PostMortem
A few items.
This is out today:
Yes, it was also out last Wednesday. But owing to a kink in the distribution chain, Locke & Key #4 didn’t arrive in a broad swath of the US last week; didn’t turn up in the UK either. It finally made it into most stores today, however, and Newsarama says you should run out and pick it up (scroll down to find the review).
I blasted through Toronto on Monday, to do about a week of events in 24 hours. There were a lot of highlights, but I especially enjoyed two. The first was an appearance on The Hour, a late night show hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos. Link is here – it was an unusually long interview for a TV thing, and we had some fun. Although I apparently need to say “Y’know” a whole lot less. The interview starts at about the 26:00 mark.
And the last reading of the tour, at the Merril Collection, a part of the Toronto Public Library, was great fun, and the ideal way to wind things up. Did you know the Merril Collection has the biggest collection of scifi and fantasy novels in the world? A collection so valuable, the entrance to the library is protected by a Griffin and a Hippogriff? Well, I mean, obviously. You don’t guard books this important with just a couple rent-a-cops:
I had a good time on the tour, and was glad to spend time with some old friends, and some new. Big thanks to all the editors and author escorts who showed me around the west coast, the east coast, England and Toronto. Hopefully it won’t be three years between tours this time.
That’s also a wrap on the website for the next couple weeks. I’ll probably burp up occasional, completely inessential comments on Twitter, but other than that I’m laying low, and getting some work done. Be well everyone, and a whole lot of thanks for being so good to me while I was out on the road.
March 24th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Joe,
Enjoy your break, you earned it. As tough as touring may be, those of us who were able to meet you and hear you read from Horns are very thankful you took the time to come to us.
I hope you are able to make it back to Portland again the next time you tour.
Thanks for the stories!
March 24th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
Sorry I missed you in Salem, MA! Will have to catch you the next time around. You’d mentioned the Cryptozoology museum….taking that in within the next week or so….thanks for the tip you’d posted about it….be well. Write well! Looking forward to your next offering.
March 24th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Joe, re: The Hour. You are so damn intelligent, creative, funny and cute. I have a crush on you! This was the first time I’ve seen you “live” and you are just as I thought you would be…but even more so. Thanks, as always, for all you do. Keep on keepin’ on, man!
March 24th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Thanks for coming out, Hope to see you and your hand next time. Hope you get lots of work done, cause horns is almost finished.
Enjoy your time at home.
Cheers
Kris
March 24th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
That interview was great. I guess I’ll give up on my dream to become a writer now however because of the ten thousand pages comment. Jesus man. But I think I’ll still try maybe to write a little. I have an idea about a young Indian man who stumbles upon ancient writings on a cave wall that when repeated can summon all the Indian Gods. He decides to use the Gods to help him bring his people (suffering from drugs,alcohol, oppression, etc.) back from the brink. One reservation at a time he becomes more and more powerful, the American Indian is becoming reborn. Until the Gods finally ask for something in return, a sacrifice. His only son. I think I’ll keep this idea on my computer clipboard until I get it right someday, but man ten thousand pages just to find your voice? Whew! I stupidly always thought you just had to have a good story in mind and then write it. When I go to college I think I’m going to take writing classes if they offer them. Also the library entrance is awesome!!!! If I ruled the world I would make every library have an awesome entrance. Sweet picture. Oh and just one more thing, how do you know your writing won’t be ripped off when you send it to a publisher for evaluation? I mean maybe they told you your writing sucked and then had someone rewrite it differently just so they could steal. How do you know??? I think The Fear Tree sounds like a good read personally.
March 24th, 2010 at 8:58 pm
Nice pic’s, love the gargoyles!
I bought my copy of L&K #4 today! I havent read it yet, waiting for
the late midnight hour. Hope I can sleep afterwards. IDC ’cause I have tomorrow off.
Figure I’ll jot down a list from the ‘recommended’ reading page here. So that I may increase my vocab. ( which my daughter picks on ). She doe not yet realize that I’d become temporarily dumber watching Barney and all those disney movies and motherly activities I’d engaged in all for those years.
Also must ink up a few nice pieces of art just for the hell of it, most
likely to be away from computers! Thanks for the great stories Joe!!
March 25th, 2010 at 7:35 am
Enjoy your time off Joe. Hope you can make it a little further south next year…meaning we all need another book from you NEXT YEAR…or sooner.
