Video proof that my cat has been helping me write my novel. Also, a new photoblog and some new novel-revealing tweets.

• Currently reading: It's Only Temporary, by Eric Shapiro

If it’s good enough for Douglas Coupland and William Gibson, then it’s good enough for me. Ian Rogers is now on Twitter.

I am joining a league of writers who have said they would never join Twitter but who eventually signed up, much for the same reason I did. Namely that I like to use this blog to report news and publishing information and generally promote myself, but I also like to talk about movies, photography, and the latest adventures of my cat. The latter content seems more suited to Twitter, which means I can keep this website focused on my writing career.

You can follow my tweets via Twitter, or you can read them in the handy container to the right of this blog titled “Tweets from the Dark Side” (LJ and Facebook friends will have to visit my actual website at ian-rogers.com/journal to see what I’m talking about).

Monica Kuebler, editor-in-chief of Burning Effigy Press, which will be releasing my chapbook Temporary Monsters later this year, was interviewed on the eve of this year’s Bram Stoker Awards.

Also, Andrew Burns, my editor at BIFF BAM POP!, conducted an interview with comics legend Chris Claremont that has got me wanting to dig up my old issues of The Uncanny X-Men. Part 1 and Part 2 are already posted, and Part 3 should be online soon.

Some other quick news and thoughts:

The novel is coming along well. I cracked the 20,000-word mark a couple of weeks back. I’m not much into monitoring my metrics anymore, but I know that much. The work continues strong and steady. I feel this is going to be a really great book. By which I mean, the idea still amuses me, I’m still having fun writing it, and I still think I have a pretty good chance of selling it.

My new DVD pick is the 2-disc extended cut of Taken, starring Liam Neeson, which is as great as everyone says. Simple premise carried entirely by a great actor and some serious kick-ass action. Highly recommended.

My “classic” (used very loosely) DVD pick is The Revenge of the Teenage Vixens from Outer Space. Sex-starved alien vixens come down looking for hot jailbait action at the local high school. It’s kind of like Heathers crossed with Mars Needs Women. Special features include vixen commentary, a deleted scene, and much mocking by your highbrow cinema friends.

Two new writers I’ve discovered and am enjoying immensely. Duane Swierczynski and Victor Gischler. To say that they write only crime fiction is like saying Twin Peaks was only a small town murder mystery. There is so much more going on below the surface with these two writers. Go out and buy all of their books. I did.

Also, having been a fan of Jeff Strand’s short fiction for years, I finally picked up a bunch of his novels. I started off with Mandibles, because I love a good giant bug story, and I wasn’t disappointed. The ending was so freaky I had to actually stop eating my lunch.

In music, I’m listening to the new Tragically Hip CD, “We Are The Same,” and I’ve also got Lady Gaga’s “The Fame,” in high rotation because she is just so freakin’ weird and fun. Imagine a space alien that has to come down to earth and taken the form of a blonde disco-pop singer, but she isn’t quite pulling off the masquerade, there’s something just a little bit off about her. That’s Lady Gaga.

And finally, congrats to all the winners and nominees of this year’s Stoker Awards. I hear it was a great time, and I wish I was there.

So that’s the report from The Quill station here at the Dharma Initiative. Take care, and namaste.

• Currently reading: Winterlong, by Elizabeth Hand

Caitlin R. Kiernan wrote an interesting post about the number of comments going down on her blog lately, something I’ve noticed on my own blog, even though site traffic hasn’t dropped off. She suggests current interest in Twitter and Facebook might be the cause, which does make some sense. Either way it feels like I’m quacking into the wind more than ever these days. Not that I’m complaining. It’s not as if I have much to report these days.

Kiernan also makes a point of saying that she doesn’t argue online, which is something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. I figure this is one of the reasons why I stay away from message boards, not just because I feel they’re a huge time-suck, but because I can’t be bothered to argue for why I like certain books/movies/tv shows against people who are so adamant that they suck.

It’s one thing to have a differing opinion, but I’ve noticed some people will couch their distaste in such a way that it makes those who like the book/movie/tv show in question sound like morons. It’s not to say that the things I like are perfect, but then again, what is? I’m sure I could find a flaw in every single book/movie/tv show out there, but it’s just not my style.

I have torn into stuff on occasion, but I try to do it in a comical way, and I don’t do it very often (I think the last time I did it was last summer after I saw the horrendous X-Files: I Want To Believe). A blog or a YouTube channel full of snark might be more amusing, at least to some visitors, but it wouldn’t be much fun for me. I’d much rather recommend the stuff I like than tear down the stuff I don’t.

• Currently reading: Mandibles, by Jeff Strand

Check out the new pic on my photoblog, my video review of Drag Me to Hell on my YouTube channel, and my review of John Rector’s The Grove at BIFF BAM POP!

• Currently reading: Secret Dead Men, by Duane Swierczynski