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.
Yo, Mama Is One Scary Movie
I, for one, am glad that in recent years, horror filmmakers have decided that scaring the crap out of people is more important than grossing them out by spilling buckets of blood. The 2013 gem titled Mama, starring Jessica Chastain—a talented actress—is a prime example of this.
Writing Tips: Writing Novels For Fun And—Fun?
Did you expect to see the word “profit” in that title? Not likely. Let me share some thoughts from what I’ve experienced over the past gazillion years and nearly thirty novels written.
Guilty Pleasures: Van Helsing
I guess the 2004 monster/horror film, Van Helsing, qualifies as a Guilty Pleasure because not a whole lot of folks liked it—especially the reviewers. (Fie on them!) It grossed over $300 million, so no problem there. This fun flick is an homage by director Stephen Sommers to the wonderful Universal horror movies of the 1930s and ’40s. It is easily one of the fifty (sixty?) movies in my personal Top Ten.
Zeus’s Butthole…More Unforgettable Movie Lines
My favorite movies—of which there are many—contain countless memorable lines that retain a permanent place in my brain and even haunt my sleeping hours. Here are some more of them.
“How in the name of Zeus’s butthole did you get out of your cell?”
Guest Post: Between Now And When
Dr. Richard House approached me via a referral a little over a year ago—just about the time I teetered on the cusp of full retirement. He had a non-fiction manuscript that needed a ton of work—his assessment—a true story that was kind of “out there,” he said.
This And That
A good friend of mine, who died a long time ago, has written a new book.
Say what!? Are you kidding, Mike? Actually, I’m not. Today (5/18/15) is the release date for a non-fiction book titled, Between Now and When: How My Death Made My Life Worth Living, by Richard House, MD. This is a fascinating life journey, one that I helped Richard shape in order to get it ready for publication.
Blowing Shit Up: Dante’s Peak And Volcano
Being a guy, it’s in my DNA—like all guys everywhere—to love movies in which they’re blowing shit up. Lots of shit; the more the better. In this new occasional series I’ll be exploring films that shake the theater—or your living room—and cause premature hearing loss.
Writing Tips: To Outline Your Story…Or Not?
Here is another post that came through time via the Wayback Machine. Useful writing tips never become outdated. But first, I’d like to brag about a couple of my writers, both of whom I’ve heard from in the past week. They must’ve listened well to some of the things I told them when we worked together on their books.
Films About Books: The Ninth Gate
Thus begins a new series on my blog. Just to clarify, there are countless films “adapted from” or “based on” one book or another. That is not what I’m doing here. As the title says, these movies are “about” a book or books. For example, on my to-do list are The NeverEnding Story, The Book of Eli, The Princess Bride, and The Book Thief.
Steel Versus Dark Magic…Who Wins?
In last week’s post I discussed a movie, The Whole Wide World, which chronicled a brief period of time in the all-too-short life of writer Robert E. Howard. Best known for his stories about Conan the Barbarian, Howard is considered by many to be the “father” of the genre that would come to be known as sword & sorcery.
Howard’s work became a great influence on my early writing. While Edgar Rice Burroughs was my main muse, Howard came in a close second.
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