March 25th, 2010 at 10:27 am
You said it, Lenny!!
March 25th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Great interview on The Hour…I enjoyed it! I am so fascinated with the craft of writing. Joe…get down to Texas!
March 25th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Hey Joe…if you can make your next tour within a 4 hour drive from NC I’d totally appreciate it. You are the best…sincerely!
March 26th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
I hope this isn’t going to sound bad, but there are only two people I’d drive for more than 2 hours to see, and I’d go farther for one than the other. Those two are John Cusack (2012) and Bronson Pinchot.
I bet it’ll be really hard to guess which one I’d travel farther for. I’d go to the ends of the earth to see him, and Joe’s dad already got to be standing directly in front of him. Several times, probably.
Life’s *so* not fair (dramatic sigh inserted at this point). He doesn’t even care about Bronson Pinchot, and he got to see him.
Actually, not caring is why I’m able to handle it.
John Cusack is too quiet. When he’s being interviewed, he talks with the quietest voice I’ve ever heard-especially from an actor. Or ANY person in show business, and 99% of his family is in show business.
But he’s the funniest ass guy I ever listened to.
The first question the interviewer asked him is ‘So what’s this with you going from 1408 to 2012?’
‘I don’t know.’
Then the interviewer said ‘I bet some future numerologist is going to draw some type of connection between the two numbers.’
‘Someone w/ a lot of time on their hands,’ Cusack said. With no hint of a smile or any sign of annoyance at the stupid interviewer.
I was ROFL.
I know one thing: I wasn’t going to watch 2012 until I found out John Cusack’s in it.
March 26th, 2010 at 6:22 pm
Cusack movies are always good, kind of like Lee Marvin’s. I haven’t seen anything from Pinchot in awhile but I loved him in True Romance as the guy who ratted out his boss the director who sold drugs as a side job to help him finance his career. I really think the two are both underrated as actors.
March 26th, 2010 at 10:32 pm
Hey Joe,
I just wanted to thank you for signing my books and it was a lot of fun to meet you. Hope you remember me, I’m the fellow that hadn’t read a novel in eight years, and reading Horns made me love reading again. I’m actually reading 20th Century Ghosts right now, and I’m having trouble putting the book down. I carry the book with me everywhere I have to wait for something. The elevator, grocery line ups, the loo etc. Anyways, you’re an inspiration. Your writing has truly inspired my own writing (I’m an aspiring screenwriter), so hopefully one day we’ll meet again as colleagues. Anyways, my hats off to you, and I look forward to reading your next book and see you on your next tour!
March 28th, 2010 at 8:32 am
Hey Joe – it was great to hear you speak and have the chance to meet you at the Merrill Collection in Toronto. Had a great time!
I was the bookseller from Hamilton – the last guy in line with about 25 books for you to sign.
I know you don’t make it to Canada often and I’m wondering if there is a way to facilitate having you sign some additional copies of Horns for us – the 10 copies we had you sign are already gone!
Thanks for your consideration!
Chris
March 29th, 2010 at 9:43 am
Vicki,
I finally paid $40 for the 3 movie set of The Langoliers, The Stand and the Golden Years because they are now out of print. The cheapest I have seen that set was at Wal*Mart for $30.
March 29th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Bronson Pinchot’s been in a whole string of movies since 2005. I just can’t find any of them to watch. I guess I can understand why I can’t find the one entitled ‘From A Place Of Darkness’ (2008), b/c it’s about a producer who wants to make the perfect snuff film.
But I don’t understand why I couldn’t find ‘Good Clean Fun’ and the other one, which I can’t remember the name of just now. ‘Good Clean Fun’ rings a vague bell of having been in cinemas. ‘The Tale Of Despereaux’ was also a 2008 movie, but he has only two paragraphs in it.
Sigourney Weaver, who narrates Despereaux’s story, got on my nerves. I wish Bronson would have narrated and SHE would have been the town crier. Mostly b/c I would have loved listening to his voice, especially over hers.
All those movies have been done since 2005. I just wish I could find them.
Hell, I still can’t find a reasonably priced ‘Langoliers’ film. Especially not on Amazon.com. I’m thinking the owners set the price, and they think I’m dumb enough to pay $35.00 for a movie that was probably $20 new.
This $35 one is used, not a collector’s edition and unsigned but it costs $35.
