Current location:	Downtown Vernon, Baby
Current mood:	productive
Current music:	Warren Zevon, "Lawyers Guns and Money"

A Small but Concentrated Update

In the Middle of a God-Awful Summer

Heat! Tornados! Ridiculous gas prices! How’s your summer been? We’ve been coping as best as we can; after all, this year’s crop of Summer movies have been pretty faboo, and despite the lackluster turnout (nationwide, not just with us), we remain optimistic.

I’ve been busy, setting up my office in the Plaza, along with my library, and also my private work space. Moving all of my books into the new library has been an easy chore, because every time I open a box up, it’s Christmas all over again. I’m still trying to get the office set up, which will allow me to transfer ALL of the Plaza Business over to the theater, and will frankly empty my personal office. I’m de-cluttering, re-organizing, and not surprisingly, my writing has picked up.

I’ve done some Robert E. Howard-based writing (book intros, prep work on two different articles), and I’ve done some fiction writing! I’ve got a couple of short stories based on a character that I really love. They are fast and fun for me to write, and they really crack me up. They shouldn’t, I know, but there you have it. I’m the funniest person I know. I’m still waiting for news about a reprint of Blood & Thunder from Del Rey. And, because I still have time left over for sleep and food, I’m co-editing a fiction book with a buddy of mine from REHupa, a benefit book that will raise money for Project Pride, the organization that takes care of the Robert E. Howard house in Cross Plains, Texas.

If I saw you at this year’s Robert E. Howard Days, thank you for attending during the year that I was the Guest of Honor (the youngest ever, in fact). That was a fun gig, and I really enjoyed reading and performing and in general hobnobbing with everyone at length.

In the Upcoming Appearances Department, you can find me in Austin this August 15-17 at ArmadilloCon 30. Count on me for some general tomfoolery there. Unfortunately, unless some sort of fuel-related miracle happens, I will not be attending World Fantasy this year. Flying to Canada is just too darned expensive, as much as I’d like to go.

And for those of you who can’t get enough of my rambling screeds, I was recently interviewed by the gang at Major Spoilers for their regular podcast. You can find it here, and my bit starts about 30 minutes into the show.

As Wowio collapses under the weight of its new owners and me and the Clockwork Storybook gang have pulled our old material off of the site, I am considering some self-publishing of my own. A variety of projects suggest themselves, from the second, long-overdue Sam Bowen volume to a script book for the Sailor Steve Costigan Radio Plays and all points in between. I am really not a fan of Lulu.com, but I may not have much of a choice. I’d rather make ten dollars on the books than nothing, but I really liked Wowio’s business model. We’ll see what else comes up, and I’ll let you know what I’ve decided. Any requests, as long as I’m contemplating this stuff?

 That’s the news, in brief. I’ve got more to say, but I think instead of writing a small piece within a larger email, I’ll blog a larger piece separately. Stay tuned, and thanks for your interest.

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Mark Finn is the creative director for the Violet Crown Radio Players and an award-winning Robert E. Howard scholar. His latest book, Blood & Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard, is available at bookstores everywhere.  To get the latest info, rants, and missives from Finn, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/finnswake

Finn is Blogging now: http://www.livejournal.com/users/finnswake/

Finn Also Blogs REH-related stuff at the Cimmerian: http://www.thecimmerian.com

Finally, you can go and check out the Vernon Plaza website: http://www.vernonplaza.com