc Savage

Atlanta: Tim Byrd @ DragonCon & Decatur Book Fest

For those in (or coming to) Atlanta, I’ll be making appearances at two big events on Labor Day weekend (Sep. 4-7).

I’ll be hopping back and forth between DragonCon in downtown Atlanta and the Decatur Book Festival in (you guessed it) Decatur all weekend.

At DragonCon, I’ll be on these panels:

Writing for the YA and Children’s Market
Time: Sun 11:30 am Location: Manila / Singapore / Hong Kong – Hyatt (Length: 1)
Description: How to write for an audience that’s half your age–or less. Tapping into the minds of today’s young people–what DO they want to read?

The Future of Fantastic Fiction
Time: Mon 04:00 pm Location: Manila / Singapore / Hong Kong – Hyatt (Length: 1)
Description: What lies ahead for the S/F, Fantasy and Horror genres? Can we forecast trends or should we just jump on the bandwagon?

At the Decatur Book Festival, I’ll be appearing along with author David Lubar at 4:30 pm Saturday on the Target Children’s Stage. Signed copies of the book will also be available the whole weekend at Little Shop of Stories on Decatur Square.

And I’ll be wandering both events with no real planning all weekend.

Books will be available at the DBF for signing after the appearance, and I’m going to try to have some on hand for random buyers at DragonCon. I hope to see as many current and potential Doc Wilde fans at both events as I can.

Get A Signed Copy Of Doc Wilde (or a signature for a copy you already have)

Go Wilde!

After promising various folks I’d do so, I have finally gotten around to figuring out how to handle personal inscriptions for folks unable to see me at a public appearance.

If you already own a copy of my book, for $1 US I’ll mail you a signed adhesive book plate to put in your copy, inscribed to whom and however you wish it to be inscribed (within reason).

If you don’t already own the book, or wish to obtain more copies, for cover price ($15.99) you can order a personally inscribed copy directly from me. Shipping is free (unless you’re outside the US, then I’ll have to check on rates). Again, I’ll sign it to whomever you wish.

A note to collectors: the first printing has sold through about 2/3 of the way since the book came out in May. So if you’d like your copy to be a first edition, you may want to get your order in sooner rather than later.

Payment can be made by credit or debit card via PayPal (there will be an additional .50-75 charge to cover PayPal fees) or by money order (no checks). I can assume no responsibility for postal failures; if you’d like to insure the delivery, it’s an additional $1.75.

To order, contact me through the Contact form on the Doc Wilde site. And, as always, please be patient if I take a few days replying, as I’m doing all this on my own.

School Library Journal Reviews Doc Wilde!

As promised earlier, here is the review School Library Journal gave my book, Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom, in their August 1st issue. I edited out a line I thought was a bit too much a spoiler about the plot.

This genial parody owes much to Kenneth Robeson’s iconic “Doc Savage” novels (Bantam) and the eldritch tales of H. P. Lovecraft. Like the original Man of Bronze, Doc Spartacus Wilde is an international adventurer–he’s a master of martial arts, chemistry, disguise, and pretty much every other skill a true champion needs. Moreover, he has trained his children, Wren and Brian, to follow in his outsized footsteps. Every pulp hero needs a colorful sidekick or two, and the Wilde family has brawny Irishman Declan and dapper English attorney Bartlett–fast friends who bicker and spar constantly. When Grandpa Wilde is kidnapped by froglike beings, Wren and Brian accompany their dad’s team deep into the Amazon rainforest to the hidden country of Hidalgo…[Spoilage removed]

The action bounces breathlessly from crisis to crisis, with the Wilde family’s scientific gadgetry and arcane skills in constant demand. The mock heroic dialogue is sometimes a bit exaggerated, but for the most part, everything is played with a straight face. Kids won’t be familiar with the adult-oriented sources, but the book’s small format, breakneck pacing, and broad humor will appeal to middle-grade adventure fans.

