Fantasy
Don’t Feed This Book After Midnight!
Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai started streaming today on Max. I didn’t work on that show. But if you’re looking for a Gremlins-related project I did work on, you’ll be happy to know that I wrote The Gremlins Little Golden Book, which comes out on September 5, 2023 from Penguin Random House.
The Gremlins LGB is a retelling of the classic 1984 movie Gremlins, written as a Little Golden Book for very young readers.
When I was a kid, Gremlins was one of my favorite movies. So it was a real thrill to write The Gremlins Little Golden Book. (Also, working on this book was a good excuse to re-watch Gremlins several times in a row.)
Here’s the official publisher description of the book:
Whatever you do, don’t get this Little Golden Book wet! The first ever Gremlins Little Golden Book based on the classic film features those mischievous Gremlins as lovable Funko Pop figures! Follow the wild misadventures of those trouble-causing Gremlins in this delightful retelling of the classic movie. Illustrated in the quirky and loveable Funko POP! art style, kids 2 to 5—and their parents—will love this love this light-hearted reimagining of one of the funniest films of all time as a collectable Little Golden Book! Little Golden Books enjoy nearly 100% consumer recognition. They feature beloved classics, hot licenses, and new original stories. . .the classics of tomorrow.
As you may recall from an earlier blog post, I also wrote The Goonies Little Golden Book. But what you might not know is that I wrote the Goonies and Gremlins LGBs back-to-back. Which was SO much fun. It also made me compare and contrast the two films, especially since they’re both written by the same screenwriter (Chris Columbus). And both films feature Corey Feldman, and are Executive Produced by Steven Spielberg. Also, both films involve a character who’s an inventor (Data in Goonies and Rand Peltzer in Gremlins). There’s even a line of dialogue in Goonies that references the plot of Gremlins! Do the two films take place in a shared universe? I wouldn’t go that far. But they’ve got quite a lot in common.
Anyway, that’s the sort of thing you think about when you’re working on a project like The Gremlins Little Golden Book.
Check out the book’s page on the Penguin Random House site.
Check out the Amazon page for The Gremlins Little Golden Book (where you can also see a few of the interior pages from the book!).
And click HERE to find out more about some of the other books I’ve written for Penguin Random House.
My Favorite Kind of Vampires
Happy Halloween, everyone! As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I used to draw one-panel gag cartoons. Like, professionally. Only for a handful of magazines, and really just at the beginning of my writing career. These days I mostly work as a writer, and I don’t draw that much, unless you count the rough thumbnail sketches I draw for nearly every project I work on. Which definitely counts as drawing. But I don’t often show those sketches to the people I’m working with (although sometimes, I do).
Anyway, since it’s Halloween, I thought I’d post one of the gag cartoons I drew back in the day. It’s called “Vampire Nerds,” and it was originally published in the October 2006 issue of Nickelodeon Magazine. (That was the Halloween issue, as if you couldn’t tell by the cover date.) Check it out:
Obviously, vampire nerds are my favorite kind of bloodsuckers, because I myself am a massive geek. (Which you could probably tell by the fact that I write graphic novels about mythical creatures, children’s book adaptations of famous sci-fi movies, TV scripts about fairy tale characters, and scripts for uber-nerdy video games. But I digress…)
I may begin drawing cartoons again (like, professionally), because I really miss it. If that does indeed happen, I’ll definitely mention it on this blog. So keep checking this space!
“Dame Time: Ogden” Launched TODAY!
Announcement time! As mentioned elsewhere on this blog, I wrote the story bible, plot outline, and character dialogue for the video game Dame Time: Ogden, a puzzle-filled sci-fi adventure game starring NBA icon Damian Lillard. Well, that game went live TODAY, as part of The Sandbox Alpha Season 3! And you can play Dame Time: Ogden by clicking HERE.
Here’s a brief description of the game, from the home page of the official Dame Time: Ogden website:
“Play as basketball superstar Damian Lillard as his adventures unfold in the metaverse. In Dame Time: Ogden, the adventure revolves around Damian’s time at his alma mater, and chronicles his run ins with the enigmatic Whisperer, who is intent on troubling Damian as much as possible! With the help of the Clockmaker and your demon friend, Anzu, you must solve puzzles, complete challenging parkour, and fight a slew of enemies as you learn about the mysterious L12 organization, and get to the bottom of The Whisperer’s plots!”
I spent several months working on Dame Time: Ogden with the development team at MetaVenture Studios, the gaming division of Grow Your Base. I’m really proud of the game we made. And I can’t wait for you to meet Damian Lillard (the video game version), as well as The Clockmaker, Anzu, The Whisperer, and all of the other characters in this game. But this game isn’t just rich in characters, it’s rich in concepts and lore. Want to learn what the omnipresent L12 corporation is up to? Only one way to find out: play the game!
Oh, and just in case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the trailer for Dame Time: Ogden:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plmy-tfYFYs
If you want to learn more about The Sandbox Alpha Season 3, click HERE.
And for more info about Dame Time: Ogden specifically, go HERE.