The Monster Writing workshop.

 

Meet Author Jeff Carroll at the World Horror Convention.

 Atlanta, GA, Friday, May 8 Marriott Marquis – Sarnath Room 1:00-2:00pm. Horror/Sci-fi writer Jeff Carroll will be on a panel at The World Horror Convention.  The panel will be moderator by author Balogun Ojetade. The other panelists include writers Gerald Coleman, Crystal Connor, Craig Laurance Gidney, John Edward Lawson. 

The title of the panel is Different Visions: African American Spec-Lit from Afrofuturism to Beloved.  Some of the most exciting spec-lit today is coming from multicultural viewpoints, including dynamic works by African-American / Black authors. Anyone following the latest debates in SF/F/H knows that diversity also has become a controversial topic. This panel will explore horror and spec-lit in general as envisioned through the lens of the Black experience from enslavement to the Civil Rights Movement to the murders of Black people throughout America at the hands of law-enforcement.

The World Horror Convention is an annual gathering of professionals in the horror industry; publishers, authors, artists, musicians, filmmakers, dealers and, of course, horror fans. WHC serves as both an industry insider’s networking event and a chance for fans of the genre to get together, meet some of the creative talents in the field, and generally spend a weekend celebrating All Things Scary.

In the late 1980’s, a growing number of horror professionals and fans who attended the World Fantasy Convention (at that time one of the only conventions for horror fans) felt that they needed a convention of their own. Founded by Beth Gwinn (who had the idea), Joann Parsons and Maurine Dorris, the first World Horror Convention was held in Nashville, Tennessee in 1991.

There has been a World Horror Convention every year since, in cities all over the United States as well as Canada and the UK. Guests of Honor have included virtually every living legend in the horror field in literature, movies, television, art and more.

The World Horror Convention is presided over year-to-year by the World Horror Society, an unincorporated literary society made up of professionals in the horror field and past convention chairs. The first WHS Board consisted of, Beth Gwinn, Jo Fletcher, Charles L. Grant, Steven Jones, Ginger Buchanan, Stanley Wiater, Joanne Parson & Maurine Dorris.  For more information visit them at www.worldhorrorconvention.com

Jeff Carroll is a writer and a filmmaker.  He is pioneering what he calls Hip Hop horror, Sci/fi and fantasy. His stories always have lots of action and a social edge.  He has written and produced 2 films, Holla If I Kill You and Gold Digger Killer which won BEST Picture at the International Hip Hop film festival. He has published 3 books the novelization to Gold Digger Killer, Thug angel Rebirth of a Gargoyle and It Happened on Negro Mountain.  His short stories have appeared in both The Black Science Fiction Society’s anthology and their magazine. He writes out of South Florida where he lives with his wife and youngest son.  Please connect with him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and his blog http://hhcnf.blogspot.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Happened-Negro-Mountain-Jeff-Carroll-ebook/dp/B00LWXBDRI

Why would a black person want to be 007?

Just as everybody else I’ve been reading the debate over the idea of Iris Alba a black man playing the role of James Bond 007.  Most people follow the debate directly and argue should a black person be allowed to play a character which has historically been played by white actors?  While that is an interesting question I think a better question is why would a black person want to play 007?

If a Black/African person was to become James Bond they would be a sell-out.  Not the actor who played him the character in the movie.  First let’s look at who agent James Bond Mr. 007 is.  James Bond is an agent for the British Secret Service AKA Her Majesty's Secret Service.  He doesn’t work for the people of Britain he protects the Queen and her empire which happens to include England and other foreign interests.  These interests are countries in Africa. 

                Selling a Black James Bond would not be easy because of the role England has played and still does play in Africa.  James Bond is respected as a smart man and if he doesn’t know what England is doing in Africa to his own people then he would be dumber than Babar. I was taught that you have to help yourself before you help others.  For a  black superhero to run around protecting New York or any other city is like a father who protects the neighborhood but does nothing about the people robbing and mistreating his own family.

                Also being a secret agent is really a punkass move.  When you think about the concept of a secret agent it’s a slick way of fighting.  Its like slipping small pox in blankets and giving them to Native Americans or presenting a city who you can’t beat with a Trojan Horse.  Sure war isn’t fair but I respect the warriors like Mimnon who Brad Pitts character in Troy was based on.  He would challenge the general of an opposing army to a one on one fight to side step an army to army battle.  I respect the fighters in Kung Fu movies who had honor in their fights and would bow before they would start fighting to the death.  Sniping and spying are punk moves but we enjoy them.  We accept them when they are used to protect us from dastardly villains.

