Dec 30, 2008

Ken Bruen Zippo Contest

Win A Ken Bruen Zippo

Ok here's the Deal. The wonderful David Thompson at Busted Flush has sent us a box of these really cool zippos. We are going to give them away if you can answer some questions. We will take all the entries with the right answers and do a drawing for the winners. We want the entries by January 25th. Answers can be found on the Busted Flush Website, the Crimespree Magazine Website, and Ken's Website.
Email the answers to Info@crimespreemag.com

Good luck.

1) What 6 works are collected in A FIFTH OF BRUEN?

2) Ken has three books co written with which author and what are the names of the books?

3) What is the name of the book with Reed Farrel Coleman coming out this year co written with Ken?

4) According to his bio at Crimespree Reed lives where?

5) What are the names of the two Anthologies from Busted Flush to date?

6) Who did Reed interview in issue 17 of Crimespree?

7) David Thompson also works at a bookstore. Give me the website address of the store.

8)On Ken's website there is an interview linked as "Rattlebag". Who does the interview with Ken?

9) Name two of the authors who gave blurbs for Busted Flush's rerelease of MIAMI PURITY

10) According to Ken's news page what two Sapnish awards did he win?

Ok, that's the lot. Good luck!

Dec 26, 2008

A Favor?

This Christmas Season has been a gift. Full of time spent with friends and family and a fully recovered cat. The Jordans like many cut down on Christmas shopping this year and instead have taken moments to be with people, eat good food and rejoice in just how lucky we are .

I’ve also begun a big project, collecting photos from Bouchercon 2008 and trying to get together a photo album. I realize that I am missing photos of the following and anyone who’s willing to share their fav shots of the following events will be thanked. I either have no photos at all or the final shots have that grainyness to them that no one will mistake for art.

If you are willing to share please go right ahead and e-mail them to me at ruth@crimespreemag.com. They are for my private album only and will go no further than the memory book.

Author Without Borders Event (“Meet the Brits”)
The Live Auction
The Sisters in Crime luncheon
The Lippman/Koryta interview
Ruth and Jon with the Anthony
“Book Bag stuffing”
Any Publisher Dinner/Cocktail Party Pix
Any of the wonderful staff in either hotel

I’d also dearly love to have pix of folks off campus and enjoying the sites.

Thanks people and pass the word on if you can,
Ruth

Dec 22, 2008

Snow Miser - Heat Miser

and the other...

I love these songs. They remind me a little of a song by the Blasters

Mr. Heatmiser Music Video

the original

Snow Miser Song

another remake, this ones not bad

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Mr. Heatmiser

remake but cool, or hot as the case may be..

Dec 21, 2008

Companion Books for TV and film

Books about movies and TV

There are obviously a lot of movies and or television based on books. There are also a lot of novelizations of movies and television (some of the best done by Lee Goldberg and Max Allan Collins) But there is a whole other sub set of these types of tie in books. The companion books.

Over the years I’ve picked up a number of these books and enjoyed them. If you are a fan of the show or movie they can really enhance the experience for you. Recently I’ve been sent a number of different books that fall into this category and I’d like to mention them here so fans of the shows may find something they would like to enhance their own experience.

THE SPIRIT, THE MOVIE VISUAL COMPANION
Mark Cotta Vaz
Titan Books

This is obviously for the upcoming Frank Miller directed film The Spirit based on the comics by Will Eisner. The pre release buzz is great and I think the movie will be wonderful, especially for fans of Sin City and the 300. The book is a look at the making of the film, there are production shots, artwork, posters and stills. An introduction by Frank Miller who is a long time Eisner and Spirit fan. It’s clear from this introduction that Miller loves this film and the original work and that he’s given his all to do it justice. The book is broken up into sections discussing things from the cast and characters to the origin of the Spirit. They talk about comic book movies and working on green screen and other production insights. It’s a really interesting inside look at the making of a film and the photos and artwork are wonderful. Fans of noir art will enjoy it just for the look of the book.
Seeing this book before I see the movie has done something else, it’s amped up my excitement for the film. I really can’t wait to see this on a big screen.
Buy The Spirit: The Movie Visual Companion


These next books are companion books for television series. They are official books which means the people responsible for the show signed off on them and in some cases helped put some things together.

