How about them Christmas movies, huh?

I love this time of year.

Freezing temps, brightly lit houses and Christmas trees, blazing fires (sometimes even in the fireplace), the anticipation of tearing into all those carefully wrapped presents under the tree like a monkey on a cupcake, lots of tasty vittles and beverages, and holiday movies.

I love me some holiday movies. My favorite has always been “It’s a Wonderful Life,” but I also love “A Christmas Story” (Darren McGavin is hilarious as the irascible dad), “The Bishop’s Wife” (The original, with Cary Grant), “We’re No Angels” (You can’t do much better than Bogart in my book), “The Santa Clause” (Not really sure what the critics thought of these, but I can watch them again and again, which is the true test as far as I’m concerned), “Die Hard” (What? It takes place during Christmas), and “Elf” (Yeah, Will Ferrell can be annoying with his constant over-the-toppishness, but it works perfectly in this film).

I should probably provide hot links to all those movies mentioned above, but I’m too tired this morning. Google ‘em.

Anyway, the important thing is, what’s your favorite? Whatever it is, I hope you get a chance this Christmas to sit down in your favorite chair, blow the froth off a cold Newcastle (Or whatever. I hear some people drink other things…), whip the DVD remote out of its holster, and light that puppy up!

Oh, and Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year, Beauty Boxing Day, eh, and Festive Festivus to all!

The Day-after-Thanksgiving/Contest Update Post!

Happy The-Day-After-Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a jaw-dropping Thanksgiving and plans on a senses-shattering long weekend!

The deadline for my Legacy of the Silver Scorpion free e-book giveaway contest has come and gone and we had one winner!

The very talented author of the excellent original super hero novel, Devil’s Cape, Rob Rogers, won a free .pdf copy of my novel with the following entry talking about his favorite Pulp Hero:

“I think I’d have to go with Doc Savage. I like the bright, pulpy goodness of his stories. I wish he were perhaps a little less perfect sometimes (if we were including more modern versions of pulp characters, I might have to go with Indiana Jones), but the variety of Doc Savage’s adventures, his crew, etc.–they all draw me in.”

Thanks for the entry Rob! I have to agree that  the Doc Savage character is seminal for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that the creators of Superman used many of Doc’s traits a few years later when rounding out the personality and world of the first true comic book superhero. Doc Savage’s first name was Clark as was Superman’s alter ego, although both characters were supposedly named after Clark Gable. Doc had a fortress of solitude before Kal-El did. Doc was The Man of Bronze and Superman, The Man of Steel. There are more similarities but you get the idea.

Now, for anyone reading this who maybe wanted a free ebook but didn’t enter because a) they were too busy with pre-Thanksgiving work, shopping, etc. and/or b) my contest rules were overly complicated and assumed I was going to post your entry whether you liked it or not,

I am going to extend the contest deadline through next weekend (December 6th) and update the rules a bit.

New Rules:

All you have to do to enter is either reply to this post or email me (contact@hgmartin.net) with the name of your favorite fictional hero or heroine. It doesn’t have to be from the pulp magazine era, any hero or heroine from modern fiction (that includes books, comic books, movies, video games, etc.) will do. On Sunday, December 6th, I’ll pick the top two entrants and email a copy of The Legacy of the Silver Scorpion to their email addresses. I will also announce the winners’ names on my blog on Sunday, the 6th, but only if you want me to, so let me know in your email or reply.

The Official, Legacy of the Silver Scorpion, Thanksgiving, E-book Giveaway Contest!

Right. So, I hinted in my last post that something like this might be coming down the pike, and here it is.

Since I’d like all my friends to check out my second–and latest–novel, the pulp fiction hero/time travel adventure e-book, The Legacy of the Silver Scorpion, AND since I really have no idea how many folks have downloaded it–because I haven’t received my first quarterly statement from my publisher yet–I decided to run an e-book giveaway contest! That way, I’ll know at last three people have the book.

