Author Bio:
Brimstone has had a successful and rewarding career spanning well over four decades; participating in numerous entertainment fields boasting a list of titles including professional wrestler, radio host/professional podcaster, actor, voice actor, author, musician, philanthropist, food critic, horror model, and comic book/animated/children’s book/video game hero. He’s been called a Renaissance man by many, but more accurately described as a well seasoned entertainer and serial entertainment entrepreneur.
As a child actor, he made appearances on iconic pop culture shows such as Sesame Street and Romper Room. He later became best known for his career in professional wrestling where he has made countless appearances worldwide for the leaders in sports entertainment and throughout the Independents. Brimstone has had a long history appearing in various films, television programming, short films, documentaries, video game voice acting, and cameos in music videos. Notable nationally televised appearances include WWF Superstars, MTV’s TRL, 106 and Park and The Ricki Lake Show as well as countless appearances on national and local affiliates including NBC, CBS, ABC and The CW. He’s been featured in documentaries including Wrestling Then & Now and Standing in the Stars: The Peter Mayhew Story as well as music videos like, Touch & Go by rapper Joe Budden, Dawn Monroe’s Get it Poppin, Bethany Davis’ Lose Control and multiple videos by Frank Lucas, Jr. (Street Star and Let’s Go). He’s also been credited with background vocals on guitarist Bumblefoot’s 2015 release, Little Brother is Watching. Video game voice-over credits include, Seduce Me 2: The Demon War, Sorim Story: Race World (Brimstone is a playable character, available skin and voice of multiple characters), Triagat as the character Idium, Brimstone’s own Forza Infernis (on Android, Apple & XBox One), Wasteland Wars & GHR: The Great Airspace Chase; and is voicing the character Yolo in the game, Liquid Metal. His first foray into motion and performance capture will be in the video game, Blue Jacket & Red Coat going into production early 2020 playing and voicing the role of Slade Stone. Brim’s voice can also be heard in a variety of Q&E Productions’ animated shorts, as Game Day in The Weeklings animated series, Santa Claws for viral YouTube channel, eLL Cartoons, as well as a surprise character in the viral, God’s School. He will be voicing characters including Commander Frosting in Donut Baby for Noise Nest Animation Network (Viacom) and the character Felix the Fennic Fox in the upcoming network television, children’s animated series and interactive educational website, Wobworld. Brim has a cameo on a celebrity stacked, narrative fantasy podcast, Children of Sperea where he voices the role of Private Rarla. He can be heard on the Kikkoman Corporation’s national radio ads that he not only voiced; but collaborated in the conception and production thereof. He played the killer in the 2010 horror film, Killer Hoo-Ha! as well as roles in independent films like, Preacher Six, Mott Haven: Cash for Keys, Bloodline, The Roadhouse and many more. Brim can be found in the web series, Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire and making cameo’s in Troma Entertainment’s 2017 Virtual Reality film, Sgt. Ka-Spooky-Man’s Cray-Cray VR Halloween Extravaganza, Kabukiman’s Cocktail Corner and Shakespeare’s Sh!tstorm in 2019.
