A few days ago, it was my pleasure to introduce voice actress Pam Hoffman, “The Voice of the Imperax Galactic.” Today, it’s my added pleasure to introduce renown author, screenwriter, actor, producer and director William Maltese. The recipient of four international “best screenwriter” awards for the film WINNOWING, Mr. Maltese is co-producer, co-director and co-cinematographer for the JET Progress production, OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Un...

YOU heard right! International-award winning author and screenwriter, WILLIAM MALTESE will appear in the JET Progress production of OTOSOTU (“Oh-Toe-So-Two” for ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE UNIVERSE, a Sci-Fu film about the soul – https://otosotu.yolasite.com. And what you ask is Sci-Fu? Sci-Fu (scientific futuring) is a step beyond traditional science fiction and fantasy, involving totally plausible future scientific technologies of the future.

William Maltese provided the screenplay for ...

WELL, first off again, who’s Sakura Kai? Sakura Kai is a character in the JET Progress production of WINNOWING — https://winnowing.yolasite.com, a new film, currently in post-production, scheduled for release in early 2024. Sakura Kai is an actor auditioning for “The Really Big One,” a movie that will singlehandedly make her career. But this is no typical audition. Sakura Kai must read, live, not one, but six audition scripts alongside movie character Robert Andrews. Only by reading a...

WELL, first off, who’s Richard Andrews? Richard Andrews is a character in the JET Progress production of WINNOWING — https://winnowing.yolasite.com, a new film, currently in post-production, scheduled for release in early 2024. Richard Andrews is an actor auditioning for “The Really Big One,” a movie that will singlehandedly make his career. But this is no typical audition. Richard must read, live, no one, but six audition scripts with actress Sakura Kai. Only by reading and acting to...

AS many of you reading this know, Raymond Gaynor is the pen name of actor Daniel S. Janik. It all depends on which muse grabs my shoulder and holds onto it most tightly for the moment. In terms of acting, I’ve been doing less background acting these days, my acting interests focusing on the immanent release of THE PERFECT ILLUSION — https://janik.yolasite.com/theperfectillusion.php — and moving from pre-production to filming of WINNOWING — https://janik.yolasite.com/winnowing.php.

Th...

HAVING had my moment on the big screen as lead actor in the multi-award-winning movie STATIC, I was gifted by author, screenwriter, author-and-actor colleague and friend, William Maltese, with an intriguing movie script, WINNOWING, written specifically for myself, Daniel S. Janik, and actress and life partner, Setsuko Tsuchiya. Thank you, William! In it Setsuko and I play not one but TWO lead roles in this story about an actor and actress auditioning for the “big” one, before two, hardene...

AND I’m even more tired of people asking me what this year’s New Year’s resolutions are. This year, I’m resolved to not make any New Year’s resolutions. Well, except for the one I just made. But you get my drift, and I suspect you get your drift, too. While the idea of bettering oneself through New Year’s resolutions is commendable, not being able to stick to most of them is downright depressing, and there’s enough going on in the world that’s depressing already. If I could, I...

WHAT exactly is it with “entertainment” and gratuitous violence? While it may be partially or even mostly the case that viewers today want and are willing to pay for more violence and more “authenticity” surrounding violence. as an author and actor, I believe it’s not as simple an equation as that. As evidence, I present a recent BBC article entitled, “1923 and the violent TV universe that has electrified the US” — https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20221213-1923-and-the-rise...

CLEVER, huh? In this world of increasing extinctions, “Any gnus is good gnus.” And with that little play on words, I am pleased to bring you some really, really good news: THE MALTESE COLLECTION — https://ksmediagroupinc.com/maltese-collection — just advanced in the Washington DC International Film Festival from “selected” to “bimonthly awarded” and is further advanced in the final run for two major 2023 awards — https://filmfreeway.com/WashingtonDCInternationalcinemafestiva...

I’M pleased to report that the K. Simmons’ Production of THE MALTESE COLLECTION — https://ksmediagroupinc.com/maltese-collection, recently out of post-production, has been selected to appear in the Washington DC International Cinema Festival — https://filmfreeway.com/WashingtonDCInternationalcinemafestival, a bi-monthly film Festival, culminating in a 30 April 2023 Gala Awards Ceremony! Congratulations to world-acclaimed, multi-award-winning author, screenwriter and now lead actor, Mr...

