Returning offer!

Remember when I got all those promo covers for Howling Legion? I made the offer to sign one and send it out to anyone who wanted one. Well, a lot of you took me up on that so I thought I'd make the same offer for Book 3.

If you'd like a signed promo cover for Skinners 3: Teeth of Beasts, just drop me an email (using the link on the side of the blog) with your name, address and any special inscription you might want. I'll send a cover out to you the next time I get to the post office and all I ask in return is that you spread the good word about the books whenever you can. Sounds fair to me. Anyway, I'll keep the offer going through the next month or so. After that, you'll be able to go to the stores to get the front and back covers PLUS all the good stuff in between them!

Weekend in review

Man, did we shoot a lot of video at Villisca! The Nevermore folks and I sifted through a large chunk of DVR footage, but didn't find much of anything. Sometimes I'm surprised I don't make something move just through the sheer force of my own will while staring at a chair or stack of books on that screen. Nothing paranormal on the pictures I took, but I did find a few cool EVPs. There was some distant singing in the child's room and scratching sounds on the equipment itself. Since it was too damn cold for any of us to be singing, that raises my eyebrow. Still plenty to go through and I will report on anything else we find. Check out this picture from the cellar. I think the last scene from The Blair Witch Project was shot down there.



Other than that, it was a pretty easy weekend. I've been playing through God of War 3. That game still kicks ass. Finally completed Batman: Arkham Asylum. I haven't been able to play that as often as I like, plus I've been purposely taking my time so I didn't get through it too quickly. When something's good enough, you wanna savor it. Heh.



So now it's time to dive head-first into Skinners 5. Book 3 comes out next month and 4 should be out at the end of October. It'll be a wild ride. Be sure to get your copies and tell your friends to get their own. I'm setting up convention appearances, so keep an eye on that to get those books signed! Talk to you later.

How does it know?

Just when I think I've got a grip on stuff, something always comes along to mess it up. More often than not, that thing is my car. Don't get me wrong, I love my car. Ok, maybe "love" is a bit strong. I really like my car. And no, not LIKE like. It handles well in the snow, gets pretty good gas mileage and (this is the big one) it's paid off! Another big bonus, at least until yesterday, was that it stopped when I applied the brakes. Funny how you miss the little things when they're gone.

After opening the hood to get a look at what might as well be a contraption from somewhere in the depths of Willy Wonka's factory, I took it to the mechanic. The rest is pretty self-explanatory. Money leaves me, finds a new home with another guy and Pelmobile returns to patrol the streets. Welcome home, Justice!!

I've also been playing the new Game Room on XBox Live. It's a virtual arcade complete with cabinets and all the white noise that filled my head when I was a youth where you can play retro games dating all the way back to Atari 2600 days. For most whipper-snappers, these games seem pretty dated. Well, they are. I was amazed to find Tutankhamen (sp?). I'd just been wondering when that game would pop up on a compilation or somewhere and here it is! There are some cool challenges, Friend events and the ability to decorate. As much as I want to puff out my manly chest and say I'm not into placing bits of furniture in a nonexistent room, I gotta admit it's cool. Retro gamers like me just need to watch the spending. I can see potential for this to be a tap on the ol' wallet.

Ok. Enough of this. Back to Yar's Revenge. I mean...work.

Misc. Monday

Saturday was the Villisca investigation. Sunday was sleep. More on that later.

I've never watched much of The Apprentice, but have been getting into the new season of Celebrity Apprentice. Are they always 2 hours long?? It's not a bad show, but I start to lose interest when we're closing in on 45 minutes and I know I'm not even halfway through. Time for some MST3K on Netflix!

Red Steel 2 comes out this week for the Wii. Although the first Red Steel is known as one of the worst games ever, I wasn't so put off by it. Thought it was fun enough in a goofy way. This one looks pretty cool, though. From what I've seen, the motion tracking for the sword fights looks impressive. We'll see.

