News & Blog

(Photo by Ellen Datlow)

Caught by surprise at the Sarah Langan and Lawrence Connolly reading at the KGB Fantastic Fiction series on Wednesday. With me are my wife Alexa Antopol (in purple) and author M.M. De Voe (in profile). Yes, those are skulls and crossbones on my shirt!

The reading was great. We got to hear a chapter from a brand new, in-progress novel from Sarah Langan, and Lawrence Connolly impressively recited three short stories from memory. Seriously, both authors knocked it out of the park. The whole night was a lot of fun. I really need to get out to these things more often!

More photos from the reading can be seen here, courtesy of shutterbug Ellen Datlow.

Here’s a gargoyle I found in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. He’s a lot nicer than the gargoyles in Dying Is My Business, but not quite as active.

Alexa and I had such a great time at Archer Live last night! A good portion of the cast was there: H. Jon Benjamin (Sterling Archer), Amber Nash (Pam), Chris Parnell (Cyril), Aisha Tyler (Lana), Lucky Yates (Dr. Krieger), and in an unexpected appearance, the great Jessica Walter (Malory Archer). Led by producer Matt Thompson and playing to a sold-out crowd, the cast did a live reading of certain classic scenes (often with help from audience members), shared new material, showed little-seen videos (my favorite was Dr. Krieger’s tentacle porn homage to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video), and invited a drunk attendee who was about to be escorted out by security onto the stage to dance for them instead. Which he did. To “Danger Zone.”

We heard the song “Danger Zone” a lot last night. A lot. Sorry, Kenny Loggins, but you and I might need to take a break for a while.

The whole thing was great, if not exactly a well oiled machine. There was a lot of horsing around and ragging on each other, but that was half the fun. I even got to ask a question! I asked if any of the cast was ever tempted to own an ocelot in real life. They didn’t really answer the question, as they were too busy improvising a song they made up about me: “Moustache Nick.” (Just FYI, in case you were wondering, there are very few nice words that rhyme with Nick.)

So if a character shows up in season 5 named Moustache Nick, now you know where that came from.

Archer Live is must-see for fans of the show. Catch it if it comes to your town!

My wife Alexa will be running a 5k at the Bronx Zoo on April 27! (Apparently this does not take the form of the zoo’s tigers being released to chase after everyone, which was my first thought.) But this isn’t any old 5k. It’s a fundraiser sponsored by the Wildlife Conservation Society. Here’s some of what she wrote on her donation page:

This year’s event is dedicated to Earth’s largest land mammals, which face an uncertain future in both Africa and Asia. The funds I raise will go toward the Wildlife Conservation Society’s projects to conserve elephants and other imperiled animals around the globe and at the Bronx Zoo.

Like humans, elephants form strong family bonds and friendships, and go to great lengths to care for and protect their herds. But unfortunately, these majestic creatures face an uncertain future across their range. Persecuted by poachers since prehistoric times for the valuable ivory in their tusks, elephants continue to be shot and killed every day.

With your support, I hope to raise my target of $275. Even $10 will make a big difference for elephants. The donations I collect will help WCS to reduce poaching and protect elephants through ecoguard programs and on-the-ground monitoring efforts in some of their last wild strongholds.

If you can, please consider donating, or if you want you can sign up to join her team and run or walk the 5k with her! All the information about donating or joining up can be found here.