News

Interviewed horror author William Meikle for Self Publisher! Magazine. Willie was a great interview with colorful and insightful remarks, and to top it off, the publisher loved it. Looking forward to seeing when it hits the stands. I got to do the complete layout, so I'm kind of excited.

Writing the sequel to Cairnwood Manor: Shadows over Somerset has been a challenge. A lot of changes since I wrote the first book. For one, I have a job (a couple actually). Secondly, I have a child. I'm retraining myself to write in short bursts. Whereas the first book was like a well and carefully aimed arrow shot long distance from a bow, Cairnwood Manor: Keepers of the Dead is more like a tommy gun at close range.

Will be sending off two comics to be printed this week. The Midnight Sun/Sangrael flip book in full color and the black and white Two Fisted Tales of Terror. These will be the first books carried by the SPA Comics Group imprint, complete with national distribution. A full color 98 page Loose Cannons will be available in August.

Head from the publisher of the Encyclopedia of Haunted Places and the entries I submitted on behalf of the Nightstalkers of Indiana have been included, as have my young brother-in-laws fabulous pictures.

In related news, I'm planning a trip in the next couple of weeks to the Coffins. Located in Bobtown Indiana, the Coffins are one of the most haunted areas in all of the Hoosier state... Making the journey will be my lovely and talented wife Kimberly, my toddler son Connor, my live-in sister-in-law Cassie and her and my wife's brother Nick. A frighteningly good time is sure to be had. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Long Time No Blog

Guten Tag, meine freunds...long time no post, indeed. Lot of illness floating around the Freeman household. I think we've finally turned the tide however and everythng should be returning to what passes for normalcy around here.

I snuck in some heavy updates at Lion's Den and Cairnwood.net Not totally satisfied, but the best I can do at the moment.

My brother Bret and frind Chris George have upped the ante with their computer repair business. Check out their website here.

Brief Political Rants:
1.) Let the poor woman die, but don't starve her to death. That is inhumane.
2.) Kill that child molesting bastard. Kill him now. Kill him slow. Hang his head on a pike.
3.) Hey Congress...shut the Hel up. We don't need your opinions regarding baseball or the right to life.
4.) That goes for 'W' too.

That's all for now.

Later.

Sean Manchester Interview @ So...Weird

Celebrated vampire hunter Sean Manchester is interviewed here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/talkwales/vampiretranscript.shtml

I loved the Highgate Vampire as an elementary student. I had all but forgot about this case. Nice to run across this interview through a BBC link.

Never let it be said that I'm not here to help out struggling writers

http://www.holtuncensored.com/ten_mistakes.html

A Fallen Warrior

Secrets from tomb of the ancient unknown warrior
By Paul Stokes
(Filed: 10/03/2005)

An ancient British warrior leader found buried in his chariot beside the A1 in west Yorkshire probably originated from Scandinavia or the Scottish Highlands.

Experts have been unable to establish how the slim, 5ft 9in tall man met his death 2,400 years ago when he was 30 to 40 years old. But the find has opened the possibility that the site at Ferrybridge may have been of great significance to ancient Britons, perhaps the venue for a mass rally. Unusually for the time, the man had good teeth and his skeletal remains showed no evidence of wounding or long-term illness. He had been laid on the chariot, which was buried intact. Many of its metal fittings were well preserved when it was discovered during road improvements.

A brooch and horse harness were among bronze and iron objects also identified by analysts at the University of Bradford and the Highways Agency's specialist contractor, Oxford Archaeology. The finds were made during excavations in December 2003 for a £245 million scheme to upgrade the A1 motorway.

At first it was believed that a huge number of cattle found in a ditch around the burial site may have been the remains of a huge banquet to commemorate the man's funeral. But tests have shown that the chariot burial took place at the beginning of the 4th century BC, while the cattle, which came from different regions, were deposited in the Roman period, the second century AD.
Angela Boyle, the head of burial archaeology at Oxford Archaeology, who led the site excavation, said: "It could be some massive affirmation of their identity at a location which had tremendous significance in their culture.

"This site at Ferrybridge would have been venerated for generations. It had been used for burials for thousands of years, there is a henge close by and there is evidence of some building, perhaps a shrine, close to the burial site.

