And While We're Talking About Boneheads

The guy who thought it was a good idea to tape firecrackers to his face and light them would like a moment of your time.

I Know It's Early...

...but, so far, this is my favorite picture of 2014.

Slow Sunday

I made little progress on the book today because I went back to fix a character issue. I don't usually like to do any revisions (other than typos) until the first draft is complete, but this issue affects the rest of the book, so if it ain't right, the book ain't right.

Tomorrow I go back to work after my holiday vacation, and I'm in for a very busy couple of weeks. If I can squeeze out a thousand words a day on the new book, I'll be happy. In fact, I know of one day where I'll probably have zero writing time. I'll have to make that up down the line.

The book is due at the end of the month. It's going to be tight.

Once it's done, I'll move on to a novelette I've promised a friend, then to finish a novel I've been tinkering with for a couple of years.

Also this year, I want to pitch a horror comic called Usher's Furnace, and Dave Wilbanks and I are discussing another Dead Earth book. 

That should take care of my free time.

City Councilman Resigns in Klingon

I bet the city council meetings were full of mIS Dun. Details here.

Aw, Poop

This was not my most productive day, which is indicated by the traditional Internet symbol for disappointment: a cartoon rendering of dog poop. 

Okay, it's a traditional Internet symbol that I just now made up, but still...

Today's Writing

While not nearly as exciting as the magnetic alignment of pooping dogs, I did manage 2162 words on the new book today, my best day's writing in quite some time. I'm at that point where key elements of the story are orbiting my head and starting to fall into place. I just hope I don't end up like the guy who used to repair appliances for us. 

When he once fixed our washer, a couple of big parts were left on the floor. 

"What are those?" I said.

He glanced at them and said, "Aw, don't worry about it. You don't need 'em."

***

I've been reading the year-end recaps on other blogs, and I realized I should tell you that I don't know how many books I read last year. I don't keep track of how many movies I watched. I don't care how many books anyone else read. Apparently I lack the OCD gene necessary to count all of that. Or to, you know, care on any level. Man, it just seems like a lot of work. Isn't life hard enough? I mean, dogs are lining up their poops according to Earth's magnetic field. Wake up, people!

Breaking Dog Poop News

As one who grew up with dogs (grew up with, not raised by; that's a different family member), I always wondered why pooches had to spend so much time picking a spot upon which to deposit their doo doo.  It turns out they have to align their bodies with the Earth's magnetic field. It's explained in this article. And remember, you don't have to magnetically align your body to pick up the poop.

Saving Mr. Ellison

Here's the shy, retiring, polite opinion of one of my heroes, Harlan Ellison, regarding the film Saving Mr. Banks.

A Quick Writing Update

This a brief note because I did say I would blog more and because it's good for me to talk about my writing again. I managed about four pages tonight on the Current Fiction Project (CFP). It's not the total I wanted, not the pace I had during the last book. But I think that's okay. I feel like one of those old steam locomotives, starting out slowly, huffing and puffing, building up energy. I can feel this story swelling, ready to explode. Or maybe that's my head. Regardless, I'm pretty happy with the output. 

Oh, and I also wrote another newspaper column earlier in the day, so today's word count is respectable. 

Let's see if I can do more tomorrow.

Wholock

This is so well done that I was fooled into thinking it might have been a BBC promotional gimmick. But, no, this is an impressive fan -created mashup up of Sherlock and Doctor Who. After you watch it, you might wish to check out the "Wholock-VFX Breakdown", which shows where the clips  originated and what was done to make them fit into this mini-movie. I've embedded it below.

Welcome to the Future

Like almost everybody I’ve spoken with, I’m looking forward to better year than 2013.

The year wasn’t horrible. In fact, several great things happened in 2013. Unfortunately, writing wasn’t one of them.

There was a lot of chaos swirling near my life and I allowed it to interfere with my writing time. Did I say interfere? Hell, I meant practically eliminate. This was my most unproductive writing year since I turned pro. In fact, the only writing I turned out on regular basis was my weekly humor column for the Ashland Beacon (which you can read right here; this week’s column is my New Year’s “revolutions” for 2014).

(Oh, and for what the specific cause or causes were for the chaos, forget it. It’s personal and that’s all you need to know. Except that some of the reasons for the problems have been resolved.)

Obviously, things have to change. I have deadlines to meet and several projects I want to complete. My focus this year has to be to carve out time at the keyboard every single day. That means other things will be delayed. For instance, I managed to produce only one episode of Pod of Horror in 2013, due to the same reasons that kept me from writing. Moving forward, I do want to continue PoH. It’s a labor of love. But writing is going to take top priority. I will do PoH when I can.

I will also try to blog more regularly, if for no other reason than to update the status of my writing. That serves as motivation for me. I’m not sure I’ll need it, but it’s here if I do. I will continue to do the bulk of my social interaction on Facebook.

So thanks to those of your who have supported my writing. I hope to have a few things to announce here over the next 12 months.

Oh, and Happy New Year from the Evil Flatwoods Tree.

The Horror Fiction Review has weighed in on The Dead Sheriff. The  review is here, about halfway down the page. I've been a huge fan of HFR since it was a printed 'zine, and to get a nice review from them is a big thrill.

If the review moves you to order a copy of the book, you can do that here.

