Day After Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving was strange this year.  It was the first one since my mom died at the end of September.  I kept looking for her, kept waiting for her to call and find out what time I'd be bringing the family over.

I went to my brother's house and had a fine dinner.  We didn't talk about Mom but you could tell we were all staying away from the subject.  I'm 52.  Been through a lot.  I know everything's going to be okay, but it's just different.

We had crawling grandkids this year.  A two year old boy and an eight month old girl.  It was nice to watch them and not be in trouble for anything they did.  :)

Another weird thing happened too.  I found out my kids read my post on the ice cream thing and thought it was funny.  One of them even read it aloud to the others.  I would think twentysomethings would have better things to do.

At least they thought it was humorous and not time to stick Dad in the old folks home.  The first time I lose bladder control that'll probably change, though.

Three of the four kids that are living outside my house showed up at my brother's and it was nice to have them.  One of my goals in the next year or so is to build a bigger kitchen/dining area.  Our house is small.  It's paid for.  A bad thing and a good thing.  Everytime we all get together, we have meet at a restaurant so we can all sit and talk.  Sherry and I want a big room and a big table.  We both like to cook.

We're post-Thanksgiving now and Sherry and I have already been shopping for things to make.  I've got two cheesecakes in the oven as I write this, with pumpkin pies and Jell-O pies still to go.  Sherry is making pecan, chocolate, coconut cream, apple, and some other things.  She's also making ham spread.

It's hard to get together during the holidays.  Everybody has somewhere else they have to be.  So Sherry and I have developed a tradition of "grazing" during the weekend after the major holidays.  We fix a bunch of food and send it off with the kids as they stop by.  Bribery, I suppose.  But they come to use and we don't have to spend a lot of time on the road.

These years are strange.  Only have one child at home so the noise level is almost nothing.  At least the house smells like baking things and we'll have visitors throughout the day.

Rancho Diablo News

Read an interview about the series with author Bill Crider here.

I have to admit, folks, I'm pretty stoked about getting this series up and running.  For Bill, James, Keith, and I, it's all a labor of love.  Hoperfully there are other readers that grew up on the old West novels that we did and enjoy the smell of sagebrush and gunpowder.

James is hard at work even now on the second tale.



You can get an ebook copy here, and there's a print copy here.

Ice Cream? Seriously?

I'm working today, on a Saturday for those of you who read this late and would like to know what day of the week "today" is, and a familiar tune echoes up and down the street outside.  "Pop Goes the Weasel."  That's the music played by the local ice cream truck as it trundles slowly through the neighborhood.

Seriously.

There's nothing that rips the wind out of the sails of autumn like the sound of summer music echoing with obnoxious familiarity.  I checked the temp outside on my iPhone.  68 degrees.

Kids are out there buying ice cream the weekend before Thanksgiving?  I don't think so.  More than that, when my kid wants ice cream in the summer, he has to run the ice cream truck down.  This guy does NOT beat the bushes for business.

So what is it that makes this guy get up and wind through the streets on a fall day?  Gotta run out the gas in his tank so he can get a fresh fill?

I don't know.  But I'm writing today, which means I'm creative.  And by that I mean I can tickle my paranoia a little bit and come up with all kinds of scenarios for the local ice cream truck driver.

He's a spy (name your agency/government/clandestine purpose).

The truck got stolen by a gang of thieves and they're using it as a command post while they break into houses.

He's a child molester trolling the neighborhood.

He killed his wife/significant other and has the body chopped into pieces in the freezer compartment to throw out to the neighborhood dogs or in the creeks.

I'm not going to know what brought this guy out here unless I ask and I don't want to be the only adult chasing after the ice cream truck on a fall day.  That would make my neighbors start wondering about me and what I'm doing.

Young Justice: The Animated Series

I stay so far out of the loop sometimes it's just sad.  Just found out about this cartoon series debuting on November 26th on Cartoon Network.

Looks like it's gonna be a blast.

Green Lantern ComicCon Bit

This is NOT an official poster, but I found it and really liked it.

I also found this clip from this year's ComicCon that I thought was a lot of fun.  I'm really looking forward to this movie and Ryan Reynolds looks like he had a blast as Hal Jordan.

The Green Hornet Movie Trailer

Just found the trailer and wanted to share.  Don't know how I feel about the presentation, kinda silly for the Hornet, but I love the car!

Johnny Depp As Nick Charles?

William Powell and Myrna Loy were two of my favorite movie crime stoppers.  They starred as Nick and Nora Charles in the Thin Man movies based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett, one of the legendary Black Mask writers.  Hammett was a professional San Francisco private eye for 12 years and based a lot of his writing on his personal experiences.

Nick Charles was an ex private investigator who married rich and was comfortable being a semi alcoholic and trophy husband.  He never intended to work again.  But his wife and circumstances kept pulling him back onto the crime scene.

The first movie came out in 1934 and was written a lot like the radio scripts of the day.  Dialogue tended to move the story along and fill in all kinds of background very quickly.  As a result, the actors and actresses fill the screen with rapid fire witticisms and comebacks.  Sarcasm was liberally salted throughout.



The formula of two rich people involved in crime and murder that dearly loved each other as well as their own company worked again in the 1980s with Jennifer and Jonathan Hart in the television series Hart to Hart.  There have been riffs on that formula since, but none of them have enjoyed the success of the initial movies or of that television series.

I just found out from several sources, including Paul Bishop's blog, but Johnny Depp has thrown his hat into the ring to become the new Nick Charles.  I think he would be absolutely wonderful in the role.  The only problem would be finding a modern-day Myrna Loy who could keep on equal footing in the scenes.