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Booklist Reviews Doc Wilde!

There are certain reviews that are very important for a book. Publishers’ Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, School Library Journal, and Booklist are biggies because bookstores, libraries, and schools use them to make their decisions about what books to buy for their shelves.

Unfortunately, a lot of books are published every year, and those publications can’t cover all of them. I’ve been fortunate not only in the fact that most of them have now reviewed my book Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom, but have reviewed it very positively.

Back in March, I posted Kirkus‘s review, in which they said:

Written in fast-paced, intelligent prose laced with humor and literary allusions ranging from Dante to Dr. Seuss, the story has all of the fun of old-fashioned pulp adventures.

Good stuff.

More recently, the August 1st issues of both Booklist and School Library Journal had reviews of the book. I’ll post SLJ‘s later; today’s treat is the review from Booklist:

Daring adventure! Dastardly villains! Climactic cliffhangers! Readers seeking these attributes in a book, look no further. Byrd updates the old movie serials genre, populates his story with an adventure-seeking family that brings to mind superhero versions of Steve Irwin and his children, and dusts the whole thing with Indiana Jones–style searches for magical artifacts. Oh, and he adds frogs, lots and lots of frogs. Brian and Wren Wilde are being raised by their widower father, who is not only an adventurer extraordinaire but also designs high-tech gadgets, speaks many languages, understands the nuances of other cultures, and performs martial arts with equal skill. Brian and Wren are pretty good in those areas too. So when their grandfather is captured in the South American jungle by those who worship a frog king intent on swallowing the universe, thus turning it into a black hole, well, something must be done. The premise can get awfully silly even for a book that’s more like a cartoon. But the action never stops and the quick pace will appeal to reluctant readers.

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Tim’s Goin’ On The Radio Again…

radio

This Sunday (August 16) I’ll be interviewed on the monthly science fiction show on WREK radio. We’ll be talking about Doc Wilde, and perhaps about saving the world, we’ll see.

Here’s the blurb from WREK:

The Science Fiction Laboratory on WREK Atlanta (91.1 FM) airs the third Sunday of every month from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. This Sunday, August 16, 2009 we will broadcast, among other things, an interview with author Tim Byrd and a discussion of our favorite pieces of the quickly developing vampire mythology. For listeners not in the Greater Atlanta Metropolitan Area, we stream online at http://www.wrek.org; just click the play button in the upper right. We also stream the show for two weeks after the broadcast. You can access the archive by clicking “Listen to our 14-day archive!” on the left side of the WREK homepage and finding the correct date and time of the show.

Doc Savage Meets Batman

Cool news for pulp fans…

docspiritA while back, DC Comics released the above image by Brian Stelfreeze, teasing a new series of comics set in an alternate dimension within the DC multiverse in which old pulp heroes rather than modern superheroes are active.

The series is called First Wave, and is being written by comics scribe Brian Azzarello with art by Rags Morales. More early info was provided by Morales in an interview with Newsarama:

It’s a world of heroism at its most innocent. We’re talking about, essentially, a universe where superpowers don’t exist. There are no people flying in from Krypton…there are no people swimming up from the ocean or from Paradise Island. We’re talking about the heart and soul of what it means to be heroic, where people are left more to their wits and their intestinal fortitude rather than any fierce other-worldly technology, or even inner-worldly technology…it’s not really accurate to call it a “modernization” because this is going to be enough of that original flavor to feel like it’s old-school, with fedoras and women in high heels and the cool things about what’s gangster and pulp, like Tommy guns. But it’s going to also be enough of an advancement to feel fresh. Tommy guns will exist in a world where computers exist. We’re going to be dealing with a world that is kind of like the Batman Adventures from The WB, where you have dirigibles next to jetplanes. That’s basically the visual interpretation of the atmosphere I’m dealing with…

That’s an approach I like, and is pretty much the approach I’m taking in the Doc Wilde books (for example, the police blimps in Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom).

