Off the road again...for a little while at least

We're back from the long drive to Florida for Thanksgiving. Even though the trip took 2 days each way instead of one (let's face it, all the airport hassles and flight time pretty much take up a whole day) Megan and I kept thinking how much better it was than flying. We stopped where we wanted, I got to indulge in Jack in the Box tacos not once but TWICE, we brought the dog along, and we had a car when we got to Orlando. The trip was good. We even met up with an aunt and cousin that I haven't seen for WAY too long. Plenty of turkey to go around and all was well.

That is, until we hit Kansas City. Maybe the spirit of that place is getting its revenge on me for what I put it through in Howling Legion. As soon as we got within sight of KC, one of our tires blew. Fortunately, I had just gotten AAA for the trip so that was ok. It set us back a few hours, but no biggie.

Went through phase 3 of the new tattoo last night. That was fun. Next time I need to eat some real food before sitting for a four hour tattoo session because I was a little light on my feet and green around the gills afterward. Nothing erases the whole, "I'm a badass for getting a tat" mentality quicker than almost keeling over when it's done. Oh well. I just got some pics of Phase 2 so here's a look at how it's coming along. I think Paige is turning out quite nicely.

So now it's back to work. I did get some editing done during the trip but didn't have any time to sit and write. We're off to St. Louis later for next week's signing (Dec. 8 - Borders near Lindbergh and Watson - Be there or be a four-sided shape of some kind) and I'll have to get work done along the way. Brainstorming while on the road is fine, but fresh words need to be typed as well.

I'll get to it. I'll also run to the comic shop because there's 2 shipments for me. The comics I didn't get last week are still there and then there's this week's. Mmmmm. Comics.

Stuffin' mah face!

Just what I didn't need...a bunch of time away from my computer. Skinners #4 is rolling along, but so are the holidays. Megan, the dog and I are heading out to visit relatives for Thanksgiving and there won't be a lot of time for work. Even so, the laptop is coming along so I can get SOMEthing done in that time. Even though my fingers won't see the keyboard very much, road trips always do wonders for the creative juices. Whenever I take one in the midst of writing Skinners, I always come up with something good. I'll be sure to bring along some paper and pens.

So for all my readers who celebrate Thanksgiving, have a good one. For all the ones who don't, find some reason to have a big meal this week. You gotta eat, right? See you in a little while.

NOT a gift wrapping station

Had my first signing for Howling Legion the other night. Borders always treats me pretty well. Plenty of copies of the books and a prime seat right by the front door. Of course, once the holidays get closer, I try to migrate away from that part of the store since people will just want me to slap a bow on a recent purchase. Of course I do, but then I sign it...whatever it is.

The turnout wasn't too bad. A good portion of the Nevermore folks showed up, so that was very cool. Also saw some new faces that wound up getting The Talk from me where I bend their ear until they buy a book so they can escape. Heh. Seriously, my heartfelt thanks to everyone who came. To all of those who couldn't make it, if you want a signed copy of Books 1 or 2, there's a few left at that Borders (Omaha - 132nd & Maple).

This just leaves the signing in St. Louis. The last time I did one over there was for my first western. That was rough. It's not a bad thing because that means, barring any 2012 sort of apocalypse, this one couldn't be any worse.

STOP JUMPING ON MY HEAD!!!!!!!

Thanks to some creative financial bending (see also: buying games instead of food) I picked up New Super Mario Bros for the Wii. Megan and I both enjoy some Mario. Cool. Megan and I like to play co-op games. Normally pretty cool. The new Mario game is built for co-op. Cool, right? You know what isn't cool? Me not being able to jump on one stinkin' cartoon tree without having my wife right there bouncing on my f'ing head!!

Back off, woman! You're smothering me!! I'm not talking about you sitting next to me on the couch. That's fine. Just let me get to one damn swinging platform without dropping some plumber shoes on my noggin!!

Ok. Enough exclamation marks. The game is great. Old school Mario with some new goodness mixed in. Let's just say it makes me eternally grateful that Megan can't jump that high in real life. She's kind of clumsy. At least this was better than the utter humiliation of being constantly pummelled in the new Punch Out game. No matter how hard I try, no matter how much I practice, I can NOT beat her at that game. Since she can punch in real life, I take my losses with a minimum of tears.

Turkey time...or lack of it. Time, not turkey.

This is a busy month. First of all, I'm digging in to Skinners 4. That brings more than enough baggage with it. Second, there's a lot of little events popping up here and there. Tomorrow I've got a radio interview on KAHI-AM in Sacramento at 10 AM Pacific Time. Tuesday is my signing here in Omaha. On Thursday, there's another interview scheduled. I'd post a link to that one as well, but radio interviews can be a little dicey. When I do them, they're a lot of fun. There was a streak for a while, though, where an interview would be scheduled and they just wouldn't call me back for it. Even worse is that they're normally early in the morning so I had to get up early just to sit in my office next to an un-ringing phone. The host from KAHI already called to confirm so it looks like I won't get stood up on that one.

The week after that is Thanksgiving. Megan and I are packing up the dog for a drive to see my family. Abby loves car rides, so she shouldn't be a problem. The big problem loops all the way back to my "first of all". I still need to work on Skinners! Sure I've got a laptop and I'll be doing work while away for Thanksgiving, but I won't be in my comfortable little nest...I mean professional workspace environment.

It'll be fine. Things are rolling right along, so there's no reason to complain. Howling Legion is out there and seems to be more visible than Blood Blade was during its first few weeks. I'm hearing from a lot more places that it's showing up on the New Release tables / towers / displays instead of just being snuck into the section. Hopefully my signing has a decent turn-out.

