Dayton's Blog: A pimple on the ass of the Internet.

One other thing I forgot to mention in my big "Stuff I Did In November" ramble, was that Jay Smith (dr_p_venkman) asked me to provide new voice work for an upcoming episode of his zombie apocalypse serial radio drama, HG World.

Jay offered me a meatier part this time around, and though I still cop to having no real talent for this kind of thing, I decided it was too much fun to pass up. I recorded lines for the new episode on Sunday night, and was told today that they didn't suck. Sweet!

This time around, I play a haggard survivor who calls into the radio show hosted by Todd Rage (played with no small amount of zeal by Keith DeCandido, aka kradical), letting him know just how shitty my day's been, zombie-wise. Hilarity ensues from there.

If you read Jay's blog, then you already know he's one funny SOB. So far, the scripts I've read for HG World have also been all kinds of fun. Here's hoping my participation in the new episode doesn't screw things up too badly. I'll be sure to post a link once the episode goes live.

Be sure to check out the whole series, and let Jay and the gang know what you think of their hard work.

Thanks again to Jay and the rest of the crew for letting me play again!

Tomorrow, officers and crew of the U.S.S. Las Vegas, a Star Trek fan club based in...you guessed it...Las Vegas, are teaming up with a local Barnes & Noble bookseller to promote the release of the new Star Trek film on DVD and Blu-Ray. There will be a "Star Trek" book fair from 11am to 4pm. As the event name suggests, Star Trek books as well as DVDs and other Trek-related merchandise will be there. In addition to the crew from the Las Vegas, former performers and other staff members from the late and lamented Star Trek: The Experience will also be on hand to join in on the fun.

Also participating will be members of Trekcast, the weekly Star Trek Podcast, and they'll be holding a live edition of their show from the store. The show will stream via Ustream, and Kevin and I have been invited to join in a live interview/Q&A session during the show. For those of you who might be interested in listening to the shenanigans and perhaps throwing a question our way, you can send the Trekcast gang messages via the Ustream setup. All the details can be found on the Trekcast site by clicking right here.

For those of you in Las Vegas who might want to check this out in person, the event is being held at the Barnes & Noble at 3860 Maryland Parkway.

Here's hoping we hear from folks!

Earlier this week, Kevin and I, along with Mary Czerwinski (aka Televixen, co-host of the weekly DVDGeeks online TV/radio show/podcast), were guests on the SciFi Diner Podcast to talk a bit about Star Trek. The emphasis of the show was on the forthcoming DVD release of the new Trek flick, which you may have heard did some decent business at the box office this past summer. I'd already been a guest on the show once before, so I was totally jazzed that hosts Scott and Miles invited me back to the Diner for a second helping.

Mary's already had a chance to check out the DVD, so she dishes dirt on the various special features to be found on the different editions as well as the accompanying Blu-ray release. We also spend a good bit of time talking about the film itself, usually branching out of discussions about this or that pertaining to the DVD. We enjoyed ourselves, so hopefully it makes for interesting listening.

You can listen to the episode by clicking right here.

Speaking of DVDGeeks, their next show will be all about the Trek as they do their own coverage of the new DVD. Be on the lookout for guest, Trek expert and friend Larry Nemecek as well as a "very special guest star."

Be sure to check out both shows, whydontcha!

Earlier this week, I was interviewed by Scott Hertzog and Miles McLoughlin of the SciFi Diner Podcast, a weekly show that covers all the latest happenings in the SF and Fantasy genres. Film, TV, books and comics, games and toys, you name it, chances are they've got something to say.

The guys spent about a half hour or so catching up on their sleep as they asked a series of open-ended questions and let me blabber on at length. Somewhere in all of that mess -- we think -- lay the answers to said questions. You can hear the interview as well as a healthy dose of genre news, trivia (I knew the answer to the contest question, without using IMDB!), and other nerdy goodness.

Check out Episode #37 ("37???") at the podcast's homepage: Click Me!

Thanks very much to Scott and Miles for having me on! We're already talking about a follow-up visit to the show for me, this time bringing along Kevin for the ride. Stay tuned for details as they firm up. It should be fun!

HG World is a full-cast audio drama depicting a zombie uprising and those who try to survive it. The brainchild of Jay Smith (dr_p_venkman), the serial features the talents of numerous voice actors (including kradical as -- of all things -- a right-wing Vietnam vet turned radio jock named Todd Rage). Todd is the voice who guides survivors to safe havens, many of which are home improvement stores in the mountains of rural Pennsylvania. The series is a lot of fun, and it's obvious from listening to the different episodes that everyone involved is having a good time putting this puppy together.