Morales continued:

…we’ll have Doc Savage, the Spirit and The Avenger in there, and I’m working out how they’re going to look. Doc Savage won’t have that exaggerated widow’s peak, but I’m going with the classic looks on the characters with some updating. And in this world, Doc Savage is Superman. I mean, after all, Superman was derived from Doc Savage, along with Buck Rogers and Popeye and some others. But Doc Savage was the original guy with the Fortress of Solitude up in the arctic. He’s an inventor, and he’s got a very moral ethic. In a world of non-powered heroes, he’s going to be our focal point.

This week, the DC Universe blog told us how the pulp fun will begin:

This November, writer Brian Azzarello teams with artist Phil Noto for the BATMAN/DOC SAVAGE SPECIAL #1, which sets the stage for an entire new world for the Doc, along with a slew of characters that will pop up later, including the Blackhawks and Rima, the Jungle Girl. It all starts here, and I’m not exaggerating when I say you’re really in for a treat.

And two variant covers for the special were posted, the first by J.G. Jones:

batdss-01-coverThen one by Rags Morales:

doc-savage-spec-cv1

Looks promising. Hopefully it’ll live up to its potential.

Doc Wilde like “the old fashioned adventure shows from the 1930’s and 40’s…” (review)

Film producer Sajie reviews Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom at her blog:

This book reminds me of the old fashioned adventure shows from the 1930’s and 40’s like Tarzan, Superman and Flash Gordon. Lots of adventure, a little over the top, but fun.

I loved the relationship between Dr. Wilde and his kids. Concerned and caring, but also trusting them to be able to take care of themselves….

The rest is here.

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The Perfidy of Nostalgia… (A Warning Re: Doc Savage/The Shadow Reprints)

On the recently raised subject of Sanctum Books’ pulp reprints, Anthony Tollin of Sanctum recently released the following statement about their previous association with Nostalgia Ventures, and the unfortunate fallout of that association:

An open letter to the pulp community:

For those taking advantage of the discounted SHADOW and DOC SAVAGE volumes at Half-Price Books, please be aware that Nostalgia Ventures began remaindering these books last summer in direct violation of its sub-contract with me. Also, as of today (July 22, 2009), Nostalgia Ventures has still not paid royalties to either Condé Nast or me for any books it has sold since July 1st, 2008. (A semi-annual royalty payment was due back in February, and another six months of royalties are coming due in August.)

There is a very good reason why Nostalgia Ventures/Nostalgiatown is no longer co-publishing these books, and it involves a continuing series of contract violations.

And for anyone who may not be sympathetic because Condé Nast is a huge corporation, please be aware that Condé Nast has chosen to continue the oral agreement it had for decades with Walter Gibson, and is splitting its royalties for the SHADOW reprints with Walter’s family. This is an extremely rare and decent act that is quite unusual in the publishing world.

I think my SHADOW and DOC SAVAGE double-novel trade paperbacks are a great value at the $12.95 cover price. Obviously, the books are an even better value at discounted prices. However, please be aware that purchasing these books from either Half-Price Books or Nostalgiatown does nothing to encourage the continuation of these series. And since Nostalgia Ventures still hasn’t paid its contract-required royalties for any of the books it has sold during the past 12 1/2 months, the money from Nostalgia Ventures’ and Half-Price Books’ sales also hasn’t been continuing on to Walter Gibson’s family.

It’s not necessary to purchase THE SHADOW and DOC SAVAGE directly from Sanctum Books to support the ongoing publishing operation and encourage the continuation of these reprints. Bud Plant Comic Art, Adventure House, Mike Chomko, Vintage Library, Girasol, Edge Books, The Mysterious Bookshop and any comic specialty shop that orders its books from Diamond Comic Distributors all get their books either directly or indirectly through Sanctum Books (which continues to make its regular royalty payments to Condé Nast and would like to continue publishing these reprints for many more years).

