I just finished FPW's latest RJ short, "Interlude at Duane's." Terrific! Great RJ fixit story.

I can't wait to dig into the rest of "Thriller, Stories to Keep You Up at Night." It's the book about which FPW and others spoke at the Barnes and Noble signing tonight.

The panel at the signing included F. Paul Wilson, Eric Van Lustbader, MJ Rose and James Siegel. An audience member asked an interesting question...which thriller would each of the authors consider his/her favorite? The answers were as varied as the speakers and proved the panel's point that the range of what could be considered a thriller is limited only by imagination.

FPW said "A Tale of Two Cities," not considered a thriller by most. According to Paul, the story arcs of the characters against the dramatic backdrop of rebellion were "enviable."

MJ Rose picked "Rebecca," another unusal take on what could be considered a thriller.

James Siegel's choice of John Le Carre's "Smiley's People" and "Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy" would fall into the more standard thriller fare.

Eric Van Lustbader said "Dracula."

Interesting choices, eh?

Perhaps most dramatic was the loud, vibrant storm that blew up as the group was in the midst of discussion. The lightning flared and the thunder rolled, a perfect scrim against which to watch the panel of thriller writers share their thoughts.

James Rollins, Douglas Preston, David Morrell, Lincoln Child and Lee Child are just some of the 32 authors who've written a short story for the anthology.

I've got some great reading ahead of me tonight.

I'll be posting a few pics taken this evening. Cobalt and her son, Daniel, were there, as was Bluesman Mike.

And best of all, Mary Wilson was there, too. It was great playing catch up with her.

All in all, it was a fun evening.

Steve D
School's out forever. Actually, for only two weeks. Just finished my last final exam, and can finally get to my copy of Infernal. Am I the only one who is one book behind. Saw saynomore's post on the Harbingers error print. Shouldna let me know, AC, I'd have bought them all. I don't even have a reading copy now as it is. But first things first. Read Infernal, then look for a copy of Harbingers. If anyone wants to sell their read copy, let me know. I'll be checking ebay meanwhile. Post you later.

This movie, "Goal! The Dream," is about an illegal immigrant who lives in East Los Angeles and gets a chance to try out for a for-real English Futbol Team. Of course, he makes the team, learns a lesson, and the team wins. Lots of cliches, sub-Rocky montages, and a little bit, very little, mind you, of culture clash. Lots of unintentional laughs (especially if you grew up in East LA). Some Brit English to American English subtitles would've helped. Does "shite" mean shit? "You're shite!" was used alot in this movie.

Anyway... my question: One of the Brit Futbol players was drinking a Budweiser. I shite you not--a Budweiser! Correct me if I'm wrong, but do Brits drink Budweiser? Reminds me of Eric Idle's joke: Why is American beer and making love in a canoe the same? Because they're both f***ing close to water! Anyway... would appreciate a comment from a board bloke, ifee don mind.

AC

P.S. For those who go see this movie, try to figure out where the movie's headed. I busted a gut when the movie reached the finale. :p

Break A Leg is an interesting dark comedy about an actor who is constantly losing roles to producers' nephews or washed out has-beens that at least have a semi-bankable 'name' until he decides to create his own break.
The film is a Canadian labor of love for John and Tom Cassini who recruited many of their acting buddies for it in addition to writing, starring producing, directing it. It is a solid movie with several great scenes, especially one where he discovers how producers actually determine who the part goes to; it's a real pisser.

I was viewing the website of Dan "Dimple Chin" Brown and came across this little tid-bit of information about the writing process.

Give us three "Good to Know" facts about you. Be creative. Tell us about your first job, the inspiration for your writing, any fun details that would enliven your page.
If I'm not at my desk by 4:00 A.M., I feel like I'm missing my most productive hours. In addition to starting early, I keep an antique hour glass on my desk and every hour break briefly to do pushups, sit-ups, and some quick stretches. I find this helps keep the blood (and ideas) flowing. I'm also a big fan of gravity boots. Hanging upside down seems to help me solve plot challenges by shifting my entire perspective.

So...Paul, being a NYTBA, why did you not fill us struggling beginners on such secrets? I bet all the cool kids have gravity boots. Koontz, King, Deavers,Preston/Child. And all this time we thought it was hard work!

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/maggers224.../my_photos


Some places Jack visited during "Harbingers."

SPOILERS! Don't look unless you've read the book; the photos are captioned and give things away.

Enjoy.

Hey guys long time no talk. I have two copies of harbingers signed and limited from gauntlet press and am looking to part with one. If anyone is interested send me a private message and hopefully we can work something out. The book is 281 of 500 and in brand new condition. I am not looking to make alot of money off this just trying to recoupe some of the money i already spent.

Jim

Paul recently announced that Pelts was going to be made by Dario Argento for the Masters of Horror series - hour-long movies based on short works of horror. The brain-child of Mick Garris includes many directors including John Carpenter, Don Coscarelli, Stuart Gordon, etc.

Being a John Carpenter fan, I had been curious of a new movie that I had seen at Best Buy called Cigarette Burns. It finally came around in my Netflix queue, and I liked this movie a lot.

Cigarette burns is about a movie buff who finds rare films for people to earn extra money (in this case to pay off a debt). He gets enlisted to find a film which causes the audience to react violently into murderous rages.

I thought this was very well made and well acted. A bit gory.

I'm looking forward to Incident On and Off a Mountain Road and Dreams in the Witch House ...... and, of course, PELTS.

Wonderful movie - funny and touching.

Interesting story about an orphan Living on the just south of the border with the North) who is/becomes a transvestite. (They make it clear that he loves dressing in women's clothes from a very young age.)

Of course, it is an Irish movie - directed by Neil Jordan. Liam Nesson has a small, very important role.

I wish I'd seen it on the big screen.

Not the most original horror movie of all time, unpopular teen dies and comes back to torment her haters, but done with enough flair to make for a fun watch if you're not looking for greatness. Especially when you consider the slate of horror flicks currently available. I went to a 'proper' video store yesterday thinking enough time had elapsed since my last visit that the selections would be plentiful...they weren't. My low-budget tastes aren't as easily satisfied when I have to pay full price for the rental instead of the freebies I used to get as an employee.