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If you know me at all, you already know I am a cinephile. I simply love movies – I always have and likely always will.

I go to around 40 movies a year in the theater, and I watch 2-4 additional movies at home each week. I have like all the movie channels and Netflix. I am a frequenter of the Redbox. My wife and I’s infrequent date nights almost always include a movie. My wallet has loyalty rewards card to every theater in our town.

It started when I was young – my dad took me to Star Wars a number of times, and legend has it, he would even prompt me to go ask my mom if he could take me to see it again. I was 4 and adorable, so it worked. And I am sure it worked again a few years later for Empire Strikes Back as well.

My parents would take me and my sister to the drive-in. The early show would be family fare, and then we were supposed to go to sleep in the back of the stationwagon during the second film. Of course, I rarely did. I always watched the film – sometimes nude if you ask my folks, but that’s another post.

When I was old enough, my friends and I would get dropped off at the movies any chance we could get. Most of my childhood our town only had one theater – the Lyric – a big beautiful downtown stage theater with a giant screen and auditorium including a balcony. The front of the theater had the classic marquee and a ticket booth window. The lobby had a giant scale and old-school candy counter. I was sad to see it eventually replaced with a modern 4-screen theater, but it was also nice to actually have options on what you were going to see that week.

I remember my buddies and I almost getting kicked out once for whipping candy from the balcony down to other kids below. Luckily for us, the manager asked if we were throwing Gobstoppers and we honestly said “no we are not throwing Gobstoppers.” and he let us off. (We were actually throwing Sprees.)

Then girls came into the picture and the movies became a whole new adventure. I hope to never stumble upon Out of Africa (1985) or Quicksilver (1986) on TV, because all I remember from those films was the kissing and hand-holding and that’s the way it should stay.

Out in California I had the luxury of covering several film festivals as a member of the media, and got paid to watch movies all day – what a dream come true. The bonus was watching many of those films with their directors and casts; and talking with them about their passion for movies and the process of cinematic story-telling. I wrote what felt like a novel on the 2-hour masterclass with Kevin Costner after his premiere of Open Range. And thanks to my LA friends in the special effects industry, I shared a bottle of vodka with Steve Zahn at a party. (Erin and I love Zahn, but no one seems to know he is when we tell our story.)

And now a days, I sneak off by myself to catch a late show here and there as the perfect escapism from the grind of my long hours of work, cooped up in my office at the computer. My friend Jason, makes fun of me because he thinks I love every movie I see (where as he hates most movies, even before he decides to not go see them). But the truth is I don’t love every movie, but it is very easy for me to find parts of it I do like. Because I love the movie-going experience so much, it only takes a single scene, actor’s performance, or unexpected plot-twist to make the film worth my time and make me unable to slam it outright. If the film has artistically executed cinematography, captivating dialogue, or a great soundtrack – I can overlook the holes in the plot and focus on what is working for me.

What’s exciting is that I have passed my love of the movies to my daughter. Her and I have trekked off to the movies a couple dozen times, and she loves to find a new movie on DVD or off the Wii (Netflix). She even decided to have her 4th birthday party at the theater to see Rango with her friends. We discovered some of her classmates had only seen a couple movies in the theater or none at all. She couldn’t understand why they don’t see all the movies like she does!

We are patiently waiting until Eva is able to sit through a movie, so we can get back to going to Cinema Grill as a family, where we can have dinner and catch a flick all that once.

So, do yourself a favor and go sit in the dark at a local theater to bask in the glowing entertainment of a good movie.

Filed under: Fatherhood, Lifelong Love, Movies | 3 Comments »

I dedicate this post to Mike Felci and his fellow Knick fans everywhere.

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On rare occasion, the former journalist comes out in me. Today, I had the pleasure to interview author Christopher Swan about his new book and what motivates an action-adventure novelist.

Tell me about Blood for Treasure?
The elevator pitch is…it’s a modern adventure about a clandestine expedition tasked with capturing the world’s first and only trillion-dollar treasure. Can you tell I’ve had to say that once or twice?

The cab ride pitch is… it’s a book for anyone who loves epic action/adventures filled with high-octane escapism. If you like your hero wielding a sabertooth-tiger-bone-handled machete, smoking-hot videographers with a death wish, firewalking, bare-knuckle brawls in Singapore bars, jungles that make Predator look like Kansas, 10-foot man-eating tigers, modern samurai sporting hand-forged sniper rifles, blood-thirsty Komodo dragons, nefarious private mercenaries, Marines rocking and rolling with bleeding-edge machine guns and portable lightning packs, armed-to-the-teeth hovercrafts nicknamed “Jaws”, underwater chases through piranha-filled rivers, gold bars as far as the eye can see, and a lava-spewing volcano…then this book is for you.

On a professional level…it’s book one in a trilogy of modern adventures.

On a personal level, it’s a straight-up labor of love for the genre.

