Hey folks!
First and
foremost, let me start by apologizing for missing last month’s blog.
As it turns out, July proved to be quite the
busy month around the Malone house, and honestly it was all I could do to find
time for
Red Sky Dawning (otherwise
known as
RSD or
Mako: Book 2) much less a blog.
Nevertheless, excuses are like… well, you know the drill.
On the upside, though, next month’s blog will most likely be
penned from my ATL-hotel room between panels at DRAGON CON!!!
RUAAAAHHHHH!!!
Alrighty, and away we go!
The Mako Audiobook continues to rock
I want to give a major shout-out to anyone and everyone who has
supported the
Mako audiobook.
As I’ve said before, while seeing
Mako go live as an
ebook
was quite the thrill, it paled in comparison for me personally to that of the
audiobook.
As someone who has been
legally blind since the first grade, audio has been, and always will be,
my
medium—now more than ever in the age of mp3 players and smartphones where one
can quite literally carry a library in his or her pocket.
Thus, it goes without saying that seeing my
little contribution to the sci-fi community perform as well as it has on
Audible, iTunes, Amazon, etc. has been pretty awesome.
Seriously gang, thanks for that.
Summer movie surprise
Hats off to Director Extraordinaire Guillermo del Toro for
delivering what was—for my money—the best surprise of the 2013 Summer Movie
Season: Pacific Rim. As I told my cover designer in a recent
email, It's ginormous sci-fi fun with an interesting take on the classic
monster movie premise, but with all the heart, humor, and quirky charm of del
Toro movies like Hellboy. Plus, as Sons
of Anarchy fan will attest, having Charlie Hunnam and Ron Perlman on the
same cast is just never a bad thing.
Listen, did I enjoy
Man
of Steel?
Absolutely (see my
June blog post).
The Wolverine?
Yep, possibly the best
X-Men movie since
X2.
Oblivion,
World War Z,
Iron Man 3,
Star Trek: Into Darkn—
**coughs and gags profusely**
Sorry guys. The
old-school Treker in me just can’t abide the last one, but it’s whatever.
Anyway, the point is there were lots of great movies this
summer, but as has been pointed out on a myriad blogs, commentaries,
editorials, and social media feeds, the vast majority of them are sequels and or
reboots. Rim offered something fresh and exciting, with new characters and a
new universe, that audiences could sit back in their theater-chairs, drenched
in popcorn butter and Diet Coke, to be dazzled by.
For the record, del Toro was the only guy in filmmaking who
could’ve pulled this off, too. Anyone
else would’ve spiked it straight in the jock strap, but GDT understands this
brand of entertainment. It’s not a
franchise like Transformers or Marvel, nor is it a political statement
like District 9 or the aforementioned
Into Darkness. It’s just good, old-fashioned, fanboy fun on
a scale that’s often botched and rarely seen well in today’s movie marketplace.
As summer movie
season ends, Con season begins
As noted earlier, Atlanta’s
Dragon Con is right around the corner on
Labor Day weekend, and Smalls (my wife) and I are stoked!
To date, we’re up to two cosplay themes for the
weekend:
Mako, of course, and
Chuck, one of our all-time favorite TV
shows.
So, if you happen to spot a bald
head in tigerstripe camo and a garnet FSU football jersey floating through the crowd
near the Sheraton… well, know that’s probably me, so do stop by and say hi.
Besides, one never knows what kind of swag the author might have
in his pack. Just sayin’! ;)
Okay guy, that’s it for now.
I’m off to wrap another chapter of
RSD
and get some odds and ends done around the house before the fam gets here for a
cookout this afternoon.
As always,
thanks for checking in, stay tuned to my
Facebook and
Twitter feeds for pics from Dragon
Con this Labor Day, and talk soon.
RUAH!!!
IJM
PS- Had time to check out Stephen King’s
Joyland while on the road last
month… a good read for those who like King, but don’t want an 1100-page
marathon like
Under the Dome.
