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.
Throwback Thursday: A Sword & Sorcery Do-Over
I’ve written about this being my third writing career, with a gap of about seventeen years since my second writing career until starting up again in 2011. One constant, as I’ve come to realize throughout a span of over three decades, is that the majority of publishers, both large and small, offer little support to their writers.
Myths And Legends: The Mad Gasser Of Mattoon
This is one weird story…and I do mean weird. It occurred a long time ago, and to this day the “explanations” are no more than guesswork and speculation. Some even say that the incidents didn’t happen, that they were the result of mass hysteria. In any case, curl up around the campfire, kiddies, and I’ll tell you about the Mad Gasser of Mattoon.
Throwback Thursday—Guilty Pleasures: Deadly Friend
Artificial Intelligence gone amok: a common theme for a long time, but maybe not so much in 1986, when DEADLY FRIEND hit the silver screen. I first presented this post in 2012.
Bestselling Authors Make Great Film Directors—Not!
The bestselling author in question here is none other than Stephen King. His directorial effort, singular, is the 1986 “science fiction action horror comedy” film, Maximum Overdrive, based (loosely) on his short story, Trucks. The movie was a disaster both critically and at the box office, and King, who in an interview many years later swore that he was “coked out of his mind” during the entire production, vowed never to direct another film. He has kept that promise.
Throwback Thursday: Writer’s Block—What’s That?
Writer’s block has been around since primitive men and women had difficulty deciding what to scrawl on cave walls. This 2012 post would have been relevant even back then.
Films About Books: In The Mouth Of Madness
It is pretty well accepted that reading books can influence people in many ways, both positively and negatively. But can they drive readers to madness and murder?
Throwback Thursday: Alien, Aliens—And Even More Aliens: Part Two
Last week’s post from 2012—as this one is—addressed two cross-genre, sci-fi/horror classics, Alien and Aliens. Trust me, the praise will not be as effusive for Alien 3 or Alien: Resurrection. Still, they’re part of the quadrilogy and deserve some thoughts, so here goes.
Guilty Pleasures: Wild Wild West
I may be the only person on the planet who found the 1999 “steampunk western action comedy” film, Wild Wild West, a “pleasure” to watch. Heck, even its star, Will Smith, hated this movie. But, as I’ve said a thousand times, I’m easily entertained…
Throwback Thursday: Alien, Aliens—And Even More Aliens: Part One
The four-film Alien series—the ones with Sigourney Weaver—easily merited a couple of posts, which I first presented back in 2012.
The Body Snatchers: The Novel That Spawned Four Film Versions
During my many decades—or is that centuries?—living on this planet I have encountered a number of people who’ve shared the same childhood nightmare. In it, they awaken one morning to discover that their mother is not their mother, or their favorite uncle is no longer their uncle…or sister, or father, or whomever. More than likely these folks, as kids, saw the same movie—the 1956 version of the classic sci-fi thriller, Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
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