I visited campus yesterday for a New Faculty Luncheon, which gave me a chance to catch up with my fellow chairs and various administrators and staff, and whenever someone asked me how my summer was, I answered, "uneven." (More accurate than my standard "ehh, OK," and leads to just as many follow-up questions.)
My summer was definitely bifurcated. As I reported in my last regular update, the first half was mainly spent wrapping up The Oxford Handbook of Ethics and Economics. Then I attended San Diego Comic-Con, a fantastic experience recounted here. I returned from that trip completely drained, as expected, and I wisely did not plan or expect any significant activity for the first few days afterwards. Afterwards, I did plan to start work on a book chapter I promised to the book's editor by the end of August: a relatively short piece based on material from my upcoming book Batman and Ethics, but written with a different focus for a different audience.
Unfortunately, that "few days" turned into a month of near inactivity, and I didn't make significant progress on writing the chapter until two weeks ago (after struggling with its organization during the time prior). About the only other thing I can remember doing during that time was write posts for my The Virtues of Captain America blog, which I launched before going to Comic-Con and now has sixteen live posts (a new one every Monday and Friday) and over fifty more ready to go (to ensure I can maintain that twice-a-week schedule into the semester). That's worthy work, to be sure, but I felt uneasy leaving the book chapter to so late in the summer, especially when I had so much time in the weeks after Comic-Con.
Today I completed the first draft of the chapter to my satisfaction and emailed it to the editor—at the end of the day on the last Friday before the semester starts. (And that week one of work emergencies, computer failures, car repairs, and family illness.) And next week, I need to go through the Batman and Ethics manuscript a final time, making a handful of small revisions recommended by reviewers, before delivering it to the publisher next Friday, as well as attend to the first week of the semester. (Yes, I am nuts, but I also never miss a production deadline.) And in September I start my fall writing, which includes a paper to present at the ASSA meetings in early January, a commentary on a book to be presented at the APA Eastern meetings a few days later, and (hopefully) a short academic book, the proposal of which is currently under review (and about which I hope to get news soon), and which I hoped to finish by the end of January (a month we have off at my university).
That's a lot, and starting in September I do want to try committing to a certain amount of time writing every day. (It's what all the kids are doing these days, right?) I've tried to stick to a writing schedule many times, but even when I can stay offline I just stare at the screen in despair. I'm hoping it works better this time, as least in maintaining momentum. My two main problems with writing are starting and continuing, and writing every day should at least help with the latter!
I do wish I'd taken a few days off after Comic-Con to go somewhere and unwind, as I'd planned. By "planned" I meant I mentioned it to several friends, with about as much commitment as Milton threatening revenge every time someone took his stapler or moved his desk. (Well, maybe less, considering how the movie ended.) As a result, I am going into the semester feeling rather drained, but thinking over summers past, that's par for the course. Not good, I know, but not unexpected, and there's something woefully comforting in that.
If you're an academic or a student, I hope your semester starts well; and if you're a writer, may the words flow as quickly as the coffee that fuels them (or the hearty libations that follow). For everyone else, have a great fall, and I'll see all of you near the end of the year, if not sooner.
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I'll leave you with a song that represents chill to me, something I'm trying to grab a bit of in these waning moments of the Sunday of summer.
I just returned from my first San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC). I attended the New York version in 2011, but I had never ventured out west for the "big" one until my good friend E. Paul Zehr (author of Creating Captain America, Becoming Batman, and others) invited me to join him in a session on Captain America, and then arranged a reprise, with Travis Langley (author of Batman and Psychology and editor and lead writer for the Pop Culture Psychology series from Sterling), of the "An Evening with Batman's Brain" event held a couple years ago at the University of Victoria (covered here). So I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Paul for making this experience possible (and taking me to Old Town for some amazing Mexican food!).
Before I begin, let me warn you: I did not jump into the con with both feet, spending morning noon and night there. I get sensory overload fairly quickly, and SDCC is basically Las Vegas for pop culture fans. So there may be less activity here than some might expect, but I hope it's entertaining nonetheless, especially for those who have never been.
One more warning: There will be pictures of me, but always with much prettier people. (And Paul.)
WEDNESDAY
After a happily uneventful flight from Newark Liberty Airport (captured very well in a recent issue of Ms. Marvel), I arrived in sunny San Diego and made my way to the hotel room, then took the shuttle to the convention center to get my badge. (Note it says "PROFESSIONAL." Still can't get over that.) That process—which went smoothly, thanks to the helpful SDCC staff—gave me my first taste of the con crowds, which were much less intense over the entire weekend than I feared.
