Well, the eBook, Vampire News, by me and Bertena Varney, MA is now available for FREE!!! Click on the links below to download your very own copy for your eReader. Vampire News is choked full of goodness! Lots of articles, news, events, reviews, happenings, photographs, quips, quotes, and random-vampire-ness from some of today’s best and brightest working in the genre! So, enjoy!
VN Cover Models: Katalin Parrish & Jean-Paul de JagerVisit
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Sabrina Buckman posted a really cool photo of my novel Dead Girl: A Romantic Zombie Tale of Revenge yesterday. One of the comments to it said, “Future Horror Fan!”
It’s a good thing that Dead Girl comes with twelve illustrated images for future horror fans to get into, just on case the text is too hard to read!
Actress Melanie Robel posted this cool pic on Facebook this past weekend while I was at World Horror Con in Salt Lake, Utah. She also wrote – “My favorite vampire book series. Everyone should buy this and read them!”
Had a great time at the convention, saw the Stoker Awards live & in person, and met a lot of wonderful people. So, I’ll be writing more about that as I process the pictures.
Going to take a friend to visit some monks today. So…if yer in Albuquerque, enjoy the snow, if not…enjoy whatever you’re having! Personally…I’m going to take this snow with a side of Hungry For Your Love – An Anthology of Zombie Romance stories. I picked it up this weekend at WHC. And people thought I was strange for writing and publishing Dead Girl: A Romantic Zombie Tale of Revenge. Ha!
Now…Melanie’s Incredibly Awesome Photograph! She even made a border. So V. Kool!
Just Wanted You To Know That I’m Thinking About You!
Last year while touring the horror convention circuit I ran into a lot of people that had bought Blood Junky the previous year and had read it more than once. Now, for any author having their book read is a joy. It is what you want. That’s why we go through the painstaking process of writing, editing, and publishing it. We want people to read our books and then like them. So, I was tickled pink that there were people out there in the Multiverse who were actually buying my book. I never even considered that they would re-read it after they had already read it.
I have only re-read two books in my entire life that weren’t bed time stories for my children, and they were Frank Herbert’s God Emperor of Dune and The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran. Learning that people were re-reading my book was a true-to-the-heart-Exorcist-head-turner. I mean, I really never even thought that anybody, let alone the gaggle of
fans that I ran into last year, would pick up my book twice. One of the reasons I busted my hump to get out Love in Vein so soon after releasing Blood Junky was that I was afraid that people would forget me. Seriously. So, yeah, I was surprised by this revelation.
Well, the first person that I heard from that had read Blood Junky more than once was the awesome actress and model, Melanie Robel. We spoke last year on the phone and she had mentioned to me that she had read it twice. From then on I kept meeting people at the conventions that had also read it twice. Later on in the year, Melanie sent word that she was going to crack open its worn out spine for yet a third time.
Of course I laughed at this and told her that I would gladly send her another book, a different book, but she detailed to me how she was looking forward to it. So…Melanie re-read Blood Junky for the third time. And then in January she picked up a copy of Love in Vein. To say the least, I was very intrigued as to what she would think of LIV after having such an in-depth study of the first vehicle. Well… Yesterday, while eating breakfast with Carol Anne at the Flying Star she sent me this text:
“Love in Vein is better than Blood Junky. It has better descriptions. I really hope it comes to a point where we can start shooting. It deserves to be put into film.”
I agree with her. The feature film adaptation of Love in Vein would kick serious celluloid ass. And I’ve been working with some people in New Mexico to help bring this into fruition. Though, in order to get to the production of LIV we are looking to build an audience by introducing the world and some of its characters through a web series entitled, Firefly’s Kiss. FFK would lead us directly into the production of Love in Vein. And if I had my way…Melanie would be playing Z and Carol Anne would be playing Lin…and then all the other vampire films out there could just suck it!
You can see Melanie in the web serial, TECHNOPOLIS by Andre’ Dixon, La Fleur de Mai, Post Mortem, America 2021, and the upcoming feature, Disciples!
This past Wednesday, February 8th, we presented Facts and Tips for Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse to the students at MACCS. As part of our production concept we will be working with the local media arts departments from 4 of Albuquerque’s charter schools. So, as part of our introduction to the schools we did a presentation, complete with a zombie, a wrangler, two scientists, some producers, and myself.
We had a loose script where we introduced the concept through a series of zombie & George Romero related questions. We gave away a pie for getting a smart-ass answer for “what is Pi?” The student that gave us the correct mathematical answer won the chance to be made up as a zombie by our make up artist, Sara Roybal, and he wore the make up all day! The student that gave us the answer “delicious” was presented with a lovely cherry pie from Brittany, our lab assistant. Then Nick and I moved into explaining F.A.T.S.A.Z.A. to the kids while Johnny Ray, played by our producer Chris Ranney, led in our “Test Subject” – a zombie played by Andrea B. Good. Our other producer, Brent Tiano, stood at the back of the room taking pictures. So most of these lovely little snap shots are his handy work.
