"Love Stories Are To Violent For Me" Back In Print!

Original cover art by Matt Brown

UPDATE: Official book launch party now confirmed for 50 MASON SOCIAL HOUSE in San Francisco on Saturday, July 27, 6-8pm, with live music by THE AQUA-VELVETS!

Finally, after first being published by the now-defunct Wild Card Press of San Francisco in 1995, optioned by Christian Slater in 2001, then woefully out of print for the past several years, my novel LOVE STORIES ARE TOO VIOLENT FOR ME is being republished by the reputable pulp fiction press GUTTER BOOKS out of Portland (confirming my northward trajectory), and edited by popular author JOE CLIFFORD, whose acclaimed new book Junkie Love was just issued by Battered Suitcase Press. Gutter Books also specializes in reprints of classic crime fiction, so I'm in excellent company. I couldn't be happier, or feel more honored. This will be the definitive edition of Love Stories, slightly revised and modified, in a pristine presentation.

The new cover image by the movie's storyboard artist MATT BROWN depicts Christian Slater as Vic Valentine, Private Eye (with Christian's permission, of course), whom he will portray in the film, directing his own script (with significant input by yours truly). The movie version - which will be set in Miami rather than San Francisco, otherwise keeping the storyline and characters basically intact - is still in development and there is promising progress to report, but not publicly, at least not  yet.  Christian himself is quite pleased with the book's reissue and artwork. This is basically a pre-movie tie-in. "NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE" will hopefully be added to the cover of a future run. Check out the career page for the film on the official Christian Slater fan site.

Publication version, to be further modified 

Below are some of the blurbs that will appear on the back cover:

LOVE STORIES ARE TOO VIOLENT FOR ME is the steamy, seamy saga of a San Francisco private eye named Vic Valentine, bravely facing the fin de siècle with his heart still rooted firmly in a fatally romanticized past and his head stuck someplace even darker. A client has hired him to find a mysterious, promiscuous femme fatale who turns out to be his own long lost love, leading him down a twisting trail of decadence, danger, and deception. This is ironic, iconic pulp served hot 'n' fast, straight out of the emotionally gory grindhouse called Life.

"As soon as I found this book I totally related to the main character and thought, 'this would make a great movie.' I'd never read anything like it. I felt like it was written just for me. I love it."  - actor/filmmaker Christian Slater, star of True Romance and Heathers

“Fast, funny, and way ahead of the 'noir' curve. They say to write a good book all you have to do is bleed on the page. Viharo does that, and spews a few other precious bodily fluids in the bargain.”

-- Eddie Muller, author of The Distance and Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir

"While it has all the trappings of Philip Marlowe by way of Race Williams, this book is an old fashioned (if slightly fractured) love story at heart...To tell more of the story is about as hopeless as, well, trying to explain the plot of a Marlowe or a Williams. It's in the telling, in the characters, in the whirlwind pace." -Bernard A. Drew, The Armchair Detective

Early non-text renderings fo Christian Slater as Vic Valentine (by Matt Brown)

Stay tuned for purchase information for both Kindle and print editions, late spring/early summer.

Onward! Cheers.

Cool mock 60s men's magazine style artwork by Mike Fyles - might make a good alternate cover for a future edition of this novel, too...

Seattle Five-O: My 50th Birthday Trip

My future home base

I have an announcement to make: I am moving to Seattle. Not sure when, but basically, ASAP. I've just returned from our swing through the Pacific Northwest via train, stopping for a glorious Easter weekend in Portland and then celebrating my 50th birthday in Seattle, the Emerald City. It's been one long yellow brick road, but I believe I've finally discovered my ultimate home.

The Space Needle and I are both 50
and aesthetically stuck in the early 60s

One reason I decided on Seattle for my big birthday celebration is because of the Elvis connection. His movie It Happened at the World's Fair came out the day after I was born - April 3, 1963. So on April 2, 2013, I felt like I had come full circle, clear across the country and a half century removed from my birthplace in Manhattan. I actually showed a faded 35mm print of It Happened at the World's Fair (the one where young Kurt Russell kicks The King in the shins) at The Parkway back in August 2000, with special guests Yvonne Craig and Gary Lockwood, who had never even seen the movie before, despite the fact they were co-stars. (They didn't make it all the way through this time, either - more on that event here.)

