by mike | Jun 23, 2014 | Books, Editing, Life, Publishing, Thrillers, Uncategorized, Writing |
Okay, I think I’m allowed one “Brag Post” a year, so here goes. After I came back from a dark place and started publishing again in 2011, I’ve had three of my novels nominated for best in their category by the San Diego Book Awards Association. My ghost stories, Fire...
by mike | Jun 16, 2014 | Books, Editing, Ghosts, Publishing, Uncategorized, Writing |
In my decades as a writing coach and editor I have worked with first-time writers whose talents and abilities ranged from “I think you should take up needlepoint or jet skiing instead” to “How in heck are you not published yet!” The latter, to be sure, is the rare...
by mike | Jun 3, 2014 | Disaster Movies, Guilty Pleasures, Movies, Uncategorized |
Until today, I hadn’t even begun talking about disaster movies—so many of which I enjoy. High on the list is the 1998 mini-gem, Hard Rain. Now I could’ve included this as a Guilty Pleasure, given its negative reviews and poor box office (though subsequent VHS and DVD...
by mike | May 27, 2014 | Ghosts, Holocaust, Horror Movies, Movies, Myths & Legends, Paranormal, Spirituality, Uncategorized |
A Jewish demon? Who knew! Yes, according to Jewish mythology a dybbuk is a ghostly, troubled spirit—most often the wandering soul of a deceased person—that possesses the body of a living person. (Though any living entity works, even a bug or a beagle, their host of...
by mike | May 20, 2014 | Books, Editing, Ghosts, Horror, Paranormal, 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....