Got Ninja Assassin on DVD, but haven't watched it yet. FINALLY a higher-budget Ninja movie!! As long as there's plenty of sharp objects flying around and blood-curdling battle screams, I'll be happy.

My car is making a funny noise. I should probably take it into the shop before that noise becomes a funny rattle followed by a not-so-funny explosion. Isn't there a scientist working on that Portal technology?? Step it up, people!!!!

Time to rip some stuff up!

After putting the Skinners manuscript in the mail, I decided to take a few days to clear my head. And what better way to do that than by picking up God of War 3? I knew this game would be awesome, but I'm still amazed by it. More often than not, I'm staring slack-jawed at the screen by the sheer magnificence of Kratos's ass-kickery. I'm not too far into it and don't want to give anything away, but there's a part where he kills one of the Olympians (if you didn't see that coming, you obviously haven't played any of the God of War games) by beating the fool to death with his bare hands. Not only that, but most of the scene plays out in 1st person...from the victim's point of view. You thought Kratos looked like a bad mutha before? Wait until you see him from the receiving end of his rampage. Pure, blood-soaked bliss.

I also spent some time on XBox Live catching up on movie previews. That's one thing I really miss about not going to theaters so much. I saw the previews for The A-Team (which looks like a lot of goofy summertime fun), Iron Man 2 (yes I already saw this one, but didn't mind seeing it again), and Kick Ass. I'm pumped for Kick Ass. Based on a comic series and about comics in general, this one looks really good. I may have to drag my sorry butt out to a multi-gargantu-plex this year. That is, if I save up enough money for popcorn.

DONE!!! For now

The final draft for Skinners 4: Vampire Uprising is finished! And when I say "final draft", I mean the draft before the editors get their hands on it and work their magic. And by "finished", I mean...well that's it. This draft really is finished. It's looking good and sets up a whole lot of great stuff for Cole, Paige and the series in general.

Books 4-6 are supposed to come out with shorter times in between them, so I'll be digging in to #5 really soon. As in, next week or possibly late this week. Very cool. That cuts down on the time for my brain to get back into Skinners mode and all the continuing threads in the storyline will still be fresh for me. So, instead of sitting here typing this blog, I need to get to Office Max and get some paper for the printer. When, o when will I be able to throw this printer out and switch to emailing everything? Sure, it's cool to see the whole manuscript in a pile of pages, but it ain't cheap!

Maybe I'll treat myself to an Almond Joy Latte at Scooters. Yeah, I've earned it.

Running out of excuses

As much as I don't like to drone on about the weather, that does give me some very reasonable ways out of getting my exercise. See, I hate exercising for the sake of exercise. Spending so much time and effort to basically go in a circle or nowhere at all grates on me. I like to walk outside, but can't really do that when the outside is covered in snow and ice. Well, along comes the most recent thaw. I can actually see the grass now, so that means I'll have to venture out sometime soon. With all the editing I've been doing, it is pretty good to stretch my legs. Plus, there's a taco place and Chicago hot dog restaurant within walking distance. I figure walking there, eating and walking back is a push. There's also a Subway, but I'm not about to let Jared from those commercials tell me what to do!



Guess I'll just go out and wander. Or maybe I'll crack open the Wii Fit again. While I'm at it, maybe I'll fire up the XBox. Ooo!! Call of Duty beckons. Does making my heavy machine gunner sprint count as exercise? Close enough.

Upcoming hunting

Only a week and a half until I go on another ghost hunt! This time, it's to a site that some of you may have heard about: Villisca, IA. There were some well-documented axe murders here and it's supposed to be a pretty active spot entity-wise. We're hoping there are still some spirits hanging around that would like to tell us all about it. The Nevermore bunch and I will be there, recorders in hand, doing our best to stir up some supernatural activity. After all the editing I've been doing, a little road trip along with some poking around in the dark will be just what I need. Sure, it may not be the same as what most folks would think about when I mention poking around in the dark, but it'll be a lot of fun. If we uncover any evidence, I'll be sure to let you know.

