WHY'D IT HAVE TO BE SNAKES?!

I'm not a snake guy. Never have been. And I'm pretty sure I have Raiders of the Lost Ark to blame. I'm cool with that. I feel the same way about bugs (thanks, Temple of Doom). Come to think of it, Indiana Jones' phobias really did a number on me. Damn you, Spielberg!

Now, while I may not adore cuddly reptilians, there are a number of folks who do. They're called 'Herpers'. My friend and 13 Hours director Dav Kaufman is one, and he recently completed a documentary on the subject, aptly titled Herpers. The doc features interviews with reptile lovers and collectors around the country, including G 'n R guitar legend Slash. Pretty sweet.

Check out their new website HERE. You can watch the trailer, learn more info about herpers, and pre-order the DVD.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to save Sean Connery from a tank.

B

GEEK CRED!

I've never been a Star Trek fan. In the grand 'Wars/Trek' debate, I side with Star Wars every time. For a summer, my friend Todd tried to convert me, convincing me to join him in watching Jean Luc Picard flex his sweaty muscles in First Contact and watching as he spent his entire high school graduation money on Star Trek books. It didn't work.

Well, I think J.J. Abrams has done what Todd could never do. I'm more excited about this movie than I have been about any other flick this year. Here's the most recent trailer.

Now, if Todd had created Lost...

READ THIS!! TOO COOL TO BE FORGOTTEN

Damn! Two books reviews in a row? What's up with that?

Every so often, I’ve had ‘The Dream.’ No, not the dream of flying. Or of being kidnapped by aliens. Or even the one where I’m one of the Hardy Boys and I’ve been dropped into the middle of Jurassic Park and have to fight my way out with a lightsaber. I’m talking about...'The High School' dream.

You know, those bizarre dreams where you're back in the angst-ridden halls of high school, and you can’t remember your locker combo, or where your next class is, or why the principal suddenly suggests having a Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat revival show in the gymnasium with the original cast, and no one remembers the lyrics. Those dreams.

In Too Cool to be Forgotten, Andy Wicks is a forty-something year old trying to kick his addiction to cigarettes. He’s tried it all: patches, gum, cold turkey, etc. Finally, he goes in for a little hypnosis. There’s a little side effect, however, and before Andy knows it, he’s suddenly back in high school, circa 1985, complete with braces, glasses, and a full head of hair. Andy soon realizes his arrival coincides with his first attempt at smoking (to impress a girl, natch), and vows not to cave in to peer pressure.

So begins Andy’s days back in high school, remembering old friends, old crushes, and the occasional ‘Randi Whatshername.’ It’s a hilarious notion, considering the popularity of Facebook, where friend requests come from old classmates who you didn’t even really speak to in high school, but can’t help re-connecting with out of curiosity. “Whatever happened to Randi Whatshername anyway?” you ask. By accepting her friend request, you can see what her ‘status’ is anytime you want!

The notion at the heart of Too Cool is, of course, the idea that each small action forms a person into who they will ultimately become. Will abstaining from that cigarette, that one time, change Andy’s future? It’s hard to say. And haven’t we all faced that question. What if I had kissed that girl at the prom? What if I had decked that guy in the face for making fun of Randi Whatshername? What if I hadn’t dressed up in KISS make-up?

At one point, facing the possibility of re-living his formative years over again, Andy panics, wondering if he will have to endure the heartbreaks and agonizing choices he faced in his life, and whether they will lead him back to his wife and children. It’s a heartbreaking notion. I mean, the guy just wanted to kick a little nicotine.

Like all good episodes of Quantum Leap (yeah, I said it), Andy's assumption about his actual purpose in 1985 is misleading. The ending (no spoilers here) is a bit convenient, as Andy comes to a sudden realization about his family. Given my own life experiences, though, I felt a personal connection to the ending, and to its heartfelt, tender, and poignant moments.

Too Cool was my introduction to author and artist Alex Robinson’s work (which includes the graphic novels Tricked and Box Office Poison). It’s a unique book that reminds you what it was like to be in the war zone of high school, and how your choices define you. It does not, however, remind you about your locker combination.

