Critical Blast.
No, not a new Destroyer title. It's the name of a website which "is
dedicated to delivering news, reviews, opinions and interviews from the
field of entertainment and pop culture." One of the contributors is
Destroyer fan and book reviewer R.J. Carter.
Many of his Destroyer
articles appeared in The-Trades. Unfortunately, the site's owners
decided to stop running it, so that site is now defunct. But R.J. and
some of the other contributors got together and started Critical Review.
Go check it out and "like" the site's Facebook page as well.
Fortunately, R.J. managed to save some Destroyer and Legacy reviews and interviews, including this one with Warren Murphy and James Mullaney.
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Red on the Menu now available
The Red Menace #5: Red on the Menu, is now available from Amazon and also on Smashwords for epub,
pdf,
rtf,
lrf,
pdb,
txt
and html.
HOLD THE PICKLE, HOLD THE HOMICIDE!
Something fishy is going on at famous Franklin Morrow's Restaurants. Why is the most successful chain of eateries in the U.S. suddenly catering to the murder and mayhem crowd, and who exactly is the mysterious man in the ten gallon hat with an all-you-can eat appetite for death and destruction?
All signs point to something big and bad being served up soon, but the CIA, FBI and Pentagon are all out to lunch, leaving only one of America's intelligence agencies to chew around the edges of a vast and horrifying terror plot.
When one body too many surfaces, MIC Director Simon Kirk has finally had a bellyful of bad bistro news and decides that someone is in need of some just desserts. And, of course, who else but Podge Becket and the brilliant Dr. Thaddeus Wainwright would be dispatched to act as the ultimate antacid?
As always, how does America spell relief? R-E-D M-E-N-A-C-E!
Something fishy is going on at famous Franklin Morrow's Restaurants. Why is the most successful chain of eateries in the U.S. suddenly catering to the murder and mayhem crowd, and who exactly is the mysterious man in the ten gallon hat with an all-you-can eat appetite for death and destruction?
All signs point to something big and bad being served up soon, but the CIA, FBI and Pentagon are all out to lunch, leaving only one of America's intelligence agencies to chew around the edges of a vast and horrifying terror plot.
When one body too many surfaces, MIC Director Simon Kirk has finally had a bellyful of bad bistro news and decides that someone is in need of some just desserts. And, of course, who else but Podge Becket and the brilliant Dr. Thaddeus Wainwright would be dispatched to act as the ultimate antacid?
As always, how does America spell relief? R-E-D M-E-N-A-C-E!
Thursday, August 21, 2014
BREAKING DESTROYER MOVIE NEWS:
SHANE BLACK TO DIRECT “THE DESTROYER” FOR SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT, ATLAS ENTERTAINMENT, AND CURRENTENTERTAINMENT TO PRODUCE
Jim Uhls & James Mullaney Penning the Screenplay Based On the Long-Running Book Series
LOS ANGELES, CA, AUGUST 21, 2014 – Sony Pictures Entertainment announced today Shane Black will direct the film adaptation of the popular adventure book series THE DESTROYER by Warren Murphy. Penning the screenplay are Jim Uhls (Fight Club) and James Mullaney; Mullaney co-authored and became the sole writer of THE DESTROYER until the series’ end in 2008. Charles Roven, Steven Chasman, and Andy Horwitz will produce. Michael De Luca and Lauren Abrahams will oversee for Sony Pictures Entertainment.
THE DESTROYER is based on the series of paperback novels in which Newark cop Remo Williams is framed, sentenced to death, then resurrected following a botched execution. The reason? To serve as enforcement arm for CURE, a top-secret, extra-Constitutional arm of the U.S. government. Along with a seemingly ageless – and often hilarious – Asian assassin known only as Chiun, Williams sets out to "clean up" and take out those who oppose America’s interests. The surprisingly-heartfelt stories combine edgy old-school suspense with Eastern mysticism to produce unique, rapid-fire capers full of slick banter, social satire, and sudden violence.
“Shane has been a fan of the original DESTROYER book series since its inception and he has an incredible vision for this film. Atlas couldn’t be more fortunate to be working with this talented director on this material,” said Charles Roven of Atlas Entertainment. “The narrative Jim and James have created is incredibly rich and while it’s a story rooted in adventure, it is also very much character driven.”
“The Destroyer is a two-fisted classic and deserves no less than the genius of Shane Black,” said Michael De Luca, president of Production for Columbia Pictures.“We couldn't be more excited about his vision for this character.”