AS two of the Executive Producers of the K. Simmons’ Production of THE MALTESE COLLECTION, Setsuko Tsuchiya and I are pleased to hear it is exiting editing and will soon begin screenings. THE MALTESE COLLECTION — https://ksmediagroupinc.com/maltese-collection — is a bio-documentary reprise to multi-award-winning author and screenwriter William Maltese, and his many inspirations, achievements. Pushing the edge in literature and now film, Maltese is a pioneer in his lifelong support of er...

SORRY about not posting the past couple of days, but I’ve been overly busy arranging things for a couple upcoming “road trips.” First there’s Japan to get some additional one-on-one dance coaching from Seiji and Hiromi Yuki (Mr. Albert Franz is still our choreographer and primary dance coach) for our “honor dance” at the gala studio party scene in FINDING KATE — https://ksmediagroupinc.com/finding-kate. Immediately afterwards, we’re off to the Windy City to appear at the Chica...

BEING an actor quite busy this time of year, I decided it’s time for the new COVID-19 Omicron/BA.5 immunization, and, hey, why not, also flu. So yesterday I went to the local pharmacy for both. Bang! Bang!

I was, as usual, fine until about 2 hours later, when I spend the evening and night tossing and turning dealing with aches and pains. Ugh. Not bad like the real flu, but enough to recognize it as such. Trading a very mild flu for the big cachunka when it comes around later this year. As ...

IN both the authoring and acting worlds, there are important moments to anticipate and thoroughly enjoy if and when they happen. For an author, one is the acceptance of a manuscript by a publisher. Another is seeing and feeling the book in hand. Yet another is that first positive review. And don’t forget that first moment of public recognition.

For an actor, the first is getting before the camera and seeing oneself on the screen. Any screen. Another is getting a role, any role, in a film, ...

COMING-OF-AGE is never easy, irrespective of how easily or not it happens. And, the first one, adolescence, is a doozy for everyone. Looking back, I’m impressed with how every approximate decade of my life brought with it another coming-of-age, for me, mostly related to my work, my “job” being to figure out what message my work had for me about…well…me.

My decades were adolescence, college/university life, physician, author, artist, medical computing analyst, corporate official, mi...

IN or around 1993, as the University of Hawaii Extension Service Water Quality Agent for Northshore Oahu, I served as executive producer for a “wake up” documentary called CLEAN WATER, COMMON GROUND (National Film Network 1999). Twenty-nine minutes, with a special edition including an additional twenty-minute studio discussion, CLEAN WATER, COMMON GROUND traveled around the world several times, garnering awards like its two-Telly Awards for best documentary. Although National Film Network...

YESTERDAY, I posted on Writing and Authoring. Today I’d like to talk a bit about Acting, a late-in-life career for me. It began with the opportunity of playing the lead role in the K. Simmons Production of STATIC (2021) — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15420946 — and supporting actor roles in the Kurt Ken Kaminaka Production of THE PERFECT ILLUSION (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18690318) as well as the upcoming films THE MALTESE COLLECTION (https://ksmediagroupinc.com/maltese-collection),...

AS Daniel S. Janik, former owner of Savant Books and Publications, which was sold on 31 December 2021 to KS Media Group Inc — https://ksmediagroupinc.com — I’m now book production manager while the work of melding the two companies proceeds. Kenny Simmons of KS Media Group Inc and K. Simmons Productions, a “Hawaiiwood” film studio, in the meantime with Executive Producer assistance from me, Setsuko Tsuchiya and Savant Director of Publicity and Marketing, Dr. Michael Davis, is produc...

TODAY is the day after Hurricane Darby bounced off of Big Island, headed south and died. Not that I’m disappointed. Hurricane’s aren’t my thing. It did affect my acting, however, as filming stopped while Darby danced by. And I just noticed what looks like a new hurricane building off Baja California, the birthplace of so many Hawaiian hurricanes. Quick! Time to film everything possible before another hurricane passes by, hopefully without incident.