Oh, and kids? Don’t smoke. It’ll kill ya.

READ THIS!! THE GOOD GUY

'"Are you him?" the stranger asked.
Tim said, "Who else would I be?"
"You look so...ordinary."
"I work at it," Tim assured him.
The stranger finally picked up his drink. Getting it to his lips, he slopped beer on the bar, then chugged half the contents of the glass.
Sliding the manila envelope across the bar, the guy said, "Half of it's there. Ten thousand. The rest when she's gone."
As he finished speaking, the stranger turned on his stool, got to his feet, and headed toward the door.
As Tim was about to call the man back, the terrible meaning of those eleven words clarified for him: Half of it's there. Ten thousand. The rest when she's gone.'

The Good Guy is the story of Tim Carrier, a lumbering mason who wants nothing more than to quietly go about his day, and to enjoy a cold beer with friends. In a twist straight out of the Hitchcock playbook, Tim, sitting in his usual spot at the dive bar owned by his friend, is mistaken for a contract killer. He is given a folder containing info on the intended victim, and a ten thousand dollar advance. Befuddled, Tim watches the man exit, and is still in shock when, moments later, the actual killer arrives. Tim calls him off, pays him to not complete his mission, and follows him outside to discover the killer may very well be a cop!

Shrugging off his passive nature, Tim does what any good guy would: he searches out the victim, informs her that she’s in danger, and helps her escape. The added bonus? Tim has as many layers as an onion, and as they stay one step ahead of the killer, he slowly reveals that there’s more to him than just a way with bricks. Oh, and he’s also smitten with the stunning novelist he’s protecting.

The Good Guy is one of those crackling page-turning pot boilers, perfect for reading on a plane or the beach. Indeed, that’s exactly where I read the book, on a recent excursion to Naples. It isn’t heady; it’s not meant to be. Koontz has a knack with peppy dialogue, though it can get a little over the top. And as far as psychopaths go, the villain, known mainly as ‘Krait’ has the usual, yawn-inducing quirks of a killer. Sure, killing someone isn’t quirky enough. He’s gotta be over the top. But he can also display charm, too, as evidenced in a creepy scene with an innocent older woman who thinks the killer is merely her daughter’s houseguest. With an omniscient government-like facility watching and facilitating his every move, Koontz gives the notion that there is something much larger at stake than the life of one woman.

Koontz’s older novels (Watchers, Twilight Eyes, The Vision, Lightning, even Phantoms - which Affleck was the bomb in, for the record) have more gravitas than many of his newer books. In fact, with similar titles, and similar characters, it’s hard to distinguish one story from the next. And though I used to read his books feverishly (much to the chagrin of some of my friends…you know who you are!) I was getting a bit tired of his work. There are few authors whose books I collect in hardcover, and while Dean was once atop that list, I’ve scaled back a bit, and so I haven’t picked his newest book, Your Heart Belongs to Me, another book with an Alfred twist.

Literary god Stephen King labeled The Good Guy one of his Top Ten Books of 2008, so I knew going in that I was going to get some of the old Koontz back. I like the Hitchcock vibe he’s going with now (surprise!), and though the book’s ending doesn’t shock and amaze, getting there is awful damn fun.

CHANGE OF PLANS

Good Lord, has it really been over a month? Man, I am one lame fella. Sorry about that. I wish I had a better excuse than 'By the time I think about writing on my blog, my eyes feel like dead weights and I want to faceplant into a pillow.' But that's all I've got. I'll try to do better. The three of you deserve my A-game.

If you're keenly observant, you may have noticed that today should be the third day of principal photography on The Psychosis of Ghosts. Well, as is sometimes the case in the movie biz, the film has been postponed indefinitely. Which is a bummer. We had been corralling some very talented folks to help us out on both the cast and the crew, and I was looking forward to working with them. Alas, that will no longer be the case. If there's a silver lining, it's that I've had time to focus on my own writing. I have a couple of things brewing, stuff that I can't quite discuss, but will post on here as soon as I can. I swear.

