From 2010 to 2011, a Look Behind and a Look Ahead.

2011 is looming as a very busy year, but it would not be in this position were it not for all of the things that occurred over the course of 2010.

In general, 2010 saw the release of both The Storm Guardians and Dream of Legends,adding a new title to my 2 different series. This also saw Karen Leet coming aboard as my editor on the Fires in Eden series, while Amanda DeBord continued to handle The Rising Dawn Saga. The year also saw my first foray into steampunk with "In the Mountain Skies", my short story in the Dreams of Steam anthology from Kerlak publications that came out later in the summer.

Things were not quiet on the film front either, as I finally returned to directing with Swordbearer, a medieval fantasy short film that is based on a segment of H. David Blalock's novel Ascendant. The production on that was complete and post-production was fully underway by the end of the year. It was a very good experience, and I was thrilled working with DP Aaron Champion, my first AD Nathan Day, and Cineline's dynamic duo, Matt and Sven, once again (as they say, "The Sven is Mightier Than the Sword" lol)

The year also saw a great deal of travel. I got to go visit in person with my reader friends in a range of bookstores and conventions, including Hypericon (Nashville), Marcon (Columbus), InConJunction (Indianapolis), Fright Night Film Fest (Louisville, the con that now includes FandomFest),ConNooga (Chattanooga),Millenicon (Cincinnati), MidSouthCon (Memphis), ConText (also in Columbus), The Kentucky Book Fair (Frankfort), Dark Woods Con (Pikeville), Duckon (Chicago), Archon (St. Louis), and ScareFest (Lexington).

Regretfully, I missed DemiCon due to one of my mother's 3 stints in the hospital during the past year, but I am slated to go back this spring, and the folks there were really understanding about the situation with my mother's health emergency.

I also got to make some educational visits, with talks to groups as Dunbar High School and the Bowling Green Technical College. I love visiting with students, and these experiences were definite highlights of mine for the year.

The bookstore visits throughout 2010 were wonderful, with a nice mix of independents and several Borders stores. I really appreciate Borders' openness to small press authors, as I was treated very well at the Borders stores in Louisville, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Indianapolis. I was very saddened that one store, Davis-Kidd in Nashville, had to close, as my visit there in February of 2010 to Nashville was a wonderful experience. Similarly, the Sherlock's Book Emporium in Lebanon TN closed in 2010, though another location is open in downtown Nashville now. Fortunately, both Davis-Kidd in Memphis, and my hometown store, Joseph-Beth in Lexington, are continuing forth strongly. Both places were amazing to visit on my travels in 2010, with two incredible turnouts at Joseph-Beth and one of my best attended on the road events at Memphis' Davis-Kidd.

There were many pleasant stops at indie book stores, like Beaverdale Books in Des Moines and Empire Books in Huntington, WV, My last signing event of the year took place at That Book Place, one of the components of Frank Hall's burgeoning publishing and book selling empire in Madison IN. Frank is one of the true good guys of the business, and he takes care of many cats in addition to small press authors, so I am rooting him onward to victory!

The year also saw two very special authors come aboard SSP: Steven Shrewsbury and Jackie Gamber. Steven's book Thrall was released towards the end of the year and promises to be a really successful book for Steven in 2011. Jackie's Leland Dragon Series is going to be released through SSP, with the re-release of the fantastic Redheart in the first half of 2011 and the followup book later in the year. I can't wait to do some events with them, and it is great to all be in the SSP family together.

I took on two programming tracks for two Cons, becoming the head of the Writer's Track for Duckon in Chicago and the Author/Publishing Track at FandomFest (which includes Fright Night Film Fest) in Louisville. These tasks will ratchet up even more in 2011, but I was able to get a lot of ground work in place in 2010.

Best of all were all the new friends, including reader-friends, that became part of my life over the course of the past year. There are many individuals that I am so glad I've met, from other authors, to new reader-friends, to store owners, film crew members and actors/actresses, and others. Meeting new friends is really one of the best, if not the best, aspects about what I do.

The year definitey ended on a high note, with Crown of Vengeance winning the 2010 Pluto Award for best novel (small press). We got the notice just days before Dream of Legends became available. The timing was pretty darn good!

In all, it was a year that saw a lot of strides and progress. As with all things, there were ups and downs, but the overriding direction of it all was definitely positive. Lots and lots of Monster Energy Drinks were also consumed!

