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24
Jan 2012
Category: Uncategorized
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23
Jan 2012
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, Chris Ranney, 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!
Category: Happenings
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22
Jan 2012
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!!!
Category: Happenings, Photography, Writing
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06
Jan 2012
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!
s.
Category: Happenings, Photography
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22
Dec 2011
On Facebook today, Sabrina Buckman wrote…”Just wanted you to know…I was about to wrap Dead Girl in festive christmas paper, but decided to read the first page…now I’m on page 88, and I’m keeping the book….and I’m not going to bed anytime soon.”
On one hand I’m tickled pink that somebody digs my work so much that they blow off their friend and gift-wrapping to fall headlong into the story.
But on the other hand, I feel a bit guilty that this person’s not going to get his or her Christmas gift and Sabrina is spiraling in a world of horror, instead of walking in a winter wonderland.
But still…on another hand (because I am a multi-tasker and Shiva lover) I can’t be held responsible for the actions of others, even if my work is involved some how.
Yet, on another hand, from yet another growing appendage…I like the fact that my work has the power to grab somebody, rip ‘em from reality, and hold them fast to the fiction. It’s exciting, you know.
But on yet another five-fingered-memorandum…I’m contributing to wanton acts of self pleasure. This could be a sin or a blessing. Your choice.
And on another hand…I’m contributing to insomnia; breaking up her bio-rhythms…infecting her dreams with zombies and a murder of crows and ancient Egyptian gods…Again, this could be a good thing and a bad thing, it all depends on how her subconscious communicates the tale during REM.
And finally on the last Shiva hand..is that fact that I am probably making more out of it than it is. The girl bought my book for a friend and wound up loving the story. That’s cool. Perhaps, she’ll pass it on after she’s read it…like sharing a cigarette after good sex.
The story….over time….will evaporate like smoke.
Category: Happenings, Reviews, Writing, Zombies
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14
Dec 2011
Anne Rice is the bar that all vampire chroniclers must attempt to reach. Her Vampire Chronicles is the stage and the model for which everything new is compared. So it comes with a firm and steady heart, one who has experienced Anne’s work and enjoyed it immensely, to recognize just how close to her bar I have come.
Crystal Gimesh reminded me today on Facebook that she was the first one to point out that my writing is on par with Anne’s. The reason that Crystal is claiming ownership of this revelation is that Living Dead Media‘s review of my new novel, Love in Vein, has just been released. In it the reviewer, Lori Bowland, wrapped up her review by saying, “This series and more directly this novel is comparable with and at times surpasses the “Vampire Chronicles” by Anne Rice.”
For me that is an accomplishment. For anyone, and especially somebody as knowledgeable and educated as Lori is about the subject, to say that I “at times surpasses” Anne is simply wonderful. Because she is the bar.
When I was working on creating my condition of vampirism, studying history, crafting the world, and writing the stories I was aware that I could have never of done what I am doing if it were not for the work that Anne did. So, I know there is nothing I do that can take anything away from her. She and her characters are set in stone, just like Dracula, Carmelia, and Lilith. She is history. But to be compared to her in any way, shape, or form means that I must be doing something right!
Please check out the full review of LIV on Living Dead Media and while yer at it…Pick up a copy of the new thing, the fresh voice; become a part of the vampire revolution!
: ]s.
Category: Happenings, Reviews, Writing
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08
Dec 2011
I’ve wanted to add a flashback scene into Firefly’s Kiss for about two years now, but haven’t gotten to do it until yesterday. The flashback scenes that I’m talking about are of the 1904 Baltimore fire on February 7th that lasted for nearly two days and burned central B-more to the Harbour. Truly an exciting and fitting flashback for any vampire story taking place in Washington DC’s sister city.
