An Amazing Movie

I just had the privilege of being a juror for the New Filmmakers Showcase at the St. Louis International Film Festival and I'm pleased to say that the film we selected out of five entries was "St. Nick," directed by David Lowery and starring Tucker and Savannah Sears as two preteen runaways who move into an abandoned house and try to make it their home. Lowery has been compared , rightly, to David Gordon Green and Terence Malick, but watching the film I thought of Albert LaMorrisse's "the Red Ballon" and René Clément's "Forbidden Games." Apart from those two I can't think of a movie that captures so well a child's point of view, unsentimental and inventive. Moving slowly and with very little dialogue, it won't please everyone, but I predict great things from Lowery. Some distributor should pick this up fast.

Name this Comic

Here's an inked page from the forthcoming, untitled comic I'm working on with Roger Petersen....ain't it purty? We're still looking for a title, something hotel-related....

boorishness at Bouchercon

In the top photo, Victor Gischler leers as Anthony Neil Smith prepares to cop a feel from Stacia Decker, who seconds later will beat the living piss right out of him; next, David Hale Smith and Duane Swierczinski decide they've taken about enough shit out of me; and finally, Dennis Tafoya and Theresa Schwegel mug for the camera. This last was meant to be sent to their mutual editor, but I forgot who that was.

More Pencils from Petersen

Still no title for this thing, but check out the throwing arm on old Belle, and the suave nonchalance of her middle-aged boy toy as he dodges that ashtray: "Lobby please, Dawson." These have since been inked and are being colored but I haven't seen them yet. Click to enlarge!

More Rathskeller!

Top: Agent to the Stars David Hale Smith, Dapper Dan O'Shea, and the lovely Theresa Schwegel; 2nd, the chipper Anthony Neil Smith, old sobersides Victor Gischler, and Kieran "I Like Scaring Little Old Ladies" Shea; 3rd, parts of D. O'Shea and the always classy T. Schwegel; and finally the imperturbable Jon McGoran (D.H. Dublin, to the public). A good sudsy time was had by all.

Roger Petersen, resident genius

Here's a xerox of a penciled page from my collaboration with Roger Petersen, inching its way toward pitchability. Click to enlarge and inhale its awesomeness. And if any good titles occur to you, pass them on...

Beauty and the Beasts

Left to right: uber-agent Stacia Decker, old-lady-frightening writer Kieran Shea, mega-agent David Hale Smith, up-and-coming sicko novelist John Rector, and King of Comics Duane Swierczinski, from DHS's Bouchercon party at Indianapolis's Rathskeller, a building designed by Kurt Vonnegut's grandfather. More pictures to come soon, along with some pencil pages from Roger Petersen for this comic we're soon going to have to come up with a title for.