Shane Black is currently attached to co-write and direct DOC SAVAGE, based on the hero of pulp novels, films, and comic books, for Columbia Pictures. Black most recently wrote and directed IRON MAN 3, which became the fifth highest grossing film of all time worldwide. He began his career in screenwriting, making his mark with LETHAL WEAPON and collaborating on its sequel. Black’s directorial debut came in 2005 with his critically acclaimed KISS KISS BANG BANG starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Val Kilmer.
Jim Uhls is best known for having written the screenplay for the classic film FIGHT CLUB directed by David Fincher. Subsequently he has written a number of films and television shows, having worked with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Doug Liman, and Shane Black, to name a few. Jim began his career as an original member of The Actors Gang when it was founded at UCLA.
James Mullaney is a Shamus Award-nominated novelist who has written 37 books, as well as comics and short stories. He is author of the Red Menaceseries of spy thrillers and the comic-fantasy-noir Crag Banyon Mysteries detective series.
Black is represented by WME and David Greenblatt of GreenLit Creative. Uhls is represented by Paradigmand Anonymous Content. Mullaney is represented by David Greenblatt as well.
ABOUT SONY PICTURES:
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition and distribution; television production, acquisition and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com.
ABOUT ATLAS ENTERTAINMENT:
Atlas Entertainment, led by founder Charles Roven, produces blockbuster films as well as critically acclaimed features. Atlas Entertainment’s films have generated billions of dollars in revenues. Atlas is currently in production on the highly anticipated feature film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice for Warner Bros directed by Zack Snyder set for release on March 25, 2016. Also upcoming, Atlas Entertainment is in post-production on Duncan Jones’ Warcraft from Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures with a March 11, 2016 release. Atlas Entertainment is also filming the SYFY series 12 Monkeys, a drama series based on the 1995 Universal Pictures film directed by Terry Gilliam and produced by Charles Roven’s Atlas Entertainment, slated to premiere January 2015. The Atlas team most recently collaborated with David O. Russell on the critically acclaimed box office hit American Hustle which has grossed more than 250 million dollars in world wide box-office. Among its many accolades, the film won 3 BAFTA awards, was nominated for 10 Academy Awards ® including a Best Picture nomination for Atlas’ producers Charles Roven and Richard Suckle. It also received seven Golden Globe® nominations, winning 3 including Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical.
ABOUT CURRENT ENTERTAINMENT:
Current Entertainment, founded by Steven Chasman, has specialized in producing cutting edge action films. Chasman’s latest production Wild Card, based on the screenplay and novel Heat written by Academy Award-winner William Goldman, and starring Jason Statham, Stanley Tucci, Hope Davis and Sofia Vergara, will be released worldwide in the first quarter 2015. Chasman and Current Entertainment have also produced a number of films with Luc Besson, including the highly successful Transporter Trilogy starring Statham, the Jet Li-starring films Kiss of the Dragon and Unleashed, and Taxi starring Jimmy Fallon. Some of Current Entertainment's other productions include: Taylor Hackford-directed Parker based on the series of novels by Donald Westlake, which starred Statham, Jennifer Lopez and Nick Nolte, Blitz based on the novel by KenBruen, Killer Elite based on the true story written by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, starring Statham, Robert De Niro and Clive Owen, and alongside Charles Roven/Atlas Entertainment, Roger Donaldson’s critically acclaimed The Bank Job, starring Statham and based on the 1971 Baker Street bank robbery.
Jim Uhls & James Mullaney Penning the Screenplay Based On the Long-Running Book Series
LOS ANGELES, CA, AUGUST 21, 2014 – Sony Pictures Entertainment announced today Shane Black will direct the film adaptation of the popular adventure book series THE DESTROYER by Warren Murphy. Penning the screenplay are Jim Uhls (Fight Club) and James Mullaney; Mullaney co-authored and became the sole writer of THE DESTROYER until the series’ end in 2008. Charles Roven, Steven Chasman, and Andy Horwitz will produce. Michael De Luca and Lauren Abrahams will oversee for Sony Pictures Entertainment.
