The official website of Seattle sci-fi/fantasy author and geek Michael G. Munz
Okay, as both a Twin Peaks fan and a Simpsons fan (obligatory “not as good as it used to be, yadda yadda yadda” comment here), this is just pretty freaking cool. As reported by WelcomeToTwinPeaks.com, Belgian illustrator and art director Adrien Noterdaem has “Simpsonized” 15 Twin Peaks characters. Click on Leland Palmer below for all of the images and the full ensemble picture…
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| Time to go back to Missoula, Montana!! |
Well, an unspecified amount of time has passed, and you know what that means! (Okay, so actually you probably don’t, but just pretend like you do. Then again, you probably did see that whole “Top 5 List” thing up above there, so as you’re likely a reasonably observant person, you probably do have at least some inkling.) That’s right, it’s time for another geek-related Top 5 List, as always, chosen and voted on by an exclusive panel of me! This random period of time’s list is…
Once again, the list is in no particular order, because I have enough trouble narrowing the list down this far already, to say nothing of actually ranking favorites. [Read more…]
It’s official: My upcoming comedic contemporary fantasy, previously titled Murdering Zeus for Fun and Prophet, now has a final title and release date! (Cue the lights and some manner of musical gravitas!) Coming from Booktrope on July 21, 2014…
In part two of my reblogging some entries written a few years ago when I finished writing the original manuscript of what’s now titled Zeus is Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure (a comedic contemporary fantasy coming soon from Seattle publisher Booktrope!), I talk a little about the process of writing the novel itself. (See part one for the origin of the idea.) Writing it was a blast, though not without difficulties…
(Note that the working title of the novel was Murdering Zeus for Fun and Prophet.)
In my last entry I wrote about how I originally embarked on writing the (completed) manuscript I’m now calling Murdering Zeus for Fun and Prophet. At the time I began, I only made a few veiled comments about what I was working on. “Somewhat less serious” was the phrase I used when comparing it to my previous work, but I didn’t mention anything at the time about Greek gods.
So I’m in the process of moving to a new home (nowhere far, just from one Seattle neighborhood to another), which means I’m going through my stuff and culling the herd a bit to make moving easier. I’ve been here for a while, so there’s quite a bit of stuff to go through, and in a box in the back of my closet I found something amusing: The very first book I ever wrote.
Note that I did this in elementary school in 1985. I’d like to think my writing has improved at least a little bit since then. It was a class project, if I remember right. Every student wrote one, as well as doing the actual binding and illustrations. (I’d like to think my drawing has improved at least a little bit since then, too. I’d like to. But it hasn’t.) So now, without further ado, I present to you my first ever novel, the sci-fi tour de force known as…
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| It was the 1980s. Cover art wasn’t as important back then. Apparently. |
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| Look at that quality binding! Yessir, slathered rubber cement! |
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| See, there it is. Proof I wrote it, right there in…pencil! I know, the title page gives away a major plot twist. I was young and naive. |
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| See? Copyright! All rights reserved! No stealing this for your next movie, Shia LaBeouf! (Always copyright your schoolwork, kids. The teacher will add 10 points right off the bat, I swear.) |
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| “Once there was a boy named Fred. One day Fred got in a fight and got two black eyes.” (Isn’t that a wonderful beginning? I can actually remember wanting to establish how good Fred was at kicking people here.) |
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| “He was walking on the field (after the fight) and he saw a silver disk coming down. Then a read beam came down and zapped him up!” (The exclamation point tells you it’s exciting!) |
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| “When he awoke he found he was in a cage. But the bars were wide apart and he easily got through. After that he ran down the hall and came to a corner.” (Cages. Aliens are terrible at ’em. This is exactly how Captain Kirk escaped from the Klingons on three separate occasions. Why is “was” written in cursive? Because! I guess.) |
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| “He peeked around the corner and saw two guards! Then Fred turned the corner and kicked over a guard who landed on the other guard!” (More exclamation points! The non-illustrated fight scene is exciting!! I actually rather like the look of the aliens. Especially their merit badges. I guess they got their abduction badges that day.) |
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| “Then he pushed a button and the door flew open. He went inside and got in the spaceship inside.” (It’s important to demonstrate how doors get opened. Buttons!) |
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| “Then he shot out of the bigger spaceship and blew it up with the small ship’s super-power lasers!” (Regular lasers wouldn’t have made a dent, you see. I liked drawing fireballs. I can remember being particularly pleased with this one.) |
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| “After that he of toward Earth. When he got to the school he circled the field once and then went home early.” (Geez. That should be “…he flew off toward…” This is why you should always have someone else proofread your work before publication!) |
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| “The next day he told his friends about his adventure but no one believed him. ‘Oh well,’ he thought. ‘I’ll just drop it.’ And he did.” (I guess this is the part with all the angst that makes it art. Or something.) |
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| THE END Wasn’t that a fantastic book, boys and girls? Well? Wasn’t it? And yet there was never a movie deal or even a sequel. |