Free Zombie Stories!

TALES OF THE AWAKENING DEAD is free for Kindle devices and apps for Halloween weekend, Oct. 31-Nov.2.

That's ten solid short stories that explore all kinds of zombies, including the first chapter of my upcoming novel, This Mortal Flesh.

Don't have a Kindle? No problem.

If you're using a computer, just download the FREE app for your operating system.

There are also free apps for smartphones.

And if you like the book, leave a review. Check out my other stuff. And share the disease.

Meanwhile, here's the book trailer:

Video: 'Stringing a Yarn'

So I had a silly idea a few weeks ago and told my friend Lou about it. We turned it into a short video:


It's our tribute to writers and artists everywhere. But mostly to writers.
Peace.

Fan Trailer: Kingdom Come

I have a friend and former coworker, Brian Parsley, who is pretty great at making superhero costumes. Great enough that he does that full-time now. He appears in this as "Magog."

From Wikipedia

It's based on a groundbreaking graphic novel (originally a four-part prestige format series) from 1996 that explored a near-future in the DC Comics world that saw Superman coming out of retirement to try to reign in the out-of-control super-powered folks and fight a cabal of bad guys. There's much more to it than that — there kind of would need to be for it to remain a fan-favorite storyline nearly 20 years later — and if you want to read it, just hit this link.

American~Indian

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Ford Seeuws is a surfer, a violinist, a filmmaker, a seeker. A Bay County native, he’s husband to Melissa and father to Satya and Rohan, and they all recently returned from a two-year stay in India.

Ford’s feature-length documentary on their time there is called “American~Indian.” It’s now for sale online, as a way to help Ford finance future film work upon their return to India, and it will be available to view on YouTube soon.

>>See the trailer for American~Indian<<

>>View Ford's vlogs from India<<

“We had always been interested in India, but we wanted to see if we could really make it home,” Ford said, explaining the process that led to the film. “At first we started taking Hindi classes. I landed a job with a tourism/travel company to make short videos that could be used to show clients famous cities and destinations.”

All the while, the camera rolled on just about everything the family did, and Ford used these as video blogs on YouTube. (You can link to these videos in the online version of this column at PanamaCity.com.)

“In January of this year, I met with some of the good people who manage Kunzum Travel Cafe in Delhi’s Hauz Khas Village,” he said. “They were hosting a film series and after seeing one of my YouTube videos, wondered if there was anything I wanted to show. As much as I believe in YouTube and the power of vlogs, I felt a bit self-conscious showing these low-production value vlogs on a larger screen.”

He edited together footage from the vlogs with higher-definition travel videos for a feature length presentation shown at the café on Jan. 25, but he wasn’t satisfied with the result.

“People really liked the first half, but the frenetic pace of vlogs was too annoying to sustain for a full 75 minutes,” he said. He decided to make some changes, slow the pace, add some narration and extra content, and: “What you will see is the new and improved final version incorporating some of the feedback I got from viewers of the first film.”

Ford’s past travels have been partially financed by family, friends and churches, as well as his corporate work, but he’s hoping to transition into a business model that will allow him to focus on filmmaking alone. He wants to further his immersion into India and open the minds of people on both sides of the world.

“It has been a great experience. Every time I travel overseas I learn something new,” Ford said. “Getting down on the ground, the immersion process is something I really resonate with. … It made me realize so many preconceived notions we have are not fair.”

India is a diverse place, he said, with 18 major languages and 1,000 dialects. And yet, there are only three official religions (Christian, Hindu and Muslim) and you have to register with the government as belonging to one of them.

“You can’t be an atheist,” he said.

 Tensions are often high in the country, with people breaking into factions along religious, ethnic or geographical lines. But it’s also a time that seems on the threshold of bright changes, with start-ups and NGOs opening up new forms of business and revenue.

Ford plans to return to India in about six months.

“I see myself more as a non-governmental ambassador,” he said. “I try to get these cultures to understand each other, to show them that not all Westerners are colonial jerks. … I hope to be a peacemaker, I guess.”

Peace.

(This is my Undercurrents column for this week at PanamaCity.com and in The News Herald.) 

