Farewell Bani

I'm dumbfounded and dismayed that my longtime online friend Bani Kinnison passed away unexpectedly this last Wednesday morning. I had been friends with Bani for about the last eight + years. I met her on tumblr first where she was really active, sharing her artwork, selfies, memes and vintage pics. She had a great sense of humor.

She created so many pulp inspired pieces and she loved doing vintage and comic inspired art. I have bought a few of her pieces down through the years, and with the exception of a Frazetta Atlantis phone cover, as long as I have had smart-phones, it was her artwork that I used through one of the sites she sold materials on like Redbubble or Society 6. If you see something you like this would be a good time to snag it to help out her loved ones.

I had intended on commissioning her to do a pulpy type book cover for me one day, but we never got beyond just talking about ideas.

Something that strikes me like thunder now, is that I had liked some of her Memento Mori work - she had taken some old cemetery stones and done designs with them that I liked. That theme was one that has been striking a chord with me lately, as I have a book coming soon with that title, but even more so it has had a synchronicity for me lately( with old friends younger than me passing away) and I've just gotta say to everyone, cherish and

value the time you do have.

The theme of the phone she designed - I'm guessing it had to be among her last commissions, made me feel uncomfortable sharing it with more of her fanbase at large, but I figure my blog is quiet enough and just has my usual friends that I was ok posting it here.


So it was only a week ago I was chatting with Bani and told her I would like a Memento Mori phone case, she offered to get to work on some new designs and let me pick my favorite. She got to it and soon was showing off her work. I picked my favorite and she said it was her favorite of the designs too.

That I had only spoken to her a week before just stunned me, there was no warning that she was sick. I read that she thought she had a fever, but then passed out and was unable to be revived by the time she was taken to the emergency room. She was just about a month shy of her 45th birthday.

I miss her sense of humor and vitality and it is a stark reminder to appreciate life and loved one.

Farewell Bani, you were something else entire and the world was a brighter place with you in it.

FanX 2017 Recap

I'm a week late, that's life. But hey, in that last week, the dictation software = Dragon, I have talked about for years now - is actually working for me. So I'll do a post about that very soon.

Back to the Con. It went pretty well, I signed a lot of books and even sold out of my copies of Redneck Eldritch, The Mad Song and Weird Tales of Horror.

The Saturday panel I did with the Space Balrogs was a lot of fun. I was the Undead and while I had some super dedicated fans and really enjoyed my last minute art round of demonstrating how death works to people = its eerily similar to duck, duck, goose. - James Wymore was dragons and had a singalong with some friends that was awesomely bad yet Dave Butler won with a phenomenal round doing an audience induction to becoming an elemental sorcerer via the Hokey Pokey - maybe you just had to be there.

Oh and that's me, a confused dinosaur and my the friend up and coming movie star, Wren Barnes.

Looking forward to the next one this September. And of course, here are some pics of the con.

This was the Space Balrogs on the panel.

Twilight Zone classics.

Me and the fantastic fitness model Dana Tracy. I first met her as Red Sonja at FanX two years ago.

Awesome Willow cosplay.

I don't know who she was but she looked fantastic.

the Lone Ranger turned up!

Jedi

I told them I was Dave but they were confused.

Me and rising cosplay superstar Joanie Brosas.

My son Mathias and one of his favorite Dr. Who episode folks.

Swedish Chef!

Ragnar and Lagertha.

Amazing Spawn and Angela.

Agent Carter

Odin and Son.

Chewie Dude and Walter Solo.

Poison Ivy just as I first reached my signing table.

View from the Green Room

Got my Flash Gordon poster signed by the man himself! Sam J. Jones!

Sam J. Jones - such a cool dude. I got to talk with him for a bit. Awesome guy!

FanX 2017!!!

I'm a guest at my pseudo-hometown Comic con = Salt Lake's Comic Con .2 Fan X.

It's always a little smaller, a little more intimate - and thats only in comparison to the September comic con which is huge. FanX is still bigger than most I'd imagine at 50K+ attendee's.

I'll be signing books with some of my writer friends at table Gold 2 -its pretty close to the entrance - which can be both a blessing and a curse. You're the first and last person they see.

I'm going to be doing another improv audience participation game/panel with the other Space Balrog's. I get to be The Undead vs Dragons vs Elementals. I think I'm going to do a suave vampire thing or I might go for broke with an evil Ash persona. Its always a lot of fun.

I watched What We Do in the Shadows again to think about character but now maybe I'll rewatch Army of Darkness again too.

On the home/writing front. I have not quite been able to keep up the pulp speed I would have hoped for, but progress is being made nonetheless. I can talk about these plans within plans more sooner than later. I'm excited for the possibilities.

Oh, I'm stoked! I'm going to see Flash Gordon in theaters tonight with Sam Jones - who is a guest of FanX. It's been one of my favorite pulpy sci-fi movies since I was in the second grade.

I wanted to be Flash when I was a kid, but genetics deemed me Ming.

I'll have more to report soon!

Salt Lake Comic Con 2016 Recap

I had a good time hanging with friends and even got interviewed three separate times! I'll share those when I know they are up. Would have liked to have sold more books but on the bright side I did get a few new fans!

The Space Balrogs Choose your Own
Apocalypse game went over real well - we packed the house!

I did get several books from friends which will be making it into the review Que. Overall it was a good time. I even got a photo with the Utah state Governor who stopped by our book booth.


And here are a few more pics I thought were cool.

And of course connections were made more books are in the works!

