Pretty awesome. 3D was unnecessary, but overall a good movie. Really enjoyed it, except for the 30 minute "intermission" when the theater lost power to all its screens. You'd think Fayetteville was a third world country sometimes with the way they lose power around here!

I'm working up an interview with Jack. What question would you most like to ask him?

9/1 - in Hawaii for the Spellbinders conference: this friend stopped by... http://twitpic.com/apt9me ...to watch the regatta http://twitpic.com/apt9oz

9/3 - so yesterday I'm bitching about the celebrity culture and how I couldn't think of anyone I'd cross the street to meet. Comes Sunday I'm sitting in the hotel bar and in walks Shelly Berman (apparently he's in a 5-0 episode) whose comedy records I listened to as a kid. I can still quote passages. So who must, simply MUST get his photo with the man? He's still funny. Tugs on his toupee and tells Dennis he should think about getting one, looks at me and says, "Yours is pretty good - almost looks real." http://twitpic.com/aqr8br


9/6 - finished script of 1st installment of SECRET HISTORIES graphic novel. Thought it would be easy because I'd written the novel. NOT!


9/7 - This is hilarious http://meljeanbrook.com/diary-of-an-author-day-1/


9/7 - as with the RNC, I didn't watch the DNC. Too bad I would have loved to try the Joe Biden "literally" drinking game. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/80893.html


9/8 - Watching season 1 of "Boss" - Kelsey Grammer's character has to be the coldest, meanest, most ruthless SOB on TV. Makes Rahm Emanuel look cuddly.


9/8 - Proof of my geekiness is how fascinating I find this graph: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120908.html


9/9 - PINES - mystery-thriller by Blake Crouch blazes along, then pulls the rug out with a devilish twist. Get it! http://tinyurl.com/92rkvxg


9/9 - Only geeks like me will get verklempt during this little film about a Mars rover http://tinyurl.com/99mlsn9


9/10 - a borrowed dog named Clio and me-o pic.twitter.com/EfZ8btMJ


9/11 - The Chicago teachers strike isn't funny, but this is http://tinyurl.com/9aqmxf7

9/13 - How NOT to protest http://imgur.com/r/wtf/NYTVL


9/14 - to lighten things up: http://tinyurl.com/8w4oapu


9/14 - art...I really like the Totoro near the bottom. http://tinyurl.com/9rk2g3o


9/17 - How the Mauser C96 inspired the 'Star Wars' DL-44 Blastech Blaster pistol http://tinyurl.com/9cqzz2g


9/19 - Bilious! Breakfast with Scott Shepherd ("Haven") at London Hotel & lunch with David Hartwell (editor) at Birriera atop the Toy Building


9/20 - arrove at the Stratosphere in Vegas for Killercon. They gave me a huuuuge suite for the 4 nights I'm here.


9/21 - at Killercon - read "Recalled" then did a panel


9/22 - YA panel at Killercon that resulted in this poster: http://tinyurl.com/8tk5wlz


9/23 - saw Penn & Teller's great show at the Rio.


9/26 - a Thai lunch in NYC with the publicity department - reeeeeally wanted a 32-oz Pepsi. Had to settle for a 12-oz Singha. (we all suffer in our own way) We're def pushing to add crime fans to the Repairman Jack readership. COLD CITY is a great place to start with RJ.


927 - Hey, UK - my (and Argento's) "Pelts" is a freebie with SFX http://www.sfx.co.uk/2012/09/18/sfx-horror-issue/


9/28 - Gevalt! This could put even Abe off bagels: http://tinyurl.com/dyk3m46


9/29 - worst death scene ever? I can't come up with one worse: http://tinyurl.com/dxslf3l

I can't wait....Oct 14'th for the premire.

http://www.amctv.com/the-walking-dea...-hide-and-seek

http://tinyurl.com/cyvb58l

Here's my original post from back in '09:

Quote:I was just curious (and perhaps other forum members are, also) as to which F. Paul Wilson book was your first?
How old were you when you read it?
Why did you read it?
Inquiring minds want to know how you got hooked...

