Ross grew up to be a writer, just  like his dad, Hugo Award nominee E. R. Brigham. The thing is, he’s never published anything worthwhile in his  life. So  when his father dies unexpectedly and leaves him the obligation of finishing the final book in his wildly popular gunslinging fantasy series, Ross thinks he’s got the world on his shoulders. What he  discovers is a trail leading to the fantasy world of his father Ed’s outlaw novels, where the proud Gunslingers of Ain protect the land of Destin from an army of immortals bent on destroying every world in existence — real and fictional.

Available on Amazon as a Kindle e-book or Paperback

About the author S. A. Hunt:
Logistics Coordinator / Military Policeman, US Army
Former Strategic Surface Specialist, Herat/Kabul, Afghanistan

The brutality of American fighting American in the downhill bayonet charge at Little Round Top, Devil’s Den, the Wheat Field, Peach Orchard and the infantry assault known as Pickett’s Charge at Cemetery Ridge on the final day of the battle on July 3, 1863 is told with a descriptive, historically accurate narrative with artwork that illustrates the grim reality of death on the battlefield.

Key figures such as Medal of Honor recipient Brigadier General Joshua Chamberlain, Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee, Confederate General James Longstreet and victorious Union General George Meade are highlighted by accomplished writer and artist Vasant. Maps of key battle plans on both sides add to the interest and President Abraham Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address speech serves as a fitting conclusion.

This book will be of interest to anyone seeking a greater understanding of the Battle of Gettysburg and also serves as an excellent introduction for youngsters with its mix of historical text and graphic imagery. Vansant uses a scratchy ink line and sketchy style to convey action in an effective manner.

One is left with the impression that the outcome and history of the United States could have taken a different route had General Lee taken the advice of General Longstreet not to attack from Culp’s Hill on that fateful final day at Gettysburg.

Available March 2013 in softcover and as an e-book by Zenith Press. Thanks to Nichole Schiele at Quayside Publications.

Review copyright Paul Green 2013.

Authors Geoffrey Macnab and Sharon Swart, explore the many aspects of the ringmasters with interviews with acclaimed producers from the USA, UK, Australia, Denmark, France, Netherlands and Hong Kong including Tim Bevan (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones’s Diary), Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor, Sexy Beast), Jan Chapman (The Piano, Lantana), Jon Kilik (The Hunger Games, Babel), and Peter Aalbæk Jensen (Melancholia, Breaking the Waves).

Jon Landau has produced the two highest grossing films to date in Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009), both directed by James Cameron. Landau admits, “The role of a producer is to be both the Devil on the shoulder and the Angel on the shoulder.” Landau followed the path of his parents Ely and Edie Landau who produced independent films, making his debut producing the unremarkable Campus Man (1987). Success followed with The Last of the Mohicans (1992) and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). ”Your business plan is the script,” declares Landau.

Lauren Shuler Donner is a leading producer who has prospered in a profession where females are in the minority. Her box-office hits date back to Mr. Mom (1963), St. Elmo’s Fire (1985) and Pretty In Pink (1986). Her current work builds on her producer credits for the X-Men franchise with The Wolverine (2012) starring Hugh Jackman. Shuler realizes success depends on anticipating the future. “You have to feel the temperature of the country and understand where the next trend will be.”

The Legacy section includes profiles of acclaimed producers of the past – David O. Selznick, Michael Balcon, Dino De Laurentiis, Erich Pommer and Alexander Korda.

The FilmCraft series from Focal Press continues to impress with its knowledgeable text, insightful interviews and well designed layouts complete with rare behind-the-scenes color photographs. This is an excellent addition to the series.

Published by Focal Press. With thanks to Becky Sahm at Big Picture Media.

Review copyright Paul Green 2013. All rights reserved.

The history is a graphic account of tribal warfare and the response by the settlers and troops. No side comes out smelling of roses. Brutality was the order of the day against the backdrop of an often hostile landscape that reflected the violence that took place. Torture, mutilation and desecration were familiar events. No morality tale or happy ending. Real life was nothing like Hollywood with its depiction of the noble warrior. It was simply a matter of warfare and survival for the Indians who found their land being taken. They had little compassion for the white man and the white man had little compassion for the Indian. There were exceptions but life was harsh beyond the imagining of any modern day reader.

