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Monday, January 29, 2007
My latest Storytellers Unplugged essay is live. Here...
Target Acquired
And it's archive time again...
 Tuesday, January 23, 2007
My author
copies of
Blue Devil Island arrived today, so I reckon it's
officially a book. As always, Five Star Books did a bang-up job.
This is one nicely produced hardcover volume, with a
sharp-looking dust jacket and the art printed on the bound cover
itself. Reviews have been kind, and I hope readers will enjoy
the hell out of this book. I can't be terribly objective, so I
don't know if I can say it's the best book I've written,
but it's one of the most gratifying, as it touches on so many
areas of personal interest (military history being but one of
them) and explores my personal feelings about fellowship between
people, martial conflict, and hope in the midst of fairly
serious darkness. While writing the novel, the characters many
of whom are directly or indirectly based on folks of my personal
acquaintance came so alive to me that when I wrote the finale,
I found myself getting rather emotional. Talk about a rarity;
only two other of my works ("Stalker of the Wild Wind"
and "Fugue Devil") have had such an effect on me.
Anyhoo, if you're checking out this entry, I hope you'll check
out the book. I think it'll be worth your while.
 Sunday, January 21, 2007
Spent a
mostly
relaxing weekend in Virginia, very pleasant but for a lot of
physical discomfort from the damned diverticulitis. Yesterday, I
rode up to Ferrum College, where, back in the dark ages, I spent
a couple of years building up smarts. It's a picturesque area in
the southwestern Virginia mountains, and I spent much of the day
cruising the backroads, getting in some serious walking, and
general meditating. There's a long story behind it, but someone
out on route 666 in Henry County may find an excerpt of the
dreaded
Necronomicon near a little graveyard in the woods. I,
however, know not the first thing about it. Really.
Also got in some serious work on my latest, The Monarchs
of Harrow, and I reckon I'm somewhere near the halfway
mark. It isn't progressing all that rapidly, what with so much
else in the world forcing me to keep pace with it, but on the
other hand, it's shaping up to be a monstrously good book. Not
as monstrous as The Necronomicon, of course, but
monstrous nonetheless.
 Thursday, January 18, 2007
Last
week, I did a wee bit of updating to my James Bond 007
soundtrack Web site, and tonight, I made the biggest addition
it's seen in about two years a review of the
Casino Royale soundtrack, which I finished up
writing this evening. This site is strictly a hobby-thing, me
being such a Bond fanatic and all, so I don't devote much time
to it these days. However, since the latest Bond did get me all
hot and bothered, I've had a field day watching the movies and
listening to the soundtrack CDs. In general, I rather like the
Casino Royale score, though it suffers from the
same shortcomings as all of David Arnold's scores: a lack of
distinctive themes. The biggest disappointment of all is that
the excellent title track, "You Know My Name," by Chris Cornell
isn't even included on the album.
Anyway, if Bond is at all your bag, you may find my review page
here.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
 Wowie. I
hate to keep beating this subject to death well, sort of but
right on the heels of
The Edge
review of
Blue Devil Island, Library
Journal features one in the current issue. And it's
a nice one:
"In 1943, U.S. Navy pilot Lt. Cr. Drew McLachlan and his Blue
Devils are based on Conquest Island west of the Solomons in the
South Pacific. Their duty: to battle the Japanese and prevent
them from capturing the strategically important islands.
Conquest Island, however, holds a dark secret in its volcanic
caves, one that testifies to an older, stranger group of
inhabitants who may still dwell within the darkness and whose
very existence poses a threat even greater than the Japanese.
Rainey (The Lebo Coven) skillfully mixes military
fiction with alien encounters to present a fast-paced tale of
wartime heroics and unearthly terrors. A good selection for
large sf or horror collections."
Both
Publisher's Weekly and Library Journal
have smiled on the book almost to my surprise. It's horror,
it's World War II, and I almost expected that, having such
specialized subject matter, it might pass below radar. I'm kinda
glad that's not the case.
Over the last couple of days, I did end up visiting both my eye
doctor and primary care doctor, due to some vision issues that
have turned out to be a result of high blood pressure. I'm going
to be taking some medication for a few weeks and then go back in
for more testing to see how things look.
I'm sure it's all the wife's fault. I shall deal with her in the
appropriate manner.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Another
review of
Blue Devil Island, also thankfully a positive
one, just up at The Edge, a Boston-based
alternative news and entertainment site. An interview with ye
muddling author will be following quite soon, I'm told. Here:
The Edge Reviews Blue Devil Island.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Five Star Books always sends out a
fair number of advance review copies, not only to mainstream and
speculative fiction publications, but also to several that cater
to the romance genre. I was wondering whether any of them would
actually review
Blue Devil Island, and sure enough, it appears that
Romance Reviews Today will be featuring it in their
January 20 edition. They sent me an advance look, an excerpt of
which follows:
"Blue Devil Island is an action-adventure story
that pays homage to the works of H. P. Lovecraft. Men at war see
enough evil, in the enemy and in themselves, but what can they
do when faced with an evil from another universe? Fight to the
death, thats what! Mr. Rainey writes his aerial combat scenes
with great attention to detail; the culture of military life in
a far outpost is harsh, with little comfort and constant danger.
