Bill George:Red Hot Planet and Beyond Pt 4.

So anyhoo, Baltimore Flavor Magazine, another one of Bill George's money making schemes, not only set him back about fifteen grand, but as I write this, boxes of the magazine can be found in the basement of his home never to see the light of day. The shitty part is: not only did I not get paid for my work, but once again that total control freak George rewrote all of my articles. As I read each issue of his vanity mag, it was extremely difficult to control myself; I really wanted to punch his weenie face for treating me with such flagrant disrespect.

 Bill George has little or no respect for me and has never considered me his equal when it comes to the art of writing. That pompous, self congratulating asshole! His next big attempt at the ever elusive fame and fortune was to help finance a micro budgeted, shot on video turd fest titled Hallows Point. He has vehemently denied investing in this unreleased(or is it unreleasable?)clunker made by an obscure filmmaker named Jeffrey Lynn Ward. George claimed that they gave him the title of executive producer because he was such a big help on the production.

 Yeah. Right. Anybody with even a cursory knowledge of film knows that the executive producer is the one who ponies up the dough to finance a movie. In this instance, it was three misguided cretins who threw their money at Ward's amateur night excuse for a film. George once again tried to cover his ass, so he doesn't come off looking like some doofus who foolishly squandered his money on another loser of a project. But he did. If I didn't have such contempt for George, I'd feel sorry for him. 

George even went that extra mile by going on several horror websites and horror conventions touting Hallows Point as a great film that was destined to be the next big horror movie. On one website, George (under the pseudonym BGeorge238)claimed that " I'll bet the farm this film prompts a franchise." Now, how in the hell can a film prompt a franchise when the first one hasn't been released. It was completed in 2007 and here it is in 2010 and still no takers. But you can't blame George for using such aggressive campaign tactics, he wants to make his investment back!

 A couple of years ago when I talked to George, he was animated about his newest project:3D television. He and a group of people were going to shoot films locally, then show them on television using this new and radical 3D process. To me this was just one more lofty pipe dream for him to foolishly toss his money at, in his eyes it was the wave of the future; the opportunity of a lifetime. You see, Bill George is a dreamer. His dreams are as big and as grand as they come. Dreams that will bring him riches, that will bring him fame. The only problem is, they're never grounded in reality. And that's a big problem. But on the bright side, he has several tax write offs at his disposal. 

 As an addendum: two years after discontinuing Red Hot Planet, George told me he was thinking about restarting the web site. Imagine the egotism of that dick! Doesn't he realize that once you break the momentum of something, it's hard, if not impossible, to regain that momentum? Oh no, not Bill George. In his special, delusional, little world, there are tons of folks who are patiently waiting(with baited breath, of course)for the return of their favorite horror web site. Is he an ego surfeited asshole or what?

Bill George: Red Hot Planet And Beyond. Part II.

It was during my unpaid tenure at Red Hot Planet that another one of Bill Georges annoying traits reared it's ugly head; he is an unbridled control freak. George thinks he's God's gift to the auctorial arts, his talent as a writer is unparalleled and that there are few writers of his caliber. In his conceited mind, George considers himself to be The Gold Standard when it comes to writing. More like fools gold if you ask me. His is a stuffy, pompous, pseudo professorial writing style that looks down at the reader while at the same time pretending to be one with them.

 He once bragged to me that he never writes without consulting his Thesaurus. How pompous! What a pretentious fop! A Thesaurus is an aid for a writer, not a f***ing crutch! Big words are meant to add color or heft to a writers work, you don't write the article or book around the big word or the fancy phrase, that's both pretentious and insulting to the reader. Bill George doesn't care because he is on a mission to intellectually impress you and everyone else he meets. Unlike his parents, who spoke like the regular working class people they were, George speaks with the cadence of a highly educated man with a doctorate of some sort. Nah. He has a liberal arts degree which in some cases isn't worth the sheep skin it's printed on.

 I know of what I speak because in the late 1970's, I had a friend who graduated with a liberal arts degree. The reason for this decision was actually kind of stupid; a guitar player in one of his favorite bands, Hot Tuna, had a liberal arts degree, so he thought getting a liberal arts degree was a good idea. See? I told you it was kind of stupid. Anyhoo, following graduation my friend found it extremely hard to get a job with his measly degree. One company executive told him that as far as he was concerned, a liberal arts degree meant four more years of high school. Eventually, he did land a good paying gig, but the company ended up sending him back to school to add to his rather flimsy college education.