Toasting 50 in the Sky City Restaurant on top of The Space Needle

Also, I had originally planned for years to spend my 50th in Hawaii - you know, Hawaii Five-O and all. But as the date quickly grew closer and I gradually grew older, I decided I wanted to experience something and somewhere new to my lifetime experience. I've already been to Hawaii twice - first on our honeymoon back in 2001, and then again for our 5th wedding anniversary in 2006. Plus with Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge nearby, I had my fill of tiki culture without ever leaving the island of Alameda. Nearing my half century mark, I felt strongly it was time for a change of course. 

On the train to Portland, March 30, 2013

Monica and I had always talked about taking a train trip up through the Pacific Northwest. Though I lost my full-time blogging gig just two weeks before B-Day, I decided to put the whole thing on credit, a leap of faith in my financial future. I really needed the creative and spiritual inspiration, and something in my soul told me my dreams and desires would meet their ultimate destination with this journey. The culture and climate of Seattle have always appealed to me. I'm an indoor cat by nature. I dig my weather cool and cloudy, with coffee and cocktails on the side.

I was not disappointed.

Monica had actually been to both Portland and Seattle before, and we have friends in both towns. The culture and climate of this region has always appealed to my artistic sensibilities. The Tiki Goddess prefers the more cosmopolitan vibe of Seattle, as compared with the more casually collegiate-hipster atmosphere of Portland. Both suit our tastes and we could live quite comfortably in Portland, but Seattle is simply more our speed and style. Of course, when we arrived in Portland, it was unusually warm, while it was raining back in the Bay Area. A little cosmic irony at my expense. But on my actual birthday, it was a typically chilly, overcast day in Seattle. So I escaped the bright sunlight after all, just in time to celebrate.

Below is a pictorial overview of our epic, life-changing, and life-affirming journey, a reconnaissance mission to our future home...

At Powell's in downtown Portland - the most incredible bookstore in the universe

Voodoo Doughnut in Portland casts its evil spell...

Portland's original tiki lounge, The Alibi

A new classic Portland tiki lounge, the Hale Pele (formerly Thatch)

At the fabulous Trader Vic's in downtown Portland (who needs Hawaii?)

At the amazing Bagdad, Portland's Parkway (well, one of many)

With my old pal, famous cartoonist Shannon Wheeler, having too much coffee at Powell's satellite store...

Dinner at the Hotel Deluxe in downtown Portland - very classy, comfy joint

Portland is a mini-paradise

In the Portland Rose Gardens 

The MarQueen Hotel in the Queen Anne district of Seattle

Ridin' in Space Age Style on the Monorail

Pike's Place is the most amazing market I've ever visited

Spectacular view of the Olympic Mountain Range

The Tiki Goddess fits in with the beautiful scenery

On the Great Wheel

With burlesque aerialist Tanya Brno at The Pink Door

The Underground Tour (as seen in The Night Strangler)

Have coffee, will travel

At the incredible Elliot Bay Bookstore on Capitol Hill

At West 5 in West Seattle 

Downtown skyline as seen from West Seattle

50th Birthday Dinner in the Space Needle

Classic sci-fi exhibits at the EMP Museum

Monica at the museum

At the "real" Twin Peaks:  Snoqualmie Falls/Salish Lodge and Twede's Cafe in North Bend, WA - it was
positively mystical

Here's to my first half century, cheers

Here are a few of the choice birthday cards I got on Facebook:

Of course, my dream of living in Seattle depends largely on making enough money to move there. With Christian Slater's film of my novel Love Stories Are Too Violent For Me still stuck in the development stage, I've decided to have the novel republished so it's available for any interested investors, actors, and of course, readers. Here is storyboard artist Matt Brown's mock up cover concept, featuring Christian as Vic Valentine, with his permission, offering the public their first look at the Hollywood legend as the hapless private eye hero of my out-of-print (but not for much longer) book:

It should be out this summer, in print and ebook editions, exciting details to come, stay tuned...Meantime, I have THRILLVILLE'S 16TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW at The New Parkway on Sunday, April 14, 6pm, featuring the sci-fi classic This Island Earth (1955). I'll also be selling signed copies of my latest novel It Came From Hangar 18 with co-author Scott Fulks. My own pulp fiction is the true Thrillville these days. But B movies will always be one of my passions, too...

Images by Bob Ekman

Here's to The Future, cheers.