I'm very excited about 2011. We will be aiming to have the 3rd Rising Dawn Saga book out in Mid-Summer, with the 3rd Fires in Eden Book at the end of the year. Expect some new announcements in the realm of short stories, both from within Seventh Star Press and outside of it (and expect to see more of my steampunk friends, Harvey and Solomon...).

Swordbearer will be screened in the early part of the year, beginning a schedule that will continue throughout the year at Cons, festivals, and other screening venues. There are not that many indie fantasy films done, so I am hopefuly that we will see a lot of enthusiasm out there for this project. I hope it brings attention to many talented individuals who worked very hard to raise the production value of this project to a high level.

The Cineline guys acquired not just one, but two RedCams for their operation, so I have a suspicion that I will be involved with them on some production projects this year.

I am hoping to make some progress on a Viking-age feature that I have hinted at from time to time, involving a screenplay I have written. I think it is a hard-hitting dark fantasy piece that hits an area of filmmaking that has been in very, very short supply over the past several years.

Be sure to keep an eye here and on my site, as there is a great deal of activity and adventure looming. To everyone who helped me, supported me, or encouraged me in 2010, I extend a heartfelt thanks, and assure you that I am laser-focused this year and rarin' to put in an immense amount of hard work to see how far we might be able to get during the next several months!

Time to stock up on Monster Energy Drinks!

;)

Swordbearer-the final two shoots

Last monday and tuesday, the final two shoots for the Swordbearer film took place.

The location for both nights was the Cane Ridge Meeting House, which is one of Kentucky's most historical locations. Dating back to 1791, the place served as a spiritual meeting house, a function that it still has today. In order to preserve the timber building, a stone superstructure was erected over the entire meeting house. The meeting house itself included a wonderful room of timber, in which there is a raised dais fronted by a wide podium/counter. It is a two level structure, with a second level gallery.

For our purposes, the superstructure and the meeting house itself were incredibly appropriate for the council chamber and Ascendant's private apartment locations for Swordbearer.

Assistant producer and unit production manager Cara Worick identified this site, and arranged for the shoots to take place from 5pm onward on both nights. (pictured Cara Worick, taken by myself)





The first night involved the Moorkai council chamber scene, at which the mage DJEMO addresses the Moorkai council regarding the conflict between Jarl Suum and Jarl Thran.

The cast for the night involved Roni Jonah (Djemo), Sonny Burnette (Latacolc), Nathan Day (Solesan), Matthew Perry (Thran), Jason Crowe (Suum), Kala (Abby Cook), Jeslon (Corey Stringer), Mendani (Natasha Smith), Jalanin,(Courtney Lantz), a second Djemoan mage (Cara Worick), as well as additional council members Russ Croley, Tim Stamps, and some extras/observers that included Rick Lawing and Rocco Pepe. (photo of Jason Crowe, taken by myself)

Roni had a tough task for both nights, as the two scenes were dialogue intensive and a great proportion of the dialogue involved her character Djemo. Roni conducted the address of the council with a commanding presence and intensity.

We did do a few takes involving some improvisation between Baliak and Thran (John Wells and Matthew Perry), for consideration on a possible insert to go at the beginning of the scene. We did some improvisation between Margaret Edwards and Matt when we did the beach scene at Ft. Boonesborough, which turned out fantastic and is definitely going to make the final cut. The improvisation on Monday sounded fantastic as well, as Baliak and Thran engaged in some brief conversation prior to the convening of the council. I have great hopes for this segment also making the final cut. Working with actors of the caliber of John and Matt allows for attempts such as this, which has the potential of deepening the scene and character development when it works. (photo of John Wells as Baliak, taken by myself)

We got an extensive amount of coverage, including some really nice jib shots targeted for the beginning and end of the scene. The council members turned in a great performance, and our coverage included many individual shots of council reactions. Cinematographer Aaron Champion worked a lot of the night in a stabilization harness, while Sven Granlund ran a second camera.

Several new outfits were debuted from the costuming department, including Solesan's, Gomaton's, and Jeslon's. As has been the case with this production, costuming looked fantastic. Abby Cook and Maggie Miller really excelled with the custom designs that were used in these two shoots. (Photo of Corey Stringer as Jeslon, taken by myself)

The crew really flowed well, including some new faces, like Tim, who was our sound recordist for the two nights, as well as Daniel (who was an extra in our tavern scene), who stepped in to help AD and grip for the night. As always, Robin Blankenship was a big help, straddling the costuming department and production assistant duties. Justin Powell,wearing his trademark hat, was everywhere on the set with the setups, putting lighting and assembling the jib on the 2nd level gallery or positioning lighting on the first level. Both nights we accomplished our entire shot lists, including the addition of a couple of additional shots not on the original list, with an hour to spare in terms of our projected shoot times each night.