And here’s how it will work!

Between now (yes, right now) and midnight, Central Standard Time, on November 25th, 2009 (that’s the day before Thanksgiving if my smarticles are working correctly) all you need to do to enter is to email the answer to this question to me at contact@hgmartin.net. 

“Who is your favorite Pulp Fiction-era hero and why?”

When I say Pulp Fiction-era hero, I’m talking about any heroic character from the Pulp magazines that were published between 1896 and the 1950’s, characters like The Shadow, Doc Savage, Tarzan, etc. I will even accept pulpish characters from the radio serials of that period, like the original Green Hornet (which is who my character the Silver Scorpion was loosely based on, by the way).

Okay. I will read all of the entries and pick the top three (yes, I mean the three I like the best. My contest, I get to choose). Then, on Thanksgiving Day, at some time during that day, I will post the top three winners (and their winning entries) on my blog. Yeah, this one. At that time I will also email out to each of those three winners a copy of The Legacy of the Silver Scorpion, in .pdf format.

That’s it. Very simple. Send in an entry, get a free Thanksgiving e-book. Maybe.

Oh, a couple of other things.

1) Please put “Contest Entry” in the subject line of your entry email, so I know what it’s about,  and 2) Please don’t post your entry as a comment to this post. It’s not that I don’t like comments, I do. It’s just that I will still need you to send your entry to me as an e-mail, even if you do post it as a comment, so you might as well do it that way right from the get go…

Good luck to everyone who enters and a happy holiday season to everyone reading this, especially my awesome friends, fans and family!

H.

Jingle Bells, Baby!

Okay, I know it’s not even Thanksgiving yet–although I have a little something planned for that holiday, more on that later–but it’s not too early to start checking off those Christmas lists, especially if you like to try to avoid the massive Black Friday crowds.

So, I thought I would throw out a couple of suggestions. These are, regrettably, only Austin-area suggestions, so out-of-the-area readers may want to re-read my rant about the in-process Green Lantern movie while the rest of us move on.

One of these is a place to find cool things for your kids (or yourself) and the other is a wonderful place full of kids that aren’t yours but could still really use a happy Christmas.

First off: Wonko’s! If you’ve lived in the Austin area for a while you’ve probably heard of Wonko’s Toys and Games. Well, I was in there yesterday and got a chance to talk to the new owner, a really nice guy who just took over the place a few months ago. This place has a huge selection of action figures, both new and old. Also, if you or your kids are into gaming (Magic: the Gathering, Warhammer, etc.), they are putting a lot more focus on gaming and game accessories these days, even having tournaments and game nights on weekends and several nights a week. If you’re looking for older or unusual toys they have a few of those, as well. I was surprised to see an old View-Master kit, that looked like it was from the 50’s or 60’s. It was up high on a shelf so I couldn’t verify the vintage. Wonko’s is way cool, and a great place to check out.

Next up, AngelHeart Childrens’ Shelter. I heard about AngelHeart through work and decided to let everybody know about it. They have the main children’s shelter in Pflugerville and foster care facilities in Round Rock and, surprisingly, way up in Bedford. They provide shelter and foster care for kids from newborn to 18 years of age that have been removed from their homes due to abuse and/or severe neglect. They have a Santa’s Helper wishlist on their site right now, and also accept gift cards and donations. Like I mentioned earlier, these kids could really use a little happiness in their lives. Seems like a win-win to me.

That’s it for today. Next time: Free e-books? Giveaways? Contest? Maybe…

Attack of the Pernicious Pig Virus!

Okay, I know you don’t really get it from pigs and it isn’t necessarily pernicious, but that title sounds kind of cool, doesn’t it? Anyway, as you have probably guessed, I’m talking about the H1N1 virus, also known as the Swine Flu. Since it seems to have arrived (at least in our house) well in advance of the innoculation for it, I thought it might be useful if I throw out a couple of links that can help parents (and the rest of you who haven’t felt the agony and the ecstasy of raising the wild crumb-snatcher) cope with this viral menace.

