Back on the road

August: first weekend Chicago, second weekend Cleveland, fourth weekend Baltimore... tomorrow we're back on the road to hit the New Jersey show, Monster Mania. A lot of our friends are going to be there, including Debbie Rochon, Joe Knetter, Sid Haig and Suzie Olber, and Robert Mayr and Glenna Chao (our once-a-year Horrorfind friends). Should be a good time and a good opportunity to promote Genghis Con a little further. Still, it's yet another weekend where we're driving for an insane amount of time. And there's not much of an end in sight.

I mentioned to Amanda Rossi, at The Asylum, that we were heading to Horrorfind a few weeks back. She responded that she'd never been to Baltimore. I realized, essentially, we hadn't either. Yeah, we'd been to Horrorfind every year for the last five years, and were there again for the ludicrous Creepcon show many years ago, but we've never actually been to Baltimore. At least, not where we spent any time in the actual city.

The same goes for most of the cities we visit. Okay, there's no real sense in visiting Cleveland, but I've seen very little of New Jersey, even though we're there at least three times a year. We've driven to Tennessee, through West Virginia and Kentucky, been up and down the East Coast more times this year than I can count. But we don't really see anything beyond the hotels and the highways. It's a weird way to experience America. It's even more surreal to realize that you're in a city you've never been in before, and you're hanging out with people you'd seen just a week before, but have never seen outside of a hotel ballroom.

I have never seen Sid Haig during the light of day. Nor half the con guests I've become friendly with. I'd met the late Matt McGrory (The Devil's Rejects) countless times and the last words we'd exchanged were "see you in a few weeks", as we were bound to run into each other again at one show or another. But never in a real social setting. There would always be a table and/or a line of people between us.

We have these monthly family reunions with people that I've either only ever seen on movie theater screens or in subterranean furnished-and-carpeted caverns, surrounded by hundreds of other people who are, possibly, feeling the same surreal disconnection I feel. Which is why you should never stop to think about the convention circuit... or your head starts to hurt.

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One last very important thing: our friend, actress/model/singer Ryli Morgan is in the hospital for a very serious heart operation. Take a few minutes to send her and her husband, Mark Baranowski, some good karma for the weekend.

More to come soon

I just conducted an interview with Fred Vogel of Toe-Tag Pictures, over at his shop. It was a very good interview, and I hope it'll make a good article.

But while we're on the subject of writing - I implore everyone who is a writer, in the vicinity of this blog, to check out this article.

Anyone who wants to write, is currently writing, for print or online, heed this article's advice!

New interview with moi

Patrick Desmond, who wrote and directed the star-studded horror/action film, Absense of Light, conducted an interview with me regarding The Resurrection Game. You can check it out here. My name is spelled "Watts" in the title and in the nifty little intro given to me by my friend and editor Dave Dreher, but I've been assured that it'll be fixed soon. It's a good interview, though.

Back from yet another show

Wiped out from three days in Cleveland for the Twisted Nightmare Weekend. Three days of drinking, partying and avoiding any danger of possibly making money (well, Amy made money... I just sat there and tried to stay awake). Got to see old and dear friends: Debbie Rochon, Lilith Stabs, Joe Knetter (for the 2nd week in a row), the Low Budget Pictures crew (!), Brinke Stevens, Don, Megan and Tom--the fine folks at Cleveland FX, the lovely crew of Specter Studios, good ol' Henrique Couto, Pam and Jeff from Hell's Orphans, Tom Sullivan and Pat Reese, Mr. Ted Raimi (another group of people to whom deja vu is just an everyday thing) and an undoubted slew of people I'm forgetting. Not to mention those responsible: Robyn Griggs and Keith Kline!

Bill Homan came up and we shot a few promos for Genghis Con with both Necro-Phil and Bill's latest creation, MINI-PHIL! Look for those to show up on the official site very soon.

So now we have two weeks off before Horrorfind. The vacation will be nice.

There will be con coverage of this and Flashback going up soon. Until then, check out new pieces over at Fangoria and B-Movie and marvel at the wonder that is me.

Latest news from the front

Last few weeks were the usual whirlwind I've come to expect from my life. I'm no longer a slave to the Post Office. My first tour came to an end and they decided not to renew it. There was a full-timer at another office, see... now he works there making three times what I was. So... yay.

I hired on at Cameron's company, Camop, but I'm doing commissioned sales. It could be a while before I earn enough to keep eating... Anybody need a website? Give them a call. (Hey, how many of you would die to tell people that your website was designed by George Romero's son?)

We took a trip up to Chicago for Flashback Weekend. More on this in a later post. Suffice to say, another nine-hour car trip is not in our future any time soon. Chicago: do something about your traffic, willya? It shouldn't take the same amount of time to go twelve miles as it did the previous 500!

Still, we got to hang out with Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Joe Knetter and Ted Raimi. Got to see J.R. Bookwalter, Ariauna Albright, Hugh Gallagher, Pam and Ken Kish of Cinema Wasteland and Pam and Jeff from Hell's Orphans! And there was a rumor that Bruce Campbell was there too, but sequestered as he was downstairs, under the jealous eye of his publishers, we didn't get to see him. Maybe at Horrorfind...

Now we're gearing up for Twisted Nightmare in Cleveland, which is usually more akin to an indie swap meet, but hasn't failed to be a good time yet. If you're in the area this weekend, drop on by. I'll be the one standing off to the right of Joe Knetter's naked ass, gouging my eyes out with a melon-baller.

New post up at the Dead Men Walking blog. With hot and sexy pictures to go with it. Check it out!