It was a rather cold night inside of the building, which under other circumstances might have turned into a negative, but the cast and crew continued to show the "can-do" spirit and endured the chill while maintaining a positive vibe. Of course, as always, I had Monster Energy Drinks close at hand (and so did John Wells, who also has superior taste in energy drinks) to assist!



Tuesday night we moved to one of the side apses in the stone superstructure building for a different scene. The apse had 3 tall arched windows, in which we placed banners reflecting the colors of House Suum and Dejmo. The scene called for only five actors, Sonny Burnette, Jason Crowe, Nathan Day, Ryan Buckley, and Roni Jonah, who had another night with extensive dialogue.

As with Monday's shoot, Roni turned in another excellent performance, displaying some great intensity that I really feel came through very well on the midshots and closeups. Sonny, Nathan, Jason, and Ryan also turned in strong performances, and the lighting scheme used in this scene really looked nice, in terms of what Aaron and Sven were getting on camera. (Photo of Sonny Burnette and crew)

We were afforded a great opportunity due to the uniqueness of the location, in that there was an outer, second level window in the meeting house that looks over the center of the apse. I definitely wanted to take advantage of the free high angle shot, and we set up a jib to get an intro shot for the scene that I am confident will look very nice. (Photo of Matt Perry and Aaron Champion, taken by myself)

Everyone was in a great mood at the end of the shoot, even the curator of the property, James, which always is a good thing when shooting on location!


There will be a few small pieces to get for a montage sequence planned for early in the film, but the principle production phase has successfully concluded. A new phase gets underway, as there are a few key effects shots, a stylized montage, a full score, sound design, and much more to tackle in the post production period of Swordbearer.



The production on Swordbearer was a really fantastic expereince. This is the third project in a row as a director that I have worked with Matt and Sven and Cineline Productions, and I really believe that we took another large step forward. From Shadows Light, to Sirens, and now Swordbearer, we have made progressions in production and execution. (photo of Sven, me, and Matt)


I was elated to have Aaron Champion as my DP on this project. I had gotten him aboard Scott Sullivan's latest project, SantaBoy last spring, which I served on as a producer and first AD, and after being around him on that project I was really looking forward to working with Aaron on Swordbearer. Things were organized and flowed so well between Aaron and myself ... going over shotlists, discussing a few additional shots, looking at technical issues, or whatever the case might be, I feel that Aaron and I were on the same page all throughout. As with Matt and Sven, I hope that my next project has Aaron on it as well. (Photo of Aaron and myself)

I will be writing a lot more about this project and those involved with it, but figured this should be a good set report for the final two shoots.

I will be sure to keep everyone posted on progress in the post-production phase. We are tentatively aiming for a later January premiere of the film, with a trailer (perhaps a couple of versions) to be released before that.

Swordbearer, the First Shoots!

(photo by Melissa Mohr)


This past weekend, the Swordbearer project kicked off at The Castle Post, a large castle located in Versailles, KY, just on the outskirts of Lexington.

It is a spectacular place, with crenellated walls, towers, a big keep, and a beautiful landscape. As Swordbearer is medieval fantasy, you could not ask for a better place to kick off the film shoot.


(photo by Melissa Mohr)

We only had a short window of time to work with due to our location agreement, so the crew started arriving around 6 am, and we were under way with shooting a little after 8. The scene that we shot involves the arrival of Andalarn Thran back to Thran Keep, the family stead that he is reclaiming for the Thran family after centuries of exile.

An honor guard, including several Telmet (like dwarves) generals, are on hand to welcome him as he comes up with his wife, Kalene, the sea captain Hothorn, Baliak (one of the Kel, very elven-like folk), and four of their children that survived a sea wreck.

As independent film shoots tend to be, the earliest portion of the day involved everyone settling into their tasks, from costuming, to props, to the camera department, etc.

Clouds threatened rain, but once we got underway with shooting, we really moved smoothly. Of course, the threat of rain spurred everyone to stay on track, which didn't hurt!