A couple of new sites to check out. First, my good friend and pulp aficionado Martin Powell has joined the blogging world. Martin was gracious enough to write a pretty swell introduction to the Horrorwood graphic novel last year. He's tackled such literary giants as Sherlock Holmes, The Spider, Kolchak the Night Stalker, and will soon be able to add Batman and Superman to that list. Martin introduced me to pulp heroes, and while I feel like I'm only dipping a pinky toe into the pool of pulp knowledge, Martin cannonballed in years ago.

You can check out his blog HERE.

Secondly, one of the hush-hush top secret projects I can't discuss (but have in previous posts...) is the book I'm co-authoring with fellow writer and friend Ryan Jacobson. Ryan has been writing children's books for over five years now, and his most recent project was a picture book illustrated by my longtime friend (and talented artist) Liz Hurley. The book is titled Joe Lee and the Boo: Who's Afraid of Monsters?. Check out Ryan's site HERE.

One final note: I was checking out Hard Case Crime's website earlier today, when I excitedly discovered that their November release is going to be another Max Allan Collins 'Quarry' novel. This one, titled Quarry in the Middle looks like another knockout. I read The First Quarry earlier this year, and couldn't put it down. Kick ass.

All right, that's all for tonight. I swear it won't be another month before you hear from me again. We're still friends, right?

All the best,
B

IT FRAKKING STARTS TONIGHT!

Battlestar. The final episodes. Starting tonight. Holy FRAK!

If you haven't already caught yourself up, HERE's my earlier, nerdier post about the show, including a ten minute re-cap video.

And here's the cast on David Letterman, doing the 'Top Ten Reasons to Watch the New Season of Battlestar Galactica.' (yeah, I know it's old, but come on...it's worth it)



So say we all,
B

ABSENCE MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER

Geez...I, well I am sorry. This is unacceptable behavior on my part. I finally get a couple people rallying behind me, checking my site for updates, wanting to know what's going on in my corner of the Interweb, and then...BAM! The holidays show up, and I disappear off the grid like Sandra Bullock in The Net.

So here's a couple of things that have been rolling around in my brain.

THE BIG NEWS: Well, first off, I would like to proudly take this time to announce that my wife Jen and I had our ultrasound, and it conclusively proved that we are having a BOY this May! We're super excited, and we can't wait until the little man arrives. Well, maybe we can wait a little. We do have to finish the nursery, stockpile diapers, take classes...yeah, there's a reason it takes nine months to have a baby. Preparation.


ANOTHER FLICK: This February and March, I will once more be jumping on board a Dav Kaufman production. Our first film venture together was, as many of you know, the indie horror flick 13 Hours in a Warehouse. The new flick is titled The Psychosis of Ghosts. I'm very excited to work with the crew, many of whom I became friends with on 13 Hours or on Into Temptation. It's going to be a blast. I will try valiantly to update the site while we're shooting, maybe post some stills and a report on the filmmaking process. Or I may choose to sleep. We'll see.


WHAT ARE YOU WRITING?: A good question, indeed. The main reason I've been torn away from this little ol' blog is that I've been writing another children's book. I can't share too much about the project, not yet, but it involves the king of all vampires, Dracula himself! More on this project soon!




DONALD WESTLAKE PASSES AWAY: This actually happened a couple weeks back, but I just wanted to express how sad I was to hear that Westlake had died. This past Christmas, I received the first three 'Parker' novels, written under Westlake's alias, Richard Stark. Another great writer gone. His work will live on, though, thanks to The University of Chicago Press, and Hard Case Crime, who will print Westlake's The Cutie in March (just in time for my birthday).



DOC SAVAGE GOES PULPY: Speaking of HCC, I just saw this evening on their website that next October brings with it the publication of a lost Lester Dent pulp novel, titled Honey In His Mouth. Dent is the creator of Doc Savage, and the umpteen million books he pounded out about the Man of Bronze. I can't wait to read it.

Until next time,
B