A note from ConText and a little announcement...

Sitting here in the morning in Columbus Ohio, ready to start day two of ConTrek, a very nice speculative fiction literary convention. I've got a few panels to do today, which will be fun, as they focus on issues of translating books to film and vice-versa. In other words, I get to draw off both of those aspects of me under one umbrella!

I've been a little slack on my posts here. It's been crazy, just trying to get a good rhythm going with the Indie Movie Masters and Seventh Star Press blogs and podcasts, and I've been putting a ton of hours into the writing, as always! ;)

Matt is knee-deep in completing the artwork on the new novel. The title is going to be Crown of Vengeance, and it will be Book One of Fires in Eden. It is epic fantasy of a more medieval/high fantasy nature, though it does involve a few characters from the modern age that get whisked into this world.

As I've stated before, the plan is to have the sequel to The Exodus Gate, Book Two of the Rising Dawn Saga, out in spring of 2010, and we will try to maintain a schedule with books in the Fires in Eden series coming out in each fall and Rising Dawn Saga books coming out each spring.

The material is there, as both have been in development for years. It is just a matter of editing and polishing the material.

Matt also is working with one of my horror short stories, turning it into a graphic novel that is being put out in segments for a sequential art magazine. I have several horror short stories that just need some tweaking, which have a thematic continuity, and could form a nice singular anthology. Kind of a Clive-Barkeresque Books of Blood sort of vibe, as they are very macabre, and visceral. Matt and I have discussed turning a Volume One of these stories into a sequential art version, so stay tuned.

As far as film goes, I am committed to helping a very talented guy develop a horror feature. We've got a way to go before any greenlight, but suffice it to say that his story and concept are dynamite. We want to achieve a production value that is theatrical grade. I would be a producer on this project if it moves forward.

The fantasy short film that I mentioned a ways back is tentatively slated to be produced in early 2010. In the meantime, I am a producer on Scott Sullivan's new comedy short, Santa Boy, which shoots this December. Scott is a great talent and fellow and I am looking forward to working with him on it.

So there you go! A bit of an update with some new information. (Including my quiet announcement of the new book title, haha).

I'm off to ConText here shortly! Jason Sizemore of Apex, Michael West, Maurice Broaddus, Dan and Jackie Gamber, and all the gang are here, so it should be crazy and alot of fun.

A Good Weekend...

Got a ton of work done this weekend on the new fantasy novel. about 2/3 is completed with all edits and corrections, and I'm making progress daily. I definitely hit a good groove this weekend, and had Stuck Mojo CD's crankin'

This week is going to be very busy, as I'll be heading to Borders Downtown Indianapolis on Friday for a booksigning from noon to 2pm, and then shooting down to the Fright Night Film Fest in Louisville Kentucky. Both Sirens and Shadows Light are screening, as is Murderer, the film that was paired with Sirens on the IMM Festival of Horrors Vol 1 DVD.

Received my schedule today for ConText in Columbus, and it looks right now as if I'll be on 3 panels, and will also be doing a signing with other attending authors.

Storms, Business, and Schedule Shifts!

A very interesting day, just like the past few days. On Tuesday, Lexington got hit with a deluge, though Lousville got hit even worse. They recorded over 10,000 lightning strikes in the Louisville area and had more water fall in a 3 hour period than any time in Louisville history. We are definitely having an unusually cool July/August period.

This week has had its share of adventures. I got an invitation to attend as an author to the Kentucky Book Fair in Frankfort, KY on November 7th. I am really excited that the selection board extended this invitation and I will be there for both The Exodus Gate and the new book that I have coming out around October.

On the film side, it has been frustrating in terms of scheduling. I am a producer on a new comedy short film from the very talented Scott Sullivan, and am also primed to direct a new fantasy short from a published fantasy author. Both projects were originally primed for the fall, but it looks as if we will be shooting the comedy short the first week of December and the fantasy project has been pushed back to early 2010. I am working on the development of a horror feature that I've been asked to produce...a very high concept, very sharp project from a very talented individual that I have alot of respect for, and I hope to be talking more about this one pretty shortly.

Other than that, mired in pages, pages, and pages of the final run on the new medieval fantasy novel. The work is going very smoothly.

I did manage to get the first Indie Movie Masters podast up last Friday, and this Friday it looks as if we are on target for the first podcast on Seventh Star Press's blog site (seventhstarpress.blogspot.com ). I am really enjoying doing the blog/interviews and the podcasts, and I've got a number of excellent guests that I want to have on them.