Let me stop here and say that I had more than a little anxiety about this trip in the last couple weeks before I left. I found my one visit to the New York con overwhelming, and even though that's a smaller affair, it's just as dense with people. I've been following news of SDCC online for years, and read countless horror stories about the crush of people and the paucity of food and water, and as a result I was expecting to be in a reenactment of The Walking Dead (rather than just seeing reenactments of The Walking Dead). But I was pleased and relieved to find that the con was very manageable, with food and drink plentiful (if predictably overpriced) both inside and outside the convention center, and the crowds, while intense in number at times, were very good-natured. Everyone's there to have a good time—just like at academic conferences. <wink>
The con didn't actually open until that evening, so I walked back to the hotel, changed, and then hopped the shuttle back for the opening "preview night," where I had an interview with Mark Niu with CGTN planned. (Mark very generously moved up our scheduled time to accommodate my East Coast metabolism, which had been up very early back in New Jersey, three time zone away.) Some of it was filmed in front of the Alex Ross exhibit, which in a strange way made me feel right at home, because so much of his work hangs on my walls!
After that I walked around the con floor for a bit, taking it all in while the crowd was less intense (but no less enthusiastic). I got my first brush with greatness when Rob Liefeld (co-creator of Deadpool and all-around comics legend) rushed past me, albeit too quickly to get a picture or even say hi. (If you're reading this, Rob... hi!)
THURSDAY
Let me take this chance to mention my regular morning haunt while in San Diego: Portal Coffee, at 1495 Pacific Highway, with a beautiful deck, friendly staff (hi Ellie!), and the best espresso I have ever had. They had only been open a week when I got there, and I'm sure they'll be a huge success, so it was cool to be there "from the beginning."
I didn't go to the con on Thursday, knowing that Friday and Saturday would be very intense, with a panel appearance each day. (I know my limits.) So I just sampled the local food and coffee and liaised with Wiley Blackwell about the launch of my latest book, Batman and Ethics, which I was planning to announce at the Batman panel Friday evening (but which I let slip in the interview Wednesday evening, oops).
FRIDAY
I spent the morning preparing the blog post linked above for the book, and then ventured to the convention center after lunch to spend some time in Artists' Alley and the exhibits before the Batman session that evening. You really get a feeling for the range of artistic expression in comics from walking up and down the aisles in Artists' Alley, where artists from every genre of comics and illustrated fiction have booths set up to meet their fans and sell their work. The highlight for me was meeting Jim Cheung, superstar artist from Young Avengers (which he created with Allan Heinberg), Marvel Two-in-One, and now Justice League. (Check out Young Avengers: The Children's Crusade for a showcase of his work and a terrific story overall, thoroughly embedded in Marvel continuity.)
I walked around the rest of the floor, especially parts I hadn't seen Wednesday evening, but left when I started to feel a little dizzy (crowds, noise, etc.), so I went upstairs to what I call the "decompression zone," the bright, open seating area between all the meeting rooms, and had some food and water and just relaxed. Eventually I made my way to the room hosting the Batman panel, where I reconnected with Travis and met Michael Uslan (author of The Boy Who Loved Batman and producer of all of the Batman films since 1989), Victor Dandridge (Vantage:Inhouse Productions), and Lee Meriwether (Catwoman and Miss America), who is simply the most charming and lovely woman you could ever meet.
(And oh yeah, Paul too.)
Victor did a fantastic job moderating the panel, which showcased a wide range of perspectives and opinions on issues such as: Does Batman count as a superhero? Should Batman kill? Can Batman ever be happy—and should he be? The last one was inspired by the recent Batman-Catwoman wedding storyline in the comics, and Lee stole the show when Michael asked her directly, "could Catwoman make Batman happy?", to which she responded by giving him a sly look and asking, "what do you think?" Even better, in the session wrap-up when we all explained why we loved Batman, she told the story of growing up, buying comics with her pennies as a small girl and listening to her mom read them to her. You could have heard a pin drop in that hall of nearly 300. (And I had to follow her! Impossible.)
After the session, when we had a few minutes to meet with audience members before the next session, a woman came up to tell me how much she appreciated my comments, and it took me a few seconds to realize it was none other than—are you sitting down?—Erin Gray, star of Buck Rogers and Silver Spoons. Talk about having your mind blown... it still doesn't seem real to me. Luckily, after helping Lee down from the podium, I had the chance to take the picture to the right with both legendary actresses.
