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It’s time again for the Atlanta Days Of The Dead convention, happening this weekend at the Sheraton hotel downtown. I had a good time at their inaugural show last year, and I’m looking forward to an even better experience now that they’re actually IN Atlanta. I’m looking forward to seeing my pal William Stout, and lots of horror stars that have never appeared here before including Danny Trejo, Clu and John Gulager, and many more. I just wish they’d add more classic horror guests and events to their roster. Maybe next year…

For the full skinny on guests and programming, take a look at their website at http://www.daysofthedead.net/atlanta/

See you there!

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Jordan Con logo

I’ll be a special guest at JordanCon V (Which is ALSO Deep South Con 51 – I know, confusing) in Roswell, GA April 19-21st! More details are available here:
http://www.jordancon.org
Hope you’ll join me – DSC is usually a very fun weekend.

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Gerry Anderson. Photo by S. Klinge

Very sad news, Gerry Anderson has passed away. As reported by his son Jamie, Anderson died of natural causes December 26. Gerry had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2010 and moved into an assisted living care facility in October, 2012.

The creator and producer of such classic television series as Supercar, Thunderball XL-5, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, UFO and Space: 1999, Anderson leaves a legacy of thought provoking entertainment for all ages. Most recently he consulted with the producers of an upcoming cinematic remake of UFO, and was active in awareness and fundraising for Alzheimer’s research.

The second time I met Gerry Anderson was in 2006 at the Sector 25 Convention near London. I was there promoting the book I had written with Mike Trim, one of the model makers and designers on Thunderbirds. I told Gerry about the book and thanked him for creating the series, as well as UFO, Space: 1999 and the rest of the Supermarionation TV shows. I told him how much they’d meant to me when I was young, and how happy I was to have even a small part in celebrating them through my work on the book. He looked at me for a moment, then thanked me in return. “For what?”, I asked.  He’d seen I was very serious in my praise. “For not having me on,” he replied.

So many years later, he was still wary that the shows had been made on very tight budgets for kids, and that all the strings were visible on the puppets. I hope that in the end, he stopped worrying about the strings and saw what we, the fans saw – the care and love that he and his team put into the shows.

Rest in Peace, Gerry. Thanks for the wonderful hours of excitement and entertainment.

 

 

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Wherever you are, whatever you celebrate, I hope the holiday season finds you happy, warm, and content. Thanks for all the words of encouragement and books you bought from me this year. I hope to see or meet even more of you in 2013!

And of course, Click Here if you’d like a copy of any of my books. They make great gifts!

Many thanks again to Steve Kyte for his wonderful cover art for Arctic Adventure!, which I have ham-fistedly butchered above in the spirit of the season.

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Time for me to start updating this blog on a regular basis again, sorry for the delay.

First up – I recently had the opportunity to talk about the James Bond films and what I love about them with the fellows at the Earth Station One podcast in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the film series. In addition to Mike Gordon, Bobby Nash, and Mike Faber of ESO, we were joined by artist Mark Maddox, Raging Bullets podcaster Sean Whelan, and Alan J. Porter, author of “James Bond: The History of the Illustrated 007.”

Click Here To Listen to the Earth Station 007 Podcast!

It’s bigger, it’s badder, it’s BOND… AND BEYOND!

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Here’s actual proof that I used to have a lovely head full of hair, thanks to the diligent screen-capturing skills of Mark Maddox. This is from a scene in the James Garner – Shirley Jones – C. Thomas Howel movie TANK from 1984, in which I was a featured extra.  Here’s a scene (that I am NOT in):

All together, I worked on TANK for five days, and had a great time. According to Mark, it’s currently available for streaming on NETFLIX, so take a look. The photo above is from the scene just after the biker’s jump a motorcycle into the mud to try and tow the tank to safety. As always, I’m a villain. 😀

 

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New art from Rich Smith! Love that Jonny Quest.

I’m heading out to the Nashville Comic and Horror Festival at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. I’ll be there Saturday and Sunday signing copies of Arctic Adventure!, The Future Was FAB; The Art of Mike Trim, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea: The Compete Series: Volume II, and a bunch of magazines with my articles in them. Come see me!

Click Here For More Info!