I’m thinking I’ll have to get the one that’s going for $26.
March 29th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
This topic relates to the theme in ‘Horns.’ Or it does in my opinion.
I don’t understand why violence is in the 7th circle of hell and not the 9th. I think violence is worse than any other sin out there, and it certainly hurts people way worse than betrayal. Betrayal doesn’t affect people physically the way violence does, so why he chose to put it in the 9th circle is beyond me.
Speaking as a victim of violent crime, I would place violence in the 9th circle of hell.
March 29th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
The Langoliers I was looking at was just ONE movie. I’m not going to buy 2 other movies of Stephen King’s stories, b/c I’m getting the movie for the actor and not as much for the story. That’s especially true of ‘The Stand,’ which made me so upset I was only able to read 505 pages.
Like the movie I watched tonight, I can’t view them if they have a personal memory attached to them. Like when evil wins, as it has in my life-at least sometimes; or when it calls up a real memory, as ‘The Stand’ did. I think I’d have to be a masochist to continue watching movies that upset me that much.
I’ve only been this way since 2001. Before then, I could watch anything. Even the Sopranos, which is the worst way of depicting violence there is; I think the Mob should have its own circle in hell. I mean beyond the 7th one, that’s reserved for violence. But I don’t think they even HAD an Italian mob when Dante wrote that book.
I met a guy who was in the Sopranos for almost the whole time. His character was killed off before the rest, but not long before. Anyway, he was nothing like his character. I figured that out after talking to him only once or twice. Mafia people don’t think as much as this guy did. He thought way more than I do.
That aside, I’m not going to buy a singular movie for $35. I watched my friend’s version so many times, she started getting impatient to have her British actor back. She likes the guy who plays Nick Hopewell, Michael somebody, and could tell me everything about him. She told me to copy it, and I couldn’t do that. I told her I’d be the one person who’d have to pay the $250,000 fine of all the people who do it.
But I don’t like the idea anyway. I’m a writer and I had my work ripped off by a full-of-shit publisher, who did it just b/c they know I’m nobody.
And they can sleep at night.
March 30th, 2010 at 2:03 am
any update on when PS is going to get the singed/limited editions of HORNS in the mail?
March 30th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
How do they sleep? They can never do that to me because I haven’t written the fu##er yet! One day I will write my story and hope to have it published by a reputable publisher (if there is such a thing) and enjoy the community of writers that have been published! Until then I sojourn in hell trying to come up with enough to be proud of. Right now all I have is an idea, but sometimes I think that’s all the good writers really ever start with, that and the confidence of knowing how to write. Maybe all those people needed was someone to believe in, somebody to trust, and lead. Sometimes a lone man can change things thought to be forever…. oh what’s that word?
March 31st, 2010 at 3:07 pm
I changed my mind. If he writes a book as awesome as ‘Horns’ again, and I’m sure he will, I’d drive 4 hours to see him.
Well, I’d make my friend drive. I get sick after driving 45 minutes straight. I get sick as both a passenger and driver, but I don’t think you can take Dramamine before you drive.
I’m a paramedic, not a pharmacist, and pharmacology was never my best subject. That and head/spinal injuries. That’s b/c it changes so damn much, and at paramedic level we have to measure IP (intracranial pressure). Which still feels new to me. You don’t do it when you’re an EMT, and IP doesn’t stay the same for long.
I know what I need to know. I know how to visualize vocal cords and place the intubation tube, then listen for absence of breathing sounds, all within 45 seconds. They don’t let you pass if you can’t do the procedure within 45 seconds.
March 31st, 2010 at 9:39 pm
That sounds like a bitch Vikki. I received my diploma in the mail today and will be going to college soon. I will be studying Occupational Therapy. It will take me two years to complete my courses but I’m going to see if they have any writing classes at the community college Ill be attending. Hopefully they do and I can learn how to be a writer. watch out Joe Hill I’m right on your heels now. Someday maybe I will have an awesome comic book too.
March 31st, 2010 at 9:58 pm
And am I the only one who thinks that some writers use the “big” words just to make themselves look cool? There is a writer named Cormac McCarthy that writes this way and is greatly respected in his field, but all I can say is hey buddy maybe a little less. My brother told me you HAVE to read Blood Meridian so I went down to the book store and picked it up and must say after just one page, Cormac, too many big words. As I understand it this is called a writers prose. I think that means uptight jerk who owns fifteen thesaurses. I really believe telling the story is the key not how many words nobody ever heard is. Anyways I left the store empty handed. See ya Vikki.