I was reminded of the movie Bridge on the River Kwai
in which soldiers held prisoner in a jungle ultimately triumph
over their captors. McLachlan and his men come to the island
expecting to do battle with an enemy they understand and find
unspeakable evil seeking to enslave them all. Readers who enjoy
a World War II setting with plenty of action and thrills should
pick up Blue Devil Island."
That's a sweet one, and I'm grateful they saw fit to publicize
the novel. I'm not sure how big it's going to be with the
romance crowd, since it doesn't feature a single female, or any
moments of throbbing erotic passion, but hey I'll welcome any
reader who wants to give it a shot. So, thanks, RRT.
Now, the book does feature lots of guns
with
great big barrels going off....
Saturday, January 6, 2007
The epitome
of passive resistance. Evidently, it's not time to put
away the Christmas decorations.
 Thursday,
January 4, 2007
The arrival
of every new new year for the last several has been a rude
reminder that there's just something terribly wrong with a year
that begins with a "two." All my young life, any year in the
2000s signified the distant future, filled with rocket ships,
moonbases, underwater cities, mile-high skyscrapers, and all
that good stuff from the science fiction of the 20th century.
And dammit, I'm still in my young life! Really!
Tonight, I watched
Licence to Kill, which is a
much under-rated, pretty damn decent Bond movie. Timothy Dalton
did a very good job as 007, particularly in this entry. It's a
flawed film, to be sure, but it's one in which Bond's character
is very true to the Fleming novels, which for me is always a big
selling point.
Peg's been at my mom's these last few days while recovering from
her surgery so I can go to work rather than stay home and play
nursemaid. (Not that I terribly mind missing work to play
nursemaid.) She'll be back tomorrow, though, so tonight's my last
as a swingin' bachelor for some time. So what did I do? I turned
up the movie real loud.
I discovered tonight that Bob Freeman gave
The Lebo Coven the treatment at his
Byte Marks blog, and he was not terribly displeased with it.
I'm always pleased when someone who is much larger and more
powerful than I, and has a knack for writing about the grim
things that happen to displeasing people, is not displeased.
Thank you sincerely, Bob; you are quite the gentleman.
Sunday,
December 31, 2006
2006 was a
pretty good year for my work getting published; a novel, an anthology,
several short stories, and another novel due in January. Plus, I'm
midway through writing another (ye old Monarchs of Harrow),
so I can't much complain on that front. My day job has gone fairly well,
though the stress level has been on the high side this year. I guess I
could complain about that, if I were so minded, but I'll spare you. The
big negative of the year has been my wife's declining health, which has
put a lot of strain on both of us physically, emotionally, and
financially. Her surgery on the day after Christmas went reasonably
well, and she seems to be recovering nicely, so at least I can be
thankful for that. I just wish this would do the trick for giving her
some long-term relief from pain, but I'm afraid, in the bigger picture,
it's little more than a Band-Aid.
In the media and in literature, for me as a consumer, it's been a very
satisfying year. Some of the highlights include
 Casino Royale, the newest
Bond flick. I loved this one pretty much all the way around. Daniel
Craig is killer as 007; the story, stunts, and acting were all
top-notch; and even David Arnold's score impressed me more than his
usual.
The "Ultimate" DVD releases of the James Bond series are something else.
I picked up You Only Live Twice to replace my old copy,
which was skipping and locking up, and the quality is so intensely good
that it's tempting to get all twenty of the damned things. Alas, my
budget and I don't agree, but it's nice to dream about.
The Flock, James Robert Smith's first novel, was one of the
year's most memorable reads. It's a very fine Thomson-Gale/Five Star
release, and I recommend it highly.
Warrener's Beastie, William R. "Mr. Bill" Trotter's latest. A
sprawling, epic monster tale that occasionally lurches, but in the end
proves to be one of the most exciting adventures I've read in years.
Classic Media's releases of Godzilla Raids Again and
Mothra vs. Godzilla are so good that I can only wish the
entire Godzilla series would get such treatment for U.S. re-release.
Ju-on, Kei Ohishi's novelization of the movie series, actually
gave me a little case of the creeps. That just doesn't happen anymore.
Or didn't.
I'm leaving out a ton of good stuff, to be sure; it's tired out tonight,
and I'm trying not to hurt myself thinking. Don't anyone feel slighted,
unless you think you deserve to.
