Ashleygh, our new offyce assystant started today and she’s off to a roaryng start, sytting through our entyre post-lunch story dyscussyon - and doing a fyne job of feygnyng ynterest throughout. About twenty mynutes yn, she got up and Y immedyately put her on the spot by askyng: “Where do you thynk you’re goyng?”. Not…
March 15, 2009: Queasy Canines, News of Note, and The Neverending Story (Scene)
What the hell is going on here? So, to address a possible food allergy, I switched up my French bulldog’s diet by feeding her a positively delicious-sounding Herring and Sweet Potato kibble. Only to have Lulu vomit up her body weight (and more!) the night before last. Given that she has a sensitive stomach to…
March 14, 2009: A Non-Celebrity Guest Blog, Your Book of the Month Club Reminder, and An Extra Chunky Mailbag
So a couple of weeks ago, Jason Sizemore over at Apex Books asked me whether I’d be interested in writing a guest blog entry for them (Actually, he referred to it as a Celebrity Blog which, of course, gave me pause because I‘m a celebrity in much the same way that Joe the Plumber or…
March 13, 2009: Good News, Bad News, Scripts, Secrecy, and Mailbag
Well, I received some good news and some bad news today. The good news is the anthology I’m writing that short story for may have found a new home. The bad news is that means I’m going to have to apply myself and finish the damn thing. This afternoon, Carl asked me how many pages…
March 12, 2009: Author Nancy Kress Answers Your Questions + The Mailbag!
Talk about a quick turnaround. I sent author Nancy Kress your questions late last night. Fast forward seven hours to this morning when I woke up to discover an email from Nancy in my inbox. She was done! Well, a big thank you to Nancy for squeezing us into her busy schedule. Last year, she published two books, Dogs…
March 11, 2009: An Unintentional Oversight, Updates, Another Guest Blogger, and The Mailbag
It has come to my attention that some of you have elected to interpret a recent blog post in which I reflected fondly on my days with SG-1 as some sort of indirect sleight. The argument is that by praising the SG-1 team, I’m dissing anyone I didn’t happen to mention. “Why,”you may ask, “did…
March 10, 2009: The Culinary Highlights, Some Dogs Discussion, and Dog Discussion
I’ve been watching so much Gordon Ramsay of late that it’s led me to do the unthinkable. I’m actually cooking at home. Last night, I made butterlicious rib steak with grilled asparagus. Today, it was crispy-skinned salmon with potato salad and oven roasted tomatoes. So I’m staying in more which is a good news/bad news…
March 9, 2009: Dogs, by Nancy Kress
Something has gotten into the dogs in the tiny community of Tyler, Maryland. They are turning on their masters, normally well-behaved pets suddenly engaging in grisly, unprovoked attacks. What's gotten into them, it turns out, is a virus that attacks the brain’s rage centers, transforming poodles and pitbulls alike into dangerous predators. And, when it…
March 8, 2009: Author Mark J. Ferrari Drops By
I received Mark's answers today and, in reading them over, all that came to mind was "Wow!". If I knew nothing about the book, I'd pick it up simply on the basis of this terrific Q&A. Enjoy - and check out the mailbag once you're done. Oh, and finish up this month's final book, Dogs by…
March 7, 2009: How do you answer the call of nature if you’re stuck on a cargo ship?
Thanks to all those of you who participated in yesterday’s “WTF? Guess the Prop and the Eppy” contest. Unfortunately, nobody scored the requisite 6/6 that would have beaten me and thereby forced me to give you my job on the show. Better luck next time. But for those of you wondering: Prop #3: The canopic…
March 6, 2009: Barney the Dinosaur’s Unhatched Little Brother and Blame It All On Exhaustion.
My writing/producing partner Paul walked into my office, plunked himself down on the couch, and started talking about his rewrite on the Judgment script. As he sat there, chatting away, a question immediately popped into my head that had nothing do with the kino or Rush’s character of the big fourth act WTF moment. “What…
March 5, 2009: Early Watchmen Reviews Are In, My Top February Read, and The Mailbag
Early Watchmen reviews are in and the consensus seems to be that while technically accomplished and very faithful to Moore’s graphic novel, the movie lacks spirit, succeeding in engaging the audience intellectually, but ultimately failing to engage them emotionally. The common criticism seems to be that Director Zack Snyder’s loyalty to the source material proves…
March 4, 2009: Author David Louis Edelman Answers Your Questions – And Then I Answer Some Of Your Questions, But In A Far Less Clever or Entertaining Fashion
Look who it is! It's author David Louis Edelman with answers to your questions about his book, Infoquake. But, before I turn this blog over to him, I have a couple of important thoughts to share... 1. I don't watch the show but all indications are the series finale of The Bachelor WAS "the most…
March 3, 2009: Updates and More Book of the Month Club Discussion
Well, I received some good news and bad news yesterday. The good news is I get an extension on the June deadline for that short story I’m working on. The bad news is the extension may be indefinite since it appears the planned anthology may end up a victim of (cue villainous cue) “the economic…
March 2, 2009: The Book of Joby by Mark J. Ferrari
God and Lucifer make a wager, a familiar one made thousands of time in the past. This time, however, the stakes are somewhat higher. If he can get God’s champion, nine year old Joby Peterson, to renounce God, Lucifer will win the right to destroy Earth and remake it as he sees fit. But as…