Not a Blog

Looking for Gifts?

December 19, 2021 at 11:58 am
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Xmas is almost upon us.

Books make wonderful gifts, you kn0w.   Especially AUTOGRAPHED books, which are also collectibles.

And Beastly Books has hundreds of signed books… my own work, of course, plus a huge range of titles from the writers who have visited Santa Fe and the Jean Cocteau since 2013.  Hardcovers, paperbacks, SF, fantasy, thrillers, mystery, history, romance, you name it.

Browse our offerings at https://www.beastlybooks.com/

Our staff is waiting to help you.

Current Mood: geeky geeky

Long Long Ago…

December 18, 2021 at 10:26 am
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A few years back,  Hidetaka Miyazaki and his incredible team of game designers, the creators of the DARK SOULS videogame series, reached out from Japan to ask me to help them create the backstory and history for a new game they were working on.  Now, video games are not really my thing — oh, I played a few back in the dawn of time, mainly strategy games like RAILROAD TYCOON, ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS, and MASTER OF ORION — but this offer was too exciting to refuse.  Miyazaki and his team from FromSoftware were doing  groundbreaking stuff with gorgeous art, and what they wanted from me was just a bit of worldbuilding: a deep, dark, resonant world to serve as a foundation for the game they planned to create.   And as it happens, I love creating worlds and writing imaginary history.

So I did my bit, and handed off to my new friends in Japan, and they took it from there.   And years passed.   Videogames are as big as movies these days (bigger, actually)… and take just as long to create.

But the day of ELDEN RING is finally at hand.

And I’ve got to say, it looks incredible.

 

ELDEN  RING will be released on February 25, 2022.

Current Mood: enthralled enthralled

Cooters!

December 16, 2021 at 9:16 am
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We wrapped principal photography on NIGHT OF THE COOTERS back in August, you may recall.   That’s our adaptation of the classic short story by the one and only Howard Waldrop.   Shot entirely in greenscreen in Santa Fe, from a screenplay by Joe Lansdale.   Directed by Vincent d’Onofrio, who also starred.   After that we turned it over to the wizards at Trioscope, who have been busily working on it ever since with their groundbreaking animation process.

They’re still working.   It’s our hope to have a finished film by February, maybe March.

Meanwhile, though, we did put together a short teaser trailer for COOTERS.   We debuted it in Montreal at the World Fantasy Con, where Howard received the Lifetime Achievement Award.   And we screened it again during the Trioscope panel at the recent San Diego Comicon (which Vincent and I joined via Zoom).

And now we can share it with all of you.

Enjoy.

The Cooters are Coming!

Current Mood: excited excited

Pablito Is Here

December 14, 2021 at 9:28 am
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The sky has officially opened, as of December 3, and Pablito the dragon has arrived in Santa Fe.

(I told you he was coming).

You can read all about him in SANTA’S DRAGON, the new Christmas classic written  by bestselling author Douglas Preston and illustrated by Raya Golden.

There’s a lovely review in PASATIEMPO:

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/pasatiempo/books/a-very-santa-fe-christmas-story/article_73259aac-4975-11ec-a351-eb1661d0853b.html

Signed copies are now available from Beastly Books via mailorder, and in Santa Fe from the Sky Store down by REI.

(Be advised, this is a kid’s book.  Do not confuse Pablito with Balerion the Black Dread).

 

Current Mood: cheerful cheerful

Huzzah!

December 10, 2021 at 9:35 am
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THE GREAT is insane… and insanely good.

The second season came started streaming recently, and Parris and I have binged the whole thing.   I would not recommend the series as a way to pass your course in Russian history, mind you.   Certain… ahem… liberties have been taken.   But as entertainment, we love it.   It is funny, exciting, full of twists and turns and an amazing cast of characters.   And bawdy.  Very very bawdy.  You thought there was a lot of sex in GAME OF THRONES?  Hoo hah.   The dialogue is sharp, witty, often laugh out loud hilarious, and the cast… there are a LOT of fine actors in this one, but I have to single out Nicholas Hoult.   His take on Tsar Peter III is a delight… and it still boggles me when I remind myself that this is the same guy who played J.R.R. T0lkien so well in TOLKIEN.  That’s some range.

HUZZAH!

I have no idea where they can possibly go third season… though likely not where history went.

Current Mood: amused amused

Helping to spread the word for a good friend

December 6, 2021 at 9:01 am
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We’ve worked with Nnedi Okorafor a few times now and consider her a true friend and talented author.

So when she asked that we help spread the word for her family’s gofundme page we were happy to help out.

Please take a look and consider donating.

ON BEHALF OF THE OKORAFOR FAMILY:  

https://www.gofundme.com/f/a-future-for-chinedu

 

This message has been brought to you by the Minions of Fevre River.

Sky Railway Roars into Town!

December 3, 2021 at 9:19 am
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It’s finally time to open the doors officially for Santa Fe Sky Railway, and we’re all proud as punch about it!

It was a hard road but well worth it when we finally get to see the train pull up to Santa Fe station for the first time, come check us out down at the Santa Fe railway to find out more about what rides are available and what’s coming next year.

https://skyrailway.com

Come on down and check out our fabulous engines the Wolf and the Dragon and set up your next railway experience!

Tickets now available for Pablito’s Christmas Train and the Exodus Experience.

https://www.facebook.com/SkyRailway/

This message has been brought to you by the Minions of Fevre River.

 

Giving Tuesday Stagecoach Foundation

November 29, 2021 at 5:33 pm
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 The Stagecoach Foundation continues to impact New Mexicans and provide pathways into the film & TV industry, but we can’t do it alone; it’s only with our partners that we can provide quality training & job placement. One such partner is Stan Cassio and his post-production company, Mango NM.

