Back From Mexico

It was a great trip. I’ve decided I’m tired of airports. And it’s good to be with our cats again. More when I catch up on rest.

I came home to find my contributor’s copies of The Avenger Chronicles. It’s a nice looking book that includes two contributions from me: a solo story and a collaboration. You can find it here. (I was a late addition to the lineup so I didn't make the cut for the Amazon listing. *sigh*)

Iron Avenger

Like the rest of America, I saw Iron Man this weekend, and I came away with increased respect for Marvel.

In case you didn’t know, Marvel has taken over the production/financing of their own films. They partner with a distributer (Paramount, in this case) but Marvel is calling all the shots. And to my total and complete surprise, they have a success on every level. Directing, acting, script, effects...it all works. Robert Downey, Junior as Tony Stark was one of those didn’t-see-it-coming bit of casting, yet, in retrospect, he was the perfect choice.

In a cool bit of inspired film crafting, they even included the now-obligatory after-the-credits scene that, in Iron Man’s case, was a nod and a wink to comic book fans everywhere.

It makes me hopeful for The Incredible Hulk in a few weeks.

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News on The Avenger Chronicles: since my last posting about it, I have now completed a second story, this one a collaboration. And I was just told by Moonstone that both stories will be in the trade paperback and limited edition hardcover. Yay me.

'Sup?

Been a while. I finished a longish (15k) story for a pulp anthology the other day, which got my pulpy juices flowing. Pulp stories are my crack, as I may have mentioned before. Over the past two weeks I've read a bunch of pulp novels, including two Doc Savages, a Spider, a Jim Anthony, an Avenger and a Phantom Detective.



The Avenger was the first of that series that I've read in several years. I had forgotten what a good writer Paul Ernst was. The word is he hated the Avenger yarns because he had aspirations of writing for the slick magazines. If it's true, his feeling don't show. The Avenger books are tight, fast paced, with a good amount of characterization for the pulps. The action is non-stop and the stories are logical. I've dug out several more and I plan to get to 'em ASAP.

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I'm working on a short story for an anthology. It looks like that will carry me through the weekend. Then it's back to the novel and to Mad Reign of the Plague Master. That book has been back-burnered too long.

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I saw Ghost Rider the other day. The bad reviews didn't matter. It was a movie based on a favorite childhood comic book, so I had to see it. And you know what? It didn't totally suck, which is more than I expected. I'd give it a C. Maybe a C plus. There are a few plot holes, and Nicholas Cage lapses into Elvis a couple of times, but it was okay.

The real fun for me is surfing the message boards and reading the verbal tantrums some self-appointed critics are unleashing against this movie. They seem so offended you'd think they expected this to be an Oscar-worthy flick, or that the filmmakers sat down and said, "How can we make a film that will completely piss off Joe Message Board Poster so much that he strokes out while typing his juvenile too-cool-for-the room review?"

Very amusing.