Friday Hot Seat - Gary K. Wolf isn't just Roger Rabbit!

Gary K. Wolf is known for his Roger Rabbit creations, but Gary writes more than RR books.  He has also transitioned into the world or ePublishing with two releases at Musa Publishing.  In addition, Musa will release Who Wacked Roger Rabbit in eBook this coming November.  But all you Gary fans can get your fix in the meantime with the two books available at Musa.

The book in today’s spotlight is The Late Great Show.  I’m currently reading this one and laughing my way through.  What a great spin on the godly realms.

So let's find out why Gary went ePub!  And remember, he loves to hear from readers!

There were a lot of years in between books after Who Sensored Roger Rabbit and then more again after the sequel. When you decided to venture back into publishing again, why did you decide e-Publishing is the way to go?

I could easily have published my books through a major print publishing house. Instead, I choose to publish them digitally.

That decision evolves directly from the way I work, from the core philosophy of what I write and why I write it. I always push the boundaries in my writing. I invent worlds that nobody else ever thought about. I create unique characters and situations. I try to always be at the forefront of my craft. That includes the way my writing is presented to my readers.

Digital publishing is clearly the way books are headed, so I’m heading that way, too. E-books make sense to me. E-books are less expensive to buy, easier to carry around -- kind of like that first paperback novel I bought when I was a kid -- and completely science fiction cool in the way they look and operate.

There’s another, more personal aspect to it. Sooner or later, most hardcover books go out of print. That happened with the first Roger Rabbit novel. Fans wanted to buy it and read it, but couldn’t because it wasn’t in print anymore. Well guess what? Now it’s back in digital format. It will stay back forever. That’s the beauty of the digital printing process. My works will never go out of print.

Digital publishing is the wave of the future, and I’ve always been a wave of the future kind of guy. For me, going digital wasn’t a last resort. It was a necessity.

You have two books, The Late Great Show and Typical Day, currently out at Musa Publishing and a third Roger Rabbit scheduled to release November 2013. Of all the eBook publishers available, how did you come to select Musa Publishing?

When it came to picking a specific electronic publisher, I chose to go with MUSA.

MUSA is a small and very well-run company. I know everybody who works there from the Directors on down. That would never happen at one of the big publishers.

The editors I’ve had at MUSA have been first rate, as good as any I’ve had at any regular print house. They don't just check my punctuation and spelling. They get me. They understand what I’m trying to do with my writing. They encourage me to go for it, to take chances, to take my creativity as far as I want. They give me good, sound structural and thematic advice. My writing is much improved because of their comments and suggestions.

I especially like the way MUSA has taken digital publishing into areas that I never thought of. Using proprietary software, I’m able to interact with them electronically in real time. My editor, the publicity department, the art department, and everybody else involved with my work all have instant access to everything I submit. And vice versa.

I even have a say in what the cover looks like. What a treat that is. That almost never happens to a writer working with a major print publisher.

Best of all, MUSA’s accounting and royalty information is made available to me on line. I can check my sales figures and count my moola any time I want, 24/7. That’s something I would never get from a regular publisher.

The Late Great Show

By Gary K. Wolf

Blurb:

Welcome back to the amazing fantasy world of Roger Rabbit creator Gary K. Wolf. This time it’s murder, intrigue, and godly shenanigans.

The Greek Gods, who have relocated to a glitzy mountaintop in Southern California, aren’t getting the pious veneration they feel they deserve. Big Ben Bolt, formerly called Zeus, has a foolproof way to reclaim his old glory. It all starts when Tilly Hunter comes to ornithology professor Jason with a strange request: She wants him to find her son’s father. A talking swan.

Jason knows birds. Swans don’t talk, nor do they seduce women. This is godly work.

Years ago, the gods ruined Jason’s life, destroying his family. He wants payback. Jason takes the case.

Jason’s ready to die to fulfill his quest. The Gods are more than willing to let him. Can Jason bring the Gods to their knees before they bring him to his grave?

Excerpt:

“Are you Jason? The professor who wrote the book?” She held up his lone foray into the popular press, Why the Caged Bird Sings. A Household Guide to Avian Psychology. The most charitable review dismissed it as “egghead on bird brains.”

He nodded.

“I’m Tilly Hunter.” She shifted a stack of professional journals to the rear of his rarely used second chair and sat on the forward edge. Her diamond-patterned, black nylon stockings produced a zipping sound as she crossed her legs. “I need your help. I want you to find my son’s father.”

“I’m an ornithologist. I study birds. You want one of those private fellows who track missing persons.”

“It’s you I need. You exactly. I met him a year ago. At the beach. I was feeding crackers to the sea gulls. He came over to me and dipped his face into my cracker box.” Her voice resonated with ardor. “He was so playful, so soft, so cuddly, so cute. I never believed in love at first sight. Until I met Ducky.”

“Ducky?”

“I never asked his name. He never volunteered it. I called him Ducky.” The edges of her mouth turned up slightly. “He called me his little chickadee. We spent one long, glorious afternoon together. Making love and eating saltines.” The memory of her amorous Ducky brought tears to her eyes.

She opened her handbag and removed a fine lace hanky. “A month later, I realized I was pregnant.” She dabbed droplets of moisture off her cheeks.

Jason eyed her plain gold ring. “You’re married?”

She nodded.

“I told Hunt, that’s my husband, that the child was his. He was tickled to death. We’d been trying for years without success.” Her shoulders slumped. “Then he discovered the truth.”

“You confessed?”

“I didn’t have to. The instant Hunt saw my newborn baby boy, he knew. There’s no way on the Gods’ green earth that Hunt Junior could be his.”

She handed Jason a baby picture, a three-for-one special marked Sears on the back. Pity the poor photographer. No camera angle in the world would make this tyke look good. Her son was covered with a layer of downy feathers. His back sported a pair of vestigial wings. In profile, he resembled a model airplane wearing an Indian head dress.

“My lover was a swan. A gorgeous, elegant, talking swan.”

“A swan.”

“That’s why I need you. You know everything about swans.”

Jason handed back the picture. “First and foremost, I know they don’t talk. Or seduce women.”

“My son’s living proof that one of them does.” She curled her lower lip inward. Her lipstick tinted her front teeth blood red. “Hunt’s insane with rage. He hired a private detective to find Ducky. Hunt’s vowed to kill him, stuff him, roast him, and eat him for dinner.”

She tapped her manicured fingernail forcefully on Jason’s desktop. “I love that bird more than I’ve ever loved any man. Don’t let my husband butcher my Ducky.”

http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=408

And Check out both of Gary’s Musa books here:  http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=181

 Also, check out Gary's website for future news:  http://garywolf.com/