                I say all of that to still say would I go see Idris Alba as James Bond? Hell yeah.  I love James Bond.  I just think there is a lot to think about when writing a Black 007 story.  When I think of a black spy I think of The Spook Who Sat by the Door.  I think for a black person to be a spy or even a global hero they have to be clear on who the enemy is and who they are fighting for.  That’s a concern I have with black superheroes like Black Panther.

                I don’t think it is wrong for there to be a black version because as many others have said James Bond is a rebooted character.  A variety of actors have played him.  I also think black people should create their own black spy stories.  As a writer I of course have my own spy story.  In fact I am part of group of black writers headed by author Milton Davis who are developing black secret agent stories to put into an anthology.  We call it Spyfunk , so support us on Facebook.  We are not the first black people to write black secret agent stories. My favorite black secret agent story is by Nigerian author Valentine Alily called Mark of the Cobra.  My facebook friend Steven Barnes and his wife Tananarive Due have a series starting with Casanegra: A Tennyson Hardwick.  Then there’s Black Pulp an anthology of black syp type heroes.

Bodyslick an Afrofuturistic story. By John H Sibley

This is a book I’ve been wanting to read for a long time.  This is one of few books I bought NEW.  Most of the books I buy are either from an author or from a used bookstore but this was a book I wanted, no I needed to read.  I first saw Bodyslick in an ad in Vibe magazine.  The cover was nice and it looked like an album cover more than the cover of a book.  I consider myself late to reading because I didn’t start reading for fun until my 40s.  I blame the lack of interesting books among other things.  I love Science Fiction but even the books which had interesting and crazy monsters on the cover read boring.  They had weird words and corny reactions.  I feel that if there were more people like me in the stories I would have read more.  That’s why as a writer I am writing for myself at 16.  That brings me back to Bodyslick.  Since it looked so Hip Hopish I thought it might be good and similar to my own writing and goal.

Bodyslick was exactly what I thought it was.  It is a fast moving, urban talking story.  It reminded me of my own writing.  Bodyslick has the tough edge of Streetlit with the Sci-fi setting of Blade Runner.  Bodyslick tells the story of a human body parts dealer Malcolm Steel Jr aka Bodyslick.  It takes place in the year 2031 not too far into the future but far enough to have some major differences.  In the story humans have developed a sophisticated body parts underground trade.  The story follows Bodyslick as he does business around the world selling legs, hearts and even heads.  

 Bodystlick was more Streetlit than it was Sci-fi.  It had a few elements of Sci-fi but more Streetlit elements. There were some pretty gangster scenes in Bodyslick. While the pacing was fast and the chapters weren’t long I felt the story was long.  It reminded me of the movie Sin City where the story went all over the place but came together at the end.  If I could improve on something in the story, it would be to focus on the main story because I felt a lot of the scenes weren’t important to the main conflict of the story.  Bodyslick was an enjoyable read and I think it was a good book.  I like the characters being black.  I like the variety of elements in the story.  They surprised me.  Robot love and gangster kill scenes were not what I expected.  This book is a good entre into Sci-fi for Streetlit readers.  We need more male readers and this book has just the Donald Goines edge to interest them. 

I give this book 3 stars.

My top Movies of the Year 2014

       

Okay here it is with much pain and agony I present my top ten movies of 2014. I do this because I feel movie dates are still the best type of dates to go on.  That said 2014 by volume may have been the best year for movie dates because there were just so many good movies to see.  On my list I have my top 10 but my honorable mentions are just as good as my top ten.   However, there were a lot of good movies 2014 didn’t many GREAT movies.  Many my top 4 are great but that is a low great.  And my 5-10 where low okay.  2014 had more repeated brands than I ever remembering one year having.  There were remakes and sequels hardly any room for an original film story.  Don’t get me wrong remakes and sequels can be great films.  I think of the Fugitive as a great remake or the Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which followed a bad remake.  I think the Lords of the Rings was an excellent series.  Each of the sequels was just as good as the original.  I think the Terminator had good sequels.  So, I’m not knocking a movie because it’s a sequel or a remake.  I do feel that sequels and remakes have to have their own stories and fresh ideas.  I think that’s why some of 2014’s remakes and sequels didn’t hit the ball out of the park.  That said it does look like it’s a trend because 2015 has almost as many remakes and reboots of successful brands as 2014 did.  That’s starting with the reboot of Star Wars.  Anyway, here is my list with some explanation.