Doc Savage: The Miracle Menace

When I heard about the new “wild” adventures of Doc Savage, I had some misgivings. I thought the price was a bit high and I was afraid the larger page counting would lead to story padding. The original Doc novels were lean adventures (even leaner as the series aged).

Also, when author Will Murray wrote several Doc Savage novels for Bantam books in the early 90s, I thought they were rather hit and miss.

My thinking has changed.

It started with Skull Island, Murray’s story of Doc Savage meeting King King. It took place early in Doc’s career, before he had officially begun his life’s work of crusading again evil. The novel was a grand adventure, with an exciting plot and a wealth of detail about Doc’s family and his unusual upbringing. I had no qualms with the size or the price or the writing.        

Now comes The Miracle Menace.

In the latest Doc novel, Murray tells two stories that finally converge into one epic. In the first thread, out of work magician Gulliver Greene and his assistant Spook Davis encounter strange happenings in La Plata, Missouri (the hometown of original Doc Savage author Lester Dent) involving a murdering midget, a suspicious religious cult, telepathy and the rumor that Christopher Columbus is alive and well in 20th Century Missouri. In the parallel story, Doc Savage and his aides investigate a mansion in the Missouri woods that disappears and appears at random.

When the two sections of the novel finally come together, Murray dishes out an explosive finale, including shocking revelations about the past of some of the characters and the appearance of a villain from an earlier Doc novel. The secret of the vanishing house proves to be one of the most amazing mysteries of Doc Savage’s career.

Wild adventures, indeed.

With Skull Island and The Miracle Menace, I was as captivated and entertained as I was when I first discovered Doc Savage as a kid. Back then, those classic James Bama covers drew me in with the promise of action and mystery. Now Joe De Vito paints Doc’s covers and the last two have been spectacular.

I have gone back and found that some of the earlier Murray Doc novels that I had a problem with have magically gotten better.

Apparently the 12 year-old inside of me has issued an order to relax and enjoy the new Doc Savage novels. The older I get the more that kid seems to get the best of me.

Silent Night: A Spenser Holiday Novel by Robert B. Parker and Helen Brann

One of the final projects begun by author Robert B. Parker before his death in 2010 was this novel featuring his ageless sleuth Spenser helping a homeless boy during the Christmas season. Parker wrote only 17 pages before his passing, and since the book was under contract, his longtime agent Helen Brann stepped in to finish the novel, with the consent of Parker’s family.

To my surprise, Brann captures the voice of Spenser almost perfectly, as well as those of Susan and Hawk. In fact, Brann may write a better Spenser than Ace Atkins, the author selected to carry on the series. There are no real surprises in the book (just as there were none in Parker’s last several novels). On the other hand, I never read the books for their innovative plots. Like most of Spenser's readers, I came back for the characters and Parker's unique authorial voice.

Speaking of the plot, Brann handles the story pretty well, including the requisite holiday moments that aren’t nearly as out of place as I’d feared.

The one facet of the book where I found Brann lacking was the action scenes, which are light on detail. Despite that, the novel stands on its own, as good as the last few Parker-written Spensers. It was nice to revisit these beloved characters again, particularly knowing the book contains Parker’s last few Spenser pages.

It wouldn’t break my heart if Brann alternated with Atkins on future Spenser novels.

Pod of Horror #70

The stake has been pulled from the heart of Pod of Horror and our moldy slumber is over. We’re back with PoH #70, featuring horror writer Jonathan Janz, author and Stephan King expert Bev Vincent, Jason L. Keene’s Moonshine Matinee and all the news that fits in the Call of Kalanta. Pod of Horror # 70 is produced and hosted by Mark Justice. You can listen here.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Here's the first trailer for the next Cap movie, coming out in April in the U.S. This introduces the Falcon.

Here's the film's official description: 

After the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers, Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier finds Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, living quietly in Washington, D.C. and trying to adjust to the modern world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk. Joining forces with the Black Widow, Captain America struggles to expose the ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off professional assassins sent to silence him at every turn. When the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed, Captain America and the Black Widow enlist the help of a new ally, the Falcon. However, they soon find themselves up against an unexpected and formidable enemy—the Winter Soldier.

New Story

 

Actually, it's a novelette (shorter than a novella, longer than a short story) in Volume 4 of Jim Anthony, from Airship 27th.

Jim Anthony was a Doc Savage imitator for a short time during the pulp era. He was super-strong, super-smart, rich, etc. Unlike Doc, Big Jim loved the ladies. He had a Native American grandpa and a secret hideout called the Wigwam. For a while his stories were wild and wacky. Later, he was tamed down and turned into your run of the mill pulp detective. 

My story (and, I presume, the others in the book) is set during the "fun" era. I know I had fun writing the story. I don't produce much pulp fiction anymore (yeah, The Dead Sheriff is pulpy, but I consider it equally part of the horror genre) so it was a hoot to read the story again. It was written several years ago and, in my biased opinion, it still holds up.

Here's an Amazon link for ordering it.

The Greatest Toy of All Time

My Favorite Vampire Movie

Mark In Mayberry

Even though I haven't posted in a while, my Department of Justice column continues to appear each week in the Ashland Beacon.

In this week's edition, I recall a recent trip to Mayberry, where things have definitely not remained the same. You an read it here on page 2.