Bea Arthur died today. She was 86 years old. Rest in Peace Bea...you will be missed.

I've just finished reading Aftershock & Others (excellent stuff - it's always great to catch up on your short stories - they're not that easy to get hold of over here in Sunny England) and wanted to ask about something I read in the interstitial material.
In 2003/2004 you mention a 'cozy medical mystery' novel that you weren't able to sell. Two things sprung to mind. First off, why on Earth would nobody buy it? I'm guessing that you wouldn't just throw some chucked-together tat out there and try to pass it off as a sell-able novel, so why was nobody interested? I mean, surely your name alone would be enough to sell a story these days, wouldn't it?
And secondly (and yes, probably somewhat predictably) will this short novel ever see the light of day?
(And a bonus 'thirdly': are there any more unsold novels cluttering up your attic space that need to see the light of day?!)
Thanks in advance.

This movie stars Michael Rapaport... WAIT!! Don't leave just yet due to that. He will totally surprise you in this flick. His character is a shy fellow, a bit of an introvert but on a whim signs up for an experimental drug study on a new anti-depressant. But he develops a side-effect... super powers. At least he thinks so. It's equal parts drama and odd comedy that compliment each other very well. It's a low budget flick, but fancy FX and scenic locations were not needed since the story is contained in his own small world. I don't see this winning an Oscar in any category but it certainly is worth your time.

I see the Sci-Fi Channel has a new movie coming out called Carny about a freakshow carnival and figuring heavily in it is a Jersey Devil. Sounds a lot like a certain author's work.

I just got a newsletter from gauntlet with an update on Ground Zero. Everyone may have gotten this, but I thought I'd share:

"The latest Repairman Jack novel by F. Paul Wilson, Ground Zero, is now at the printer for a late-June/early-July release."

Can we consider late June or early July pretty concrete at this point or are they going for the whole "Under promise, over deliver" thing?

I have to say this is probably me putting two things together that I love which, like as not, have absolutely nothing to do with one another. But I couldn't resist posting here to ask FPW himself.

In the fifth book of the Repairman Jack series, Jack gives up his favourite sidearm (the infamous Semmerling) for a gun that his supplier (Abe) thinks is better for him.

In the fifth book of the James Bond series, James gives up his favourite sidearm (the beretta) for a gun that his supplier (M, or Q if you want to be specific) thinks is better for him.

Coincidence, FPW? I know a lot of people, being Bond movie buffs instead of Bond novel buffs, would miss the reference, but it's something I noticed on my most recent re-read.

I saw this yesterday with some others. I'm a bit slowed down and have a lot on my mind and maybe that's why I missed something crucial: WHY were those body parts being harvested? What experiments were those Russians doing? What was wrong with that one guy in particular (the guy with rake marks that was being "frankensteined")?

I asked a friend I saw it with yesterday, but she said she didn't know either.

I finally got around to looking it up today on wikipedia but found they didn't say. But they did mention that the guard dogs had 2 heads.

How in the heck did I miss that? Is that true, or did I catch a little wikipedia vandalism? But it would kinda make sense with some of the other stuff going on in the movie. If true, then I was more slowed down & distracted than I thought...though I can recall a lot of other details from the movie anyway.

Just saw a preview for a new made-for-tv movie on the Sci-Fi channel called "Carny". It showed brief flashes of a carnival that apparently has a real monster caged that eventually gets free, people reading about the Jersey Devil . After seeing it I immediately thought about the Last Rakosh story, and Rage. The IMDB page for it makes no mention of F.Paul Wilson or those stories... but the similarities, at least from what little I saw in the preview, seem too numerous to be a simple coincidence.

Carny

Just thought I'd drop that tidbit of info in case someone took some unwelcome liberties.


LJ Eden

Got Aftershock & Others, Barrens & Others and Ozy for my 45th. Can't think of a better gift to have received for a birthday present...unless someone gifted me with a wormhole to the future so I could read the next few Jack books NOW!

I've been on a roll with the low budget horror of late and Splinter is the best of the bunch. It features one of the most original monsters I've seen in quite some time and is a smart, fast-paced thriller.