I’m a Star Trek fan by default. My earliest memories of the original series are from when I had chicken pox and spent a couple weeks being watched by my grandmother. My mom’s mom remarried, and the man she married was simply known to me as Pop — and there were few people on the […]
Archives for May 2012
The Simple Question That Can Help You Write More
We all have certain responsibilities we must take care of before doing other things. For some it’s a day job; others, paying bills, yard work, or cleaning the kitchen. There may be children to tend to or to-do lists to knock out. But once those responsibilities are taken care of, I know some people still […]
Chris Ware Interview
I think the first Chris Ware comic work I saw was in Jab Comics Anthology (not to be confused with the adult comic), in the early 90s. (His little potato guy strips.) Some time after that, it was Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth and all that followed. Ware is one of those cartoonists […]
Women and Men (And Fiction)
This morning on Twitter, Michael Magras asked what “Fiction for men,” is supposed to mean. It’s perhaps a bit of a rhetorical question, as well as a way of saying, “I read much more than what is deemed ‘fiction for men.’”(From what I’ve seen, Michael’s very well read and reads anything and everything!) I think […]
Neil Gaiman’s University of the Arts Commencement Speech
Neil Gaiman Addresses the University of the Arts Class of 2012 from The University of the Arts (Phl) on Vimeo. The first issue of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman I picked up was #8. I’d recently gotten back into comic books and it just looked cool. (It was!) I’ve had the chance of meeting him in […]
Road Trip Essay Reminder
I previously mentioned that I’m giving away a Kindle Touch as part of an essay contest for the relaunch of Hell Comes with Wood Paneled Doors. I love the entries I’ve received so far, and look forward to reading more. Last week, I made a little video reminder about the contest in which I show […]
Sneak Peek: Old Man
I recently mentioned that I was working on a novella called Old Man. Well, a draft is done, and I’m beginning to polish things up a bit before offering it as an e-book. I also mentioned that I’d give everybody a sneak peek at Old Man. That sneak peek is right here. What is Old […]
The Horror of it All Pt. 5: The Cabin in the Woods
Part 1: It Started in the Basement Part 2: Stephen King Part 3: My [Kinds of] Monster Movies Part 4: My Own Tales of Terror * * * If you don’t know the name Joss Whedon, you’ve probably at least heard about a little movie called The Avengers that he wrote and directed. But a […]
The Horror of it All Pt. 4: My Own Tales of Terror
Part 1: It Started in the Basement Part 2: Stephen King Part 3: My [Kinds of] Monster Movies * * * Horror taught me how to write. No matter what one’s views are of genre fiction, it’s a great place to start when learning how to tell stories. Within any genre is a structure worth […]
The Horror of it All Pt. 3: My [Kinds of] Monster Movies
Part 1: It Started in the Basement Part 2: Stephen King * * * When VHS tapes came out and we no longer had to wait for a movie to air on cable or see it in theaters, one of the greatest things in the world to me was being able to rent the horror […]
The Horror of It All Pt. 2: Stephen King
Part 1 of 5: It Started in the Basement * * * I mentioned Stephen King a couple times in yesterday’s entry. I’ve previously mentioned that it was the story “The Body” in King’s Different Seasons that made me realize I could write the kinds of stories I dreamed of writing. I think I’ve even […]
The Horror of It All Pt. 1: It Started in the Basement
I owe my overactive imagination to my big sister, who convinced me at a young age that our basement was a place of horrors. Slick, gurgling creatures waited until nightfall to emerge from the sump pump. A twisted, oily horror resided behind the boiler. Mummies and vampires found refuge in the closets in the basement. […]
A Word of Warning about that Writing Thing Pt. 3
In Part 1, I discussed my 20-year plan for writing [success]. In Part 2, I discussed where that 20-year plan when wrong…and the moment when things got better. Today, the final installment. I really don’t know where I’m going with today’s entry. And that’s kind of the point, I suppose… * * * So what […]