This year’s con was a bit bigger than last year’s, and as always the con staff and crowd was great to work with. I set up shop between Cullen Bunn and Russ Dickerson, and while we didn’t have a ton of shopping traffic, we moved some product and met a lot of people, and we generally had a blast.

I didn’t have an opportunity to take a lot of pictures this year, but Amanda from Geek Details shot me a link to her Flicker set of VisionCon photos. You’ll see many of the guests there (including my fat ass), as well as some shots of the nightlife. For example, you’ll see that old white guys like to stand and yap until you get a few drinks into them.

Saturday morning I volunteered to be a kicking dummy for Wrath’s Muay Thai demonstration. We’ve got a few pictures of that, which I’ll share separately.

The other big event on Saturday was the return of the infamous Gross-out Contest. Formerly a fixture of the World Horror Convention until it was killed a few years ago, the con staff graciously allowed to resurrect it given the attendance of former champions Cullen, Wrath, and Mark McLaughlin. Brian served as emcee and I sat in on the judges’ panel, and we had over 50 people sit in on the readings. More than a few of them almost lost their dinner as the champions and several first-time readers brought their worst to the mic, and in the end Cullen won his 5th title, Wrath came in 2nd, and S.D. Hintz took 3rd.

Unfortunately the bar couldn’t put together a decent boilermaker, but the beauty of a con like VisionCon is the people know how to put together a good room party. In addition to Cullen’s patented diet margaritas, we grabbed drinks with names like Mojo, Green Slime, Deception, and Rusty Bucket. They all go down easy, and if you’re not having fun at a con like this, you’re just not trying.

After two weekends in a row on the road, it’s good to be home. I’m still catching up on email and other writing business, but I’m feeling energized and eager to get some more writing done. Finding a new good review didn’t hurt, either. Thanks again to Dave and his staff for bringing me back this year, and thanks as well to all the folks who came to hang out with us (there are far too many of you to list!). I hope to be there again next year!

The tour officially kicked off Saturday at Dark Delicacies in Burbank. Dark Delicacies is a cool little store catering to horror fans, selling books, movies, and novelties. The iconic Frankenstein’s monster statue waited out front, just as it had on my first visit about eight years ago.

Which one has the better complexion?

The signing didn’t start until 2pm, but we had folks coming in as early as a quarter after one. Several of our friends from the area showed up, as well as many long-time readers and fans. Brian Keene sold out of his books, and J.F. Gonzalez and I weren’t far behind.

Scribble scribble

I was surprised how many older books folks brought in, such as The Rising: Necrophobia, The Best of HorrorFind I and II, and even an ARC of New Dark Voices. One fan even had a limited edition copy of Deadliest of the Species (though he didn’t bring it), and asked what the status of the movie rights are. If only, right?

Keene, David Schow and Gonzalez

We signed until people stopped showing up, then hustled off to a meeting. While we did make some time to hang out and visit friends, next time we’re going to have to make it a longer trip to give us a little more time. Early the next morning we jumped out of bed and onto a plane bound for San Francisco.

We arrived at Borderlands Books just as they finished setting up, and again we found fans and friends waiting for us. Not to mention Ripley the furry hairless cat.

Ripley got the crowd -- and the table -- warmed up for us

We did a brief reading to a packed store. It’s been a long time since I’ve read in public, and while I eased back into it, I pulled a pinhead move and read a different chapter than I intended. Whoops. However, the werewolf transformation scene seemed to go over well, and folks eagerly snapped up copies.

One seat left. I think Brian's breath scared 'em off.

We didn’t completely sell out, but the cold and rainy weather didn’t exactly work in our favor. I also can’t complain because a great review showed up in the Examiner while we were out there.

The Pack: Winter Kill is short, snappy, and about as sweet as a chewed stogie, combining elements of pulp horror, hard-boiled detective, noir, and cinematically fast-moving action. — L.J. Moore, Examiner.com

Again, I wish the camera had taken better pictures. Though it’s a 5 megapixel cam and does a fair job with movies, it’s rather slow and unwieldy with stills. The slightest motion throws it off, so most of the pictures came out blurry. The rest of what I felt worth salvaging can be found here on Flickr.

The next leg of the tour starts tomorrow at VisionCon in Springfield, MO. I’m going to set Twitter to post to the blog again, and hopefully it will actually work this time. I hate leaving all that dead space here while I’m out and about, but technology being what it is, I sometimes don’t have a choice.

Hope to see some of you there!

There will be a bar in there somewhere, anyway.

Wish us luck, and we’re looking forward to seeing you there. I’m off to get my stuff together and maybe squeeze in a last minute Photo Friday entry.

For now I’ll leave you with an unrelated picture from this morning:

He's coming for us all!

Look at that magnificent bastard

Written by Louis Peitzman, the full article is “Mike Oliveri: He’s betting on werewolves“.

Way, way cool.