As our excellent physician, Doctor Christine Eady, told me, if you are going to do medical research at home, make sure you get your information from trustworthy websites. This is an excellent point. Hearsay, misinformation, and the grapevine aren’t going to do anything but confuse us and possibly freak us out more than we already are, or need to be. With that in mind, here are links to two websites that will give you the straight poop; WebMD and the Mayo Clinic.

That’s it. That’s all I got. Get your information from one of those sites, your family doctor, or at least somewhere trustworthy, take care of yourselves and your kids, and we’ll hopefully all get through this with nothing more than some whining, headaches, runny noses and sore throats. And maybe some diarrhea and vomiting, but the less said about that the better. Nobody around here wants to clean that stuff up, including our Roomba!

The Texas Book Festival is coming up soon!

I want to let everyone know that this year the Texas Book Festival will be held on the weekend of October 31st and November 1st. That’s Halloween weekend, and it’s coming up pretty quick. The TBF is one of the premier literary events in the country and this year, I am honored and excited to say, I get to be there too. If you love books and you will be in the vicinity of the Texas State Capitol building that weekend, I hope you’ll check it out. If you do attend, please come by and say hi.

You can find me there at the Writer’s League of Texas booth on Sunday, November 1st, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. I will be selling and signing copies of my first novel, Doctor Diablo, and handing out flyers about my second, The Legacy of the Silver Scorpion.

Doctor Diablo is the story of a super villain’s reluctant journey toward enlightenment and is available from Third Millenium Publishing.

The Legacy of the Silver Scorpion is the tale of a masked pulp-era gangbuster who is transported into a dystopian future in order to save it. It was just released in ebook format (which is why I’m only handing out info about it at the book festival instead of selling it there) from Mundania Press and can be purchased at their website. To buy either book, just click on the name of the book’s publisher above and you should be taken to the place where you can do that.

I hope to see you there!

Renaissance, in the Heart of Texas

There are so many fun things to do in Texas. Like yesterday, for instance. My wife and I took the kids to the Texas Renaissance Festival in Plantersville. We had a truly fantastic time. Not being originally from Texas, I wasn’t sure what to expect from a Texas Renaissance shindig. Knights in Tony Lamas and ten gallons, maybe?

I needn’t have been concerned. It was by far the most fun I have had at a Renaissance festival, and I’ve been to a few of them, in four states now. First of all, you need to know that the place is huge. There is no way you can see and do all the cool things in one day, so expect to stay overnight if you want to see it all, or plan to come back before the festival ends. If you check out the festival website (click the link above) you’ll see that they’ve made staying overnight easy for us, there is dry camping onsite, camping areas offsite, and several area hotels and motels to stay in. Secondly, the festival only runs from this weekend through November 29th, so don’t dawdle. Thirdly, know that anything you want to see and do at a Renaissance festival is available at the TRF, and some others that I’ve never seen anywhere before. Well, okay, they don’t actually put on any of Shakespeare’s plays in full, but they do have an act that quotes from the Bard. I didn’t get to see this performance so I can’t say much more about it. They have jousting tournaments, of course, several per day. They have all the food and drink you can consume and imbibe, in wide varieties. Although, I did hear a few guys complaining that they no longer serve Budweiser at the festival, so I’ll pass that along. You wouldn’t know it by me. They had Bass Ale, so I was happy. If they start serving Newcastle, I’ll go every week. Okay, maybe not, but I would like that.

I gotta tell ya, it is gangs of fun to wander around aimlessly in a re-creation of a 16th Century western european town all day with a beer in one hand and a turkey leg the size of club in the other, while extremely authentic-looking knights, ladies, barbarians, warrior women, wizards, witches, magicians, and all manner of other real and fictional characters walk by (I even saw three characters from Star Wars and a Teletubby–Apparently they didn’t get the memo).

