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.
From Bedtime Story To Book: The Dark Corner
When my daughters were little I used to tell them stories that, for the most part, I made up on the fly. One such fantasy tale was about two teens, brother and sister, who enjoy a simple life in an idyllic land under the protection of Tutors (wizards). When a dark, festering Evil threatens to overrun their land the kids—Vall and Corrie—join an unlikely trio in a quest to destroy the Evil and save their people.
Throwback Thursday: It’s No Mystery—This Movie Is Funny
In retrospect, I could have written about MYSTERY, ALASKA as one of my many Guilty Pleasures. The thing is, I never thought of this outrageous 1999 comedy, with a cast of solid actors and a load of memorable lines, as a film that I had to feel guilty about throwing in the Blu-Ray player.
Native American Film Gems: Edge Of America
Outstanding director Chris Eyre (SMOKE SIGNALS, SKINS) took a true story and turned it into EDGE OF AMERICA, a 2003 made-for-cable film. On the surface it appears to be an inspirational sports movie, but that is only a small part of the big picture.
Throwback Thursday: Myths And Legends—Kokopelli
Perhaps the most recognizable symbol in all of Native America, and an icon for the indigenous people of the American Southwest, Kokopelli has been around for thousands of years. Also known as the Humpbacked Flute Player, Kokopelli is a Hopi fertility deity. He is also a trickster, a trader, a healer, a rainmaker, and a storyteller.
Guilty Pleasures: Virus
Jamie Lee Curtis once called VIRUS, a 1999 sci-fi/horror flick, a “piece of shit.” Why is that significant? Because the renowned scream queen was one of its stars—along with Donald Sutherland and William Baldwin.
Throwback Thursday: Writing Humor—It Doesn’t All Have To Be Funny
I’ve learned a lot in life through trial and error, or by accident. More specifically, this can be applied to writing. We could say, in paraphrasing a familiar adage: To err is divine.
A Grand (Canyon) Mystery
Did the newlywed couple drown in the river and get washed out to sea? Were they murdered? Or did aliens abduct them right out of their boat? Nearly ninety years after Bessie and Glen Hyde set off down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, their disappearance remains shrouded in mystery.
Throwback Thursday: Guilty Pleasures—Cat People
You might feel a bit…well, sleazy watching this 1982 “erotic remake” of the 1942 movie that bore the same title but, understandably, had way less sex and violence. I suppose that would qualify it as a guilty pleasure. But even though it wasn’t a box office smash, CAT PEOPLE is a dandy horror flick that garnered mostly positive reviews, including a great one from the late Roger Ebert.
Remembering Bill Paxton
A fine actor—and, from all I’ve ever heard about him, and even better person—Bill Paxton passed away a little over a month ago at the all-too-young age of sixty-one. A personal favorite of mine, Paxton played in quite a few of the fifty or sixty films that I include in my Top Ten. My way of remembering him is to look back at some of those roles.
Throwback Thursday: Finding The Time—And The Discipline—To Write
Having been a teacher, coach, editor—and, of course, a novelist—for the past couple of centuries, I have heard it all from wanna-be writers about how difficult it is to make themselves sit down and begin writing a book, which at the least should be 70,000 words in length.
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