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.
Success For Sugar Man: Better Late Than Never
As a man on the veritable cusp of being an “old guy,” I appreciate all never-too-late success stories. But the tale of the singer named Rodriguez transcends any such story that I’ve ever heard, and to say that it is heartwarming is to be dealing in gross...
“You Are A Stench…!”
When I decided to write about my favorite dumb/bad/cheesy horror movies last year, the one that leaped to the top of the heap was Wes Craven’s 1981 gem, Deadly Blessing. Big problem: my VHS tape of the film had long gone the way of Goodwill—same as my VCR—and the...
A Writer’s Rules Of Engagement: Part Three
Okay, one more post on how writers engage their readers with a strong opening hook, and then I’ll get back to other important matters, such as bad horror movies. Actually, this is the only topic about writing to which I’ve devoted three posts, illustrating just how...
A Writer’s Rules Of Engagement: Part Two
In Part One of this series I wrote about how important—how necessary—it is for writers to engage their readers immediately with an element of the story called the narrative hook. Both literary agents and, ultimately, readers want to get into your story quickly, or you...
A Writer’s Rules Of Engagement: Part One
A novel is made up of quite a few elements, among them characterization, dialogue, point of view, setting, and so on. But in my mind, the most important element—without question—is the story’s opening, what we call the HOOK, or more specifically, the narrative hook....
August McLaughlin: Out Of Her Shadow
August McLaughlin is “one of my writers”. More important, she is also a great friend. We met at a writers’ conference some years back—perhaps fortuitously, or even inevitably, as she had come to the conference on a quest to find a writing coach and mentor. Seems she...
What’s Left On The Bucket List?
The term “bucket list” is defined as a list of things that one must do before he or she…well, kicks the bucket. The Bucket List is also a bittersweet comedy starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, about two terminally ill men who skip the cancer ward and head out...
Guilty Pleasures: Darkness Falls
AN EYE FOR AN EYE. YOUR LIFE FOR A TOOTH. That’s one of the taglines for the 2003 horror flick, Darkness Falls—a double entendre title if ever there was one. In this case, Darkness Falls is the name of a small New England town. Here, the storied and seemingly innocent...
Why’d It Have To Be Snakes…?
Like Indiana Jones, I too have asked that question many times of late. I finally decided to stop trying to figure it out and accept the fact that—to use one of my least favorite clichés—it is what it is. (At the end of the day, of course.) Okay, the backstory: last...
Go Ahead, Mate, Make My G’Day
File this story under the heading, “Why I Do What I Do.” Prior to the holidays I received an email from a delightful lady named Celeste in Australia. Her note read, in part: Please give me a moment of your time, as I wish to create a special Christmas gift for a...
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