Comic Con Time

This is the big one - for me. Salt Lake Comic Con  is new, just a couple years old now and doesn't have near the name recognition of a slew of others like San Diego, New York or even Dragon Con but it is big. Around 150 K people are in attendance and by Saturday it is crazy. I do most of my looking around on Thursday before the crowds swell up. My boys will come with me on Saturday - they are cooking up their own cosplay for it. Mathias is thinking about being the Demogorgon from Stranger Things and Bear wants to be a steampunk Deadpool.

In any case, of course I'm a guest this year and will be signing books at Booth 2220 with my friends the Space Balrogs. I'll be on several panels as follows.

The Rocketeer- Celebrating an Overlooked Classic

Thursday September 1, 2016 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm 

25 years ago Disney's THE ROCKETEER starring Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, and Timothy Dalton soared into cinemas, but never found the mass audience it deserved. We take a look back at the highlights, making-of, and more about the film, as well as the franchise that never was (but should have been).
Room: 255C

Killing the Stigma - Combating Mental Illness Misinformation in Popular Culture

Friday September 2, 2016 10:00 am to 11:00 am 
(Hey, that's frigging early!!!)
Ranging from Batman's gallery of villains, the mad scientist and the homicidal socially awkward killer, fandom is rife with poor portrayals of mental illness and how it affects the person with the diagnosis. This panel will dissect and examine movies, television, comics, and books and their use of mental illness to drive their plots.
Room: 1551 A

Choose Your Own Apocalypse: Marvel Monsters Edition
Saturday September 3, 2016 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm 

The bad news is, the world is gonna end. The good news is, you get to pick how you go out. Will it be at the hands of the seductive Enchantress, or will humanity be consumed by Venom, Carnage & other corrupted Klyntar? Or will the world fall to the oldest mutant alive; a monster god appropriately named, Apocalypse? You get to decide in an interactive panel game of epic proportions! In Choose Your Own Apocalypse, each panelist represents a different way the world is going to end. A moderator conducts the panelists and audience through a series of rounds in which the panelists have to make their case for their specific apocalypse. They do this using campaign speeches, witty rhetoric, and performance art. Then the audience gets to choose who is the winner.

Room: 255C

An interesting thing to me about this Con in particular is I'm not on any writing tracks - which I always was before and you know what - that's a good thing. Who goes to writing tracks? Other writers. Do they want to get your book? Not very often. Usually they want to talk to you about their books. So as far as sales and fans its kind of a wash - talking fandom is usually the better way to go - so its all good this way.

I have print copies of Cold Slither I'll be signing and I'm very pleased with how its been doing online -its been sitting in the top ten for western horror and Whispers Out of the Dust has been joining it as of today. So that's pretty cool. I have admittedly tried to learn a little more about marketing this week than before when I just put stuff out there and hoped it would sell.

Oh and I believe the 12th issue of Utah Geek will be there as well featuring the 12th chapter in my ongoing noir fantasy serial Walking Through Walls. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna wrap it up in chapter 13 and then figure out what to do with it. Either release it as a novella or cannibalize it for another work - I'm not sure yet. I'll have a lot of pics to post next week when its over. Til next time.

Emerald City Comic Con Recap

I could'a should'a would'a posted this if not Sunday, Monday, but even then I was too tired yesterday. So Wednesday it is for what happened last Friday etc.

I flew out of SLC last Thursday night, landed in Seattle late. We (Jason King and Holli Anderson and I) enjoyed our chatty shuttle driver. We got to the hotel, right near the Space Needle and find out that Jason and I (who were sharing a room and we find out it had only one bed) The night manager brought a rollaway that barely fit in the room - it literally blocked the hall to the bathroom.

Jason got the rollaway.

We had breakfast then went downtown to the convention center. Loads of people were already there first thing in the morning but we got in without any real delay. We got our guest passes and started looking around for friends.
I'm used to a very large virtually one level con here in Utah, But Seattles' was multiple levels and floors and when we looked for the room our panel would be in I got us lost, because I took us to room 302, instead of T302.

I'm glad to say T302 was big room and once we did our Space Balrog game it was almost full of people.

Earlier, we met with pal Dave Butler, and a few others I've met at cons before. We saw some great cosplay and the Weta Workshop booth. Ireland Reid as Daphne (above). This was  a fantastic Ant-Man cosplay.

This is Cara Nicole = AZ Power Girl (who I met at FanX) she is currently running for the AZ House of Representatives. Wish I could vote for her.

These Masters of the Universe guys were great.


I bought a DVD from the Zombie Orpheus Guys and I highly recommend you check out their "Dorkness Rising" or "Journey Quest" parody fantasy movies = funny stuff.

Vera Bambi - very nice gal.

After lunch we walked down to Pikes Place Market, I bought some books and took a pic of a wonderful Cthulhu statue - really wish the guy had been willing to sell it but then I wouldn't have sold it either. It was great talking to him - he knows his pulp stiff we talked about how we wished there would be a Kane movie - he didn't have any Karl Edward Wagner books - it impressed me that he knew exactly who I was asking about.

We met up with Jason and Holli's marketing publicist Nikki of Curiosity Quills, she was very nice and took the group pic of us - not her fault it was dark. This Choose Your Own Apocalypse game was between Holli's Aliens (Interplanetarians being the politically correct term - this was Seattle after all) - Dave Butler's enraged ancient deity, Emmerod  of the insatiable itch and I was an Illuminati Service Representative.


I did very well in our initial debates, getting a lot of laughs, and briefly did some table dancing but ultimately Butler won out. I still can't believe people chose hemorrhoids for their apocalypse but alas we made some new friends and gave away some T-shorts Jason had made that unfortunately had a typo on our website logo.

We then went out to dinner, had some laughs and flew back to SLC the next day.

It was a good time and I'm looking forward to World Horror Con the end of this month.