Please feel free to forward this message on to other pulp-oriented email groups.

–Anthony Tollin, Sanctum Books

Doc Wilde: “The guy every man wants to be, and every woman wants to be with.”

Today’s review has me pegged:

Tim Byrd is a man who read way too many pulps as a child, and realized the death of that subgenre was a loss to the world…

Thus begins another very positive review of Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom, this time from writer Ian Randal Strock for SF Scope (“your source of news about the speculative fiction fields”).

Doctor Spartacus Wilde is the modern man of bronze. Very modern. Oh, he’s fabulously wealthy, handsome, gifted in every field of endeavor, universally recognized, and surrounded by devoted friends and helpers (sort of like Buckaroo Banzai, but without the rock band). But Doc Wilde differs from his dashing forebears in one important way: family. Doc’s family is an intimate part of his world, first and foremost his not-quite-pubescent children, Brian and Wren. They’re miniature versions of their father, from the blonde hair, bronzed skin, and omnivoracious mental appetite, to their incredibly physical training and stamina, and on to the adventurers’ vests containing every conceivable tool they’ll need for any adventure…

Doc’s the guy every man wants to be, and every woman wants to be with. But this is a book for kids (just about the ages of Brian and Wren, 12 and 10), so those women don’t enter into the story…

Well, not this story. But Doc, a widower, will have some opportunity for romance at some point in the future. And, as we’ve established very well by now, lots of grown ups are enjoying the book. But I quibble. ;)

I really like “omnivoracious mental appetite.” That’s wonderful.

…So Doc and the kids (along with their faithful aide Phineas Bartlett and their driver/strongman Declan mac Coul) take to the autogyro and head south. In the primordial rain forest, they’ll encounter powers so strong as to change a man into a, well, man-frog. They’ll deal with political intrigue and religious hysteria. And they’ll eventually face down a god, trying to break down the barriers between alternate realities in an effort to swallow ours. Naturally, our heroes are heroic, and they’ll find Grandpa Wilde before their work is done. But getting there is all the fun…

…The party will be forcefully separated, death will be threatened, danger will loom, unexpected (but completely logical) skills will reveal themselves to aid in the saving of the day, and things will seem darkest just before they go completely black. But never fear: the Wildes are here.

This review makes my day. Read it in its unabridged (and not spoilery) wonderfulness here.

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An Armchair Review of Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom

Today’s review:

Alex McGilvery at Armchair Interviews gives Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom a damn good review:

Tim Byrd writes with an infectious enthusiasm…The characters of the family are well enough developed to gain the reader’s sympathy, but there is plenty of room for the occasional surprise…

Any book that introduces the Frogs of Doom has to have a sense of humor. Tim uses both over-the-top storytelling and understatement to keep the reader chuckling through the book.

This is a book for both young boys and girls to enjoy.

The book is clever and well written, the characters engaging, and young readers may accidentally learn something along the way.

Go here to read the rest (it’s all good).

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Doc Wilde, A Book To Corrupt The Young (Review)

But corrupt ’em in the good way.

No, no. Not that good way! Settle down.

Patricia Scott (aka Dragonwomant) reviews my book, Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom, for BSC Reviews:

Fans of pulp stories hoping to recruit a new generation of readers can rejoice.  They now have a fantastic pamphlet they can use to corrupt the younger set in the form of Doc Wilde and the Frogs of Doom.

That kind of corruption. The “turning kids on to classic pulp adventure tales” kind of corruption.

Which was all part of my sinister plan…

I think that this book would be great for [those] who like adventure stories, especially if they’re very fond of Indiana Jones movies or shows about exploring far-flung locales. I also think that this book would be a hoot for reading aloud, it would certainly lend itself well to very animated story telling.

There’s a good deal more, including this great line:

The Wildes are all practically superhumanly good-looking, frighteningly intelligent, and so skilled in combat only large groups of idiots willing to fight them would even think about trying to attack them.

