Big News In Vermont Politics!

Governor Jim Douglas (R) of Vermont announced today that he will not be running for another term in 2010. Shay Totten of Vermont's Seven Days wrote about the news on their blog BLURT this afternoon:

http://7d.blogs.com/blurt/2009/08/douglas-opts-out-in-10-political-reaction.html

This is big political news in Vermont. It also brought back some personal meories. When I was working on the radio in Montpelier during the past couple of years, I had the opportunity to record Public Service Announcements (PSAs) with several state officials. The Governor recorded a couple of PSAs with me. Never having met Governor Douglas, I didn't know what to expect when he came in for the first of these recording sessions. Jim Douglas turned out to be easy to work with. He came in fully prepared, nailed the read in in one or two takes... and he was remarkably funny! I had no idea that he had such a dry wit before I worked with him (though since then I have heard from some reporters, off the record, that he has some jokes he repeats from time to time...). All the same, he made the whole process simple, fast and enjoyable.

In our current cable news fed political culture, people on opposite political sides tend to demonize each other, or at the very least paint political opponents as somehow very different from themselves. I'm not a fan of Governor Douglas' politics, so meeting him and discovering that he was an okay guy (for a poltician... heh) was instructive. In a way, Jim Douglas put a human face on Republicans for me. Helped me remember there are good and bad people on every side.

I also had the opportunity to work on radio PSAs with Secretary of State Deb Markowitz and State Treasurer Jeb Spaulding, both very nice folks in their own right! It will be interesting to watch the developing political picture in the Green Mountain State over the next few months...

Read The Complete RED HOT Preview Online Now!

I'm the creator and writer of the new comic
"Introducing... RED HOT!"
with killer art & letters from my creative partner Rhys ap Gwyn. Red Hot is a young super-powered hero trying to prove himself.

You can read our eight page preview issue free online:

http://www.drunkduck.com/Introducing_RED_HOT/

"Introducing... RED HOT!" is a three issue miniseries. The Preview Issue is the first eight pages of Issue One "Proof".

Rhys and I are putting out this preview to see if there's any interest in the character and the story... and judging by the page views and the feedback we've seen so far, there certainly is - Thanks for your Tweets and comments! The plan is to release the books through my Glow-in-the-Dark Radio Comics, though we may be going with a larger independent publisher. Can't say more about that just yet. If you get a chance to read the preview, be sure to stop back here and let me know what you think!

Risk Management?

I've been thinking about risk management today. Normal risk management is required for daily life. It's a part of self preservation. But when risk management is taken to an extreme it causes a sort of psychotic paralysis in individuals. When risk management is exercised to an extreme degree on a larger scale, our culture and society suffers not only cultural paralysis but also societal degradation.

The corporation as an entity is supposed to practice risk management as an accepted best practice, though we did not seen investment banks reign in their own risks. Risk management does not seem to be practiced horizontally by corporations, but rather vertically, being dictated from the top down. This is backwards, of course, as the monetary savings gained through risk management applied at the lowest level in the corporation is small when compared to what could be saved by applying true risk management to upper level exchanges. The exception to this is in the health insurance industry, where extreme risk management at the lowest levels has proved highly profitable to health care industry executives.

Risk Management is killing our culture. Corporate risk management is killing the radio & record industries. Worse it's created the health care mess. When corporations try to monetize art, art pays the price. When corps decided to monetize health, the sick paid the price. People are risky. It's not that health insurance is evil, rather that the business model should not be applied to people and their health - it's immoral.

The Corporations' thought that risk costs money leads to attempts to minimize risk and maximize return. Problem is, this model fails with businesses based on successful risk like music. More basically? Corporations are experts at killing the Geese that Lay the Golden Eggs... One of the reasons corporations are so afraid of social media is the element of risk. Risk management may prevent Corps from embracing SM.

Upside Down Corporate Risk Management is hurting our society and is societally at the root of the health care crisis, the economic crash, and culturally at the root of the stagnation of the radio and music industries. It will also get in the way of Corporations adopting Social Media in a meaningful way. The real irony lies in the fact that these corporations are not applying the same degree of risk management to their executive moves, executive compensation and high-level financial transactions. "Do as I say, not as I do," seems to be the modus operandi of the current corporate elite.

New Column and New Comic Page Up!

Keeping busy this summer! Couple new things today...

You can check out a new free page from the eight page preview of "Introducing... RED HOT!" my new comic with artist Rhys ap Gwynn: http://www.drunkduck.com/Introducing_RED_HOT/

And my column on creating comics returns today, too! The eighth installment of "Mike Luoma's Making It Up!" is up over at Cosmic Book News:

http://cosmicbooknews.com/articles/mlmakingup8

Free reading!

If you read the column or check out the comic, be sure to send me an email and let me know what you think!

Mike

2 New RED HOT Pages up Today!

My FREE webcomic "Introducing... RED HOT!" has not one but TWO new pages up today!

Check it out here:

http://www.drunkduck.com/Introducing_RED_HOT/

Created and written by Mike Luoma, Art by Rhys ap Gwynn

How do you prove you're a hero?

Vatican Assassin - Remastered: Free Audiobook Now Available!

It's up and available for you to download now -- the new, remastered VATICAN ASSASSIN!

Details of the remastering are below.

Get it here free: Podiobooks.com

Vatican Assassin REMASTERED Out FRIDAY and More Updates!

Hope you're having a great summer!

Got a couple of big announcements that I wanted to share with you...

First: VATICAN ASSASSIN - REMASTERED

This Friday, July 31st, I'm releasing a new, remastered edition of my FREE Vatican Assassin Audiobook, offered FREE through Podiobooks.com!

Why a remastered version? Well...

Back in September of 2006, I began podcasting "Vatican Assassin" as part of my "Glow-in-the-Dark Radio" Podcast. Learning about digital audio and podcasting as I went along, the recordings were good, but in retrospect could have been better. In a misguided attempt at "tightening" the audio was also severely edited throughout the book. These recordings turned into "Vatican Assassin" on Podiobooks in 2007, and they've been downloaded over 106,000 times now. But when I finished the third book in my trilogy "Vatican Abdicator" earlier this year, and as I began to go through my files for upcoming downloadable audiobooks coming from Podiobooks (more info on that later), it became clear I'd learned a lot in the intervening three years since I'd recorded "Vatican Assassin" - it was time for a new edition!

I rerecorded the first ten chapters of the book - coming from a radio advertising background where you try to fit as much as you can into 30 seconds, my early reads were just too fast. The rest of the reads were fine, but the editing reflected my commercial background as well, there was no breathing room, no spaces! So I went back to the original source files for the rest of the book and re-edited them, restoring and/or adding "breathing room" to the reads. My noise reduction techniques have also improved over the years, so the entire book has been redone with improved (less harsh, more accurate) noise reduction as well.

If you haven't read or listened to Vatican Assassin, it's a science fiction adventure set in 2109. Bernard Campion (aka “BC”) is an assassin for the Pope of the New catholic Church – he struggles with his work's inherent contradictions while trying to take care of “business” during an out of control interplanetary religious war!

“Vatican Assassin” is available as a free downloadable audiobook through Podiobooks.com. What is a Podiobook? As described on the Podiobooks.com website, “The term podiobook was coined by (site co-founder) Evo Terra to describe serialized audiobooks which are distributed via RSS, much like a podcast. Listeners to Podiobooks.com can choose to receive the episodes of their books via an RSS feed or by listening to episodes by directly downloading episodes from this site. Some listeners keep the audio files on their computers, some transfer the book to CD, but most transfer the file on to their MP3 player so they can listen no matter where they are.” Podiobooks.com will soon be offering their audiobooks in traditional downloadable forms as well.

