I tell ya, it's rough

Next weekend is Archon, a nice-sized convention held in St. Louis. I attended last year and it was fun so I was cleared my schedule for this year as well. Today I get the programming guide for panels and such to find that I'm scheduled for a signing and....that's it. I guess if they're willing to let me attend the con as a guest and just put me down for a signing, that's their prerogative. I thought it was kinda funny that there's a panel immediately following my signing called "Writing Horror Stories" that doesn't include a guest who writes horror for a living. Now, I'm not saying I'm a big guy on the block here, but I am at least a horror writer! Hello??!!? I dropped an email to the programmers humbly offering my services if they'd like me to be on the panel. If that pans out, cool. If not, that's cool too.

I don't go to cons for an ego boost. So far, every time I've appeared at one, the people running them are always nice folks who forget to put me on any programming. There are panels about vampires, werewolves, writing horror, writing urban fantasy, writing about monsters and still nobody thinks to put me on any of them. Fine. Cool. Your con. You can put whoever you want up there. I am a horror writer, though. Think I could be on a horror writing panel? No? Ok. Whatever. I'll be in the dealer's room where three different book sellers have every copy of every vampire romance series published in someone's basement and not one copy of Skinners. Didn't you know I'd be at this con? Didn't you put me on the guest list? Do any book sellers check what authors will be there to maybe sell their books? No? Ok. I'll be in the art room. And why the hell hasn't anyone drawn me a cool painting??? Ha.

So, I'm still going to Archon and I'm sure it'll be a great con. If you're in the St. Louis area on Friday, stop by and say hello. Believe me, I REALLY want people to say hello. I'm bringing bookmarks and some of those cool Shimmy's passes. Remember when I used to be too proud to beg and bribe? Ahhhh. Such youthful confidence. Such hope. Those were the days. If you're at Archon at all, keep your eyes open. I'll be wandering around taking in the sights. See you there!

I can breathe clearly now, the snot is gone

Well, for the most part anyway. There's still a residual haze in my brain from all the medication, but I'm able to function better than I have for almost a week. I don't get sick that often but when I do, it can kick my ass. Oh well. Now I can really sink my teeth into Skinners #6. You heard me. Book 5 was just sent in and Book 6 is on the way! Great things are brewing in the Skinners-verse. With the way 5 ended, going right into 6 was pretty easy. In fact, I had to cut a lot out of 5 so it could be plugged into 6 anyway. Can't really say much about specifics since 4 isn't even on the shelves yet. Ugh. The dizziness is coming back.

In other news, Sons of Anarchy is back on the air and I'm loving it! I like the Irish storyline, but am having some trouble understanding some of those guys when they grumble in their accent. I'm just losing a word or two here and there, which could very well be my fault since my ears (as well as my entire head) have been plugged up recently. Not a gripe. The show still rules.

Archon is coming up. Wow, that kind of snuck up on me. Three weeks from now, I'll be in St. Louis for the convention. That one's always fun, so come see me if you're in the area. I'll bring along a few Shimmy's passes and bookmarks to give away to lucky readers. Don't know how I'll determine which are the lucky ones. Probably the first ones who ask for 'em. Complex system, huh?

Halo Flu...seriously

Picked up Halo Reach yesterday. I'm not a Halo fanatic, but they are undeniably awesome games. Also, I've been sick for a while and thought it would be a nice pick-me-up. Anyway, it's an awesome game and I love the multiplayer, but there are some frustrations that accompany pretty much every multiplayer game for me anymore. Saw this comic at Penny Arcade that sums it up nicely....
I may love playing games and I may play them a lot, but I sure don't play them as much as I USED to and I sure as hell aren't as good at them as I used to be. Ugh. Whenever I log on to a Modern Warfare or Halo game, I don't expect to win. I just expect to run around and shoot some crap and blow some stuff up. I don't talk strategy. I don't care about kill / death ratios and I'm not in it for glory. Still, it gets awfully frustrating when you're pitted against Terminators who can take me apart before I get a chance to have any fun. If Halo had bots for the multiplayer aspect, it would be perfect. Oh well. I'll still be online.

Pass to Paradise!

Ok! I'm done with the Shimmy's passes and I think they look pretty cool. These, the bookmarks and the promo covers for VAMPIRE UPRISING are ready for me to sign and send out. All I need are names to put on these things and addresses to send them to! Although I ended my sentence with a preposition, you get the point. Details are at the top of the blog page, but it's the same deal as before. Write up a review, send me a link and tell me what you'd like. Many thanks in advance!

Website updates!!

I FINALLY got off my ass to write up some stuff for the appendices on www.marcuspelegrimas.com. It's something I've been meaning to do for the MEG Files and Skinner Field Guide and I think it turned out pretty well. This is just the first entry, by the way. I intend on periodically adding to them to provide some background to the series. For those of you who are new to Skinners, these appendices will fill you in on some important characters and creatures. For current readers, there will be little tidbits of info that aren't mentioned specifically in the books. Anyway, check it out and let me know what you think.

Fly off, little birdie

Is it sappy that I get sentimental about sending a manuscript off? Yes. How about nervous? Eh, maybe a little. Anxious. That's more like it. Today I head out to the post office and mail the manuscript for Skinners #5. Going back to another blog post where I talked about music accompanying each book, I'd have to pick another Disturbed song for this one. Check out Indestructible. Especially this part: "Indestructible. Determination that is incorruptible. From the other side, a terror to behold. Annihilation will be unavoidable. Every broken enemy will know that their opponent had to be invincible. Take a last look around while you're alive. I'm an indestructible master of war!" How can you not think of monsters kicking ass when you hear that? Great stuff. Speaking of Disturbed, the new album is out and I'm lovin' it.

This has been a rough week. Mostly, that's from putting the finishing touches on this book. Now this one isn't exactly finished, but the hardest part is over. There's a few more editing rounds to come. At least now this story is a finished product in my mind. So many times throughout the process, I think I'm ruining my own product, screwing up my career, or am just lost in the world I've made up. At this stage of the game, there's a definite relief. Of COURSE that's how Book 5 ends! So now it feels good to take a few days off and then jump into Book 6. Actually, I'm already primed for that one.

I think I'll play some games and catch up on some DVDs I need to watch. Downloading the demo for the new Guitar Hero as I type this. I'll finally FINALLY be able to dive back into some more Red Dead Redemption. I actually just started in on Borderlands. See how behind I am?? Plenty of new XBox Arcade titles to dig in to as well. Have you played Shank yet?? Pure Awesome! I want to see The Losers and Book of Eli.

Ok, so that's it for now. Just so you know, I've started sending out bookmarks and stuff as rewards for my plea for online reviews of Skinners. Haven't forgotten, so write those reviews, send me the links and I'll send you some free stuff. The Shimmy's passes are almost done and those will be going out soon. Get 'em while you can!

Amazon beat me to the punch

Hey everyone! The cover for Book 4 is here!!! Actually, I've had these for a while, but wanted to focus more on Book 3 since it was just coming out at the time. Then, well I've gotta be honest, I spaced it until I saw it on Amazon. Anyway...here's the cover for Skinners #4.

So...what do you think?

It's set to be released on October 26th...just a few days before I'll be at the World Fantasy Convention in Columbus. As usual, I'll be offering to send out free signed promo covers to anyone who would like one. Since I'm on an online review kick at the moment, if you put together a good review and send me a link to it, I'll send you a cover PLUS one of the super cool bookmarks I just got finished making. And yes, the Shimmy's VIP passes are still on their way. All I need are some readers to take this stuff off my hands. Hint-hint....