Admission and the shows are free, but food, drink, rides, and anything else you buy costs extra. The shows alone, however, were worth the admission price for us, and we only got the chance to see a few of them. Definitely don’t miss Arsene Dupin. I won’t give away anything about his act, but I will say that we thought it was hilarious, he’s got a major league resume–including a private performance at the White House for President Bush (Senior) and Mrs. Bush–and he’s the guy that the Cirque du Soleil go to for juggling instruction. Also, don’t miss the Ded Bob Show. It was a tad bawdy, but very funny.

It’s a great time. Check it out, if you’re looking for something new and fun to do this fall.

Here are some pictures we took:

That’s a whole lotta folks…

Here’s a factoid that has been a constant source of wonder and amazement to me for awhile now, so I thought I’d share it.

Fact: when I was born, in 1960, there were roughly 3 billion people on the planet. Okay, admittedly, that’s a lot of people. But, the thing is, it had taken all of previous human history to build up a population that large. And, for most of that history, the population wasn’t anywhere near that mark. For instance, in 1800 the world population was about 978 million. In 1700 it was about 700 million. In 1 A.D. the population was about 150 million. That’s about the current population of Nigeria or Bangladesh.

But that’s not the fascinating part. The fascinating part, to me, is that since I was born in 1960, in just that 49-year span of time, the population has more than doubled! The current world human population is racing toward 7 billion and is already real close, at about 6.8 billion. That’s a heap o’ people!

If you want to see the numbers click by, check out this link: http://www.ibiblio.org/lunarbin/worldpop

Okay, so what does all that mean to you and me? Additionally, what does it mean to the planet? Also, what does it mean to every non-human living thing on the planet?

What, did you expect me to answer that question? I’m just a guy with a B.S. in Computer Science. I don’t know!

What I do know is that those are important questions to ask, maybe some of THE most important questions that we and our kids (and their kids) will have to deal with now, soon and in the future. Just sayin’…

Next time: I blog about something inane and hopefully amusing!

Great News Comes in Twos!

Okay, I really was planning to blog about current events or movies or something today, but the news I received yesterday evening was so cool I have to mention it.

First, I found out that I’m going to be appearing at the 2009 Texas Book Festival this year. This is a truly awesome event that takes place at the Texas State Capitol building on Saturday, October 31st and Sunday, November 1st, and features somewhere around 200 Texas and nationally known authors. This year’s attending authors will include the second man to set foot on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, Joe R. Lansdale, Margaret Atwood, Kinky Friedman, and many others. It’s an honor to be able to attend and I’ll post more of the details once I know what they are. For now, though, if you want more information just click here. Thanks to the Writer’s League of Texas for giving me this opportunity.

Secondly, but certainly no less important (to me, at least!), The Legacy of the Silver Scorpion just received its first official online review. And it’s a great one!

Please take a look at it here and then, if it makes ya feel like you just gotta buy the book right now, click here. Many thanks to the nice people at You Gotta Read Reviews for their kind words.

Next time, I promise I’ll back off of the self-promotion stuff…unless something else happens.

The obligatory, periodic, shameless self-promotion post…

Well, it’s that time again. I know you all want to hear about super heroes, Austin-area activities, Goobers and Dr. Pepper, but I need to get a plug in for my new e-book, so here goes. I promise it’ll be painless (well, mostly):

It’s called The Legacy of the Silver Scorpion. It’s a science fiction/adventure novel that’s sort of a cross between The Time Machine (not that I’m implying that my writing is even in the same hemisphere with Wells’s but, you know, it’s about time travel) and a 1930’s Green Hornet radio show (only with a little more blood and violence). It’s available for purchase right now from the great folks at Mundania Press. If you’re into that kind of thing, please check it out. Here’s another look at the awesome cover illustration:

Thanks for your indulgence!

Next Time: More of the stuff I usually post about!