April 2nd, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Motorcycles…my whole life I’ve wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle. Am I too old at 50 to learn?
April 2nd, 2010 at 8:27 pm
Just as light fades before sleep covers your shoulders, imagine your thoughts a hundred future years from this moment.
See all you became, all you overcame…all you witnessed.
Saddest part of being human is smothered hope…dreams unplanned.
No one is ever to old — ask around — get on the damned bike and ride. Trust me…You’ll never be the same.
April 3rd, 2010 at 7:00 am
Thanks DA! You’re absolutely right!
April 3rd, 2010 at 10:09 am
Betsy Boo:
No. You aren’t.
But take a good course, and only take short safe rides when you’re getting started (just a mile or two), wear a helmet, and get a motorcycle jacket with some armor in it.
I got my license at 35. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made as an adult.
April 3rd, 2010 at 10:51 am
You should probably start soon because ther is only a couple of months left before it gets too hot to ride. After you get good at it get a badass tatoo. And don’t forget the helmet. Try some dirt riding because if you fall it won’t hurt as much.
April 3rd, 2010 at 2:36 pm
[...] you’re already a fan, Joe just blogged about the new issue on his website, which is out [...]
April 4th, 2010 at 1:48 am
I’m reading this very strange book by Brian somebody, called ‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town.’
I’m telling you. This thing is weird. And that’s coming from a paramedic, someone who’s seen weird in every form imaginable.
I can’t recall his last name, but he sure talks about smoking Mr. Bud a lot, and they did that BEFORE the darkness came not after. God knows what’s going to happen to the woman when the last seed is gone. She does it all the time, and there’s a habituation that develops, even to marijuana. Especially when you do it every blasted day, from the time you wake up until the time you go to bed.
But never mind that. I’m interested in the totally hilarious parts. Like when he said a guy was walking down the street w/ a shopping cart full of shaving cream (b/c somebody stole all the shaving cream before anyone else could get any.)
The main character asked if the person could describe what the shaving cream thief looked like, and the guy said ‘I don’t know. He was naked.’
I was ROFLMAO when I first heard that. The image of some naked guy pushing a shopping cart full of shaving cream cracked me up.
Well the book is better than the movie I rented. ‘Say Anything,’ with John Cusack and some drop-dead gorgeous woman who get together. I got tired of watching him be with her after about 20 minutes and started reading the book.
April 4th, 2010 at 3:45 am
Wow. I’m surprised so many people advocate the helmet in motorcycle riding. Pleasantly surprised.
We have this semi-frequent flyer, a full flyer is someone who calls the ambulance all the time when they don’t really need it, who’s always insisting he DOESN’T need a helmet.
The last time we picked him up was for being flipped over the handlebars of his cycle and somehow landing w/out hurting himself. He argues all the time about why he’s ‘smart’ to avoid wearing a helmet, coming up w/ everything from ‘You can get welded to your helmet when you have an accident’ to ‘Nothing’s happened to me all this time, so I don’t need a helmet.’
Once I responded w/ ‘Yet you’ve needed an ambulance so many times.’ Which he fortunately ignored.
I’m just glad to see the helmet fixation isn’t just on my part, b/c of being a paramedic.
April 4th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
Thanks for all the great advice…especially you, Joe! There’s a part of me that is really scared and a part of me that is dying to learn…oops…poor choice of words! I do know of a course I can take and one of my daughters knows where to get the “safety” jacket. And of course I’ll wear a helmet! But it’s something I’ve always wanted to do and I hope I can work up the nerve!
April 6th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
A friend of mine came to see you in Leeds to get a book signed for my birthday, complete with a devil’s food cake doodled inside. Awesome present, awesome book! Thank you!
April 7th, 2010 at 1:19 am
Hello All =)
Joe:
Your twitter comment posted recently about one of the worst phrase’s ever used , “Everything happens for a reason” got my attention.
I too dislike that being said.
What grates me further is the manner in which it is usually blurted out. Not to mention bad timing..
It must be a carefree spirited person to possess such infinate wisdom. To speculate and summarize all matters…
What the phrase sounds like to me is: “whatever happened is justified and we should have expected it!”
