THE BEST BOOK TRAILERS

I do make a really mean book trailer.  Should you doubt this, go to www.youtube, go to search

and type in 'gnarkgnark1'  You will have no choice but to agree.  As for the picture, that's an ancient shot of me on the set of the Steve McQueen racing movie LeMans.  It doesn't have anything to do with my book trailers...well, not directly, but use your imagination.

THE BIBLE ON YOUTUBE

Oh, yeah!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFtngfuPKXc

TWISTED TAILS IV named FINALIST in FOREWORD AWARDS BOOK OF THE YEAR

TWISTED TAILS IV: FANTASTIC FLIGHTS OF FANTASY has placed as Finalist in the Anthologies category of the 2009 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards.  The 16 short stories in TT IV are:

1. Megan’s Baby by Kim McDougall

2. Anti-Diver by David L. Kuzminski

3. Osculating Bufonidae by J. Richard Jacobs

4. Repo Girl and the Fortune Faerie by Marilyn Peake

5. The Man Who was a few Pixels Out by Biff Mitchell

6. And Dance by the Light of the Moon by Joyce K. Jensen

7. The Guardian by Todd R. Snow

8. La Niña by Terence West

9. Crimson Dawn by Margaret Whitley

10. Atypical Traits by Ann Dulhanty

11. Roller Duck by John Klawitter

12. Brutus and the Pig by J. Richard Jacobs

13. Space Ace by John Klawitter

14. Last Flight by Clay Rhett

15. Sex and the Emerald City by K. L. Nappier

16. Evil Witch by Ann Dulhanty

J. Richard Jacobs' TT IV has been chosen along with anthologies by many big names in literature. One book, edited by Peter Straub, includes short stories by Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates, and Ray Bradbury, and classic writers including Edgar Allan Poe, F. Scott Fitzgerald,Tennessee Williams, many others. Another book includes classics by authors including John Steinbeck, Jack London, Mark Twain, many others. Here's the list of Finalists in the category:

http://www.bookoftheyearawards.com/finalists/2009/category/anthologies


Winners will be announced at BookExpo America on May 25

AMAZONIAN ADVENTURES

There are times, when I set out on amazon.com, that I feel like I'm somewhat up the creek without a paddle.  I found out today that my 'author's page' only showed one of my dozen or so books.  The ritual is, I had to go to this special page and 'claim them.'  It makes me wonder how many other web opportunities I've been ignoring, chances to market my novels.  Key words, for instance.  I won  two EPPIE Awards last year, one for Best Non-Fiction Book and one for Best Action/Adventure novel.  There's got to be some way to input that somewhere so some readers hear about the wonder & the glory that is...well, err, uh...me..  

TARNISH UNDER THE VARNISH

Now I don't have a dog in this fight; I'm beholden to no studio and I don't care if the pit bulls are male, bitches or neutered.  But Avatar is truly a cinematic milestone, probably best picture of the decade.  The Hurt Locker is a good picture, but certainly not Best Picture. How could this happen?  Well, for one thing, campaigns to sway 6,000 'professionals' who are voting members of the academy were costly and effective, and so blatant one of the producers of THL got his hand slapped.  As Barbra Streisand* aptly put it, 'history was made' in presenting 'Best Director' to the first female director. Buz is, James Cameron's ex got the female vote while James had 'already won everything anyway for Titanic'.  Those of you who follow these things recognize Best Director and Best Picture oft times march hand in hand.  Just another reason why the People's Choice awards gain respect year after year, while Oscar continues to tarnish under the varnish.  

*Insiders will wonder how the reclusive Barbra was lured from her Malibu retreat for the 'historical' presentation...are the sealed envelopes actually that sealed?

SEE SPOT RUN

There's a new video on YouTube for TWISTED TAILS V. You can see it at http://www.youtube.com/user/GnarkGnark1?feature=mhw4
Or go to YouTube and type in "Search": "TWISTED TAILS VOL V Book Trailer - Authors"

I think it's too long, but I produced it so I can say anything I want. The only way I could think of to make it shorter would have been to take out my multiple credits for writing, producing and so on, and I wasn't about to do that. I'm just as bad as the Oscar Awards, crushed under the weight of my own ego.

WHAT ROME THINKS OF THE BIBLE

The Rogue Pirates Bible Heretical
Tales from the Biblical Zone
by John Klawitter
Review by Mary Therese Burns-De Francesco, Rome , Italy
~~ Rome correspondent for the La Gazzetta Italiana newspaper
Whymiscal, very human take on previously chiselled in stone biblical characters by author John Klawitter, who did for the Bible what Douglas Addams did for space travel with the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Klawitter brings home the characters and shows us they're good old guys and gals just like us, who happened to live in an amazing time full of burning bushes, angelic apparitions and thunder strikes on cue. Not to mention neanderthals, aliens and pirate spaceships....
Klawitter's other works also show an admirable capacity for understanding human nature and society as is, not how we wish it were, and his characters often feel like we already know them, they are quite believable, in effect. Many of his books are chock full of action like a Hollywood movie and it's hard to put them down, he did the same in this collection of short tales, one wants to read it over and over again and wishes there were more stories to read. I am an old fan of John Klawitter's work, I enjoy his mature tales, like only a master storyteller can tell them. I am enamoured of this world he invented, of the frame of the Rogue pirates to tell these age-old stories with a new twist, I really would love to see more development of the space pirate theme, I can't get enough of it, my mind keeps wondering about that world in my free time, I hope that John Klawitter will reveal more of that world to readers in the future.
A thumbs up to The Rogue Pirates Bible Heretical.

http://tinyurl.com/PirBib1

OKAY, OKAY, COMPLETE DISCLOSURE

My other new short story, Doreen & The Spaceman is also featured in Vol V of J. Richard Jacobs acclaimed sci-fi/fantasy series, TWISTED TAILS. The link, instead of being right here, is directly below the book cover, as if it were about to be eaten by the dragon. It's only a tiny url, so maybe he won't notice it. http://tinyurl.com/TTVJK101

DON'T BLAME ME

My new short story, Don't Blame Me is featured in Vol V of J. Richard Jacobs acclaimed sci-fi/fantasy series, TWISTED TAILS. The link, instead of being right here, is directly below the book cover, as if it were about to be eaten by the dragon. It's only a tiny url, so maybe he won't notice it. http://tinyurl.com/TTVJK101

QUIT YOUR BITCHING

She's your muse. You chose her. An hour a day is all she asks. So come on, get on with it.