Russ Colchamiro | Author of Finders Keepers, Crossline and Other Goofy Tales

Lunacon 2013 — My Schedule

Hey Gang-

I’ll be spending the weekend at Lunacon, in Rye, NY. I’ll have a table in the dealers room, with copies of Crossline and Finders Keepers. And here’s my speaking schedule:

10 am – “Humor in Science Fiction,” in the Poplar Room, with Elektra Hammond, Theodore Krulik, Alex Shvartsman, and my pal Patrick Thomas.

1 pm — “Less Sh*tty Second Drafts” in the Poplar Room, with Lawrence M. Schoen, Laura Anne Gilman, Michael A. Ventrella, and C.E. Lawrence (Carole Bugge)

4 pm — “Self-Promotion for Private People,” in the Elijah Budd Room, with D.L. Carter, Laura Anne Gilman, Danielle Ackley-Mcphail and Gail Martin

6 pm — “Finding The Right Critic,” in William Odelle Room, with Alex Shvartsman, D.L. Carter (Dee Kenealy), Myke Cole, April Grey

Written by Russ
on March 15, 2013 at 1:45 pm

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‘On the 5’ — Movies I Thought Would Stink, But Won Me Over

1. Galaxy Quest: Star Trek is an easy target for spoofing. But that doesn’t make it easy to do. Galaxy Quest is not only a fun adventure unto itself, but it deftly parodies the Star Trek franchise while respecting its audience, and is packed with spot-on performances across the board. Galaxy Quest could have been laughable. Instead, it stands up on multiple levels as quality — and fun — entertainment.

2. Cryus: A grown man with an unhealthy attachment to his mommy gets in the way of a solid relationshp with her new boyfriend. Hardly a novel idea. And yet this indie really works, thanks to nuanced performances from John C. Reilly, Marissa Tomei, and, perhaps most surprising, Jonah Hill, who is proving to be a lot more than at first meets the eye. Cyrus is indeed a bit odd and just a little creepy. But give it a shot. It works.

3. Con Air: Sure it’s big and loud and ridiculous on every level. But it’s also fun as hell. Action-packed, well-paced, with over-the-top stunts that blows sh*t up real good. Plus a killer cast including Steve Buscemi, Nicholas Cage, Ving Rhames, John Cusak, and others. Con Air never pretends to be anything it isn’t. It’s just top notch at being what it is.

4. The Matrix: When The Matrix first came out, I thought: Keanu Reeves as the star of a futuristic, sci-fi action movie? Uh … no thanks … dude. And for two years, even when friends of mine told me how good it was, I resisted. And then, finally, I broke down, and rented it. Yep. It’s a great movie. It’s a slightly derivative reluctant hero in the vein of other scifi/comic book stories such as Miracleman and Mage, and I’m sure others, but the surfer/slacker/burn-out star brought the mojo.

5. Sideways: The cast, writers and director are all quite good, so why did this movie surprise me? Because it’s about two middle-aged layabout who are selfish, lazy, and, ultimately, not loyal, reliable, or honest. But the movie works because there’s a human quality underneath, about struggling to find your way through a life that doesn’t quite live up to expectations.

Bonus Movie: Ghost: Let’s see. A sappy love story about a dead fiance who comes back to rescue his girl from his killer? This is so NOT for me. And if I had to sit through one more commercial of Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore rubbing each others’ hands while making pottery, I was going to smash my TV! Ahh! And yet … Ghost is a subversively entertaining popcorn movie that had me hooked. I’m not saying I’m proud of it, but I did like it.

Written by Russ
on March 13, 2013 at 7:38 pm

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The Story Behind Crossline

Here’s my blog post on the Crazy 8 Web site, about the origins of my new book, Crossline:

http://www.crazy8press.com/2013/03/01/crossline-explained/

As with all great stories, Crossline was inspired by — what else — a girl.

I’ll explain.

Crossline is actually the melding of two completely disparate ideas I developed a dozen years apart. Back in the late ‘90s, I had an idea for a sci-fi comic book mini-series. A buddy of mine helped me see how big Crossline could really be, so I upped the action and then we put the very beginning of Crossline into layout. But the comic book never took off, so to speak.

Yeah. Okay, great. But … what’s this about a girl?

Well … back in high school I had a crush on a redhead, who was a tried and true American Irish lass who also happened to be fiery and passionate about all things Ireland and the IRA. So of course I had to write about it, because who better to capture ‘the troubles’ then a 16-year-old Jewish kid from Long Island who knew absolutely nothing about Ireland?

