A list of conferences I will not be attending

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, if you've recently lost a wallet, please stop by our courtesy desk. We do not have the wallet, but it is on good authority that we might know who does. And if that person doesn't know, we can most likely provide you a loaner until your wallet is retrieved. Right ... today I am searching through a list of potential conventions.  Most are either too far or just flat out...

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Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate*. I woke up this morning to an onslaught of depressing news: North Korea, a country that would love to see the U.S. as a bloodstain, is testing missiles with U.S. government approval; CEO of GM given his walking papers ... by the U.S. government? adding to a financial crisis that still has no course. But at least the war on terror has...

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It's Friday. Let's Dance.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, it's Friday. Let's put on your red shoes and dance the blues.Later Fie...

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Bram Stoker Award Ballot

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, today I'd like to congratulate all of the nominees for the annual Bram Stoker Award.And a special congratulations to R.J. Cavender and the Terrible Twelve for being nominated for Superior Achievement in an Anthology.  Those folks have come a long way from a small cyber-cellar in Zoetrope.Superior Achievement in a Novel (2008)COFFIN COUNTY by Gary Braunbeck (Leisure Books) THE...

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Extreme Sheep LED Art

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, today is a not such a good day to die. It's far too cold for that nonsense. Here's a video that I think disturbs me more than it impresses me. At the end, I was expecting the glowing sheep to be marched into some carnival-style slaughterhouse,only later to appear as a pile of wool, blood and dull flashing lights.  But I'll let you be the judge. Later Fien...

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The Blog That Cried Wolf

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, please don't feed the night.More revisions of Sowen still to do, but I'm about 3/4 of the way through. Should have another round of editing done midweek. My current revisions have been focusing on the structure of the story, which I think for the most part is solid. I originally didn't structure the story to be a series, but the ideas unfolded into a much bigger beast...

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Don't Read That Book! It Contains Lead!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, shoot for the stars but watch out for the sun. So I was reading the AP's article about children's books containing lead.  The article states that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), who are obviously now at the top of their game after the whole China-trying-to-poison-our-children-through-toys episode, is insisting that we urge the nation's schools and libraries to test each and every children's book, at a mere cost of $300 per book.  Scott Wolfson, a spokesperson for the CPSC, recommended that the the 116,000 public schools and libraries, "take...

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JUDGING A BOOK BY ITS COVER

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, shake what your momma gave you.I enjoy cover art be it on books, albums, movies, whatever.  And the surest way for me to buy something I'm not familiar with is to judge it by its cover.  Of course this doesn't always work out, but who cares.  If the book/album/movie sucks at least I can display the artwork on a book/album/movie shelf.I think the folks at Subterranean...

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Revision, Revisions

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, please watch your step.  The floor is slippery.I'm back to editing Sowen, now on my third revision, and I'm very pleased with how the story is coming together.  Thinking back to when I started the story, I am amazed at how it has changed, so much so that I could not imagine sticking to the outline I created in the beginning.  I had put some notes together before...

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Attention Whores & Cyber-Minions

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, TGIF (Thank God I'm Famous). I mean really, I even have a school named after me Robert Gray Elementary School. And, ooh, look, today they're serving cheeseburgers, crinkle cut fries, lunch bunch grapes, and milk ... yummy. And because I am famous (refer to the above mentioned school if you need proof) and because I blog, I must be a whiny attention whore like Tess Gerritson...

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I'm in a Michael Chabon State of Mind

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, welcome to my cyber home, where the only pork projects here involve squealing, conveyor belts, dull blades and ... well, it's all very messy really.Michael Chabon will be speaking at Lehigh University on Sunday, March 22. It's free and open to the public. If you're in the Northeast Pennsylvania area, and you've been dying to meet me, then, you know, he'll be there too. The...

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A Magical Rabbi Lives With Me?

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, Become Us. Lead Us.  DIE.*  * From Sowen: The Ghost ClubI was looking at my profile on Scribd and thought it funny where the elipses appear.  I would much rather have a magical rabbi.And speaking of Scribd, my story All Too Cozy has been viewed 738 times and downloaded 85 times, which is pretty cool since it's only been up for one day.  My thanks to you...

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All Too Cozy

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, welcome to Tuesday.  I'm glad you all could make it.Because I promised, and because so many of my wonderful fans asked me--OK, you got me, nobody asked-- I offer the gift of literature.  Oooooh!  Aaaaaaah!  Shiny!My short story All Too Cozy is a wonderful story about love, betrayal, sexual desire, and a lime green possessed recliner.  Enjoy.All Too...

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Mondays ... Yuck

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, enter now for a chance to win.  The prize?  Well, a lifetime membership here at Casa De Gray.  Really?  Well why the hell aren't you interested!?The only thing I hate more than Mondays are Mondays that cost me an hour of sleep due to daylight-saving time.  The only thing I hate more than those Mondays are Mondays that also include another rejection...

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A book I want. A book I have.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, awaken your mind and behold its wonders.Artist John Jude Palencar of Christopher Paolini's Inheritance fame has a book out called Origins, which I'm looking forward to stimulating my eyeballs with. <<<<>>>>Currently reading and enjoying the hell out of The Resurrectionist by Jack O'Connell.  If you like circus freaks, biker gangs,...

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Everyone is a book of blood ...

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild,  if you think you've arrived here by accident, then take it up with your parents. I recently learned that Clive Barker's short story collection Books of Blood was made into a movie and was beside myself with excitement after hearing the movie was slated for a May '09 release.  Then I read that the movie is struggling for a release according to Fangoria's interview...

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Visions of Writing

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, let it snow.The above picture is a view from where I am writing this post. And, quite often, the view I see while I'm writing in general. It is a spot in my kitchen, a little corner where I lay out all my writing tools--laptop, pens, notebook, day's reference material, and, on days like today that are snowy and hovering somewhere around eight degrees, a bottomless cup of...

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