Saturday, August 30, 2008




Hellgate #3 Is On Shelves Now!

It's out! I bought my copy at Hastings in Norman. I should be getting copies from the publisher any day.

Now I'm waiting to see if we get to do any more in the series.

Friday, August 29, 2008



The New Generation!

This direct-to-DVD release comes out Tuesday. I've been busy and didn't notice it. If my superhero-loving 10 year old hadn't come and asked me to order the DVD, I still wouldn't know.

This is the Year of the Superhero, people!

My little geek heart just beats faster.

Thursday, August 21, 2008



Breath-Taking Super Babes!

I have to admit that one of the biggest reasons I go to San Diego Comic Con is to take my picture with scantily-clad heroines. You don't find them in many places. I always wanted to grow up, get superpowers, and hang out with the Super Babes. I never did get the superpowers, but I get to hang with the superheroines.

That's just how I roll.



Emma Frost, the X-Men's White Witch, was well represented at the con. I kept bumping into various versions of her throughout the weekend. I can't believe these girls didn't catch colds!



This Power Girl was amazing. She looked just like the comic. I was blown away. And Batgirl was awesome as well. Just more covered.



Psylocke from the X-Men looked great.



These Sexy Agents are supposed to be releasing webisodes soon. They gave me a card. As soon as I find it again I'll post the info about them. The concept sounded cool, and the agents were positively blazing!



These Sexy GhostBUSTers look appropriately named. But if I was a ghost I don't think I'd want to leave.



I didn't see many Slave Girls or Leias at the con, but they're always fun when you find them.



Gotham's baddest girls -- Harlequin, Huntress, and Batgirl -- caught my attention immediately. They even came with lots of attitude.



Black Cat was around a lot too.



Nick Fury and Spider-Woman were two of the best costumed at the con. She's sexy as all get-out and he looks like he's ready to take on the world.



Poison Ivy looked really good too. I saw a few of them.



Another picture of Power Girl, Batgirl, and Scarecrow. They really rocked the house. A lot of people stopped to take their pictures.

I had a great time. Shiloh was my wingman/photographer and had a blast flying through the crowd after me as we stalked the superheroines.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008


Shiloh In San Diego!

One of the best things about the trip to Comic Con this year was that my son Shiloh went with me. Last year he was eighteen and convinced that he'd seen more of the world than I had. Then I brought back all those pictures of me with scantily-clad superheroines.

He decided to go with me this year. That worked out for me because I loved being with him (especially after he so recently moved out!). I appreciated the opportunity to show him California, walk him through sketchy neighborhoods ("Dad, I really don't feel safe right here!"), and watch him learn how to hail a taxi. He got better at it than I did.

It also helped that he was my wingman/photographer for the scantily-clad superheroine hunt. Last year I had to try to find perfect strangers that would take my picture with those girls, and that person had to be someone I could outrun in case they took off with my camera!

Shiloh did great (I'll post those pictures soon) and had a blast watching me work the shoots. I think I continue to surprise him in some areas where he thought he knew me.



Of course, not everything was exciting. Some mornings he had to wait around.


He learned how to pimp books at Harlequin and amassed a huge button collection before the con was over. Nicole and Alicia from Harlequin were surprised, I think, at how easily he fit in and how hard he worked the booth.


We all went to dinner later and he got to meet the whole crew.


These two were directly across from the Harlequin booth and we had a blast with them. The dark-haired one runs an adult toy story and insisted on trying to embarrass Shiloh. That worked the first day, but he worked at UPS for a while and actually handled shipments that contained a lot of those toys, so he proved more savvy than she expected!


But there were still times of waiting. At least there wasn't a line in the morning at the hotel!

I think he had a good time. He tells me he had a good time and wants to go to New York with me next year for Book Expo.

And how could he not have a good time?


Harlequin took him out to eat where he could get a really cool hat!


He got to meet a movie star -- Richard Dreyfuss!


And I helped him meet his one true love -- one of the L A reporters covering the convention.

I had a great time watching him turn green on the airplane (he doesn't like flying!) and seeing how he handled himself in adult company.

Shiloh, just so you know, I'm proud of you. I had a great time. And I love you, buddy!

Monday, August 11, 2008

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Sunday, August 10, 2008




The Cheerleader!

I found this one passing out flyers at the NBC Heroes booth. My line? "If I can't save the cheerleader, can I at least take a picture with the cheerleader?"

Thursday, August 07, 2008



Heroes: Lifesize!

Comic Con had awesome displays. When Shiloh and I first arrived, we were greeted by a snarling Hulk that was absolutely HUGE!



This picture should give you a better idea of how massive the Hulk is. Imagine trying to buy shoes!



I wanted to bring the Iron Man statue home for my office. I bet if I put papers under his hand, NO ONE would take them!



Of course, the Iron Monger is from the Iron Man movie. It looked fabulous. Comic Con opens doors into fantasy worlds that overlap each other. Truly cool and amazing stuff.

Wednesday, August 06, 2008



Batchicks!

I don't sleep the night before an early flight. Just can't do it. I'm afraid I'll oversleep and miss the plane.

So on Thursday when Shiloh and I arrived in San Diego, I was burnt. We walked around all day Thursday, then got back to the motel. With the two-hour differential and a late dinner with Nicole and Alicia from Harlequin, we were just about done in.