Johnny Ray and the “Test Subject” entered from the rear of the room, having to clear a path through the students. When they reached the stage we all did our best to stay away from the zombie’s infected jowls! She was scary and when Dr. Claire Hays came out to perform our experiment on how certain sound effects create advantageous results in the “Test Subject”, she named the zombie Becky. And that gave us one of our trivia questions at the end of the presentation for our T-shirt giveaway. After all, I did warn the kids that there would be a test afterwards.
During the experiment, Becky was a handful. She escaped, not only once, but twice. We were able to wrangle her back into her harness and continued the presentation on how we will be working with the media arts kids to produce the webisode serial. The experiment showed how the musical stylings of Don Ho lulled the zombie into a non-aggressive and docile state. Dr. Claire Hays was played by Carol Anne Watts and she did a great job ad-libbing on only two hours of sleep. She arrived earlier that morning from California and we immediately put her to work!
At the end of the gig, during our last T-Shirt giveaway, Becky escaped again and well…she killed me. She attacked and killed the writer before Johnny Ray, with help of a student, could save me. I was toast, and Nick and Brittany ushered the kids out of the room. But then Lucinda, the media arts teacher, had those students interested in joining our production team sign up right then and there. So…my clean exit from stage was shattered as most of the assembly hung out with us. But honestly, I had a hard time keeping myself from laughing at Johnny Ray kicking me and saying…”Yeah, well…he’s a goner.“ So…there ya go, our little zombie play.
It was a lot of fun, and I got to speak to some great kids after it about the production and the productions that they’ve done. One kid even had his own IMDB page. That made me feel a little dumb. Here I am an award winning filmmaker getting out-shined from the youth again. Isn’t it bad enough they instantly Grok technology, are online wizards, have all the years ahead of ‘em, as well as all the energy, and have unlimited potential and ideas? Anyhoo…perhaps I’ll set up my own IMDB page soon. After all, it only took my friend Bert Hall two years of nagging me before I got on Facebook. Still don’t know if I should thank him or kick him in the nuts for that one. Anyway…I’ve completely wandered off track.
So, I guess what I’m saying is that the presentation at MACCS was very…very cool. I had a great time, and I am looking forward to pre-production, principle, & post with these kids. It is going to be a great show. And funny. And who knows…we might actually through some real science in there, so that it’ll be just as educational for those watching the show as it is for those working with us to make it! We have another writer’s meeting today, and I am very excited about what’s been coming out in group. It keeps getting better and better.
To everyone that helped to make the event extra special, and to all the kids, Thank You!
Photography, Books, Art, Music, T-Shirts, & More!
Read An Excerpt from Blood Junky!!
Read An Excerpt from Dead Girl: A Romantic Zombie Tale of Revenge!
Read an Excerpt from Love in Vein
The Albuquerque ComiCon was not only my first conventions in the Southwest, it was also a monumental success! We sold out of the stock we had for the books, Love in Vein & Dead Girl: A Romantic Zombie Tale of Revenge, as well as the Dead Girl Skeleton Sticker and the black ladies tee of I’m Waiting on the Zombie Apocalypse.
The ABQ Con also was one of the first events I did where I had an army…yes, I said an Army…of people running around the convention floor wearing our gear and passing out bookmarks and bringing people back to the booth. That helped immensely and I have to give mad props to Nick for hooking it all up. He really knows how to through a shindig! So to Lorraine Baines, Jermaine Washington, Katalina Parrish, Kirsten Landeau, Denise Gurule, Chris Ranney, Monique Candelaria, Avalisa Anaya, Nick Ward, & Brent Tiano THANK YOU so much for making the first convention of 2012 such an amazing event.
One of the highlights from the event was when Chris and Nick brought Data to the booth. Brent Spiner was funny and charming and it was great spending a bit of time with him. He bought a Drama King T-shirt for his son and presented me with an “Official” Showtime Coffee Mug. It was a hoot! He also stopped by later that day a second time on his way to a photo session.
I also was introduced to the DukeCity Darlins and had a fantastic time hanging out with them. We connected on a creative level and since the event we’ve gotten together a couple of times and 
planned a few photo shoots, worked on securing their 501c3 status, and come up with some nifty designs that you’ll eventually see the Darlin’s selling at upcoming events and on their website.
I sold a couple of books, tees, and stickers to a woman traveling with a gaggle of kids and they came back to the booth a little bit later, the kids had their faces painted. As she rolled up, she said to me that the kids asked to come show the “Vampire” their faces all painted up. I loved that. We aren’t really selling too many kid-friendly things at the booth. We’re more adult minded in the books and especially the artwork. So it was nice that they thought of me and wanted to come back and share their creativity. That meant a lot!
Cat Face, Spiderman, That Vampire Guy, Tiger, & Zombie
Met tons of wonderful people all weekend, and Sabrina, who was working for the event, was super spectacular. Many thanks to her for hooking us up! And I got to bite people! Woo Hoo! That was a lot of fun, posing for vampire attack photos. I’m usually the guy behind the camera, so being in the spotlight as an author & artist is 
taking some getting used to. But as Nick often tells me…”deal with it, it’s only going to grow. So get used to it.” As the pictures on Facebook will show…I am getting used to it.