I am really excited about the cast in this film. I have worked with several of them before, such as Vince Bingham, who is playing the part of Hothorn, and there are many new faces, such as John Wells, who plays Baliak, and Margaret Whitney, who plays the Lady Kalene (John and Margaret are pictured, photos taken by Melissa Mohr). The cast did an excellent job, from the House Guards like Dale Miller, to the Telmet generals like TJ Moreschi and William S. Tolliver, to the Thran family, which included Ally Wells. Cherokee Hall, who played Loncaer, turned in an excellent performance, delivering dialogue in the manner I was wanting, as did Matthew Perry, who is playing Andalarn Thran.





Major kudos to the costume department. Abby Cook, who recently stepped in to head up the department, was assited by Lori Baker and Robin Blankenship. They worked fast and efficiently to garb about twenty in a very short amount of time. Similarly, Billy Boyd and Justin Powell (who has been helping in just about all departments) managed to coordinate weapons and props very well, including some brand new pieces made by John Billy Foley. Makeup and Hair went well, thanks to Kinnari Shah and Sven Granlund (wearing one of his ten thousand hats).

Grips/PA's were on top of everything, from Jordan Mynk, to Josh Parsons, and Andrew Blankenship. Aaron Champion, our DP and the guy on the A camera, and Sven Granlund, who ran camera B AND managed to oversee audio, captured some fantastic images.

On my end, I was very happy with my trusty, awesome First AD Nathan Day, and our new assistant producer Cara Worick. Both really helped to keep things organized and flowing.

All of this flowed into day 2, which took place in the first half at Ft. Boonesborough, in a blockhouse in the fort that we used as a medieval tavern/waystation. We headed down to Boonesborough beach for the shooting of 2 more scenes in the afternoon.

This shoot was special, as we had the author of the novel on whom Swordbearer is adapted from. H. David Blalock, author of Ascendant, was on hand personally, along with his wife, Maria, and daughter Herika Raymer (who is a published author as well). David was placed in the tavern as one of the ale-drinkers, while Herika was one of the boisterous bar maids. I think David had a real blast seeing his own characters in flesh and blood, and I was highly relieved to discover that he was happy with the cast.

(David Blalock, Tom Williams, and the Kel, photo by Melissa Mohr)


The tavern scene involved some nice jib and dolly shots, and we finished largely on schedule. The first beach scene went very well, and I included some shots allowing for some ad-libbing on the part of Matthew and Margaret, to create a little extension to the scene focusing on their relationship as husband and wife. Needless to say, the two of them blew the roof off with their performance. I couldn't help but give a fist pump as Margaret finished up one of the cuts, as the performance and shot were simply fantastic. (photo by Melissa Mohr, features Ronica Jones, who is in our makeup and hair dept., working with Claude Miles, one of the Kel band)

We had to wait until nightfall to get the final shots, involving a party of 4 Kel, including Baliak, looking out to sea to a small ship struggling on the horizon in a storm. We got the first two of the three shots knocked out, and then, right on the verge of rolling camera for the last shot, the lights tripped the circuit breaker. The park security ended up not having keys to where the breaker box was. I asked all the cast and crew their thoughts on calling it a night, and doing a short shoot on a later date, or forging ahead with setting up at a shelter nearby that had power, which would add a couple hours onto the already full day shoot.

The cast and crew were unanimously determined to finish. Cara, Jordan, Aaron, Sven, Matthew, myself, Nathan, and the cast members made our way over to the shelter, set up, got the last shots, and reached the end of the night.

I can't wait until we get to show the first footage from this shoot. I have seen many clips, and the project is looking very, very nice.

This week we are focused on the big fight rehearsal between Al Snow, who is playing Hennock, one of the two champions that meet at the end of the film, and Benjamin Wood, who is playing Tchek, the other opponent. Fight Coordinator is Allan Gilbreath, out of Memphis TN, who has a tremendous fighting and weapons background, including expertise in medieval weapons and fighting styles.

Some of the production team will be recording portions of the rehearsals to plan for some subtle CGI effects that will be added.

As for myself, I will be returning to ConText this weekend, a great literary convention in Columbus Ohio. I am set to do a couple of panels, and exhibit in the dealer room, and it will be great to catch up with many of my author friends, such as Michael West, Maurice Broaddus, Steven Shrewsbury, and Jason Sizemore, the Apex head honcho.

Obviously, things are insanely busy, but I really don't mind it when I'm doing what I like.

Oh...did I mention that book 2 of the Fires in Eden series is on the home stretch now! :) I think the readers are going to be very, very pleased with how this one turns out. Karen Leet, my editor on this book, has expressed that she is very happy with it!