Freak-a-Con Rolling Forward

Say it out loud only imagine there's a bad ass echo.

Livestream with Paul Rugg, Tom Ruegger and others Thursday, March 15, 2018 at 5:00 PM Pacific (8:00 PM Easter Time) on Facebook.

There'll be videos and contests and audience questions and anecdotes from the show they still talk about when the subject arises of a fascinating show that only lasted 24 episodes. Freakazoid is almost here!

On the subject of Warner Bros. from back in the day, I've had several people ask me if Steven Speilberg ever attended the Animaniacs voice recording sessions.

NO

Perhaps he attended a scoring session?

NO

In the day, Speilberg used to make his movies in threes, back-to-back-to back, then take time off. When Animaniacs began, he'd finished Hook and was in pre-production, then on location in Hawaii for Jurassic Park, followed immediately by work on Schindler's List. (We'd get faxes from him from in Poland, covered with frost.)

So Speilberg was often out of the country, and otherwise involved in the task of creating motion pictures. The idea that he'd pop by the remote, tricky-to-reach, studio where we initially recorded the Warners is mere internet chum. 

Animaniacs Podcast Features Gabby Author

alligator.org (Good article there on Kids' WB.)

All I do is talk about Animaniacs, rebooted Animaniacs, and the Secret Room at Warner Brothers where people prayed they'd never be sent. And, of course, I carry on about my ebooks and how wonderful they are, and how everyone should buy one or two, until either Joey, Nathan or Kelly told me to be quiet and sounded an air horn that hurt everyone's ears.

As you can see, it was quite an event, baring in mind I tend to exaggerate a mite. Find out for yourself this Sunday, March 4 at Retrozap or via Twitter or iTunes. The show fires up at 6 PM Eastern Time/3PM Pacific, then lives forever on the Web. Lend your ears and enjoy!

Kirkus Review Rates Cancer Book

Available at this place.

My cancer and my book, if you must probe and drag the truth from me. Kirkus was quite positive. For instance, they said:

"Mac's ordeal is refreshingly leavened, though, by his unique brand of dark, sarcastic humor, as when he laments an unromantic byproduct of surgical recovery ("Wearing a big wet man diaper chilled my passion"). This often charming remembrance will leave readers with a new appreciation for good health and a more optimistic outlook when things go awry."

To read it all, visit the page at Kirkus Reviews.

In Other News

In "Prostate," I touch on our dwindling finances. Recently, I was shredding some old tax documents from 2010 and was quite amazed to see how rapidly my wife and I burned through the proceeds of a house sale. (Minus a condominium, new vehicle, and a pair of laptops.) In '10, you could observe the last of the water circling the drain. Animation work consisted of a few meetings on two projects that went nowhere. In between, I published a few short fiction pieces, sold some stand-up material, and pitched a video game company to hire me as a scenario writer. This was despite having never played a video game, but, I figured, I'd never written animation before until I was hired. The game company said 'go away,' but with more finesse. 

In addition, I wrote a few articles for a now-defunct website. At the same time, I'd stalled on completing a first draft on what-would've-been my first novel. This stalling business on big writing projects continues to dog me. But like a fine wine, I sit in a dark cellar, covered with dust and cobwebs. After awhile, I finish something.

Do Your Doody for Valentine's Day

Roses are red, the jury is blue. Learn why.

Jury Doody to be precise. This fun Kindle non-fiction tale of crime, punishment and clock-watching is less than a dollar and more than a match for your short-reading pleasure. Surprise someone, anyone really, but a loved one might be best, with this fast-paced story of citizens sitting in judgment on a peer, showing you in detail how the justice sausage is made.

Still in awe over Sunday's book sale tsunami. At one point on Amazon Kindle, I had three separate books at #1, #2, and #99 in their categories. Splendid work, thanks to Oregon Muse, Hans Schantz and others for their stellar promotion.

Back to the keyboard.  

Sunday Morning Book Thread Bonanza

dclibrary.org

For eclectic readers. On today's Sunday Morning Book Thread, arch sifter of stories Oregon Muse saluted my recent work on tussling with prostate cancer plus two other tales from the JP Mac canon. 

They Took My Prostate, Hallow Mass, Jury Doody Plugged

There. That's what happened. What manner of Web clout does this Oregon Muse fellow possess? Well, Hallow Mass rises on the Amazon rankings while They Took My Prostate: Cancer, Loss, Hope is currently:

• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,661 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

• #3 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Personal Health > Men's Health > Prostate Health

• #4 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Men's Health > Prostate Health

• #35 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Diseases & Physical Ailments > Cancer

And .99 Jury Doody is a lordly:

• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,772 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

• #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Humor & Entertainment

• #7 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Lawyers & Criminals

• #29 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Essays

So thanks to Oregon Muse, as well as scientist-author Hans G. Schantz for his various pro-Mac tweetings and retweetings.

Choose among these works for your Sunday reading pleasure. I would if I weren't me.

Kaiju Rising in Time for Pacific Rim II

Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters by Tim Marquitz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

'Strange beasts' abound in this illustrated collection, offering the kaiju-aficianado a Godzilla-sized selection of monstrous tales.

Among these giant creature short stories, one may sample homages to "The Lottery," alt-histories, several Pacific Rim type punch-ups, peppered with a number of post modernist tropes and themes. Out of 23 stories, the gold to pyrite ratio is high, though the total amount might've been pruned to avoid kaiju fatigue.

My favorites included "A Turn of the Card" by James Swallow where there's more than mayhem afoot when clashing kaijus battle in the rubble of London. In Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam's "The Flight of the Red Monsters," a woman keen for vengeance finds revenge comes in different colors. And "Big Dog" by Timothy W. Long shows us how war makes for disparate companions aboard a kaiju-combat machine.

And here comes Pacific Rim II.

John Boyega

  

View all my reviews

Vote For My Prostate Cancer Book Cover

BIG BOLD YELLY FONT!   

If you liked the cover of my book,  They Took My Prostate: Cancer Loss Hope, please vote for it for the Cover of the Month contest on AllAuthor.com! Click under the potentially winning image to vote!

CLICK HERE!!                

Click below image to Vote! You can, you know! 

 I really said the word 'vote quite a bit. Forgive me. There's a certain excitement in the possibility of acquiring cheap digital kudos.
              
 Currently:

• #4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Personal Health > Men's Health > Prostate Health

               
    NOTE: Like an astounding oaf, I failed to check the link before posting. It didn't work. Now the little text below the image works. And I didn't understand why my vote count was so low.