(Insert frustrated grunting sound here)

After lugging around that colossal pile of paper that was my copy edits for Skinners #5, it's time to send it back to New York. After this step of the process, there's just looking over the final run before publishing and Book 5 is in the books! Or...it IS a book. Whatever. It's almost done. It also gave me a chance to look over the stuff I wrote leading into Book 6 which helps me in that writing process. Very "Circle of Life"-esque.



I've decided to go with UPS this time as my little protest against the whole Post Office experience. You know the one. I go there, find a line of 45 people waiting because there's only 1 window open and that person is just milking time before they go on break. Or where I go to the automatic teller, punch in the ZIP code 4 times, swipe my card, tap 57 screens and then get to the last screen that tells me the machine just broke, jammed, or ran out of paper so I need to hop into the line I was trying to avoid. Or the one where I send my package 2-day delivery, pay extra and have it get there in 6 days. Fun.



In other transit news, I'm seeing all this stuff about the outrage regarding airport security searches and privacy issues. Since I rarely fly anywhere, that usually doesn't get a lot of attention here but I'm planning on visiting family over the holidays (wow...real unique there, huh?) and will actually be flying. As cool as the big X-ray machine was in The Running Man (or was it Total Recall?) I'm not sure about it here. I mean, the airport is still afraid of excessive amounts of shampoo and now they've got head-to-toe radiation generators and strip search VIP rooms? Ugh.



First HUMBUG of the season!!!!!!

Busy Brain Syndrome

Today I woke up thinking someone was knocking on my door. The maintenance guy is supposed to come over and change the filter on the heater, but it wasn't him. It was probably just the other people in my complex leaving for their normal work hours. More than likely, the same people who wonder what the hell I'm doing pacing my floors when I'm still editing at 3 AM. Even after I realized I wouldn't have to hide until an unwanted visitor found his way out, I couldn't just get back to sleep because my brain would not leave me the hell alone about Skinners #6.

This is a part of my normal process. After I pass the halfway point of a manuscript and think the end may be in sight, I start worrying that I'm ruining the book I'm working on, ruining the series, forgot how to write, or any number of self-defeating happy thoughts that give me a migraine as soon as I wake up. This happens with every book and knowing it's coming doesn't help in the slightest. It's kind of like tugging at the proverbial thread that makes the whole sweater unravel. Only, I'm not done knitting the freaking sweater so why am I pulling on ANY threads?? Drives me crazy. I did come up with one solution to a plot concern which I wrote down before trying to get back to sleep but the migraine hangs on.

Since the other Skinners books turned out pretty good, I should just let the process happen, right? Unfortunately, that ISN'T a part of the process. I still think I'm screwing up the book, the series, my career, all of it. Thank you brain! Could you please shut up for a while?

On a slightly related note, there are a few more interviews that have come online today. That way, you can see what else is going on inside my brain. Heh. Ok, so it was a lame transition but here are the links anyway. One is a guest blog that I think turned out to be pretty darn amusing.

Guest Blog: http://www.literaryescapism.com/14982

Interview: http://www.overtheedgebkreviews.com/2010/11/giveaway-interview-with-urban-fantasy.html

Hello world, it's me again

I've been showing up in some interviews lately to promote Vampire Uprising. Here are a few links if you feel the need to sweeten your day with a little Pelegrimas goodness. Ugh. At least the interviews aren't as bad as that. Check 'em out....

Booklife: http://booklifenow.com/2010/10/overwhelmed-outrun-and-torn-to-pieces-marcus-pelegrimas-on-writing-horror/

Night Owl Reviews: http://www.nightowlparanormal.com/nor/Interviews/Tamazon-interviews-Marcus-Pelegrimas-on-Nov-10-2010.aspx

There are a few more on the way, plus I'm still featured on the Barnes & Noble book club through the rest of the month at: http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Paranormal-Urban-Fantasy/bd-p/vpttn

Wow...after all of this even I'M sick of reading about me. Sorry folks. Back to the inane movie and video game talk next time.

A magical, fun-filled adventure....and evil.