 Now in George's case the soup thickens; his liberal arts degree is in screen writing. Yeah, there sure is a lot of demand for screen writers in Baltimore, Maryland. Is Bill George an arrogant dick or what? Because of George's penchant for rewiring my work and then having the balls to tell me I should be grateful for his improvements, I began referring to him as The Bard Of Baltimore. (Just as an aside: I didn't know until a year or two ago that this appellation was actually given to that writer/genius Edgar Allen Poe. I used it as an derisive insult to self proclaimed genius Bill George, a self impressed prick if ever there is one.) I even went on several IMDb message boards to disown any of my interviews that George saw fit to completely rewrite using that special auctorial magic only he, that Wizard of Words, can provide. I felt that George treated me like a talentless hack, whose sole talent was the ability to turn the tape recorder on and off  during an interview.

 However, at one point I won a small victory: after one of our arguments, George went to one of his friends as well as The Red Hot Planet's webmaster JB, showed them my article and asked," Isn't this terrible? Doesn't it need rewriting?" They both replied," There's nothing wrong with his article, it's his style." I would have enjoyed being a fly on the wall for that: imagine the look on Bill Georges face, egg splattered all over, as his delusions of superiority were dashed before his eyes. It felt really good to win for once and have George put in his place, if only temporarily. To be contined..... I ain't done yet.

Hallows Point 10th Year Anniversary : A Film That Remains In Limbo.

In 2007, armed with a dream, as well as a fistful of money, intrepid film maker Jeffrey Lynn Ward stepped up to the plate once more to take another swing at cinematic immortality. Never mind that his previous film, Black Reign, filmed in 1993 and released in 2007 still sits on the shelf never to see the light of day. However, Ward's never-say-die attitude persuaded him to finagle a few investors to cough up the cash to make his next contribution to the horror genre: Hallows Point.

One of the investors, Bill George strapped on the proverbial drum, relentlessly beating it on various websites proclaiming the film to be the next horror classic. Well, to this day, Hallows Point has never been released by any video company; so it must not be all that and a bag of chips.

So, not only did the films investors not make as much as a measly, thin dime on their investment, they more than likely couldn't use the film's failure as a tax write off either. Poor bastards. I bet they cried red ink while swearing  up and down to never invest in another film ever again, thanks to the financial belly flop of Hallows Point. Way to go, Jeffrey.

However, this begs one question: Why didn't  Ward try to sell it MTI Home Video? They're located in Florida(Wards home state) and are known as a video company that'll buy anything. I know first hand because I used to receive free screeners to review for Digital Journal. Boy, did I see quite a few stinkers. The mind boggles.

Anyhoo, I have magnanimously decided that Jeffrey Lynn Ward should not fade into obscurity, but to be immortalized as a film maker whose two films : Black Reign and Hallows Point remain unreleased to the public at large. Never to be seen, never to make money back for the investors. However, if you're ever in Florida, drop by Jeffrey's house and ask if he'll show you both of his films. I'll bet he'll be so tickled to death that he may even fix you some snacks to show his appreciation. So without further ado, I present a limerick in honor of Hallows Point's 10th year as an unseen, never to be released movie:

                           

                            There once was a film called Hallows Point
                            Jeffrey Lynn Ward and Bill George thought
                                           Would rock the joint
                               They asked distributors to try it
                                  But no one would buy it
                                                 I ask
                              Then what the hal was the point?

Part 3 Of My Interview With Victoria Vetri

Before presenting you with the conclusion of my interview with former Playboy Playmate and actress Victoria Vetri, I'd like to take a moment to tell you about Bill George,author of EROTICISM IN THE FANTASY CINEMA,that oily,insincere liar of the lowest common denominator. Now,there are some of you out there thinking," Joe must really enjoy writing about Bill George because of the things he's said about him in previous posts".