Sincerely,
Srem

Here's my story on how it all started:
In 1985 (I was 13 and on summer break from school) my father brought me along on one of his "construction excursions." It was a cold, rainy day and due to the fact that I was too young to operate the heavy machinery needed to build the new indoor tennis court he was working on, I got stuck sitting in his cramped Toyota truck all day.
Sensing my boredom, he gave me some money and said I could go get whatever I wanted from the brand new mini-mart that had popped up next to the tennis court's construction site. After walking around the mini-mart for awhile, and armed with the usual kid-fare of soda pop and candy, I drifted over to the bookstand. Deciding that there was nothing of interest for a 13 year-old kid in the stand, I almost walked away, then my eyes suddenly fell on a creepy-looking greenish-yellow novel with the words THE TOMB emblazoned on the front cover. This was the first soft-back printing of the book, and it was larger than anything I had ever read, but I decided after studying the teaser on the back I was ready for the challenge.
I read and re-read the book several times over the course of 8 years, not realizing that after I had already bought and read another novel titled Nightworld, that this was part of a six-book collection called "The Adversary Cycle." From there I proceeded to painstakingly hunt down and collect the rest of the out-of-print series, which is still one of my favorites to this day.

The end of my story is a tragic one, however, as the worn but still intact remains of my first sentimental copy of The Tomb was torn to shreds by my ex-roommate's pet Beagle. No other book was touched. How could this be, I wondered in anguish?
My only thought was to conclude to the possibility that this vicious excuse for a dog had been touched by the Otherness...

Coincidentally, the same ex-roommate was visiting some relatives on an Indian reservation and found this in some little hole-in-the-wall used bookstore while there:




She paid 2 bucks for it, and although it's not mint, it is what I consider to be in 'very good' condition. Interesting enough, it was the only F. Paul Wilson book there.

This is a good omen indeed; now all it needs is Paul's autograph to make it complete.

(Btw, this copy of The Tomb has been safely removed from the presence of all Otherness-infected, book-devouring Beagle dogs.)

:amen:

I displeased Bailey Hunter at a YA panel...

http://fakeposters.com.s3.amazonaws.com/...mqkfwx.jpg

If you are a fan of the Frank Miller comic series that relaunched the BATMAN comic franchise in the mid 80's, then this is the BATMAN film to end them all. This Dark Knight is gritty and violent. He has no issues breaking the limbs of bad guys or pummeling their face to a bloody pulp.

The story revolves around a 55-year old Bruce Wayne, who hung up the cape and cowl after the government cracked down on masked vigilantes. When Bruce's old Friend Harvey Dent, thought to be reformed, breaks away and resumes his violent ways at Two Face, Wayne feels that he must do the right thing and deliver the crazed mad-man to justice.

But he isn't as fit, fast, or in-shape as he once was. His battles wear him out and he has a long history of drinking to put behind him.

The film maintains the feel of the comic series/graphic novel. It feels dirty and gritty and the whimsical news segments are left intact. Huge chunks of dialogue and scenes are lifted directly from the comic books. This is an adaptation done completely right. The animation style is much more crisp than the sketchy drawings that Miller is known for, but the penciled style and choppy lines that work in a comic book wouldn't work in an animated film. The look of the characters maintain that Miller-esque quality and there are several key images that are recreated for the film.

For anyone who felt that the Nolan features did not do justice to the character, check out part one of BATMAN: The Dark Knight Returns, on Blu Ray now.

I don't know when Part II will be released, but I look forward to it.

Cold City:
A Repairman Jack Novel: The Early Years Trilogy: Book One
F. Paul Wilson. Tor, $25.99 (368p) ISBN 978-0-7653-3014-7

In Wilson’s lively first in a projected trilogy of prequels to his Repairman Jack saga (Nightworld, etc.), Jack, newly arrived in Manhattan, begins honing the skills that will eventually make him a formidable urban mercenary who operates off the grid. Jack’s talent for finding trouble is already well developed, as becomes clear when his job smuggling cigarettes runs him afoul of Arab jihadists, the mob, and a ring of sex slavers. Wilson expertly evokes Manhattan in all its gritty glory in the early ’90s and introduces series regulars Abe Grossman, Jack’s gunrunner and surrogate father, and Julio, the hard-working barkeep at Jack’s preferred watering hole, the Spot. Though preachy in spots and devoid of the supernatural subtext that invigorates the later novels, this valentine to Jack’s legion of fans still packs a wallop that whets the appetite for his next early adventure. Agent, Al Zuckerman, Writers House. (Nov.)

A friend of mine recommended the Repairman Jack books to me, I'd not heard of them before but thought they sounded really interesting so I immediately got stuck in and then completely and utterly addicted to this frankly phenomenal series of books. I read somewhere that the book order is a bit tricky but most people seemed to recommend reading the Jack books first and then reading the Adversary series. I have just finished reading the Dark at the End after reading the 15 Jack books one after the other over the past few weeks and now I'm completely at a loss as to where to go next to find out what happens at the end with the Otherness. Should I go back and read the Adversary series from the start or move on to Nightworld or something else? Very confused and a little distraught at having finished this amazing series...or have I?! I'm sure I'm not the first person to ask about this, but please help and point me in the right direction.