Samurai with sniper rifles sounds sweet, but tell me there is still some old fashioned swordplay somewhere in the book. Hari Kari maybe?
Let’s just say that one of the climactic duels is settled with blades. And there are definitely other blades woven throughout the story, for sure. You have to have them on some level when you’re dealing with samurai. But ultimately, because of the saturation of the samurai katana in modern pop culture, I did want to try and explore what other weapons a modern samurai would be all about. Simply put, the samurai were a one-strike/one-kill type of warrior. And with the sniper rifle being a one-shot/one-kill weapon, I tried to capitalize on that as an extension of their warrior mentality.

I know your previous novels where action/adventure as well, what is that draws you to that genre?
I’ve been hooked on the genre from the moment my parents took me to the theater to see Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. I was too young to catch Raiders in the theater…so I had no idea what I was in for. By the time I walked out, my mind was blown. To me…of the original trilogy…it was by far the best, visually speaking. Raiders is a hands-down masterpiece of the genre, but after Raiders I’d rank Temple as second in terms of pure escapism and action/adventure sequences. And as a kid…being a part of that…in the theater…all I can say is that it was a visceral experience. More to the point, as a young storyteller, it was a religious experience. The seed was definitely planted by the time I went to bed that night.

As I grew older, and dove deeper and deeper into storytelling, I realized that the action/adventure genre is a very fundamental genre with regards to mythology…so that began to draw me even closer to the genre. I think one of the reasons that’s true is because the action/adventure genre dovetails perfectly (creatively speaking) with mythology’s fundamental “hero’s journey” story template…which Joseph Campbell talks a lot about. There’s a very real primal connection between the two…which lends the genre an ageless, for-all-time feel to it. And I love that.

So how much work and time went into writing this novel?
As with any labor of love, a lot of both. I started fleshing out the world of an original action/adventure story about 4 years ago. I spent the first year gathering the basic elements. I knew I wanted it to be centered around a modern explorer – because oddly enough, no other major action/adventure franchise had tapped that type of lead character yet. You had archeologists (Indy), ex-soldiers (The Mummy series), researchers (Sahara), gun-toting bird-trappers (Romancing the Stone), and tomb raiders (Lara Croft series). But no legitimate explorers that lived and breathed the essence of modern exploration. And ironically, those are exactly the type of people the original B-series films were based on. Guys like Hiram Bingham III, etc. Plus, the themes associated with exploration are rife with the elements of adventure. So once that central piece was locked into place, I began heavily researching the themes of modern exploration, as well as modern explorers themselves.

Beyond the main character, I knew I also wanted the entire fabric of the story to be evolved. Truth be told…it had to be evolved. It’s a genre that’s been mined pretty heavily. So to at least attempt to be fresh…I knew it had to be evolved on some core levels. The challenge is to do that while still maintaining the flavor and essence of the genre. So…for me…that meant a hybrid where the stoic explorer on the hunt is accompanied by a collection of worthy characters. And being a huge fan of stories like Predator and Aliens…that meant Marines. Specifically…a hypothetical, clandestine Marine Force Recon unit. And they couldn’t just roll in on a truck. Thus…”Jaws” was born.

I knew I also wanted a great love interest, but again…she had to be evolved. Meaning…at least for me…she had to have a streak of danger equal or greater than our hero – as well as a personality to match. And the attraction between them had to be grounded in some type of realism. In this case…their shared drive to explore the world, as well as their mutual tendencies to push themselves out of their comfort zone. In short…they needed a bond that would not only sustain, but would also thrive, in life-threatening situations. So I started researching women with extremely dangerous careers.

I also wanted a collection of great bad guys. Some you’d like, some you’d hate, some you wouldn’t see coming. To me…the more gray area a bad guy has, the more interesting they are. It’s true for all characters, but it seems to really resonate with bad guys. And the modern, adventurous professions that seem to have the most potential for that gray area are private mercenaries and private treasure hunting firms. Both professions are defined by what motivations the people involved bring with them. Most are legitimate, with very up-front, on-the-surface intentions. But some are completely nefarious. And those are the ones I focused on.

And then, of course, I wanted a very clearly defined villain…someone who’s nothing but an enemy of the expedition. Like a lot of people, I’m drawn to the samurai culture. Partly because they kick so much ass. But also because my family has a bit of Asian history to it. My paternal grandfather was born and raised in Shanghai until he was 16. And when he moved back here, that culture most certainly came back with him…through behavior, food, furniture, etc. So growing up, I was surrounded by it. Obviously, samurai are Japanese not Chinese, but samurai are of the same ilk, if you will. And because of that, the samurai culture became an extension of my interests. So when it came to this story…I wanted to tap into something that I could really dig into and be passionate about, and samurai seemed like a very natural selection for me.