One other note: The Vatican Assassin Trilogy is now available in ebook form at Smashwords.com – choose your own price, or get the books FREE!

Second: “INTRODUCING... RED HOT!” PREVIEW ISSUE OUT NOW!

My adventures in comic book creation continue, as Glow-in-the-Dark Radio Comics proudly presents “Introducing... RED HOT!” in a special eight page preview issue. I've written a three issue miniseries that details the rise of young RED HOT, a new super powered hero for a new time! Artist and letterer Rhys ap Gwyn provides the stunning visuals – Rhys is quite a find as an artist, as you'll see if you head on over to the FREE webcomic at http://www.drunkduck.com/introducing_red_hot. We're posting a page or two each week through August as we unveil this special eight page preview issue. We also have the issue for sale for $1.99 through Indy Planet. If you'd like to get your own copy, you can pick one up here: http://www.indyplanet.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2464 Why put out an eight page preview? While we can publish the series ourselves through Glow-in-the-Dark Radio Comics, Rhys and I are hoping we can get a larger publisher to pick up the book to give us better visibility and distribution. We'll use this preview issue as a pitch to shop the project around and see what happens. Interested publishers can contact me at mike.luoma@gmail.com. Thought I'd throw that in in case you know anyone who might be an interested publisher, heh.

Third: DOODLERAMA: A Doodle A Day By Mike Luoma

Also over at Drunk Duck, you'll find my new “webcomic” Doodlerama. Not a sequential comic, Doodlerama is instead a Doodle-A-Day – every weekday you get a new doodle from out of my sketchbooks. Head on over to http://www.drunkduck.com/Doodlerama/ for today's doodle, and hit the back key to check out any of the past doodles posted.

Fourth: ALIBI JONES!

I'm heading into the home stretch with my fourth and latest novel Alibi Jones. The title character, Alibi, is the son of BC, so the new book is a sequel of sorts to the Vatican Assassin Trilogy. It's twenty-three years later and Alibi Jones works as a mediator for the Solar Alliance Interplanetary Forces Mediation Service – the successor to BC's “Office of Papal Operations”, the OPO. If you enjoyed the trilogy, I think you'll get into this new one – I'm getting some great feedback from my advance readers! I'm waiting on the return of those advance copies. Once I get them back in my hands, there will be maybe one more rewrite and then the book will be on its way to you. I'm hoping to get the actual book out and to start offering the audiobook through Podiobooks.com this fall.

MORE!

There are a couple of other projects in the works. I'm collaborating once again with Juan Carlos Quattordio, the artist on Panthea Obscura, on an entirely different project. Everybody Lies is a comic book for adults, a drama about the lies people tell every day – except this time the lies spiral out of control for our lead characters. Juan Carlos is illustrating this one in black and white, and is working out some new ideas in his artwork that make the book pretty darn compelling. Can't wait to show you more as we get closer to publication!

I'm working with artist Scott Bradley on another unusual comic book project. “STRIKE OUT!” is a three issue Romantic Comedy about a washed out minor league ballplayer – Grizzly Yakamoto – trying to get his life together after a knee injury knocks him out of the game. Still in its early stages, this comic book slice-of-life series should be a breath of fresh air for the comic book industry. It's a different use of the graphic medium than the usual capes and tights. Scott tells me it feels similar to Terry Moore's Strangers In Paradise, but I must confess I haven't read that series.

I'm also working with a third artist on my Horror project, The Gnostic. This project is weird – the first two artists both ended up suffering (hopefully unrelated) mental breakdowns while working on the project. The third artist started working on pages only to have a pinched nerve curtail his drawing for weeks. There may be actual supernatural forces conspiring to keep this one from ever seeing the light of day! Crazy. But hopefully I'll have something more to tell you about it next time around.

That's it for this time – more than enough, really! Hope you'll have a chance to check out VATICAN ASSASSIN – REMASTERED when it comes out this Friday. Be sure to stop over to Drunk Duck to take a look at RED HOT! And DOODLERAMA, too. And I'd love to hear from you! Please email back and let me know what you think.

Happy Summer!

Mike

Introducing RED HOT... and more!

Here he is!

Rhys ap Gwyn is the artist and letterer... wow! Here's the PR

A New Comic Book Hero For A New Time - Get it while it's RED HOT!

Glow-in-the-Dark Radio Comics, Creator and Writer Mike Luoma and Artist Rhys ap Gwyn are proud to present the debut of a super powered hero for the twenty-first century, with the release of the special eight page preview of the first issue of "Introducing RED HOT!"

"Introducing... RED HOT! #0"

Young super-powered hero Red Hot is trying to prove he's capable of following in his super-powered father's footsteps... But instead finds he must prove he's innocent of robbery and murder!

This Special Eight Page Preview Edition of Issue One of Three is available now for just $1.99 at Indy Planet:

(http://www.indyplanet.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2464)

Read the first three pages online FREE:

(http://www.drunkduck.com/Introducing_RED_HOT)


"Introducing... RED HOT! #0"
Special Eight-Page Preview Edition of Issue One
Published by Glow-in-the-Dark Radio Comics

Created and Written by Mike Luoma
Art and Letters by Rhys ap Gwyn

Find out more at http://glowinthedarkradio.com

email Mike Luoma for more information at glowinthedarkradio@gmail.com

Copyright 2009 by Michael Luoma and Rhys ap Gwyn

Writing... some I can share...

Been crazy busy writing, figure why stop while it's flowing!

Just a reminder that you can get 10% off my books at Lulu.com through the end of the month. Just got to my store: http://stores.lulu.com/mikeluoma. Click on any title, add them to your cart, and then, when you are checking out, use the code JUNECONTEST10. Lulu will take 10% off of your order! But this special offer ends on June 30th.

I'm 2/3rds way through writing the romantic comedy, with an artist just starting to work on that.
May be ready to unveil the Super hero project soon...
Also writing some scripts for some shorts for Earthbound comics, using one of their characters, for one of their anthology titles. I've found it incredibly freeing to write this character, talk about flowing! I've come up with three six page short stories for them, just finishing up the third one.

Wrote a comic book review today for Marvel's "War of Kings: Ascension" issue #3. I'm really enjoying this miniseries! This third issue really surprised me in its depth. I had a chance to review it for Cosmic Book News. If you'd like to check it out, it's here:

http://cosmicbooknews.com/reviews/wokasc3review

And Alibi Jones is now in the hands of my proof reader friends! Can't wait to find out what they think, and get their corrections. Getting there...

My Hands Are Sore!

My hands hurt. I'm not even sure why I'm writing this now! Well, I do want to let you know and state for the record that the 2nd (or maybe 3rd draft) of "Alibi Jones" is complete, at the printers for readers editions for proofing! Sarah and Nate, get ready... I say 2nd or 3rd because the first handwritten draft was really scattered, so I'm not sure whether the first typed draft was 1st or 2nd... hmmm.

But I am sure the book is done. First in a new series! Alibi Jones, the title character, is the son of Bernard Campion, BC from the Vatican Assassin Trilogy. It's twenty-three years after the events of the first three books. The Solar Alliance is spreading out amongst the stars. Alibi is in the Mediator Corps, which sees him negotiating interstellar trade deals between races. An old friend disappears and Alibi goes looking for her... but all he finds is trouble!

