Part of the reason I have been so quiet lately is because I've been developing a talk show for an internet radio station called RadioSlot.Com. Me and a pal will be doing a weekly show called "Drake and the Deacon" and, no, it's not a religious broadcast. My show partner likes to think he is a "deacon" of all things--whatever. I don't know if even he knows what it means but he does not want to use his real name. And who can blame him? I'm not using my real name, either.
Anyway we record the first show tonight and it should air this week, once I get bio and other promotional materials to the station so they can load it onto the site. RadioSlot.Com has been doing a music format for about ten years now but they want to add a talk radio side, and one of my buddies in the broadcasting industry within which I already work "recruited" me to try this.
Anyway I hope you'll give us a listen but it won't be for everybody. We're doing a mix of commentary on current events, pop culture ridicule, life stuff and whatever else comes up. In the auditions we've done I try to keep things light and funny but the Deacon fancies himself a Mensa candidate so he has to ruin all of my punchlines. He's so smart he can think three steps ahead of me. Whatever! He's nothing without me!
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Till Further Notice.....
Hey, everybody....I promise I'll get back to this blog soon. You won't believe the stories I have to tell! But I wanted y'all to know that my Rogue Gentleman series has been discounted to .99 for a limited time. Links are to your right and my left! Thanks for looking!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
One Night in the City
It was supposed to be a quiet evening of dinner and dancing as my friend Corinne celebrated her 33rd birthday.
It was supposed to be fun. Aren't birthday parties supposed to be fun?
Ugh.
We met at a nice Mexican place off the Embarcadero where I paid too much for a vodka martini that wasn't even filled to the top, the cheap bastards, and paid way too much for a platter of beef tacos. These were mini tacos, the kind you might get off a corner roach coach, and $12.50 to boot. What arrived on my plate, looking like something you might find in the gutter, I would have paid $2 for at one of those street-corner establishments, and I would have enjoyed it more too.
One of Corinne's coworkers was supposed to be there and she is an attractive lass with whom I wanted to get more acquainted, but she didn't show. However, Corinne's roommate did attend. Her name was Renee and she was very nice and we had a lovely chat. Things were going so well that I decided I wanted to get her phone number and continue our conversation at a later time.
But as Jack Benny might say, Well....
Things didn't exactly go as planned.
Renee had a "friend" with her. They had similar hair cuts, which should have been a clue. Straight black hair down to the shoulders with thick bangs across the forehead. Like a helmet. I should have known....
So the night ends and I decide to walk the girls to the MUNI station where they can catch their train back home; as I'm preparing to ask Renee for her home telephone number, she says, "Wow, I'm cold," and snakes her arm through that of her friend and pulls her close. They walked that way all the way to the station.
Call this "The Night I Almost Hit On a Lesbian"
Not that, you know, there's anything wrong with that.
It was supposed to be fun. Aren't birthday parties supposed to be fun?
Ugh.
We met at a nice Mexican place off the Embarcadero where I paid too much for a vodka martini that wasn't even filled to the top, the cheap bastards, and paid way too much for a platter of beef tacos. These were mini tacos, the kind you might get off a corner roach coach, and $12.50 to boot. What arrived on my plate, looking like something you might find in the gutter, I would have paid $2 for at one of those street-corner establishments, and I would have enjoyed it more too.
One of Corinne's coworkers was supposed to be there and she is an attractive lass with whom I wanted to get more acquainted, but she didn't show. However, Corinne's roommate did attend. Her name was Renee and she was very nice and we had a lovely chat. Things were going so well that I decided I wanted to get her phone number and continue our conversation at a later time.
But as Jack Benny might say, Well....
Things didn't exactly go as planned.
Renee had a "friend" with her. They had similar hair cuts, which should have been a clue. Straight black hair down to the shoulders with thick bangs across the forehead. Like a helmet. I should have known....
So the night ends and I decide to walk the girls to the MUNI station where they can catch their train back home; as I'm preparing to ask Renee for her home telephone number, she says, "Wow, I'm cold," and snakes her arm through that of her friend and pulls her close. They walked that way all the way to the station.