Another upcoming event that's in the works is an author panel at a local comic book shop. Not only that, but it's the shop I go to on a weekly basis. It's still in the planning stages, but that's another fun one I'd like to do. Hopefully I can say something constructive in the midst of being distracted by so many comic books, Star Wars collectibles and cool t-shirts.

That's about it for now. God of War 3 looms on the horizon. Skinners 3 arrives in stores next month. Good things are afoot!

PS - Another landmark occasion: This marks the first time I've used the word "afoot" on this blog. History in the making, folks.

I wonder if the movie will be as good as the book?

Picked up the DVD for the animated Planet Hulk movie. Talk about an awesome comic book! That story had it all and it was focused on a huge green dude that smashes stuff. I know the movie can't cover all the bases of a 10+ issue story arc, but I hope it's good enough to represent. I want to know where the second Doctor Strange animated feature is!

In other news, Skinners 4 is coming along nicely. My brain is already chugging on Skinners 5, which amounts to a whole lot of grinding gears and smoke coming from the space between my ears. Considering the previous paragraph, I can't help but think how cool a Skinners comic book would be. I'd take a movie too, in case any Hollywood big-timers are reading this. Heh.

I've become addicted to Jimmy John's sandwiches. Not only are they delightfully tasty, but their delivery truly is freakishly fast!! There's one across the street from my place, which means the sandwich is there sometimes before I hang up the phone from ordering. Ok, maybe not THAT freakish, but pretty darn close.

Had our first rain of the winter season. It's nice to have the piles of snow washed down to the point where I can turn onto another street and actually SEE if a car's coming or not. I know. I'm picky.

Should I get a coffee drink? An Almond Joy Latte from Scooters sounds great right about now. If the Jimmy John's guy would swing by there to pick one up for me, I'd never have to leave my sanctuary.

The neverending process

Here's a funny cycle. As tedious as editing can be, it's hard for me to stop doing it. Most tedious things are a joy to put down, walk away from, etc. With this one, I'm always finding little things that I want to fix or rearrange. Some of the things I rearrange are actually putting sentences back the way they were before I rearranged them the first time. Sigh. I'm putting the most recent coat of polish on Skinners 4 and enjoying it very much. It's turning out fine, but there's the part of me that wonders what I missed THIS time around. Once more, I go back to the tired analogy of slicking a kid's hair back before he goes to school. Could I have come up with a better analogy? Probably. I'll fix that later. Heh.


In other news, it's Tattoo Day! Hopefully this is the final session since that leg of mine is feeling a lot like over-tenderized bacon. Ok, it's not that bad, but it'll be nice to get this one wrapped up. I'll post some pics when it's done. Or, perhaps I shouldn't. If you want to see this sweet bit of fleshy artwork, come see me at a signing or something. Yeah!! Ok fine, I'll post some pics. Maybe I'll be stricter when I get more appearances scheduled. Not a bad idea for a promo, huh? The "Permanently Scarred Skinners Tour". I like it.



It's also Comics Day. Wow. If God of War 3 came out as well, it would be the perfect spending storm. When I played God of War 2 on the PS2, I knew part 3 would be the one to make me buy a PS3. Fortunately, I got my hands on a system earlier than that, but I am still pumped to play it. Played the GoW3 demo and I can already imagine a lot of reviewers saying stuff like "more of the same" or "nothing new here", but that's not a bad thing when you're talking about something as fundamentally awesome as the God of War games. The game feels a lot like the other two and I LOVE the other two. The PS3 has really been impressing me with stuff like Infamous, Resistance 1 & 2 and Heavy Rain. Still an XBox 360 guy, though. I'm addicted to Achievements and the whole Trophy thing on PS3 just doesn't compare.


Ok. Back to work. Gotta get some pages done before heading out for comics and getting tatted up.