Page Created: 09/25/10. Last Updated: 10/26/10. Last Google Group Page Update: 02/26/08.
GREG COX
Selected Novels:
The 4400: The Vesuvius Prophecy
Alias: Namesakes
Alias: The Road Not Taken
Alias: Two of a Kind?
Fantastic Four: War Zone
Iron Man: The Armor Trap
Iron Man: Operation A.I.M.
Roswell: Loose Ends
Star Trek: Assignment Eternity
Star Trek: The Eugenics Wars (Volume One)
Star Trek: The Eugenics Wars (Volume Two)
Star Trek: To Reign in Hell
Star Trek, Deep Space Nine: The Devil in the Sky (with John Betancourt)
Star Trek, the Next Generation: Dragon's Honor (with Kij Johnson)
Star Trek, the Next Generation: Q-Space
Star Trek, the Next Generation: Q-Strike
Star Trek, the Next Generation: Q-Zone
Star Trek, Voyager: The Black Shore
Underworld: Blood Enemy
X-Men/Avengers: Friend or Foe?
X-Men/Avengers: Lost and Found
X-Men Avengers: Search and Rescue
The author's official website is: http://www.gregcox-author.com/.
MEETING SUMMARY:
Meeting Date: November 11, 1995.
Meeting Site: Saddle River Valley Cultural Center, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Official Attendance: 26.
Meeting Program: Talk by Science Fiction Editor / Writer.
Notes:
Meeting Memories:
Newsletter Account:
The following account is reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 1995 Philip J De Parto:
The November 11, 1995 meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County was held in the Saddle River Valley Cultural Center in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. For the third meeting in a row, it rained on our parade. Actually, it poured, gushed, deluged and the like. The foul weather kept a lot of our members away.
Greg Cox was our guest speaker. Mr Cox is both an editor at Tor Books and a science fiction writer. He has written or co-authored books about STAR TREK, IRON MAN and other superheroes, as well as short fiction which has appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies. He spoke first as a science fiction writer, and then, after an intermission, as a science fiction editor.
Among the topics he discussed was the collaborative process, doing work for hire in other people's universes, and experiences of a starving young writer. His tales of woe in getting plots and characters approved in his IRON MAN books ("It only took them 50 years to realize that Baron Von Struker was a Nazi!") were particularly amusing. He concluded the first portion of his talk with a reading of "But Do You Recall?" from SPIRITS OF CHRISTMAS. The tale concerns a haunting by the ghost of a certain red-nosed reindeer.
Conversation was lively during the break, and Mr Cox never got a minute to himself until it was time to again go on stage.
Our guest then spoke of his editorial career, how David Hartwell got him a job as a temp in the office of a mainstream editor at Arbor House, how that company was gobbled up by William Morrow, and how he freelanced as a copy writer at a number of companies. Five years ago he was hired by Tor Books ("a regular paycheck and medical benefits are a wonderful thing"). His responsibilities include science fiction, mysteries, and media tie-ins.
Tor has a unique structure. They are the largest science fiction publisher with a staff scattered all over the country. The have 10 Consulting Editors who pass through New York only a few times a year, doing their work at home by fax, modem, and fed ex.
Thomas Doherty remains a hands-on publisher. Routine matters, like the purchase of a new book by an author with an established track record at a normal cost, involve a couple of minutes of conversation. New authors or those requiring substantial funds to be spent take a lot longer.
The best way for a new writer to get published is to develop a following with sales of short stories to a variety of markets and to network through the science fiction convention scene. However, Wilhimena Baird was cited as an example of an unknown author who came through the slush pile and was signed by Ace before Tor got around to making an offer.
First novels almost always lose money, so Greg feels he has a limited amount of "new author chits." Novelizations and tie-ins are a way of making the company enough money to take a chance on the new guys.
The few people who showed up for the Japanimation took a vote and decided to join the gang at the Final Frontier. They were rewarded by being able to watch a deliciously silly episode of STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE 9 in which Quark, Rom, Nog and Odo travel to 20th Century Earth.
All and all, it was an enjoyable evening despite the miserable weather. Cox was a warm and gracious guest and joined us at the diner afterwards. We did not award door prizes nor did we have a book sale.
Our thanks to Roy Greenberg for bringing and brewing tea, Charles Garofalo for the other refreshments, James La Barre for helping out at the door, and everyone who dragged themselves out in the fowl weather.