"Walk In Their Masquerade," episode 4 of the serial's "Season 0" has just been released, and in addition to the efforts of all the gifted actors lending their voices to this installment, Jay also managed to find a small role for Yours Truly, thereby taking my voice acting virginity. As kradical wrote earlier today:

In this episode, we meet the Constables of HG World who have their quiet night interrupted by the announcement of a shocking decision. When Ronni falls ill, Hicks heads to town for supplies, only to run into an old friend with a sinister plan. Hicks and Dogberry find the last store in Wishwell under siege by Eaters, with looters trapped inside along with the staff. The fate of McInnes and his men looks grim as the United Nations force counts its dead and tries to decide which way to head next.

Starring Keith R.A. DeCandido as Todd Rage, Scott C. Wentworth as Keith, Dustin Shanafelter as David and Pimples, Lance Shoenberg as Krantz, D.T. Kelly as Jebediah, Michael L. Stokes as Jack and Captain Grant, Glen Bartram as Harris, Rebecca Rinas as Ronni, Ryan Smith as Hicks, Ayoub Khote as McInnes, Lee Sands as Dogberry, Dayton Ward and Scott Wentworth as the Robbers, Shane Harris as Auggie, Roy Winger as HEFTY, Cheryl Malcom as Shelly, Stacy Dooks as Gray, and Mark Zaricor as Reverend Dawkins.

The episode was written and directed and edited by Jay Smith, engineered by Michael Stokes.

HG World is produced by Jay Smith & Michael L. Stokes with production assistance by Martha Linbo-Terhaar and Carole Stokes and production logo and additional art by Adrianna Linbo-Terhaar.

You can get the episode at iTunes, or download it from GoodMorningSurvivors.com or at 3015 North Productions' podOmatic page. And feel free to comment at the message board.

Be sure to check out the whole series, and be sure to let Jay and the gang know what you think of their hard work.

Many thanks to Jay for having me aboard for a bit of fun!

On Wednesday, October 21st, I'll be chatting it up with Scott Hertzog and Miles McLoughlin of the SciFi Diner Podcast. Theirs is a weekly show covering all aspects of science fiction - books, film, TV, comics, conventions, you name it.

I know Miles thanks to our mutual friendships with the guys who produce the weekly TrekCast Star Trek podcast. I met him and Scott for the first time at this past summer's Shore Leave convention, and they're both clearly huge fans of the genre having way more fun than the law should allow. We discussed the possibility of my coming on their show back then, so I'm jazzed that a slot's opened up in their schedule.

From the sound of things, we'll talk about my writing and what projects I've got in the pipeline, and hopefully just jabber for a bit about SF in general. The show will be recorded on the 21st for release later that same week. Should be a fun time!

Hmmm...this podcast stuff's getting to be a regular thing, ain't it?

Earlier in the week, Chronic Rift host John Drew (drewshi) contacted me, asking if I was available to "redo" an interview he originally conducted with me back in July at the Shore Leave convention.

While we didn't simply replicate the original interview, I think we covered most of the same topics/questions. John let me blabber about the recent Space Grunts anthology I edited, the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds contests and anthologies, and a few other choice tidbits. My interview is also married up with a second discussion between John and friend, writer and fellow SNW veteran Kevin Lauderale. Kevin also touches on the SNW contests, as well as his other fiction writing as well as his work with AuthorMagazine.org. The two interviews comprise a special episode of The Chronic Rift which John as titled "Spotlight: Shore Leave 2009, Part One."

You can listen to the episode by clicking on this linky-type thing right here.

Hope ya dig it.

Just got done talking with drewshi, recording a "short" segment for his podcast, The Chronic Rift. He let me ramble and blabber about various topics, including the late, lamented Star Trek: Strange New Worlds contest, the Space Grunts anthology I edited earlier this year, my forthcoming sequel to The Last World War, and so on. I'm sure John will work his Edit-Fu Jedi Magic on the whole thing and make me sound good.

Well, good...you know...for me.

John says it should be up and available at the TCR site in a couple of days. Woo to the hoo!

Back in 2007, Wil Wheaton started reviewing episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation for TVSquad.com. In addition to providing rather entertaining recaps of a given episode's plot, he also peppered the narrative with first-person recollections of his time on set. The reviews were offered with Wil's...uh...irreverent style :)

Due to budget cuts, the site eliminated the feature after he'd covered about half of TNG's first season episodes. He's decided to collect the reviews into a book, Memories of the Future, which should be available soon. In the meantime, he's offering up a weekly podcast, featuring excerpts from the reviews/etc. for the episodes the book will contain. The first podcast went up this week, offering a look back at TNG's premiere episode, "Encounter at Farpoint." You can check it out right here.