The event itself was thrown well – organized, efficient – all the food prices were incredibly fair, which is amazing considering how many conventions out there gauge you like no tomorrow on their pricing. And 
they had vendors walking around with little trays of goodies. That was an awesome plus for all of us who get stuck working the booth hour after hour with no break or are working the 
booth alone. Though I had an army working with me, I rarely had a moment to step away on Friday and Saturday. We were that busy. Sunday I made some nice trades with Nick and we each took turns seeing the rest of the event.
I picked up some cool stuff for my kids and talked with a lot of amazing artisans – Soto, John De Jesus, Nei Ruffino to name a few. And to top it off, we were across from J.O. Barr & David Fucking Mack!!! Two of my all-time favorite comic book artists, who have created two of the best books 
eva! – The Crow & Kabuki. Such wonderful people to be around. In fact, all of our surrounding booth-mates were great! There was a photographer and special fx artist across from us too and Katalina and Nick got him started on making vampire bite marks. It caught on and he was giving people vamp bites all weekend!
Well, I am supposed to pick up the Hard Drive from Tim today and retrieve my content that he so lovingly saved. While creating a logo design I unwittingly infected my laptop. To correct it I have to reinstall the OS and all programs. I was about to do this when the Albuquerque ComiCon happened, so the reinstall was set for immediately after.
As I was preparing the Convention photos to upload to here and Facebook, both of my external backup drives started to fail. At the same time. On the same day. And for a very long while it looked as if all my content had been wiped clean. That’s all my art, my writing, my business papers, etc. Needless to say, I was a bit anxious over the whole matter. What was on the “soon-to-be-fixed” laptop was dated as I was relying on the back up to take care of things. My upcoming book with Bertena Varney, Vampire News, was on the drive, as well as the photos from the convention.
So, I called Tim and he rescued the content, saving me from having to collect out-dated things into a half-assed bundle and remake other stuff. Normally, I back up on a regular basis, but in November while moving from two locations I reinstalled the OS on both laptops and had not fully transferred the files from the external back up. I could have been really screwed had it not been for a good friend! So, my thanks goes out to him. Pretty soon we’re going to post some awesome convention pix, release a new book, and I’ll tell you all about the ABQ Con.
Things are also moving nicely for F.A.T.S.A.Z.A. Nick and I spoke with the kids in John Grace’s media arts class at DATA earlier this week and told them about the project. They were very stoked! We have a formal presentation at MAX on February 8th, so I’ll let you in on how we are crafting an extra special event – Zombies, Scientists, a General or two. It’s going to be a lot of fun.
Also got some exciting news on funding for Firefly’s Kiss, but I can’t squeal just yet. Got a few more hoops to jump through and clarify some points. But it is definitely working.
On Facebook this morning, artist extraordinaire, William Price, dropped another incredible piece. The vampire is scary!!!!! I dig that! And I dig William’s exacting philosophy. Everyone should buy a copy of Blood Junky or Die! In fact, I’ll go one step further…Blood Junky will SAVE your life! It is a completely unproven and undocumented FACT that reading Blood Junky will relieve stress, cure dis-ease, make one happier, provide one with hours of joy, and make them a hell of a lot sexier!
So for all the people you know and love, reach out to them, for their own good, and tell them to buy a copy of Blood Junky and start living a better life today!!!
Happy New Years!
Well, whether we like it or not, believe the Mayan’s were prophets or not, are expecting asteroids, global warming, or some scientific catastrophe this is the year we’re expecting “something” to happen.
Personally, I think its going to go over just the same way as the Millenium Bug went over…with a whimper and nothing happening. But I also believe that thoughts create reality. So, there are a whole lot of people out there on planet earth thinking about doomsday. Will they create it? Again, I think not. If the universe cow-towed to the whims of human beings all the time, I’d be eating chocolate covered ice cream with a cherry on top out of the naked splendor of some Amazon goddess right now. But that’s not gonna happen. Either is doomsday. Because we also have too many people out there, like myself, thinking about and working to create something beautiful on planet earth that far outlasts the confines of 365 days and one rotation around the sun.
Yeah…mankind’s kinda F*ked up in a lot of ways, I give you that, but I think a good ole fashioned slap from God saying, “hey, you were wrong again about things, perhaps you should stop thinking on when I’m gonna take ya out and begin living” type of message will be more effective than waiting and believing in some absurd meassure of a John Cussack movie.
To kick off this new year in high spirits I am working with the Vampire Professor, aka Bertena Varney, to create a 2011 retrospective called, Vampire News 2011. Cool, right? It’s going to be released as a “free” eBook next week. And tonight I’ll be shooting the cover for it with some wonderful people, here in sunny Albuquerque, NM.
On January 3rd, artist extraordinaire, William Price, posted on Facebook this picture of me that he created.
Now, that’s awesome. Very inspiring work, William, and thank you!
God Bless everyone this new year. Create the world you want to live in! Be your dream! As a vampire novelist, that image above is a dream come true!
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