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.
Write What You Know…Or Not
Last year, in a post titled, “Writing Novels For Fun And…Fun?” I made the following observation: When I made the commitment to start writing novels a long, long time ago I began by sticking to one of the basic tenets: Write what you know. I knew Edgar Rice Burroughs,...
The Eyes Have It
In addition to the serious coaching and editorial work that I do for my writers, I also engage in a lot of good-natured banter with them. Hey, why even bother if you can’t have fun! Some of our back-and-forth emails, both text and pictures, often border on the...
Aging: A Few Musings
Let’s clarify one thing right up front: we are ALL aging, every day, every minute. Doesn’t matter whether you’re seventy-two, or forty-two, or twelve. It’s just that the older we get, the more aware of it we become—and, assuming we’ve gathered some wisdom during all...
Guilty Pleasures: The Descent
Okay, this is one scary underground chick flick, the cast comprised of six women. Tell the truth, it’s actually two films, given that the creatively titled The Descent: Part Two, though released four years later, picks up right where The Descent leaves off (though...
“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...
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