I'm having too much fun playing in this universe. I think it's safe to say you can expect this to be the start of a new series!

Get 10% Off My Books All Month!

Just received an email this morning from Lulu. Get 10% off your purchase through the end of this month! All you need to do is enter the sale code when you check out: JUNECONTEST10.

Lulu is conducting monthly "sales contests" where the authors who sell the most books win cash prizes. Blatantly trying to drive traffic to Lulu.com, of course! What the heck - Didn't cost anything, so I signed up for June's contest. I received the email with news of the 10% discount this morning. All of a sudden the contest seemed worth entering.

My books at Lulu can all be found on this page, my Lulu "storefront": http://stores.lulu.com/mikeluoma

I was surprised enough by the discount that I wanted to share!

So Much Going On!

Time for an update... there's a lot going on!

Put a new book out this week - Panthea Obscura: Deifornication, the Graphic Novel! Also uploaded my books to a site my fellow Podiobook.com authors & someone on GoodReads.com tipped me off to called Smashwords. Makes my work easily downloadable as eBooks in a variety of formats. Panthea Obscura: Deifornication also finished up on the web this week. Details follow...

Panthea Obscura: Deifornication is COMPLETE! Read All 4 Issues for free on the web... Or pick up the new Graphic Novel. The Panthea Obscura: Deifornication Graphic Novel is on sale for $15.99 at Indy Planet: http://www.indyplanet.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2219

Vermont writer Mike Luoma and Argentine artist Juan Carlos Quattordio proudly announce the release of their new Graphic Novel! The international collaborators have been releasing the individual issues of their comic book miniseries "Panthea Obscura: Deifornication" since 2007. The four issues are now collected under one cover, as Panthea Obscura: Deifornication is released by Glow-in-the-Dark Radio Comics on Wednesday May 27, 2009.

This full color, 88 page, standard sized trade paperback is available through Indy Planet, with a beautiful new cover by Juan Carlos Quattordio done exclusively for this collection!

Panthea Obscura: Deifornication is up and free to read at http://www.drunkduck.com/panthea_obscura/!

In case you don't know the story: Beings that inspired the tales of the "gods" in ancient times actually existed, but they made humankind forget about them two thousand years ago. They blended into the human population and disappeared. Now The Deep thinks it's time humankind remembered, but Mother is afraid that will set their brother Troy, The Destroyer free to possess and manipulate human beings. The Deep calls for a vote among the "gods"! What will they decide?

Steven Grant of Comic Book Resources says "Panthea Obscura" "...reminds me of some of the better independent comics published in the late '70s..."

More information at http://glowinthedarkradio.com

And I was tipped off to a great site for ebooks: Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com

As a writer, I upload my books to Smashwords and their software, known affectionately as the "Meatgrinder", takes the original document and converts it into several different formats. Smashwords then makes the ebooks available for sale using PayPal. As the author, I can set a price for my book, allow the reader to pay what they feel like, or offer it for free. As Smashwords says on their website, they offer "...multi-format, DRM-free ebooks, ready for immediate sampling and purchase, and readable on any e-reading device."

Decided to try it out! I've uploaded all three books in the "Vatican Assassin Trilogy": Vatican Assassin, Vatican Ambassador and Vatican Abdicator, as well as my collection of poems, lyrics and spells, Synthetic Marmalade, and my book on Gnosticism and early Christianity, NEO-GNOSIS. I've set all five books to allow the reader to pay whatever they like for them. You'll find them here at my Smashwords profile page: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/mikeluoma .

There's also a link on my site, so you can just head over to http://glowinthedarkradio.com and go from there if you like.

New Article on Starlord!

My third and final "Cosmic Spotlight" on the Marvel Comics character "Starlord" is up now at http://cosmicbooknews.com. This covers the character from the nineties up to just before "Annihilation" begins. Science fiction writer Timothy Zahn was kind enough to answer some questions about his take on Starlord in the nineties. Rafael Marin told me why he and Carlos Pacheco decided to do something different with Starlord for their "Inhumans" miniseries in 2000. And then-Marvel Assistant Editor Andy Schmidt gives some insight into the Peter Quill revival that Keith Giffen began in "Thanos" in '04. Read all about it here: http://cosmicbooknews.com/articles/starlord_part_3

Chris Claremont provided his insights for the second installment. Did you know that he, John Byrne and Terry Austin did their "Star-Lord" story as a warm-up for their legendary run on "Uncanny X-Men"? I didn't, until he revealed that in our interview! Part two with Claremont is here: http://www/cosmicbooknews.com/articles/starlord_part_2

Steve Englehart created the character. He was kind enough to look back on Star-Lord's origin with me for the first installment: http://www.cosmicbooknews.com/articles/starlordcs

Really enjoyed looking back at a very cool character!

Mike Luoma Publishing news

Panthea Obscura #4 is finally available in PRINT! The comic has been, and continues to be available online at http://www.drunkduck.com/panthea_obscura – but now you can get your hands on the hard copy: http://www.indyplanet.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2129 Issue Four is available through Indy Planet for $3.99, and will soon be on sale at Earth Prime Comics in Burlington, Vermont. Comic Book Resources columnist Steven Grant said Panthea Obscura “...reminds me of some of the better independent comics published in the late 70's...” Click on the link above to pick up a copy today, or just head over to http://glowinthedarkradio.com for links to all my books, free downloads and free audiobooks.

Speaking of Panthea Obscura, congratulations to Jason Buddenhagen who won my Panthea Obscura contest over at Cosmic Book News (http://www.cosmicbooknews.com)! He correctly identified the “god-name” of Kyle Dogg - “Fear-Eater”! He's won the autographed Special Edition of Panthea Obscura #2 that I put together for 2PiCon in 2007.

I've just put together a magazine, too – Glow-in-the-Dark Radio Magazine! Issue One is on sale now over at http://glowinthedarkradio.com. My hope is to expand the number of contributors and advertisers to increase the variety of the offerings inside and to reduce the cover price of the magazine as time goes on. For now, it serves as a $5 sampler of my work (99 cent download!). The magazine is loaded with my writing and illustrations. It even includes a grayscale version of the first issue of Panthea Obscura. The first two chapters of Vatican Assassin are in it as well. The first five of my Mike Luoma's Making It Up! Columns from Cosmic Book News have been synthesized down into one long piece on the making of “Holy Shit” and “Panthea Obscura #1”, and I've also included “Holy Shit: The Second Coming!” a short comic sequel to my “Holy Shit: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ”. It's all just five dollars or ninety-nine cents to download and it's on sale now, links at http://glowinthedarkradio.com.

That's what's happening!

Free Comic Book Day – get Three Free Books!

In Honor of FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, here for free downloading are the PDF versions of the first three issues of my comic book PANTHEA OBSCURA! Just click on the link for the FREE pdf.