SMALLVILLE SEASON 7
Craig Byrne


STARGATE ATLANTIS SEASON 4
Sharon Gosling


GHOST WHISPERER Spirit Guide
Kim Moses and Ian Sander

All three of these TV shows are the type that attract a cult following. People who can’t miss an episode and like to debate the finer points of the shows. Smallville is an addictive show, the look and the drama and the super heroics all add to the excitement that builds throughout each season. The Stargate franchise is one of those show that takes the viewer to a different world each week, not unlike Star Trek did back in the day and Sliders among others. Ghost Whisperer has the supernatural angle working for it and an attractive woman in the lead. These show all have in common the fact that they build a mythology to go along with the show, underlying elements that build and grow, hints dropped and picked up later. Things that viewers love.

Smallville Season 7 Companion has a number of nice features. An introduction by new cast member Laura Vandervoort who plays Clarks cousin Kara, and episode guide, a wrap up of the various characters in this season, a feature on the crew involved in the show and few other features that add to the insider feel you get from these books. Plenty of pictures and also some nice trivia boxes along the way.







The Stargate Atlantis companion is similar to Smallville, features on the episodes, an intro to the season which brings people up to speed and character bios. There are also a number of nice articles on the behind the scenes goings on. This is a nice book for fans of the show as it will help fleshout the mythology of the series. And there is a lot of mythology building with each season, the Stargate franchise is a strong one and the writers put a lot of work into the show.The author of this book did the same.






The Ghost Whisperer companion goes a step further than the previous two books. It has the episode guide and character insights with plenty of behind the scenes shots. It also has articles about real life mediums a guide to communicating with ghosts. The book is really outstanding in that it wants to be an additional way for fans to connect with the show and to add to the overall experience. It is also over half original material not just reprinted bios or the episode guides. If you like this show you need to have this book. Kim Moses & Ian Sander are both Executive Producers on Ghost Whisperer, as well as running the official website and creating the award-winning tie-in webisode series Ghost Whisperer: The Other Side.


All these books are from Titan book. They do an awful lot of wonderful titles for fans of the media age and they have a great respect for the subject matter, it’s pretty obvious that they are fans too.

Buy Smallville: The Official Companion Season 7

Buy Stargate Atlantis: The Official Companion Season 4 (Stargate Atlantis (Seasons))

Buy Ghost Whisperer: The Spirit Guide

Dec 20, 2008

Jingle Bells - Christmas - Sex Pistols


And now for the complete other side of the spectrum.

Which begs the question...

What falls between Julie London and the Sex Pistols?

I'd like you for Christmas. Julie London

From Ruth

To: David George and Dennis

Dec 15, 2008

Merry Christmas Baby - The Ramones

Nobody says Merry Christmas like the Ramones

Dec 14, 2008

the 12 pains of christmas

11 days and counting

video is ok but I love the song. I really identify with the lights, we bought a prelit tree...

Dec 13, 2008

Dec 12, 2008

Elvis Presley Santa Claus is Back in Town

oh yeah.....

this one is for Tom, and the bassett hounds.....



I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas

and the original version, though not the video...

Christmas Wrapping

And I think this is the original.

I just love the way this grooves

Dec 4, 2008

Special Holiday Offer

We have a special Holiday Offer to make.

If you get someone a subscription to Crimespree for the holidays we will add an extra issue to your subscription extending it to 7 issues instead of 6.


We will also enter you into a drawing for a Crimespree T-Shirt


http://www.crimespreemag.com/subscribe.html


And we are also offering a discount on the Crimespree T Shirts, get two for $35, shipping in the US included.


Both of these offers are good till December 31st.


Any questions just shoot off an email to
Jon@crimespreemag.com