Elevation: A quasi review

Well, a little late today, but better late than never, right? Let’s hope so, anyway. I actually had some partially-written posts going, but when my alarm went off this morning I turned it off–then woke up forty minutes later and ended up short of time. I’ve had my alarm clock for probably twenty-five years (seriously!), […]

Thoughts on Sleeping Beauties, Part I

A couple of weeks back, I wrote about the Netflix series, Godless, a good show on many levels but one that fell far short on living up to the promise of its preview, which looked to be a lot more woman-driven than it turned out to be. This week, I’m finally coming back to Sleeping […]

In the DNA?

Did he steal his fate or earn it?Was he force-fed, did he learn it?*  Anyone with even a passing interest in the Beatles and/or John Lennon probably thought the same thing I did when hearing “Valotte” — the first single from Julian Lennon’s debut album — back in the fall of 1984: “Holy shit, he […]

King’s Rules

I’m going to be honest here: I’m getting close to full of reading ‘writing rules’ on blogs, forums, articles and such. It’s not that I feel like I’m so superior, so skilled, so AWESOME that I don’t need the advice; it’s just that I think I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve found what works […]

Stupid Little Truths

Almost two years ago (Really? It was two years ago already? Yes, yes it was) I wrote about truth in fiction. At that time, it was the poignancy and truth I recognized in the source material of the local high school production of Fiddler on the Roof. The point was that there were large truths […]

The Disappointing Dome

Once upon a time there were TV shows. These shows aired in 30- or 60-minute blocks of time, once a week, roughly twenty-six times a year between early September and mid-May. They took a few weeks off here and there, for major holidays, and were occasionally pre-empted for special events and other programming. Each week’s […]

Monday Musing: Print Only

© Jorge Royan / http://www.royan.com.ar Almost as soon as I announced my intention to take a short break from the blog, I saw/read/heard things that made me say, “Oh! I’ve got to blog about that!” Naturally. But I’d broken too many promises in the past, too often I’d written, “Hey, on Friday, I’m going to…” and never […]

Selling Fun

“Never forget, we sell fun.” That quote comes from a character in Joyland, Stephen King’s most recent book. Released earlier this month, the book is notable in part because King has decided not to release it as in print only, at least for now. That decision is actually the subject for another post, another day. […]

Aberrant? Oh, You Betcha

Congratulations to Lisa L. Regan on the arrival of her second book, Aberration, born yesterday to already strong reviews! I’m looking forward to getting hold of this one, it promises to be an enjoyable read, in that strange way that suspense is enjoyable. Rather than do any sort of blog tour, Lisa decided to do […]

Writing with the King

First off, big thanks to everyone who commented on my post earlier this week. The question, can you get away with a character who doesn’t change? drew many interesting responses. And this may be one of these things where I have to take another look at the story and character in question, and see if […]