ISSUE ONE: http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_49/740000/740099/4/print/740099.pdf

ISSUE TWO: http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_62/1065000/1065257/4/print/1065257.pdf

ISSUE THREE: http://glowinthedarkradio.com/PantheaThree.pdf

Steven Grant of Comic Book Resources says PANTHEA OBSCURA "...reminds me of some of the better independent comics published in the late '70s... "

PANTHEA OBSCURA is also appearing online, with new pages every Wednesday and Saturday. Issue Four's Page Fifteen is new today! You can read the first three issues here, too:

http://www.drunkduck.com/panthea_obscura

And you can enter to win a free book – today's the last day of my big contest! Enter to win a RARE edition of PANTHEA OBSCURA #2! Details are in my column at Cosmic Book News:

http://cosmicbooknews.com/articles/mlmakingup7

This special PREVIEW edition of Panthea Obscura Issue Two was put together for my appearance at 2Pi-Con in 2007. The first half of the issue is completely finished and lettered, with the second half showing the work in progress – some pages are colored but without letters, some pages are inked, some are half inks and pencils, the last page is just the rough pencils. Only five of these issues were ever printed. I'll sign this one to the winner to make it a one-of-a-kind rarity!

Happy Free Comic Book Day!

Bernie Sanders Talks Health Care w/ Ed Shultz

Makin' A Racket!

I was just interviewed by Heather Roulo for Podioracket.com. It'll be coming up in a future Podioracket podcast! They've got a great interview special with Podiobooks' Chris Miller up right now: http://www.podioracket.com/

Great Little Write Up at Comic Book Resources!

...In This Week's “Permanent Damage” by Steven Grant

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=20828

"For the last year, Mike Luoma's been online publishing his strip PANTHEA OBSCURA, and currently beginning the fourth "issue." The premise – what the relationship is of ancient gods still walking the earth and a civilization that no longer acknowledges their existence, and currently facing the consequences of their own actions as they try to win some acknowledgement back – has gotten a bit well-trod over the past few years (Neil Gaiman has probably poisoned that well as much as anybody) but Luoma has done a pretty decent job of it nonetheless. Though the latest installment's taking on aspects of THE MIGHTY THOR, and that might not be a good direction. The art's okay, drastically improved by flashy coloring (I'm starting to wonder if too many strips aren't banking too much on computer screen luminosity for effect; then again, that's the medium...) but Luoma's writing is entertaining enough to gloss over it. This reminds me of some of the better independent comics published in the late '70s..."

How cool is that!

Kindle-ing Interest...

Yeah, couldn't resist that Post Title.

Got a Kindle? You can get each of my books for just 99 cents each for the Amazon Kindle!

Including the newest addition, available just today - "Holy Shit: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ!" Thanks to improved graphic capability, you can read my black and white comic book/graphic thingy on your new Kindle 2 reader... for just 99 cents!

Need a Kindle? Click Here:
Kindle 2: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation)

Get "Holy Shit: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ" for your Kindle here:
Holy Shit: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ

Get Vatican Assassin for your Kindle here:
Vatican Assassin (Vatican Assassin Trilogy)
Get Vatican Ambassador for your Kindle here:
Vatican Ambassador (Vatican Assassin Trilogy)
Get Vatican Abdicator for your Kindle here:
Vatican Abdicator (Vatican Assassin Trilogy)

Get Synthetic Marmalade for your Kindle here:
Synthetic Marmalade
Get Neo-Gnosis for your Kindle here:
NEO-GNOSIS

Ninja Pet!

This came to me in the shower the other day. Not even sure it's all that funny, but I like it!



Click on the image to enlarge it.

Watching Watchmen and More

Reviewed Watchmen for Cosmicbooknews.com:

http://cosmicbooknews.com/reviews/wmenreview

I liked it! Brilliant movie.

I've been writing a lot for Cosmic Book News this week. There was also my appreciation of Nova #1 from 1994 for the site's Nova/Quasar Month:

http://www.cosmicbooknews.com/nova1-90app

And a Review of R.E.B.E.L.S. #1:

http://www.cosmicbooknews.com/reviews/rebels1review

Plus my column "Mike Luoma's Making It Up!" continues. I did a massive fourth installment. Working on the fifth right now!

http://www.cosmicbooknews.com/mlmakingup4
http://www.cosmicbooknews.com/mlmakingup3
http://www.cosmicbooknews.com/mlmakingup2
http://www.cosmicbooknews.com/mlmakingup

New Podcast!

Hi everyone, I posted an episode to my podcast! The Glow-in-the-Dark Radio Podcast returns!



Click this link to check it out:

Glow-in-the-Dark Radio Podcast Episode Seventy

More at glowinthedarkradio.com

- Mike

Mike Luoma Book News

I Just sent this out as an email update, thought I'd include it here on the blog:

Hello from Mike Luoma!

Please excuse this mass mailing. You're getting this because you've either emailed me or been a friend of mine through the years. Either way, if this sort of “what I've been up to” email isn't to your taste, please let me know and I will take your name off of my rudimentary email list. I'm doing this by hand, so please let me know if you don't want to receive emails. On the other hand, if you know of other people who would like to get this kind of info, please forward this to them. If you've received this as a forward, please drop me an email at glowinthedarkradio@gmail.com if you'd like to be on the list. Thanks!

In case you haven't heard, I've got a new column I'm writing for the “cosmic” comic book site CosmicBookNews.com (http://www.cosmicbooknews.com) where I'm detailing the creation of my comic book series Panthea Obscura. The fourth issue of Panthea Obscura is almost finished! If you need to catch up on the first three issues, you can do that for FREE a couple of ways. You can download the issues as pdf files from my site, http://glowinthedarkradio.com. If you're not into downloading, you can read them online at DrunkDuck.com. Just head over to http://www.drunkduck.com/Panthea_Obscura.com and go back to the beginning.

I've also hooked up with a new printer for the comic books – Ka-Blam.com! They know comics, they do comics well, and I can sell my books through their site IndyPlanet.com. Best of all, my comic books cost A THIRD of what they were costing at lulu.com! You can get issue one for $3.99, issues two and three for $2.99 each – very competitive! Follow the links from my site http://glowinthedarkradio.com to pick up the books on Indy Planet.

The Vatican Abdicator audiobook is DONE! I just uploaded the final recording this past weekend. This means you can now listen to the entire Vatican Assassin Trilogy for FREE! The last four episodes of Vatican Abdicator cover the trilogy's appendix, the background material for the story. All three books are available on Itunes for free download, or you can go directly to the books sites at Podiobooks.com to listen:
http://www.podiobooks.com/title/vatican-assassin
http://www.podiobooks.com/title/vatican-ambassador
http://www.podiobooks.com/title/vatican-abdicator

If you'd like to pick up the books themselves, head on over to http//glowinthedarkradio.com and follow the links. You'll find a new 3-in-1 Omnibus Special Edition Hardcover of the entire Vatican Assassin Trilogy – all three books under one cover, plus the Appendix! Here's a direct link to the new collected edition: http://www.lulu.com/content/5097584

And... I've also created a stand alone paperback edition of the Appendix, in case you already have the paperback books and don't want to buy the same thing twice. Seemed like the right thing to do. Might also be good background material if you've listened to the series. Just $9.99 for the trade paperback or 99 cents for the download: http://www.lulu.com/content/6106627

All of my books are available through my site http://glowinthedarkradio.com. Most are available through Amazon.Com as well.

On a sad note, I'm no longer working for The Point on the radio in Vermont. We'll see what the next chapter brings...

That's it for this time! Drop me an email if you feel like. Please forward this email to any friends who might be into science fiction and comic books. And again, please let me know if this annoys you and you want off the list. Thanks!

Mike

News from The Cutting Edge: ComicsMonkey.com!

News from the world of comic book publishing! Diamond, the near-monopoly for comic book distribution, announced a couple Fridays ago they were going to up their "benchmarks" for the books they'd carry in their catalog: you have to sell more books or they won't list you. Many small publishers heard the news as a death knell of sorts. Diamond enjoys a near monopoly as their catalog is used by most direct market comic book retailers exclusively, and there's no competing national distributor.

