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.
A Beloved Film Series Has Ended
Although the final film in one of the most enduring and endearing movie franchises, INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY, hit the silver screen this past summer, I did not watch it till earlier this month. Why not? Maybe I wanted to prolong the inevitable…
Throwback Thursday: Columbo Would Have Loved Vera
She’s old; she’s short; she’s disheveled; she’s irascible. She’s also brilliant. She’s Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope, head of the Major Crimes unit of the (fictional) Northumberland & City Police.
What?! No Post This Week?!
I guess this will have to serve as a “short & sweet” post. It is definitely not for lack of ambition, although as a retired old fart (I prefer young fart), you might think I have all the time in the world on my hands. Nope…
Throwback Thursday: Report From The Quarantine Cave 2.0
It wasn’t exactly a fun time back in 2020, when this post first ran. But it WAS memorable.
Former Favorite Film Franchise Flops Fatally
Wow, that’s a lot of “Fs,” just like there are lots of “Fs” (unnecessary F-bombs) in the fourth Expendables film (presented as Expend4bles). This one, sadly, should bury the once-popular franchise, which bombed big-time at the box office, got the lowest score of the series on Rotten Tomatoes, and the poorest grade from audiences.
Throwback Thursday: Dual Guilty Pleasures Depict Nasty Alien Invaders
I don’t usually write about multiple Guilty Pleasures in one post. But the sci-fi/action films, BATTLE: LOS ANGELES (2011) and BATTLESHIP (2012) have much in common, so this seemed to make perfect sense.
How A Serious Sword & Planet Novel Turned Funny
Back in the day—the “day” being the 1970s and ’80s—I emulated my two muses, Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard, with a spate of novels in genres such as Lost Worlds, Sword & Sorcery, and—of course—Sword & Planet. My five-book Reglathium series—which has long since evolved into my four-book Maldrinium series—was typical of the latter. But surprise, I wrote another Sword & Planet novel back then that went unpublished—at least, not in its original form.
Throwback Thursday: Murder In Kiwi Land—THE BROKENWOOD MYSTERIES
THE BROKENWOOD MYSTERIES has just about everything you could want in a detective series. I first presented this post in 2020.
Bob’s Your Uncle
Actually, Bob isn’t MY uncle. My three uncles’ names were Ben, Lou, and Hymie. But this isn’t about family. It is about a delightful, often-used expression across the pond in Great Britain.
Throwback Thursday: THE FLY—An Exercise In Barf-Baggery
Until recently I had not watched the excellent 1986 remake of THE FLY in many years. This is my excuse for forgetting that I should not have viewed the film so close to dinnertime. Appetite gone!
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