Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween.  It's by far my favorite holiday.

Here is another little secret.  I love the actor Tim Curry.

Why, you ask?  Because, he can make even THIS look good.

Happy Halloween everyone.

A Quick Announcement

I just wanted to pop in real fast and announce that Predatory Animals is now available in paperback.  You can find in on Createspace right now.  It should show up on Amazon in a few days.

So, those of you that still love the feel of dead-tree books in your hands, head on over and have a look.

Fourteen Years

It doesn't seem possible.  Fourteen years?  Is that right?  Surely it has only been five . . . six, tops.

Today my wife and I have been married for fourteen years.  If you count the two years that we dated before tying the knot, we've been together literally half of our lives (well half for my wife, slightly less for me).  It seems so strange when I say that out loud.

And yet, when I examine myself, I cannot imagine a life before her.  There is no part of me she doesn't inhabit.  We have seen good times, bad times, and strange times, but we have traversed them together.

I'm not much PDS (public displays of sappiness), but she deserves it.  For putting up with me all these years as much as anything else.

Thank you for fourteen joy-filled years.  Happy Anniversary, Brandy.  I love you.

Here is a picture of the grand day that we started our adventure together.  If we look like kids it's because we were.  But man, look at the hair on that handsome young man.

Why I Think Movie Theaters Will Go The Way Of The Dodo

My wife and I went on a date night last night.  We don't get many since those two crazy Carpet Trolls invaded our lives.  Before the kids came alone, my wife and I were regulars at the local drive-in and movie theaters.  We love movies.  Love to discuss and critique them.  Love to watch them over and over while reading the trivia and goofs on IMDb.  Love to share the good ones with those poor unfortunate souls that have yet to experience their grandeur.

Needless to say, there was hardly a flikr-show that escaped me.  Now, not so much.

So, as an early anniversary gift to each other, we went to see the movie Alex Cross.  This post isn't about the movie (which was good) nor about Tyler Perry's successful transition from comedy to action.  It's about the highway robbery that is the modern movie theater experience.

Now, I know the movie theater industry has been gouging us all for years.  And it's not like I haven't been to ANY movies since my kids were born.  But I was shocked and a bit put off by how much hard earned dough I forked over.

For two tickets, one medium popcorn, one medium soda and one medium icy the bill came to just a bit under $40.  Prices vary around the country, so to some this sounds high and to others it's way low, but regardless it's ridiculous.

Maybe it's these trying economic times.  Maybe it's that I'm getting older and find it harder to stomach spending money on non-necessities.  Probably a bit of A and B.  But for $40 dollars I can buy a Blu-Ray, watch it as many times as I want and still afford a trash bag full of popcorn.

The movie industry needs to take a good hard look at themselves and consider what has happened to their cousins the music industry and the book industry.  Digital, like the unstoppable Huns of old, is coming their way.  If they aren't careful they will price themselves right out of a job (at least the theater component, anyway).

Here is what I see on the horizon.

As technology advances and our TVs and entertainment systems continue to get better, there will come a day when movies--and I'm talking premiere Hollywood Blockbusters--will be available to stream directly to your home.  No waiting three months.  I mean opening night.

Oh, sure the price will be high.  Say $100 or so.  It will be similar to Pay-Per-View events.  But it will be oh so much better.

Imagine this.  Instead of trudging out into the night, wading through a river of traffic, elbowing through the crowd to see a movie, you instead invite your friends over to your house to stream the movie onto your 70 inch high def screen with surround sound.  Everyone splits the bill which will be cheaper than the ticket price (depending on how many show up), you sit in comfort with people you like and eat snacks that don't cost you your children's college funds.

It will never happen, you say?

Yeah, and how are the music and book stores doing these days?

The New Website

I've started a new author website.  It has taken me a couple of weeks to get it up and running due to some problems with the domain name and hosting site.  Okay, it was mostly user error, but that's what I get for doing it all myself.

It's a simple website.  Nothing fancy.  It's just a spot for people to find me and my books.  I was using this blog, but I thought an actual website would be better.

The website is just in its infancy.  I plan on adding on later.

One piece of advice for you DIYers.  Never go look at a multimillion dollar author's webpage for inspiration.  It'll only serve to depress you . . . unless you're a pretty good web designer, which I am not.  Once I'm pulling down seven figures on a regular basis I'll fork over the cash for a highfalutin website.

Until then, this website will have to do.