By the end of the first year of work, I had done the research I felt necessary, and locked in all of the major elements – characters, settings, buildings, weapons, vehicles, etc. Ultimately, I had everything…except the plot and MacGuffin. Small details.

I refused to go with a MacGuffin that had even been hinted at within another well-known action/adventure story. So…finding an original MacGuffin took another year. And when it finally came, it was 2 AM, and I was crawling through articles in the New York Times online archive. And I found an article from 1987 about the legend of the Tiger’s Treasure…what it was, how it was believed to be real, how the legend was that the U.S. had actually failed to find it on multiple attempts, etc. And that was it. As soon as I found that article…everything fell into place, and I was off and running.

I spent the next 3 months outlining the story, piecing the plot together, fleshing out more character details, etc. Then I wrote the first draft over about 6 months. I took a 3 month breather to get feedback from my manager, family, friends, etc. Then went in and did a hard second draft over about 3 months. All told, the writing took about a year. From there, I took another 6 months to make final preparations for rollout (typos, formatting, inserts of additional scenes, etc.) And now here we are.

Why do a Kindle version?
Great question. Three reasons. First, publishing digitally is the quickest way for a novelist to connect to his/her readers. Why wait a year to deliver it in print when you can wait a day to deliver it on a device? Second, the medium of the digital novel encourages quick fixes to problems (typos, color corrections on the cover, etc.) that used to be set in stone once the book went to print. Why allow something to be forever when you can fix it overnight? And third, being a programmer and web developer myself…I live, breathe, communicate, socialize, and consume entertainment digitally. Why stop when it comes to putting out my own work? Not to mention the process saves trees, and there’s good karma in that.

So how do we get this book, and what if we don’t have a Kindle?
It’s available via Amazon.com for the Kindle. If you own a Kindle, then you know the drill. If you don’t have a Kindle, simply download the free Kindle app onto your iPhone, Blackberry, PC, etc…then search for the book title inside of it…and voila. And please be sure to post a star-rated review on Amazon when you’re done. Good, bad, or ugly…those reviews are a critical part of the process for everyone involved.

What was the hardest part of getting the book out?
Coming to accept that no matter how hard you try, you simply will not find every typo.

What’s next on the novel front?
My next book is going to be a detective techno-thriller, set 100 years in the future, against the backdrop of professional baseball. So…think Philip K. Dick (Bladerunner) meets Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park).

And then of course…there’s the sequel of Blood for Treasure…which I’m already being asked about. The quick answer is yes, I’ve got it completely mapped out…characters, settings, MacGuffin, plot, everything…but…I won’t divulge anything other than it’s got me equally as excited to write it as the first one did – which I honestly didn’t think would be possible.

Well, thanks for answering my questions, it was a lot of fun and I will be sure to download a copy and give it a read.
Thanks so much for the opportunity to discuss the book! I hope everyone who downloads a copy really enjoys it…and feel free to reach out to me via the web site: www.bloodfortreasure.com

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I had a few people ask me recently, “How’s the diet going?” – always a fun question to answer. As you may remember I made a new year’s resolution to shed some lbs with my common-sense diet.

Well, I started drinking water like a madman and I gained a few pounds from that – I guess I was dehydrated. But then I quickly dropped those few pound and about 10 more – so I was feeling great. That’s when trouble always starts, as soon as I start feeling good about myself, I tend to break the diet and start “treating” myself to indulgent meals or snacks. So, I am sad to report I gained it all back already.

It seems I can drop 10 pounds really fast, but can gain it back even faster. So I am now re-focusing and see if I can push past that first 10-lb wall and lose some real weight this time. Hmm, or I could go grab that bag of delicious Chipotle Cheddar chips instead. Tough choice.

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Banksy is a mysterious European graffiti artist that does amazing work with paint and stencils on urban walls. His graffiti depicts witty political messages of peace and anti-consumerism. Ever since watching Exit Through the Gift Shop I have been fascinated by his work. It is amazing just how beautiful many of his paintings are, while still striking a chord with their poignant social commentary. I am especially moved by his paintings on the Bethlehem/West Bank security walls. Clearly, he is taking a different approach to Andy Warhol’s sentiment: “Art is what you can get away with.”

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Ella has not been wanting to eat dinner lately. Instead she throws a fit, saying she is not hungry for dinner, but is actually hungry for snacks and wants to eat them instead. Obviously that’s not working on ol’ mom and dad. But the other night she tried another tactic, shortly before dinner she snuggled up to me and said really soft and sweetly:

Ella: Daddy, guess what I dreamed about last night?

Me: What did you dream, baby?

Ella: I dreamed about in my head that I got to eat ice cream before dinner!

Me: Oh, yeah… (trying not to laugh)

Ella: Want to make my dreams come true?

Me: (Falls off chair laughing)

Now, when I tease her about it she says, “yeah, but that was my worst dream ever.”

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Click the image above to view full gallery, or pick a thumbnail to see a specific photo.

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