Now the folks that brought us Ka-Blam.com and IndyPlanet.com have announced Print-On-Demand Distribution to Direct Market retailers: ComicsMonkey.com was just rolled out today!

Ka-Blam's Comics Monkey could create a new distribution network to, in effect, replace the smaller scale distribution Diamond is abandoning! They've hinted at something in the works for a while now. They stepped up their hints last week, and have now revealed Comics Monkey POD distribution.

Ka-Blam.com is the print-on-demand site. IndyPlanet.com is their on-line store, and now ComicsMonkey.com will be their distribution/retailer hub. All that's there now is the blog entry describing what they're attempting to do, and what numbers they're anticipating for retailer profit and publisher percentage (sort of the "royalty" payment):

http://www.comicsmonkey.com

I'm very excited! I've got my books up on IndyPlanet.com right now (Panthea Obscura Issue One, Issue Two and Issue Three) and if they can pull this off, it will give me distribution into local comic shops everywhere... if they order the book. It at the very least makes the books available to retailers who might sell them.

Good news!

On The Cutting Edge of Publishing

Haven't had much to post about, seems...

Here's an interesting article from TIME magazine over how publishing is changing:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1873122,00.html

And another article from TIME on how the very way I've been promoting my book through making it available as a Free, Downloadable Audiobook Podcast through Podiobooks.com just might be part of the future of publishing:

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1872381,00.html

Explore more at http://podiobooks.com

James Bond... as a Priest?

So the new James Bond movie "Quantum of Solace" is out today... I'll have to check it out this weekend! Some folks say they think my lead character in the Vatican Assassin trilogy is kind of like James Bond in space, if he was a priest (but Moonraker it ain't). Bernard Campion or "BC" as he's known certainly has a license to kill... for the Pope. It all starts in 2109. BC is on a mission to kill the Governor of Lunar Prime, the main city on the Moon. She's collaborating with the enemy - the Muslims of the Universal Islamic Nation or UIN, headquartered on Mars.

In case you've come in late, I've got three science fiction novels out, my Vatican Assassin Trilogy: Vatican Assassin (2005), Vatican Ambassador (2007) and Vatican Abdicator (2008).

The best part? You can listen to me reading you all three books for FREE!
Vatican Assassin
Vatican Ambassador
Vatican Abdicator (in progress)

As a radio announcer as well as a novelist, I've been podcasting the chapters of my books since 2006. You can find them on Itunes by searching for MIKE LUOMA. Or just go to the books themselves on Podiobooks.com, a site dedicated to offering free audiobooks as downloadable podcasts: Vatican Assassin - Vatican Ambassador - Vatican Abdicator. So if you're itchin' for a little interstellar assassin action, give a listen!

By the way... If you're into the Amazon Kindle, you can get each book for just 99 cents!
Vatican Assassin
Vatican Ambassador
Vatican Abdicator

Barack Obama for President

Just wanted to state publicly, here on my blog, something folks who know me have known for a long time. I am supporting Barack Obama for President of the United States. I urge you to get out and vote, and to vote for Obama, this coming Tuesday, November 4th.

I first became aware of Barack Obama during the run-up to the 2004 Democratic Convention, when he was announced as Keynote speaker. Although it was John Kerry's convention, after hearing Obama's keynote speech the talk among my friends was, "Why isn't this guy running for President?!" He grabbed my attention and the attention of many with that speech. I wanted to find out more, so I bought his book The Audacity of Hope when it came out. "Audacity" covered Obama's outlook on politics, America, and what it was like to be the freshman Senator from Illinois. Reading the book, I agreed with his outlook, his clarity of vision, and his pragmatic approach to problem solving. At the time, he wasn't sure he was going to run. After reading the book, I truly hoped Obama would run. My hope was that there would finally be a candidate I could vote for... as opposed to the many years when I was voting against the other guy while only half-heartedly supporting the candidate who received my vote. When Obama announced his candidacy in early 2007 in Springfield, Illinois I was instantly onboard.

I am not a fan of Bill Clinton. I am a proud liberal, and have no patience for those who concede the term to Republican smearing. The United States of America is founded on and based in liberalism. You would not know this, the way the right has disgracefully used the term to focus their derision, and the Democrats let them get away with this for far too long! Clinton's brand of Democratic Party gives in to the Republican's "liberal" smear campaign and instead tries to be more like the Republican Party. Corporations are favored over individual citizens. Clinton is a Corporacrat, not a Democrat. Hillary Clinton promised more of the same. Her smear tactics in the primary campaign were disgraceful. Her suggestion that Obama might be assassinated during the campaign was outrageous, and planted dangerous ideas in the minds of madmen. Her attempts to smear Obama with guilt by association with Reverend Wright and William Ayers were also despicable. And these tactics provided grist for the John McCain campaign's "dark satanic mills" (to quote Blake). What sort of Democrat stoops to these gutter lows against another Democrat? Obama's primary win was a vindication for the Liberal wing of the Democratic Party.

Then there's John McCain. I respected McCain when he ran in 2000. I didn't agree with him on many things then, certainly not his anti-choice stance. I still do not understand how a party that claims to want government "out of our Lives" can be so intrusive, nay, invasive! This and other internal contradictions have finally eaten through the rotten core of the Republican party, causing the collapse we see today. The wave of Republican endorsements for Obama comes from the old school conservative wing that clearly despises the intrusive nature and ugly personal politics employed by the hardcore new right. The old school conservative right feels betrayed by McCain, who, in 2000, was numbered among them despite his anti-choice stance. Some time after he lost the Republican Primary in 2000, John McCain decided, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" He began to support George W. Bush in every way, shape and form he could, seeing this as his road to the WhiteHouse. The "old" McCain was gone. For him to campaign as a Maverick NOW is ridiculous.

And the McCain campaign has been despicable. Lies, distortions, half truths, innuendos... if John McCain wins, it will be because he's convinced a lot of people to support him based on misinformation and lies. "Joe The Plumber" is the most glaring example of this. First of all, his name isn't Joe, and he isn't a plumber. He's not buying the business he spoke of, he thinks he might like to some day. The plumbing business he spoke of is not a $250,000 business, but instead a $150,000/year business. The business will not incur any greater taxes under the Obama plan. "Joe" himself will actually get more money back under Obama's plan than McCains. That's right. "Joe's" taxes will go down under Obama. But the McCain campaign has lied about all of this consistently, trying to corner the blue collar vote by lying to them... or worse, by providing the white blue collar worker afraid of a black candidate with a rationalization for voting against Obama, even though the rationalization is untrue and fallacious.

In contrast, the Obama campaign has relied on facts. There is no need to lie when the country is in the shape it's in. There's no need to lie when you put all your plans for governance out with transparency and clarity.

Barack Obama for President!

Panthea Obscura Video Trailer!

Can't believe it! Juan Carlos put together a video trailer for our comic book! He did it all, even the music! Check it out, and let me know what you think:

New! "TOO MANY MORONS" T-Shirts!!

Just got inspired to put together some shirts featuring the "catchphrase" of my character Troy, the Destroyer from Panthea Obscura, "Too Many Morons!" They're for sale in a wide assortment of styles and colors over at my "Panthea Obscura" Cafe Press store: http://www.cafepress.com/pantheaobscura

Art Dump!