And so a trilogy of short stories came to be. They were lumpy and unpolished, but there was a real cross-border love story set within political action and intrigue, and each story was an improvement over the last. The framework for something special was in place.

(For the record, I never published the stories, and to my chagrin at the time, I never got the girl.)

And yet … I held onto the story idea, and when at long last I saw how the sci-fi component could really raise the stakes to this human drama, I started writing the novel. It took almost 25 years, but Crossline has finally arrived.

The space adventure gets the action rolling, but there’s a saga that comes with it. And lest this all sounds a bit heavy … fear not. I replaced the original teenaged angst with some philosophical musings, cosmic shenanigans, and loads of humor, cuz like Plato himself liked to say, that’s just how I roll (or maybe it was Confucius, I forget).

In any case, if Crossline sounds like your kinda thing, it will be available both in print and e-book through my pals at Crazy8 Press. Coming soon.

Written by Russ
on March 6, 2013 at 1:22 am

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Crazy 8 Press to Publish Crossline

Here’s the blog from Crazy 8 Press announcing my new book, Crossline:

http://www.crazy8press.com/2013/02/16/coming-in-march-crossline-by-russ-colchamiro/

Up until now our little gang at Crazy 8 has published books by just our little band of writers — the founding members, as we like say (ahem-hem). But we finally thought, you know, it’s time we opened our doors to some of

our fellow writers and bring them into the Crazy 8 family. As announced at Farpoint this afternoon, this will be our next offering and one we’re excited about.

With that, let’s welcome our newest brother in arms — author Russ Colchamiro.

If you don’t know Russ, his debut novel was the hilarious sci-fi backpacking comedy Finders Keepers, which he published to some nice fanfare through 3 Finger Prints.

In fact, review site Ruled by Books had this to say about Russ: “There are only a handful of comedic authors that I enjoy, tops among them being Douglas Adams and Christopher Moore. After reading Finders Keepers … add Russ Colchamiro to that list.”

And now he’s back with his latest novel, Crossline, which will debut in Mid-March as the first official Crazy 8 novel written by an outside author.

So what’s Crossline about?

If you ask Russ, he calls it a modern-day Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon-style space opera, with his usual time-bending, philosophical shenanigans mixed in, as well as action, space soaring thrills, some deadly, but lovely ladies, and of course, loads of humor.

Space battles? Check

Wormholes? Check

Alternate realities? Check

Pot smoking shaman? Check

You want more? Keep checking in with us here for further updates and pretty soon we’ll hear from Russ himself about how this crazy space opera came together.

Written by Russ
on March 6, 2013 at 1:17 am

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Russ’ Newsletter: Vol. 7, No. 1 – New Book — Crossline has a Deal!

Howdy Gang!

I hope everybody had a festive New Year’s and that you’re starting off 2013 with a bang.

Liz and I had an adventurous holiday break with our little ninjas, including lots of family time, and now we’re embarking on that classic rite of passage known as potty training! We also squeezed in a few movies, including The Hobbit (2-D version), which was a bit long, but had a great last hour, and Django Unchained, which was bloody, funny, and a bit too long, but also good.

As for my adventures in writing …

Crossline is a go! I have indeed secured a publishing deal, so you will be seeing Crossline in both e-book and print versions some time in March.

Woo Hoo!

As you may have heard (from me), Crossline is a modern-day Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon-style space opera, with my usual philosophical shenanigans mixed in. To get this galactic joyride into your hands (and eyeballs), I’ll be working with the maniacs — and I say that in the best way possible — over at Crazy 8 Press, who have had quite a bit of success in their own right.

The boys at Crazy8iatics, including New York Times best-seller Peter David, as well as Robert Greenberger, Aaron Rosenberg, Glenn Hauman, Michael Jan Friedman, and Howard Weinstein have until now only published their own works, so I have the honor (or is that dishonor?!) of being the first outside author to be invited inside the walls of Castle Crazy.

I’ll have many updates to share in the coming months, including specific publishing dates, snazzy artwork, and, of course, where you can buy your very own copy!

And in case you were wondering if I’ll be doing any conventions and signings …

Russ’ Spring 2013 Convention Schedule

Okay. C’mon. Admit it. You miss me. Well … yer in luck! I’ll have a table, will be doing signings, and may also speak on a few panels at the following sci-fi shows in early Spring:

* Lunacon: March 15 -17, Rye, New York

* RocCon: April 7, Poughkeepsie, New York

If you’d like to come by, stop over and howdy-do!