Call this "The Night I Almost Hit On a Lesbian"
Not that, you know, there's anything wrong with that.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The Rogue Gentleman #2: Moving Target....Available NOW!
I apologize for the lack of updates in recent weeks. Real life has been crazy! But out of the craziness has come a couple of stories that are doozies indeed and I will post them soon. One of the anecdotes involves me and a partner starting a new radio talk show, so very soon you may not only be able to READ Brian Drake but LISTEN to him as well!
Anyway, we are gathered here today to announce the release of the second episode in the Rogue Gentleman series, Moving Target, which picks up a day or two after Private Vendetta ended. Thanks for looking!
Anyway, we are gathered here today to announce the release of the second episode in the Rogue Gentleman series, Moving Target, which picks up a day or two after Private Vendetta ended. Thanks for looking!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Now Available--THE ROGUE GENTLEMAN #1
Happy New Year, my friends. We are kicking things off with the release of the first episode in my new series, The Rogue Gentleman. There will be a new episode each month. Thrills, chills, comedy, suspense, action, romance, cliff-hanger endings... it's all here. If you like James Bond or The Saint, this is your stuff.
Steve Dane, The Rogue Gentleman, an international adventurer who rights wrongs wherever he finds them, fails to prevent a young woman’s abduction. But that does not stop him from finding her.
Officially hired by the girl’s father, Dane battles gunman and evades police as he discovers the decades-old vendetta behind the kidnapping; he soon learns that the grudge is just the beginning and peels back the layers of a more fiendish plan that goes beyond a desire for vengeance.
Assisted by his lover, the luscious Nina Talikova, Steve Dane dives head first, the only way he knows how, into a conspiracy of terror the likes of which the world has never seen, orchestrated by a powerful and mysterious woman known only as “The Duchess”.
When Dane finds The Duchess he will sacrifice anything, including his life, to destroy her.
Private Vendetta will be followed by Moving Target and The Zeta Connection; we have a long career planned for Dane & Company and we hope you all enjoy the ride.
Steve Dane, The Rogue Gentleman, an international adventurer who rights wrongs wherever he finds them, fails to prevent a young woman’s abduction. But that does not stop him from finding her.
 |
| Gotta love a chick with two guns! |
Assisted by his lover, the luscious Nina Talikova, Steve Dane dives head first, the only way he knows how, into a conspiracy of terror the likes of which the world has never seen, orchestrated by a powerful and mysterious woman known only as “The Duchess”.
When Dane finds The Duchess he will sacrifice anything, including his life, to destroy her.
Private Vendetta will be followed by Moving Target and The Zeta Connection; we have a long career planned for Dane & Company and we hope you all enjoy the ride.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Paul Cain's FAST ONE--Again
I was happy to find a UK No Exit Press edition of Paul Cain's FAST ONE the other day. I had no intention of reading it. I thought it would be neat to have and the introduction and facsimile of Cain's original book jacket bio was neat too. But over the holiday weekend I needed something to read so I grabbed it. And then it grabbed me. Like never before. This is probably the third or fourth time I've read the book, and while I've previously written on the topic of Cain and his work, this time I want to amend that article and say that, yes, Paul Cain's FAST ONE is the hardest hard-boiled novel ever written and deserves all the praise and wonder it has received since the original publication date. (It also deserves the complaints.)
I don't know what has happened this time, but I can't put this book down and I'm more entertained by the "plot" than ever before. It rockets along like an express train. The characters are thin, yes, but they work well together. How can you not like Kells and Granquist and especially Shep and Borg? They reveal themselves through dialogue and behavior, even erratic behavior. Cain knew how to characterize, he wasn't being lazy, I just think he was doing something different and critics yesterday and today couldn't keep up. I just wish he would have ended it differently.
The fact that FAST ONE moves so fast--ha ha!--and works so well as a whole is amazing to see and I don't know if it has ever been duplicated. Chandler came close in one of the middle sequences of The Big Sleep, but then tapered off. I can't think of anybody else who has done anything close.
