Before you go see THE DEVIL INSIDE, the latest horror movie to hit the big screen, give my review a listen. This is an excerpt from a weekly podcast I’m proud to be part of called The Hollywood Outsider. Fair warning, it’s a bit saucy. Let me know what you think of the review, and the movie if you go see it too.

There are times when I wonder if updating this blog serves any purpose. I rarely get comments or emails, and by rarely I mean once in a blue moon, so does anyone even read it? Perhaps if I put up notices on Twitter and Facebook letting people know I made an update, that might draw more people in. I’ll have to give that a try.

Anyway…

First, an update on my writing and the upcoming books. It looks like A MINOR MAGIC will be the first to hit the market. We’re hoping for a November/December release. And then, somewhere around March of 2012, you should see HAYWIRE come out. I’d like a bit more space between then, but I won’t know if that’s possible until dates firm up a touch more. I’ll keep you in the loop. And as for STILL WATER, I took a break the past two weeks to work on my podcast’s anthology plus to rest for a few days, but next week I’ll get back into it hardcore. If I’m not done with it by the end of October I’ll be upset with myself.

Speaking of podcasts, I’m still doing two of them right now. The Dead Robots’ Society is nearing it’s 200th episode, which doesn’t include all the convention panels, special episodes, and audio dramas we’ve produced, so in reality we have over two-hundred files available for download right now. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished with it. But I’m also still co-hosting with the guys over at The Hollywood Outsider. If you haven’t listened to it yet, I really encourage you to, especially if you like movies and TV shows. I have a lot of fun doing it, and the guys I host with are a lot of fun. I wish they lived closer so that I could hang out with them in person. Please, do yourself and us a favor, and give it a spin. We just put out our ninth episode.

If you’re interested at all in video games, I just finished replaying Gears Of War 1 and 2 in preparation for playing the third game, and I also just finished playing a new RPG (that’s Role Playing Game for you non-gamers) called X-MEN: DESTINY. As you can tell from the title, it is a comic book game, but with an RPG feel. It’s not the best RPG I’ve ever played (Hey, Bioware, what’s up? Get Mass Effect 3 out NOW!), but it was still a lot of fun. I’d give it a solid 8 out of 10.

I think that’s it for now. This brings you up to date on where I am with some of my projects, and as they develop I’ll post ‘em here and keep you in the loop. Thanks for coming, and please let me know what you think regarding anything I’ve talked about.

Oh, before I go, please notice the new icons I’ve put at the bottom of this post. I got the idea for this from Robin Sullivan, and I’m hoping they’ll help in keeping people connected with me and what I’ve working on. If you see any problems with them, or have other ideas, please let me know.

Take care.

In Episode 5 of the Hollywood Outsider, we run through some current movie news before reviewing the recent releases Fright Night and Conan the Barbarian. After discussing next weeks upcoming releases, Scott puts his own spin on ‘Does It Make Me A Sally?’ before a quick trailer break. Our ‘From The Outside In’ topic this week is ‘A Night Out At the Theater: What’s it going to take to get us there?’. We round out the show with DVD releases followed by our Flashback Pick’s of the Week and outtakes.

Podcasters: Aaron Peterson, Scott Clark, Brian Williams and Justin Macumber

Email: HollywoodOutsider@comcast.net

Twitter: H_Outsider

In Episode 3 of The Hollywood Outsider, we take on the weeks upcoming releases, how Apes and Smurfs are conquering the Box Office as well as numerous news items including looks at 5 newly released trailers and some recently announced projects. Our weekly topic is ‘Remakes: Is Hollywood Creatively Bankrupt?’. Brian takes a stab at a new segment called ‘Does It Make Me A Sally?’ (seems like a rhetorical question to us) and we finish out the episode with our Flashback DVD/Blu Ray picks of the week and, of course, outakes.

Podcasters: Aaron Peterson, Scott L. Clark, Brian Williams and Justin Macumber

Intro/Outro music provided by: The Buddha Nuggs

Email: Hollywoodoutsider@comcast.net

Twitter: H_Outsider

I’m not sure if I’ll be a permanent or constant guest on this podcast since I’m not the person in charge of it, but I hope I’m able to be on as often as possible. It’s a lot of fun to talk about movies with people who just as passionate about them as I am, if not more. Here is this episode’s description:

In Episode 2 of The Hollywood Outsider, we tackle our regular format for the first time. After sharing some impressions of Cowboys & Aliens and thoughts of some upcoming releases, we dive into the week’s news and new trailer releases. We also have a spirited discussion on 3D and whether or not we should take out James Cameron for this epidemic. We finish up with DVD releases and each of our own ‘Flashback DVD’ choices. Be sure to stick around through the end song for our own version of film outtakes.

Well, the guys over at the Official Thread podcast asked me to come back on their show, but this time it wasn’t to talk about video game. Instead we talked about movies. Most of the discussions was focused on this year’s movies, especially the summer blockbusters, but we did talk about films from the past as well as those that are upcoming. I had a blast, and I hope you give it a listen.

