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.
What Is Really Down Below?
My muse, Edgar Rice Burroughs, wrote his adventure novel, At the Earth’s Core, in 1914. Six more books followed in what is known as his Pellucidar series. But more than likely ERB was influenced by a novel written over fifty years earlier by a French author named Jules Verne. Journey to the Center of the Earth was a remarkable literary achievement for the nineteenth century—or for that matter, any other time.
Life After Death: An Out-Of-This-World Option
I’ve never dwelled too much on what happens after I croak. But now that I’m pushing an age that once seemed science fiction, I have to wonder just where I’ll wind up when that time comes. Will my atoms get scattered to the universe? Will I find some paradisiacal afterlife? Will I be reincarnated as a baby in Bangladesh, or in the USA as the illegitimate offspring of some pro football player? It messes with your head.
Blowing Shit Up: The Expendables Series
If you’re an aficionado of all things explosive, you probably know that the three Expendables movies, featuring just about every action film hero of yore, constitute a “Blowing-Shit-Up-Fest” of the highest magnitude. The franchise is so popular (and makes so much money) that a female spinoff, The ExpendaBelles, may even be on the radar.
Burroughs’ Moon Series: More Than A Sword & Planet Adventure
I’ve written a great deal about my muse, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and how as a kid I read just about all of his seventy-plus novels. His adventure stories both on (and in) Earth—Tarzan, Pellucidar, Caspak—and on other worlds—John Carter of Mars, Carson of Venus—sparked my imagination and led to a long and prolific writing career.
But as a kid I could not appreciate the nuances of his three-book Moon series, which consisted of The Moon Maid, The Moon Men, and The Red Hawk. Because back then, what could I know about the evils of Communism?
Films About Books: The NeverEnding Story
If the 1979 novel, The Neverending Story, by German author Michael Ende, is a book about a book, then I suppose the 1984 film adaptation, The NeverEnding Story, can be referred to as a movie about a book about a book. But why make ourselves crazy thinking about that? The main thing is that this fairytale/fantasy, while well loved by children, has a most important message for adults.
A Post-Apocalyptic Train Ride
Did you ever have a nightmare where you’re on a train that just rolls on and on, and you can’t get off of it? That’s what passengers on a train called Snowpiercer must endure—the difference being that they would not want to get off if their lives depended on it—which, in fact, it does.
What’s Old Is New Again
In order to introduce my latest re-release, Warlord of Maldrinium (World After Death: Book One), I have to go way back in time. I’m talking 1978, just about when humankind discovered fire. At least movable type had been invented by then, because in that year I published the first couple of my two dozen-plus novels, The Prisoner of Reglathium and The Conquerors of Reglathium.
Films About Writers: Joan Wilder Rocks!
For many movie lovers—my bride included—Romancing the Stone (1984) and Jewel of the Nile (1985) are the perfect films. Action and adventure, outrageous comedy, romance, great cast—what more can you ask for from a fun flick? And even better, from my perspective: the main character is a bestselling romance writer!
Yo, Mama Is One Scary Movie
I, for one, am glad that in recent years, horror filmmakers have decided that scaring the crap out of people is more important than grossing them out by spilling buckets of blood. The 2013 gem titled Mama, starring Jessica Chastain—a talented actress—is a prime example of this.
Guilty Pleasures: Van Helsing
I guess the 2004 monster/horror film, Van Helsing, qualifies as a Guilty Pleasure because not a whole lot of folks liked it—especially the reviewers. (Fie on them!) It grossed over $300 million, so no problem there. This fun flick is an homage by director Stephen Sommers to the wonderful Universal horror movies of the 1930s and ’40s. It is easily one of the fifty (sixty?) movies in my personal Top Ten.
Latest Release
