Happy Independence Day!

The Onion

Memorable July 4th Events

Thanks to the Founding Fathers for sticking their necks out and declaring independence when it was unclear they could back up such a deed. (I recommend David McCullough's book 1776 if you wish to read how the British kicked the American army off Long Island, chased George Washington from New York, and came very close to mopping up his ragged little force.)

History aside, here are several recollections from July 4th past: 

5Ks   

Mark up another one today. (Only 3 miles.) Ran around the golf course at Griffith Park along the soft dirt bridal trails where you rarely see a horse while maneuvering past their rounded droppings. Felt good, no injuries, taking it very slow. In the past, there have been runs and walks in:

2007

2010, 2015

5th of July Party 1981

Close enough for a list. This epic bash saw an entire Hollywood apartment building unite in pursuit of a drunken bash that began around 11:00 AM at the pool, spread from the building, down the block to a bar, back to the building and inside an apartment where it continued until the cops showed up at 3:00 AM. My recollections are fuzzy due to age and staggering drunkenness.

1986

This year, repairs were finally completed on the Statue of Liberty and there was to be a big televised event with more fireworks than Saturday night in the barrio. An old improv friend invited me to a party down near the beach. I'd once had a crush on Lisa. She reluctantly informed me of her gayness. But I still didn't give up, as I'd met women before who were "gay for a day." In any case, Lisa's party was lesbian central. Out of 22 women, only three were straight. One was ill and left early, the other nursed a bad sunburn, and I didn't hit it off with the third. No matter. We all had a grand time watching fireworks over the ocean off Santa Monica. The following year, Lisa moved to Sedona, Arizona with a girlfriend, bought a house, and waited for UFOs to circle Coffee Pot Rock. (I could be wrong about the last part.)

1976

Bi-centennial. A big deal. My sister was attending Western Illinois University. Out in the cornfields, near the Mississippi River, not far from Iowa, stood the little town of Basco. There they made their own fireworks and put on a patriotic pageant every 4th. My girlfriend and I, my sister, and her friends attended. We ended up trashed in some field drinking Grain Belt Beer and watching the fireworks crackle. We all bought tee-shirts that said "Basco 1976." I drove back to the farmhouse my sister was renting, hunched over the wheel, barely able to see.

Horror Book Discount Continues

That's about all the July 4th memories I can salvage for the day , but there's always time to flog a book. Through today and ending Tue. July 5th, Hallow Mass continues to be available in Kindle form for under three dollars. Cool off with a nice chilling horror tale of old grudges, new terrors, and unadorned sorcery. A pleasant weekend to all! 

New Release Date for Pacific Rim 2

Hollywood Hopes Bigger is Better at the Box Office

Since mentioning BFG yesterday, I've found that size will indeed matter in a pair of movies out in the coming years. This is strange timing, as I've just finished a draft on a short story saluting the big and tall called, "Starsky and Goliath." Meanwhile, coming to the cinema:

Gigantic 

Here is conflict, I think.

Yes, Jack and his beanstalk return, this time in a Disney animated musical set for release in 2018. You got your good giants and your bad giants, though it's tough to beat Attack on Titan for creepy colossi. (Hajime Isayama's popular manga-animated series-video game-film is the benchmark for big and bad. I've spoofed it and enough on that.) I have an odd feeling Gigantic will veer off in a more peppy direction. Nathan Greno of Tangled fame is parked in the director's chair.

Pacific Rim 2: Maelstrom

Mecha. Would you agree?

With a new release date of February 23, 2018, this sequel to the 2013 kaiju vs. mecha mashup has Steven S. DeKnight directing and, I'm guessing, enough new kaiju and mecha to keep fans as happy as large people with ample food.

On the subject of releases, my horror novel Hallow Mass will be discounted in Kindle form for the 4th of July weekend. Save, save, and, I say, save $4.00 beginning today at 8:00 AM Pacific Time and continuing through Saturday, July 2 when a tale of obligation in the face of terror will be available for .99 The savings continue Sun. and Mon. July 3 and 4 with a $2.00 discount, ending Tue. July 5. Snag your copy and follow the adventures of party girl and reluctant wizard Mercy O'Connor.

Best to all and happy Independence Day, USA!

io9 Kinda Likes BFG

A famous director and a book about nice giants. Is it enough?

Giant Film OK But Fails to Meet Expectations

Based on a novel by Roald Dahl, the i09  review explains that:

". . . The BFG is about a young orphan named Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) who is taken from her London home by a big, friendly giant (a performance capture Mark Rylance). The BFG, as she begins to call him, takes her to a magical world where he collects and manipulates dreams. Sophie realizes that, despite his size, she and The BFG share some insecurities, and solving those becomes something the pair embrace with all their heart."