As the co-founder, President, and CEO of Hound Comics, Inc. (Hound Entertainment Group), Brimstone and his team of creators launched his comic book series, Brimstone and The Borderhounds on October 31, 2010 at Borders Books and as of January 11, 2011 went nation and worldwide via Barnes & Noble, B.Dalton, BN.com, ComiXology and Amazon. The Borderhounds brand has since then expanded with a variety of Brimstone branded products including (but not limited to) the “Border-Pups” children’s book series, coloring books, video games, plush toys, vinyl toys (featured for multiple seasons on The Big Bang Theory) and the Animated Series. Furthermore, under the leadership of Brimstone, Hound Entertainment has also expanded tremendously and aggressively over the years with the addition of publishing over forty different creator-owned projects between the brands Hound Comics, Hound Publishing, Co-Exist Publishing, and Hound Kids. The most recent of his endeavors has been becoming the host of The Grindhouse Radio, a pop culture talk-based podcast and series that is currently syndicated on over twenty-five digital & terrestrial radio networks (including iHeartRadio, iTunes, Spotify & Google Play Radio) with a listenership of between 3.5 – 4 million weekly worldwide. The Grindhouse Radio, also known as GHR – has achieved ranking in the Top 20 Best Comedic Podcasts (as high as #6) worldwide on iTunes, as well as #83 on their overall charts. In addition to GHR, Brim hosts his own personal companion podcast series, Within Brim’s Skin which has independently ranked in the Top 100 on iTunes worldwide. He appears regularly as an expert speaker at libraries, schools and universities teaching podcast hopefuls, ‘how to podcast’ from nuts to bolts in Podcast 101, 201 & 301 courses along with his GHR partners. On social media, Brimstone and GHR branded GIFs have been used over 730 million times via their official Giphy account. Filming has begun on a televised sitcom spin-off of GHR entitled, Behind the Grind that will be available on Amazon Fire TV, Roku TV and Apple TV. Notably, The Grindhouse Radio was a topic of discussion at the European Planetary Science Congress 2018 – officially making them a citable source for scientific and collegiate papers. In 2018 – GHR released and distributed their first Holiday single, ‘Baking Cookies’ that was written by Brim and the main cast.
Brimstone is involved in licensing and partnerships with Eastsport Backpacks for Brimstone branded merchandise sold on WalMart.com and featured on The Big Bang Theory; Troll Lord Games for the Brimstone Role Playing Game, CaJohn’s Fiery Foods (Brimstone line of multi-award winning gourmet sauces and seasonings), The Jerky Connection (Brimstone Jerky), Demeter Fragrances (Cologne/Perfume), 3 Coconut Monkey (Vinyl/Plush Toys), SGN Gaming & Algocrunch (Brimstone video game apps), Pro Wrestling Tees (Brimstone T-Shirts), Dragon Song Forge (Brimstone Swords), Sweet Hollywood LA (Brimstone Chocolate Bars), Ruth’s Mustard (Brimstone Mustard), East Coast Roast (Brimstone Coffee Line), Nifty Candy (Brimstone Candy Line), Serenity Custom Drums, and ButterWinks Cookies among countless others. Brimstone is sponsored by All Music Inc. and endorsed by Beyerdynamic, Affliction Clothing, Rare Boutiques Jewelry, Calacas Eyewear, Monster Energy, Yelp, CoKreeate, Yogibo, HoMedics, Love Sac, TechniSport USA, Blue Collar Blades, Chef Uniforms, Dart World USA, Healthy Meals Supreme and many more. Brimstone has been a celebrity brand ambassador for Loot Crate and Jerrick Media’s ‘Romper Zombie’ brand; he’s also a celebrity social media influencer for a wide variety of clientele including Kikkoman, 7 Eleven, Wendy’s (IMDboat), Boss Hoss Motorcycles, Red Roof Inn, Pe’KANT and Mane ‘N Tail Haircare Products; and has a Klear influencer rating of 82. He has been featured in Wall Street Journal Best Selling books The Bra Book and Worth Every Penny as well as internationally recognized magazines including Maxim.
Brimstone also starred as the host of Food Hound: Tidbits which was a web-based celebrity food show filmed while on tour making appearances at pop culture conventions around the country including events such as Wizard World, Stan Lee’s LA Comic Con, San Diego Comic Con and New York Comic Con. As a result of the show, restaurants around the United States have added Brimstone-themed products to their existing menus including The Brimstone spiked milkshake at My Burger Bar in Buffalo, Dust from Hell Wings at Even Flow Bar & Grill and The Brimstone Pizza at Mulberry Street Restaurant on Long Island, The Brimstone Philly Grindhouse Burger at The Baroness Bar in LI City, and a variety of Brimstone-related dishes around the country.