It's been a while since I've posted any original art... thought it was time for an Art Dump!
Click on the image for a (slightly) larger size









I'm putting some of these designs on T-Shirts... click on the Doodlerama Store link to get yours Today!

VATICAN ABDICATOR is out as of TODAY!

I gave the go ahead this afternoon. VATICAN ABDICATOR is out as of now!

This is the conclusion of the VATICAN ASSASSIN Trilogy, the follow-up to VATICAN AMBASSADOR.

Bernard Campion is back. He's the Pope? And there are aliens out to kill or control humanity?

Things aren't looking good for BC. Or for any of us, for that matter!

The "official" release date will be this Friday, August 8th.

The FREE audiobook goes live this Friday at Podiobooks.com! I'll be reading a chapter each week. If you haven't listened yet, you can catch up on the series. Both Vatican Assassin and Vatican Ambassador are available now at Podiobooks.com.

For those who wonder... The book won't be available on Amazon.com until early September. It takes 6 to 8 weeks for the book to list there. I've ordered copies for the local stores as well.

I've written more about the book and the series over at vaticanabdicator.com.

Always more over at glowinthedarkradio.com, too!

Panthea Obscura #3 Out NOW!!

I've spent the evening updating web sites, fixing graphics, checking links... made a new banner:






Feel free to download and use the banner to spread the word about Panthea Obscura!

Here's the Lulu Page: Panthea Obscura #3

Downloads are 99 cents!

High Quality, Ad Free Print copies are $6.99.

And you can still get the first two issues free!
Download the PDFs right from http://glowinthedarkradio.com.

Got the proof copy of Panthea Obscura #3 in last night... here I am holding it in my hot little hands... OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE JULY 23, 2008!!

Take a look at Panthea Obscura Issue #3 Page One!

Written by me -Mike Luoma
Art by Juan Carlos Quattordio
Lettering by Pablo Lizalde

Click for a larger version...
Coming soon!

Get Him While He's HOT!

This is SO preliminary as to be premature... but it's also so cool I had to share it with you! I'm working on a new Super Hero story pitch with artist Rhys ap Gwyn, and he's graced my desk (er, desktop computer, actually) with this pin up of our lead character...

INTRODUCING... RED HOT!!



Watch this space for FUTURE DETAILS...

What A Review...

Vatican Ambassador was reviewed this week over at Time Well Wasted... it's quite a review! Read it here:

Vatican Assassin Podcast Reviewed!

Gemini over at "Time Well Wasted" took the time to listen to my "Vatican Assassin" podcast and give it a fair and sometimes stingingly accurate review. You can read the review here.

Looking for Artists/Collaborators Horror Project

I'm going to pitch this but have no guarantee it will be picked up. This should at least be a web comic, so we may be able to make some cash that way. No illusions, no promises. You feel like taking the chance? Read on...

The Horror project is both the oldest and the newest project I've been working on. It's called "The Gnostic", and it's the story of a modern day college student who discovers that an ancient ancestor has let a demonic force loose into our reality... and he has to stop it or everyone dies.

More in a bit.

I'm Mike Luoma, a writer and artist, mostly writer. I've just put out a second edition of my Holy Shit: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ which I wrote, drew and self published. And Troy Brownfield on Newsarama raved: "...it's for books like this one that I love doing this column... a damn fine example of what 'independent comic' really means. The fact that it's entertaining, informative and occasionally gut-bustingly funny is all icing..."

I'm also putting out Panthea Obscura: Deifornication with Juan Carlos Quattordio. Newsarama said, "Brought to you by Mike Luoma, the guy who did the sublime Holy ____!: Or Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ, Panthea Obscura trades heavily on two trademarks that Luoma established in that earlier book: a fine eye for cultural weirdness, and lacerating humor..."

So there's that...

I've been working on the ideas for this one for a while. I've been drawing the first pages myself, but... I want something better. Maybe you can provide that something.

Here are the early pages I've drawn which feature the ancient ancestor doing his thing:
Page One
Page Two
Page Three
Page Four
Page Five Pencils
Page Six Pencils
Page Seven Pencils

A couple years back I was approached by a now-defunkt company interested my writing. They commissioned me to do scipts for their superhero line, were interested in a horror graphic novel I was developing, and they were talking about adapting my science fiction novel "Vatican Assassin" to the graphic form. Unfortunately, the company fell apart, I made no money, but there were no hard feelings... They got me writing at a good clip and made me get off my arse to develop projects that had been incubating. "The Gnostic" was one of those. After developing a couple other projects, I want to develop this one further.

If you want to read the project outline you can download it here:
"The Gnostic" Outline

If you're still reading, thanks! If you're interested in maybe collaborating on this, drop me a line at glowinthedarkradio@comcast.net. My website is glowinthedarkradio.com.

Looking For Artists/Collaborator: Super Hero

I'm going to pitch this but have no guarantee it will be picked up. This should at least be a web comic, so we may be able to make some cash that way. No illusions, no promises. You feel like taking the chance? Read on...

I'm looking for an illustrator for PROOF. It's a three issue mini about how you prove yourself as a super hero, told from the POV of RED HOT, a third-generation hero trying to make a name for himself and failing miserably. In issue #1 he tries to stop a bank robbery he's tipped off on, only to find that the "robber" is MIND MAN, another better-established hero!

More in a bit.

I'm Mike Luoma, a writer and artist, mostly writer. I've just put out a second edition of my Holy Shit: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ which I wrote, drew and self published. And Troy Brownfield on Newsarama raved: "...it's for books like this one that I love doing this column... a damn fine example of what 'independent comic' really means. The fact that it's entertaining, informative and occasionally gut-bustingly funny is all icing..."

I'm also putting out Panthea Obscura: Deifornication with Juan Carlos Quattordio. Newsarama said, "Brought to you by Mike Luoma, the guy who did the sublime Holy ____!: Or Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ, Panthea Obscura trades heavily on two trademarks that Luoma established in that earlier book: a fine eye for cultural weirdness, and lacerating humor..."

So there's that...

PROOF features a lived in universe where the heroes have come together as "The Team", originally led by the enigmatic MIND MAN and now under the auspices of strongman LEADER ONE. RED HOT's father was the original RED HOT and his grandfather was REDDY HOTMAN, both members of The Team in their day. RED HOT wants to prove he can join the ranks of The Team.

The scripts for all three issues are done. A couple years back I was approached by a now-defunkt company interested my writing. They commissioned me to do scipts for their superhero line, were interested in a horror graphic novel I was developing, and they were talking about adapting my science fiction novel "Vatican Assassin" to the graphic form. Unfortunately, the company fell apart, I made no money, but there were no hard feelings... PROOF was a concept I adapted to fit the company's characters... now I'm taking it back and retooling it, taking it back to the original concept and form.

If you're still reading, thanks! If you're interested in maybe collaborating on this, drop me a line at glowinthedarkradio@comcast.net. My website is glowinthedarkradio.com.

Looking for Artists/Collaborators

Well, I've been posting on Digital Webbing and had a couple of nibbles, but no real success on finding a collaborator on these projects. Here's what I've been posting:

I'm going to pitch this but have no guarantee it will be picked up. At the very least this will be a web comic, so we may be able to make some cash that way. No illusions, no promises. You feel like taking the chance? Read on...

I'm looking for an illustrator for Vatican Assassin. It's 2109. The Universal Trade Zone (UTZ) rules the Earth alongside its ally, the New catholic Church (NcC). They're at war with the Universal Islamic Nation (UIN), the Muslims now exiled to Mars. We follow the lead character as he works as an assassin for the NcC...