Read the whole thing here.

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A Clever Review of Doc Wilde

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Travis Jonker, an elementary school librarian, reviews my novel, Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom, at 100 Scope Notes, and takes an unusual approach:

Chapter 1

Travis sits down to review the new middle grade adventure Doc Wilde and the Frogs of Doom. He decides to incorporate the book’s cliffhanger-heavy style into the review when there is a knock at the door. He gets up as the knocking becomes more urgent. When Travis opens the door, he can’t believe what he sees.

He follows with several short “chapters” lampooning the style and structure of the book, but in a fun way (not a mean way). It’s kinda smartass. But from me, that’s praise.

There are some spoilers in the review, so be warned. His ultimate summary is:

Inspired by the Doc Savage pulp adventures from the ’30s and ’40s, Doc Wilde and his family are heroes in the classic sense: smart, athletic, strong, well-traveled, and good-looking. The author, aware of how impossible this is, presents these over-the-top characters with a bit of subtle humor, which every kid won’t pick up on. This fact isn’t likely to deter many, however.

The whole thing is here.

More Kudos For Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom!!!

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As blogged yesterday, I’ve been on a net vacation of sorts driven by my fine Celtic melancholy (that’s a poetic way of saying my shifty brain chemistry and the crap I went through in my formative years). During that time, there were a few stars sparkling out of the blackness, one of the main ones being the continued excellent critical response to my novel, Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom.

I have a short backlog of reviews I haven’t blogged about yet, but I don’t want to toss them all out at once because that might be tedious for folks reading. So I’m going to parcel them out over a week or so.

Today’s comes from MyShelf.com, and is by writer Janie Franz (author of Freelance Writing: It’s a Business, Stupid!).

Move over, Doc Savage. Get out of the way, Indiana Jones. Make room, Artemis Fowl. There’s a new adventure hero / family in town!…I was thoroughly excited by Doc Wilde and the Frogs of Doom…Not only was there non-stop adventure but there were interesting characters…I can’t wait for more adventures from Doc Wilde and his intrepid family.

She also reinforces other folks who have pointed out that the book isn’t just for boys…

Doc Wilde and the Frogs of Doom is a great read for kids. Though some of the blurbs on the back of the book tout this as an adventure novel for boys, its appeal is certainly not restricted to them. Wren is definitely a very clever and capable little girl and just as courageous as her brother, Brian. This story will most certainly appeal to girls who are as enamored of narrow escapes, crazy gadgets, and unusual creatures.

At this point, I’ve had the opportunity to hear from several young readers (and even more grown-up readers) who loved the book, and I’ve actually heard from more girls than boys (a fact with no actual statistical bearing, I’m sure, but the girls who read it dig it as much as the boys).

I’ve quoted only part of the review, as usual. The whole thing is at this link.

A Study in Contrasts (Two New Doc Wilde Reviews)

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Yesterday, I got notification of a new review of my novel Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom. When I finished enjoying it (because it was by someone who really enjoyed the book), I glanced at my email, and lo, there was another new review.

So I clicked over to it, ready to enjoy, only to find the closest thing to a bad review I’ve gotten yet (out of nearly twenty).

It’s an interesting bit of happenstance that these reviews appeared at pretty much the same time, because they are from two very distinct viewpoints: that of someone who knows and loves pulp adventure stories, and that of someone who isn’t familiar with pulp and seems not to care for it. Continue reading →

My Interview With Enchanting YA

My latest interview is with Lisa at Enchanting YA:

Why action/adventure?

I love adventure stories. Always have.

I was recently thinking about this very question, about why this is the sort of thing that my mind comes up with (as opposed to, say, suburban divorce stories), and it occurred to me that most adventure tales are tales of optimism. The heroes face difficulties, and almost always manage to overcome them. Adventure stories are usually considered escapism, a retreat from our daily reality, but I think instead they actually motivate us subconsciously to engage reality. They give us models of perseverance and hope.