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My Thunderbirds™ novel is now available! The official promotional copy says:

Brains is the genius behind International Rescue’s technology. Besides designing and upgrading all of their equipment, he constantly develops and tests new products and processes, sometimes in partnership with outside interests. Eager to try out a new stealth system of his invention, Brains teams up with Humboldt Aviation to install his system on their new aircraft, the V-17. On the first test flight, the V-17 is shot down over the arctic by agents of the outlaw state of Reznia. With the aircraft shattered and partly buried in the ice, Brains and the V-17’s pilot are injured and unable to free themselves. Although Brains is able to contact International Rescue for recovery, the Reznians are also converging on the crash site in order to claim the wreckage for their research. Can the rest of International Rescue find and retrieve Brains and the V-17 pilot before the Reznians can capture them and the crashed plane?

It was great fun to dip into the world of International Rescue and play with all those wonderful toys on Tracy Island. The story began as a spec treatment for a new television series of Thunderbirds™ that never materialized, unfortunately. When Joan Verba of FTL Publications asked me if I would write an official novel based on the series, I already had the basics written up and ready to go. She liked the outline, and I spent several months fleshing it out into the novel that’s now available. The cover art by the amazing Steve Kyte is absolutely gorgeous, he out-did himself. Big thanks to Joan for the opportunity to play in the world that Gerry and Sylvia Anderson created. I enjoyed it immensely, and hope you enjoy Arctic Adventure!

Click Here To Order Arctic Adventure! From Amazon.com

Click Here To Order Arctic Adventure! From Thunderbirds.com

Click Here To Order Arctic Adventure! From FTLpublications.com

I’ll have copies for sale at the Nashville Comic and Horror Convention in October, and at the Memphis Comic & Fantasy Convention in November. See the links on the right side of this page for details.

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Here’s my panel schedule for Dragon*Con, which takes place in downtown Atlanta from Aug. 30th – Sept. 3rd. Also known as Nerd Prom and Nerdapalooza, Dragon*Con is an enormous show (approximately 70,000 attendees) and boasts thirty-some odd individual programming tracks. I had a great time there last year, and interviewing Martin Landau on stage about Space: 1999 was definitely the highlight for me. Take a look at what I’ll be doing there this year…


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Title: In Memoriam: Ray Bradbury
Description: One of the giants of the field passed away this year. We remember him and celebrate him and his contributions to the genre.
Time: Fri 05:30 pm Location: International North – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

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Title: He Saved Us From Lonely Summers: Ray Bradbury in TV and Movies
Description: Remembering the science fiction magician’s stories for TV and movies, including Ray Bradbury Theater!
Time: Sat 07:00 pm Location: A703 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)

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Title: Hammer Horror
Description: A look back at the legendary British film studio, as well as their modern re-emergence
Time: Sat 08:30 pm Location: Embassy A-B – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

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Title: British Horror: Film Viewing and Discussion
Description: A chat on the history of British Horror films and a viewing of Hammer Horror Productions classics The Curse of Frankenstein & Horror of Dracula.
Time: Sat 11:30 pm Location: Macon – Sheraton (Length: 4 Hours)

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Title: Agents of S.P.Y.F.I. — Super-Spies in Sci-Fi TV and Movies
Description: Double-naught status panelists shake and stir movies and TV to find super-spies, serious and spoof.
Time: Sun 07:00 pm Location: A703 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)

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Title: From Sea View to Jupiter 2: The Many Worlds of Irwin Allen
Description: Probing creations of 1960s sci-fi pioneer Irwin Allen, including Lost in Space, Time Tunnel, Poseidon Adventure, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea!
Time: Mon 10:00 am Location: A703 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)

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Title: The Other Avengers
Description: No armor, no demigods, no tights. Just two British spies who drink tea and kick butt; A talk on the 60s spy classic TV Series.
Time: Mon 11:30 am Location: Macon – Sheraton (Length: 1 Hour)

I’m toploading on British Horror and Ray Bradbury, two of my favorite subjects.

Hope you’ll come to any or all of my panels – see you there!

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San Diego Comic-Con 2012

San Diego Comic-Con 2012

I’m heading out to San Diego this week for Comic-Con – its hard to miss if you’re there, just head for the south water and follow the flocks of fans. No panels or signings this time around, though I’ll probably stop by the Hermes Press Booth (#450 if I recall correctly) if you want a Mike Trim book or anything signed.

Richard Starkings of Comicraft and writer of Elephantmen took the photo above – he’s already out setting up his booth (#2106, tell him I sent you). I’ll be there Wednesday-Monday, then I’m heading up to Los Angeles to do some business and see some friends. Do get in touch if you’d like to meet up!

For more information, why not take a look at http://www.comic-con.org/cci/

More frequent updates when I return. I’ve got more art by Rich Smith to post, as well as at least one or two podcasts…

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