Another Superhero Movie I Can't Wait To See!

I've waited all my life to see these movies, and now my kids are looking forward to them as well.

And here's a link to a YouTube video containing still from the movie.  Chris Evans has gotten really cut these days.  I figure more "movie magic" was used to make him look like the anemic Steve Rogers.  :)



The Cape Premiere

I like heroes.  I especially like heroes with cool costumes and cool powers.  Chandler and I watched the season premiere of The Cape and had a good time.  We weren't blown away because the story was predictable, but it followed story logic in an endearing way.  Also, the scene pacing was frenetic.  We were catapulted from the frying pan into the fire within minutes, and the bad things just kept coming.

Chandler likes the cape fighting style, which I have to admit is pretty cool.  Personally, I enjoy watching Keith David chewing up the scenery as Max Merlini.  The carnival background is pretty neat and is a hoot.

Saying the series is over the top is a big understatement.  It's pure comic book with angst and drang.  But it's a lot of fun, too.  We're going to keep watching and rooting for the good guy.



Outstanding Cover

Absolutely one of the most stunning covers I've seen on a comic in a long time.  I'm really enjoying Gail Simone's run on Birds of Prey (again), and the Ed Benes artwork inside is amazing.



A Cash Laramie Western Short Story -- FREE!

Pulpster David Cranmer is writing Westerns under the name Edward A. Grainger.  He has a new Cash Laramie short story up at The Tainted Archive.

David has a natural feel for the Western story.  Go and enjoy.  Did I mention that it was FREE?

You can get it here!

Lights Out Premieres Tonight

FX has started coming out with some hard-hitting male-oriented television shows lately.  I'm anxiously awaiting the return of JUSTIFIED.  Chandler and I love the show, and I think we'll probably watch this one as well.  Everybody loves an underdog.



This one is about an ex-boxer who runs a gym and ends up getting squeezed back into the ring to put the gloves on.  Can't wait.

New Kindle Property Is Live At Amazon!

Mina and James Stark operate a discreet inquiry service in an alternate version of Victorian London equipped with supernatural creatures and steampunk science.  The intrepid duo takes on werewolves, witches, mad scientists, and murderers in a world filled with magic and wonder.

I had a blast doing this one and am looking forward to doing more.

The cover is by my buddy Keith Birdsong.

Get your copy for $1.99 HERE!

"War Is What I Do."

All-out action hero Joe Pike is back in another blistering adventure, and I can't wait.  I've had this one ordered for months, folks, and I've gotten a few of my college students intrerested in the character.  Joe Pike is one of the coolest tough guys to ever leap from the pages of a novel.

This is the third book in the series, but I recommend picking up the first two books and reading them before this one, and even picking up the Elvis Cole series as well.  Pike is one of those iconic characters that will leave an impression on every reader.

Sandman Slim Is A Guy's Urban Fantasy!

Urban fantasy tends to be for women readers. There’s always a romance or sex somewhere around the corner. Guys can read these books and enjoy them. Sometimes we get a bad rap because guys are accused of focusing on sex.

That’s just not true, folks. When I set down to read a book by one of my favorite authors (Robert B. Parker, Robert Crais, Lee Child), I’m waiting on the violence. I know at some point the wheels are going to come off and my hero is gonna go Neanderthal. I gotta admit, I can’t wait, and I usually turn those pages with a big smile on my face. My thirteen year old loves his Deadpool comics for the same reason. It’s hardwired into our genetics. That, and a love for snappy patter, a cutting remark, and blistering sarcasm.

We’re guys. We can’t help ourselves. Civility and a calm demeanor are simply borrowed clothes. We’re at our best when we get to run au naturel. We want to see the bad guys pay a price for their sins, and we want that payment to be in a terrific beatdown while screaming trash in their bloody ears.

Ahem.

Okay, lemme check myself. I was rolling with the guy moment. This week Green Hornet comes out and I just finished reading Richard Kadrey’s first Sandman Slim novel. Got the second one loaded up on my Kindle, so I’m gonna find a weekend soon to sit down and read that one as well.

In the meantime, I’m glad to discover there are still writers out there that write for people with the Y chromosome. Genetically, the Y may be one of the less useful chromosomes, but we still have our needs. Richard Kadrey is my newest favorite writer, and Sandman Slim is now one of my favorite heroes.