Well, not really. But since George has screwed me over a number of times I think he deserves to be singled out and shown to all as the smarmy,unctuous asshole that he is. In the case of EROTICISM IN THE FANTASY CINEMA I got the shit end of the stick in two ways:

My interview with Victoria Vetri was published without a byline;in other words my name was not featured next to the interview. Instead, I was dumped in acknowledgement section along with those who had provided George with a graphic or a press release. He claimed that the publishers did this without his knowledge,but being far too familiar with his penchant for lying I didn't believe him. He went so far as to offer to sign my copy of the book with an inscription praising me for the work I did. I felt like he was offering to autograph it for me! The nerve of that ego dripping turd!

Then came the other gratuitous kick in the ass when I noticed that in the interview all references to me were expunged. Yet whenever George's interviews were featured,his name was always front and center. When I complained about this, George said," I did that so that the reader would feel as if she were speaking to them." Nah. Un uh. No way. He edited out all references to me because The King of Selfish wanted the limelight all to himself. It was the Bill George Show and I was playing a small,insignificant part. And to this very day he probably scratches his balding head wondering why I don't want to have anything to do with him anymore. As the saying goes: He who is self serving ends up with himself.


JV: Do you feel that horror films exploit women in a negative fashion? I mean, relating to the ones you've been in?

VV: Well, let me think now. I mean, we're all victims. I think I've mentioned this before,but somebody has to play the role. It depends on the film really.

JV: For example,in INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS didn't you think that the attempted rape scene was a bit gratuitous?

VV: Yes,I thought they could've done without that. But,they write the attempted rape scene and I do it. This is funny,I guess I don't feel exploited because it's just acting to me. I mean,I've seen a million dramas where women are being exploited and they aren't horror movies. Women have been in that role for years. Just because all of the sudden the Eighties come and women are going to start being independent doesn't mean they're going to change the rules.Because we are the weaker sex and there's nothing you can do about that, really. I don't care how much iron you can pump or how macho you are.

JV: Do you think the Women's Movement has a right to complain about these issues and say to the movie producers," Hey, you shouldn't show this because it's not a very positive image?" A lot of them are also afraid that some strange guy is going to see this kind of film and get ideas.

VV: But, guys get ideas from everywhere,not from film. There's influences even in soap commercials for God's sake. The Women's Movement bugs me, I guess. Let 'em move. The big BM. I guess I'm just not on that side. Most of my friends are men. I get along better with men. I feel sorry for women. Now, I'm going to sound like a female chauvinist. I 'm not into the Women's Movement. They can complain about this,complain about that, but people are going to be influenced no matter what. To me,it's just an acting job. And if I really felt like I was endangering the female species by doing scenes that I do in films, then I would not do them.I mean, it's a fantasy,it's a trip. People take film so seriously, I can't believe it.

JV: After you did the Playboy spread and became Playmate of The Year, what was the reaction of your family and friends?

VV: My family wasn't too upset about it. My father being from Sicily and kind of old fashioned, was still an ass pincher.So he was kind of proud of it.He had different parts of the magazine that he framed and put in his restaurant.You know,head shots and all. He'd say," Hey, that's my daughter. Say anything about it and I'll kill you." My mom did pinups when she was in Rome.She was quite a sexy dish and also an actress. She told me she did calendars in her day and that if I did it modestly,she explained to me that it's like the face is a diamond and the body's a setting and,"You've got a good setting so show it off,girl. Go for it".(laughter) So I did. My parents weren't upset about it or prudish,no.

JV: Do you find that Hollywood,located in the Los Angeles area,has a more lenient attitude towards this type of thing than if you lived somewhwere else?

VV: Of course. The Midwest,let's face it,that could never happen there.I think it's the weather here. I really do. (laughs) The warm,hot climate hits the sun, makes us all crazed and then we have to drink beer and stuff to cool off. It's a very perverse place, Hollywood. But, I was born and raised here and I love it and it's my town. There's perversity all over, just more people hide it in the closet. They don't display it all. Here we let it all hang out.

JV: Knowing what you know now,after all of the things you've gone through,if you could go back, what would you change?

VV: Nothing. I would do it all again. The highs,the lows,the ups, the downs and believe me there's been a few lulls in my life, too. But right now I'm up and I wouldn't change a thing. I know that sounds very egotisical. I used to complain about Playboy. If you had asked me that a couple of years ago I would've said," I wouldn't do Playboy. That's the one thing I wouldn't do again." But now I've changed my whole attitude about that. So now I've narrowed it down to nothing.

Bill George: Red Hot Planet And Beyond. Part III.