Paul, Travis, and I stayed for the next session, featuring psychologist Andrea Letamendi (Under the Mask) and Loren Lester, the voice of Dick Grayson from Batman: The Animated Series, discussing the psychological roots of the character and how Lester worked that into his portrayal, especially as Dick Grayson transitioned from Robin to Nightwing (both of whom he sometimes had to voice in the same episode). I had never met Andrea, who would also moderate the Captain America panel the next day, but had a chance to introduce myself after her session. Later, we met up with some friends at a nearby hotel for drinks, food, and laughs, where the Three Beards were captured for posterity. (Compare to two years ago in Victoria.)
SATURDAY
Friday, especially the second half, was such an overwhelming experience—in a good way—that I'm surprised I was ready for the Captain America panel late the next morning. But I was, and was amazed and thrilled to meet the incomparable David Mack (with me at the right), who was the subject of a spotlight panel which was held in the same room in the slot before my panel. Despite the astonishingly innovative nature of his work, including on titles such as Daredevil, covers for Alias and Jessica Jones (plus titles and art for the Netflix series), and his upcoming project Cover with Brian Michael Bendis, plus amazing celebrity portraits, Mack is a really down-to-earth and cool guy—which I am happy to find of most of the amazing creators I meet, but it still surprises me.
Soon thereafter, the rest of the Cap panel showed up: Daniel Wilson, author of The Clockwork Dynasty and Robopocalypse (and a PhD in robotics), Paul, and our moderator Andrea, as well as Kate McClancy from the Comics Arts Conference (sponsor of the session) providing the introduction. (Writer G. Willow Wilson, co-creator of Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel and the recently announced writer of Wonder Woman, had to withdraw at the last minute due to other circumstances.) It was a more tightly focused panel than the Batman one, and with Andrea's help, it turned into a great conversation between me, Daniel, and Paul, each of us building on each other's comments about the ethics of Cap himself as well as the moral issues around the prospect of creating superhumans (and how soon it might happen). There was also time for audience questions at the end of the panel, as well as connecting with audience members afterwards, which is my favorite part of these panels.
WHEW!
I took it easy the rest of the day Saturday (after Paul and I lunched at Kansas City Barbeque, where the bar scene from Top Gun was filmed), and my flight left early Sunday morning (although intrepid weather at home made it uncertain the plane was going to make it all the way there, resulting in a holding pattern over Chicago and a unexpected side-trip around Buffalo). But I did get home, and today I am feeling slightly jet lagged and decidedly ungrateful for the New Jersey humidity. But I'm very happy for the experience, for which I once again thank Paul Zehr—I wouldn't have experienced any of this without him.
I am definitely going to try to participate in SDCC (and other cons) more in the future (despite my initial trepidation, which seemed silly by the end of the weekend), whether under the auspices of the Comics Arts Conference or the main conferences. Speaking of the CAC, I had the pleasure of chatting with one of its founders, Randy Duncan, outside the Cap panel about our mutual love of comics—a very warm and welcoming man whom I could have talked to all weekend.
And lest I forget, SDCC gave him a terrific place to announce Batman and Ethics, the final cover for which I received just in time to slide it into the backdrop for the Batman panel, alongside the great books written by Paul, Travis, and Michael Uslan, as well as the luminous Lee Meriwether in the arms of Cesar Romero as the Joker. (For more details on Batman and Ethics, see my blog post at The Comics Professor.
This update is coming a bit later than I would have liked, but I wanted to get some things done first, and there's something I couldn't talk about publicly until recently. (There's actually something else coming soon that I can't quite talk about yet, but I didn't want to wait for that too! UPDATE: here it is!) So here we are, almost exactly in the middle of summer... and let me tell you what I've been up to since my last update at the end of March.
By the way, the picture at the top of the post is actually not the view out of my window, but it is what I imagine about when I think about retirement. (Sigh.) It's my happy place, wherever it is.
