Parkway Pulp: The Maltese Falcon on Mars
I know that blog title sounds odds, but I couldn't think of anything more appropriate for this particular column, with so many disparate things going on in the Thrillville Zone. Let's just dive right in:
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| Co-author Scott Fulks and me at Forbidden Island |
First, I'm very happy and proud to announce that my latest and possibly greatest pulp extravaganza, It Came From Hangar 18, is now available in print via Amazon. It's been downloadable from Kindle for a couple of weeks now, but to me, a book isn't really published till I can hold it in my hands...order yours today, or buy a signed copy directly from me and my co-conspirator Scott Fulks at the official It Came From Hangar 18 Book Release Party at Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge on Thursday, March 1, with live music by futuristic surf band The Tomorrowmen. 
This has already been a satisfactory year, from a literary POV. A couple of weeks ago, after a night in Noir City at the Castro Theater in San Francisco, our pal (and official Noir City announcer) Bill Arney took us for a private tour of his old apartment - which was also once occupied by an even more famous local personality, legendary detective writer Dashiell Hammett, now privately leased and preserved with period-specific props. It reminded me of some of the hovels I've lived in as a struggling writer. Let's hope some of the Black Bird's magic rubs off on me...
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| "The stuff dreams are made of..." |
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| Monica Tiki Goddess: femme fatale |
Then, strangest of all, last Friday, February 3, I attended the first open house for The New Parkway at 24th & Telegraph in Oakland, as part of Oakland Art Murmur's First Fridays festival. It's just a warehouse now, but the blueprints are spectacular, and the location in the revitalized Uptown district is ideal. New proprietor J. Moses Ceaser, who just hired me to be The New Parkway's publicist/special events consultant when it opens this fall, asked me to show up so he could film various prospective patrons and fans of the old Parkway sitting on a sofa with me, discussing what they'd like to see on the marquee, just like the infamous Parkway preview videos of yore. My role is basically to provide a familiar link to the beloved original institution. I have to admit, I felt a bit like a museum exhibit, and it was pretty disorienting, but I'm anticipating a mutually beneficial, lucrative, and creatively satisfying collaboration down the road. Stay tuned.
Meantime, I have plenty of B flicks to present back at Forbidden Island. My next Forbidden Thrills movie nite, on Monday February 20, 7:30, no cover, features two Martian masterpieces, the original Invaders from Mars (1953) and The Angry Red Planet (1959), among my favorite sci-fi flicks. They sum up how I'm feeling lately: completely spaced out. Cheers.