1.                  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.  Good almost great movie.  I love this new rebooted angle.  The only part that dragged a little was the fight scene at the end.  I hope they continue the series.

2.                  The Equalizer.  I had to give Denzel this spot.  He had been crushing movies since Training Day.  This movie he goes back to his Man on Fire roots.  I hope that do a sequel.

3.                  The Edge of Tomorrow.  I never liked Tom Cruise in a movie before but seeing him get his butt beat and killed over and over again was fun.  I love the story.  The ending was medium but didn’t ruin it.

4.                  Guardians of the Galaxy.  Marvel had to go here.  So many super heroes are not from Earth that this allows them to include them.  Sure it’s all about Earth but now we get to see another take on a populated Universe besides Star Wars version.

5.                  Interstellar.  This is many people’s number one movie but to me it was to focused on the scientific fantasy of the story and not the entertainment aspect.  I don’t think having a few monsters or alien life forms would have messed up the science.  But so what if it did save the true scientific discussion for the documentary.  Writers are liars anyway so find a way to make it happen.

6.                  The Hunger Games Mocking Jay PT 1.  I like Katness so much that I can tolerate all of the extra loves elements added to the story. I love the additions to expand the sci-fi of the story.  I think it is what Hunger Games was meant to be.

7.                  X-Men Days of Future Past.  Well, I ain’t going to lie it took me a minute to get over the shape shifting sentinels I was able to enjoy the film.  I was disappointed that the story didn’t focus on the X Men battling the Sentinels.  However, I enjoyed seeing Biship on the big screen.  

8.                  The Hobbit the Battle of the Five Armies.  Now, this film sums up what was missing in the films of 2014.  How I explained this movies’s short comings is image a boxing match with a Dragon and when you go to the fight the Dragon goes down in the first round.

9.                  The Maze Runner.  I enjoyed this film.  I took a lot from The Lord of the Rings and while I don’t agree with the concept of man’s savage nature the question of how will human children behave if left to construct their own society is a interesting question.  I also liked how they answered the question in this story.  

10.              The Giver.  This was the first book to have children killings.  This was the book that influenced the Hunger Games and Maze Runner.  It wasn’t as action packed but it also didn’t have big boring love element.

Honorable mentions.  These are all films that are just as good as the films 5-10 but the part that messed them up was a little bigger or more prominent.  I will just list what messed up the film for me.

1.                  Sin City, A Dame to Kill for.  Nothing really stood out but the was less smart or diverse plot wise.  The first Sin City had many different stories but this one just had one.  Really I don’t know what this story missed I just didn’t think it was great.  Maybe I have to see it again which I will.

2.                  RoboCop. New and fresh reboot but less racial diverse and the story was the same.  They should have stole from all of the headlines about Police and civilian relations and wrote a new RoboCop story like JJ Abrams did with Star Trek and they did with Planet of the Apes.

3.                  Purge 2.  This is the only movie on this list which I didn’t see in the theater.  I enjoyed this sequel better than I did the first part.

4.                  Dracula Untold. The special effects were great but the story wasn’t fresh enough.  Underworld changed the game.  This was a low budget story.  It needed more fighting and more story.  Something.  But good none the less.  I don’t even think I liked the ending.  The reboot of the Wolfman was better.

5.                  300 Rise of an Empire.  Again you go to see a Mike Tyson fight and when you get there he’s not there.  I wanted to see King Xerxes get his big ass fight on but no it’s a story about a crazy woman.  Not bad but I can count the films I liked where the main character was somebody I wasn’t supposed to like.

6.                  Tyler Perry Single Mom’s Club.  Hot film.  No complaints.  The only problems is that it’s a comedy and comedies have to be Rush Hour to contend with Sci-fi for me.

