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.

Recently I was a special guest cohost on the Official Thread Podcast, which is a show all about video games from some of the fine posters at the Rotten Tomatoes forums. If you’d like to hear me wax on and on about gaming, I encourage you give it a listen. I really hope you enjoy it.

We hope you enjoy this audio story. If you’d like to read the text version, click HERE.

The following people lent their amazing voices to this production, and I cannot thank them enough:

Bryan Lincoln – Charlie
Veronica Giguere – Jane
J. Daniel Sawyer – Russian Soldier
Dan Absalonson – Jacob

The intro and outro song for this podcast is “Hold On For Your Life” by Chasing Melfina.

Cover art by Scott Macumber.

This is part two of the interview I did with Bryan and Abbie of the Fullcast Podcast. My thanks go out to them for making the experience so enjoyable.

Hey, everyone. Yesterday I had the pleasure of sitting down (digitally speaking) with Bryan Lincoln and Abbie Hilton of the Fullcast Podcast. They wanted to talk with me about my short stories and the podcasts I’ve made of them. We talked about what it’s like working with voice actors, where to get good music and sound effects, and how I put it all together, amongst other things. We had a really good time. So good — in fact — that we talked long enough to make it a two-parter. So, here I present you with Part One of my interview with Fullcast. I hope you enjoy it…

Hello, everyone, Justin here. I finally was able to finish the podcast version of my latest short story, “The Dame Wore White.” This story has yet to find a home in print, but I’m trying, and I’d appreciate some crossed fingers on its behalf. I hope you enjoy this audio presentation. My deepest thanks go out to the kind folks who lent their vocal talents, making this much better than it had a right to be. The cast is as follows:

Justin Macumber – Narrator
James Durham – Sal
Philippa Ballantine – Aubrey (AKA The Dame)
Terry Mixon – Marlo
Xander Snyder – Big Red & Security Thug
Ryan E Stevenson – Joey & Serving Droid

And, last but not least, let me thank my brother Scott for the artwork that graces this story. Scott’s been doing cover art for me for awhile now, and he tops himself with every new effort. Thanks, bro, for everything.

That’s it! Please let me know what you think!