I suppose there are some of you that have never read Cain; if that is the case, stop reading this and go acquire a copy of FAST ONE post haste.
The fact that FAST ONE moves so fast--ha ha!--and works so well as a whole is amazing to see and I don't know if it has ever been duplicated. Chandler came close in one of the middle sequences of The Big Sleep, but then tapered off. I can't think of anybody else who has done anything close.
I suppose there are some of you that have never read Cain; if that is the case, stop reading this and go acquire a copy of FAST ONE post haste.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
The Indie Scene: Paul Bishop's FELONY FISTS
Here is what is great about indie publishing, authors are able to create properties that couldn't be done by legacy publishing, and Paul Bishop's wonderful Felony Fists series is one such example.
Paul and a team of authors are cranking out these books. According to Paul, "These books are inspired by the sports pulps of the '30s and '40s, such as Fight Stories Magazine and Knockout Magazine, as well as the Sailor Steve Costigan fight stories by Robert E. Howard from the same time period."
The first book, Fight Card, is already out, as is Felony Fists #2: The Cutman, written by the wonderful Mel Odom, who entertained me in my youth with his contributions to The Executioner series (and I'm sure he's glad to be reminded of those!).
Paul gave me a sneak-peak at Fight Card and it's terrific. The plotting is great and Paul brings his usual crisp writing style to the party. Best of luck with the series, Paul!
FELONY FISTS
Los Angeles 1954
Patrick “Felony” Flynn has been fighting all his life. Learning the “sweet science” from Father Tim the fighting priest at St. Vincent’s, the Chicago orphanage where Pat and his older brother Mickey were raised, Pat has battled his way around the world – first with the Navy and now with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Legendary LAPD chief William Parker is on a rampage to clean up both the department and the city. His elite crew of detectives known as The Hat Squad is his blunt instrument – dedicated, honest, and fearless. Promotion from patrol to detective is Pat’s goal, but he also yearns to be one of the elite.
And his fists are going to give him the chance.
Gangster Mickey Cohen runs LA’s rackets, and murderous heavyweight Solomon King is Cohen’s key to taking over the fight game. Chief Parker wants wants Patrick “Felony” Flynn to stop him – a tall order for middleweight ship’s champion with no professional record.
Leading with his chin, and with his partner, LA’s first black detective Tombstone Jones, covering his back, Patrick Flynn and his Felony Fists are about to fight for his future, the future of the department, and the future of Los Angeles.
Paul and a team of authors are cranking out these books. According to Paul, "These books are inspired by the sports pulps of the '30s and '40s, such as Fight Stories Magazine and Knockout Magazine, as well as the Sailor Steve Costigan fight stories by Robert E. Howard from the same time period."
The first book, Fight Card, is already out, as is Felony Fists #2: The Cutman, written by the wonderful Mel Odom, who entertained me in my youth with his contributions to The Executioner series (and I'm sure he's glad to be reminded of those!).
Paul gave me a sneak-peak at Fight Card and it's terrific. The plotting is great and Paul brings his usual crisp writing style to the party. Best of luck with the series, Paul!
FELONY FISTS
Patrick “Felony” Flynn has been fighting all his life. Learning the “sweet science” from Father Tim the fighting priest at St. Vincent’s, the Chicago orphanage where Pat and his older brother Mickey were raised, Pat has battled his way around the world – first with the Navy and now with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Legendary LAPD chief William Parker is on a rampage to clean up both the department and the city. His elite crew of detectives known as The Hat Squad is his blunt instrument – dedicated, honest, and fearless. Promotion from patrol to detective is Pat’s goal, but he also yearns to be one of the elite.
And his fists are going to give him the chance.
Gangster Mickey Cohen runs LA’s rackets, and murderous heavyweight Solomon King is Cohen’s key to taking over the fight game. Chief Parker wants wants Patrick “Felony” Flynn to stop him – a tall order for middleweight ship’s champion with no professional record.
Leading with his chin, and with his partner, LA’s first black detective Tombstone Jones, covering his back, Patrick Flynn and his Felony Fists are about to fight for his future, the future of the department, and the future of Los Angeles.
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