Category Archives: Writing

EYECRAVE.NET RETURNS!!

I’m baaaaaaaack!

I’ve been asked to start reviewing and submitting news to http://www.eyecrave.net , the newest version of the Eyecrave legacy, bringing you news, reviews, interviews and more from the world of streaming, home video and more. Some of you may recall that I started my modern writing career way back at the turn of the century with my own little review site called The Den of Iniquity. Not long after that I joined up with Shane O’Mac (nee MacDonald) on his site EyecraveDVD, and together we built it up to the 2nd biggest entertainment site in Canada and one of the most popular in North America back in the late aughts. I, myself, had a pretty solid reputation as one of the top B-Movie and Horror reviewers around, and had the opportunity to meet and interview some of my biggest underground heroes like Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator), Gunnar Hansen (Leatherface from the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre) most of the cast of Blade Runner, including James Hong (Lo Pan from Big Trouble in Little China) and Joe Turkell (The Shining) as well as filmmaking legends like Uncle Lloyd Kaufman of Troma, Joe Bob Briggs, and Tura Satana (Faster, Pussycat, Kill! Kill!). I transitioned away from entertainment journalism to work on my fiction career with the release of Hot Sinatra in 2013.

Shane O’Mac has recently revived the site as EyeCrave.Net and I’d encourage you all to head over and check out the site, like the YouTube page, etc. My first little toe back in the water is with this Spider-Man: No Way Home spoiler talk video and this Top Ten of 2021 list. Admittedly, I missed a lot of stuff that played in theatres that probably would have made that list: One Night in Soho; Licorice Pizza; Dune… but I still wanted to list my favourites that I actually saw in 2021.

Still, expect much more to come, as I try to move past the writers block and general malaise of the last few years of this endless apocalypse.

Happy New Year to all of you out there, and best wishes in 2022.

#WWCYYC2019 Official #AxelHow schedule

Hey kids!

Wanna find me at next weekend’s WHEN WORDS COLLIDE conference?

Here’s my official schedule for the weekend:
(and if you don’t have tickets, come on down for #NoirBarYYC on Friday night, or the Autograph Session on Saturday! CALGARY DELTA SOUTH – Macleod Trail and Southland Drive!)

2013WWClogo-428x100

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9

3pm – Parkland

Does It Have to Be Murder?

Alice Bienia, P J Vernon, Therese Greenwood, Axel Howerton (PM)

Does the crime have to be murder to make a good mystery? What other crimes can fuel a great story? Panellists discuss what types of crimes engage a reader for an entire novel; whether the crime has to be violent; and consider whether there are crimes that are too grisly to captivate an audience.

 

4pm – Parkland

Where in the World?

Jonas Saul, Jayne Barnard, Jim Jackson, Axel Howerton, Robert Bose (M)

Location, location, location! applies not only to real estate. Your setting impacts tone, plot, character. It can include both time and place. Learn how and why our panellists chose their setting, from prosaicto exotic, city to wilderness, modern to historical time period.

 

8pm – Fairview

The Magic of Writing Magic

Axel Howerton, C.S. MacCath, Cat McDonald, Louise Marley, Marc Watson

We’re here. Some of us burn incense after every query we send, some of us wince every time a character turns over the Death card on TV, and some of us write about the occult world that is a living,breathing part of us. Pagans, witches, and occultists of all stripes get together to talk about the magic of the world as we see and write it.

 
9pm – Atrium Cafe

#NOIRBARYYC

Canada’s first, and Calgary’s only, Noir at the Bar event.
Booze, Broads, Bullets, and Bullshit with the world’s best crime writers reading their darkest, nastiest, and most entertaining stuff while competing for the coveted Golden Skull Award! Check out the FB Event page for more!

***OPEN TO THE PUBLIC – 18+***

 

NBYYC 2019

SATURDAY, AUGUST 10

 

1PM – Fireside

Coffin Hop Press Presents:

A sneak peek at the newest titles and upcoming projects from Canada’s finest dark crime and weird fiction publisher – Coffin Hop Press!

Coffee! Door Prizes! Award Winners and Nominees! Book Giveaway!

 
8pm – Parkland/Bonavista/Willow Park

WWC Autograph Session

Come meet Coffin Hop Press authors like Axel Howerton, Robert Bose, Sarah L. Johnson and Golden Spur Award winner/Ellis Award Nominee Therese Greenwood! Pick up CHP books and have them signed by the authors!

***OPEN TO THE PUBLIC***