After spending two years working on his web site Red Hot Planet, Bill George simply ended it without any sort of explanation. Which was unfathomable to my mind because of all the time and money George lavished on a project he truly believed would bring him the money and the fame he's been chasing in vain for over thirty years. The main disappointment for me was that the money I supposed to receive for my hard work was never to find it's way into my bank account.

Now, you're probably asking yourself, "Why did Bill shelve this potentially successful website all of the sudden?" My explanation is blunt and to the point: Bill George became bored with Red Hot Planet and shoved it aside in order to pursue another pipe dream, um, I mean project. This has been a pattern for as long as I've know the putz: start something, grow tired of it and move on.

The arm chair psychologist in me thinks that deep down, George is afraid of success and when something he's involved in starts to gel or come to fruition, he quickly drops it and then develops something new to devote his money and energy on until the new project looks like it'll become successful; then the vicious cycle repeats itself. Or to be succinct: George does everything half assed because he's a half assed excuse for a human being. Oh well, I think it's as good an explanation as any.

Bill Georges next great idea was to publish a magazine which combined sports and women called Baltimore Flavor Magazine. First flaw: Bill George is one the least likely people you'll ever meet to be involved in any sport. Unless sitting at a computer for hours on end ever becomes one, then he 'll be able to enter The National Nerd Olympics. George can't even muster up enough physical energy to mow his own lawn; he hires someone else to do it for him. What a lazy f**k!

Yet, he felt eminently qualified to publish a sports magazine. Okay then. Whatever. Now here comes another fly into the ointment: the women interviewed and featured in Baltimore Flavor were currently starring in an up and coming low budget horror films. One issue(there were three in total)had an article on two bit filmmaker Rolfe Kanefsky and even had a two page pictorial of Kanefsky looking very much the director on the set of his latest tinker toy epic. Now, why would anyone with a tinge of common sense publish a two page photo of an overweight director wearing a baseball cap in a sports and women magazine? Now it had morphed into a sports, women and horror movie magazine.

When I did my interviews, Bill insisted I ask each actress what her favorite sport was in order to justify her inclusion in a sports magazine. I liken it to publishing a magazine about cats and then interviewing monster truck owners while during the interview asking them if they owned a cat. George sincerely believed such editorial decisions would insure that his wonderful magazine flew off the shelves . The only way that would ever happen is if the magazine stand is outdoors and gets broadsided by a wind storm.

Welcome to Bill George's special little world, a place where his ideas are so original, so radically unique that everyone will excitedly jump on his latest bandwagon and embrace his dream without hesitation. This is how egotistical and arrogant the prick is; you'll love his idea because he thought of it.

Now here's the topper: He decided to distribute the first issue gratis without advertising. What? How was he going to make any money on this venture? This is where George's peculiar brand of logic comes into play; the following issues would contain ads and then the reader would be charged. As you can see, George thought his latest brainstorm, more like a light drizzle if you ask me,was going to be highly profitable.

Well, the second and the third issue had no advertising either and for reason unknown, all three issues, contained in large boxes, ended up in his basement undistributed . Now if you do the math, each run of the magazine costs about five grand. So, George has approximately $15,000 worth of paper rotting in some dank corner not generating any money. Great business acumen, huh? Don't expect to see his picture on the cover of Entrepreneur magazine anytime in the near future, or ever for that matter.

However, all is not lost; if George ever runs out of toilet paper, he has boxes of it in his basement and it's called Baltimore Flavor Magazine. It's expensive toilet paper to be sure, but at least it'll end up serving some useful purpose.

To be continued....the final installment.(Whew)

Bill George: Red Hot Planet And Beyond.

There comes a time when you have to cut a so called friend loose. Especially one who lies to your face constantly and yet,when you later confront him with the the truth, thinks this particular trait makes him cute and endearing; part of his charm. The kind of person who'll stick a knife in your back and then justify his actions without conscience.


I'm talking about Bill George, a world class liar who presents himself to the world at large as a successful writer and agent. In reality, he is dreamer and a loser whose grandiose ideas have a way of ending up as permanent residents on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams. And George has been dancing this fandango of failure for over thirty years while I've occupied a front row seat, witnessing his various schemes and endeavors eventually crash down around him . Ignoring the previous train wreck, and not learning a damn thing from it, he simply picks himself up, dusts himself off and it's on to the next big idea.

