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.
Hill House: A Scary Place, In The Night…In The Dark…
So what did horror-meister Stephen King think about the Netflix series, THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, a revisionist version of the 1959 classic ghost story by Shirley Jackson? He tweeted that it was great, practically a work of genius.
Throwback Thursday: California Dreaming
I live in Southern California. More important than that: I am a Southern Californian; have been for over two-thirds of my life. There is no other place where I can imagine myself to be. But wow, did I take a circuitous route to wind up here. Let me explain.
The Walking Dude: Some Thoughts
I’ve done lots of walking/hiking over the decades, though in all likelihood not as much as during the past nine years. I had open-heart surgery back in 2009, and subsequently, over time, I realized that I was “Walking Scared,” as I called it. I guess that’s not hard to understand.
Throwback Thursday: A Real Turkey
I actually presented this post for the first time on Thanksgiving in 2012. What better day to talk about a turkey?
Films About Books: Book Club
It seems as though, of late, both the big screen and the small screen are paying more attention to those of us who are, uh, a bit older than most. This is true of the 2018 chick flick, BOOK CLUB, which offers up a quartet of impressive actresses, all of whom have been around for a long time.
Throwback Thursday: “It’s Alive!”
Some more fun with memorable movie lines. Enjoy! This post first ran in 2015.
Good News For Fans Of “The Thing”
A magazine called “Astounding Science Fiction,” later renamed “Analog Science Fact and Fiction,” was highly influential in bringing the sci-fi genre into the mainstream many decades past. One of its editors, John W. Campbell, also wrote for the magazine, and in 1938 he published a novella titled, WHO GOES THERE?
Throwback Thursday: A Neat Disappearing Act
Old joke: Igor says to Count Dracula, “Master, the Invisible Man is here!” and the Count replies, “Tell him I can’t see him.” (Like I said, old, and also bad.)
Once Again I Say—Write Well, Not Fast
Ah, November! I’m not even sure NaNoWriMo or whatever is around anymore, but the point I attempt to hammer home to all writers, novice and otherwise, remains valid in any month or year. So as in Novembers of yore, here is this oft-run post.
Throwback Thursday: Writing A Novel Requires Commitment
Back in my salad days, when I took on just about any writer who had a pulse, I worked with a woman from the Midwest—let’s call her Helen—who had written, according to her, about three-quarters of a thriller. I first evaluated what she’d completed, and quite frankly, found it lacking in just about every area necessary to make for a readable, compelling novel.
Latest Release
