THIS MODERN NIGHTMARE

GOODBYE, JOE MCGEE

Horror writer Joseph McGee died last night in his sleep. He was only 23 years old. I don't know any details at this time, although he did have diabetes, and some people think that might have had a role in his death.

Joe has two novels out: THE REAPER (from Snuff Books) and SNOW HILL.

The first time I heard from him was a couple of years ago, concerning a charity anthology to benefit diabetes (which sadly, never got off the ground). And later I stayed in touch with him as co-chair of the New England Horror Writers (NEHW), of which he was a member. We also wrote friendly emails back and forth now and then. I didn't know him really well, but he was good guy.

After corresponding with Joe by email for awhile, it was nice to finally meet him this past October at the Rock and Shock convention in Worcester, MA. Joe was a really nice, upbeat guy who was incredibly enthusiastic about writing and the horror genre.

He had a lot of friends in the horror community, and he'll be missed.

My thoughts go out to his family and friends at this time.

LL

BIZARRO THANKSGIVING

It's been a weird week, and Thanksgiving was no different. We started cooking about noon, when all the fire alarms in the building went off. Someone in one of the apartments below us burned their dinner and the cops and fire engines showed up. Ever since a couple of years ago when we had a real fire in the building, I've been a little paranoid about the alarms going off. Luckily, this time was a false alarm. But it kinda ruined the whole day. Made it difficult to kick back and relax, like I'd originally planned.

Sometimes I really hate living in an apartment building.

Laura and I made a six pound duck (I prefer duck to turkey, and it was just the two of us) and all the trimmings. And we drank a lot of sour apple martinis. I ended up reminiscing a lot about my best friend Jim who died recently, and I finally cried a bit. For some reason I was in shock when it happened and just felt numb. It felt good to finally grieve. But it didn't make for an especially enjoyable Thanksgiving.

Luckily, we didn't have to travel this year on Thanksgiving, which is why we'd planned to just relax. So much for that.

Hope you all had a good holiday.

***
Not much else going on. I just sent out one of my shorter novels to a new publisher and I've been fine-tuning my last novel to send out again somewhere. So I've been productive at least. I still have a few new novallas and stories to write for upcoming anthologies. It's only Friday, so I hope to get a lot more writing done over the weekend.

Some shows have been wrapping up this week. I saw the season finale of TRUE BLOOD and liked it a lot. It tied up a lot of loose ends (including who was going around killing all those women) and set up some new things for next season. This show had a bumpy start, but it's become one of my favorite shows. I'm really looking forward to next season.

I also saw the series finale of THE SHIELD, another one of my favorite shows. I've been following Vic Mackie and the strike team since Season 1, and this show has been consistently good throughout its run. Its final season was no different. The last episode gave us the suicide of Shane, the betrayal of Ronnie, and Vic being kicked off the force and neutered with a desk job with I.C.E.

The show had some of its most powerful scenes this season. Including Vic finally confessing his crimes in return for immunity. The scene was really intense, and some of Michael Chiklis's finest acting.

I'm really going to miss this show.

Haven't seen many movies lately. And I've been trying to be good and get a lot of writing done. I hope all this hard work pays off.

***
SOME OTHER RANDOM STUFF

RUDY RAY MOORE

Rudy Ray Moore died last month. He was the star of several so-called "blaxploitation" films in the 1970s, including the classics DOLEMITE (1975) and its equally hilarious sequel THE HUMAN TORNADO (1976), where he played the character Dolemite. Dolemite was a pimp and a (bad) kung fu fighter, and he was funny as hell. Moore also made tons of stand-up albums in the 70s and 80s and was one a precursor to rap, telling stories in a rhyming style called toasting. Moore's movies were underrated and he was funny as hell. He'll be missed.

Some funny quotes from the Dolemite movies:

"That rat soup eatin', insecure, honky mutha fucka!"

"I'm gonna let 'em know that Dolemite is back on the scene! I'm gonna let 'em know that Dolemite is my name, and fuckin' up motha fuckas is my game!"

"Man, move over and let me pass 'fore they have be to pullin' these Hush Puppies out your mothafuckin' ass!"

MUSIC

I recently got new albums by EAGLES OF DEATH METAL ("Heart On"), THE CURE ("4:13 Dream") and AC/DC ("Black Ice"). All good stuff. I'm really digging "Heart On."

Oh yeah, and I was really happy that Obama won. I haven't voted for a winner in a long time.