But no matter how many failed ventures George has involved himself in, he keeps pushing on hoping that one of his starry eyed dreams comes to fruition and makes him both rich and successful. Unfortunately, he is neither. He lives in a modest home left to him by his parents and,seeing as how he doesn't hold down a full time job, probably lives off of money that he inherited. His mother once told me," He has stars in his eyes." While I'm sure there have been those in his life who have attempted to bring Little Billy back down to earth, he sees things as he wants to see them; not as they are. George is like the eponymous character in The Beatles song Nowhere Man,only he's despicable rather than pitiable.

When I first met George over thirty years ago, at first glance I was impressed as I overheard him on the telephone discussing various film and book deals with supposed movers and shakers in the entertainment industry. Eventually, I came to discover George made these Pie In The Sky deals with people of his similar ilk; fellow dreamers who talked big, but couldn't deliver;much like George himself. Hell,they couldn't deliver a quart of milk if they owned a dairy truck.

Now to be fair, George actually is an agent. However, he's not as well connected in the film industry or as high powered as he presents himself to his clients who just happen to be young, pretty women with little or no acting experience what so ever. George is in reality a bottom feeder;a tiny,microscopic,insignificant amoeba who'll get his trusting clients parts in micro budget,straight to video turd fests that will do zip,zilch nada,squat for their careers. After these poor schmoes figure out this little fact of life, they kick George to the curb. Unfazed, he simply goes out and finds some other starry eyed dreamer who'll buy his line of bullshit hook, line and sinker.

When I punt kicked this sleazy, smarmy little dick out of my life in 1993 after hanging me out to dry(I had written an article for a French magazine and never received payment for it)I had no intention of ever seeing him again. However, my mother died in 1999 and when I found out that George's mother had died a few years later, I empathised with the emotions he was going through and feeling that my friend needed me, I reconnected with him. I found out, much to my eventual disappointment, that George remained a backstabbing,lying,scheming creep who hadn't changed one iota. He was still smarming and sleazing his way through life,using people in order to achieve his grand and lofty dreams of fame and fortune.

The ironic thing is, George once complained to me that he was losing his friends and couldn't fathom the reason for their departure. Surely it can't be anything he's done. He's so honest, dependable and truthful. Yeah, and I just won the Powerball! If integrity was money, George wouldn't have enough to buy a gumball.

In 2004, I began working on Bill George's web site Red Hot Planet. And so began two years of being rewritten without my permission, having to fight George tooth and nail to leave my articles alone,being promised payment for my work and yet not seeing one damn penny, in addition to other equally shitty deals that went down during that period. All engineered by that ego maniacal piece of shit Bill George.


To be continued.....

Time For A Change. ( A Writers Lament.)

For that last two years I've been a contributor to the website Red Hot Planet. And I have had to put up with more than my fair share of idiotic horseshit. To put it bluntly,not only has there been a lack of any financial remuneration, but I've had my hard work extensively rewritten to the point of my particular writing style being completely eviscerated. And then,on top of that to be told I should be grateful for his improvements to my submissions.

But, let's start from the beginning: I first met Bill George in 1977 when he sold movie memorabilia from his parents home in Baltimore. Every few months I would make the trek from Delaware to Maryland to buy posters, stills, 16mm tv spots and other movie collectibles from him.During my formative years as a collector, Bill was a major source for my purchases.

It was in 1983 that Bill enlisted my help in a book he was writing called EROTICISM IN THE FANTASY CINEMA. I interviewed actresses Victoria Vetri(also a former Playmate of The Year), PJ Soles and Angelique Pettyjohn. I was paid with movie memorabilia instead of cash,something my then wife was not very happy about, but Bill painted a rosy, pie in the sky picture claiming this would be great exposure for me and that next time I would see money!

But the big fly in the ointment for me was: when the book came out my name was dumped inthe acknowledgement section where you put the names of people lent a still or a movie ad for illustration purposes.This did not sit with me at all because I provided three interviews and as such rated a byline beside the interviews.Bill gave some sort of bullshit rational which I have long since forgotten, but promised (he's a past master at making empty promises)that I would get full credit on his next book called DRIVE-IN MADNESS.