Stagecoach Foundation and Mango NM’s collaboration creates opportunities for New Mexicans in the post-production arena. Having a pool of post-production professionals is essential to a thriving film industry. Mango NM has donated 5 editing bays, a teaching station and is committed to training and hiring New Mexicans – Oh, and did we mention the training is FREE?

Mango NM is a state-of-the-art, full service post-production company providing digital dailies for Santa Fe Studios and Q Studio on productions such as Perpetual Grace, Goliath and Roswell, NM.

Stan Cassio’s generosity and expertise are essential in our success, and we couldn’t be more grateful. Thank you, Mango, NM!

Find out more about Stagecoach Foundation and how you can make a difference too.

Donate Here https://secure.givelively.org/donate/stagecoach-foundation-inc/fund-film-training-workshops

Gobble Gobble

November 25, 2021 at 7:53 am
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Wishing a Happy Thanksgiving for all my friends, fans, and readers.

It has been another wretched year, but most of us still have  a lot to be thankful for.   I certainly do.

Enjoy your meat and mead.

 

Current Mood: loved loved

Opening the Sky

November 20, 2021 at 4:45 pm
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On December 3, right here in New Mexico, we will be opening the Sky between Santa Fe and Lamy.

Sky Railway, to be precise.

That’s the new name of the old Santa Fe Southern, the historic short-haul railroad originally build by the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe back in the nineteenth century.    Largely moribund since 2012, the railway was acquired in 2020 by a group that included me, Bill Banowsky (founder of Magnolia Films and Violet Crown Cinemas), bestselling mystery author Douglas Preston, and five other prominent Santa Feans  (Margaritas may have  had something to do with our decision).   We’ve been busy ever since restoring and refurbishing the cars, repairing the tracks and tressels, replacing old seats, fixing broken windows,  even installing a new engine into one of our old locomotives.   All of which took longer and cost more than we had originally anticipated… but hey, that’s pretty much always the case.

(I almost titled this post “I’ve been working on the railroad,” but  my readers would have taken that the wrong way… and, anyway, it isn’t true.   I am one of the owners.   Mostly what I have been doing is throwing out  ideas and writing checks.   Sky’s employees, an energetic and enthusiastic crew, have been doing the work, all those things I mentioned up above and lots more besides.   I have not driven a single spike, laid a single rail, reupholstered a seat, crawled under a coach to check the wheels, and I won’t be selling tickets or driving the trains either… though I do reserve the right to blow the whistle now and again.   Nor have I been in the kitchen with Dinah.   I have working, yes, yes… but not on the railroad.   I have been writing WINDS OF WINTER, editing three new Wild Cards books, sitting down with some amazing screenwriters and showrunners to create three hundred and seventeen new GAME OF THRONES successor shows for HBO and HBO Max,  and serving as executive producer on various other television and film projects in various stages of development, including DARK WINDS for AMC, JOKERTOWN for Peacock, ROADMARKS and WHO FEARS DEATH for HBO.  Oh, and I was the executive producer on our (recently wrapped) short film of Howard Waldrop’s NIGHT OF THE COOTERS.   So I have been working.   Maybe too bloody hard, but that’s another tale for another blog post… though these days even finding the time to blog is hard).

But I digress.   Let us get… ahem… back on track.

Santa Fe is the City Different, and we wanted Sky, the reborn Santa Fe Southern, to be the Railway Different.   We had two big old diesel locomotives, so right off we decided we would run two trains:  the Wolf and the Dragon.   And to paint them, and give each its own character and a look unlike any other train in the country, we hired Santa Fe’s own JORAEL NUMINA, an amazingly gifted muralist and graffiti artist.   You can check out Joerael’s own website at   https://www.joerael.com/ He’s been climbing all over our trains for the best part of the last year, and we think he’s produced something extraordinary.

 

Our swanky new paint job is not the only thing that will set Sky Railway apart, however.   It’s eighteen miles from Santa Fe to Lamy, a distance that we will cover in, oh, about an hour and a quarter at our blazing speed of fifteen miles an hour.   It’s nice ride, and our passengers can just buy a ticket and look out the windows at the passing scenery… pretty much the way it was on the old Santa Fe Southern, and every other tourist railroad in the country, give or take a few.   We’re planning to offer more than that, however.   We’re planning murder and mayhem on some of our trains, and unless Hercule Poirot buys a ticket, the passengers will have to solve the mysteries themselves.   Some of our trains may well be robbed; there are gangs of outlaws down by Lamy.  Expect ghosts and zombies next Halloween, and maybe even a hanging.   We will have jazz trains, country music trains, cocktail trains (we will offer our own unique cocktails), costume trains, circus trains….   There may be pirates.  There may be gunslingers.   There may be… most anything.  Especially if Exodus Ensemble is involved.   Which they will be.   https://www.exodusensemble.com/

Most of that will be coming next year.   This year, well, Christmas is on hand, and Sky is building a Christmas Village for the kids down in Lamy.   Most of our trains will leave from there, at least through Christmas.    There will be hot chocolate and bells.   Santa Claus will be on hand, and maybe his friend Pablito the Purple Dragon.   The trains start running DECEMBER 3.

To keep track of all we’re doing, check out Sky’s new website at:

https://dev.skyrailway.com

And, yes… tickets are now on sale.

Write it down.   DECEMBER 3.   The Wolf will howl.   The Dragon will roar.

Ride the Sky.   Santa Fe’s adventure train.

Current Mood: accomplished accomplished