Electric needle therapy

After one delay of game due to slow healing, Stage 2 of the new tattoo was completed yesterday. And it couldn't have come at a better time. Despite my many vows to not obsess about how the new book is doing, I've been...well...obsessing about how the new book is doing. It hasn't been at the front of my mind constantly, but enough for me to get a nice airy feeling in my chest when it does hit. Not good, right? This wasn't even sparked by bad news. There's just NO news yet. Sure, it's only been just over a week, but my little brain gets to come up with all of its scenarios and then fill in the blanks to the point where I'm ready to pop.

Thankfully, I made my appointment for the tattoo. Let me tell you, there's no better therapy than that. And I'm not talking about the boring, soul-baring, "how I really feel about my family", tear-spilling stuff you see on tattoo shows where some dude confesses his darkest emotions to Kat Von D. When I'm in the chair, Jesse and I talk about comic books, movies (sound familiar? Nobody escapes this crap) and I even got to bounce some Skinner stuff off of him. The main thing was that I WASN'T thinking about whatever was tying my guts into a knot before. It's kind of tough to focus long enough to induce a heart attack when someone's carving up your leg. Ok, so it wasn't as bad as that, but getting tattooed for four hours tends to draw your focus in REAL tight to the here and now. And, unlike a therapy session, I gimp away with a freaking cool memento. Pics forthcoming.

Just one more fix!

I'm trying to be good. Honestly. Now that Megan and I have committed to going to the World Horror Convention in the UK, we've been trying to cut down on expenses. One of the easiest to should be video games, right? I mean, they're not food or rent. I'll go cold turkey.

No, wait. There are some major releases coming. I'll ONLY get the super big deal ones like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 next week. If there's anything like the Nazi Zombie mode on World at War, I'll be in deep for a while. Hell, even without zombies, Modern Warfare kicks butt. Gotta get that one.

Last night, Megan and I played the Left For Dead 2 demo. Ok. We've gotta get that one too. That's more of a family expense. We play that together, so it's like cutting out other entertainment like leaving the house or getting regular amounts of sleep. Speaking of stuff Megan and I play together, New Super Mario Bros for the Wii is coming out soon too. Well that's Mario. You gotta get MARIO!

Let's see. What can I cut out to make way for this? Do we really need extras at the grocery store like meat or laundry detergent? Hey, we've got plenty of dish soap. Detergent is out. We don't leave the house anyway, so who cares if our clothes are grimy? Yes! Perfect sense right?

Please buy Howling Legion. I NEED THE ROYALTIES!!!!

Fourth-Date Jitters

After taking a few days off, I'm putting my nose back to the grindstone and getting to work on another project. The last few have been westerns, but the next one is SKINNERS 4!! The good news is that there's going to be a Skinners 4! Hmmm. Maybe I should have led with that one. Anyway, I didn't want to talk a lot about it before because my focus has been on the release of Book 2 and editing Book 3. There is gonna be a Book 4 and I'm pumped to start in on it.

Of course, this is the scary time. I've got my plans. I've been making notes and thinking about what events will follow the ones I've already written. Things are in motion and I know (pretty much) where they're headed. When I'm staring at a blank screen, however, I start to think that now's the time to make changes. I haven't written anything yet. I could COMPLETELY overhaul my ideas!! So that would mean I'm at Square 1. Yippee.

No. Not yippee.

Stick to the plan and overhaul when appropriate. Now for that first scene. First line, even! We all know how crucial and pivotal the first line can be. So DO IT! And make it good!!

No pressure.

...and stay away from downed power lines. Thanks, Roadblock!

GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra was one of the few movies I wanted to see in theaters over the summer. I'm spoiled with my kinda-nice speakers and TV at home and can wait to see quality films without having to filter out the garbage that comes along with a theater audience. GI Joe just seemed like one of those goofy, explosion-riffic spectacles that should be enjoyed on a theater screen where the noisy audience actually adds to the fun. Well, I never got around to it but I finally saw it last night in the Basement-Plex. It wasn't long into it that I started thinking, "Wow. This is even goofier than I thought it would be." About five seconds later, I realized that made it a perfect GI Joe movie.

Let's face it. If it was a gritty film about elite commandos fighting a terrorist organization, this would NOT have been GI Joe. When I think of GI Joe, I think of sweet-ass laser weapons, flippin' awesome vehicles and dudes with dumb code names shooting at each other with no regard for collateral damage. If someone made a big budget movie loosely based on one of the plot lines I came up with when playing with my Joes in the backyard when I was 10, it would be pretty close to this one. Hell yes, I had plot lines! One of my fondest summer vacation memories was an ongoing battle incited by my Star Wars toys invading a GI Joe base. It was one of the most awesome crossovers my young mind could conceive.

Oh, and you can't forget the hot women in glasses. Ahhh, The Baroness. I've already talked about my youthful longing for her. So what if she was a cartoon? This was before the days when a young lad could Google "hot women with glasses" and come up with enough pics to sate any appetite. We had to use our imaginations. Plus, I was 10 or so. Hadn't graduated past cartoon chicks just yet.

Back to the movie. It was goofy as hell. Destro looked pretty cool, or as cool as a guy could look with a metal face. There was even a cameo by Dr. Mindbender. DR. MINDBENDER!! I thought that guy was a bit much even when I was a kid, but this movie went for it all. Plus, NINJAS! The director must have figured, "Hey, it's GI Joe. Bring on the lasers, one-man rocket sleds and giganto, goop-filled warheads." The grown man part of me was chuckling that I was watching this movie. The other part was secretly hoping to see parts of the Weather Dominator scattered around Cobra Commander's lab.