As for good experiences, Horrorfind 2006, in Baltimore last August, was
one of the best gatherings I've been to in years. Special nods go to
Steven Sommerville, Fran Friel, Greg Hill, Beth Blue, and my darling
daughter Allison, who really helped make it a memorable event. Would
love to make it again this year, but with Peg's precarious condition, I
won't be able to make advance plans for this, or any other cons for the
foreseeable future.
MySpace, for all its pitfalls and overall ridiculousness, has brought
many new folks to make my acquaintance, and some have become true
friends, even though we've never actually met face to face. Hopefully,
we can remedy that one of these days, at least for a few on board...
So 2006 really had its share of ups and downs. At the end of it all,
Mark is feeling a bit older and more fatigued than is at all
comfortable, but I can honestly say there have been many worse times. I
have to anticipate more of the same for 2007; I just hope that the tough
stuff doesn't spiral out of hand, and that I have the presence of mind
to count my blessings when counting is due. As the saying goes, I do
have a lot to be thankful for.
Till next year...
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Chet
Williamson wasn't able to post his Storytellers Unplugged essay today,
so I went ahead and put mine up, at da boss's request. It may be found
here:
The Little Things.
Enjoy.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Christmas itself was a nice holiday
spent a couple of days at my mom's in Virginia, along with the
missus, my brother
Phred, and his girlfriend
Golda. Gave and got some nice gifts (received a bunch of
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, which makes me a happy boy),
played rock-n-roll trivia (which I somehow won, even though
Phred is imminently more qualified), ate a lot of good food, and
almost relaxed. However, the last couple of days have been
anything but relaxing, since Peg's surgery was yesterday. I've
been mostly at the hospital, with a few breaks at home in
between, which have been mostly hectic. Haven't had a chance to
write much at all, although I did manage to get my Storytellers
Unplugged essay finished, which will go up on Friday.
I do hope everyone who frequents this joint has had a good
holiday season so far. If you're one of those many
Christmas-hating sourpusses I know, well, I hate it for you. May
you be filled with peace, love, happiness, and all that
anyway.
 Saturday, December
23, 2006
A nice Christmas
present arrived in the mail today issue 10 of
Dark Wisdom magazine, which contains my story,
"The Lake of Shadows." This issue is full color and
printed on glossy paper. I haven't had a chance to look at it in
detail, but my first impression is that William Jones and
company have outdone themselves. Lots of gorgeous artwork (the
piece by Tim Wilson that accompanies my story is excellent) and
some cool features and fiction that I'm looking forward to
reading. I tend to be leery of small-press magazines with
full-color production because it's a hideously expensive
process, and too often, the publisher will opt for some
shortcuts to save money. That doesn't appear to be the case
here, and I really hope that Dark Wisdom will
succeed in the long haul because it's easily one of the best
magazines specializing in Lovecraftian-style fiction ever to see
the light of day.
Of course, having seen fit to publish my work a few times,
they
may have sounded their own death-knell...
Friday,
December 22, 2006
I'm
flaming mad because I haven't gotten to see A Charlie
Brown Christmas this year. I'm sure it must have been
broadcast and I just missed it, but I even up and ordered the
DVD of thing (because I despise trying to watch it, edited, with
all the commercials on regular TV) and it hasn't gotten here
yet. Since it's being shipped to my office, it won't get to me
before Christmas. I thought I'd ordered it in plenty of time for
delivery, but alas not. Now that's a kick in
the pants.
Unfortunately, the missus has to have shoulder and knee surgery
the day after Christmas her second this year so that's going
to cut the holiday a little short. She's got bone spurs in the
shoulder again, for the fourth time in as many years, and the
cartilage in her knees is distintegrating, so they're going to
do some repair work. I'm sure she'll do fine. By now, this crap
is old hat.
On a much more encouraging note,
The Nightmare Frontier made Gary Braunbeck's "Best
of 2006" list, which is so not a bad thing. I'm more than
honored to be on that list; Gary is one of the most
distinguished writers working today, and one of the most
gentlemanly gentlemen I've ever met. Visit him at
www.garybraunbeck.com. If you haven't checked out his work,
do it RIGHT NOW. If he's ever hit a clinker, I haven't
found it.
Anyway, it's going to be busy for the next few days, so if I
don't have a chance to come back and wish you a Merry Christmas
or whatever holiday suits you have a great one. Hope it's a
very special time for you.
 Sunday, December 17, 2006
I just
discovered this new review of
The Last
Trumpet by Nicholas Grabowski, and I'm humbled:
Nicholas Grabowski reviews The Last Trumpet
This just prompted me to kick my ass into overdrive on The Monarchs of
Harrow, which I'm working on feverishly today...
Last night, our good old friends
Stormy Williams and his wife Chanel came round for a visit,
and we had ourselves a whopper of a dinner at the Green Valley
Grille, which is an upscale little joint in the O'Henry Hotel
here. I had what may have been the most kick-ass calamari I've
ever eaten, and a couple of 90 proof martinis.
