Michael Shea signs THE EXTRA

02/13/2010 2:00 pm
02/13/2010 3:30 pm

MG offers an afternoon of chills and horror and fiction as commentary with a duo of authors on Saturday, February 13, at 2:00 PM. Multiple award-winner Michael Shea has two recent books, Hollywood satire novel, The Extra, and Lovecraftian story collection, Copping Squid and Other Mythos Tales. The Extra is the first in a trilogy, expanded from his short story of the same name. In the near future, Hollywood extras desperate for work will agree to work as “red shirts,” to borrow from classic “Star Trek," in live-action reality shows – where the on-screen deaths are real. The incentive? In a world where class warfare has become even more pronounced, these extras have a chance at upward mobility.  
Publisher and author Cody Goodfellow will discuss his new collection, Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars (not the conspiracy theory document). Cody’s literary contemporary horror regularly receives acclaim This compilation of 15 short stories, mostly set in the familiar environs of Southern CA, includes tales of border crossings, mad scientists, and fame (tying in nicely with The Extra). Cody will also offer a sneak peek at his new novel, Perfect Union.

The Extra (Hardcover)

$22.99
ISBN-13: 9780765324351
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Tor Books, 2/2010

Books and films have skewered Hollywood's excesses, but none has ever portrayed one man's crazy vision of the future of big action/adventure films as The Extra does. As over-the-top as Mel Brooks's Blazing Saddles, as savagely dark as Robert Altman's The Player, and more violent than Rollerball, this is the story of the ultimate, so-insane-it-could-only-happen-in-Hollywood formula for success, a brave new way to bring the ultimate in excitement to the silver screen. Producer Val Margolian has found the motherlode of box-office gold with his new "live-death" films whose villains are extremely sophisticated, electronically controlled mechanical monsters. To give these live-action disaster films greater realism, he employs huge casts of extras, in addition to the stars. The large number of extras is important, because very few of them will survive the shoot.

It's all perfectly legal, with training for the extras and long, detailed contracts indemnifying the film company against liability for the extras' injury or death. But why would anyone be crazy enough to risk his or her life to be an extra in such a potentially deadly situation?

The extras do it because if they survive they'll be paid handsomely, and they can make even more if they destroy any of the animatronic monsters trying to stomp, chew, fry, or otherwise kill them. If they earn enough, they can move out of the Zoo--the vast slum that most of L.A. has become. They're fighting for a chance at a reasonable life. But first, they have to survive . . .


Copping Squid and Other Mythos Tales
$32.95
Model: 9780970400024
Rocked by the gentle sea, the City sleeps; but its dreams are not its own... With eight psychotropic visions of damnation and transformation in the urban coral reef of San Francisco, COPPING SQUID forms a mosaic of otherworldly menace shot through with glimpses of awe-inspiring majesty: of invisible outsiders and self-medicating seekers whose desperate prayers and hidden rituals lead them to behold their alien reflections in the all-seeing eyes of the secret masters of creation. With the deceptive ease and streetwise enlightenment of a weird storytelling master, Michael Shea fearlessly sounds the unplumbed depths of the Cthulhu Mythos to witness visions from which traditional cosmic horror has always averted its dark-adapted gaze.

Location: 
Street:
Mysterious Galaxy
Additional:
7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. Suite #302
City:
San Diego
,
Province:
California
Postal Code:
92111
Country:
United States