It was frustrating when I got back to the hotel and couldn't sleep. Shiloh passed out at once. I read for a couple hours. So I slept later than he did the next morning.

By the time I woke up, about 9 local time, Shiloh had been up for about three hours, watched Sports Center, and fallen in love with one of the local newscasters covering the Comic Con. I told him he should try to meet her. He said he'd never be able to find her.

But we went looking anyway. When we found her van, he didn't think we could bother her. I never let that stop me. I walked over and asked her if she'd take a picture with us. She agreed to immediately. I believe her name was Jessica Holmes.

At any rate, Shiloh -- who hadn't taken any pictures with the costumed superheroines thus far -- jumped the line and called dibs. He got his picture taken with her first.

Later, I found an amazing Batwoman. The convention was loaded with the good and bad girls of Gotham.


Tuesday, August 05, 2008



Joe Lansdale's New Book Is Out Today!

I had the good fortune to meet Joe back in 1992. He instantly won me over because we're both small-town guys at heart, with a lot of similar interests. I have to admit that Joe's interests are probably more macabre, but there you go.



I don't read much of his horror fiction, although that's what most people rave about, but I read ALL of his crime fiction and his comic books. Leather Maiden is one of those crime stories and I'm really looking forward to sitting down with it.

Here's the synopsis from Amazon.com:

A masterly new thriller from the Edgar Award–winning writer who has “a folklorist’s eye for telling detail and a front-porch raconteur’s sense of pace” (The New York Times Book Review).

After a scandalous affair costs him his job in Houston, Cason Statler—Gulf War veteran and Pulitzer Prize–nominated journalist—returns home to the small east Texas town of Camp Rapture. Cason is a wreck. He drinks too much, he’s stalking his ex-girlfriend, and he’s wallowing in envy of his successful older brother.

To get back on his feet, he takes a job at the local paper, and when he stumbles across his predecessor’s notes on a cold case murder file, he thinks he’s found the thing that’ll keep him out of trouble. No such luck. The further he digs into the case, the more certain he is that the unsolved crime is connected to a series of eerie, inexplicable events that have recently occurred in town. And he knows his suspicions are right on when he finds himself dragged into a deadly game of blackmail and murder that clearly has evil as its only goal.

Leather Maiden is a brash amalgam of suspense, raw humor, and mystery that unfolds in the vividly rendered shadowy lowlands of eastern Texas. It’s country noir as only Joe Lansdale can do it.

For those of you who favor Joe's horror stuff, he's got a new comic out. It's called Pigeons From Hell, and it's based on a Robert E. Howard short story.



My favorite Lansdale crime novels include Cold In July, The Bottoms, A Thin Dark Line, and the Hap Collins and Leonard Pine series. Cold In July is a solid right cross packed with energy, surprise, and violence. I liked the characters a lot.



The Bottoms stands out as a mystery set in Depression-era East Texas. I loved the first-person character and the atmosphere is decidedly creepy.



Like The Bottoms, A Fine Dark Line is a period mystery with a youthful narrator still learning about the world. The time period is the 1950s and the world is a little better, but Joe delivers a lot of insight about childhood and evil in those days.



The Hap and Leonard novels revolve around two East Texas good ole boys who work as unlicensed private investigators -- mostly for friends.



If you read Joe, there's a new book out there and you probably already know this. But if you don't read Joe (and you should if you like hard-hitting crime fiction with grit), Leather Maiden will be a good introduction. Enjoy.

Monday, August 04, 2008



The Blue Lady!

Saturday night while at San Diego for Comic Con, I met a Blue Lady. She was obviously sad. Or maybe just chilled. I could see how she would be chilled even while dashing around waiting tables.

I worried about her during dinner with Alicia and Nicole from Harlequin, and Angela (the Amazonian SciFi Chick). We had a good time, good food, and a lot of laughs.



Shiloh even got a cool hat that he kept as a souvenir.





But I couldn't stop worrying about the Blue Lady. Finally I went over to her, offered a kind word and shared my body heat with her. She was all smiles after that!


Saturday, August 02, 2008




Harlequin Party At San Francisco Romance Writers of America Convention Totally Rocked The House!

I'm out of town again this weekend. I'm one of very few guys in a city of romance writers (I write romance novels!) and am having a blast! I told my wife I love doing RWA because I get treated like a five-year-old again. The women tell me where I'm supposed to be, what I'm supposed to do, and get me there on time. They make sure I'm comfortable, fed, and entertained.

Occasionally I'm allowed to feel sexy. I even brought matching socks for days I really want to impress!

But Harlequin is extremely generous and friendly. I love everyone that works there and enjoy the positive ways they handle themselves.

However, when it comes time to let their hair down (or take it up), no one parties harder than Harlequin. If you ever get a chance to go to their parties, you should. They are truly awesome and have chocolate flowing along with the champagne.

Friday, August 01, 2008




SciFiChick!

While at Comic Con I also got to meet SciFiChick! Angela and I have been corresponding and comparing notes for about two years. She's read and reviewed several of my novels, and she's also turned me onto some good books that I hadn't heard of.

I have to say she's tall, incredibly warm and witty, tall, keen and insightful, tall, knowledgeable and erudite, and tall.

We had a blast getting to know her in person. If you haven't heard of the wonderful (and tall) SciFiChick, drop by her site.