Update

Okay, so it's been a million years since I updated this blog. Imaginary readers, I am sorry to have disappointed you. But I have at least three good reasons why.

First, we had a baby!  He's adorable! (Seriously, check my Facebook page for pictures. But only if you're ready to think that the Gerber baby looks like garbage.)

Second, we moved! Like three times!

Third, I wrote a book! And it's published!

The book is called The Crown and the Dragon, and it's the novelization of a fantasy movie by Arrowstorm Entertainment. The movie is coming out later this year from Vivendi / Universal. I'll post more details about this as they become available. But for now let met just say that it was super fun to be a part of this project.

The novel has been published by WordFire Press, and is now available in trade paperback and ebook formats from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Baen, and other retailers.

At Comic Con in Salt Lake, they premiered the film and I did signings at the WordFire booth. It was a blast, and not just because of all the crazy costumes. We actually sold out, which left me apologizing to people who came by on Saturday afternoon. But that's not such a bad kind of problem to have, in the end.

Anyway, I think that's the only place I'm going to do a book signing, but if you would like to have your own signed and personalized copy, you can click this PayPal button, and I'll be happy to send you one.

shipping

standard $20.00 USD expedited $25.00 USD

Anyway, that's all the updates for now, but there's more to come. In the meanwhile, check out the baby pictures on Facebook, and pick up a copy of my book. :)

--THE HOUSE

2013 Movie Rreviews: Before the Fall edition

Here's what we saw this year before school started up again.

* * * 1/2 Les Miserables : Anne Hathaway's lovely white teeth puzzled me, but her singing was unbelievable and so all is forgiven. Russell Crowe also sang. Highlights include: Wolverine's harrowing prisoner beard, the despicable Msr. and Mme. Thenardier, and the always-heartbreaking Eponine. I was singing the whole score for weeks, although often with improvised lyrics. "But the diapers come at night...!"

* * * * Iron Man 3 : Ben Kingsley is just so delightful. Everything that comes out of that man's mouth is gold. He's a treasure too rich for any one film to contain. Thank you, Mandarin, for making our lives wonderful. (Everybody else was fine.)

* * * 1/2 Star Trek Into Darkness : Benedict Arnold Cumberbund is no Ricardo Montalban-- but then again, who is? I can't really hold that against them. And there are some spectacular visuals here, including the Enterprise literally jumping hundreds of sharks. But this movie loses a full star for the use of Cylon baby blood to blaspheme Leonard Nimoy's sacrifice. Shame on you, J.J. Abrams. Don't pull that crap with the new Star Wars, okay?

* * * * * Monsters University : This movie made me laugh so hard. More importantly, it tricked me. I bought the fakeout hard, thought that they were taking the easy way out. But this is Pixar, so they didn't. They played out the trope, then turned it on its head, then blew it into a million pieces. I walked out of that theater reexamining my ideas about how the world works, and how it should work. Well done.

That's all for now!

--JAN DEPAUW