Jeff O'Handley, Author

Jeff O'Handley

The Doubting Writer Finds His Voice

Inside a Wingman’s Brain

When it comes to writing, I am a wingman. My completed novels were started on the basis of simple ideas and written without the benefit of any outlines. I started one with a character in mind, and the other based on a situation. While I thought about both stories in advance, when I sat down […]

Oops

You ever have one of those weeks, where your sense of timing is just kind of…off? Where you’re constantly either a day ahead or a day behind? Sure you have. Maybe it’s because the Catbird had no school on Monday, and we took the Magpie back to school. Maybe it’s because the Catbird told us […]

Musical Monday: Somebody That I Used to Know

Funny how things can be. Some  time ago, I kept seeing references to ‘Gotye’ around the web, and I had no idea what anyone was talking about. The name–or whatever it was–would get tossed around. It would catch my eye and fade away, and I’d vaguely wonder what it was or who it was, but […]

The Doper, the Dope, and the Disgraced

Three interesting stories in the news this week, all involving fiction of one kind or another. First up is disgraced cycling hero and cancer surivor, Lance Armstrong. For years, Armstrong crafted the story of a tough-minded, dedicated man who beat cancer and went on to reach the pinnacle of his sport, and achieved something that […]

Monday Musing: The Lockout is Over

And so it’s officially over. The members of NHL Players’ Association have ratified the new collective bargaining agreement, officially bringing to a close the second lockout in eight years, and the third overall in the tenure of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. The deal followed some intense negotiation, which followed weeks of negotiation, non-negotiation, and gamesmanship […]

Making the Case for Flat Villains

I’ve been thinking all week about Monday’s post and your responses to it. Normally, I try to respond to all comments individually; with this one, however, I’ve decided to just do a follow up post. After reading so much agreement with what I said (and much love for Les Mis), I started reconsidering. Yes, in […]

Musical Monday: Stars, Inspector Javert

Friday night I became one among millions of Americans who have seen the latest version of Les Miserables (yeah, I know there’s supposed to be an accent over the ‘e’, but I just can’t work that hard at this hour). The movie did not disappoint me. I thought most of the performances were very strong, […]

A Little Off and Out of Whack

Heading into Christmas, I thought, “Now’s the perfect time to take a week, maybe two, off from the blog. Go ahead, just say it straight out and be done with it.” Of course I didn’t, and here I am on a Friday morning with three, four, maybe five pieces partly completed, and no sense of […]