There are several writers whom I idolize. There’s of course Stephen King, my love for which I’ve spoken of many times in the past, and there’s Joss Whedon, whose work on Buffy, Angel, and Firefly has thrilled and chilled me many times over. But, to that list has to be added Kevin Smith. For those who don’t know him, Kevin Smith is the writer/director of such films as CLERKS, CHASING AMY, and ZACK & MIRI MAKE A PORNO. If you’ve never heard of those films, I don’t blame you, but I do judge you. His films have always slanted to the comedic, and they’re usually dialogue heavy, with said dialogue coming from hip, young characters. CLERKS, his first film, came out nearly twenty years ago, and he’s been entertaining me since then. He’s also known for his comic book writing, but for me that’s really just the icing on top of his already amazing film career cake. The guy is just a damn good writer. In fact, I idolize him so much I own an action figure of him, and I have it sitting on my desk like a patron saint of writing so that he can watch over me and give me inspiration when I need it. Photographic evidence has been provided to the right. Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Smith’s burgeoning podcast network. He has several great shows, and soon it’ll be growing into an actual internet radio station. My week would be pretty dull without listening to him and his friends talk about their lives and loves and work. If you’ve never listened to SModcast, then you’re seriously missing out.

But, all of that isn’t why I’m writing this blog entry. No, I’m writing this because I recently got to meet Kevin Smith, and it was a fantastic experience. You see, his next film is RED STATE, and it is very much unlike his usual fare in that it’s a horror movie. And, not only is it his first horror movie, but it’s also a movie that he didn’t want to sell the distribution rights to, so he’s been going around the country to show it to audiences himself. Luckily for me, one of his stops was Austin, which is about three to four hours south of me. Now, I have to say, when my brother first brought up the idea of going to Austin to see the movie and Kevin Smith, I was hesitant. I am a creature of habit to the extreme, and the idea of going so far to do something so other than what I’d normally be doing made me itchy. Even though I love Smith’s work, I didn’t want to go. Were it not for my wife saying she wanted to go too, I probably would have stayed home. But, she did want to go, as did my brother’s wife, so we decided to make a little trip out of it. We’d get tickets, drive together to Austin, see the movie, and then drive home the next day. It would a simple, fun time. Knowing we’d all be together made it easier for me to want to go. So, we made plans.

Cut to a couple of weeks ago, and my brother telling me that not only were we going to see the movie, but he’d also gotten us backstage passes to MEET Kevin Smith. How had my brother performed this incredible feat? After cyber-stalking Kevin for what seemed like months, finally he broke through, and Kevin said my brother could have the passes if Scott could give him something in return. Well, as luck would have it, my brother had a short song he’d created awhile ago, and he sent it to Kevin to see if he liked it. Indeed he did, and four backstage passes were issued for us. Joy! Fast-forward to a few days ago, and we all drove to Austin. My wife loves the city, as do I, so it was a pleasure to be there anyway, but knowing we’d get to meet Kevin Smith AND see the movie made it that much sweeter.

Now, if you don’t know who Kevin Smith is, I can only assume you also don’t know what RED STATE is about. RED STATE is a rather simple film, all things considered, but it is a brutal film as well. RED STATE tells the tale of three boys who think they’re going to drive to an internet hookup and get laid, only to have their little sexual sojourn turn into a horrifying ordeal at the hands of a congregation of religious zealots made in the mold of the famous Phelps family, but taken to an extreme. Soon the ATF is called in, and all hell breaks loose at the Five Points Trinity Church compound, which is part Westboro Baptist Church and part Branch Davidian Complex. It’s a short movie, but every second of it counts, and there is no fat to be had. We all really enjoyed it. I wish I had a copy of it so that I could watch it again. If you get a chance, go see it for yourselves. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

After the film, as he’s done at every stop on the tour, Kevin likes to come out and do a little Q&A with the audience. I say little, but really it ended up being about an hour and a half of him talking about the film and his plans for the future (which includes making one more movie — HIT SOMEBODY — before he retires from the film industry and concentrates on his writing, his internet radio show, and developing an independent film distribution company). I loved hearing him talk, but after an hour or so my legs were killing me, I was sweating like crazy, and I needed to go to the bathroom. When it was over, it was bittersweet. Fortunately we knew we were going to meet Kevin soon, so it really wasn’t over at all.

I’ve been lucky, in that because of my podcast and writing I’ve gotten to meet a lot of celebrities I look up to, either in person or over the phone while interviewing them. I’ve met Kevin Anderson (writer of more books than I’ll ever be able to produce from my meager fingers), Nathan Fillion (star of such TV shows as Firefly and Castle), Ray Park (his greatest claim to fame was playing the roll of Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace, and you need to hear my wife tell the story of that meeting), and Tracy Hickman (one of the authors of the Dragon Lance series, which when I was kid I thought was better than The Lord Of The Rings) amongst others. Meeting Kevin Smith might have been better than them all, because not only did I get to shake his hand and tell him how much I liked his work, but for those few moments he was really engaged with me on a personal level. Thanks to my brother I was able to talk to and touch a person I idolize. Thank you, Scott. And thank you, too, to Kevin Smith. I really hope you kept my business card, and that you call me. I know you’d have fun on my podcast, and getting to talk more with you would be a dream come true.

Anyway, that’s it from me. The trip to Austin was great, the movie was amazing, and I’m still kind of floating on the high of it. Now if only I could figure out a way to meet Stephen King and Joss Whedon…

A huge congratulations is in order for author and podcaster (not to mention hall-of-fame Dead Robot) P.G. Holyfield. Today he announced that Murder at Avedon Hill has won the inaugural Dr. John William Polidori Award for Best Vampire Novel of 2010. If you’d like to listen to the awards and hear his brief acceptance speech, please go to the Out of the Coffin podcast and check out episode 70.