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Just yesterday, I submitted the manuscript of The Oxford Handbook of Ethics and Economics to my editors, all 27 chapters, 995 manuscript pages, or 282,327 words of it. (I immediately tweeted the news with the GIF to the right, which shows what I'm still doing today.) I've done a lot of edited volumes, some with co-editors but most of them by myself, but this was by far the largest and most involved project I've been involved with. I've been told that there will be a page at Oxford's site for the book fairly soon, so I'll hold off on further details until then (which will likely be posted at Economics and Ethics, natch). From what people tell me, we managed to finish it fairly quickly, for which I'm grateful to all of my contributors—including the one who bet me it wouldn't be finished until 2020. (He should have known better: even my co-edited volume on procrastination was delivered on time!)
My scholarly output was fairly limited the last few months to editing the handbook (and writing my chapter and introduction for it), but I did manage to write a short piece on the relationship between economics and ethics for a journal symposium (which was well timed, helping me to think through some issues I was planning to discuss in the handbook introduction anyway), and do the normal amount of journal article refereeing and book proposal reviewing.
And oh yeah, I wrapped up the academic semester too. Here's a photo from commencement day, with my indispensable administrative assistants Florinda and Joan, who actually run my department. (I never gave much thought to my own graduations, but I've come to appreciate them more and more since I became a department chair.)
I am mulling several possible academic projects now that I wrapped the handbook, one of which may have been proposed to a press and may be under review as we speak. (Maybe.)
More recently, I launched my new blog I've been hinting at for a while, The Virtues of Captain America, which serves as an online complement to the book of the same title. As explained in the About the Blog page, my plan is to go through every appearance of Cap from his Silver Age revival in 1964's Avengers #4, exploring his ethical behavior as reflected in every marvelous issue. Some comics will have more ethical content than others, of course, but I have fun with all of them.
As you can see at the right, the first three posts are currently live: Avengers #4 (March 1964), Avengers #5 and Fantastic Four #26 (May 1964), and Avengers #6 (July 1964). Soon, we'll get to his solo adventures in Tales of Suspense, which began in issue #59 (November 1964), but we'll begin with his guest appearance in issue #58 the month before. I have about 50 posts stockpiled, and I hope to keep this rolling for quite a while, posting two or three times a week.
I will be mentioning the new blog—and possibly also my next superhero book, which is almost in production at long last—next week when I speak for the first time at San Diego Comic-Con. (Crazy, right? Definitely crazy.)
I'll be speaking at two panels (because one wouldn't be crazy enough):
The Friday panel, "An Evening with Batman's Brain," will be a reprise of the event held at Victoria University in March 2016 (recounted here) with E. Paul Zehr (Becoming Batman) and Travis Langley (Batman and Psychology), plus Lee Meriwether, Michael Uslan, and Paul Levitz, and moderated by Aaron Sagers. (Note that participation can change up to the last minute.)
I imagine this will be quite an experience; I've only been to one major con (New York Comic-Con in 2011), and I've never spoken at one. (Needless to say, I couldn't have finished the handbook at a better time!) UPDATE: See this post for my SDCC experience.
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As I mentioned above, I should be able to discuss my upcoming book on superheroes and philosophy very soon [here it is!], so watch this space for more on that... assuming I survive San Diego! Until then, enjoy yourselves and please be kind.
It's been a strange three months, both in the world outside my window as well as the one within it. But work continues, as it always does and must, and here I'll fill you in on what kept me busy since I last checked in.
My main project this semester is editing The Oxford Handbook of Ethics and Economics, the work on which is going very well. Most of the chapters are in and revised, and the quality of the chapters from my contributors is outstanding. (I only hope my own chapter will stand up to the rest!)
Alongside that, I wrote a chapter for a edited book on the ethical formation of economists, a book review for a journal, a write-up for another journal of my comments from an author-meets-critics session at last year's APA Central meetings, and a smattering of manuscript and article reviews.
I also wrote three new posts for Psychology Today, all on love and relationships:
I still haven't worked out what I plan to do when the handbook is finished, but one possibility is that writing my chapter on Kant for the handbook will inspire me to work up some recent thoughts for a follow-up to my book Kantian Ethics and Economics. If I have another scholarly book in me, it's most likely this one.
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On the popular writing front, I did begin working on the comics blog project I described in my last update, crafting posts without actually posting them (until I assemble a critical mass to make it worthwhile). So far it's been more of a distraction than anything else, albeit a pleasant one, but I think I'm going to keep it up for a while. I'm going through a character's appearances in order from the beginning, writing on the ethically relevant aspects of each issue, but unfortunately there wasn't always a lot of interest in term of ethics in the early stories, so I'm trying to move through them more quickly so I can get to the "good stuff" in later issues.
