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...

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...

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...