David Lee Summers's Blog, page 58

Greg Ballan Interview

This past weekend, I had a wonderful opportunity to talk to Greg Ballan, author of the Hybrid: The Ethereal War duology which Ive had the honor to edit and publish. The novels are Armageddons Son and Battle Lines. These books tell the story of Erik Knight, a detective who was born with alien DNA which gives him terrifying super powers. In the Ethereal War novels, Erik finds himself literally caught between the forces of heaven and hell.

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We recorded our conversation and I have posted it to...

Radio Interviews

One of the difficult things about the current COVID-19 crisis has been the cancellation or postponing of events all around the country. Last weekend, I had been scheduled to attend El Paso Comic Con. Hopefully, circumstances will allow me to make the rescheduled event in October. These events are vitally important to independent authors and publishers. Theyre my opportunity to meet you face to face and talk to you about the books Ive written and those written by others that Ive felt...

Vampires on the UnXplained

Another great coincidence unfolded this past weekend when the A&E Network aired an episode of its series The UnXplained which discussed vampire and werewolf legends. The coincidence goes beyond this happening as Im creating new editions of my vampires novels. I made a special point to watch the show because Marita Woywod Crandle was interviewed. I know Marita from doing signings in her shop, Boutique du Vampyre in New Orleans. Whats more, Marita honored me by providing a cover quote for the...

The Vampires of Penny Dreadful

Just before the COVID-19 pandemic closed down businesses in New Mexico, I found copies of the first two seasons of the Showtime series Penny Dreadful on the shelf of one of my favorite local businesses, COAS Books. I had watched the first season back in 2016 and enjoyed it. You can read my thoughts on my old Scarlet Order Web Journal. Ive finished re-watching the first season and Ive just started watching the second.

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It was interesting to re-watch Penny Dreadful while re-editing and...

Return of the Scarlet Order

In August 2004, I signed a contract with LBF Books for my novel Vampires of the Scarlet Order. Lachesis Publishing ultimately acquired LBF and asked me to do another book in the series, which became Dragons Fall: Rise of the Scarlet Order. Earlier this year, the publishing contracts came up for renewal and both Lachesis and I decided it was time for the publishing rights to come back to me. The deal is now formalized and the rights will revert to me at the end of May. It feels like the end of...

Documentation

Kitt Peak National Observatory is one of many large observatories around the world shut down in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally, I was part of a skeleton crew scheduled to be on site making sure there were no problems with site infrastructure during the shutdown. However, management decided to reduce that crew, pulling our team from the rotation for the time being. So my main job at the moment is working on telescope documentation from home.

This is an important job. Four years...

Upstart Mystique

Today Im excited to announce the release of the latest novel Ive had the pleasure to edit, Upstart Mystique by Don Braden.

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The novel opens with the space vessel Marco P on its way to a distant colony world. It loses all power and an unknown force convinces the navigator that a distant, dead world is the vessels true destination. Commander Malcolm Carpenter orders the crew to abandon ship to protect them and to learn how to defeat whatever force has intercepted his ship. The crew discovers a...

Beards and Horror

Lets face it, some people think bearded men are scary. In this post, Ill introduce you to some scary, bearded men. However these men arent scary because of their beards. Theyre scary because of the stories theyve created.

I grew my own beard while working on my physics degree in the late 1980s. My older brother had grown a beard during his college days and I always liked way it looked. In addition to that, I attended a technical university where many of my classmates grew beards. All those...

Pandemic Past

Most of us are working to find ways of coping in the era of social distancing imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. My friend, Kenneth Silsbee, has come up with an innovative approach to create some social time by hosting a Friday evening cocktail hour where friends can gather via a Zoom conference call. Its allowed me to connect to some of my college alumni friends and make some connections with Kenneths Seattle-area friends.

During the first of these cocktail hours, Kenneth asked whether any of...

Reading, Writing and Yard Work

This week has flown by for me. Like many people around the world, Ive been spending all my time at home to help stem the spread of the Coronavirus, but that hasnt kept this from being a busy week. Ive been doing lots of reading, I have a handful of writing projects in process and I have yard work to get me outside a little. I have lots and lots of yard work. It seems like February and early March were rainier than normal in the desert southwest this year and when it rains here, things grow...