Often, when I write, it's downstairs on the couch. Usually there's a cat attempting to knock my iPad out of its Qwertkey keyboard. Often there's sun spilling through the blinds. But always there's something playing on YouTube. Usually, it's music. Today, it was about music. I threw on a 2014 BBC documentary on Kate Bush… Continue reading Babooshka & Delirium’s Mistress at Tea
Category: General Thoughts
We Can Be Heroes
They say you should never meet your heroes. You will realize they have feet of clay, lecherous hands, and spiteful mouths. Let them remain a shadow in the back of your mind. The Platonic idea of your hero will always beat the real thing. In this case, I'm glad I didn't listen. Over ten years… Continue reading We Can Be Heroes
Tellus, my Cirni Macak
Normally, I don't post life or pet related items here. But sometimes the need to write overrides the need to remain on theme. And, in a way, this is about my writing. Meet Tellus: He is a six plus year old black cat. And I named him after one of the characters in my… Continue reading Tellus, my Cirni Macak
Bad Decisions Make Good Stories
I've seen this on a t-shirt in a few different places. It's supposed to be some kind of devil-may-care, "I'm try-sexual - I'll try anything" type of declaration. But I saw it worn by the co-author of Hard Case Crime's brilliant comic, Peepland. And it might as well be the thesis for film noir, and… Continue reading Bad Decisions Make Good Stories
Loyalty is a Flaw
I grew up watching Airwolf like a lot of other kids. Either on NBC, or later on syndication on Channel 20. There were a lot of episodes I gravitated towards. But one in particular still sticks with me: "Severance Pay." The plot focuses on Larry, an operative and analyst with the FIRM (Airwolf's CIA stand-in).… Continue reading Loyalty is a Flaw
This Was Not the Corporate Dystopia I Was Promised
The other title for this post is "We Need The Punk In Cyberpunk Now." Recent events has me thinking on a big influence on my formative years: the literature and the aesthetic of cyberpunk. While many grew up with images of the space age, with (white, western) humanity cementing its manifest destiny among the stars,… Continue reading This Was Not the Corporate Dystopia I Was Promised
I’ve Seen The Future, Brother, It Is Murder
I couldn't help but bring Leonard Cohen into this. He's one of the many artists whose loss gouged great wounds in our hearts. But Leonard's poetry will live on in everyone he's touched, and in every story he's inspired. This month's post is about the future. It's about two different futures, though. One is personal… Continue reading I’ve Seen The Future, Brother, It Is Murder
The End of November
November is, to most folks who write as either a hobby or professionally, NaNoWriMo month. People set themselves up to crank out over fifty-thousand words in one month's space of time. For those on a certain side of the political spectrum, it's probably a been a rough month. For others, they've probably beaten their numbers,… Continue reading The End of November
Two Updates for October
(Image by the great Ron Spencer) It's the waning days of October and, here in the DC area, it finally feels like October. Morning air bites you on the cheek. Leaves rattle on the asphalt in slow-motion tornadoes. ALIEN ARTIFACTS has seen print. I'm still focusing on writing short stories, especially now that three new… Continue reading Two Updates for October
Oh, The Horror. The Horror….
Oh, The Horror. The Horror. I love horror fiction, and films. The weirder, the better. But, I don't think I'll ever be able to successfully write it. I'll explain why after this gloomy self-portrait of Sir William Fettes Douglas: If there was a philosophy to my early childhood, it's this: "The world is dark and… Continue reading Oh, The Horror. The Horror….
Biomechanoid Blues 