Well, the scenes are in place and I love ‘em. They add the depth and reality to the overall story that I want, as well as craft some pretty wicked action. But doing this rewrite to FFK, back into its episodic format, is proving quite challenging. I am making a “shooting script”. So, I get to add all of my camera angles and audio notes so that we can take the pages into the next step of getting them translated into Storyboards and from there truly craft shooting scripts for each webisode.
I am being meticulous. After taking all original 14 webisodes and compacting them into a 2-hour format feature script, I’ve learned a few things about the story. So now as I break the feature length script back into what I hope will be 14 webisode scripts, I am making necessary changes. After all, I’ve grown as a writer and human being since I penned the original scripts back in 2008 & 2009. Writing and producing three novels has greatly helped my story-telling abilities. So, needless to say, FFK is getting a tune up.
Adding the Baltimore Fire scenes were a necessary component to the process of updating the scripts. But what I’m having trouble with now is that the rest of the webisode is shit. I’ve got to balance it out. I know where I’m going to go in the upcoming webisodes, and that all works, albeit I see a few small alterations and cuts. But nothing like I am facing in Webisode #7: Ripple. The situation has become dire and I’ve started surfing the internet because the pages of the webi are boring me and I don’t know where to go.
Sigh.
This was a cool video:
But it didn’t spark any ideas. Other than reading in the comments on the news site about how paranoid people were to be living in a media driven state where everything you do and say is being recorded and analyzed for marketing and population control; it doesn’t fit the ripples of the story I’m trying to tell, and quite frankly I could care less what Big Brother or Little Brother or some lab geek at MIT thinks about what I have to say on Facebook. Most everything in this country, in my lame opinion, is a waste of time and money, and my ego isn’t so huge that I’m concerned about what other people are going to think about what I say or write. I mean, like hearing what people have to say about my books, but honestly its a marketing thing for me. I’m curious to see if what I’m doing works, and if not, what I can do to change it. If I could see an algorithm about that I’d be into it.
But all those people crying Big Brother from this video was socially intriguing for awhile. But after performing political poetry in coffeehouses across the country for over a decade, being involved in movements and protests, and producing a politically driven poetry public cable show & award-wining documentary in another decade, and still seeing the masses of America continue to shove their heads up their arses, I’ve grown a bit cynical and numb to public rants. I mean…C’mon George W. Bush for two terms. Really? We kinda deserve what were gettin’.
Anyhoo…More on Firefly’s Kiss later.
Category: Writing
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07
Dec 2011
In a few days I leave for New Mexico…again.
I moved out there in ’97, went to UNM, had a very cool underground art space, was a member of a drum collective, performed poetry, started Poetry Television, lived w/ Satan ( my Ex), had two children…w/ Satan (my Ex), studied Zen, hung out at a Christian monastery (for many years), studied kung fu, made films, hiked, lived, loved, created art(s), and generally enjoyed my life.
That land shaped me.
In 2008, after a brief stint in Florida, I returned home to Maryland. I’ve been here on the East Coast ever since. I’ve gotten to hang w/ my kids a lot, see my father cross to the other side with Cancer, write 3 books, start a publishing company, had a girlfriend for a few months – yes, that’s singular; as in one, and I’ve been pimping my creative works from the back of a van for over a year.
Now, I’m going back and the future looks as wide open as it did back in ’97. But I don’t feel the same. The cogs of my life are different and so are my motivations. This time I’m going out there to work on finalizing a deal to bring my webisode series, Firefly’s Kiss, to life…and hopefully, this will lead to the production of Love in Vein on the big screen.
As excited and happy as I am about going back to the place I love, I am saddened that I will be so far away from my children; and as each day winds down to the long car ride across the country, I feel like I don’t want to leave them. But I know I have to. I also know I’ll be back. If all goes well, I’ll be setting things up to work out there on vampire films.
My vampire films.
I know its cool, right? But that distance from them…it is shattering.
I wish I could have spent more time with them this year. But I pissed Satan off at the top of the summer and she’s retaliated the only way she knows how…by keeping me from what I love the most. So, on one hand I wont be sitting around Maryland anymore pining for a break in the bullshit to hang with my kids – I’ll simply be in NM where I can’t see ‘em working on something grand.