The rest is here.

Mystery Novelist Bill Crider Reviews Doc Wilde

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Bill Crider, a well-regarded novelist writing mainly in the mystery genre, but not exclusively, provides the latest review of Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom. Something tells me he’s a longtime pulp fan like me:

Looking for a Doc Savage pastiche and a Lovecraftian adventure all in one?  Look no further.  Tim Byrd has it for you right here.  Doctor Spartacus Wilde and his two kids, Brian and Wren, are plunged into action almost from page one when they learn of the disappearance of Grandpa Wilde.  They go from the top of what’s obviously the Empire State Building to the South American jungle, tangling with all kinds of weird frogs, not to mention frog-men, along the way…

It’s all in good fun, and you should know by now if this is your kind of thing.  If it is, you’re probably already waiting for the sequels, which should come along very soon.

The whole piece is here.

My Strange Interview With Old Bat’s Belfry

Old Bat’s Belfry, which earlier reviewed my book, has now posted an unusual interview with me, with decidedly non-standard questions:

What quirky habit do you have that often gets you teased by your peers or family?

Well, being a writer, and not having to report anywhere to do my job, I am routinely derelict about shaving. So I maintain varying levels of scruffiness, sometimes all the way up to what many call a beard, but I deny that, telling them it’s not, it’s just a really deep five o’clock shadow. I don’t like beards. They itch and they’re soup magnets.

For the rest, go here.

An Enchanting Review of Doc Wilde

A new review of Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom has been posted, this time at Enchanting YA:

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I started DOC WILDE AND THE FROGS OF DOOM, but the story quickly drew me in within a few pages. Immensely detailed, it soon felt like I was on the trail of Grandpa Wilde right along with the family. The mystery element was strong throughout the entire book and the characters of Doc Wilde and family are bigger than life…An interesting start to what should be a very entertaining series, readers looking for something different will no doubt enjoy this tale.

The rest is here.

I Get Interviewed

I did a short interview with MOVParent.com, the website of Parent Magazine, and think it came out pretty well…

MOVPARENT: If you could go back in time and tell your high school/middle school self one thing, what would it be?

BYRD: “Keep your eyes on the prize and write, write, write.”

I decided to be a writer when I was five; forty years later, my first book is coming out. I procrastinated, put lots of time into things I didn’t get much satisfaction out of, and didn’t have enough faith in myself. So I’d encourage the younger me to get on task a lot sooner so he wouldn’t have to struggle quite so much, or at least could struggle instead to build a longer writing career.

The full piece is here.

A Wonderful Doc Wilde Review!

I love this review of Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom, from Mulluane at Old Bat’s Belfry…

It begins:

The fun with this book starts with the front cover and does not stop until the very last page!

How can I not love this review? It was love at first sight!

…There is more then just nonstop action and adventure in this story, though it has those in spades, it is also educational. There are explanations for everything from nanotechnology to meditation techniques. This book was written for the 10+ age group and while I agree that some of the educational portions of the book (I loved those by the way) might be lost on younger kids, I still kept having the same vision. I kept seeing myself reading this book to my grandkids, who are 5 and 6 years old. Not them reading it themselves mind you, but me reading it to them, a few chapters at a time, explaining things myself if needed. They might not understand some of the more technical aspects but it would not matter, they would LOVE the story! And, possibly learn a few things along the way. This book would be perfect for bedtime reading, the chapters are short and there are plenty of cliffhanger chapter endings to keep them begging for “just one more chapter…pleeeese…” You may find that you have a hard time putting it down yourself!…

…It was perfect. Fast paced, fun, entertaining and even I learned a few things in the process. There was also a touching family quality to the whole thing that was priceless. It was one of those rare books that leaves you feeling really good once it is done. What a great story and a great way to end my day.

There’s more to it than that, so go read it here. How can you not? It’s a very loveable review…