Directed by Steven Spielberg for Disney, the reviewer felt that such a powerhouse lineup should result in a powerhouse film. But as we know, past performance is no guarantee of future results. Read the whole thing. 

Horror Book Discount Starts July 1

Tomorrow! Canada Day! Throughout the 4th of July weekend, Hallow Mass will be available in Kindle for discounts ranging from $2.00 to $4.00. Who will win the sorcery duel atop Sentinel Hill? A diabolical warlock or a grad school party girl? Take advantage of this unique offer  while it is still unique, before the bloom is off the rose, the paint off the car, the fur off the cat. 

James Ellroy and Charles Bukowski Help Me Out.

James Ellroy (Lit Reactor)

Charles Bukowski (The Toast)

A Turn to Established Authors Aids in Battling Writer's Block

 For me, writer's block does not involve a blank screen. It manifests itself in page after page of unreadable word chum. So I decided to keep open on my desk various books from a variety of successful authors. When in need of a description or character trait or fresh metaphor, I turn to these scribes for inspiration. For instance, I was trying to describe my protagonist and read this passage from Charles Bukowski's short story, "The Most Beautiful Woman in Town."

"Cass was the most beautiful girl in town. [Half] Indian with a supple and strange body, a snake-like and fiery body with eyes to go with it. Cass was fluid moving fire. She was like a spirit stuck into a form that would not hold her."

I'd probably have written, "Cass was real good looking and sexy."

In any case, I wrote nothing so poetic, but I did think of a decent description and moved on from there.

A variety of styles, themes and genres comprise the eight books I'm currently using for inspiration:

The Most Beautiful Woman in Town and Other Stories - Charles Bukowski.

Glue - Irvine Welsh

The Exorcist - William Peter Blatty

Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup # 3 Valdez is Coming and Hombre - Elmore Leonard.

The Sowers of the Thunder - Robert E. Howard.

American Tabloid - James Ellroy.

The Fun Parts - Sam Lipsyte.

The Debut - Anita Brookner.

Thank you, everyone!

Paul Dini Turns Tough Times into Comic Relief

Animation Ace Pens Graphic Batman Novel Based on Real Life Events 

Back in the day at Warner Bros., I recall Paul Dini describing the beating he took at the hands of two muggers. He was pounded pretty good. As is the way of violence, it lingered in his life for decades. But Dini has finally found a way to turn the attack to good use. He's written a graphic novel built around his experience and its aftermath. Twenty-three years later, according to the LA Weekly, "in Dark Night, Dini tells his tale in a way that connects the trauma to the crime fighters and criminals who lived in his [TV animation] work."

With art by Eduardo Risso, Dark Night:A True Batman Story depicts the Caped Crusader "as the savior who helps a discouraged man recover from a brutal attack that left him unable to face the world."

The Weekly article feels the story "benefits from the perspective of years past. Says Dini, 'I had to go beyond it and I had to reach this point of, I survived and that's enough."

Paul Dini via blurppy

In addition, ". . . Dini wasn't just better able to revisit the attack but also he could see the benefit of sharing his story with others. 'I began thinking, maybe there are people who have gone through things like this, or similar tragedies, and that's arrested their life in some way,' he says. 'Maybe this could be a way of telling people that if someone life me could get through a situation like this, then they could, too.'

Dark Night: A True Batman Story went out to comic book shops yesterday and will everywhere in the bookish world June 21.

Good for you, Paul. The pre-orders look solid. I hope it sells a ton.

Western Romance Parody Rolls Along

Second spot from the left on Bookreels. 

Fifty Shades of Zane Grey Among Bookreels Most Viewed

As the months zip past like tumbleweed in a derecho, the book trailer for my lampooning of Fifty Shades of Grey continues to attract eyeballs. The text that has been called, 'completely cracked' by Bookangel quietly awaits new readers. Learn for yourself the secrets of the Trap Room and the choices made by young, innocent Anna Ironhead

Not to crow excessively, but here is another Bookreels screen grab of 50ZG holding down the pole position in the Humor category,

Add caption

Tomorrow will see the arrival of the latest Hallow Mass book trailer. Actually, two trailers in the next week or so. Somehow trailer three will be released before two. But that is a mystery not worth delving into. 

A pleasant Sunday afternoon to all. 

Remembering on Memorial Day

American Heroes Channel

Two Guys From Ohio

Memorial Day makes me think of Kurt and T.J.