It’s temporary. That’s what I tell myself. Going out there right now, it’s temporary. I’ll only be gone long enough to take care of business and then I’ll come back and try again to get on a regular visitation schedule that’s not tied to her middle finger. But…
NM is a long way away. If the bottom falls out of this deal, then I’m basically stuck there. Yeah…I’m taking another leap of creative faith. Tally-ho! There is a bit of mirroring going on in my mind, as I look back to the first time I went out there and look at things now. I’ll be forty-five in February and I can honestly say that it was easier to shove off in ’97. I was eager to go then. Beyond ready. Though I’m ready for this thing here…now – and I’ve worked really hard to get this opportunity – I just wish I could spend the last few days being with my children instead of watching the Misfits and doing a bunch of paperwork.
Love the Misfits by the way. Truly a killer show! And a must see for all comic book, super hero geeks! But…to recap: Going to New Mexico to finalize a deal to bring Firefly’s Kiss to life!
Awesome.
And I’m going to miss my kids.
Category: Happenings
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23
Nov 2011
The advent of programing available online has aided me in watching TV shows and movies that I might not otherwise see. I’ve just started watching season one of Mad Men, which I can honestly say is slick and stylish. But after 6 episodes I still have no idea what its actually about other than a character driven plot exploring the work and lives of a select group of people. Each episode is around 40 minutes in length and at the end of each episode, so far, I am wondering what its all about. Is it just about life and advertising? Is it a meandering through an American time capsule? With the show’s rave reviews and syndication still intact I am hoping that I will see the point..or even the pointlessness of the Madison Avenue crew some time soon.
Over the past month, I’ve had Charmed playing in the background of my life. All eight seasons down the gullet now and I am thankful that it ran for such a long time. Because if I had to pick and choose something else to watch while having to pack and move and move and pack and render copious amounts of year-end and legal paperwork I do believe I would have turned on the radio instead of making so many other optic choices. Sometimes, consistency is a blessing. So, I am thankful the show ran so long. It’s viewing length just about balanced out my workload – so yeah for that.
One another level, the one that weights its television viewing merit against my personality, I can say that I grew to like the show. It took awhile. But by the last two seasons I truly cared about the characters and the stories. It took nearly 4 seasons of the show for me to even get involved enough in the lives of the characters to care. That’s four years worth of twenty-one to twenty-two episodes a season, totaling about 84 shows, going through two main 
cast member changes – Shannon Doherty to Rose McGowan – and a gaggle of writers and directors and producers and advertises that I lovingly never had to sit through in real-time. God…I love the internet!
I wasn’t instantaneously charmed by the show. It was competent programming and I am glad that I’ve experienced it. But honestly, the biggest highlight I can say about the entire things is rather lewd. But it’s true. I am happy to see that the show’s producers allowed the actress’s nipples to be seen from season two on. I know that’s such a lame and sexiest comment, but I’m being honest here. After all, for me, the plots were obvious and generic and the show’s appeal was campy. I like camp, and the show’s style did grow on me,as I mentioned. There wasn’t anything too original in it. It was a smash-up of Bewitched and The Craft with a ‘lil I Dream of Jeannie thrown in. I loved all of those shows and movies respectively. But Charmed took some focus, or lack there of as I was doing other things with it on, to make me interested enough to want to see the next episode. So… perky nipples in almost every shot was a plus.
As to the show as a whole, Charmed was quaint.
I like to pick old shows and movies to see for many different reasons. I watched NCIS because my parents were all into Leroy Jethro Gibbs & company and I wanted to understand why. I enjoyed a few seasons of Survivor because my Dad and an old girlfriend were into it. So I hung out with them in front of the tube for quality time. I watched a season of American Idol once for the same reason. And even partially named one of my characters in the One 
Blood series from one of the performers from that season.