Let me also apologize for how loud my voice occasionally gets. Apparently I was too close to the mic or I had my gain up too high, but either way I was louder than I should have been, and I’m really sorry about that.

This week “The Princess Bride” came out on Blu-Ray, and after watching it for probably the millionth time I knew that I had to finally purchase the book and give it a read. I can’t get to it immediately, as I have other obligations, but this is at the top of my pile.

Yeah, I’m about done. That didn’t take long, did it? I guess as I get older I have less and less patience for what I consider to be bullshit. All the endless crowds and lines and asshole people have conspired to drain just about all the fun out of this experience. Such a shame.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I have had me some fun. Yesterday I got to see Joss Whedon and Nathan Fillian in person, and that was a blast (my wife especially enjoyed the Fillian part – she loves her some Captain Hammer/Malcome Reynolds), and seeing the cast and writers from Family Guy and American Dad was great, but it’s everything surrounding those things that wore me out. By the time we were out of there, I had nothing left in me. And this morning, when I got up, I knew I couldn’t face another round offighting people and standing in lines, so I’m going to miss the Hereos and Lost panels. Not that I could have gotten into those anyway since people started lining up last night at midnight to get into those. I am bummed.

Plus, my wife is even more tired of it. She had planned on trying to get Dean Koontz’s autograph and sit in on his panel, but now she doesn’t even want to go back into the con at all. I hate that, because I knew she was really looking forward to that, and knowing that her fun has been taken away tarnishes the experience a bit for me.

Anyway, today I’ll I’m going to do is go the Starkville/Tenth Wonder panel, and then possibly see if I can find the Geekscape podcast, and then I’m going to leave.

I don’t think I’ll be coming back to the con for at least a couple of years. It’s just too much, and my patience is too little. Here’s hoping Dragon*Con proves to be a more enjoyable experience.

Dear lord, my feet are sore, and I think I nearly drowned in geekness. Yesterday was a Preview Night, with most of the time taken up by just getting our four-day passes (why they don’t mail them is beyond me, especially given the chaos of that process), but once we had our passes we went into the con and checked it out. First off, it is HUGE. I think the building is about five or so city blocks long, but after winding your way through throngs of people it might as well be five miles. My wife and I wandered a bit and bought a few shirts before she bugged out while I stuck around the do an interview with Jonathan London (http://www.geekscape.net). The walk out of there and back to our hotel felt like it took all the strength that I had left in me.

Once I was back in the room, I settled in at the small table, opened the program guide, and began to map out what panels I wanted to see. It was a healthy list. I then eat a burger, took a shower, and went to bed.

This morning my feet felt pretty good, which surprised me. My wife decided to rent a car so that she could tool around San Diego and perhaps go to Tijuana while I geeked out. Traffic nearly kept me from making it to my first scheduled panel, which was a solo discussion given by J. Michael Straczynski about professional writing. Luckily, I made it, and It was fantastic. On a down note, though, the recording I took of it is really quiet. I’m hoping that I can pump up the volume of his voice so that it is easier to listen to without also pumping up louder bits. We shall see. I then went to another panel (not as good), was somewhat forced to sit through another panel (meh), but then got to sit in on a fairly interesting talk. The recording on it was better. But, by the time that one was over, so was I. I managed to make it throuh one more, but that one was strictly for me. It was a spotlight panel on Bill Willingham, the writer of Fables, one of my favorite comics.

Once the panels were done I wanted to roam around the con floor a bit to pick up some new books and such. And, I managed to find a few good ones, but it took me hours to find them in the midst of everything else. Some cool finds just aren’t worth the pain.

Anyway, tomorrow is another day, but this time I’m going to take it easy. I’m going to skip a panel in the late morning and just try to get in early enough to get a seat in the Joss Whedon panel, which will be followed by panels for American Dad and Family Guy. I’m hoping I’ll leave tomorrow in better shape than I’m in now. Otherwise… ooff.

And with that, I bid you all a good night…

Yep, that’s right. I actually made a sale. One of my short stories was accepted by the online sci-fi magazine Ray Gun Revival (www.raygunrevival.com), and it will be published soon. The pay was small, but the validation and encouragement more than make up for it. I’m really excited. I’ll post more when I know more. So, for now, know that I’m one happy guy.

Also, I’ll be off this weekend to Comic-Con in San Diego (which in German means a whale’s vagina – true story). I’ve been looking forward to this since I failed to go to last year’s Comic-Con. I purchased four day tickets for my wife and myself as soon as they were available. I’m hoping to sit in on a lot of panels, and maybe get an interview or two that I can play on my podcast. Wish me luck! Either way, I know I’m going to have a good time. I’ll also be snapping pictures like crazy, so expect to see some of those.

Anyway, bye for now!!