When the author tackles John Ford he becomes more predictable. The well known tales of Ford’s heavy drinking, bullying of his actors and boorish manner are repeated. There is nothing new here, just quotes from Maureen O’Hara’s biography and other well tread sources. A major frustration is the small size of the photographs. There is a previously unpublished photo of the cast and crew of The Searchers that is printed so small you can hardly distinguish who is who.

I highly recommend this book for the historical section which makes up the first half of the book. The descriptive passages bring the past to life. It is written with style and a genuine feel for the period. Film fans will find The Searchers section less satisfactory.

The Searchers is published February 19, 2013 by Bloomsbury (405pg h/c $28.00).

Review copyright Paul Green 2013. With thanks to Laura Gianino at Bloomsbury

The Official Series Bible™ is a format for roleplaying game campaigns. Each setting is called a Pilot, like the first episode of a television series, providing enough information to get started and offering hooks for future adventures, be leaving things open enough for gamemasters to take things in their own direction. All information is presented without rules system information, so you can adapt it to the system of your choice.”

Fan communities can be found at Facebook and Google+.

A Town Called Pandemonium

“Pandemonium is a lonely place. The town sits in the emptiness of the New Mexico Territory. If you wanted to visit – perhaps to make a deal with cattle baron Representation Calhoun, or conduct a different sort of transaction in the bordello of Waterloo Jones – it could be quite a memorable journey. The town is surrounded by ravines, mountains and an inhospitable desert. There’s no train, and the intermittent stagecoach guarantees only an uncomfortable passage.

Nor is Pandemonium’s isolation solely a matter of geography. In this slightly alternative history, the town has some unusual neighbors. The Anasazi still rule all their ancestral lands, uncommunicative and concerned only with their own unfathomable goals. The new state of Deseret sits to the north, its founding fathers looking hungrily at the unoccupied land of the New Mexico Territory.

For the residents of Pandemonium, however, this seclusion can be a blessing. This is a dying town, filled with the foolish, the reckless, the outcast, the hopeful and the truly desperate. From the sheriff to the undertaker’s wife, everyone has a secret. With the silver boom in the town’s past, these secrets weigh more heavily than ever before.

In Sam Sykes’ “Wish for a Gun” a lonely widower finds his heart’s desire buried right by his front door. The Deakins boys, from Will Hill’s aptly-named tale, also find something deep underground, something both extraordinary and horrible.

Both Archie Black’s “4.52 to Pandemonium” and Sam Wilson’s “Rhod the Killer” feature ostensible innocents. But they too are revealed as more what they seem, and may God have mercy on those unlucky folk who cross the paths of Rhodri Anwell and Mrs. Philpott.

The title character of Chrysanthy Balis’ “Belle Deeds” has her secret lust and, later, shame. Chrissie Miller discovers what happens behind closed doors in Den Patrick’s “Red Hot Hate”. While Osgood Vance’s “Sleep in Fire” and Scott K. Andrews’ “Grit” both feature men wrestling with their personal demons, Joseph D’Lacey’s hero struggles with an entire hidden history – and terrifying future. Dark deeds and darker secrets: Pandemonium is awash in them, and Jonathan Oliver’s “Raise the Beam High” explores the consequences of revelation. What happens when that which has been hidden is brought to light?

The stories of A Town Called Pandemonium – be they macabre, funny, dark or droll – are all linked together by the spectacular artwork of Adam Hill, who has given this played-out boom-town a whole new lease on life. Welcome to Pandemonium.”

• “Grit” by Scott Andrews
• “Belle Deeds” by Chrysanthy Balis
• “4.52 to Pandemonium” by Archie Black
• “The Gathering of Sheaves” by Joseph D’Lacey
• “The Sad Tale of the Deakins Boys” by Will Hill
• “Raise the Beam High” by Jonathan Oliver
• “Red Hot Hate” by Den Patrick
• “Wish for a Gun” by Sam Sykes
• “Sleep in Fire” by Osgood Vance
• “Rhod the Killer” by Sam Wilson

The anthology is available in two editions: the Silver Dollar paperback edition and the Cafe de Paris Edition (Hardcover, 100 numbered copies) from January 2013. Full details at the A Town Called Pandemonium website.