A Christmas Story is showing on TCM shortly, so
guess where Mark is going to be. Yes, probably shooting my eye
out.
 Thursday, December 14, 2006
Between working on chapters of
The Monachs of Harrow, I've had to watch 007 movies
over the past few nights. It always happens when a Bond movie
comes out at the theater; I get the bug, and then it becomes
necessary to put on the DVDs and watch the entire series.
Usually in order, but this go-round, I'm doing it willy-nilly. Tonight was
Thunderball.
Also
watched and wrote a review of
Hellsing, a Japanese anime flick, for About
Horror.com. It was merely okay kind of a
Vampire Hunter D wannabe, with all the blood and
little of the heart. I guess, technically, animated gore isn't
really gore at all, but the Japanese sure can animate some
explosive bloodletting. This is part one of three of a
made-for-video series; I kind of doubt I'll be checking out the
rest of it. I was a diehard anime fan back in the 80s, but in
the intervening years, I've seen precious little that would
rekindle my interest. Late addendum: my review is now
posted
here.
Got a nice card and note from Fred Chappell today, telling me
how pleased with
Evermore he was. Indeed, pleasing it is.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Spent a most enjoyable evening last night
with my brother
Phred and his S.O.
Golda. He played guitar and hollered for a benefit at a local gallery
called
Two Art Chicks, and sounded fairly respectable, at least according
to the passersby whose ears didn't begin bleeding. There was also an
auction to help a local cancer victim, so I donated a copy of
The Lebo Coven, which picked up bids as soon as it hit the
block. A good
cause and a good time. Afterward, went with Phred, Golda, and their
friend
Jessi for Thai food at Rearn Thai, where I demolished a big old
plate of Crying Tiger one of the best concoctions of dead cow anyone
has ever come up with. Alas, Mrs. Damned Rodan was feeling rotten and
missed an excellent evening.
And a late
addendum: a photo from BOB Smith from our signing session on Thursday.
The astute
viewer might notice a certain peculiar shadow above the mantelpiece. How serendipitious! When signing books about Poe, one really should be
surrounded by Poe-things...
Friday, December 8, 2006
I finally
picked up Lara Parker's second Dark Shadows novel,
The Salem Branch, which at least has a pretty cover. Based
on all that I've heard about it, I dare not build up any high hopes. I
know from Lara's first,
Angelique's Descent, that she can spin a reasonably decent
story, but of all things her grasp of the Dark Shadows
characters themselves is rather spotty. In particular, her characterization of
Barnabas in Angelique's Descent was wretched, and though I
hear she's remedied some of her previous problems in this book, there are numerous
other, equally egregious gaffes that are prone to inspiring groans.
Way to go into
this with an open mind, no? Ah, well, I probably won't get a chance to
start reading it before the Christmas holiday. I still kinda look
forward to getting into it. It's Dark Shadows, after all,
and I'm still a raving DS nut and make no bones about it.
Thursday, December 7, 2006
I took
off the afternoon, and Mr. James Robert (BOB) Smith came up from
Charlotte so we could autograph the copies of
Evermore for Shocklines which is now all done. Got the box
shipped out, as well as two boxes of
The Nightmare Frontier,
which Chad Savage will be remarquing before they head to
Shocklines. But my part on these is done, and now I have a big stack of
signature sheets for the
Cthulhuian Singularity anthology to sign and send to John
Pelan. Always a pleasure to devalue someone's product with my
autograph.
Anyhoo, Bob and I watched the H. P. Lovecraft Historical
Society's production of
Call of Cthulhu, which is always a treat, and then we
went out for sushi at Sapporo, one of the decent local Japanese
restaurants. Not a bad way to have dinner on Pearl Harbor Day, right?
Also got a call from my darling daughter in the greater Washington, DC,
area, where they are apparently getting snow. We are merely undergoing
raging interstellar winds at the moment. Anyway, hearing from her made
for a nice ending to the evening.
Saturday, December 2, 2006
And
another edition of The Log meets the archives...
Had to fill out a customs form for Fed Ex this morning so they
can deliver the boxes of
The Nightmare Frontier
from Sarob Press for Shocklines probably on Monday. If so, I'll
autograph those, ship them off to Shocklines on Tuesday, and by
week's end, Matt will probably be filling orders. Here's hoping.
And on a very nice note, I found that Ron Dickie gave
Blue
Devil Island an excellent review in this month's
HorrorWorld
(you have to scroll down a little ways for the review;
that link will work through December, and then it will
go into HorrorWorld's
archives). So far, the book's batting a thousand for decent
reviews. That's encouraging, and I'm just glad that the advance
readers all seem to really be enjoying it. That's what it's
really all about.
Well, that and all that other writer-type stuff, both good and
bad.
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