Like they forcasted it the day they were born!
So Simply put, Ignorance is bliss!
Betsy Boo..
I do hope that you spend some time driving a steel horse!
Reading your post makes me smile!
Phil17″… I think that a few big words add a fresh twist and a
bit of intrigue for an author but too many is just tiresome .
I s’pose they could come in handy at a scrabble tournament, huh?!
April 7th, 2010 at 1:39 am
They said that to us after my former husband, daughter’s dad, was blasted to smithereens in Tower 1 of the World Trade Center.
‘Well everything happens for a reason,’ this self-styled (to use my brother-in-law’s word) religious guy told us. While we were standing in line to get the death certificate, he tells us this happened for a reason.
I thought Please go away.
Frankie, my brother-in-law, launched himself forward and tried to punch the guy. Richard, our friend, pulled him back, told him it isn’t worth it to hit the guy.
I won’t tell you what Frankie said to the guy, but it mirrored my sentiment.
I said, ‘Yeah. The reason is Osama bin Laden isn’t gonna quit being stupid. It happened b/c he’s f–ing stupid not to mention a filthy murderer, and he isn’t going to QUIT being stupid.’
But the guy was more interested in what Frankie was doing, and he appeared not to hear me.
He couldn’t take his eyes off my brother-in-law.
I think it’s a stupid statement. IMO the reason doesn’t matter when it’s murder. Dead is dead. He isn’t going to come back to life, just b/c there’s some good reason it happened.
And it doesn’t make me feel better to know there was a reason b/c, in my mind, there will never be a reason it happened other than Osama bin Laden and the lackeys who followed him were filthy murderers.
I’ve heard that one phrase ‘Everything happens for a reason’ probably a hundred times since it happened.
I think I’ll go over to Twitter and read that comment. Then I’ll know someone outside my family doesn’t buy the phrase any more than we do.
Cya.
April 7th, 2010 at 5:45 am
I dont live my life on the level where quantum foam exists.
April 7th, 2010 at 9:18 am
Nice little exchange…the phrase at center (EHFAR) is just a neutered catch-all. No color or preference. Thrown into the snapping crowd thousands of years ago by some Neanderthal passive – aggressive.
What we don’t know, we don’t know YET.
Problem is we’re human beasts. This brief time blip we inhabit is usually wasted by the majority anyway.
How ’bout this one:
It’s all God’s Fault…Because there is no God.
April 7th, 2010 at 10:41 am
Grasshopper Cormac McCarthy is probably the best Scrabble player ever! But I think the joke is on me as far as Blood Meridian is concerned. I haven’t read one review that doesn’t say the book is awesome and my brother knows books. he says there’s nothing wrong with having a dictionary by my side when reading a book and I might learn a thing or two. Maybe I’ll do just that and enjoy what is said to be a fantastic read, I just wish he was a little more approachable from a readers standpoint. Or maybe I should just give up and become a Louis Lamour fan. I LOVE westerns. Which ever way I decide to go I can always rely and my favorite adage, everything happens for a reason. Sorry you guys but I couldn’t resist. He he he.
April 7th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
Vicki,
I am sorry that your former husband lost his life at the WTC on 9/11.
My condolences to you, your daughter together and the rest of his family.
I fear that taking out Osama Bin Laden comes with a grizzly price. His followers would certainly declare jihad against us for that.
I hope that our shores and skies are protected well enough against
those who would harm us.
Phil17larry…Ow! Haha!! You made my eyes pop!!Well..you tried to make “EHFAR” excusable anyways. Well done! (gemini?)
April 7th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
Just saw you posted three good books on twitter. I thought this would be a more appropriate place to post. You should check out A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans. I couldn’t put it down. At least check out the cover.
April 7th, 2010 at 11:48 pm
I received a book in the mail with a cover that has a train with a skull face, two rose eyes, and black charcaol smoke blasting from it’s stack. The book wieghed 38lbs.
April 8th, 2010 at 8:21 am
Wearing a helmet saved my sister’s face in a motorcycle accident 21 years ago. She went off on a shoulder that was all sand and went sideways and then face first into the tar. She broke her jaw in three places(open faced helmet), but the visor on the helmet saved most of her face. Highly recommended to wear the proper protection when riding.