In books news, I wrapped up production on Doctor Strange and Philosophy, which is due out in May, and I'm still waiting to hear news about the book that I wrote last summer on another superhero. I'm itching to write another book on a particular character to whom I could give the same treatment as I did for Cap and the hero I wrote about last summer, but that will be a major commitment that I will consider once the handbook is done (and I see how the blog project works out).
And of course, once I find an approach I'm satisfied with, I will definitely write a book on these four fine folks, whose return to the world of comics in August made big news today. That remains my dream book project, but until I find a strong theme to base it on, I'm going to sit on it, and just look forward to August (and the prospect of a Marvel Studios film down the road).
I've been putting off writing this post for a while — not because I'm disappointed with what I did this year, but because I don't yet know what I will do next year (aside from finishing one major project begun this year), and that has me feeling very uneasy. But more on that to come... let's see what I managed to accomplish this past year (aside from my day job).
1. The Decline of the Individual: Reconciling Autonomy with Community, which was written in the spring and then went through a ridiculously rushed production process over the summer, was published by Palgrave in September. (It was scheduled for August publication, if you can believe that. I still can't.) I wrote about this book and the writing process behind it here, and my friend Dante brilliantly described the production process here. (I also constructed the index that there "just wasn't time for": you can find it here.)
3. A sole-authored book on a superhero and ethics (in the vein of The Virtues of Captain America), which I wrote mostly during the summer and completed in the fall, is under review for classroom adoption potential and is planned to be published by Wiley-Blackwell in 2019. (Will this particular superhero still be around by then? I sure hope so!) I wrote about this book, the process behind it, and the reason for being so coy about its subject, here.
Currently, I'm in the midst of production for Doctor Strange and Philosophy and editing The Oxford Handbook of Ethics and Economics, for which I already have a handful of finalized chapters and which I hope to finish by the middle of next year. Other than that, aside from a few things I've discussed casually with editors at various presses, I have no firm plans for the books in the future, and that is a strange feeling. (But more on that later.)
ARTICLES AND CHAPTERS
As I've said for the last several years, I'm shifting my work away from short pieces and toward books, and this year reflects that. Although a decent number of articles and chapters written last year (or earlier) came out this year, I only wrote two book chapters this year (and have just two to write next year).
Published this year but written earlier (although the first two were revised this year) are:
“Preferences All the Way Down: Questioning the Neoclassical Foundations of Behavioral Economics and Libertarian Paternalism,” Oeconomia, 7(3), pp. 353-373.
Accepted this year and forthcoming — the first written last year, the second this year — are:
“Nudging – Ethical and Political Dimensions of Choice Architectures,” forthcoming in Handbook of Behavioural Change and Public Policy, edited by Holger Strassheim and Silke Beck (Edward Elgar).
"The Otherworldly Burden of Being the Sorcerer Supreme," forthcoming in Doctor Strange and Philosophy.
Finally, in progress are chapters for two edited books, one on Spider-Man and his villains and another on ethics and economics, and next spring I will write my chapter and the introduction for the handbook. (After that... who knows?)
ONLINE WORK
I included this category even though there is very little to account for, other than a few posts at Psychology Today and The Comics Professor. I always hope to blog more — and still do — but rarely find I have anything to say. (That may soon be changing, though... see more below.)
PRESENTATIONS/LECTURES
Not much to report here either: I only gave two presentations in 2017, both at the Central Division meetings of the American Philosophical Association in March. I have no travel planned for next year; I think I'm skipping next week's ASSA meetings for the first time since I began going to 1996, and I already turned down one conference invitation for 2018.
LOOKING FORWARD
I really can't improve on what I wrote last year: "Little has changed since I invoked Tolstoy five years ago at The Good Men Project. I'm still not sure what I'm doing, what I 'should' be doing, or what I want to be doing."
When I told one of my best friends recently that I have nothing planned to do after the handbook is finished next year, he told me, "do what you really want to do." But he knows full well that that's my problem: I still haven't figured out what I want to do. (Pacing around my apartment isn't one of them, but here I am!) I keep a list of things I could do — various topics I could write on, as well as book projects I've discussed with editors at different presses — but none of them excites me at the moment. And then there's that novel I've been telling myself I'd write when I get done with other things, but that's such a huge shift in focus... I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet. (But maybe soon.)