7.                  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Good reboot got me interested in a story I don’t like.  This time the turtles didn’t seem like white boys acting like black kids as much.  Maybe because white kids act cooler now and the contrast isn’t as big as it was before.

8.                  Pompeii.  For a movie were everyone knew what was going to happen it did a good job of writing a background story.  The ending was a little weak also.

9.                  Captain America Winter Soldier.  Man there’s no way if you would have told me this movie would not have made my top ten in 2013 I would have not believed you.  However it didn’t make my top ten.  I only became a fan of Captain America after his 2011 movie.  Now the magic has worn off maybe.  Or maybe it was just the weak story.  No matter what this movie was medium.

10.              Godzilla.  This is another movie that could have been so much more.  I should have put it in my top ten just because it was so much better than the 1998 remake.  I felt jept because again I wanted to Godzilla fight more.  But what could I complain ALL of the old Godzilla movies are told the same way.  I think that Pacific Rim was a game changer for all of these large monster films. 

11.              Transformers Age of Extinction.  I have never put a Transformer film in my top ten but this came the closest.   I think Mark Wahlberg was the big factor.  I also think that it wasn’t too slap stick.  Who knows I doubt I will ever watch it again.

Horrible I only feel two movies got me for my money last year.  These two movies missed there trailers mark.

I Frankenstein.  I don’t know what happened to my man Kevin Greviox but this was far from Underworld.  It was like a bad knock off of Underworld.

Divergent.  This was bad all the way around.  I was a bad book and a even worse movie.  I thought they would allow the film production process to work out all of the correctable parts.

What’s or the forefront. 2015 looks to be another good year of film.  I’m looking forward to bunch of films.   Road Warrior, Star Wars, Avengers Age of Ultron and Jurassic Park 

As always I include my wife’s top ten and my son’s.

My wife

1.      The Equalizer
2.      Guardians of the Galaxy
3.      The Giver
4.      Maze Runner
5.      The Hobbit Desolation of Smoug
6.      Planet of the Apes
7.      Captain America Winter Soldier
8.      Malificent
9.      Pampeii
10.  X Men Days of Future Past.

My son

1.      Interstellar

2.      Guardians of the Galaxy

3.      The Giver

4.      X Men Days of Future Past

5.      Maze Runner

6.      The Hunger Games Mocking Jay PT 1

7.      RoboCop

8.      Dawn of Planet of the Apes

9.      Purge 2

10.  Ninja Turtles

Shatterpoint was Shattered Dreams.

Book review by Jeff Carroll ATTENTION Spoiler Alert.

Shatterpoint was supposed to be the highlight of my year of reading Star Wars books but it wasn't.  I remember when I saw a book about Mace Windu I was very excited because he was a top Jedi and second black guy I saw in the Star Wars universe.  So when I picked up the book I expected to learn about his history and meet other Black people in Star Wars.  Unfortunately, the story was boring.  It was heavy with detail and military strategy.  I know he is a Jedi and it is the Star wars Universe I just wanted it to have a personal feel.  This story was all fighting and little background.  400 hundred pages and three books in one and I still don't know much about Mace.  Who were his parents? How did he become a Jedi?  In the story he was like a robot, only siting rules and regulations.

                Shatterpoint even disappointed me as a Black man.  Okay let me explain.  Mace Windu is the baddest black man in Star Wars.  Not that there were a lot of Black people to begin with.  Mace Windu and Lando Calrissian that’s it for Black people in the Star Wars Universe.  There are more Black people in the expanded universe but there are only two which have made it to the big screen and that’s what matters.  In Shatterpoint the story was set in Mace’s home planet and go figure it’s a jungle planet.  Okay, that’s not racist because there are other jungle planets in the Star Wars universe but it didn't feel real creative having it be a planet of black people. Next, Mace Windu is revered as the best lightsaber swordsman of his time and in his first stand allow story he loses his two fights.  You can image how let down I felt.  I’m not going to tell you about who he fights because it doesn't matter because I've read other Star Wars books and the heroes win and loose.  Mace on the other hand lost his first one on one fight.  He lost so bad the villain spared him.  Mace was sitting there like a punk.  Then in his second fight he got his ass handed to him again.  The only reason why he didn't get killed is because some regular person saved him.  Not even another Jedi, a regular human.  How corny is that? Mace is the Jedi who beat Jango Fett and could beat Count Dooku.  Hell he beat the Dark Lord of the Sith in quick time.  That’s like Wolvervine almost killed and being saved by some kid off the street in a Wolvervine movie.