More than Just a BLiP on the Radar

Screen Capture of BLiP dance video.

PANAMA CITY — Andrew Bouchard started Blues and Lindy in the Panhandle (BLiP) in 2010 because he wanted a place to dance in Panama City. BLiP grew into more than he ever imagined and is making plans to reach out to people who never imagined they could dance.

“Not only are people dancing, but we’ve become a tight-knit group of friends invested in each other’s lives,” he explains on a KickStarter page where BLiP is raising funds for its next stage.

They are shooting for $20,000, and they offer a number of incentives for donors. As of Wednesday, and with only 10 days remaining in the campaign, they have logged pledges totaling just over $5,100.

“We travel to exchanges together, celebrate birthdays and holidays together, and help each other out when we get in a jam,” Andrew said. “Most inspiring to me has been watching one of the first dancers to join us go from a wheelchair to dancing on her own feet. That is a gift that I never anticipated, and I want to share it with as many people as I can.”


The KickStarter campaign is to raise funds for a larger venue downtown. Currently, BLiP shares a small dance studio at CityArts Cooperative with three other groups, and Andrew said the schedule and space have become restrictive. He hopes the fundraiser will help BLiP make up the difference between the small fee they charge for admission and the cost of a dedicated dance studio.

“Even better, we’d like to do this in one of the vacant buildings in downtown Panama City and be part of revitalizing this city,” he said, adding that the vision is of “taking an abandoned 1935 department store and turning it into a community center supported by dancing but offering space to all sorts of great things.”

The second part of the project is perhaps the most inspiring: BLiP wants to develop a curriculum to teach people with disabilities to dance.

“I will never forget watching this young lady roll into one of my first lessons in a wheelchair, and watching her slowly move from getting pulled around the floor to dancing on her own feet has been a blessing beyond words,” Andrew said. “I didn’t do much other than support her efforts, but we believe that by involving professionals in the dance community and the medical community, we can teach others to do what she has figured out herself.”

The plan is to generate a series of lessons to be released for free as videos, written instructions, information on the limitations and abilities of various conditions, and anything else that might be needed.

To help keep costs low, the group is starting side businesses making dance T-shirts and hosting events. (See the T-shirt designs at the KickStarter page.)

The group also is planning a Valentine’s Ball, a semi-formal dance where BLiP members can party, show off to the community, and formally announce the results of the campaign. The event will feature men and women in vintage getups, suits and dresses, heavy hors d’oeuvres, classic and modern music, and a dance floor.

The young lady Andrew mentioned is Ashlyn McWhorter, who suffers from spina bifida. The Mayo Clinic describes spina bifida as a developmental disorder in which a portion of the neural tube fails to close properly, causing defects in the spinal cord and in the bones of the backbone.

“I always loved dancing, but I had a condition that kept me from dancing. I had surgery, so I couldn’t,” Ashley told me in January 2012. “But I found out about this group from a friend of mine at school, and she said they would be willing to try to teach me what they could, and see how far I could go with it. I’ve gotten much farther than I expected. I love it. It’s wonderful.”

(This was my Undercurrents column for PanamaCity.com and The News Herald for Friday, Feb. 8.)

Spring Break's Beauty and the Beast

PANAMA CITY BEACH — One was young, fresh of face and light of locks. The other is eligible for AARP, darker, rougher, rounder in different places and — let’s be honest — raunchier.

One is just entering the prime of her life, recently voted the Sexiest Woman Alive by Esquire readers. The other is on the far side of his prime and probably best known for all the on-camera sex he’s had.

Both were in town last week to promote products to the Spring Break crowd.

I spent a couple of minutes last Thursday in the company of Katrina Bowden, a 23-year-old who has appeared in movies (“American Reunion”) and TV shows (“30 Rock”). As the cover model for Maxim magazine’s February issue, she was on the beach to represent the magazine and promo the new Nintendo Wii game “Just Dance 3.”

Bowden judged dance-offs on a beachside stage in the afternoon sun behind Boardwalk Beach Resort and later at Hammerhead Fred’s foam party. She also spent time under a small cabana with a group of professional “Just Dance” dancers practicing the game’s moves. (See the full article here.)