There may be a light in the distance. however. In my last update, I wrote this (originally from my "comeback" post at The Comics Professor, a comeback that lasted all of two posts so far), partly in response to my declining interest in the current state of superhero comics and also looking towards my future activities:
I've been thinking a lot lately about diving back into the past comics I love, whether Captain America, Batman, the Fantastic Four, or others, and blogging in a more systematic way about them, taking each issue or storyline and writing about what I love about it, whether there's something of philosophical interest there or not. Maybe I'll just geek out about how cool the art is, or how a moment made me laugh or cry. Maybe I'll even do a podcast about them, something like The Fantasticast or the Nerdsync podcast—not that I can do that any better than Stephen and Andrew or Scott do, but I'd do it my own way, whatever they may be. Just an idea I've been knocking around, something to get excited about.
Since the time I wrote that, I received two very gratifying and humbling messages, one from a college professor and the other from an instructor in the United States Army, both of whom have used my Captain America book in their classes. This news affected me deeply — especially the one from the army — and confirmed my thoughts about focusing more on comics in general and Captain America in particular, including developing some online content to reinforce and supplement the book, as well as extending the approach to other heroes (such as I did with the book I wrote this summer). So this is likely what I'll be doing next year (aside from the handbook), though it still feels too amorphous at this point to seem "real."
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In general, I realize I don't need to plan the entire next year and have projects nailed down, and that ideas will come to me eventually, but this is the first time in years that I don't have several projects stacked up going into the new year. And I think that's why I look back on 2017 and worry that my 2018 won't be as productive. (There's also the question of why my productivity matters so much to me, but let's ignore that elephant in the room.) Instead of being pleased with what I accomplished this past year, I'm afraid that it's my last "good" year, that I'm "done." And when work is all there is... well, you can fill in the rest. (This also answers that question above.)
Finally, to address my best-laid plans about keeping a routine as laid out in last year's wrap-up post... well, I didn't, at least not in the sense of keeping to a certain schedule or routine. I did, however, work on my two books most every day while writing each of them, so regularity, more than routine, seems to be key for me. I also kept a book journal for the summer book (but not the spring one, for some reason), and this helped reinforce my progress and keep me on track. (No Steinbeck-style ennui this time, amazingly.) I suspect this may be why I need to be working on a "big project," something I can work on every day — it seems that's how I work best and am most satisfied with what I do.
We'll see what happens... and in the meantime, I wish you a fulfilling 2018, whatever that may mean for you!
Yesterday evening I emailed the manuscript for my latest superhero-and-philosophy book to my editor, who will then send it to instructor-reviewers to assess its potential for course adoption. As with my Captain America and Civil War books, this book was written for general readers, but the publisher wants to test the waters for class use as well, so we'll see what happens with that.
As readers of these updates and my Twitter account know, I've been coy about the subject of the book. The book isn't planned to be released until 2019, and there are other people who do this kind of thing (and do it very well), so I'm wary of inviting them to beat me to the punch. I can tell you, however, that the book has an approach similar to The Virtues of Captain America, exploring the moral code of a popular superhero while making a broader point about our ethical decision-making. While Cap can come off as "too" good, the hero I deal with in this book does not, which lets me delve more into issues of moral conflict and consistency. In that sense, the book serves as a nice companion piece to the Cap book—so much so that the publisher actually suggested we title this one The Vices of..., but I thought that was going a little far!
The last time I gave an update, I had completed my work on the book for the summer, at which point I felt I was almost done and had 92,000 words written. As the fall semester began, I worked here and there throughout September, adding 10,000 words, and did a quick pass-through in early October, adding about 2000 more. At the end of October, I split the two huge files (Part I and Part II) into four chapters each, and the chapters into sections, and then began the fine editing: filling gaps in content that I kindly left for myself, reinforcing the broader point of the book as often as I could, and trying to cite as many comics as possible (433 at latest count). In the end, I had 113,248 words, definitely the longest book I've ever written and nearly twice as long as each of my Palgrave books (including The Decline of the Individual, which I wrote earlier this year and was published since my last update).
Again, I say whew.
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While this book was my main activity the last several months (outside of teaching and chairing), I did also manage to write a few posts for Psychology Today:
I've been thinking a lot lately about diving back into the past comics I love, whether Captain America, Batman, the Fantastic Four, or others, and blogging in a more systematic way about them, taking each issue or storyline and writing about what I love about it, whether there's something of philosophical interest there or not. Maybe I'll just geek out about how cool the art is, or how a moment made me laugh or cry. Maybe I'll even do a podcast about them, something like The Fantasticast or the Nerdsync podcast—not that I can do that any better than Stephen and Andrew or Scott do, but I'd do it my own way, whatever they may be. Just an idea I've been knocking around, something to get excited about.