If you haven’t find his books yet and you own one of those much-maligned Y chromosomes, do yourself a favor and find these books. You’ll thank me.

The Cape Premieres Tonight!

Looking forward to this one tonight.  Looks like a lot of fun.  Batman by way of carnival theatrics.

Young Justice Premieres Tonight! Get Your Cape!

Chandler and I watched the early premiere in November last year and enjoyed the characters quite a bit.  They're not exactly the same guys in the comics because this takes place on an alternate Earth, and the differences look like they're going to be exciting to follow.

Shameless Huckster

Since everyone seems to have gotten a Kindle for the holidays, I figured I'd be shameless enough to point out that I have a few Kindle properties out there myself.  Here's a supernatural boxing story set in the 1950s that I really enjoyed writing.

And here's the link to Amazon!  99 cents, folks.  How can you go wrong?  :)

A Pop-Up Genghis?

While driving to Minnesota for the holidays, Sherry, Chandler, and I listened to Books 3 and 4 of the Ranger's Apprentice series (a collection of fantastic books, BTW).  The author, John Flanagan, is basically rewriteing the world during the Middle Ages or thereabouts.  He's renamed the countries but borrowed heavily from the histories of those nations, as well as the wars and conflicts.

In Book 4, The Battle for Skandia, Flanagan introduces his version of the Mongols invading his version of the Vikings.  Chandler has gotten intensely interested in history and understanding how all the various peoples fit together at various times.  I love that because I majored in history and English, and I love the excursions into the past.

While we were talking, I mentioned that I believed Flanagan had named his "Mongols" after Genghis Khan, whose real name was Temujin.  The "Mongols" in the book are the Temujai.  See how that works?

Anyway, I relayed some of the history of Genghis Khan and the Mongols, and Chandler threw in Atilla the Hun for good measure, wondering how all of the stories interwove.  Unfortunately they were about 800 years apart, but made a good argument about how history tends to repeat itself.

Chandler wasn't satisfied with my answers.  He never is.  I'm probably more knowledgeable than a lot of parents about stuff like this, but he thinks I should know more.  I, in turn, think he should read to gain some of this knowledge for him.  So I offered to request some Genghis Khan books for him from the local library (which has saved me hours and hours of explaining things to him, and which I end up getting humiliated because he soon knows more than I do).

We went to get the books yesterday.  The library works fast.  I told him they were young readers, so he could read quickly and gain a lot of background knowledge that he can use to add more details to later if he so wishes.  It's how I do research for my writing.

He was concerned.  "They're not those books that you pull a tab on, right?  I'm not gonna pull a tab and Genghis Khan will jump up waving a sword, right?"

I cracked up.  Driving while talking to Chandler is dangerous.  The boy has a wicked sense of humor and a wild imagination.  After I recovered, I explained that, no, these were not pop-up books.  I respected him more than that and knew he wanted more information than those books would give him.

But we couldn't leave it alone.  We drove to the library, got the books, and continued on to Subway.  Along the way, we kept imagining things a pop-up Genghis would say.  "My dogs will feast on your bones!"  "Submit or I will take your head!"  Not the kind of thing the average pop-up book reader would expect!  :)



A Library At My Fingertips!

I have to admit:  I was a foot-dragger.  One of those dinosaurs who said I'd NEVER get an ebook reader.  I love how books feel and smell and are so portable.  I scoffed at people who raved about Kindles and their kin.  I pointed out how costly it was to drop an ereader in water, spill a drink on it, or leave it behind somewhere.

Then two things happened:  Books got skimpy on gutters, making it necessary to almost break the spine of a paperback to read everything, and I abhor books with broken spines, and second, I buy a LOT of books, which means it's hard to find one when I start looking.  Lately I've even had to start boxing them up, which I also despise.  I just don't have the room for them.  My love for and interest in the written word has just flat overwhelmed me.

So I hedged my bets and asked my wife to get me a Kindle for Christmas.  I'm hard to buy for and she hates it.  If I want something, I go get it.  If I don't get it, I don't want it.  I wasn't sure about the Kindle, but I thought I'd like it for Christmas.

That was in October.  Then, after I'd decided I wanted it, waiting till Christmas got hard.  Man, I was so happy when I unwrapped it Christmas morning!