Here's a fun fact: Bill wasn't entirely sure some of the actresses I contacted would want to be featured in a book titled DRIVE-IN MADNESS, so he instructed me to tell them that the book would be titled: CHEESECAKE:BEAUTIFUL WOMEN. I wondered about the ramifications when the book was published and these actresses got a gander of the real title,which was a far cry from the one I had described to them. But Bill never thinks about such negative aspects,he's too busy chasing his dreams no matter whose toes he steps on during said chase.

To make a long story short,due to publication delays(engineered by The Imagine Publishing Company)the book never saw the light of day. Now for me this was a crushing blow because I had five complete interviews which also featured my byline next to them. This could have been a big stepping stone for me,but I guess it just wasn't meant to happen.(I tell myself that when I'm waxing philosophically.)

For some odd reason, Bill was always working for foreign horror movie magazines who paid in posters instead of money. I had an interview published in a French magazine called Mad Movies and when I received a package of stills and posters in the mail as opposed to a check, my wife was not exactly jumping up and down for joy. She always thought that Bill was more talk than action and felt I was wasting my time dealing with him. But I naively kept going down this path because I thought that Bill probably knew what he was doing. Little did I know he was flying as blindly as myself,but Bill had a talent for convincing me (as well as others ) that he knew more than he actually did.

It was in 1993 that we had a big falling out. He sent an interview I did with Producer Sam Sherman that was originally to be used in DRIVE-IN MADNESS to a French publication L'CRAN FANTASTIQUE and once again swore that I would be paid monetarily and not with a pile of paper memorabilia. Again, I put my trust in Bill(or as I've come to regard him: Three Dollar Bill ) It was at this period of his life he became editor of an American magazine(What happened? Did Bill finally run out of foreign magazines to work for?) called FEMME FATALES. He also developed quite an ego, because when I asked him to send me a copy of L'CRAN FANTASTIQUE, Bill said he was too busy and I should write to them to get it. I pestered him for a couple of weeks before he grudgingly sent one to me in the mail.

Then I waited for my payment. And waited. And waited some more till I started getting rather peeved about not receiving any financial compensation for my interview. When I called Bill, he once again stated that he was much too busy with his magazine to help me out and told me to write to the French publication myself.

Now wait a damn minute, he's the person I sent the interview to who in turn sent it out the people at L'CRAN FANTASTIQUE. Bill communicated with them,not me. So it was his responsibilty to see I got the money due to me. But, God forbid, he was too engrossed with his new pet project to give an ounch of shit about me and my problems. You see, I was in the fiscal shithouse and needed the money very badly. I ended up writing to the French people and requesting payment for my work. And if you think I ended up with a check for my endeavors, you'll also believe that the Easter Bunny visits my house every April and supplies me with endless amounts of candy. For Bill to hang me out to dry like that was unconscionable. As my friend, Bill was supposed to watch my back,not stab me in it. I felt as if he'd turned his back on me and it sucked.

I broke off contact with him for about eight years. I saw him a couple of times at some horror film conventions but kept my distance because I was still in a state of rage about the dirty deal that had been done to me and knew if I had the opportunity I'd do something he'd end up being sorry for. My anger reached a level when at one convention, in 1998, I saw him out of the corner of my eye and thought he was heading for the mens room. All I could think of was how I'd gotten ripped off as he stood on the sidelines doing zip,zilch,nada, nothing. I felt it was about time Bill got some payback, so I went in the mens room to confront him. Thankfully, he wasn't there .

But still, I was anxious to extract my pound of flesh and was extremely disappointed I wouldn't be collecting it on that day. So I spent four more years stewing in my own juices while hating Bill George, fervently wishing I could shove my foot so far up his ass, it would've taken every person who lived on his street to remove it. Or barring that, perhaps major surgery.

Anyhoo, sometimes it takes a tragedy to soften ones point of view. Bill's mother died in 2001 after a bout with cancer. When I heard about her death, that Bill was having a difficult time coping with it , I called him up because my own mother died in 1999 and I knew exactly the sort of hell he was going through. Besides, eight years had passed. I was never going to receive any money for my interview; that was ancient history. But most importantly, a friend needed my help.

So we renewed our friendship. I must admit that I like Bill. True, he has a tendency to lie or at least exaggerate. And he's not the most giving human being I've ever come across. In other words, there are times he'll do something for me but only if it benefits him. But still, he's a charming, sometimes helpless kind of a guy and one cannot help but like him.

