Swords, Specters, & Stuff
Welcome to My World
I started this blog in January 2012 for one simple reason: I love to write. I named it “Swords, Specters, & Stuff” because I especially love to write about writing, about books and movies in my favorite genres, about authors that mean a great deal to me. But there’s more to it than that, which is why I included “Stuff” in the title. It is “Stuff” that gives me carte blanche to write about anything, which is why you’ll see stories about special trips to Cooperstown, Sedona, and other places; about getting older; about baseball; about the otherworldly way in which I met my soul mate; about the loss of good friends, and so much more. Enjoy! And feel free to leave a comment.
Dirt Dragons
When I saw that Michael Gross, who played whacko right-wing survivalist Burt Gummer in the first three Tremors films, also starred in Tremors 4: The Legend Begins, I assumed this was yet another sequel. But no, this one takes place in 1889, about a century before the...
Tremors: Aftershocks Create A Few Ripples
A while back I wrote about one of my favorite dumb movies, the 1990 goofy comedy-horror flick, Tremors (see my post, “Guilty Pleasures: Tremors”). I’ve watched it many times, and while I knew that there had been three sequels made, I had always avoided them—until...
A Goonies Sequel! Can It Be True?
First off, here is my Fine Whine: for an almost-retired guy, I’m as busy as I’ve been in years. I’ve been doing my writing coach/editor thing nonstop all through 2014; I’m about to begin a huge evaluation that will take me through much of April; and there is more work...
Play Ball!
In the spring, those two words are like music to my ears. This is Opening Week for Major League Baseball, and since baseball is my religion, I could not be happier. Even better: my beloved San Diego Padres got the jump on every other team in America by hosting their...
Guilty Pleasures: Mimic
The 1997 sci-fi/horror flick, Mimic, is one of my favorites, though to date I had not written about it (that changes today). Maybe it had to do with my utter disappointment with its two direct-to-video sequels. Let me explain. On Thanksgiving 2012 I wrote a post...
Redux: Why I Do What I Do
Given my (approaching) dotage I’ve been taking on fewer writers in recent years, though I imagine I’ll never give it up entirely. The primary reason for that has to do with how much I love sharing in the success that many of my writers experience. This was more than...
Self-Publishing: Where’s The Watchman?
Quite a few years ago, when self-publishing, e-publishing, POD and such were in their embryonic stages, literary super-agent Richard Curtis (who at one time represented me) wrote an op-ed piece in Publishers Weekly titled, “Who’s Guarding the Gates?” The article...
Opening Lines: Part Quatre
I just can’t get enough of those great bad opening lines that have been submitted to the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest over the decades. Here are some more gems from recent years. Hermann lay with Esmerelda, entwined with one another among love-tangled sheets and he...
Redux: When Art Creates Life
When my blogmeister and great friend, August McLaughlin, asked if I would participate in her “Beauty of a Woman” Blogfest 2014, I pushed the Staples button: EASY. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever known, inside and out, is the one I’m married to: my Jacqueline. And...
“We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes”
I love memorable lines from the silver screen, especially if they’re from movie favorites that I watch numerous times. A couple years ago I wrote a post titled, “She Wouldn’t Even Harm a Fly”—the great last line from the classic 1960 Hitchcock film, Psycho....
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