First up, the first reviews have been rolling in to Amazon (both the paperback and the Kindle edition), and so far they’ve been very positive. The noir-horror hybrid seems to be a big hit, and people have been happy with the pacing and action. So far, so good. I just hope magazine and newspaper reviewers are as generous.

In an attempt to encourage even more reviews, the publisher, Evileye Books, launched a review contest. If you’ve read the book, drop by and tell the world (or at least Amazon shoppers) what you think and you may just win a signed, limited edition hardcover edition of The Pack: Winter Kill. You’ve only got ’til Friday to enter, so get crackin’!

On Friday I’ll be catching a flight out to California to meet my friends (and authors) Brian Keene and J.F. Gonzalez, and on Saturday you can catch us at 2pm at Dark Delicacies in Burbank, CA. The following day, we’ll be heading up north Borderlands Books in San Francisco to sign at 3pm. I’ll be doing a lot of flying a s a result, but I’m looking forward to reconnecting with some old friends and meeting some new readers. (It’ll also be nice to trade in the snow and cold for some warmer weather.) There’s a full schedule on my Appearances page.

These are exciting times, and with a little effort, I should be able to keep up the momentum.

A little movie called The Wolfman is part of that feeling, and it doesn’t hurt that some of you watched a werewolf square off against some sparkling vampires in another little movie called New Moon, but this will be the year I feel like I can really contribute something to my favorite monster.

For starters, I’m taking The Pack: Winter Kill on the road starting this month. We’ve had our first contest, and reviewers will be receiving copies of the book soon.

Next up, you’ll start seeing Chimaera, the first The Pack comic from Evileye Books. The script is turned in, we’ll have an artist soon, and then we’ll get rolling on production. It’s a little early to discuss the firm plans, but I’ll just say you will likely see content sooner than you think.

Later this year we’ll be releasing the second The Pack prose book, which I’m working on but do not yet have a title for. I can tell you, though, that if you enjoy Winter Kill, you’re going to dig the next book. It’s going to have the same mix of crime thriller and supernatural horror.

Once I’m done writing the second prose book, I’ll get right to work on the second graphic novel. It may not see print before the end of the year (unfortunately the comics production side takes a lot longer than the prose side), but I should be able to bring you some teasers and production work to drool on.

And if all goes well, we’ll have a few other surprises for you, too! As always, stay tuned to this blog for more information.

These are exciting times, my friends, and it’s going to be a big year. Thanks to everyone who’s supported the book already, and thanks in advance to those of you who will be discovering the book and the series soon.

The Rising

Urban Gothic

Survivor

Primitive

Déjà vu?

Ack! Look at that gut! Right before I started karate.

Well, not really. Jesus (far right) mainly joined us to hang out at this signing at Comix Connection, and Coop (seated) won’t be coming to Cali, but we’re looking forward to hitting the road together. We’ve been friends for a while, and I’ve collaborated with both of them in the past. My collaboration with Brian, “To Fight With Monsters” (4×4), has long been unavailable, but you can still get your hands on the novella “Restore From Backup” by Jesus and I.

Come on out and see us at the following locations:

Burbank: Dark Delicacies Bookstore, January 16th, 2pm
San Francisco: Borderlands Books, January 17th, 3pm

January’s going to be a busy month for The Pack, but I’m excited to get out there and promote my work again. I’ll sign whatever you have, but please do support these stores while you’re there and pick up a book or two.

Look for additional signing locations in the coming weeks.

The official tour dates for my book The Pack: Winter Kill from Evileye Books is as follows:

CARMEL, IN – Barnes & Noble – Friday, January 8th, 7pm
BURBANK, CA – Dark Delicacies Bookstore – Saturday, January 16th, 2pm
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Borderlands Books – Sunday, January 17th, 3pm
SPRINGFIELD, MO – VisionCon, Clarion Hotel – January 22nd-24th

Books are confirmed, so we’re ready to roll! Mark your calendars, I hope to see a lot of you these trips.

I haven’t been out there since the 4×4 signing back in 2002, and I don’t think I’ve seen Alan, Jude, Jeremy, or the rest of the crew since World Horror 2003. Yikes! Way too long. I can’t wait to see the cafe Alan just added to the place.

Borderlands is the second stop on the trip, and the others will be announced soon. Evileye Books wants to make sure we have the books in place before announcing the signings, but Borderlands slipped me into their newsletter so I’m happy to continue the announcement here.

The good news is today Evileye has worked through some printing issues with the printer, so we’ll be good to go! As soon as they give me the high sign that the rest of the minitour dates will have stock, I’ll announce them as well.

If you’re in San Francisco, please stop on by and say hey! Borderlands is a great little shop and if you’re not shopping there already, you’re doing yourself a disservice. They fill orders by mail as well if you’re looking to get your hands on a signed copy but can’t make it to the store.

If you’ve never read Laymon before, I highly recommend you check out his book Savage. One of my favorite books in any genre, I often describe it as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for the horror genre.