Setsuko Tsuchiya and I are continuing...

META, a reincarnation of Facebook (?), is gaining quite a bit of attention in the news these days, given that I, for one, have little idea of what it’s supposed to be. This despite engineering the first apparent META-VR sexual assault — https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61573661. Not something I personally would be proud of. In fact, it doesn’t make me all that interested in that particular META (multiverse?). There’s far too much assault and battery in the “real” world.

But th...

EVER wonder what it would be like to always win? It might take a while, but my personal take is that it would quickly become “boring.” It’s always fun to win, but it’s in the losing that one learns and grows. Still, it IS fun to win, especially once in a while.

As an actor and author, I make it a point to celebrate “wins.” Big or small. Wins are like positive signposts along the highway of life. Right now, I’m celebrating a number of things. First, I’m celebrating the Amazon-...

REALLY — When’s the last time you had some fun. Real fun! Wild, unconstrained, giggly FUN and I don’t mean a day without news spent entirely in Meta’s cyberspace. I mean real, human-to-human fun.

Given the pandemic has challenged us to rise to a new style and level of interaction, and that we’ve completely failed to take advantage of the COVID-shot-across-the-bow to update our future infrastructure (or almost any infrastructure at all), instead returning to the state of things that...

TRUE, there’s more and more static appearing in every facet of life, be it relationships, culture, politics, finances and consumer information – you name it. But there’s also some good news about some of that static: namely the K. Simmons Production STATIC movie that premiered in 2021. A family friendly, science fiction/drama, Susan’s struggle to find balance in her life as she deals with her practical husband Donald and her father Will who’s showing symptoms of early onset Alzheime...

I’M pleased to announce that production (filming) of the 6-part action/adventure film, “Finding Kate,” has begun — https://kspllc.media/finding-kate or follow me at https://janik.yolasite.com/findingkate.php. Finding Kate is based on the award-winning book by A. G. Hayes of the same name at a celebratory 15% off the Suggested Retail Price (using “ONLINE” discount code at checkout) with free shipping within the USA from Savant Bookstore Honolulu — https://savant-bookstore-honolul...

OVER the four decades I’ve been authoring, I’ve made some exceptional friends who’ve consistently “walked the walk” and” talked the talk” with me. With two, namely William Maltese and A. G. Hayes, I’ve had the pleasure of co-authoring a work.

With over 200+ published works, William Maltese is one the most prolific and followed authors I’ve known. And his accomplishments include not just books, but screenplays, and soon, films as well. I had the pleasure and privilege of co-...

AND I’m not talking broccoli here (actually I LOVE broccoli, ha, ha). I’m talking the currently very negative millieu. Between Putin’s War, daily death and misery in the Ukraine, the world preparing for war, the “new politics,” business gone amok, COVID’s possible return, the slow demise of gasoline cars, the quick demise of the global environment — hey, need I go on? I for one, could sure enjoy some positive news. So here’s some positive news:

I’ve finished filming my scen...

AH! Are you thinking Tolkien? Elvis? Putin? NOPE! I’m thinking Mr. William Maltese, the king of M/M erotica back from his publicity trip to LA-LA Land to promote his newest BlueBoy book, his CC Money Magazine magazine articles, the audiobook version of DARE TO LOVE IN OZ (Savant 2009 — https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VVK7LN2), his future contributions to Contessa’s Court, or his new bio-documentary movie “THE MALTESE COLLECTION” (K. Simmons Productions — https://kspllc.media/maltese-...

MY good friend and author colleague, William Maltese, is returning from a jaunt to LA-LA LAND for what I’m told is a bit of vacation R&R as well as a meeting of the minds for “a MsTigerProduction documentary on the resurrection of an icon life-style and luxury-living LGBT magazine ‘Blueboy’, in a collector’s coffee-table edition this next October. There may just be a new Blueboy Library book, too” — https://www.facebook.com/williammaltese. Welcome back, William, to cloudy, 48-de...