More in a bit.

I'm Mike Luoma, a writer and artist, mostly writer. I've just put out a second edition of my Holy Shit: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ which I wrote, drew and self published. And Troy Brownfield on Newsarama raved: "...it's for books like this one that I love doing this column... a damn fine example of what 'independent comic' really means. The fact that it's entertaining, informative and occasionally gut-bustingly funny is all icing..."

I'm also putting out Panthea Obscura: Deifornication with Juan Carlos Quattordio. Newsarama said, "Brought to you by Mike Luoma, the guy who did the sublime Holy ____!: Or Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ, Panthea Obscura trades heavily on two trademarks that Luoma established in that earlier book: a fine eye for cultural weirdness, and lacerating humor..."

So there's that...

Vatican Assassin is a science fiction adventure set in the near future. Bernard Campion or "BC" as he's better known, kills people for the Pope. As the story begins, he's on the Moon attempting to assassinate the Governor of Lunar Prime. But it's not going so well...

Vatican Assassin is already a novel and a Podiobooks podcast. It's the first book in a Trilogy. Book Two: Vatican Ambassador is out now, and it's an ongoing podcast at Podiobooks. I'm working on the third draft of Book Three: Vatican Abdicator right now. Well, I'm writing this post right now, but you know what I mean.

A couple years back I was approached by a now-defunkt company interested in adapting Vatican Assassin to the graphic form. Unfortunately, the company fell apart, no hard feelings... but the idea was planted. I scripted a ways into the book and did layouts for the first five pages.

If you're still reading, thanks! If you're interested in maybe collaborating on this, drop me a line at glowinthedarkradio@comcast.net. My website is glowinthedarkradio.com.

New Favorite, Kinda Creepy Doodles

Here are two more Doodles tonight. My new Favorite:

















And A Kinda Creepy one:

Angel Art

I haven't posted new art for a while (if you'd like to see more, just scroll down or hit the archives...). Did this one recently, put some color on it tonight:

HOLY S#!T: The Second Coming... Or, Jesus is Back And Boy Is He Pissed Off!

**UPDATE!**
The text was hard to read at the smaller image size. The images are larger now, not too large but certainly easier to read!! Click on the images to read.**

Hello from your favorite Heretic...

I just finished putting together a three page comic:

Holy Shit: The Second Coming... Or... Jesus Is Back and Boy Is He Pissed!

I'll be submitting it to a local Burlington Zine that's trying to get off the ground, but I thought you might enjoy it here as well.

One caveat: Where the original "Holy Shit: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ" was non-fiction, this new comic is decidedly, entirely fictional. As you'll soon see.

Enjoy!

Holy Shit! New Edition! Pat Robertson Still Anti-Christ!

I've been sending out the following Press Release to Trumpet my good news...

Pat Robertson Is Still The Anti-Christ!
Writer & Artist Mike Luoma Releases New, Expanded Edition of "Graphic Novel" Holy Sh!t: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ.

Second Edition of the Graphic Novel Available Now Online: http://stores.lulu.com/mikeluoma

In 2006, Vermont writer and artist Mike Luoma released his first comic, the non-fiction, self-published "Graphic Thingy" Holy Sh!t: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ. February 2008 sees the second edition released - Luoma has digitally cleaned up the lettering and digitally sweetened the illustrations to create a "digitally remastered" version of the comic. The free hand lettering is now easier to read, and the added shading and gray scale backgrounds help the illustrations flow better, creating an overall easier to read book while preserving the feel of the original edition. Luoma has written a new introduction, and the Second Edition of Holy Sh!t: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ also includes additional background material. Luoma's original essay that inspired the comic, "God Is Love, Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ, And Almost Everything You Know About Christianity Is Wrong" is now included, as is a full bibliography of Luoma's source material.

Reviews of the First Edition: Troy Brownfield of NEWSARAMA raved, "...it's for books like this one that I love doing this column... a damn fine example of what 'independent comic' really means. The fact that it's entertaining, informative and occasionally gut-bustingly funny is all icing... Holy Shit is certainly meant to anger and inflame a certain segment of the population. Luoma's taking aim at an especially nasty brand of American hypocrisy, and his work definitely has bite. It might not be to everyone's taste, but it's definitely thought-provoking, and that's something we can always use in comics."

J. Caleb Mozzocco in the Las Vegas Weekly: “…he posits that Robertson, and other similar Christian fundamentalists, are simply anti-Christ, as in, they often preach the exact opposite of what Jesus taught in the Gospels. You know, all that stuff about loving your neighbors. Robertson has the bully pulpit of TV to spout from, but Luoma takes him on via this self-published, magazine-sized comic book. Calling to mind Chick Tracts in its rough, sketchy art and preachy, folksy, occasionally funny tone, Luoma's Holy Shit is a pretty compelling read, tracing the history of Christianity from Jesus' original message to the rise of an institutional church to the fundamentalist movement that began in the 19th century, a movement that seems to rule much of America here in the dawn of the 21st.”

Steven Grant weighed in on HOLY SHIT in his CBR column "Permanent Damage": "...a surprisingly respectful (to Christ, anyway) dissertation on how Christianity got twisted throughout history from the original teachings to the inane blather of televangelists like Robertson. It briskly covers a range of topics like unpleasant discoveries in Biblical scholarship, the latter day misguided origins of Christian fundamentalism, religious right wing misinterpretation of the Constitution and its historical basis, and suggestions for finding paths back to the real Jesus. And he backs up his argument; it's not simply a screed. The art's iffy at best but the book's pretty impressive."

Shay Totten in the Vermont Guardian wrote, "Using rough-edged, often comical, ink drawings, Luoma guides readers from Jesus’ original teachings to the rise of an institutional church and eventually to the fundamentalist movement, which has become the dominant sect in the United States and influences both culture and politics. Rather than page after page of scholarly dissertation, readers find ink-drawn images of Christ and Pat Robertson, alongside biblical quotations and those from Robertson. This contrasting approach underscores Luoma’s core argument that what Robertson says is based on Christ’s teachings is not quite accurate. It also makes for a compelling read. For those who believe Christianity is more than the 700 Club and calls for the assassination of world leaders, Luoma’s work will tickle the mind, and the funny bone."

Holy Sh!t: Or... Pat Robertson Is The Anti-Christ is available now, online through glowinthedarkradio.com or at http://stores.lulu.com/mikeluoma and in comic and bookstores throughout Vermont.

Contact: Mike Luoma
Phone: 802-865-2597
EMail: glowinthedarkradio@comcast.net

Obama=Hendrix

Okay...

I Had to write this down, because when it hit me I laughed out loud. And I don't think anyone actually reads this blog anyway, so this is really just for me.

I flipped over to VH1 Classic and saw Jimi Hendrix playing. It struck me as I watched him: Hendrix was so good at what he did, you didn't think about what color his skin was. Didn't matter. His sheer talent on full display mesmerized you as you watched him play. Made you realize (if there was any question in your mind) that color was immaterial.

And Barak Obama is there, too. When he gives a great speech, you don't think about his skin color (unless you're really obsessed). He's inspiring, and makes you realize skin color is immaterial.

I'd like to think I don't care about skin color. I don't, so far as I know. Both Hendrix and Obama bring home the point that drawing distinctions is artificial.

Hillary Wants Schuster's Head for "Pimped Out" Comment

I just posted this over at Steven Grant's "Permanent Damage" Website, thought I'd put it here too...