Rumblings About Finders Keepers II

And while Crossline launches (ha-ha), I’m already hard at work on the first of two Finders Keepers sequels. No word yet on a publishing date, but if all goes well, we’ll be seeing our fun-loving goofballs some time in 2014.

That’s all she wrote for this edition. But stay tuned for updates in the coming weeks and I’ll be sure to have lots of new info to share about Crossline …

All the best,

Russ

Written by Russ
on January 10, 2013 at 8:00 pm

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10 Whumpin’ Rock Songs Daughtry Should Cover

Daughtry’s Break the Spell is by far my favorite album from these guys, and as I’ve blogged about previously, I think they are going to be around a long, long time. Their songs have great hooks, and they’ve got a lead singer — Chris Daughtry himself — sporting a Hall of Fame voice (see where I rank Chris among my favorite rock n’ roll singers ever).

I’m sure the Daughtry boys are itching to get back into the studio, but while they are out there touring, they typically mix in a few cover songs into their set list, including one of my all time favorite rock songs, Rebel Yell by Billy Idol.

Speaking of covers, if Chris and the gang are open to suggestion, here are ten whumpin’ rock songs I’d love to hear them bang out. Some you might know, some maybe not, but either way, I think Daughtry would do them all justice:

Eye of the Tiger, Survivor
Enter Sandman, Metallica
Rockin’ in the Free World, Neil Young
Like I Do, Live
Cum on Feel the Noise, Quiet Riot
Plowed, Sponge
Twilight Zone, Golden Earring
Hazy Shade of Winter, Simon and Garfunkel
A Matter of Trust, Billy Joel
No Easy Way, Robert Tepper

I’m sure there are many others the Daughtry boys would do justice. Any songs you’d like to hear them cover?

Written by Russ
on December 13, 2012 at 5:38 pm

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Russ’ Movie Review: Skyfall – Shaken … or Stirred?

There’s been a lot of chatter out there about whether or not Skyfall truly measures up as one of the better, or even elite, James Bond movies, with Casino Royale generally considered by many (including me), to be one of the best in the series and certainly the best Bond outing in many years.

There have been those who felt Skyfall didn’t hit the mark, or that while it is a good movie, it isn’t a good James Bond movie. But I’m here to say this:

Skyfall.

Kicks.

Ass.

Skyfall is not only one of the best Bond movies in the entire 007 series, it’s one of the better movies I’ve seen this year.

What Worked: There is a LOT to like about Skyfall. First, it’s just a great looking and sounding movie, with exotic locales and all the polish a Bond movies deserves.

But on to Mr. Bond himself. Now in his third go as 007, Daniel Craig has never looked more comfortable in the character. Clearly a few years older since he first took the role, he really seems to understand who and what Bond is, and how to embody such an iconic character. Craig has the physical brute force required to handle death-defying situations, the intelligence for the ‘spy’ aspects, and enough charm to woo those lovely ladies.

Skyfall also gives us perhaps the most humanized take of James Bond in the entire series. The detractors say that such human foibles take away from 007, and led to their disappointment. I agree that the existential crisis Bond goes through would only work once. Skyfall has to be a stand-alone entry; it cannot be the model for future outings. But as a one-off, I found the layers of Bond quite compelling, and, in fact, drew me deeper into the character than ever before.

The plot, which borders on being too layered at times, has an actual story and theme, with Bond and others given the time to talk and think and reveal themselves. Unlike many Bond movies, there are only a handful of action sequences, allowing the story to unfold much more organically than we usually get with 007. The rewards are that I was genuinely interested in what was happening, rather than just waiting for something to blow up real good.

Beyond Craig himself, the cast is mostly superb. Judi Dench, as always, is fantastic as M, and we also get believable and even quirky performances from Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whipshaw as the new Q, and Berenice Marlohe as one of the most exotic and alluring Bond girls in a long, long time. And, of course, Javier Bardem as the villain Silva has just the right mix of being twistedly over the top without being a cartoon. He’s a warped mind with a real plan. Quite simply, he is a deadly and unpredictable foil for Mr. Bond.

The fun is back. After the pretty weak and unpolished Quantum of Solace, Skyfall was far more self aware and humorous, and those lighter moments helped elevate — and loosen up — what is a pretty intense movie start to finish. Whereas Casino Royale was more overt popcorn movie, Skyfall is more intense thriller.