South Park has always been wrong. Just plain wrong. But that's what makes it oh so funny. Here's a clip from last week's show that I can't get out of my brain. It proves that even a racist, obnoxious little creep gets a chance to have a buddy. There's hope for us all.

Mysterion Rises
Tags: SOUTH
PARKEric Cartman,Mysterion,more...

Good thing I've got plenty of free time. Oh, wait...

Just when I get into the groove with work after coming home from World Fantasy, my video game systems begin beckoning to me. Tuesday, the new Call of Duty comes out. Black Ops looks just as awesome as the other CoDs, but with zombies. Everything's better with zombies, right? Actually, all the zombie stuff can get tiresome, but this is an updated version of the Nazi Zombies levels from World at War. If you've played that game, you know all about Nazi Zombies. It was an extra mode with an arcade feel that I STILL play long after I was through with the WWII campaign. A new CoD campaign as well as more zombie action makes me giddy.



Then there are the new motion controllers that came out for XBox and PS3. I was more excited for the Playstation Move because it looked better suited for "real" games like shooters and anything else in the "killing stuff" genre as opposed to "swinging stuff". Then I saw demos for XBox's Kinect where there's no controller at all. This looks fun for families, but not for some dude sitting in his La-z-boy. Now that they're both out, I realize I'm not excited for either one. There aren't any games out there for me (although there are some promising ones in the future like the Star Wars game for Kinect) and I simply don't want to get up when I play my games. Sure, I stand up when rocking the plastic guitar for Rock Band or Guitar Hero, but I'm well past the "jumping is fun" stage of my life. Also, I barely keep from knocking stuff over when I walk to my chair carrying a drink and a bag of chips. Flailing my arms and jumping in front of my flat screen is a recipe for disaster. So it looks like I'm sticking to the Wii.



Speaking of Rock Band, all of my data from Rock Band 3 was wiped out yesterday and I had to start that career over. Actually, that wasn't so bad. I play those songs plenty of times enough to fill four careers anyway.



So, it looks like this week will be chock full of shooting stuff. On top of that, I'm still working on Medal of Honor and Halo Reach. Once Call of Duty: Black Ops gets into my hot little hands, I'll be dreaming of shooting bad guys for a long time. Kind of like the last scene in A Christmas Story, except with head shots and teabagging. Heh.

Legends, Liquor, and...something else that starts with L

I'm back from the World Fantasy Convention! Whew. Drove home last night and boy are my arms tired. Wait, that only works for flying. Well, all of me is tired so it still applies. It was a great convention. My first World ANYTHING con, so it was very exciting. Got a bag full of books, spotted some SKINNERS books in the dealer's room, met a lot of nice folks and just soaked up the literary atmosphere for a while.

My panel, Humor & Horror, went very well. Great turnout and an interesting discussion. We all stayed on course and everyone had some very cool things to say. That's the most anyone can hope for at any panel, really. Even if I was in the audience, I would have had a good time. Being up there on the stage was a real kick.

The signing was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who stopped by. We got to sit anywhere we wanted, so I picked a spot next to E.E. Knight. Thanked him AGAIN for the awesome blurb for Blood Blade and chatted for a little bit. At one point, I even got to meet Brian Lumley!! I didn't even know he was going to be at that convention, but I got a chance to step right up to shake his hand. I'm not one to get star-struck, but anyone who's ever heard me talk about my inspirations has heard me mention Mr. Lumley. His Necroscope series in particular is a major influence on my writing as well as my love for horror in general. I got to thank him in person and even pose for a cheesy picture. WEEEEE!!!!!!

Another thing I always mention about cons is to always hang out at the bar. This is especially true for aspiring writers who want to meet their idols, agents, or even editors. This was in full force at WFC. The bar area was this wide open, expansive place with comfy stools, bowls of delightful snack mix and big names everywhere. Agents and editors want to get away from meetings for a moment and the writers need to drink to make it easier to deal with their agent and editors. Heh. Seriously, we're all at the bar at these cons. Take that bit of advice, all of you writers looking to get some face time.

So it was a lot of fun, but now I'm home. Gotta get back into the groove with work and try to put a dent in my DVR backlog. Anyone catch The Walking Dead? LOVED IT!!! More on that later, I'm sure.