Well done, Mr. Holyfield! I feel like we had a hand in getting you this honor (we didn’t, but I want to feel like we did anyway). I really hope you enjoy this award, and that it helps take some of the sting out of never winning a Parsec.

In all seriousness, congratulations! We Dead Robots are very very proud of you.

Publisher’s Summary: “Car mechanic Mercy Thompson has always known there was something different about her, and not just the way she can make a VW engine sit up and beg. Mercy is a shapeshifter, a talent she inherited from her long-gone father. She’s never known any others of her kind. Until now.

An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River-one that her father’s people may know something about. And to have any hope of surviving, Mercy and her mate, the Alpha werewolf Adam, will need their help…”

River Marked is the sixth book in the Mercedes Thompson urban fantasy series.

Be advised there may be some minor spoilers below.

It may just be me, but one of the big draws in good urban fantasy is a strong female protagonist. Patricia Briggs delivers in spades with Mercy Thompson. She’s tough, independent, smart, and a truly good person. That makes her very easy to root for and makes for an emotional ride when she hits a rough spot. And the author isn’t shy about putting her through the wringer on occasion, either. That makes this series one of the best in the urban fantasy genre.

In this book, Mercy finally ties the knot with sexy Adam Hauptman, the Alpha of the werewolf pack that lives behind her lot, and they’re off on their honeymoon. Their relationship has been moving this way for quite some time, and seeing her making her personal life work was very satisfying.

Of course, being off on their own without any of the secondary characters I’ve come to love made for a different tone. There was a bit more romance, which I liked, and fewer subplots, which I didn’t like so much. That lack hurt my enjoyment of the book a little.

We did get to see a few new secondary characters, though, and some of them look like they might be recurring. The main one was Coyote of Indian legend. As one would expect, he both helps and hinders her as she tries to stop a monster that has been killing people. He also provided some surprising and interesting insight into her mysterious father, a man who died before she was born. I’m hoping he makes further appearances later in the series.

The tone in River Marked was a bit different from the earlier books in the series, and it detracted from my enjoyment. While I welcomed the added focus on her relationship and the romance, the pressure seemed too light on Mercy, which slowed the pace more than I liked. I really think not including the established cast of characters also hurt the story a little.

Even so, it was a good read and a solid addition to the series. I’ll eagerly be awaiting the next book to see what happens next. I’ll give it four stars and recommend it strongly.

This week the Robots are joined by Paul E. Cooley to help Justin brainstorm his next book, STILL WATER. This one will be a horror novel, and who better to help us out than Paul, the FiendMaster himself? Please enjoy and send along your own thoughts!

Paul’s Website

Terry’s New Website

The Radiolab episode Eli mentioned

This week’s promo – Ministry of Peculiar Ooccurrences

Terry here. The editor of the anthology I’m in this April has made a blog post about the stories included in the book. She gives a rundown on all the stories that were included. Give it a look, and if the urge strikes, preorder a copy. There is some not safe for work cover art on this page, so check it out from home. Bet you can figure out which one I am.

This week Justin, Terry, and Amanda settle in to say goodbye to Ryan. He has been part of the show since it started over three years ago, and it has been an absolute blast. Ryan, you will be terribly missed, and you’ll always be a Dead Robot. Goodbye…

This week’s promo – Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine

As was mentioned in this week’s episode, Ryan has made the decision to leave the DRS podcast at the end of this year. No animosity or acrimony precipitated this decision, so no one need worry that he’s leaving under anything but good feelings and well wishes. Ryan is an amazing person, and we are going to miss him terribly. He has been part of the podcast since it began over three years ago, always ready with a witty comment and joke, and we know the show won’t be the same without him. Trust me, this isn’t easy on any of us…

If you have something you’d like to say to Ryan, a goodbye or a well wish or especially a jab, please send it in. We’d love to have some emails and voice mails to send him off with. It would mean a lot to us, and I know he’d love it. His last episode will be here before you know it, so please send them in as soon as you can.

Thank you so much…

I saw this recently and thought you fine folks might get a laugh out of it. I hope so, anyway. Enjoy…

Hey all, it’s Justin. I wanted to let you know that last weekend I was honored to appear on the Pendragon Variety Podcast, which is hosted by a bunch of kickass women, and we talked about my new work in progress – A Minor Magic. This is my first (urban post-apocalyptic) fantasy novel, and it’s my first time to write a young female character in a semi-modern world setting. The ladies of the PVP were amazing to talk to, and I know that their suggestions and advice will be a big help as hammer away at the story. If you’d like to listen in on the discussion, please do so by using the player below.

Thank you, ladies. You were a blast to talk to, and oh so helpful.

This is Justin Macumber’s podcast short story, “Dark Running.” It is the story of Charlie, a soldier called to answer for his past by a person driven by a desperate need for vengence. To save not only his own life, but that of his wife, Charlie will have to wade through the shifting shadows of his own mind. What he finds there will shake him to his core.

We hope you enjoy this audio story. If you’d like to read the text version, click HERE.

The following people lent their amazing voices to this production, and I cannot thank them enough:

Bryan Lincoln – Charlie
Veronica Giguere – Jane
J. Daniel Sawyer – Russian Soldier
Dan Absalonson – Jacob

The intro and outro song for this podcast is “Hold On For Your Life” by Chasing Melfina.