What Didn’t Work: Without giving away too much, there wasn’t enough time spent with the Bond girls themselves. Bond is at his most devilish fun when he’s sparring with (and bedding) the delicious Bond girls, and in Skyfall, those scenes are a bit sparse, and one of the reasons I think the detractors didn’t feel that Skyfall was a true “Bond” movie.

Speaking of Bond girls, Naomi Harris as field agent Eve fell flat. Compared to the other performers, she was the weak link. She just didn’t exude the … Bond girlness … we want, and she didn’t bring enough sizzle to the repartee with 007.

As for the plot, Director Sam Mendes said that Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight gave him the confidence to tackle certain themes that are typically absent in popcorn action movies. But with Skyfall, some of the plot is essentially an exact replica of The Dark Knight. The plot works within Skyfall unto itself, but I felt that, not only had I seen this before, I had just seen this before.

The plot also hinged on some pretty incredible timing, in parts, and I’m not sure it would really hold up under tighter scrutiny. Then again, it’s a James Bond movie, so how tight do we expect the plots to be? A minor blip, but a blip nonetheless.

Finally, the opening sequence is an extended action piece that, on paper, delivers real excitement. And at times, it did. But in others, I found the directing to be a bit mechanical. I wasn’t always as riveted as I wanted to be.

Shaken or Stirred?: Skyfall is an intense, riveting and thoroughly entertaining entry in the James Bond franchise that actually had something to say about fighting terror in the modern world, and in fact, is one of the best entrees in the entire 007 series. In some ways I liked Skyfall better than Casino Royale, although it’s not quite as fun, and time will tell if it will have that same “re-watchability” factor.

Whereas Casino Royale was a reboot, Skyfall is re-invigoration.

Skyfall missed opportunities, but for a James Bond fan that demands a real movie with his popcorn fun, I found that Skyfall delivered in a big, big way, and nicely sets up the coming adventures with a character that has finally shed his past so that he can fully engage in the future.

I can’t wait for what 007 has in store for us next.

Written by Russ
on November 26, 2012 at 2:36 pm

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Finders Keepers Hits NY Comic-Con 2012

Sorry I’m a little late on this one, but I’m still catching my breath after the NY Comic-Con.

I was there on Thursday of the 4-day event, but I got more than my money’s worth. Comic-Con is always such a madhouse, with Thursday being the most manageable day by far.

While there I got to see some of my writer pals, including No Small Bills and Too Small For Tall author Aaron Rosenberg, and Glenn Hauman — both with Crazy 8 Press — as well as Keith DeCandido and Star Trek author stud David Mack.

And, as always, I had my adventures with long-time partner-in-crime Rich Henn, who was out there slinging comics like a madman. We wound up having late-night burgers and beers — all was good in the end. Although the fries were wire-thin curly cue, so you had to eat them with a fork – or by the handful. Not prime French fry logistics, but that should only be my biggest problem.

During the show itself, I was out there doing the usual Finders Keepers promotion, and made a new fans, including:

And, of course, this dude:

This will likely be my last show of 2012, but based on what’s in the hopper, it’s starting to look like 2013 will be quite a year indeed!

Written by Russ
on October 25, 2012 at 5:53 pm

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Russ’ Newsletter: Vol. 6, No. 4 – 500,000 Hits for Finders Keepers!

Hi Gang-

With just two weeks until Liz and I jump off to Mexico to celebrate our ten year wedding anniversay — yep, it’s been ten years! Whoa! — I’ve got a special Finders Keepers update I think you’ll enjoy:

* As Finders Keepers continues to make its way in the world, it recently reached a pretty cool milestone. For those of you who are unaware, I was one of just a handful of authors hand-picked a while back by Publishers Weekly to participate in one of its new partner outlets — Wattpad.com — to post content online. The Wattpad Web site is designed to give up-and-coming authors a venue to post their work, and, ultimately, get discovered.

With a steady readership I’m proud to say that Finders Keepers has now reached and surpassed the 500,000 hits plateau. That’s right, readers have now clicked on to at least portions of my debut novel more than a half a million times.

What will this all mean?

Not sure yet, but either way I’m feeling pretty darn good about it. And — pardon the pun — the hits just keep on coming. Is it possible I’ll eventually reach 1 million hits? Let’s find out …

BIG BIG BIG THANKS! to Publishers Weekly, Wattpad, and all the fans who keep on reading!