THE DESTROYER is based on the series of paperback novels in which Newark cop Remo Williams is framed, sentenced to death, then resurrected following a botched execution. The reason? To serve as enforcement arm for CURE, a top-secret, extra-Constitutional arm of the U.S. government. Along with a seemingly ageless – and often hilarious – Asian assassin known only as Chiun, Williams sets out to "clean up" and take out those who oppose America’s interests. The surprisingly-heartfelt stories combine edgy old-school suspense with Eastern mysticism to produce unique, rapid-fire capers full of slick banter, social satire, and sudden violence.
“Shane has been a fan of the original DESTROYER book series since its inception and he has an incredible vision for this film. Atlas couldn’t be more fortunate to be working with this talented director on this material,” said Charles Roven of Atlas Entertainment. “The narrative Jim and James have created is incredibly rich and while it’s a story rooted in adventure, it is also very much character driven.”
“The Destroyer is a two-fisted classic and deserves no less than the genius of Shane Black,” said Michael De Luca, president of Production for Columbia Pictures.“We couldn't be more excited about his vision for this character.”
Shane Black is currently attached to co-write and direct DOC SAVAGE, based on the hero of pulp novels, films, and comic books, for Columbia Pictures. Black most recently wrote and directed IRON MAN 3, which became the fifth highest grossing film of all time worldwide. He began his career in screenwriting, making his mark with LETHAL WEAPON and collaborating on its sequel. Black’s directorial debut came in 2005 with his critically acclaimed KISS KISS BANG BANG starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Val Kilmer.
Jim Uhls is best known for having written the screenplay for the classic film FIGHT CLUB directed by David Fincher. Subsequently he has written a number of films and television shows, having worked with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Doug Liman, and Shane Black, to name a few. Jim began his career as an original member of The Actors Gang when it was founded at UCLA.
James Mullaney is a Shamus Award-nominated novelist who has written 37 books, as well as comics and short stories. He is author of the Red Menaceseries of spy thrillers and the comic-fantasy-noir Crag Banyon Mysteries detective series.
Black is represented by WME and David Greenblatt of GreenLit Creative. Uhls is represented by Paradigmand Anonymous Content. Mullaney is represented by David Greenblatt as well.
ABOUT SONY PICTURES:
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition and distribution; television production, acquisition and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com.
ABOUT ATLAS ENTERTAINMENT:
Atlas Entertainment, led by founder Charles Roven, produces blockbuster films as well as critically acclaimed features. Atlas Entertainment’s films have generated billions of dollars in revenues. Atlas is currently in production on the highly anticipated feature film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice for Warner Bros directed by Zack Snyder set for release on March 25, 2016. Also upcoming, Atlas Entertainment is in post-production on Duncan Jones’ Warcraft from Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures with a March 11, 2016 release. Atlas Entertainment is also filming the SYFY series 12 Monkeys, a drama series based on the 1995 Universal Pictures film directed by Terry Gilliam and produced by Charles Roven’s Atlas Entertainment, slated to premiere January 2015. The Atlas team most recently collaborated with David O. Russell on the critically acclaimed box office hit American Hustle which has grossed more than 250 million dollars in world wide box-office. Among its many accolades, the film won 3 BAFTA awards, was nominated for 10 Academy Awards ® including a Best Picture nomination for Atlas’ producers Charles Roven and Richard Suckle. It also received seven Golden Globe® nominations, winning 3 including Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical.
ABOUT CURRENT ENTERTAINMENT:
Current Entertainment, founded by Steven Chasman, has specialized in producing cutting edge action films. Chasman’s latest production Wild Card, based on the screenplay and novel Heat written by Academy Award-winner William Goldman, and starring Jason Statham, Stanley Tucci, Hope Davis and Sofia Vergara, will be released worldwide in the first quarter 2015. Chasman and Current Entertainment have also produced a number of films with Luc Besson, including the highly successful Transporter Trilogy starring Statham, the Jet Li-starring films Kiss of the Dragon and Unleashed, and Taxi starring Jimmy Fallon. Some of Current Entertainment's other productions include: Taylor Hackford-directed Parker based on the series of novels by Donald Westlake, which starred Statham, Jennifer Lopez and Nick Nolte, Blitz based on the novel by KenBruen, Killer Elite based on the true story written by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, starring Statham, Robert De Niro and Clive Owen, and alongside Charles Roven/Atlas Entertainment, Roger Donaldson’s critically acclaimed The Bank Job, starring Statham and based on the 1971 Baker Street bank robbery.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Thanks to Randy Johnson for his review of Flying Blind.