Her handlers jealously guarded her time, allowing her to speak for only a few minutes and putting the kibosh on any video of the interview. (I tend to use the video function on my camera to record interviews these days; the handlers were nice enough to allow me to point the camera away from Bowden but hold it near enough that her voice was picked up.)

She seemed very sweet.

After the story appeared, I was asked to remove from the online version of the story a reference to the film “Tucker and Dale vs. Evil,” in which she played the female lead. I enjoyed that movie, and she said it was fun to make. But that wasn’t her reason for being here, apparently, and has been relegated to her imdb.com entry.

>>Here is video from the day, despite her handlers' best efforts.<<

I spent a much longer time talking with former adult film star Ron Jeremy the next day under a tent in sprinkling rain. The 59-year-old was in town to promote a new rum label that bears his name and likeness, Ron de Jeremy rum. (He had no handlers and no stipulations about video, but after the run-in with Bowden’s folks, I went prepared with a notepad and pen.)

(See the full article here.)

Over a two-day stay, Jeremy spent hours in beach locations including Kwiker Liquor, Ms. Newby’s, Pineapple Willy’s and Coyote Ugly, signing bottles, posters, books, DVDs and body parts for fans. He took the time with each one to pose for photos, listen to their stories and share jokes. He played his harmonica (and that’s not a euphemism).

He seemed to enjoy meeting all these strangers, and he laughed a lot. Nothing was off-limits for the interview.

>>Here is video from the day.<<

Say what you like about beauty vs. the beast: Our Facebook post about Bowden got nine likes and one comment over the weekend; the one about Jeremy got 13 likes and 11 comments. Bowden’s story was picked up by newspapers and websites around the world, and the short video of her dancing received more than 13,600 plays in the first four days.

It’s a tale as old as time

Peace.


This is my column, more or less, that appeared in today's paper and online at this link.

Christmas Song of the Day: Fairytale of New York

On Twitter, I've been posting a "Christmas Song of the Day" for the past few days. Today, I put up the Pogues' "Fairytale of the New York." Tells you what kind of end-of-week mood I'm in.



Yesterday, the 31st anniversary of the death of John Lennon, the song was, of course, "Happy Xmas (War is Over)." I'm morally obligated to warn you that the video at that link has some gruesome imagery.

The day before, I chose the 21-minute long Francis Ford Coppola filmed "Junky's Christmas" written and narrated by William S. Burroughs. (So, the mood has been off all week, looks like.)


The day I started all this, I began with Bing Crosby and David Bowie's "Little Drummer Boy (Peace on Earth)." (Along with a bonus song, the scarily accurate Funny or Die recreation of the performance starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly.)

I'll bring you some more songs as the month progresses.
Peace.

Station Identification

My buddy Chris Arrant did this recently on his Tumblr. Warren Ellis, comic book writer and novelist, does it regularly on his website. I say always steal from those you admire, so here are places you can find me:

I tweet about anything I see that interests me here: Twitter.com/midnightonmars. I use Echofon on my desktop to keep up with the twitter accounts I follow.

I have a tumblr that I still occasionally add to. I suspect it might see renewed interest in upcoming weeks. It's here<<

Facebook continues to be an obsession despite the recent changes and the fact that I seldom see posts from the majority of my friends any more. Facebook.com/midnightonmars (I've been wondering if I should create a Facebook fan page for my writing? Yes? No?)

My columns for the News Herald and random blogs appear here<< (Some of these are rewritten/repurposed items from this blog, or vice versa.)

My work with PanamaCity.com is generally uncredited. Bylined versions of these entries often appear on the Get Local page at NewsHerald.com.

I still have a MySpace, though I seldom even visit there.

You can check out my self-published stuff in my "author spotlight" page at Lulu. (While you're there, click some review buttons. I'd appreciate it.)

I have a YouTube account as well. There's no telling what you'll find there, as it has been used for News Herald work, home videos, short films and so forth.

This is me at Linked In. I have no idea what use this place is, and I haven't updated it in a while.

I'm probably other places online also, but just can't recall it right now.