Warning: Explicit language awaits. Consider yourself warned.

Give it a listen, whydontcha.

Earlier in the week, I spent some time chatting with Shannon and Matt of Seattle Geekly, a weekly podcast celebrating All Things Geek. We talk briefly about my love for Star Trek and how that turned to me writing Trek fiction for Pocket, other things I geek out on, how I'm indoctrinating my kids into the fine art of geekishness, and so on.

(I forgot to tell the story of how Addy is running around, giving fist bumps to people, and saying "Wonder twin powers...activate! Shape of...an eagle!" Oh, well....maybe next time.)

The interview is but one small part of their latest episode, "Being a Geek," which is now available for your listening pleasure at their website.

Nootch.

Tonight, after the kids are put to bed, I'll be chatting with Shannon Flowers and Matt Hammond of the Seattle Geekly podcast. We crossed paths via Twitter, thanks to having several mutual friends. We'll be yabbering about various geeky topics, which likely will include but not be limited to my Star Trek fetish and how I somehow managed to channel that unhealthy obsession toward making money, what I'm doing to pass on my geekish quirks to my offspring, and so on. It's also quite possible that we'll discuss some of the truly odd search phrases which bring Internet weirdos to the Seattle Geekly website. Should be fun!

The segment is being recorded for their weekly show, which posts new episodes every Thursday. Beware, though, that the show features full frontal nerdity. As for me, I plan to record the session wearing nothing but a giant foam hand making the Vulcan salute.

Okay, and sunglasses.

Boo-yah.

David Ivy and Darren Benjamin, hosts of Trekcast, the twice-weekly Star Trek podcast, called me over the weekend to pick my so-called brain about conventions I've recently attended (namely, Trek Expo and Shore Leave), as well as do a bit of pre-game warm-up for Comic-Con. We also manage to talk a bit (just a quick overview, really) of Pocket Books' 2010 schedule for the Trek books.

Check it out here: Trekcast Episode #36: The Wrath of Con-vention

Thanks as always to David and Darren for having me on. It's always fun talking to the Trekcast gang!

Well, not really.

After our weekly breakfast with Michi's father, who then dotes on his grandkids while Michi kicks my ass at pool, I sat down to complete my outline revisions for what will be Paths of Disharmony, my entry in the forthcoming 4-book Star Trek: The Typhon Pact mini-series. The notes offered up by Madame Editor weren't really all that much, but it did require rethinking a couple of threads running throughout the story. Said revisions are going to let me bring in a few fun bits of Trek lore, so that's a plus.

(Mwuahahahaha....)

Since mine will be the last book of the mini-series and will likely "redirect" certain ongoing plot points with respect to the post-Destiny goings-on, it does have a few requisite "Holy Shit!" moments. Looks good in the outline; I guess we'll see what happens when I actually write the thing.

Anyway, it's on its way through the aether to the editor's e-Mail inbox, and I expect I'll hear from her in short order if we're good to go.

What's next? Finishing another chapter of Counterstrike, which continues to chug merrily along....


Edit to Add: Almost forgot! I'll be talking to the guys at Trekcast again this evening, providing a postgame wrapup of the Trek Expo and Shore Leave conventions, as well as a pregame warmup for Comic-con. It's being recorded for what I think will be the podcast's next weekly "regular" episode, which should go live some time tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Last Thursday marked the official publication date of Space Grunts, the iddy-biddy anthology I edited for Flying Pen Press. As well as distributing marketing info to various booksellers and whatnot, they also conducted a brief interview with me. Read all about how Space Grunts came to be.

Last Friday night, I once again spent some time with the gang from Trekcast, the weekly Star Trek podcast. David Ivy and Darren Benjamin were joined by Jerad Formby, current author of Trekcast's "Hey, Star Trek!" blog as well as one-time performer at Star Trek: The Experience (he was the Ferengi "Quan"). The topic of our discussion? The new Star Trek movie, of course, as well as how we as Star Trek fans carry way too much trivia and other minutiae around in our heads. Our chit-chat was but one part of the episode, which also features an interview with Andy Gore, CEO of Quantum Mechanix, the super-cool outfit that makes high-quality prop replicas and other collectibles from various SF and Fantasy properties. Check out Episode 28: "You Know Too Much". Then subscribe to the podcast and listen to it every week. These guys are a lot of fun to hang out with.

