Until Midnight (& Sometimes Later)

Vin Diesel is back in the epic conclusion to the trilogy begun in Pitch Black. See him fight more mercenaries, deal with an even more hostile environment, see him fight against overwhelming odds and . . . my full review is at buzzymag.

An excerpt:
Are you afraid of the dark? Are you afraid of the boogeyman? Did you like Pitch Black? If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”–you will enjoy the new follow-up to The Chronicles of Riddick, titled simply Riddick.

Paranoia is full of fabulous stars and solid performances, but I couldn’t find anyone to identify with, so it was a real hard sell for me. I go into more detail about way in my reivew at buzzymag.

An excerpt:
Adam Cassidy (Liam Hemsworth) is a whiny, entitled, 20-something techie who has spent the last six years working for Wyatt Corp, a major player in the telecommunications industry. He and his friends are impatient that they haven’t advanced yet, to big bonuses and living large.

Lonestarcon was my busiest Worldcon to date, but a ton of fun. I had a full schedule of panels, including costuming (thanks Aurora!), steampunk, and best of all, movies! I finally put going to (and reviewing) all those movies to use.

I helped out with the Phoenix in 2014 NasFic bid (working the bid table and the awesome party)–sadly, we lost to Detroit when all the votes were counted–good luck Detcon I!

I worked as a stage ninja for the Masquerade Saturday night and I went to the Hugo Award ceremony Sunday night (and rode up in the elevator afterward with Rory McCann aka The Hound–he is tall!). Both events were well-attended and nicely coordinated by the Lonestarcon staff. The costumes were amazing (at both events!), the memorial presentation at the Masquerade was heart-wrenching, and Leslie Fish knocked it out of the park with the halftime show. After seeing all the dramatic presentations, and reading most of the fiction, the Hugos were intense and amazing to watch.

I did my first stint as a member of Broad Universe, and participated in the rapid-fire reading, premiering an excerpt from my forthcoming story “In the Form of a Question”–Norse gods play Jeopardy!, scheduled for May 2014 in the anthology TV Gods. The Broads are awesome, and supportive, and I’m terribly glad I joined.

I’m also a new affiliate of SFWA, and it was great to visit the SFWA suite and start meeting folks. Everyone I spoke to was great! There was a Paper Golem Press meeting with Lawrence Schoen about our upcoming anthology Cats in Space–(look for it in the next couple of months).

Then there were the people. Dinner with friends from Philly and Delaware and New York and my awesome roommate Debi. Costume panels with both Pettingers, Byron Connell, Julie Barrett, C.J. Mills, and the multi-talented Janine Wardale. Movie panels with Adam-Troy Castro, Perrianne Lurie, Heather Urbanski, Terry Floyd, and Mark Oshiro (I met Mark Oshiro!).

Went to a bunch and a half of parties. And I saw old friends and new. Talked to Alex Shvartsman and Myke Cole and Judi Castro. Nibbled on breakfast and chatted with Steve Jackson (what a nice guy!). Met all the Phoenix in 2014 crew in person, finally. Met Steven Gould and Matthew Johnson and Patrick Nielsen Hayden.

Did I mention my amazing roommate Debi?

Now I want to go to the next six Worldcons . . . .

The latest attempt to capitalize on the young adult market that so loved the Harry Potter series steps up to the plate with The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. It’s got great special effects, but doesn’t explain things as well as it might, and there’s a definite lack of adult supervision. See my full review at buzzymag.

An excerpt:
What glimpses we do get of the world are tantalizing and interesting, including a trip to the titular City of Bones, watched over by the Silent Brothers, under the cemetery, where the bone and ashes of dead Shadowhunters are laid to rest. Those remains hold a certain amount of power, when used properly.

When I returned from Lonestarcon 3 (Worldcon in San Antonio, TX) early Tuesday morning, there was bad news. Rambo, the little longhaired munchkin who has overseen my editing and writing for the last year, was clearly ill. I rushed him to the emergency vet, but all I could do was make him comfortable and spend some time with him saying goodbye.

He died Wednesday, just before lunch.

I’ll miss you, little guy. You came when I called you, when I needed your company. You sat on my lap or at my feet more times than I can count, cat of my heart. Farewell.