In tribute

Now that HOWLING LEGION is out, I thought it would be a good time to give an acknowledgement and share a nice little story with you. While I was writing this book, a friend of mine (mystery writer Bob Randisi) was approached by Deb House, the sister of a police officer who was killed in the line of duty. Her brother was an avid reader and she asked Bob if he could possibly name a character in his book after him as a tribute. He was glad to oblige by naming a character after her brother in the fourth installment of his Rat Pack Mystery series (an excellent series for fans of Vegas in its prime).

Bob told me about Deb’s request and with my educational background in Criminal Justice, I was more than happy to pay tribute to one of many policemen who put their lives on the line to do their job. Deb’s brother was Robert Stanze, a Police Officer from St. Louis and if you read the new book, you’ll know the role that Officer Stanze plays in the story.

At the time when I wrote this book, I put Officer Stanze’s name in there because I thought it was a cool request from his sister to remember her brother. Unfortunately, I get quite scatter-brained with all the stuff that needs to be done in the writing and editing process and I forgot to put this in the actual Acknowledgement section. So I’m putting it here. I’ve recently spoken with Deb and sincerely hope that she enjoys the book.

Deb is also involved with MOCOPS (Missouri Concerns of Police Survivors) which is a chapter of the National Concerns of Police Survivors, Inc. (C.O.P.S.). These organizations help rebuild the lives of families of fallen Police Officers and do some very good work. As part of a continuing tribute to Officer Stanze and all of the other law enforcement workers who are out there with their necks on the line, I’d like to bring these organizations to your attention. From now on, I’ll have a link to them on the side of my page and hope it does some bit of good for them.

Thanks to Deb for allowing me to show my support in my own little ways and thanks to Police Officer Robert Stanze. You fought the good fight and won’t be forgotten.

Huntin' in the headlines

Ok, so maybe it wasn't in the headlines, but Nevermore Paranormal did make it into a local paper, The Omaha Reader. Here's a link to the article. http://www.thereader.com/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1256755515&archive=&start_from=&ucat=3& Just scroll down to the bold print that starts off with "Paranormal Activity..."

Among other things, Nevermore's also been doing gigs at sold out seminars. That's the one where I was manning the chat board early in the morning. I'm so proud of those guys. Technically, I am one of "those guys" but I'm not much more than a grunt. Click the link on the side of the screen to see their website. Warning: that website is in desperate need of being updated! Can't do everything when they're (we're) so busy collecting evidence from the Great Beyond. Wow, that sounds pretty cool when I phrase it like that.

VampChico

So far, so good on the HOWLING LEGION front. By that, I mean I've been doing a fairly good job of NOT obsessing about the new release when there's work to be done. I've heard some positive feedback so far and the rest is still "wait and see".

A while ago, I was asked by Michele over at the Vampchix blog to do a guest spot on her site. Vampchix, huh? Sounds like a perfect fit for Skinners, right? Heh. Actually, I'm amazed at how many fans of vampire romance are open to my little carnage-fests. The request was for me to participate in the site's "Vamp Bash" so how could I resist? It's a great site and I had a lot of fun writing my piece for it. Check it out at http://vampchix.blogspot.com/ .

Iiiiiiit's comin' out, so you'd better get the party started!

I'm trying to quote Pink? I'm not nearly funky enough to do that, right? Well, it's early and I'm pumped because Skinners 2: Electric Boogaloo...I mean HOWLING LEGION is released today. If you couldn't tell already, I'm pretty psyched about it. Not psyched enough to get up early, though. I did that to represent Nevermore Paranormal on a web chat in connection to a big ghost hunter event in Grand Island. If you're in that chat and my computer "crashes", that just means you asked a really good question that I couldn't answer so I ran away.

While I'm not overly superstitious, I do believe in signs. Fortunately, I got a cool one today. I have a page-a-day calendar that shows a scene from a Star Wars movie next to its concept art. Well take a look at today's scene:

HOWLING LEGION!!!!!!

I tried to scan the calendar page, but it looked more like a Fuzzy Brown Legion instead of an army of wailing Wookies. Still, this is pretty cool. Get out to the stores and pick up your copies. If they're not on the shelves yet, take a cue from these rampaging beasts and politely ask a salesperson.

What second book??

It's the day before Howling Legion is released and I'm trying to distract myself any way possible. It's either that or allow the nervous stomach pangs to grow up into something bigger. Of course, there's work to be done. Always work. I'm finishing up another project and then I'll dive into some more Skinner-ness. Also, I don't want to let October slip away without enjoying it. Halloween is this week and we stocked up on bags o' candy. We don't get a ton of Trick or Treaters, but I still don't want to be the "crappy candy" house. Plus, I like candy. As always, any kids dressed as werewolves will get extra. Hey, I don't play favorites. I just tip my hat to refined taste in costumes.

And it looks like there's no live Ghost Hunter show this year. Is that true?? I haven't seen any promos or heard anything about it. I would hate to see a cool tradition like that get shot down. It's just fun to sit and watch that stuff even if they are just jumping at spiders.