Got e-Mailed earlier in the week by Trekcast co-host Darren Benjamin, asking if I was interested in a quick chat with him and David Ivy tonight, recording a segment for their next episode. With the Mrs. out of town this evening, and the kids tucked in their beds, I was already prepared with my feet up and a preferred beverage in hand. Add my Skype headset, and we're good to go.

I'm guessing the main topic of discussion will be the new Trek flick, but after hearing some of their listener mail on the weekly "Sci Fi Supplement" podcast earlier this week, we may well turn to the topic of the Star Trek fiction, about which I am rumored to know a thing or two. If all goes according to plan, the episode will go live this coming Monday.

Nootch.

The first review of Open Secrets is up, courtesy of Robert Lyons over at TrekMovie.com: Read all about it!



By all accounts, Father Rob seems to have dug it.

In related news, Doug Drexler continues to make with the Fanboy Goodness over on his site, his latest entry focusing on several samples of cover art he's created for various Star Trek projects for Pocket Books (such as all of the covers for the Star Trek: Vanguard series. See above.). Lots of nicely-sized, text free cover art for the gawking. Check it out, whydontcha?

Meanwhile, the 25th episode of Trekcast is now live and available for listening and download. In addition to the usual news, nerdity, and other shenanigans for which the podcast has become known, the guys also called me last Friday to provide an infodump about the recent Starfest convention I attended in Denver. That 10 minute back-n-forth is included as part of the episode, as well. Listen up, to'ba!

The guys at Trekcast dropped me a line earlier today, curious about our time at this year's Starfest con and asking if I might be available for a quick 10-15 minute chat to insert into their upcoming episode. As luck would have it, I left work early today, and was able to accommodate the lads. This might be the first of an irregular return to the show, whenever David and Darren feel I might be able to contribute to whatever topic is in the cue for a given episode. Among other things, we discussed the possibility of a recap/review/breakdown of the new Trek flick once we've had a chance to see it. Should be fun.

Anyway, stay tuned for the next episode of Trekcast, coming Monday!

Also, I'm still slated to be a guest on NDB Radio on Sunday, May 3rd, at 11pm Eastern time. We'll be talking writing, Trek, Open Secrets, and whatever else sounds interesting.

The second part of my interview with David Thomas Ivy and Darren Benjamin over at Trekcast, has gone live as part of the podcast's 23rd episode.

My nonsensical blathering continues unabated, about Trek books, the new movie, what's "canon," the "ups and downs of social networking" websites, along with this, that, and the other. In and around all of that, David and Darren manage to report on the latest happenings in Trek, such as the world premiere in Sydney and the Sooper Sekrit screening held last week in Austin, Texas. There's also the usual Trek-related banter which drew me to the show in the first place.

In case you missed it, you can find Part 1 here.

Thanks again to David and Darren for having me on!

Last Friday evening, I recorded an interview with the good folk over at TrekCast, a weekly Star Trek-focused podcast. David and Darren have decided to split the interview into two parts, the first of which went live last night as part of their show's 22nd episode.

In addition to letting me blabber on about various topics, the show also features some news tidbits about the forthcoming movie, bounces around some info about upcoming merchandising tied into said movie, and includes some breeze-shooting about Trek in general. All of that, with a lime twist. Enjoy!

Part 2 of the interview will be up next Monday as part of Episode 23. Many thanks to David Thomas Ivy and Darren Benjamin for having me on!

....me!

Earlier this evening, I spent an hour or so chatting with David Thomas Ivy and Darren Benjamin, hosts of TrekCast, a weekly Star Trek-themed podcast. They offer up whatever's happening, news-wise, in the world of Star Trek, and discuss various topics, all in an informal, laid-back atmosphere. I've been listening to the show for a couple of months now after being contacted by Darren about it, and a week or so ago he contacted me about my interest in being interviewed.

While we spent some time talking about my Trek writing and I got to pimp Open Secrets, we spent more time talking about Trek in general -- the new movie, fandom, comics, wherever the flow of the conversation took us. It was great fun, and I appreciate David and Darren asking me to hang out with them for a spell.

The episode being recorded will go live on Monday, and I don't know yet if the interview we conducted will fit in one episode, or perhaps be split up between two episodes. I guess I'll find out Monday! If you're a fan of Trek and podcasts and want to listen to a show that's basically a couple of guys sitting back and shooting the breeze, check out TrekCast.