Randy's Blog: Not the Baseball Pitcher
And the review on Amazon is HERE
If this review gets you interested in Banyon, please follow Randy's lead and review the books on Amazon or Barnes and Noble or anyplace you can get the word out. Reviews help sales and keep a poor writer in gin and printer ink.
Randy's Blog: Not the Baseball Pitcher
And the review on Amazon is HERE
If this review gets you interested in Banyon, please follow Randy's lead and review the books on Amazon or Barnes and Noble or anyplace you can get the word out. Reviews help sales and keep a poor writer in gin and printer ink.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Personal Stuff
I
don't write about personal stuff online. Sharing details of my life with
the world isn't my bag, baby. But I'm making an exception here because
it might be important for someone who might stumble upon this post. More
on that in a minute.
About a month ago, my mother started acting a little goofy. Just small things, but over the course of a few days they added up to a pattern. You've all probably heard that a urinary tract infection can cause clouded thinking, slurred speech, etc. We hadn't. She was put on the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin. Way down the list of side effects is a long list of psychiatric side effects. My mom got the works: hallucinations, anxiety, depression, depersonalization...a half dozen more. She basically went nuts. She was hospitalized for two weeks. Nearly every doctor was worthless. Some, in fact, made her worse. They began looking for stuff it wasn't, and a lumbar puncture left her unable to walk and she wound up with pneumonia. The reason for her sudden behavior change was simple to us, because we did the research. She had gone from common UTI symptoms and then took six hits of acid.
I'll be writing a lot more about this at some point in the future, because the details will appall you, but I'm writing this Reader's Digest version now because maybe somebody out there right now -- this very morning -- is going through what we went through this past month.
For nearly a month, my mother has had something people online very accurately refer to as "brain fog." She'd answer questions, but she wasn't all there. On a good day, half her brain was with us, but the other half was somewhere beyond Neptune. Thank God during this time we met two people whose mothers had the exact same reaction to Cipro. They told us the fog would last about a month and that it'd take two months for it to completely clear. No doctor told us this. On Thursday, my mom's head began to clear. This was 25 days after her last Ciprofloxacin pill. By Thursday night, she was maybe 90% herself again. We were worried that she'd drop back into the fog the next day, because that can and may yet happen. She didn't, and she hasn't, and she's remained alert and herself since Thursday. She's smiling again, cracking wise, and she engages in conversations rather than stares at the wall like a zombie.
Like I said, I'll be writing more about this later on. (You'll especially love the part about the doctor who casually assured us very early on Thursday morning -- the very day my mom woke up and finally broke through the fog -- that she wasn't getting better, that she was in fact getting worse, and that she'd be dead in six to eight months. I carry around a list of Cipro's psychiatric side effects in my wallet now, and when I tried to show them to this moron he wouldn't even read them.) I'm writing this now because online research was only semi-helpful. What helped most of all were the two people we met who told us that the exact same thing happened to their mothers on this drug and that it would take a month for the brain fog to clear, and another month to get back to normal.
I don't tell people to share my posts, but this one might be a good one because who knows? Maybe somebody on your list or somebody on their list or somebody on somebody else's list you don't even know is right now going through what we went through, with unhelpful doctors ignoring documented side effects and equally unhelpful Internet Web sites that shriek "CIPRO IS POISON!" It's not. It's medicine that works well for most people. But when it doesn't work...brother, it don't work. But for those of you out there right now whose loved ones are in the .1 to 1% who've won this rare, terrible side-effects lottery: give it a month. As terrible as it is, it does get better.
About a month ago, my mother started acting a little goofy. Just small things, but over the course of a few days they added up to a pattern. You've all probably heard that a urinary tract infection can cause clouded thinking, slurred speech, etc. We hadn't. She was put on the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin. Way down the list of side effects is a long list of psychiatric side effects. My mom got the works: hallucinations, anxiety, depression, depersonalization...a half dozen more. She basically went nuts. She was hospitalized for two weeks. Nearly every doctor was worthless. Some, in fact, made her worse. They began looking for stuff it wasn't, and a lumbar puncture left her unable to walk and she wound up with pneumonia. The reason for her sudden behavior change was simple to us, because we did the research. She had gone from common UTI symptoms and then took six hits of acid.
I'll be writing a lot more about this at some point in the future, because the details will appall you, but I'm writing this Reader's Digest version now because maybe somebody out there right now -- this very morning -- is going through what we went through this past month.