Speaking of ghost hunting, Megan and I are planning our trip to Brighton for the World Horror Convention. While we're across the ocean, we're making a big vacation of it and hitting Scotland. Being Torchwood fans, we even planned on going to Cardiff for a day to see the sights and take in the Doctor Who exhibit. Yes, there's a Who exhibit and it looks freaking great! Unfortunately, we're not made of money and need to cut down on extra train tickets and that sort of thing. We decided to use our time there for lengthier stays in London and Scotland. Back to the ghost thing, we're finding all these great haunted tours of documented sites and will be visiting as many of them as possible. I'll bring my digital audio recorder and keep my fingers crossed that the tourists before me haven't caused the spirits to find someplace quieter to haunt. Should be fun.

I've finally started in on Call of Duty: World at War. I know I'm late to the party on this one, but pulling myself away from CoD: Modern Warfare ain't easy. Mostly, I've been addicted to the Nazi Zombie levels. The single player campaign is spectacular and multiplayer is great, but I can't get enough of putting out all those glowing eyes with a few well-placed shots from a Tommy Gun.

So tomorrow is the big day. I can't be distracted for too long. Hopefully the stores will get the books on shelves and people will buy them. Uh-oh. Here comes the nervous stomach again.

Panic attack...right on schedule

Only four more days until the release of Skinners 2: Howling Legion. As is the case for any series, the groundwork needs to be laid in the first installment and after that you really get to play. I sure did play a lot in Howling Legion. It's strange because my mind is already past Book 3 and Book 2 isn't even out yet. When I think about the next one hitting shelves, I feel a twist in my gut as all of the anxiety begins to play out.

The first one went over pretty well. Hopefully the next will be better.
A series needs time to gain momentum and there's only one out there. Be patient.
What if this one tanks?
What if this one skyrockets?
What if I go to stores and don't see many on the shelves? Does that mean they sold or does it mean the store didn't order any?
As you can see, the possibilities for driving myself crazy are even wider than normal.

I know I'm in rough shape when I barely pick up the XBox controller (or ANY controller). Here's how distracted I've been...I got Borderlands on release day and haven't even cracked open the box! There's randomly generated guns in there! Electrified shotguns!! Automatic, acid spewing rocket launchers! And it's not just games. My comic reading is suffering too. There are a few issues of Dark Avengers that I haven't even read yet. DARK AVENGERS!! What's wrong with me?

Unfortunately, it's only just begun. Once Howling Legion is out, I'll be waiting to see how it does. I'll be trying not to read reviews because that just works out better for my state of mind. Usually Megan or someone else will tell me about the good ones. As for the bad ones, I expect some stinkers. They're not going to make me change anything as far as how I write my series so I'll just let them do their thing and I'll do mine.

And then there's the signings I need to set up. You can see those at the top of the page and I'm working on more. Conventions too. We're kicking around the idea of heading out to the World Horror Con in the UK. It's been too long since I've been to England and this would be a great time to go. That's a long haul, so we still need to do some figuring. Even so, I'm leaning toward the "Life's short. That's what credit cards are for" line of reasoning. Good for the economy, right? Riiiiiight.

So that's that. If you're reading this blog and don't appreciate the mental anguish of a man releasing his works into the wild, then I apologize in advance for some other blog posts to come. If you enjoy that sort of thing...well...you're in luck! Seriously, though, I wouldn't have it any other way. I've been buckled in and ready for this ride since I was a little kid scribbling monster stories onto that tan, lined paper designed for learning your cursive. Does anyone say "cursive" anymore or is it just "handwriting"? You know the paper I mean, though. It's that kind with the wide space and the dotted line in the middle? Reminds me of the days when snacks were on the official schedule. That's the good stuff.

Paranormal night out

The Nevermore crew and I went to a midnight showing of Paranormal Activity the other night. We bought in to the whole "vote to bring it to your town" thing and it actually worked. Our votes allowed us to go and pay to see a movie! Hmmm. Doesn't seem like such a democratic triumph when I put it that way. Anyhow, it was cool to go to a horror movie with an actual audience. On the other hand, this audience was cranked up and ready to scream at anything and everything. Nirvana for a horror movie maker, but rakes on chalkboards for ears that are used to being on a couch in front of a TV.

After all the press and people in the lobby talking about how mind-alteringly terrifying it was, I was ready to be petrified. There were tons of creepy moments, just about all of the scary stuff worked, the characters were believable (including a guy who was such a tool and so insensitive to his girlfriend's trauma that he seemed all too real) and there were some truly classic creepy moments. Was it the piss-your-pants-fest I was promised? Not quite. More than likely, that's because I've already spent plenty of hours in dark rooms listening for ghost sounds with the Nevermore team. When the first stuff happened in the movie, all the girls (and plenty of guys) in the audience screamed. Angie, one of the co-founders of Nevermore, was sitting next to me. She calmly asked, "Why can't WE catch anything like that?" Perspective is a funny thing.

That being said, I firmly believe that this movie will be 10 times scarier on DVD. It plays on all of those "What was that rumbling sound from the next room?" sort of fear. When you're watching this in your own house in your own dark room and then go upstairs to your own bed, you won't have that cool-down time you got on the drive home from the theater. Very cool movie! Oh, and Katie was HOT! Just had to put that out there.