The Clinton Machine keeps utilizing Republican tactics. The latest iteration? The use of the "Manufactured Outrage" campaign, employed successfully time and again by Republicans and Republican administrations to generate sympathy and publicity since Reagan took office. Hillary Clinton is generating fake indignancy over MSNBC Reporter David Schuster's asking if the Clinton campaign "pimped out" daughter Chelsea. Oh, the horror!

It was a stupid thing to say on the air. Schuster is usually sharper than that. I think he's a little stiff, a little square and was trying to sound "hip" and came off anything but hip to be square... But for the Manufactured Outrage Campaign to work, there has to be some truth to the offense, and on some level what Schuster said could be construed to be offensive. And ripe to be misconstrued to be abhorrent and horrific.

Hillary is demanding Schuster's virtual head, saying a temporary suspension and apology are not enough. Shame on her. She wants to ruin his career over this, and doesn't mind saying so. The Millionaire wants the under paid cable reporter on unemployment, or worse; a demand without mercy - scorched Earth tactics. Pretty brutal.

This false bravado covering petty retribution used to be the hallmark of Republicans, who used and overused it to the point where the American people stopped believing it. Hillary and the Clinton campaign are gambling on the fact that Hillary can preface her remarks with a statement no major Republican candidate has been able to use: "As a mother...". She's playing the "gender" card in a major way, and coloring the false indignancy she's shoveling with the patina of protective motherhood. It could prove a masterstroke of manipulation, or backfire against her. We'll see.

But, yet again, the Clinton campaign's tactics are Republican tactics.

Thoughts on Christmas Eve

So here we are, celebrating the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem on December 25th in year zero...

Except for a few, small troublesome facts.

Jesus was born in Nazareth, not Bethlehem. Bethlehem was a later literary invention by one of the Evangelists (Matthew) who wanted to place Jesus's birth in the City of David to show he was of the line of David. The "census" that supposedly initiated the pilgrimage that places the "Holy Family" in Bethlehem is also a literary invention. It simply did not take place!

One thing the early writers agree on: Jesus was born during the reign of Herod The Great. Two problems here. For one, Herod the Great died in the year we call 4 BC. If Jesus was born during Herod's reign, he had to have been born in 4 BC or earlier. Also, the "massacre of the innocents" under Herod seems to also be undocumented literary invention (though, it seems, not entirely out of character for Herod).

For most of the early centuries, Jesus's date of birth was not fixed on the yearly calendar. Faced with pagan solstice ceremonies and the vestiges of the Roman's Saturnalia, Christmas was developed to take the place of these heathen celebrations. The three kings of the East (who are not in the gospel, although a group of magi are) were invented or embellished at any rate to literalize this capitulation of the pagans. The "celebration" of Christmas is a relatively new event in the life of the Church. There were several Protestant denominations that held the celebration of Christmas in contempt even unto the 19th century!

So go ahead, celebrate Christmas... but let's get the facts straight. The when and how of Jesus's birth is not as important as the message he preached: God is Love. Love your enemies. Care for the poor. Renounce your worldly goods, pool your resources, and live together in harmony. And what if you encounter resistance? Love them. Love the resistors. Turn the other cheek. And if you have any question over what degree this should be taken to, then look to His example, he who DIED ON A CROSS while still loving those who put him to death. In other words, there is no question of degree. You love all the way to the end. Period. No exceptions.

I still find no religions that follow this doctrine in the world today.

Vatican Ambassador Podcast

I'm putting out a new press release to trumpet some good news:

HEARD ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY? MIKE LUOMA’S VATICAN AMBASSADOR COMING TO PODIOBOOKS.COM!

Burlington author and radio announcer’s second book added to national website.
The PODCAST revolution spreads to audio books!

Burlington, Vermont – December 19, 2007 – Bring on the Sequel! Mike Luoma’s science fiction novel Vatican Ambassador has just been picked up by the online audio book website Podiobooks.com (http://podiobooks.com). Vatican Ambassador is the sequel to Luoma’s Vatican Assassin, which has been featured on the site since August of 2007. Vatican Ambassador will be “live” on Podiobooks on Wednesday, December 19th.

Co-founded by Evo Terra and Tee Morris, co-authors of Podcasting for Dummies, Podiobooks.com provides “serialized audio books in podcast form.” At Podiobooks.com listeners can subscribe and listen to audio books in podcast form for free, or voluntarily donate to the authors. Podiobooks.com is helping to revolutionize the way people experience books.

Vatican Assassin, the first book, has been enjoyed by over 490 subscribers through Podiobooks.com. Luoma narrates the chapters of the book himself, subtly changing inflection and altering his voice to highlight and differentiate each character’s voice in the science fiction novel.

The books take place about a hundred years in the future. A war between the Earth controlling Universal Trade Zone (UTZ) and their allies, the New catholic Church (NcC) and Mars-based Universal Islamic Nation (UIN) recently flared up as the UIN attempted to retake part of Earth by force. The UTZ repelled the UIN attacks at the end of Vatican Assassin. There were heavy casualties on both sides. Now both sides are rebuilding.

The title character, Vatican Assassin Bernard Campion or “BC”, has been named the acting ambassador for the Vatican to Lunar Prime, the Independent City-State on the Moon. But BC’s old boss Pope Peter the Second has died, and the new pope has been strangely silent since appointing BC to his new position. The Governor of Lunar Prime, Marc Edwards, is in a political fight for his reelection against Daniel McEntyre, the widower of the former Governor, Meredith McEntyre… whom BC assassinated under orders from The Pope. As the acting ambassador, BC is about to find out it’s harder to negotiate with people than it is to kill them.

Mike Luoma is a Burlington, Vermont based author and an over-20-year veteran of Vermont radio currently with The Point (www.pointfm.com). He released Vatican Ambassador earlier this year (2007). Vatican Assassin was published at the end of 2005. Both are available at local outlets in Vermont and at Amazon.com and other online stores. He’s now writing the third book in the trilogy, Vatican Abdicator. Luoma features his books on his website, www.glowinthedarkradio.com.

Podiobooks Web Site: http://podiobooks.com
Mike Luoma Web Site: http://glowinthedarkradio.com
Email Contact: glowinthedarkradio@comcast.net
Phone: (802) 865-2597

Time Flies...

Buzzing around my head, those damn time flies...
Can't believe I haven't written anything here in months.

I've been writing other things, though...

Just finished the second draft of book three of the VATICAN ASSASSIN Trilogy, Vatican Abdicator. Lots o' typin'! It clocked in at 254 pages. It will be expanding from there, though. I have a short preview online. This is raw, and will change, but might interest you if you've been reading and/or listening to the first two: vaticanabdicator.com

I'm stepping back for a small break right now. Focusing on the Podiobooks.com podcast of the first two books. Vatican Assassin is complete! I'm now gearing up for Vatican Ambassador, recording chapters ahead to be sure I can deliver it in a timely fashion. You can listen to all of Vatican Assassin here: http://podiobooks.com/title/vatican-assassin

Juan Carlos and I are planning issue three of Panthea Obscura for early 2008. The script is done, but I may tweak it a little.

Speaking of 2008, my calendars are for sale! The newest features many of the doodles I've been posting here. Find out more at my homepage:
glowinthedarkradio.com

New Doodles!

Finally! I've scanned in some more doodles! A new full page one I love, and a smaller one. Got some nice comments as I was drawing it. Plus, the negative of the first, which I had to put up because it is cool and trippy. The love one almost has a motion to it...