‘The night is always darkest before the Con’

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’!  ;)

After that, it’s back home to the Triangle where the good folks at The Escapist Magazine will be hosting their annual Escapist Expo in downtown Durham Oct. 4-6.

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.