In other words, my next major comics project will likely not start out as a book, although a book may eventually come out of it. We'll see.
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The near future brings some academic work: writing a chapter for a book on ethics and the "making of an economist," due by the end of the year, and then my major work for the rest of the academic year, continuing to edit and write for The Oxford Handbook of Ethics and Economics, my most ambitious editing project to date. (In the meantime, I'll be overseeing production of Doctor Strange and Philosophy, which is planned to come out in spring 2018.)
I hope to check in again before the new year. I hope you enjoy the upcoming holidays, and stay warm and safe.
Tomorrow is my first day back at school for the fall semester, which makes today the last day of summer for me. It would seem like a fine time for an update, right?
In terms of my three tasks for the summer...
1) Drafting my sole-authored superhero-and-philosophy book was my primary goal, and I had arbitrarily chosen last Wednesday as the "completion" date (in case I needed to go into the office on Friday, and graciously allowing myself a day before that as well). That worked out nicely to 12 weeks, 6 days a week, so 72 days total. As of the end of Wednesday I had about 92,000 words written, exceeding my target of 90K words, and I still have more to write. Given that my usual concern is having enough to say, I'm pleased with meeting my target, and a bit bewildered at being in the strange position of exceeding it. It's not the normal case of writing more than I need and then having to trim it down—if anything, I need to flesh out some material as well as add one more significant section. I hope to get this additional work done in September before confronting other writing responsibilities for the fall. All in all, I'm fine with my work on this book this summer, although it was a bit more up and down than I would have liked, and I wanted to be done done. (While I just started writing this summer, this book has been in the works for years.)
2) Work on Doctor Strange and Philosophy is also nearly finished—doing final editing on the last few chapters. ('Nuff said!) UPDATE: I submitted the manuscript on September 1, four days ahead of deadline, thanks to the timeliness and cooperation of my contributors.
3) Production of The Decline of the Individual is finished as far as I'm concerned. The release date was changed from August 25 (as confirmed by the project manager on August 10) to September 15 (according a change made to the website on August 11). (When I replied to the project manager about this, the email bounced back "address unknown." Same for the production editor.) But wait.... last week the date on the website became October 15, which happens to be close to the date my editor gave me when the whole thing started. As before... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. For my part, I'm constructing a proper index for the book which I will post here; I was hoping to have it done by now, but it still needs a little work. UPDATE: I finished the index on September 4—you can find it here.
--o-O-o--
Looking back, I wish I had done the summer differently—it became so intense that I'm looking forward to the semester for relaxation! Part of my problem was not spreading out the work as well as I could have; while I worked on the authored book most every day, I didn't always keep up with other work, which then built up at precisely the wrong time (as it inevitably will). However, besides the Oxford handbook I'm editing, I don't have a commitment for any other books going forward, so things are open for next summer to consider projects I've batted around with different editors, as well as some ideas of my own.
Looking ahead, this semester I need to finish up the summer tasks three, and then begin a few new things. In addition to the chapter and introduction for my handbook, I'll be contributing a chapter to an edited scholarly collection on Spider-Man (focusing on Civil War), and another chapter on ethics and economics to a very intriguing new project. And most important, I will be returning to the classroom for the first time in two years. It's a long story, but it comes down to teaching too many courses for many years before I became department chair, and now having to balance that out by a certain date while being chair, which already carries reduced teaching expectations as it is.
However you're spending it, I wish you a happy and successful fall, and I'll see you next time I have something to say. In the meantime, here's Sam... just pretend it's yesterday, OK?
As I did at the end of June, I'll give a brief update on things happening here...
1) The superhero-and-philosophy book I'm writing is going well. I'm in a better position than I was a month ago: I've experienced fewer down days, and as a result I'm well over two-thirds of the way toward my target word count. (I now imagine the book may be a bit longer than planned, a very strange position for me to be in.) I now expect to have it drafted by the time the fall semester starts, and then I'll do a bit of editing and revising early in the fall.
2) Doctor Strange and Philosophy is also proceeding nicely. Most chapters are finalized and looking great, and we're in the final editing stage, looking good to finish on time.