April 8th, 2010 at 11:44 am
Phil17larry33:
Wow that is a hefty book for sure, maybe the USPS should have
taken it off the train first?! (cant help m’self either!) hehee
April 8th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
Hey Might Joe –
Great bat story…poor thing (‘cycle rider).
Beats the standard June bug (size of a grapefruit) smackin’ the forehead right between the eyes. Happened more ‘n once…never could figure how I stayed upright.
Must’ve been EHFAR in both cases.
April 8th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
First all, thanks for allowing Locke and Key on the PSP Comics store…I love them…I just wish I could get new releases right away on the PSP Comics Store, but waiting a week isn’t so bad.
Frankly I don’t buy Paper Comics anymore because I don’t have room for them. At least I am helping to save tree’s.
I didn’t think I would like Locke and Key on my PSP, but I love it. I jump in bed and read them on my PSP before going to sleep. The PSP is quite a bit easier to hold, then holding the Comic. On top of that I can turn off all the lights and just use the PSP, as well as PSP comics allow you to listen to music as you read your comics, as well as zoom in and out on any panel. So thanks for allowing your Comics on the PSP.
If you haven’t downloaded the PSP Comics store to your PSP…I highly recommend it. Then you can download all the Locke and Key comics to your PSP and take them with on the go, or anywhere. You really should let more ppl know that your Comics are on the PSP now..
http://us.playstationcomics.com/main.html
Thanks, Dallas
April 9th, 2010 at 2:11 am
Just curious can I talk about the Locke & Key comics being on the PSP? I just can’t provide a Link to the PSP Comic store??
My Post was deleted…Just kind of confused
Thanks
Dallas
April 9th, 2010 at 2:13 am
GRRRRrrrrr it posted now…So Ignore all my incompetence ROFL…Sigh…what a long day…
Sorry for the Triple Post..If there is a Post Master you can remove my Two post asking where my post is..SIGH…and Super Tiny Zebra Sorry!
Dallas
April 9th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Speaking of L&K….got the email that CoS #5 is due out 4/28!!
April 9th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
The quality of writing in comics in general today is amazing, not to mention L&K. I swear when I go to my comic store I honestly feel like a kid at a candy store. Here comes the giant sized issue! Here we go….. It’s hard to understand why these writers and artists almost go unnoticed but it clearly doesn’t stop them, and thank God.
Criminal
The Walking Dead
N
The Stand
Batman (Any Batman stories)
Siege
The Fall of The Hulks
Daredevil
And on and on.
April 10th, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Has everybody that ordered a signed HORNS from Forbidden Planet gotten their orders yet?….I have not received anything!
April 12th, 2010 at 9:27 am
Forbidden Planet has another one on the way for me…..PHEW!
April 12th, 2010 at 11:32 am
umm how do i go about getting my login for the MB activated?
cheers
April 12th, 2010 at 11:33 am
who would win between a ninja and jason….
April 12th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
mark…joe said there was gonna be some updating on the site. Don’t know if that’s why you’re having trouble but you might try a new user name?
April 13th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Joe,
I have only recently discovered your work so I guess I’m a little late to the party. Great stuff though. I started with Heart-Shaped Box, then picked up 20th Century Ghosts and finished Horns about a couple weeks ago.
Funny thing….I consider myself a pretty big Stephen King fan – the usual stuff, read all the books, he inspired my own writing, yada-yada – but I obviously pay little to no attention to his personal life. Had no idea you were related until I had become a fan of yours. So, I guess what I’m saying is, your work certainly holds up under its own merits still (not that I imagine this is a concern of your anymore).
I enjoy following the tweets (very active) and hope that as my publishing credits build you will follow mine (also have a creative handle – MAKozlowski). If you get absolutely bat shit bored you can even check out my website (www.mikekozlowski.com). That’s a blatant little plug for you and fellow posters…thank you very much.
Looking forward to your next offering. Definitely wouldn’t mind another short story collection. 20th Century Ghosts was one of the best collections I have read in a long time.
Thanks for entertaining us.
April 14th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
How do people get emails of when CoS is due out? Do you have to be a member of an exclusive group, something akin to the Freemasons?
I’m serious. I don’t get email of when your books are published, I found out about ‘Horns’ by visiting the joehillfiction web site.
I have a friend who’s a Freemason-he’s a casual friend, more like a nodding acquaintance-who’s a Freemason. He never tells anybody what they do, and I could barely find any information online or from other research avenues about it.