Aside from accommodating promoters nationwide by hosting his own panels – Brimstone’s charm, wit, and ability to engage large crowds has led him to adding the roles of celebrity host, judge, and moderator to his already massive resume. Brim has been entrusted with these duties at an array of different events and functions from pop culture to foodie based. He’s had the pleasure of moderating talents including George Takei (Star Trek), Seth Gilliam (The Walking Dead), John DiMaggio (Adventure Time) for Awesome Con, Lincoln A. Castellanos (Fear the Walking Dead) for Walker Stalker Con and was reunited with Caroll (Big Bird) Spinney for the first time off-screen in well over three decades for a PBS panel at The Great Philadelphia Comic Con. In the foodie world, he’s graced the Celebrity Chef stage at events such as Zest Fest Midwest, celebrity judged for Famous Food Festivals, Pig Island NYC, King of the Wing, Brisket King NYC and Rib King NYC, played the roles of head judge and host of the Long Island Wing Festival for four consecutive years, hosted the ultra hot pepper eating contest for Maxim Magazine, three time celebrity judge for the Annual Meatball Madness competition as well as countless other eating competitions around the country. In business, he has judged for the Stevie Awards among other notable award ceremonies. Brim’s tough guy persona aside, he is a regular when it comes to providing PG entertainment, seminars and presentations at schools, libraries and kid’s days nationwide.
Brim prides himself in acting as a spokesperson for the Stan Lee Foundation, Jaime Isaacs Foundation, RADD (Rockers Actors and Athletes against Driving Drunk), and an annual guest speaker for Celebrity Sports Night and LILTA’s Men’s Conferences aimed at paving educational paths for young men. Whether it be poking fun at himself by shucking clams, or visiting the United Cerebral Palsy Foundation to give out stuffed animals and spend time with the kids – Brim has a heart of gold and will do just about anything to support a good cause. As a small business expert – he officially became a Mentor with SCORE Mentors in 2018 in order to give back to entrepreneurs in need of guidance. In 2015, he partnered with the Empire Saber Guild (An Official Lucas Film, Star Wars Costuming Group) to create an exclusive trading card for St. Mary’s portraying Brimstone as a Sith Lord for charity. An avid philanthropist at heart, Brimstone subjected himself to be roasted for charity in 2010, participated in the comedic, Roast of Brian O’Halloran, and has been featured on NBC’s Cause Celeb twice concerning his efforts. Furthermore, he’s worked directly with Build-A-Bear Workshop, whom was a sponsor of his international children’s initiative.
Brim claims that the cherry on top of his successes is the signature drink “The Brimstone Red” created for him by the Jack Daniel’s Distillery, the use of Brimstone related product on The Big Bang Theory – seasons 7 through 12, his hand in wax on display at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Wax Museum in San Antonio Texas, recognition of his philanthropy on MSNBC, his brand partnership with Giphy.com, being drafted as a Special Forces Commander for the Zombie Survival Crew alongside Michael Rooker & Norman Reedus, and the spotlight on himself and Hound via the legendary Stan Lee’s official website. Other notable accomplishments include a 2008 Award from the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, a 2014 Rule Breaker Award for Best Manufacturer with revenue under $1M for Hound Comics, Inc., ‘Best Long Island Personality 2018 & 2019’, ‘Best Twitter Account from Long Island 2018 & 2019’ and The Grindhouse Radio being voted and awarded, ‘Best Radio Station on Long Island 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020’ in the 12th through 15th Annual Best of Long Island Awards, as well as GHR being named a 2018 SCORE American Small Business Champion and National Grand Champion.
What inspires you to write?
I've always enjoyed performing for others in all forms of entertainment; however writing is something that I can actually enjoy personally as well! I'm a creative person – and when I don't have an outlet to direct that creativity… I get antsy. Due to the nature of my business as someone in the public eye, I tend to travel a lot to conferences, conventions and appearances. That being said, I sometimes have hours at a clip where I'm confined to an airplane – so what is the best way to utilize this time? Writing. Growing up, my first love happened to be comic books and I always wanted to be a famous comic book artist. Albeit I can draw… I did NOT gain my fame from art; but I DID use the name I've built in order to return to my first love of comics! I'm inspired by the pop culture filled world around me and I prefer to write in a style that I'd personally want to read. My characters are always inspired by friends and acquaintances simply because it's smoother and more empathetic in form. People tend to write about what they're most familiar with and I am no exception. I'm also the kind of person that wants to create what I wish existed – therefore, I developed an entire universe surrounding my characters along with another writer and artist.