3) The Decline of the Individual: I approved the third set of page proofs last Monday, so barring any surprises, we're good to go. (The first set of proofs required around 1000 corrections, because I didn't have a chance to review copyedits; the second round, which served as proper proofs, needed only about seventy.) I've been told to expect publication "in the month of September." ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The fall semester at CSI officially begins on Friday, August 25, although for me it effectively begins the following Monday, so I have four more weeks to go. As I wrap up the tasks above, I will turn to a book chapter I agreed to write (a return to Civil War from an interesting new angle) and my introduction and chapter for The Oxford Handbook of Ethics and Economics... and thinking about future plans.
I hope your summer ends well... see you on the other side!
It being the last day of June and all, I thought this might be a good time for a brief update...
I'm working on three projects currently, trying to do a bit of work on each one every day, especially the first and main one.
1) The superhero-and-philosophy book I'm writing this summer (hopefully to be finished by the end of August): A third of the summer in and I'm a little short of a third of my target word count, but that's fine; I got off to a slow start and had quite a few bad days in which I did nothing at all, so assuming things go at a reasonable pace for now on, there's a good chance I'll finish on time. I do need my comics, trade paperbacks, and hardcovers nearby, so no writing in coffee shops until the time comes to revise and edit.
2) Doctor Strange and Philosophy, which I'm editing this summer: This is looking very good in terms of both content and timeline (and I can edit chapters in coffee shops, so yay!). I've seen all but one draft chapter and have seen or received second drafts on most (and even third drafts on a couple). There's a nice balance of comics and the movies (live-action and animated) in the source material, and an impressive range of philosophical ideas discussed!
3) The Decline of the Individual: I'm currently reviewing page proofs, not having seen copyedits or a style sheet, so they're rough. I will have plenty to say about this rushed production process when it's over, but for now... hey, check out the spiffy cover to the right! Apparently it will be out on August 16, come high or high water (or my repeated pleas to slow things down).
A short update before I burrow in my home office (or dining table, or couch) for the summer...
May was not only the end of the academic year, with all the attendant end-of-year activities, but also a time to wrap up other sundry responsibilities before starting my next book. These activities included writing my own chapter for Doctor Strange and Philosophy and editing several chapters by much smarter people; finalizing details for The Oxford Handbook of Ethics and Economics, which I'll be working on for the next year or so; writing recommendation letters, referee reports, and comments on friends' manuscripts; end-of-year paperwork for the college; and best of all, attending and participating in yesterday's commencement exercises. (There's a nice photo gallery here with many of the usual culprits.)
Below you can see me with my invaluable staff, for whom I'm endlessly grateful...
...and also some of our philosophy graduates, of whom I'm very proud.
It was also wonderful to hear our college valedictorian, Palwasha Syar, spend most of her speech paying tribute to the women at CSI, both students and faculty, who helped her achieve this singular honor. (Until her speech is online, see the short video below — she's truly an amazing person with an inspiring story.)
Finally, it was terrific to hear my colleague Barbara Montero give the faculty address at commencement and, later in the day, receive the college's award for scholarship at our awards ceremony. It was a fine day from beginning to end (and the rain held back too!).
-- -- -- -- --
Now that May is almost done...
...sigh...
...June soon begins, as with it, a new book.
As I said in my last update from earlier this month, I hope this book will go more smoothly than my last one. I've been reviewing my outline and notes, which have been prepared for a while (back when I hoped to write this book — get this — simultaneously with the last one). It is another book on superheroes and philosophy, so most of it will be written at home rather than in coffee shops, so I have the source material close at hand (i.e., boxes of comics and shelves of trade paperbacks). And I've already begun the book journal, an activity that has helped me keep earlier projects in perspective (but which I did not do until the final stages of my last book, to my detriment).
Hopefully, I will be able to devote the bulk of my free time this summer to this book. There will be other things to do, such as editing the rest of the chapters for Doctor Strange and Philosophy and writing a few Psychology Today posts; and undoubtedly other things will come up, such as production on The Decline of the Individual and keeping my eye on course enrollments for the fall. But I'm optimistic about handling these things while writing the book this summer.
(Did I say that? Was that me? Weird.)
By the way, as you can tell from the link, The Decline of the Individual is listed on Amazon already -- it is due for release at the end of October, even if it may say otherwise. No cover yet, alas.
If I don't post here for a while, I'm always on Twitter (though perhaps a little less this summer)... whatever you're up to this summer, do it well and have fun!