If you've never seen the original movies, I would encourage you to do so now.  Amazon has got a full collection of a black and white set for a very good price.  

Yee-Haw!! Rancho Diablo Is Live At Amazon!

Bill Crider, James Reasoner, and I joined forces to create this series.  SHOOTER'S CROSS is the first book in this hard-hitting series.

Go here to order from Amazon for your Kindle, Kindle for PC, or Kindle for Mac.  You can also read it on your iPads.

New Reviews Are Up At Bookhound

You can find them here.  And more are coming.  They're also listed on my Amazon page, so if you're feeling generous, pop over there and hit me up with some supporting votes if you think the reviews are helpful.



Red Hits Theaters Friday

Based on a comic by Warren Ellis, this movie is going to be filled with a lot of action and great acting.  I mean, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren?  I just don't see them doing anything wrong here.  I'm gonna have me a seat at the theater this weekend.

I read and enjoyed the comic as well, but this movie looks different in a lot of ways.  The comics were hardcore violence with little repartee.  The movie looks like it's filled with one-liners and humor.

Great new YA book that I'm currently enjoying.  Bacigalupi has a vision of dystopian futures that is amazing.

Doc Savage Statue

I loved the Doc Savage pulp reprints from Bantam as a kid.  This is one of those statues I'll have to pick up for my office.  More details here.

New Captain America Game Coming 2011!

More Captain America: Super Soldier Videos

Somehow This Is Just Wrong!



Just in time for Halloween, but I really have to wonder about the name choices.  Plus, superheroes that advocate tons of sugar for kids doesn't really work for me these days.

Wear the Newest Brand in Western Fiction!

Get yours here!

Rancho Diablo DOWNLOADABLE Preview!



Freebie:  

Rancho Diablo Shooter's Cross preview


http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=55110352

Mosey Over To Rancho Diablo

I grew up on Westerns as a kid, television shows and novels.  I rode the range with Luke Short, Louis L'Amour, Ray Hogan, and dozens of other writers.  I'd always hoped I'd get to write a Western.  Now I've combined forces with two of my friends that also write (Bill Crider and James Reasoner) and am co-authoring an ongoing Western series.  Keith Birdsong is providing the covers.

For a peek, go here.

Pulp That Pops!

Anyone that knows me knows I enjoy old pulp art.  I'm a big fan of Robert McGinnis.  The man is a genius.  But I got this from Paul Bishop's blog and want to share it.  Just because it's so cool.

An artist named Thomas Allen does these diaramas from old paperback covers.  I hate the fact that a book gets destroyed in the process, but I love what he does with it.



Resident Evil Afterlife

Yep, I'll be there this Friday.  Looks like more action than horror, but I'm okay with that.  My son Shiloh grew up playing these things (with the music turned off because it creeped him out).  And the music in this movie sounds creepy too.  I'm taking him with me.  Don't know what he's going to do.  And it's embarrassing to have a 21-year old man crying on your shoulder because he's afraid of the dark...and zombies.

Old School SF Adventure Coming Soon

A lethal vixen in tattered clothing and awesome weaponry?  An adventure spanning other worlds?  This is the stuff I grew up on, folks.  I am so there!

Acclaimed novelist and Hugo and Nebula award-winning author of The Song of Ice and Fire series, George R.R. Martin, has teamed up with IDW Publishing, to release an all-new miniseries, entitled DOORWAYS. Based on his pilot script for a television series that never was, DOORWAYS offers Martin’s science-fiction genius in an initial four-issue series. Martin and artist Stefano Martino bring this reality-bending tale to life starting in November.

"DOORWAYS was the great 'what if' of my career, the television pilot that was right on the edge of being greenlit to series... but in the end was not. I spent a year and a half of my life with Tom and Cat, writing about them, thinking about them, making plans for their adventures. It broke my heart when it all came to naught,” said Martin. “But now, at last, thanks to IDW and the talent of Stefano Martino, the world will get to share some of those adventures. And even better, the comics format will allow us to do things with the story and the visuals that we would never have been able to do on television! I couldn't be more excited."

Every issue of DOORWAYS treats Dr. Tom Mason, and fans, to the very definition of terrifyingly incredible, as doors open to worlds that are twisted mirror of ours. Said DOORWAYS editor Mariah Huehner, “One of the most interesting is a world with no oil. Which is pretty timely.”

DOORWAYS follows Dr. Tom Mason on a multi-dimensional journey as he tries to solve the mystery of Cat, a strange, feral young woman who pops up in his E.R. one night, injured and barely able to communicate, except by ripping off limbs.

Wearing rags that nearly disintegrate, Dr. Tom is drawn in the girl’s strange fears, until he discovers that “Cat” is a person of interest to the government, and a very odd group of “people” that don’t seem to be from around here… “here” being our dimension…

“Working with George on this project is a lot of fun,” continued Huehner. “It’s a dark sci-fi/fantasy, that’s not unlike the Twilight Zone in terms of taking an ordinary person and suddenly confronting them with very bizarre events and people. Tom is a total “good” guy, loves his girlfriend, likes his job, and just wants to help people. But when Cat shows up she turns his comfortable world upside down.”

Artist Rebecca Wrigley will provide incentive covers for each issue of the initial DOORWAYS series.

George R.R. Martin’s DOORWAYS #1 (of 4, 32 pages, full color, $3.99) will be available in stores in November. Diamond order code SEP10 0362.