I thought ‘What do they do? Sacrifice cats to Pasha, the cat goddess? Why’s it so hard to find information on what they do.?’
A friend of mine’s dad was a Freemason, and the friend refused to tell me what the Freemasons do.
Honestly. My catlike curiosity just gets worse when people act all secretive about things.
Can’t they tell me in a general way?
I wanted to respond to a post on the Message Board, but it wouldn’t let me.
I didn’t understand how someone could have been bored reading Horns, and I wanted to share why I WASN’T yawning at any point in the book.
That’s no lie. I don’t tell lies about things like that.
But when I tried to reread the book, I discovered that knowing the ending did something to mess up the part where everyone is friends w/ Lee. In the first reading, I trusted him but not in the second.
So I have to wait longer to reread it, when more details have left my memory.
April 14th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
Vicki….if you sign up for the IDW Newsletter you’ll get notification when L&K is due out. Just go to their website!
April 14th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
As far as Freemasons are concerned I worked with one back in the mid 90′s and he was outraged at the special that the Discovery channel did on his secret society! I will say this about the man he was very nice, and a damn good cabinet maker. As far as the board goes, if you attack someone here they take your post down. I attacked someone here and Joe Hill himself made a comment to me about NOT doing it anymore. What is CoS? You maybe able to find information about Freemasons on the Discovery channels’ website Vikki and might learn some things but I will admit these secret societies are intriguing, and also a little creepy.
April 16th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
I was just going to say what I liked about the book w/out mentioning what he DIDN’T like. A technique I learned when talking to certain supervisors.
After what’s happened to me over the last three days, I wouldn’t attack anybody.
I blocked a guy who WAS verbally attacking me and he found a way around it, sent me another caustic comment.
I was severely angry that he found a way around the block command. A friend showed me how to stop further attacks, and the hater hasn’t talked to me since.
Apparently it’s a crime to ask a question to some people. They read 50,000 innuendos into it that were never there. That’s what this hater did anyway.
CoS is Crown of Shadows.
April 18th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
Haven’t received my Forbidden Planet order yet, either. I’ve dropped them a line, but no reply so far. Fingers crossed.
April 19th, 2010 at 9:57 am
Apparently it got lost, too. They’re sending a replacement (can there really be any left at this point?).
April 19th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Damn greg. I hope we both our books gets here. lol.
April 20th, 2010 at 12:53 am
Has anyone read Nemesis yet? It is a comic book written by the same people who did Kick Ass.
April 20th, 2010 at 2:58 am
I want to read NEmesis.. but havent had the oppotunity to get my hands on one.
April 21st, 2010 at 3:13 am
Im guessing that the recent volcano activity is going to cause a delay for us in the US….
April 21st, 2010 at 8:21 pm
On thing about meeting Joe is that you dont have that “oh shit, he/she isnt what i thought they would be” feeling that Ive had with meeting people in the past.
May 4th, 2010 at 8:44 pm
You don’t have that feeling w/ John Cusack either. The man leaves nothing to the imagination in terms of saying exactly what he thinks.
Not that I’ve met him any other way than on Twitter, but the man isn’t shy-and I thought he was, b/c he acts that way in front of interviewers. He won’t tell them ANYTHING, by which I mean nothing. Nada. Zero. Zip.
But he’s sure not like that w/ the people who follow him on Twitter. He even said if you bite he bites back which, of course, sent my mind on an entirely different track than what HE was thinking. I seriously DOUBT he was thinking what I was, b/c I was imagining something sensual.
I wonder why he’s more real w/ us than interviewers when interviewers can probably make his life difficult if he doesn’t give them what they want.
Oh well. I just know he’s going to have stop saying things like ‘If you bite, I bite back.’ Regardless of the fact he was talking about abusers on the Internet, and it was obvious, I still had unbidden images.
I guess it’s a good thing I COULDN’T find Bronson Pinchot on Twitter. Obviously, I’m destined to embarrass myself, and I wouldn’t want it to be done in front of him. I’m not so keen on doing it in front of John Cusack either, but I’d rather it be him than Bronson Pinchot.
August 31st, 2010 at 2:30 am
I only know about Mary Kay. The hand cream is designed to keep working even after washing hands often. Feet aren’t exposed to water as often. That leads to another difference.