Granite State Comicon

Busy weekend, as I was covering the Granite State Comicon for Jason Harris Promotions.

Had a Media Pass, my trusty camera, and a notepad, and played intrepid reporter.

Fun time at a huge, successful comic convention- for the writeup, with even more cool pictures, go here.

A taste of some of the fun below, in pictures.

Here's some places to check out:

Sci Fi Saturday Night- Great podcast from a talented bunch. News, interviews, all things science fiction

Susan Saunders- illustrator with her first book out, a collaboration with noted author Rob Watts

New England Horror Writers- Those taking part were Rob Smales, Scott Goudsward, Tracy Carbone, and Tony Tremblay

Amy Fletcher, artist and mermaid- extraordinary costumes and artwork

Janella Mele, artist/illustrator

The Ghostbusters of New Hampshire- raising money for charities

MySciFiStories.com

C.Wish Cosplay Photography

Requiem Designs

Bexx Fine- accessories

Unit 5- comic

Epic TV Saga

Silver Circle- movie

Delorean Time Machine

Mhysa Cosplay

Double Midnight Comics



The 501 Legion (Star Wars fans)

 

Batman and (?) friends

 

Batman doing better...

 

 

 Scott Pettis as Casey Jones (From the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

 

Contestants for the costume contest

 

The amazing Nicole Marie Jean, a professional cosplayer

 

 

Pirates!

Spooky Albany

The recent Bouchercon world mystery convention was held last weekend in Albany, NY.

(For a writeup of the convention itself, with pictures and links, go here.)

Albany is an interesting place- hilly, lots of funky architecture and sculpture.

 

 

And a state house that looks like the Dakota in NYC, or a Stephen King movie set.

 

But-- a couple of things. First, they don't like windows.

That's The Egg- a concrete, windowless theater, atop an indoor plaza, with no views to the outside.

Which is weird, because there's a beautiful plaza space up top.

But at 5 at night, people suddenly disappear, and the place becomes the set for a zombie movie- complete with a few shambling forms in the eerie shadowed corners. These open places look like post-apocalyptic landscapes. The streets are deserted, as if humanity has been swallowed up.

Okay- so maybe instead of having a mystery convention there, they should switch to horror. All the filmmakers would just go outside and begin shooting video.

Yeah, I know Vincent Zandri likes it there. But he's tougher than me.

Back From Bouchercon

Well, it was an intense last few days, as I attended Bouchercon, the world's biggest and best conference for mystery writers, editors, publishers, and fans.

Like being on Olympus, hanging out with the success stories of the writing and publishing world.
Even got to be on a panel with some award winners, and felt like one myself.

Will have a major writeup with pics, but it'll take some time to process the immense amounts of data. Have about a hundred people and books to check out, and link to.

More Free Stuff- and great writer shirt

Last few hours to get Halls of Horror for free on Kindle, so act fast!

If you miss it, you can still get the Kindle version of the first Zack Taylor mystery, A Memory of Grief, for free.

And since my career help book How to Improve Your Interviewing Skills has gone to audio, we're running a contest.
Add a comment to enter to win a free audio copy-- a $6.95 value!
This book will help you interview for the job you want.

Saw this perfect shirt-- Priceless...

Great Review for A Shadow on the Wall

Got this great review posted to Amazon (and other spots) today, talking about A Shadow on the Wall.

Well... what he said... he being Vlad Vaslyn, writer of Yorick, Brachman's Underworld, and the upcoming The Button. Seems he has great taste...

"Zack Taylor just can't seem to escape his past. Ollie Southern, a member of a notorious biker gang, has cut a deal with the feds to get out of prison, and he's returned to Portland, Maine to let Zack know he isn't about to let bygones be bygones.

Meanwhile, Hollywood descends on his beloved city, and Zack is persuaded by a beautiful starlet to come on board as the martial arts liaison for what is sure to be a blockbuster film. But Zack is beside himself when he finds out the movie is actually about his own troubled past, and when someone in the business winds up dead, the blame falls on him.

Zack's desire to put his past behind him has suddenly been complicated by questionable Hollywood ties to internationally organized crime, a police officer with an agenda, an old flame, a new flame, troubled Hollywood actors, suspicion of arson and murder, and a big bag of money. And of course, Ollie Southern doesn't help matters either.

What is an ex-con like Zack Taylor to do?

In A Shadow on the Wall, Dale T. Phillips delivers a high-octane Mystery/Thriller that moves seamlessly from dilemma to dilemma as Zack Taylor navigates the deadly mysteries playing out around him. Zack sizzles as a man with a troubled past trying to turn over a new leaf, and as a pawn and an unwilling player in an agenda he must understand before it kills him. His inevitable confrontation with a bloodthirsty Yakuza assassin delivers an exciting conclusion to what continues to be one of the more engaging mystery series I've read. The pacing in this book starts at 60 miles per hour and only accelerates from there, making it a quick, enjoyable read.

This is the best Zack Taylor book yet."

Hard Work Week- Lots of Upcoming Stuff and Free Ebook

Spent the last 9 days in a frenzy, finishing the draft of Wendigo, my upcoming horror novel, a cross between Twin Peaks and Joseph Campbell. Mythology, and visions, and cannibalism, oh my!

Added over 12,000 new words, and rewrote much of what was there. Now it's off to the editing team to see what they think.

This was a work in progress for many, many years. Wrote the original as my first novel.

And like almost all first novels, it was a piece of poo. Had some great ideas in it, but lousy execution. Characters that talked endlessly, all tell, not enough show, and just a dullness that went on and on.

Was never what I wanted it to be, and so it went in the drawer. Every so often I'd take it out and dab at it, but had no fix. Just wasn't good enough to breathe life into it.

Had a breakthrough a couple years ago-- added a character that kicked it up several notches. Good start, but nowhere near enough.

And then last year, a combination of things sparked the idea bubble, and had the path to enlightenment.

But before I could get to it, had to finish writing A Shadow on the Wall. That got published in June. Have been working on Wendigo since then. Got a butt-kicking when I realized we had to get this out for the Halloween launch at the New England Mobile Bookfair, where we'll be appearing on Thursday, Oct. 24th for an evening of mystery and horror.

So with nose to the grindstone, I did what I needed to do to get it done. And we've got a terrific cover for it, which you'll see soon.

It's going to be a busy Fall. Take a look at some of the schedule, and there's more beyond that!

For example, this Tuesday, my interview will be up on the site of Vlad Vaslyn, with my story "Locust Time" appearing for free.

To celebrate, I've got a freebie for you-- a collection of 10 tales-- and Locust Time is one of them-- in Halls of Horror, which will be free for 5 days on Kindle, starting this Tusday.