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.
The King Of Turdville
All four of the books in my “Bicycling” series are a combination of comedy, science fiction, satire, and an occasional serious moment or two. The excerpt I’m going to share from my new book, BACK ON THE BIKE PATH, is a mixture of them all, with an emphasis on satire.
Throwback Thursday: Exploring The Planet Of The Apes—Part One
It began in 1963 as a slim novel, La Planète des Singes, written by Pierre Boulle, a Frenchman. Alternately translated as MONKEY PLANET or PLANET OF THE APES, it told the futuristic story of a world turned upside down, a place where apes were the dominant species, while humans had become mindless, speechless beasts.
JACK MILLER IS BACK ON THE BIKE PATH!
To be honest, I started out writing this book with a bit of trepidation, given my own hiatus from creativity. But it did not take long before I was having an absolute blast riding with Jack on his new adventures. I hope you’ll have as much fun reading BACK ON THE BIKE PATH.
Throwback Thursday: A Memorable Date
This significant anniversary—for me—falls on a Thursday, as it did in 2009. A good time to revisit my scariest day ever.
Guilty Pleasures: Geostorm
The much-maligned 2017 film, GEOSTORM, is a disaster movie. And a sci-fi movie. And a political thriller. Guess what: I enjoy disaster movies; and sci-fi movies; and political thrillers. So despite its poor box office and terrible reviews, I love this film.
Throwback Thursday: The Bill Russell Syndrome
What does former National Basketball Association great Bill Russell have to do with leading classes and workshops about writing novels? I’ll tell you…shortly. But, first things first.
Can Old Dogs Learn New Tricks?
While hanging out in the quarantine cave for most of this year, my bride and I have watched a lot of police procedural/detective shows on BritBox, Acorn, and Prime. They range in presentation from intense (BROADCHURCH, VERA, PRIME SUSPECT) to outrageously funny (AGATHA RAISIN). Somewhere in the middle, joining favorites such as MIDSOMER MURDERS and THE BROKENWOOD MYSTERIES, is the delightful BBC production, NEW TRICKS.
Throwback Thursday: Guilty Pleasures—Armageddon
The 1998 sci-fi/disaster flick, ARMAGEDDON, grossed well over half a billion dollars—so why is it a Guilty Pleasure? Doubtless because its reviews were uniformly awful.
Report From The Quarantine Cave 6.0
Day 18,764 of the coronavirus pandemic: enough already! I mean, FREAKING ENOUGH! Are we back in the Dark Ages with the Black Plague? And it only seems to be getting worse.
Throwback Thursday: “Did You Bullshit Last Week?”
In these challenging times we could all use a good laugh, so this edition of Movie Lines is all about quotes from comedy films. The post first ran in 2017.
Latest Release
