Friday, February 20, 2009

Operation Warrior Library: Meet the Second Round of Authors!

Since the call went out in early January for more books for our troops we've collected several hundred books! This is just awesome! Most of these books came to us directly from the authors and a lot of them took the time to sign them for our soldiers as well.

The stickers you see on the covers feature the new OWL logo and invite the soldiers to meet the authors in our new OWL forum to discuss the books. We're hopeful that this will be a much-used feature.

It looks like these books are going to wind up in the hands of a National Guard unit heading to Afghanistan in the next few weeks. I'll update when I have more news.

I'll blog about each of these books as I read them but for now here's a list of these wonderful authors. You can support them by buying their books. Proceeds from the purchase of these books in the OWL Store will go to furthering this operation.

Thanks to:
Jon Fasman
Tess Gerritsen
Meg Gardiner
Jason Pinter
Charles Bock
Daniyal Mueenuddin
Trish Ryan
George Mastras
Bob Drury and Tom Clavin
Lewis Robinson
Tiffany Baker
Jon Guenther
Robert Buettner
Angie Fox

Friday, February 13, 2009

DISPATCH :: Pulp lives!

At least according to MediaBistro's with Ron Fortier. Why does this matter to me? Well, you obviously haven't read THE CHINATOWN DEATH CLOUD PERIL. And this bodes well for its sequel...

DISPATCH :: Operation Warrior Library in action


This past weekend was spent going through all the boxes of books that authors have sent us to pass on to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. You can see some of the photos of my boys,
Wesley and Nathaniel, helping us put Operation Warrior Library stickers on the books on my Flickr feed.

And here are a couple of the cutest ones.



Lots more about OWL soon.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

DISPATCH :: Download my short film.

I posted late last week the trailer for my ten-year old two-reeler, THE KING OF THE MAGICIANS. Well, it turns out that some of you actually want to see it. So here's how. Click on the link below and follow it to a site where you can download it.

Feel free to let me know what you think.

Get THE KING OF THE MAGICIANS here.

Friday, February 6, 2009

DISPATCH :: "The King of the Magicians"

10 years ago this week some friends and I shot a 20-minute film that I wrote and directed. It was called "The King of the Magicians." We took it on the festival circuit and had a lot of fun with it. Creatively, it was when I finally found my voice. I thought I'd post it today as a reminder to me how quickly time passes and to share something cool that you wouldn't otherwise get to see.

"THE KING OF THE MAGICIANS"

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

DISPATCH :: Scenes from a book tour

My San Francisco guide, Amy Wilson, made a video about my visit. She actually managed to pull something cool together - even though I'm in it. So - enjoy.

Monday, February 2, 2009

DISPATCH :: 25 things about me.

There's a meme spreading on Facebook in which you list 25 random things about yourself and share it with 25 friends. At first I resisted but then I submitted. Since not all of you are on Facebook (or if you are you haven't friended me yet) I thought I'd share.

1. “Stairway to Heaven” was the song that was on the radio I was listening to when they broke in to announce that John Lennon had been killed. As if I needed another reason to hate that song.
2. I lived in Taiwan for 5 years and I can still count to ten in Chinese.
3. I am prepared to defend and protect my family during the impending zombie wars.
4. Being a dad is more fun that I ever imagined.
5. I don’t believe in God but I have an on-going conversation with my guardian angel and my guardian devil.
6. I wish I lived a little closer to my brother and sister. Or rather, I wished they lived a little closer to me.
7. Both my father and grandfather fought in WW2.
8. I used to have a wealth of useless information. Now I’m a novelist.
9. I would have liked to have seen the Beatles reunite one last time for some pop culture closer.
10. My wife makes me laugh a lot.
11. I owe everything to my friends.
12. I got my first tattoo the way you’re supposed to. At Mardi Gras. In New Orleans.
13. I want to be a Disney Imagineer.
14. I used to want to host SNL. Now I just hope I get the chance to see it live once.
15. I’m in the “Bubble Boy” episode of SEINFELD. I’m driving Jerry’s car. I’m also riding in the fire engine at the end of the episode.
16. Movies I will always sit down and watch whenever and wherever I come across them are THE EIGER SANCTION, THE ROAD WARRIOR, MUSIC & LYRICS, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY and FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH.
17. The arcade game I was, and still am, best at was, and is, TRON.
18. I think Stanley Kubrick made some stinkers.
19. I would have liked to have seen David Lean’s NOSTROMO and Sergio Leone’s STALINGRAD.
20. I still wish on the first star I see at night and pick up heads-up pennies for luck.
21. I’ve met Buzz Aldrin, Rosa Parks, Cesar Chavez and Milton Berle. I tied Henny Youngman’s shoes once because he couldn’t do it himself. I think.
22. Though I lived in Taiwan and Pennsylvania farm country I had to come to New York to learn Kung Fu and horseback riding. Though I’m not good at either.
23. I like Jack Daniels neat with a Diet Coke back.
24. I like Big Audio Dynamite more than The Clash.
25. I’m just getting’ warmed up.