Wednesday, December 12, 2012

The Next Big Thing In Your Face

Hey there, baby lambs, Uncle Jimmy here again. Before we get to the nit 'n' grit here, let's bring youse up to speed on all that's been happening down at Callaway Acres.

For openers, I had another article go up at everybody's favorite site for comedy nerdery, Splitsider, wherein I discuss Paul Scheer's NTSF:SD:SUV:: and how accurately it depicts my home turf of San Diego, Calif. Also, my short-short story, "The New Walmart," was recently included in an anthology of lit by, for, and about San Diego's East County, the region in which I cut my eyeteeth. The book is called The Far East: Everything Just As It Is, and it's certainly the nicest looking collection I've ever had my name attached to, with a bonus CD and everything. And as we all well know, the end is nigh, so rather than stockpile food and water or pray to the almighty Lord to repent, a bunch of writers wrote stories about the impending apocalypse. Nightfalls: Notes from the End of the World, edited by Katherine Tomlinson, features a bunch of your favorites and me as well. That link is for the Kindle edition, and the print edition should be coming forthwith.

This past August, the band I play in, The Stalins of Sound, opened for living punk legends The Queers as well as Jon Cougar Concentration Camp at The Kensington Club in sunny San Diego, CA. My dear old friend Chuck Jensen captured our set on video and subsequently posted two of those songs, which you can enjoy(?) here, and then here we are doing our Ramones cover at Eleven a few weeks later.

Also, social media is a thing people do, so why should I be any different. Aside from the requisite Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ accounts, I also just started a Tumblr entitled Comic Books and Girls, wherein I post pictures of comic books and girls. Hit me up on any of them and we'll socially mediate together.

Anyways, onto the big thing. Richie Narvaez recently did his part to keep this blog meme a-rollin' right along, and he was sweet enough to tag me as a part of it. So now I will answer these questions to the best of my ability, and then tag some other suckers for you to read up on as well. And the whole thing keeps chugging right along...

1) What is the working title of your current/next book?
Lupo Danish Never Has Nightmares

2) Where did the idea come from?
If I remember right, I wanted to do a crime fiction version of Beowulf. The super-powered aspect followed from that.

3) What genre does your book fall under?
Dunno for sure, but Matty Funk seems convinced it fits nicely in the current "urban fantasy" sub-genre, and who am I to argue with him.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
A larger, more physically fit version of me; a younger, pudgier version of me; The Monkees; a young Crispin Glover; Dennis Franz; a couple of my ex-girlfriends; George Wyner; a younger, skinnier Randall "Tex" Cobb. Not all actors, true, but that's what I'm working with over here.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
"Arguably the most famous love story of all time, this play tells the tale of a boy and a girl from warring families who meet and fall in love." No, wait, that's Romeo & Juliet. Ah, fuck it, it's all the same, really.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I don't officially have representation, but I have good reason to be optimistic. So yeah, probably an agency.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft?
Little over a year, not counting the early attempts I made at this when I was like 25, 26. Which I don't count.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
The first 38 issues of The Amazing Spider-Man by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Incredible Hulk #300 by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema was also a pretty big influence.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
See number 8. I love superhero comics, but they have been done to death, as have superhero movies. So a superhero novel sounds agreeable to a hack like myself.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
I dunno, if superhero gangsters don't wet your whistle, I don't think there's much else I or anyone can do for you.

All right, that's over with. Now allow me to pass this baton along to four other writers with whom you would do well to acquaint yourself. First is my personal life-coach/vocational guidance counselor, Matthew C. Funk, probably the most prolific writer I know these days. Then we have the most shamefully non-prolific writer I know, Josh Converse, who really needs to get more stuff done, and I say this not wanting to break balls (for a change). I got to hang out some with Frank Wheeler, Jr., last year at Bouchercon in St. Louis, and I can assure you he's a great sport with drunken knuckleheads as well as a fine writer. Rounding out this ragtag bunch is none other than Ben Sobieck, who came out of nowhere and really took to the whole flash-fiction format like a duck to some sort of liquid. Check these boys out, and next week, they'll keep this jalopy of a meme chugging right along.

Your pal,
Big Dick McGee