by mike | May 14, 2018 | Blowing Shit Up, California, Disaster Movies, Movies, Uncategorized |
We had an earthquake here in Southern California last week. Like, what else is new? The 4.5 temblor—its epicenter in Riverside County near the San Andreas fault—occurred just before 5 a.m., which means I sure as heck did not feel it. Two subsequent aftershocks also...
by mike | May 3, 2018 | Books, California, Editing, Ghosts, Horror, Native Americans, Publishing, Research, Uncategorized, Writing |
I ran this interview in 2014, shortly after I reissued my ghost story, The Burning Ground. My Native American-themed ghost story, The Burning Ground, was first published a couple of years ago, weeks after I started this blog. I gave an interview about the story back...
by mike | Apr 16, 2018 | California, Life, Travel, Uncategorized |
I arrived in California to stay about forty-five years ago. Jacqueline, my bride, did the same over three decades past. Yet neither of us, during all that time, set foot in Yosemite National Park, one of this country’s most memorable landmarks, and for sure the gem of...
by mike | Apr 12, 2018 | Books, California, Editing, Ghosts, Horror, Publishing, Uncategorized, Writing |
During my 200+ years as a writing coach, I’ve seen it all when it comes to manuscripts by wanna-be authors. Issues with plotting, characterization, dialogue, pacing, and all other elements of a novel come to mind—oftentimes in glaringly high definition and even IMAX....
by mike | Mar 29, 2018 | Books, California, Ghosts, Horror, Paranormal, Publishing, Uncategorized, Writing |
I first ran this post in 2014, around the time I reissued my two ghost stories. This one tells the tale of many benign ghosts—and one murderous spirit—in the Anza-Borrego Desert. PRAISE FOR FIRE DANCE: “Sirota returns…with this atmospheric tale of horror in the...
by mike | Mar 12, 2018 | Books, California, Editing, Fantasy, Humor, Publishing, Science Fiction, Uncategorized, Writing |
Bicycling Through Space and Time, the first book of my comedy/science fiction series featuring cosmic bike rider Jack Miller, was initially not supposed to get published. I wrote the three books during the late 1980s-early ’90s with the idea of preserving my sanity...