* And speaking of Finders Keepers, I have now begun my initial work on the first of two sequels! Yep. At long last I am revisiting the adventures of our international and cosmic globetrotting knuckleheads Jason Medley and Theo Barnes, and already have a pretty good idea of the kind of trouble they’ll be getting themselves into this time.

Expect more traveling, more philosophical shenanigans, and, of course, my customary doses of humor, fun, and cosmic lunacy.

There’s loads more to discuss, including highlights from the 2012 NY Comic-Con, but I’ll be sharing those in a special edition newsletter real soon.

Until then …

All the Best,

Russ

Written by Russ
on October 15, 2012 at 8:49 pm

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Summer TV/Movie Recap: Spiderman, The Dark Knight, Sons of Anarchy and More …

Now that I’ve had a little time to reflect, here’s my rundown of my summer’s TV and movie watching. Have to say, all in all it was pretty darn good:

For my money, The Amazing Spiderman was the best entry in the franchise. I’ve heard complaints that it was too soon to reboot, but I’m not buying it. The Tobey Maquire movies certainly had their moments — the first one being my favorite — but this latest iteration had a great combination of ‘realism’ (as far these things go), fun, humor and lots of heart. The new Peter Parker, played by Andrew Garfield, just seemed far more like a realistic teenager to me. Awkward, confused, but not a total loser dork. And now he’s Spiderman! And they amped up his scientific genius, which was always a core element of the character. Martin Sheen was a GREAT Uncle Ben, and Emma Stone really nailed it as Gwen Stacy. I will admit that the CGI on the Croc wasn’t always great, and the Uncle Ben death scene does have a pretty big flaw, but overall I thought The Amazing Spiderman was great. I can’t wait to see more.

As for The Dark Knight Rises … it was EPIC and intense and a great bookend to the entire three-movie arc. I will say that this last entry wasn’t quite as pure fun as the first two, and, when you take a step back, it has a few plot points that don’t quite hold up, but all in all it was big bang for the buck. Anne Hathaway was especially good, and while Bane wasn’t quite as mesmerizing as The Joker (who could be?), he was a lethal adversary for sure. The creators swung BIG, and for the most part, they landed. I’m really curious to see who takes the reigns next and how they interpret the character.

As for The Avengers, I know it’s sort of geek blasphemy to say, but I didn’t love it. It was kinda entertaining, but I found it to be very loud, very long, and pretty superficial. It looked great, had lots of humor, the HULK was awesome, and the finale did kick some major butt. I’m just hoping that the sequel has more meat on the bones.

On the TV front, Liz and I have been watching The Newsroom. It’s kind of a mixed bag. The show did get off to a pretty lousy start, and as the season progressed, the intensity and thrill got better overall, and, at times, was great. And Jeff Daniels and Sam Waterston are both great. But one of the shows major weaknesses — and it’s huge — is that the female characters, are, by and large, portrayed as schizo, man-pleasing morons often on the verge of a nervous breakdown over their boyfriends. They just can’t be THIS whacked-out and be the media dream team. The ‘media elite’ as they call themselves on the show. It’s a MAJOR flaw, and one I hope they fix. It’s a show that should be much better than it is.

I’m a little late to the game, but after three seasons of Sons of Anarchy … I’m in. It’s intense, twisty, and extremely violent, but if you like shows like The Shield and Breaking Bad, SOA is worth checking out. I won’t put SOA quite at that level, but it is damn good. These dudes are pure outlaws, and I know I shouldn’t care about them, because they really do pretty bad things pretty often. And yet … I do care. Good TV.

Speaking of Breaking Bad … wow. Just wow. Assuming the final eight episodes hold up (grrrrr … not ’til next July!), Breaking Bad will go down as one of the great TV shows of all time. Bryan Cranston was better than ever, and this last season was filled with great acting across the board, tons of tension, and great plot twists. It is, simply … GREAT.

Next up I still need to watch season 4 of SOA so I can get up to speed for season 5, which started. And Sept. 30 we get the season premieres of Dexter and Homeland, so I’m pretty psyched there. Otherwise I’ll be watching the final season of The Office, the next season of The Big Bang Theory, and maybe I’ll check out a few of the new shows. Where I’ll find the time, I have no idea, but at least I’ve got some TV to look forward to.

And when it comes to movies … it’s all about Bond. James Bond. Skyfall opens in November. And I. Can’t. Freakin. Wait.

What are you watching …?

Written by Russ
on September 15, 2012 at 2:12 pm

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