"The burial mound of this warrior would have been visible for some distance and perhaps his life story was etched in the history of the people as a great leader. We know the Romans were not far away at this time, changing the only world these people would have known. It might have been a gathering of people at the grave of a revered leader from their history, calling for guidance or support in the face of the invasion. It might also have been a council of war, but we know there was little resistance in this area to the Roman colonisation."

Chariot burials were reserved for people of high status. Only 20 have previously been unearthed, with one in Edinburgh and the rest in east Yorkshire. Strontium testing showed that the man originally came from either Scandinavia or the Highlands while the burials had previously been linked to the Paris tribe, who colonised the area from northern France.
Dr Janet Montgomery, a research fellow at Bradford University, said:"For some reason these people came together here in their thousands. Our tests show that these animals came from different herds raised in different places.

"These beasts were driven here and slaughtered for a great feast."

John Byrne in the News!!!

Artist is drawn back to Man of Steel
By Brian Lockhart
Staff Writer
March 6, 2005

FAIRFIELD -- When artist John Byrne returns to penciling Superman's monthly adventures this spring, he will be under a little less pressure than his last regular assignment involving the American icon.

continue reading the story here:
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-superman1mar06,0,2919417.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines

There's also a good review of Byrne's Blood of the Demon here:
http://www.comixtreme.com/forums/showthread.php?p=193788#post193788

The Return of Karl Kolchak

Townsend, Union in 'Stalker' Pilot
Fri Mar 4, 2005 3:25 AM ET
By Nellie Andreeva

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Stuart Townsend and Gabrielle Union are starring in ABC's drama pilot "Night Stalker."
The project is an updated take on the 1970s ABC series "Kolchak: The Night Stalker," about a crime reporter who investigates supernatural phenomena. Townsnd will play Kolchak and Union a newspaper colleague who partners with him in his endeavors.
Townsend's recent credits include "Head in the Clouds" and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." Union, most recently seen in the feature "Breakin' All the Rules" and HBO's "Something the Lord Made," next will co-star in "The Honeymooners."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Heavy on the Comics Links

Been working on a major upheaval of the Lion's Den Studios website. You can scope out my progress by clicking here.
Why the redressing? We've just signed a major deal with Ian Shires' Dimestore Productions and Firstwave Printing that will see our comics get national exposure like it's never had before. I look for huge things to start happeng for the Den over the course of the next year.

In other related news:
Marvel Comics is finally putting their money where there mouth is, with a reentry into retail outlets other than Comicbook Stores. See the good news here. They are also assaulting the elementary schools with a Fantastic Four promotion. Great article to be read here.
Nice to see Marvel on the ball, at least in this regard.

As for comics, I simply don't buy many anymore because, well, I'm a poor struggling artist with a family... I would still recommend DC'c Blood of the Demon, fresh from the pencil of the legendary John Byrne. It's comics. It's horror. It's action and adventure. It's a Kirby creation. And, it has one of the coolest twists on possession I've ever read...

Well, that's all for now. Read Comics, if you can afford them. You'll be glad you did.

Post Birthday Blues

I turned the ripe old age of 39 yesterday and, along with the rest of my family, find myself fighting a nasty cold today. Trying to not let it get me down... hate sore throats and runny noses though...
Got some great gifts: from my wife and son The Art of John Byrne and the DVD Frazetta: Painting with Fire, from my sister-in-law Cassie the latest Wizard and Toy Fair magazines, from my brother-in-law Nick a goat-headed cane sword, and my parents picked up the bill on my car repairs, as well as a crystal dragon figurine and a Beatles and Bruce Lee DVD.

Now for a hodge podge of online goodness, being things I've been reading today that you might find interesting:

An article on Mary Magdalene and the changing of the guard and the shake-up in the New World Order can be read here.

The debate over a German archaeological find, a 3600 year old star disc mapping the heavens in the Bronze Age. Article found here.

An interesting article on the new book Battle: A History of Combat and Culture. The review can be found here.

As always I like to keep an eye on what's going on with Tristan and the gang here.

Well, that should keep you busy for awhile. Happy reading...