                This book had to be written by someone who wasn’t a big fan of Mace Windu or the Star Wars universe curators wanted to back track on creating such a powerful character. In 2013 I decided to only read Star Wars books.  I read The Lost Tribe of the Sith (1 star),   Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu (4 Stars), Death Troopers (3 Stars), The Force Unleashed (5 Stars), The Paradise Snare, a Han Solo story (4 Stars), Imperial Commando: 501^st (2 Stars) and Shatterpoint (2 Stars). 

                Star Wars is my favorite universe and I love the expanded universe I hope they continue to conform to the diversity of the changing world.  I recommend watching the last 3 seasons of the Clone Wars as well as the new season coming this fall, Rebels.  All of the books I gave 4 or more stars are books I recommend. Don’t take my word for the final word, I like action stories with not so much strategic description.  Many of the Star Wars books seem to be written by Star Wars scholars rather than fun loving fans.  Maybe Star Wars needs to ease back on the precision and let writers have fun.  The books were more like military Sci-fi than fun action children friendly type stories.  So, by all means please read and make up your own opinion. I plan on reading The Force Unleashed Two and some more Han Solo stories. I even plan on writing a fan Mace Windu story. Enjoy Please enjoy reading Star Wars books I just hope Shatterpoint doesn't shatter your dreams.  

Jeff Carroll releases his scariest most horrifying tale It Happened on Negro Mountain.

Florida July 2014 Black Bed Sheet Publishing announces the release of the streetlit horror story It Happened on Negro Mountain by Jeff Carroll.  It Happened on Negro Mountain is a real place located in Maryland. It Happened on Negro Mountain is available everywhere books are sold.

Negro Mountain is located in west Maryland, on the West Virginia boarder, which divided the Colonial North and South most popularly known as the Mason Dixon Line.  The Mountain was named “Negro” because of a heroic Africa Slave who single handedly fought off the Confederate Army soldiers and Native Americans.  Now, Negro Mountain is said to be protected by the spirit of the African.  The saying is Negro Mountain is a place where bad things happen to bad people.  So, when negative energy meets with the energy resting in Negro Mountain the outcome is always the same, The Mountain wins.

“After having success with my first horror story Thug Angel Rebirth of a Gargoyle I wanted to craft another story where I could send chills down the spins of the hardest street thug. No one has ever met a vampire and werewolf but Negro Mountain is real, you can visit it and that makes it ever more scary,” said Jeff Carroll of his work.

It Happened on Negro Mountain (Black Bed Sheet Publishing Paperback, July 25, 2014, ISBN: 978-0692255650-7$16.00 and $3.99 ebook) set to change the face of Streetlit and Horror with author Jeff Carroll. Jeff Carroll a lover of good old fashion horror stories with a creepy origins and not lots of special effects.  He found Negro Mountain while road managing a trip to West Virginia.  After seeing the highway sign for Negro Mountain he and his partner quickly jumped out of their cars and took picture.  Jeff came home a google Negro Mountain and the rest is history.

It Happened on Negro Mountain is a story about a Drug Dealer who has been forced out of his empire.  Rather than just submitting he decides to destroy his empire instead of agreeing to the demands of the younger drug dealers whom he started off.  His plans to leave his neighborhood turf with his babymother and seven year old daughter for a year.  This will allow chaos to erupt and let the young dealers kill each other before he returns to reclaim his post.  The place he chooses to hide out is NEGRO MOUNTAIN.

Jeff Carroll lives in South Florida, with his wife and son.  He is a writer, a filmmaker and owner of Hip Hop Comix N Flix.  He enjoys writing Sci/fi, Horror and fantasy stories with lots of action and a social edge.  He has written and produced 2 films, his second film was Gold Digger Killer won 3 film awards including BEST Picture at the International Hip Hop film festival. Jeff Carroll is the author of the non-fiction book The Hip Hop Dating Guide.  When he is not writing horror stories he enjoys speaking on Healthy Dating to college and high school students everywhere and goes by Yo Jeff.

http://www.amazon.com/Happened-Negro-Mountain-Jeff-Carroll-ebook/dp/B00LWXBDRI