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: Guilty Pleasures—Conan The Barbarian
I first ran this post about one of my favorite movies back in 2012. There is still talk about a Conan reboot, also starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, on the horizon. They’d better hurry; dude is turning seventy next year!
“A Midnight Dreary” In The Raven Room
During a recent trip back east I stopped by the Poe Museum in Richmond and caught up with my old friend Edgar. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit to this fascinating tribute to a great writer and… Wait, what? Richmond, Virginia? Like many others I always associated Edgar Allan Poe with Baltimore, so why would a museum honoring him be located in a city more renowned for being the capital of the Confederacy?
Throwback Thursday: Ray Bradbury—“Everyone Must Leave Something Behind…”
I wrote this post in 2012 a few days after Ray Bradbury passed away. This excellent writer and even better person cannot be honored enough.
Films About Books: The Princess Bride
Okay, who HASN’T seen the 1987 fairytale gem, The Princess Bride? Not ever seeing it would be INCONCEIVABLE! This film, an instant cult classic, is on countless Top Whatever lists in comedy and other genres.
Throwback Thursday: Otis Adelbert Kline—Who’s He?
This post, about another popular pulp writer from the early twentieth century, first appeared in 2012.
A Jack Nicholson Snow Globe?
There are gifts, and then there are GIFTS. You know the kind: where the Giver is totally in tune with the Givee and knows what would be perfect. I received just such a gift a few years back from Lindsay Teunis, my oldest daughter. Don’t know where she found it, but I’m glad she did.
Throwback Thursday: Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Master Of Lost Worlds
In last Thursday’s post I thanked Edgar Rice Burroughs for being my inspiration to write. This post, first published in 2012, tells about his interesting life.
Native American Film Gems: Skins
Chris Eyre, director of the wonderful Smoke Signals, came up with another winner in his 2002 film, Skins, based on a novel by Adrian C. Louis. While this story contains its share of humor, it has a far more serious undertone than its predecessor.
Throwback Thursday: Thank You, Edgar Rice Burroughs
This post, an homage to my muse, was the first of two, both of them from 2012. The second one will appear next week.
A Sword & Planet…Mystery?
I am happy to report that Book Three in my “World After Death” series, Dark Seas of Maldrinium, has just been published. The story is a “revised-the-living-crap-out-of-it” version of a book that first came out in the late 1970s. It is also the first half of a strange tale that will be concluded later this year in the series’ final book, Slaves of Maldrinium.
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