At long last...

I haven't posted since Hunter Thompson shot himself.

It has less to do with that event, actually, than the same old "nothing to report" excuse.

In that time, though, I've managed to finish the first draft of a pilot for an animated sit-com -- which I've been working on for nearly two years -- called CruciFiction. It's still rough, and I've already gone back and started touching it up, but the couple people I've sent it to have given me great feedback, so I'm feeling good about it.

Written two DVD reviews in the last couple weeks -- one for Shaun of the Dead, and the other for Road Games. Both were accepted nearly as-written, with very little in the way of revision, which pissed me off just a little. I mean, I don't generally hand in second-drafts, you know? I take such pains when I'm writing to say exactly what I mean to say, and to make sure that my point is crystal clear that my first draft is pretty much the final draft. But after the nightmare I went through with my 28 Days Later review, rewrite after rewrite, taking onboard every suggestion my editor -- who had yet to actually see the movie -- made, I decided to stop putting my heart and soul into these reviews, and just hand in mediocre work.

So I do, and I get nothing in the way of notes.

What the hell is that about?

I'm not complaining; I mean, it's nice to be published at all, but I wish it was work I'm actually proud of, rather than stuff that -- I feel, anyway -- is only half-baked. Have to review Cronenberg's Spider this week. That's not going to be easy because it's such an intricate film. I'll have to put some work into that one and just hope and pray the edits are few.

I've finally started reading John Connolly's book of short stories, "Nocturnes", which was published late last year. Good stuff. Connolly has yet to disappoint me, though. He's fused my two favorite genres, Horror and Noir, so where can you go wrong? Also picked up some Peter Temple books -- an Aussie crime author I just discovered. The more of these guys I read, maybe it'll get me into 'the zone' and I'll be able to finish writing Max Love -- that's the dream, anyway.