Pariah Missouri is a western with a supernatural twist that leans on mysticism and folk-magic.

“Our first story will be four 22-page issues. This Kickstarter campaign focuses on the production of the first two issues printed as one double-sized issue (~50 pages). Currently issue one is completed and we are in the middle of finishing issue two, which is on schedule for the end of December. After this campaign, the team is scheduled to complete issues three and four by spring of 2013 and begin additional story lines in Pariah. This is more than one story, this is the beginning of a rich world that is being created, and YOU get to be a part of it!” – Creator and writer Andres Salazar.

Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects. Everything from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology that are brought to life through the direct support of others.

Free 20 page PREVIEW available by clicking on this link.

Videojournalism : Multimedia Storytelling

The Naked Cowboy. Photo : Lucy Nicholson

Mastering multimedia storytelling forms the the first chapters of this fascinating and informative book. Finding a compelling subject and story is the key aspect. The visual documentary excels at subjects where a problem is presented and overcome. Conflict, challenge and resolution can be incorporated into any number of subjects including sports, competitions and games. Serious topics such as war, poverty and death require an attention to ethics, which should be central to videojournalism.

Photo : Kenneth Kobré

Deciding what to film and not to film and the crossing of boundaries of good taste and personal space is particularly important in stories of tragedy, accident scenes, battlefields and terminal illness. Staged events and re-enactments are defined as docudrama. A technique often used in “Reality TV.” Videojournalism should record unmanipulated reality. Doubting the authenticity of a documentary will ultimately result in rejection of the medium.

The book also includes chapters on Camera Exposure and Handling, Light and Color, Recording Sound, Combining Audio and Stills, Shooting a Sequence, Conducting an Interview, Writing a Script and Editing the Story, The Law and Marketing a Story.

Kobre’s book offers much room for discussion and experimentation in the relatively new medium of videojournalism. The book is enhanced by contributions to individual chapters from noted experts Stan Heist, Kathy Kieliszewski, Jerry Lazar, Regina McCombs, Mary Thorsby, Josh Meltzer, David Weintraub and Donald R. Winslow.

About the author: Professor Ken Kobré heads the photojournalism program at San Francisco State University and is the bestselling author of “Photojournalism: The Professionals’ Approach.” He is also is the producer of the new hour-long documentary “Deadline Every Second: On Assignment with 12 Associated Press Photojournalists.”

Review copyright Paul Green 2012. Thanks to Becky Sahm at Big Picture Media. Videojournalism : Multimedia Storytelling is published by Focal Press (2012).

The “Storytelling” section for example is split into 12 exercises including ‘Drawing Without Stopping’ which aims at eliminating the self critical voice that leads to procrastination – and developing  a child-like free flowing approach to creating a single page comic strip. “Show or Tell” is an exercise with the task of creating images that complement the text rather than merely repeating it. Another exercise “Talking Heads” asks the artist to incorporate the 180-degree rule often used in films where the camera sweeps a 180 degree arc but maintains a consistent point of view.

Robyn Chapman

Robyn Chapman emphasises content over artistic accomplishment. “Comics that are made from a place of joy, inspiration, and truth will be far more interesting than comics that are drawn well.” Although the design of this 136 page book is deceptively simple there is plenty of useful information between the pages. This isn’t a how-to book filled with muscle bound action. Instead it concentrates on cartooning and sequential art. While the book is primarily aimed at beginners and aspiring newcomers to the profession it is also of interest for teachers and those willing to admit they might benefit from a refresher course.

The author: Robyn Chapman is assistant editor at Graphic Universe, the grphic novel imprint of Lerner Publishing Group. She also runs a mini-comics publishing house called Paper Rocket. In 2005 she became The Center for Cartoon Studies’ first fellow, and spent the next five years as their program coordinator and a faculty member. She has built and managed the curriculum for their successful Create Comics and Cartooning Studio workshops.

Drawing Comics Lab is published by Quarry Books, October 2012. Review copyright Paul Green 2012.