Mike Luoma Writes Science Fiction, Comic Books, and This Blog...
Monday, October 05, 2009
ALIBI JONES is OUT TODAY!
Out today in print (!): http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/alibi-jones/7256433
Use the code FALLBOOK when you go through the checkout to save 10% on any of my books at Lulu.com during October.
You can also get it as an eBook for Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/4034
...for the Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Alibi-Jones...
And coming October 16th as a free, downloadable audiobook at Podiobooks.com!
Check out the Glow-in-the-Dark Radio Podcast for an advance listen to the audiobook's Preface.
Friday, September 11, 2009
"We Are Gray"
Wrote this right after the original attacks eight years ago. My tribute to the day:
The clouds of billowing dust
Coated the running escaping.
Many were killed in the blasts,
Innocents used by Bin Laden.
Better, then, covered in dust,
Then lost in the ruins of the breaking.
After the vicious attacks
By the cowardly demon Bin Laden,
All of them, covered in dust,
Coughing, and choking, and shaking…
Today we all are gray.
The dust took the color away.
No black, no white – the same.
We are gray today – the same.
When the terrorists hit,
Did they give a shit
About colors, race or creed?
We’re all gray… and red we bleed.
We Are Gray
When the Great Buildings collapsed,
Hit by the fists of Bin Laden,The clouds of billowing dust
Coated the running escaping.
Many were killed in the blasts,
Innocents used by Bin Laden.
Better, then, covered in dust,
Then lost in the ruins of the breaking.
After the vicious attacks
By the cowardly demon Bin Laden,
All of them, covered in dust,
Coughing, and choking, and shaking…
Today we all are gray.
The dust took the color away.
No black, no white – the same.
We are gray today – the same.
When the terrorists hit,
Did they give a shit
About colors, race or creed?
We’re all gray… and red we bleed.
Monday, August 31, 2009
New Spotlight Article on Starlin's Adam Warlock/The Magus Saga
With the reappearance of The Magus in the pages of Guardians of the Galaxy, the time seemed right to take a look back at Jim Starlin's saga of Adam Warlock and The Magus from the mid-seventies.The first part of my spotlight article is up today:
http://cosmicbooknews.com/articles/csawm
Part two is here: http://www.cosmicbooknews.com/articles/csawm_2.
Enjoy!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
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:
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...
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
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!
"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!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
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
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
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
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?
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?
Saturday, August 01, 2009
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
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
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
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
Thursday, July 23, 2009
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
Thursday, June 18, 2009
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...
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...
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
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!
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!
Thursday, June 04, 2009
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!
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!
Friday, May 29, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
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!
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!
Saturday, May 09, 2009
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!
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!
Saturday, May 02, 2009
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!
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