Imagine you knew a man from Cleveland, Ohio.

This man had one sibling, an older sister.

During Vietnam, he volunteered for dangerous assignments, operating far behind enemy lines.

After the war, he battled drugs and alcohol.

Eventually, he sobered up and went to work for a vending machine company.

For many years, he traveled in a van around Los Angeles fixing coffee and soda machines.

Now imagine knowing TWO men with the exact same history.  (But different vending machine companies.)

I was honored to be friends with such a pair. They came into my life at different times out in California and it was eerie how their backgrounds meshed in such odd intimate ways. Once I introduced them to each other at a party, figuring they'd have lots in common, but after a few polite minutes they separated.

They'd experienced stranger things.

The Rockpile and Dak To: 1966 - 1968

A Marine, Kurt initially served in Bravo Company, 3rd Recon Battalion in 1966. Wounded twice, he was stationed in I Corp in northern South Vietnam monitoring enemy forces infiltrating across the DMZ. By early 1968, Kurt was operating out of Khe Sanh, running patrols in Laos along the Ho Chi Minh Trail on operations so secret that Americans who died there were never officially acknowledged. Kurt had extended his service to go to Vietnam. He rotated home before the siege, returning to America only to be confronted in a bus depot by a man angry over the war. (The angry man didn't fare well against Kurt.)

T.J. originally fought with the 12th Infantry on Operation MacArthur near Dak To. He loathed the brutal randomness of combat—here one second gone the next and decided his odds would be better in the  LRRPs (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol). Instead of waiting to be hit, TJ  crept around North Vietnamese base camps in the Central Highlands, calling in air and artillery strikes, picking off sentries, and making the enemy nervous. He returned to serve out his last few months at Fort Knox, conducting tours of the U.S. Gold Reserve. One night while watching television he started shaking and broke into tears.

Years would pass before he learned about PTSD.

In 2002 I made a business trip to Vietnam. I brought Kurt back a little Buddha and some red clay from Khe Sanh. TJ collected Buddhas the way some people collect Pokemon cards.  So I picked him out a honey in Saigon: a big, fat happy Buddha, smiling like he'd just won the Power Ball, holding up the Pearl of Knowledge. 

It Is Finished

Kurt died in 2003 from liver cancer.

T.J. died in 2009 from emphysema and other complications.
 
In the end, health and psychological damage from the war shortened their lives.

But they were decent men, regular guys who performed extraordinary deeds, and friends I will always cherish.

This weekend I remember two guys from Cleveland and all who gave their lives in service to the country.

New Rochelle Talk

(Based on a post from 2009.)

Reefer Madness II: The True Story

My very first film back in the day. Here's a picture of me imitating the beleaguered producer L. Randall Nogg. 

How Randy looked after examining the budget.

Reefer Madness II: The True Story featured members of the L.A. Connection comedy group replacing the dialogue on the original cautionary tale with our own snarky remarks. Yet more nostalgic photos over at the film's IMdB page. 

Angry Artist Apes Attack on Titan

Manga Madness from the Hollywood Slush Pile

In any given year roughly 250,000 speculative screenplays circulate around Hollywood, written for free by someone with a dream and a keyboard. Perhaps 50 will be purchased. That means 249,950 untold stories will silently wither, never to stimulate our imagination. But that Darwinian process ends here. Write Enough! is committed to resurrecting moribund scripts from the Hollywood Slush Pile, drawing on a veritable Marianas Trench of passed over stories for a peek at what might have been made, written by those who might've been paid.

Attack on Titian

Resentment bubbled inside Joto Mate Kudasai like Icelandic magma. The Japanese artist erupted in rage at any mention of Hajime Isayama's runaway hit property, Attack on Titan. Isayama's one-shot comic had blossomed into an animated TV series, video game and an upcoming feature film.  Kudasai's own attempts at manga had met with indifference. His series, Misty Big Eyes, about a little girl with huge saucer eyes, strange destructive powers, and a lack of maturity, impressed no one. Kudosai's compositional skills were derided by other artists, and once referred to as, "Stick figures drawn by a crazy man on fire."

Kudasai Counterattacks

Falling back on his knowledge of the Italian Renaissance, Kudasai resolved to "jump the queue" and write a successful screenplay by ripping off Isayama. Joto Mate would then enjoy the sweet nectar of success based on a rival's material. (A note: while close in age, Isayama knew nothing of Kudasai, which only inflamed Joto Mate even more.) 

Locking himself in his room, chain-smoking, foregoing all pleasures including robotic sex and Silent Library, Kudasai worked on his screenplay. 