I’ll give anything a chance and if somebody I know really likes a show for one reason or another I’ll look at it to see if I can see what they see in it. After all, the world is everybody’s oyster.
I stumbled into the modern version of Battlestar Galactica because two of my friends raved about it for years. So I checked it out. And it turned out to be one of my favorite television runs ever. I got into Doctor Who – with Peter Davison - becuase my girlfriend at the time was into the show. Now I am a devoted Whovian. I was particularly curious about Charmed because the monks and nuns at the monastery in Albuquerque used to watch the show faithfully. Really. They did. 
It was one of Father Barney’s favorite shows. Maybe it was the nipples too, but I doubt it. He always said that he liked the relationships and the fun camp.
Back then I was surprised that these Christian monastics loved a show about magic enough that they would recommend it. It’s not normally what you would think a monk would tell you to spend time doing.
There have been a few times when I’ve attempted to get into the show over the years, but it never stuck until recently. I always got bored by it. But watching the show from beginning to end with each episode in order was nice, and I began to understand what Father was saying about the relationships, and see what they had said about the show all those years ago. It was cool.
I like looking at the world through somebody else’s eyes every now and again. It helps me to see things that I normally would not pick up and to understand things that I normally might never get. I do this with other things besides TV shows, but even the moving images from the glowing box can be educational, like most things in life, when one lets go of their ego and simply floats along the digital streams of light.
We are, after all, connected in the virtual cosmos.
Category: Cinema, Happenings, Joyful Noise
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08
Nov 2011
Moved into a new place over the weekend. Still unpacking and will be doing so for probably the next week. It always takes some time for the dust to settle; find the right combination of where things go. But balance will return. It is in balance’s nature to even out.
Took this pic of Count Gore de Vol at HorrorFind in September. He was very cool to meet and talk to. As my booth location was right near the entrance to the celebrity room he and I got to talk each morning for a bit. For those readers that have been with BMRH from the beginning they will know that the Count was a huge influence on me while I as growing up. My dad used to wake me up when I was young to watch Creature Feature on Channel 20, hosted by the Count. It came on at 11pm and my bedtime, back then was 8 or 9. That time I spent bonding with my father over horror movies in Count Gore de Vol’s show was my initiation into the wonderful world of the macabre. So meeting him, and grabbing a couple pictures was a thrill. This one photo in particular is especially awesome because here he was – my first vampire – and here I was a vampire author, and he was having some fun with my book. This pic captures a moment that he did after we took the regular ‘hanging out at the Con’ photos. He said “here, take this” and posed. It was pretty special!
I’ll be updating the photo gallery over the next month with pictures from all the shows that we’ve been hitting this past year. So, keep an eye out for them.
This coming weekend we are going to the dogs! Horror Hound in Cincinnati, OH. So for all you mid-western junkies and horror fans you are going to have to stop by and pick up an art print or tee or one of our exciting new books. Or just swing by the booth to Bark at the Moon with the rest of us shapeshifters!
I also hear tell that Cincinnati is the original home of Dead Girl illustrator, Charles Hearn, so I’m hoping to meet a few people that know Charles and are hungry for a ‘lil bit of his zombie action. There is also a good chance that Charles will be joining us at Horror Hound for a day or even all three days as he too is moving. Charles is moving back to his ole Ohio stoppin’ grounds as I nestle into the big north-eastern shoulders of one of Baltimore’s outlining townships.
I’ll keep you posted as to his appearance as it develops. Moving, as I am sure you know, is hard and a time sux. But I’m going to see if we can get him to come hang with the pack…for at least one day. So…there ya have it, definitely a season of change and renewal for all of us here at the Crazy Duck.
Until next time…hold on to yer unit and keep yer feet dry! The universe is expanding, wearing in like new shoes.
: ]s.
Category: Conventions, Happenings, Photography, Reviews, Writing, Zombies
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