NOTHING like filling up the ole’ gas tank to bring one back down to earth! Gas hit $5.60 a gallon at my local station yesterday. Good thing I have one of those small, high-mileage, Japanese hatchbacks. While I finished gassing, washing the windows, checking the oil and water, and then the tire pressures (all perfect, thank you), the fellah next to me kept on filling the tanks of his mega-pickup and shaking his head every time he checked the increasing price. As I climbed into the car, he lo...

I’M pleased to announce that posters have just been issued for the K. Simmons Production of THE MALTESE COLLECTION, a film reprise to the extraordinary author, William Maltese, and his many inspirations, achievements, and lifelong support of M/M romance, erotica, LGBTQ authors and readers. They should be appearing on K. Simmons Productions website at https://kspllc.media/maltese-collection. In the meantime, you can view them on my website at https://janik.yolasite.com/actor.php.

Currently in...

A man after midnight…preferably the incomparable WILLIAM MALTESE (enjoy ABBA’s hit song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEjLoHdbVeE while reading this). 

Gimme, gimme, gimme any of his 200+ award-winning novels, be they M/M passion (my favorite THE ARDENNIAN BOY — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0979311039), politico-eros (TOTAL MELTDOWN — https://www.amazon.com/dp/1434403556), Harlequin Romance (TUSKS — https://www.amazon.com/dp/097931108X), exotic adventure (DARE TO LOVE IN OZ — http...

Yep! That’s what I’m mostly up to these days. Recently finished filming for the K. Simmons Production of THE MALTESE COLLECTION, practicing while waiting for my part in the Kurt Ken Kaminaka Production of THE PERFECT ILLUSION, and waiting with bated breath for the screenplays for the K. Simmons Production of both FINDING KATE and FLICKER, both in which I hope to have a major role.

In THE MALTESE COLLECTION — “I can make people feel aroused, by a word. I can make the hairs on their ne...

AS you probably know, I’m an inveterate social, performance and competition dancer in the International-style ballroom and Latin American alongside my lifelong dance partner, Setsuko Tsuchiya — https://youtu.be/ync4vCUxEoc. But also being a former U.S. NAS/NRC Senior water reclamation research scientist assigned to NASA-Johnson Space Center and later NASA-Ames Research Center, I’m particularly enticed whenever I find an example of the marriage of the humanities and sciences, especially ...

READING an online CNN article today entitled, “Burnt out and frustrated, Covid-weary Americans try to accept uncertainty as their new normal” (https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/31/us/covid-19-life-disruption-california-texas-kentucky/index.html) and pondered for a moment just how difficult humans, including Americans, find uncertainty. I have a suspicion that it has something to do with our inevitable mortality. Uncertainty dredges up the “Am I really mortal, and, if so, when am I scheduled t...

LONG ago, I learned there are three great illusory illusions: money, power and fame. To these, I’m happy to add a fourth “real” illusion: “The Perfect Illusion” — https://www.totck.com/the-perfect-illusion — a movie soon to begin filming in which I play the role of the infamous Dr. Stevenson. The “round table” script read is scheduled for early next week, with actual filming by Kurt Ken Kaminaka’s Production Studio beginning soon after. In “The Perfect Illusion,” a sui...

SAVANT Books and Publications, a traditional “no-cost-to-author” full-service book publisher, was recently purchased by K. Simmons Productions, a Hawaii-wood based manga, animation and film production company. With the purchase, writers whose manuscripts are accepted for publication are now afforded the opportunity of seeing their work in printed, electronic and audiobook as well as manga, animation, television and cinematic formats. So what should such an author be called, the panoply of...

HAVING been a traditional book publisher for almost 15 years, I’m often asked about the future of books. Are books, like vinyl records destined to be come collectable antiques, or are they momentarily paused awaiting resurrection as national infrastructures like the energy, electricity, transportation, business, shipping, the internet, each succumb to increasing criminal attack. My opin, unfortunately, is neither black nor white, nor that simple.

I’ve been acutely aware the past ten year...

I’VE often wondered about the phrase “Shiver me timbers,” having heard it uttered numerous times times by the archetypal pirate, Long John Silver, in Robert Louis Stevenson’s TREASURE ISLAND. I’m won’t to believe it an actual nautical expression from the days of large wooden sailing ships, when it was an expression of shock and awe, as when the rib-timbers of a ship shivered from pounding during rough seas or during war when the ship was it by a cannonball.