Cruelty of the Giants

A blatant rip-off of Attack on Titan, Kudasai's work featured young soldiers in a unit called the Commissary Corps who were trained to battle cannibalistic giants threatening the existence of humanity. In Kudasai's dense version, the giants would force human victims to pose as models for charcoal sketches. Afterward, the victims were devoured, neatly avoiding any studio fees. Later, the giants rendered the sketches into sensual paintings with bright, lively tints reminiscent of the early works of Venetian painter Titian. Their loud wine and cheese parties kept humanity up to all hours and resulted in poor work force production. Only the Commissary Corps, consisting of hyper-emotional, androgynous teenagers, could save the day. 

The Hard Streets of Tinsel Town

With his screenplay completed, Kudasai mailed his work to all the major American studios. Unfortunately, he wrote both cover letter and screenplay in Japanese. This resulted in a cool reception. Convinced that Isayama had hired underlings to steal Attack on Titian before it could reach the executives, Kudasai traveled to Hollywood and attempted to deliver his opus in person. A man screaming in Japanese, waving a screenplay outside a studio, is not as  uncommon in Los Angeles as one might think. Nevertheless, Kudasai was rebuffed. Lost, alone, unable to speak English, too broke to return home, with no marketable skills, Kudasai wandered the length and breadth of California. Eventually, he found work as head of the State Water Resources Control Board. 

But now a lost tale has finally been told.

Other Untold Tales From the Hollywood Slush Pile

E.T.: Panzer Ace

Where's Aida?

When Shriners Attack

NCIS: Yosemite

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In eBook and Paperback

Today re. Hallow Mass, Amazon reader Francis W. Porretto remarks that:

 "This little novel is such wonderful fun, and so effective a horror story in the Lovecraftian vein, that it's almost impossible to do it justice." 

Many thanks to Francis for his kind words. Do stop by Amazon today and grab a copy, should your time and circumstances favor such a deed.

Dawn of Animaniacs

They're freeeee!

Toast Article Riffs on the Origin of the Series

What happened in the room when Animaniacs was pitched? Abbey Fenbert over at The Toast speculates on the keen interplay between creator (represented in the article by "The Animator") and executives as the suits struggle to grasp the purpose and reason of characters with baloney in their slacks. Here's a sample:

"THE ANIMATOR: Did I not explain that Animaniacs is a vaudevillian pastiche? There is no fixed plot, structure, or mythos. Settings and characters leap the time-space continuum with the Warner siblings as the only line of continuity. 

For example, let's say Death comes for Wakko at a Swedish meatball-eating contest. Yak and Dot riff on Bergman as they annoy their way out of the bureaucracy of mortality, at which point we shift to Dot's Poetry Corner for a little rhyme time, then onward to the heart of the jungle where we visit Flavio and Marita, a pair of married Italian aristocrats. Who are hippos. Other episodes might see the Warners fighting Captain Ahab, or Chicken Boo becoming a sheriff. Anything's possible.

EXEC #2: Yeah. . . I'm wondering if maybe it's all a little too possible? Establishing limits is an important part of world building.

THE ANIMATOR: Tooncraft defies limits. The art of animation is the constant rearranging and resifting of the lines between illustration and creation. Yak, Wakko, and Dot embrace their cartoon heritage and its antic, violent traditions. Kids will dig it. "

Read the rest here. 

H/T: Tom Ruegger. 

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As regards Hallow Mass, reader Francis W. Porretto said the following:

"This little novel is such wonderful fun, **and** so effective a horror story in the Lovecraftian vein, that it's almost impossible to do it justice."

If I wore a hat at this moment, I would be tipping it to Francis. To read more of his 5-star review, or pick up a copy, go to this spot on the fine Internet. 

 

Coming Friday: Attack on Titian

In Kudasai's world, giants know their art.

Learn How An Obscure Manga Chased Big Screen Fame

This Friday, the Hollywood Slush Pile examines Attack on Titian, an attempt by artist Joto Mate Kudasai to capitalize on the success of Attack on Titan by promoting his own version of the successful franchise. His screenplay involved young soldiers battling cannibalistic giants with a flair for Venetian arts styles of the 16th century. Did Kudasai's obtuse vision survive the leap from manga pages to the silver screen? Check back on May 27 for the jaw-dropping details.

My second book trailer for Hallow Mass should be up by next week.This version will be more colorful and include a complimentary quote from the Kirkus Review. At such time, it will join my other book trailers in the YouTube Cornerstone Media section.

And while you're out and about on the Web, checking this and that, stop by my Amazon page for a peek at fine eBook and paperback selections.