Tell us about your writing process.
As I come from a music and then professional wrestling background – I initially start building my stories around a concept. The next step is I will write the beginning, middle and end of the story – so you know where it starts and you know the peak and then where it's going. I'll then flesh it out by filling in the blanks with the peaks and valleys of the story line. In this process, I typically write in nuances of dark humor as well as character development throughout. I tend to incorporate a plethora of real world references that people can understand, appreciate and get behind! I'm really big on throwing in a lot of pop culture that when you know… you know. After I have fleshed everything out in to a full book – I read through it multiple times, tweaking as I go to ensure everything reads smoothly and the story makes sense. Any new characters that I create on paper – I enjoy the collaboration process with the artist, allowing them their creative freedom, exploration and expression. In terms of building the environment and specific panels – I will explicitly describe what I'm seeing in my head within the script. I feel as though my process makes it smooth for myself, as well as for my team when they need to take my words to the next level.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
As my main character is actually myself based off of my former wrestling persona – I actually always get into the head space of my comic book alter-ego! I generally speak out the conversations and general banter of my characters as I'm writing their interactions. Yes. I also do the different voices for each character during this process for three reasons…
1) I want to ensure the conversations flow naturally and properly.
2) Each character speaks differently including speech and cadence – so I write them how they sound.
3) Because I'm also a voice over actor and it is a LOT of fun to do!
Who are your favorite authors?
My favorite comic book author happens to have been Stan Lee – who became a close friend in the industry, making me a celebrity spokesperson for his foundation. His work inspired me as well as millions of others throughout our youth and will continue to do so until the end of time. I love Stephen King and I have really enjoyed reading the Walking Dead novels as I am truly a fan of that genre.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I decided early on that I wanted to publish my own books as being in entertainment for over twenty five years at that point, I learned it is very important to own your own intellectual property whenever and wherever possible. I had discussions with other companies; however I was not impressed with the rewards I would be reaping being under someone else's thumb. My team and I released the initial issue of 'Brimstone and The Borderhounds' under the name Hound Comics and we launched in Borders Books. Within a couple of months, Borders was closing down – so we pulled from them and re-released in Barnes and Noble as the only independently owned and operated comic company aside the big boys like Marvel and DC. I started to do a promotional tour of signing the books at comic cons and I wound up reuniting with my friends Peter and Angie Mayhew at one of the events. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Peter Mayhew – he is Chewbacca from Star Wars. I hadn't seen them in awhile, and they were in the process of promoting Pete's children's books. As we caught up, they asked if I would take their books on as they were self-publishing at the time. I agreed. Shortly after, friends of mine from Disney, Nickelodeon and other major comic companies approached me with their personal projects… so I decided to incorporate and Hound Comics, Inc. (Hound Entertainment Group) was born. So, becoming a publisher was pretty much a happy accident! The motto behind Hound was to keep creator owned properties – creator owned. I've been approached to write for other publishing companies; however I have not yet opted to do so – though I would definitely consider a good or fun offer!
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think that as the world moves forward – things that we grew up with as kids quickly become obsolete. Especially with the growth of the internet… media is consumed at such a rapid rate. People aren't necessarily going out to visit libraries any more, or picking up physical books from book stores as often. They're doing it virtually now more often than not. So I feel as though publishing will eventually become online only in the future. It's unfortunate; however it is taking a similar path to the music industry.
What genres do you write?
Comic Books, Kids Books, Autobiographical
What formats are your books in?
eBook, Print
Website(s)
Brimstone Home Page Link
Author’s Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
All information is provided by the author and is presented as it was submitted so you the reader get to hear the author’s own “voice” in their interview.