For nearly a month, my mother has had something people online very accurately refer to as "brain fog." She'd answer questions, but she wasn't all there. On a good day, half her brain was with us, but the other half was somewhere beyond Neptune. Thank God during this time we met two people whose mothers had the exact same reaction to Cipro. They told us the fog would last about a month and that it'd take two months for it to completely clear. No doctor told us this. On Thursday, my mom's head began to clear. This was 25 days after her last Ciprofloxacin pill. By Thursday night, she was maybe 90% herself again. We were worried that she'd drop back into the fog the next day, because that can and may yet happen. She didn't, and she hasn't, and she's remained alert and herself since Thursday. She's smiling again, cracking wise, and she engages in conversations rather than stares at the wall like a zombie.
Like I said, I'll be writing more about this later on. (You'll especially love the part about the doctor who casually assured us very early on Thursday morning -- the very day my mom woke up and finally broke through the fog -- that she wasn't getting better, that she was in fact getting worse, and that she'd be dead in six to eight months. I carry around a list of Cipro's psychiatric side effects in my wallet now, and when I tried to show them to this moron he wouldn't even read them.) I'm writing this now because online research was only semi-helpful. What helped most of all were the two people we met who told us that the exact same thing happened to their mothers on this drug and that it would take a month for the brain fog to clear, and another month to get back to normal.
I don't tell people to share my posts, but this one might be a good one because who knows? Maybe somebody on your list or somebody on their list or somebody on somebody else's list you don't even know is right now going through what we went through, with unhelpful doctors ignoring documented side effects and equally unhelpful Internet Web sites that shriek "CIPRO IS POISON!" It's not. It's medicine that works well for most people. But when it doesn't work...brother, it don't work. But for those of you out there right now whose loved ones are in the .1 to 1% who've won this rare, terrible side-effects lottery: give it a month. As terrible as it is, it does get better.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
More than halfway through writing the latest
Red Menace, "Red on the Menu." Just read a line of dialogue I forgot I
wrote while exhausted late last night that made me laugh out loud, which
is always a nice surprise. If you aren't yet acquainted with the Red
Menace, what's wrong with you? Any of the books will do for a start.
Here's a good one:
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
New Review for Sea No Evil
Thanks, Julia Hopkinson, for your review of Sea No Evil at Readers' Favorites.
 |
| On Sale at Amazon, B&N, Smashwords |
Monday, February 10, 2014
Importance of Reviews
I
just wrote a great big February newsletter filling in subscribers on the
importance of Amazon reviews. I figured The Red Menace and Crag Banyon
pages would be the best place to find the biggest fans. I'll post this
to both pages.
In a nutshell, Amazon reviews make or break a series. You might think that books from your favorite authors will keep going on without your help. They might not. This isn't the old days, with series books clogging the shelves of the corner bookstore. A couple of minutes of your time over on Amazon could mean the difference between life and death for The Red Menace and Crag Banyon. It really is that simple.
If you've read and enjoyed only the most recent books -- A Red Letter Day or Bum Luck -- or just the first books in each series -- Red and Buried or One Horse Open Slay -- it doesn't matter. Review one book, review them all. Obviously I'd prefer all, but, hey, I'll take what I can get. I need your help, folks, and so do Podge Becket & Dr. Wainwright and Banyon, Mannix, Doris and all the rest. If you wait, you'll forget, do it now. Thanks in advance.
In a nutshell, Amazon reviews make or break a series. You might think that books from your favorite authors will keep going on without your help. They might not. This isn't the old days, with series books clogging the shelves of the corner bookstore. A couple of minutes of your time over on Amazon could mean the difference between life and death for The Red Menace and Crag Banyon. It really is that simple.
If you've read and enjoyed only the most recent books -- A Red Letter Day or Bum Luck -- or just the first books in each series -- Red and Buried or One Horse Open Slay -- it doesn't matter. Review one book, review them all. Obviously I'd prefer all, but, hey, I'll take what I can get. I need your help, folks, and so do Podge Becket & Dr. Wainwright and Banyon, Mannix, Doris and all the rest. If you wait, you'll forget, do it now. Thanks in advance.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Thanks to K.S. Brooks and the folks at Indies Unlimited for featuring my latest Banyon Mystery, Bum Luck, in their Fun Titles for February post.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Bum Luck Cover
The cover of Bum Luck (the Crag Banyon Mysteries #5) is finished. Thanks for the great job, Micah Birchfield:
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