But then in 2004, along came Red Hot Planet where egos and creative differences began rearing their ugly head once again. Bill asked me if I would do interviews for the website. This time was going to be different, I would definitely see payment and I'd be paid by the end of 2004. The trouble started when my interviews, both introductions and questions were completely rewritten without my consent. When people who had read my contributions would complement me on them, I'd be honest and say that the interviews were not mine,that they had be rewritten. I refuse to take credit for something that isn't mine. One time Bill rewrote a question I asked of an actress who was on an episode of CHARMED to read, " Did you have a blast with the cast?" Now, I would never in a million years ask such an asinine question. That's the kind of question a twenty five year old would ask, not a guy in his late forties. From there it only got worse.

When director Irvin Yeaworth (THE BLOB, THE 4D MAN and DINOSAURUS ) died, I submitted an interview I'd done with him in 1988. Bill rewrote my introduction even though he wasn't present at the interview and never met Yeaworth.Feeling angry, humiliated and heartsick over the mutilation of my work I emailed Bill and said I quit Red Hot Planet. I told him I felt my talent as a writer wasn't appreciated and that my function seemed to be limited to turning the tape recorder on and off. He emailed me back and pledged that things would change. They didn't.

The same thing happened over and over again. And I quit over and over again, and told my friends not to read the interviews because I didn't write them. Bill kept telling me I should be grateful that he improved my work,while I insisted no improvements were required. He even took one of my unaltered interviews to the webmaster(the sneaky little bastard) and showed it to him in hopes he would agree that my writing was in desperate need of Bill's special auctorial magic.He unfortunately has a puffed up,overrated opinion of his gifts as a writer. What a dick!

The webmaster ,J.B, told Bill that there was nothing wrong with my writing, that he was a control freak and should leave my interviews alone. I hoped this would be the turning point, but I still had to fight tooth and nail to keep my style from being buried by Bill's overdramatic, bombastic, didactic, purple prose.

As for the supposed pay date of 2004, it was pushed up to 2005 which was then changed to 2006. As of this day, July 19, 2006, I haven't seen one freakin' penny for my two years of hard work. And two free movie previews , free admission to two horror movie conventions and a handful of free dvd's from a video company is hardly proper compensation.

A few months ago, Bill pushed Red Hot Planet on the backburner, where it presently languishes in cyber limbo, to embark on a new endeavor: Local Flavor magazine. Again, he enlisted my participation.And as before,(this is really getting old and tired) I've been promised money. However, Bill has gone back to his old ways and is brazenly rewriting my material while telling me I should put up with the situation because that's how it goes down in the world of publishing . Following another heated argument, he has given me his word,as usual, that as of the 4th issue of Local Flavor magazine, he won't rewrite my interviews any more.

Here's how it's going to be from this day forward: if I open the 4th issue of Flavor and it's business as usual, I'm quitting. This time my proclamation is for real as well as being etched in stone. And no placating words,no lame explanations nor any more transparent promises will sway me. My writing style is something I will no longer compromise with . I put my own individual personality, my humor and my creativity into my writing. I told Bill if he feels my work is lackluster and not up to his epicurean standards, then let me go and get someone else who won't mind when The Bard of Baltimore performs his wizardry with words on their article. I truly believe that he is attempting to put me in my place and show me who the big boss is. But I steadfastly refuse to be treated as a monkey who operates a tape recorder.I think he should f**k off and leave my writing alone.

I've let Bill know that if Local Flavor magazine does not pay me by the end of this year, I'll no longer be working for free. I'm tired of busting my ass and receiving only a pat on the back and a heart felt ," Good job , Joe." Bill once told me that it shouldn't matter if I get paid, it's the idea of getting my name out there that matters. Uh, uh. I'm not playing that ridiculous,time wasting game anymore.

As far as Red Hot Planet is concerned, if and when Bill starts it up again I won't do any more interviews until he can present me with a clear and definite timetable of when and how much I'll be paid. He can get as mad at me as he wants. There'll be no more freebies from Joe. Either cough up the cash or thanks but no thanks. And if my decision negatively impacts our friendship, then it wasn't much of a friendship to begin with. It's time for me to take a stand.