I love reading on the Kindle.  I flip through pages faster than ever, and I'm a quick reader.  I've read six books on it so far and have totally enjoyed the experience.  I bought a cover for it, so I'm not so worried about it now, and Kindle versions of paperbacks are generally a dollar cheaper than the print versions.  Now I never have to worry about the spines breaking, struggling with the reading experience, page wear, or finding the books.

I don't know why I didn't get one of these long ago.  Dedicated readers gain a lot in the way of organization and readability.  After putting in a long day at the computer, I find that the reading experience on the Kindle is still different enough to make me feel like I'm away from work.  I'm having a blast!

Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve has changed a lot in my house over the last few years.  I'm going through my second adulthood it appears, putting away childish excitement and dealing with the day-to-day.  Evidently the rest of the world is doing the same.  I'm seeing all kinds of post Christmas sales, store hours opening on Christmas, and the local McDonalds is open all day on Christmas.  Weird.  I remember when the whole town used to shut down for Christmas, except for 7-11.  Now it's like the holiday is hardly a speedbump on the way to the end of the year.

As the father of five kids, Christmas Eve always promise a special kind of mischief all its own.  Kids remained underfoot while my wife and I baked and tried to finish wrapping presents in secret, and struggled not to go crazy.

Then my four oldest kids grew up and moved away.  My 13 year old gets excited about Christmas these days, something he didn't do when he was younger, to the chagrin of his siblings.  They could wake him up on Christmas morning and he'd just go back to sleep.  They got aggravated because I always held that no one could open presents until everyone was opening presents.  Then we all opened them in order and celebrated what was received.

This year my mom passed away and we don't have the Christmas journey to make that was always a standard, weather permitting.

Over the years, the promise and wonder of Christmas has seemed to have gotten more tarnished than ever.  I've never been a big Christmas person.  The season has always gotten on my nerves because there are tense people everywhere.  It took me years to figure that out.  I didn't know why I didn't enjoy Christmas the way other people did, but I never have.  Still don't.  I tend to pick up on emotional energy from people around me, which is why I seldom get around in groups and only do so when I'm teaching or doing presentations.  Being around others exhaust me.  It's a wonder I survived a houseful of kids, but now I understand why I'd come home worn out from teaching, coaching, and conventions.

All those things I do out of love, but they take a toll on me.

Today Sherry is watching two of the grandkids while trying to bake.  Needless to say, she'll be exhausted by end of day.  Chandler is playing WOW, hoping to level up enough today to become a Death Knight.

And I'm working, thinking about Christmases past.  When my brothers and I were small, we all had to sleep in the same bed on Christmas Eve.  We got very little sleep but the excitement of the day always tired us out.  My older kids were like that too.  Chandler has reminded us over the last few days how many days were left to Christmas.  He's excited, but that hasn't deterred him from killing orcs or goblins or trolls or whatever it is he's battling.

Tomorrow we'll be joining one of my boys at his house for Christmas supper.  Lately we've been able to get together as a family again.  All of us were together for my birthday, and nearly all of us were together for oldest Matt's birthday.  Sherry and I have got to build an addition onto the house so we can fit all of us into the house for family nights.

For me, the togetherness is best of all.  So maybe some things haven't changed.



The Lincoln Lawyer

I read the book and really enjoyed it.  The movie looks like it's going to be a blast as well.

Ranch Diablo Hangrope Law Now On Sale At Amazon!

James Reasoner has written the second volume in this stirring tale of the Old West.  Sam Blaylock and his family are still settling into their new home west of the Brazos River when trouble rides onto their spread.  The arrival of Orion Pike brings lawmen and owlhoots to the Blaylocks' door, and Sam has to stand tall to keep his family safe.

By it for the Kindle here.  It's a lot of Old West adventure for $2.99.  And you can download a FREE sample.

Directing Traffic!

Love the New Green Hornet Poster

This poster is awesome.  One that I'd hang on the wall.

Batman Arkham City

The trailer for this one just rocks my boat.

The last Batman game had an excellent mix of gameplay and story.

Here's hoping for more of the same.  :)

More Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 Videos

OU Finals Bring Out Heroes????

It's Finals Week at OU.  I can't decide if the students just aren't stressing like normal, or if maybe the stress got to them.  Of course, that's assuming there is a "normal" for college students.