I have to admit, the m...

2021 saw continued pressure on publishers of books, and began a whole new era of similar pressure on filmmakers, and it all began with “self-publishing.” That’s not to blame, but simply a strong opinion, leading to an “ethos” of vanity self-publishing be it books or movies. I have always thought of COVID-19 in all it’s various iterations a “shot across the bow” of both. That is, with the loss of many support businesses, the “inflation” of prices coincident with a general d...

HAVING been asked countless times what my favorite movie is (other than “Static” — https://kspllc.media/the-static-movie — in which I was lead actor under the name of “Daniel S. Janik”), I feel it time to stick my new “celebrity” neck out and say conclusively, that, yes, I DO have a favorite movie, and, yes, I am willing to share the name of it publicly. Having said all that you’re probably wondering, why doesn’t he just SAY its name?

It’s all about qualifications. As I...

WHAT was the COVID-count on 15 December 2021 here on Oahu? 278 as I recall, only to see it rising exponentially to over 700 yesterday. Today’s a “holiday” so COVID isn’t reported, or, for that matter, allowed to rise by decree. Yeah, right! So here we go again, chasing after another pandemic that we should have been preparing for instead of celebrating. What does it take to realize that yesterday’s “crowd sales,” especially when involving crowding people together, won’t work, ...

THIS is a question all actor-authors like myself must eventually ask. I’m told the “right” answer is actors should go for the picture; authors the words. And while that’s probably true in general, I personally think it has everything to do with perspective.

As the multi-award-winning author of the Amazon genre bestseller, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859 — and its decidedly naughty LGBTQ+ prequel TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wild...

YESTERDAY, I mentioned my second acting gig, appearing via Zoom interview in the upcoming K. Simmons Productions’ “The William Maltese Collection,” bio-documentary about prolific LGBTQ+ erotica author and decade-long friend, William Maltese. It was a familiar encounter, having Executive Produced the two-telly-award winning documentary, “Clean Water, Common Ground (1999).” I think I can say that “The William Maltese Collection” will be a stellar work about a stellar author around...

TODAY was another extraordinary filming day which actually began the day before when Director/Cinematographer Dallen Taylor of Dallen Taylor Productions — http://dallentaylor.com — called and asked to film my part in the K. Simmons/Zombie Frog Production of “The William Maltese Collection” — https://kspllc.media/maltese-collection. This particular part is one which I’ve been looking forward to from the project’s go-get, the incomparable William Maltese being an esteemed literary...

AS the lead actor in the K. Simmons Production of “Static (2021)” — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15420946 — since the world premiere in September, I’ve been anxiously awaiting it’s release as on DVD/Blu-Ray. I’m happy to say that the long wait is about to end. K. Simmons Productions is said to be awaiting the final proofs before releasing “Static” to the public for the holidays. And what better gift than a good human drama? Static is baed on the teleplay of the same name wri...

THE obvious answer is read scripts sent by one’s agent to ascertain what role will be next. My own less obvious answer is return to authoring. Having finished the second book THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859), the sequel to TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1434403556), I’ve been turning my creative juices towards finishing “Prophecy,” the prospective third book...

AH, but what KIND of space are we talking here? The cold, dark void beyond Earth? The moments before or in front of the camera? Or just the extreme “hurry up and wait!” that all actors and actresses experience in the filming process? Or, in a different context, everything cut during editing? Or the distance that sometimes wells up between how well one portrayed a character, and watching oneself on the big silver screen? Well, kinda all of them. Except the first. For now, forget the cold, ...

SINCE my acting debut in the K. Simmons Production of “Static” (2021), and before accepting a role in K. Simmons Productions’ upcoming full-length action adventure movie, “Finding Kate,” I’ve been quite busy promoting my Amazon genre bestseller, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor (aka actor Daniel S. Janik) now available in printed, eBook and audiobook formats at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859. Including my new promotional giveaway contest:

FIVE GRAND PRIZE...